Link Monday, 12/27/2010
DCU Center, Worcester, MA
Soundcheck: Heavy Things, Halfway to the Moon, Meatstick, Jam [Unconfirmed and possibly incomplete]
Set 1: Sample in a Jar, Funky Bitch, Cool It Down, Roggae, Heavy Things, What Things Seem, Roses Are Free > It’s Ice, Mountains in the Mist, Julius
Set 2: Mike’s Song > Mound, Weekapaug Groove, Farmhouse, Seven Below > What’s the Use? > Twenty Years Later, Wading in the Velvet Sea, Possum > Cavern > David Bowie
Encore: Loving Cup
sweet sweet Phish baby. I love life.
I’m up to Seven Below now, it’s got some great jamming!
Fun show … hard to complain about it (Mound? What’s The Use? ?), but yet hard to miss the SnoozeFestHatTrick of Mist+Farmhouse+Wading. I realize I have a bug in my arse about those tunes; they were performed fine. [Except maybe Farmhouse - I need to listen back and see what my problem is…] Made for an interesting mix of bust-outs, new material, old faithfuls. The Moss song they did was great, really unique tune. Okay back to work. 
PS - Oh and the jams were like chocolate tornado hurricane whirlwind stealth bomb lemonade ‘frisco bean shove lovin’.
I just started in on the second set, but the first is pretty good. Highlight for me is definitely the Roggae, but I’m kinda obsessed with that tune. I always love the interplay between Mike, Trey and Page during the jam and it’s extra juicy because Mike is driving the bus. This one is no different. But the Sample. Funky Bitch is a fine way to start a run off in my opinion though I’m sure there are some haters. A Cool It Down rarity next and by the end of the little jam they had seemed to have whatever rust was there shaken off just in time for the nice Roggae. As far as Heavy Things go, I really liked what Trey was doing during his solo. Playing some really cool riffs in there and it actually built up a little tension before they came back in with the “ooh-ooh” part (which I’m generally not a big fan of, but it felt right this time because of said tension). I love What Things Seem and think it’s an awesome choice for Phish off of that album. I’d still like to see it come out of some dark and nasty jam mid-second set. I like Roses Are Free but it seems kinda played out these days. It’s Ice is standard and Trey biffs the vocals during the first verse of Mountains. Kind of a cool tune but never one I’m dying to see per se. I like Julius as a set closer so overall not too bad for a first set of the run.
A review from last night.
telegram.com/article/2010122 … 29824/1011
“Dressed like the Good Humor Man, Gordon soulfully belted Son Seals’ “Funky Bitch†while laying down the funk,…” 
Great read^
Fret boards on fire~~~
Nice to see Mound pop up.
Interesting looking set-list,…slowed down there in the second set.
roggae was the highlight for me, Mound is obviously right up there as well
cool it down, roses, julius and mound were my highlights… can’t wait for tonight!
If you want to come across as a good writer you should only use the term crunchy when reviewing foods.
As for the show, the setlist looks weak to me. Sure they played a couple rare songs but there are way too many overplayed songs as well. Possum > Cavern > David Bowie is a prime example of that. This show really falls off after Roses Are Free > It’s Ice.
^ Sounds like someone’s bitter.
Show looked good to me, and that review was certainly favorable. As the guy said, by the time they get to NYC, they are gonna be on fire. I think tomorrow will be a hell of a show too, though.
Roggae and Weekapaug were gold.
there are only two songs in that second set I would be meh about seeing…I think you can figure out which ones
20 Years Later has grown on me…still waiting for a dark and dirty jam from that tune
From the Mike’s opener through the What’s the Use was one of my favorite segments of Phish. What made this so good was the balance between the high energy playing and the tender playing. The Farmhouse jam and the seven below where so emotionally charged, it was hard to take it all in. The Mike’s-mound-Groove was SOOO much fun. I was a little tired of Mike’s for a whuile, but with versions like this, I say Bring It On. For those of you who love the whole range of Phish’s music (and not just the raging stuff) this is a must hear. The Velvet Sea is also beautiful, but I really felt like the 20 yrs later was a weak version (compared to the show-stopper in Augusta this fall, anyway) and that the magic of the first half of the set was lost at this point.
^Thanks for the good insight Karl. I gotta agree with you. 20 yrs later has a shit ton of potential, but Mikes>Mound>Weekapaug was the titties!
Seven Below>What’s the Use is bad ass. Trey effortlessly weaves the WTU theme over top of the Seven jam and it just works so well. This goes on the short list of jams of the year for me. It’s no Greek Light but it’s a brilliant 15 minutes of music.
I would also agree with the above comments on Farmhouse. It’s surprisingly good. No bathroom break version here.
Hell yeah. The 20YL to follow fits the mood so well. Loved the Roggae too. Along with DC, they’ve done very well with it this year.
Of all the holiday run shows, I think this one is my favorite. I went to both nights Worcester and the new year’s day show, and this night is special. After listening to the whole run, and re listening to this several times, this show has a certain magic to it. The Cool It Down, Roggae, and What Things Seem are awesome, containing great communicative jamming. The second set is pure gold, with a slightly flubbed mound being the only weak spot. In particular, the Farmhouse and Wading are so beautifully played, they bring tears to my eyes. Of course, the real highlight is the Seven Below>Whats the Use? segment. Amazing and transcendant, this musical journey gets my nod for jam of the run. If you weren’t there and thought the setlist looked weak, think again. Go listen to this show now!