08-17-12 Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA

Phish Live Shows
#1

Friday, 08/17/2012
Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA

Set 1: AC/DC Bag, The Moma Dance, Possum, Corinna, Sand, Halley’s Comet > Funky Bitch > Sample in a Jar, Roses Are Free > My Friend, My Friend, Slave to the Traffic Light

Set 2: Down with Disease > Birds of a Feather, Tweezer > Twist > Wading in the Velvet Sea > Chalk Dust Torture, Joy, Run Like an Antelope, Shine a Light[1]

Encore: First Tube

[1] Contained a brief “Wading in the Velvet Sea” tease.

Notes: “Shine a Light” contained a brief “Wading in the Velvet Sea” tease. At the beginning of the encore, Page thanked the crowd and mentioned how happy they were to be playing in San Francisco and “this room.”

#2

DWD > Birds, Tweezer were pretty sick…Gonna have to MEH the rest of that show. The room looks super small from the TV. Safe first night. SF Dance party is tonight.

At least they played Possum.

#3

Yeah last night was a bit weak considering most of the '12 tour has been very solid. Def in the bottom 3 or 4 shows imo. Still had high points though and there are still 2 nights left :clap:

#4

This show was FAR from weak… They had serious energy and the place was going nuts. Seriously, far from a weak show.

#5

Seemed like a pretty good show to me! Nice that Page actually acknowledged the crowd. It’s amazing that they speak so little during shows nowadays that “thanks for coming out” and “it’s great to be in sf” make the liner notes. :crazy:

#6

I was thinking the same thing

Sample and Possum were the only meh songs in the first set to me…especially Sample, terrible fucking placement after that raging Funky Bitch…Sand has been great this summer, was a bit let down by it but that’s just because they’ve set the bar so high…Roses>MF,MF>Slave was great though, that Slave was one of the most beautiful pieces of music I’ve heard them play in a long while, it’s amazing how many different directions that song can go, also thought they were about to jam Roses out big time for second but then it teetered off, and I believe that was the song of the first set that had super strange/awkward ending

first half of the second set was just plain dirty, that Tweezer seemed like it just kept going and going, and with the direction it went I figured we would get another spacey Cincy-esque Twist, but they actually kept it pretty reeled in, and then Wading…I actually get the beginning few notes from Page confused with Shine A Light a lot for some reason

solid show IMO, great energy it seemed like…seriously couldn’t believe they put an extra bass and rig on stage and didn’t have Phil come out, I can’t imagine how heart wrenching that must’ve been for anyone who only had tickets for tonight

also, I thought the camera work was better than most DVDs I own, I only remember a couple of blatant fuck ups, but mostly they did a great job of not cutting from focus to another focus like non-stop…that was actually my first thought while watching my first stream, and it was one of the first comments my buddy made when he got back from work and started watching

#7

seriously why are people so worried about phil comin out. it’s gonna happen for an encore tonight or tomorrow probably, with Mike being so involved with GDF lately, no big deal.

even though I hate tennesee jed I kind of hope they play it because I love hearing MIke sing it.

#8

I don’t think anyone’s worried about it, is that what you took from my comment?

it’s just that they set up his shit, probably got everybody in the building expecting it, then no Phil…last night was the only one I’m gonna stream probably and I really wanted to watch Phil play, see the crowd reaction, hear a Dead tune, etc…and I thought for sure he was gonna get on stage because I just couldn’t believe they put all his stuff up there and then not have him come out, but Phil is an old prankster…that’s for damn sure

#9

I didn’t see the stream but none of the folks I knew who were there mentioned Phil’s bass rig being set up on stage… are you sure that was the case? I’m just thinking a couple of my rail-whore friends would have been texting and tweeting and facebooking like crazy if Phil’s rig was all set up on stage.

#10

there was a spare bass on stage, and an entire rig that was not Mike’s…it wasn’t a six string but I just figured it was one of MIke’s backups

one of the first things I noticed was this computer monitor over Mike’s shoulder with like a green wavy chart going on it, it took me a while to realize that it was sitting on an entire rig that obviously didn’t belong to Gordo

#11

When they started antelope I was certain Phil was gonna come out and do the Marco Esquandolas line. That wouldve been incredible.

#12

nah, that’s not another rig, Mike just likes to change up some of his gadgets from show to show. I found a pic of what you’re talking about and I see the extra bass and the green waveform monitor, but it’s all part of Mikes rig. Here’s a pic from Starlake where he’s got an extra bass and the same setup without the waveform monitor:

and here’s a shot from last night:

Looks like the same rig to me.

#13

comparable to hampton fluffhead for sure

#14

Mike played a bass at Star Lake on a few songs that he bought that day (or the day before) at a music shop. I definitely took notice when he picked it up, because it was half white. Quite a contrast.

best picture I could find:

Pretty sure there is a picture somewhere of Mike playing it in-store.

#15

Wow good call dooj, really doubt I just didn’t notice that other set up and especially the monitor, but maybe he did have it up there at the shows I saw

#16

I know…how cool to get a first night shout out from the Chairman! :thumbup:

Don’t get me wrong…last night was incredibly tight, just really vanilla in the scheme of 2012 shows. Nothing wrong with vanilla, hell you throw some sprinkles on there and you’ve got a party!

Can’t wait for the Runaway Jim opener tonight. :wink:

#17

The whole show up through the Twist was pretty hot, especially the first part of that second set. That Tweez may have been one of the best 3.0 versions.

#18

one more thing I noticed about the bass was they switched it from right side of mike to the left side before the encore, I just took this as a sign that Phil was gonna come walking between the amps to scoop the bass…couldn’t really think of another reason they would do something little like that, I think someone was playing with ye old heads up in BGCC…wouldn’t be San Fran without a little prankin’ IMO

#19

Thats what I was trying to say…It wasnt bad by any means, it just didnt seem to really “fit” with the rest of the tour so far. But either way its just my opinion so don’t take offense.

#20

Gotta say I was a little cranky about this one. I tuned in around Tweezer after I got out of work, and I found myself in an analytical conversation about the direction of Phish’s original material with this dude Dan … totally undermined my enjoyment of the show. All I remember is they did Wading, and it seemed pretty uncool, and then they dropped Joy, which I don’t dig on, and then Shine a Light, which no thanks; & then no Tweeprise.

Call me closed minded. But sometimes it’s hard to supress my frustration - Phish has lost the plot in the songcraft department; it’s been gone for two decades. So many covers lately too, I just wonder where their heads are at artistically.

Pains me to complain at all, since my take on Phish 2012 has otherwise been glowing.

Ugh, what a shit post. Almost didn’t post it after the ol’ re-read, but then it’s pretty honest I guess.