Thursday 07/05/2012 by pzerbo

JONES BEACH 2 RECAP

Happy 4th of July, Phish fans! Let’s cut right to the action from Jones Beach.

A “Dave’s Energy Guide” tease from Trey and Mike hints at the first set fireworks to come, before the band launches into a spirited “Alumni Blues” > “Letter to Jimmy Page” > Alumni Blues.” Then the first of what would be a bustout-filled set, “Head Held High!” Played for the first time since the 10/31/98 debut (356 shows), this was the fifth song from The Velvet Underground’s Loaded performed by Phish this summer, alongside “Rock and Roll,” “Lonesome Cowboy Bill,” “Sweet Jane” and “Cool It Down.”

The soaring energy from the opening stanza was then brought down, but in the most delightful and surprising manner: the first “The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday” > “Avenu Malkenu” > “TMWSIY” since 6/21/09 (136 shows). This lovely, ethereal composition – and its upbeat Jewish prayer pairing – was performed more or less flawlessly, a most welcome return to the repertoire! After a detour to “Kill Devil Falls” the bustout train came back into the station with “Bittersweet Motel,” performed for the first time since 8/2/09 at Red Rocks (132 shows). The band then settled into a more predictable segment that included “The Moma Dance, “Gumbo,” a welcome, fairly unusual mid-set “David Bowie,” and “Alaska.”

The home-stretch of the first stanza found Mike back at the helm with his composition “Susskind Hotel,” featuring a short-but-awesome jam that is vaguely reminiscent of “Birds of a Feather.” Then we are greeted by the familiar refrain of “Hold Your Head Up” to welcome Fishman to the center stage... but this would be no ordinary trip to the vacuum cleaner. “Purple Rain!” The first since 7/25/99 (314 shows) when he famously forgot the words, this time he redeemed himself quite well. Fishman set up the song by noting “In honor of tucking, we’re going to do one of the great tuck anthems of all time. I’ll forget half the words, but it won’t matter. Or I might not!” Fish added his own summer ‘12 theme into the lyrics, noting that “he only wants to see you tucking in the Purple Rain!” A quick run through “HYHU” and then a 4th of July celebration with “The Star Spangled Banner.” What a set! Phish once again demonstrates that with their insanely deep repertoire that they can craft an immensely entertaining and diverse frame and set off sparks, sans extensive jamming. Great stuff.

The Stevie Wonder classic “Boogie On Reggae Woman” kicks off the third quarter. While not as adventurous as some recent offerings (see especially 6/7/12 Worcester), still a splendid start. Then “Tweezer” starts the meat of the improv frame. This upbeat version doesn’t stray far from the main theme until the very end, but nevertheless provides 10+ minutes of righteous adult entertainment. “Twist” then takes the jam hand-off, finds a hole, and hits it straight up the middle! The clear improvisational highlight of the show, “Twist” jumps off the cliff and goes deep, a quintessential example of Phish’s modern, compact jamming style.

From here on out, the set takes on an uneven quality, to be generous. “Taste” wasn’t quite a train-wreck, but pretty close. The “Quinn the Eskimo” > “Julius” > “Rock and Roll” combo was entertaining to be sure, if essentially interchangeable with other recent versions and devoid of improv. “The Horse” > “Silent in the Morning” offers the first breather of the set, setting up “Harry Hood.” Then the breaks are pumped in earnest, with a perplexing combo of adult contemporary ballads in “Shine a Light” > “Show of Life.” “Slave to the Traffic Light” helps to redeem the fourth quarter, but the promise and energy delivered by the excellent first set and beginning of set two had long since floated upon the waves. The “Sleeping Monkey” > “Tweezer Reprise” encore closes the book on 7/4/12.

Hard to call this one a “great” Phish show given the roller coaster ride that contained deep valleys in the second set, but with such a winner first set and the modest peaks in set two, the gig was worth every penny, whether for those in attendance or couch touring.

Off to SPAC to close leg one of the tour. Drive safe, kids!

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Comments

, comment by bertoletdown
bertoletdown I haven't listened again but I think that Taste was pretty damn good. Close to a train wreck? It was no 8.3.97 but, ehhh....
, comment by zzyzx
zzyzx The ending completely trainwrecked with Trey trying to end it in the wrong place.
, comment by elfinito
elfinito One of my favorite 1st sets ever.

The end of that show was one of the biggest let-downs of my Phish-going years (Conventry notwithstanding). Was having a blast until Trey (I am guessing) decided to slam on the breaks.

4 ballad-ish songs out of 6 songs to end it --- with the 2 great songs in between both being of the slow melodic variety!! Way to make the entire Arena alternate between swaying and sitting down for the last 45 Mins. of the show.

I literally saw 3 people in my section sleeping by the end of the 2nd set.
, comment by mgc5068
mgc5068 great first set. definitely lost the energy in the second set. not sure what the deal with all those slow songs was.
, comment by BigPimpinNYC
BigPimpinNYC I can't believe they had a tweezer reprise encore on 4th of July without fireworks. Buzz kill
, comment by guyforgetOPT
guyforgetOPT @zzyzx said:
The ending completely trainwrecked with Trey trying to end it in the wrong place.
Pretty sure Trey trying to end it in the wrong place is part of the song. One time I saw them play it perfectly, but that was a flub.
, comment by Carini710
Carini710 @elfinito said:
One of my favorite 1st sets ever.

The end of that show was one of the biggest let-downs of my Phish-going years (Conventry notwithstanding). Was having a blast until Trey (I am guessing) decided to slam on the breaks.

4 ballad-ish songs out of 6 songs to end it --- with the 2 great songs in between both being of the slow melodic variety!! Way to make the entire Arena alternate between swaying and sitting down for the last 45 Mins. of the show.

I literally saw 3 people in my section sleeping by the end of the 2nd set.
, comment by elfinito
elfinito To clarify -- the end of the 2nd set was not bad music. Just absolutely bizarre in its vibe, for the end of a 4th of July show...or really any Phish show for that matter.

, comment by Lloyd_Dobler
Lloyd_Dobler @guyforgetOPT said:
@zzyzx said:
The ending completely trainwrecked with Trey trying to end it in the wrong place.
Pretty sure Trey trying to end it in the wrong place is part of the song. One time I saw them play it perfectly, but that was a flub.
Nope, not sure what you're speaking of but this wasn't it. Trey played the ending way early and then quickly jumped on to the jam again before they really ended it a measure or so later. Love Trey this tour but he did drop the ball there.
, comment by glowstickcampfire
glowstickcampfire @zzyzx said:
The ending completely trainwrecked with Trey trying to end it in the wrong place.
Oh, yeah, total train wreck. I guess when you don't have a soul you can't feel lyrics.
, comment by glowstickcampfire
glowstickcampfire @BigPimpinNYC said:
I can't believe they had a tweezer reprise encore on 4th of July without fireworks. Buzz kill
Yeah, I can't believe they didn't blatently disregard the "No Fireworks" enforcement either! You know, why wouldn't they want to taunt the police? Geez
, comment by cavern48
cavern48 alumni blues and purple rain in the first set.....sicknes!!!!!!
, comment by phunky58
phunky58 This show was a big letdown for me. The second set started out with three straight songs that could have been takin far out of the box and basically all we got is 3-5 min of beauty in twist. and after that it was pretty much downhill. i am headed to spac and hoping they rekindle the magic they were displaying night after night earlier in the tour. ps they played 30+ songs last night!! never a good sign
, comment by Physhmyn
Physhmyn @pzerbo

Agreed
, comment by Phishrabbi
Phishrabbi Here's my pull from last night:

24bit: http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=556511
16bit: http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=556512

enjoy!
, comment by phishiNYG
phishiNYG was reaaaaaaally hoping for a YEM of the horse> silent, would of set up very nicely
, comment by elfinito
elfinito @glowstickcampfire

> > > "I guess when you don't have a soul you can't feel lyrics."

I actually like 3 of the 4 slow songs they played. I am not into tSoL. Horse-> SitM is one of my favorite ballads, and a welcome break. And Sleeping Monkey is usually welcome fun. I like Shine a Light a lot.

The placement, and clumping was however unfortunate.

I can feel Lyrics..but 2 realities:

1. Trey and Tom are no Robert Hunter, and none of 'em are great vocalists. It's Phish. Ballads are nice, but definitely not their strength.

2. I'm not there to hear long stretches of rehearsed standards. I can see any band for that, many much better than Phish at it (and if you deny that, well, than you are just wholly biased) --- but there is a reason I forego variety, and instead choose to spend the vast majority of music-budget on one band. The 1st set epitomized it ---and even the 3rd quarter. The 4th Quarter of that show was too much of the same Arena Rock ballad/Anthem.
, comment by GottaKerboo
GottaKerboo Great show.
, comment by PhishMarketStew
PhishMarketStew I just hope they do a "200 song theme" when they do Harpua as song #200. somebody bring a sign to SPAC.
, comment by Land2reform
Land2reform Good show. Poor taste.
, comment by TwiceBitten
TwiceBitten I'm interested in hearing what @ericwyman thought about this one. Loved his review of night 1...
, comment by bryontreece
bryontreece If there were anything resembling a "train wreck", if memory serves (haven't listened back yet), it was Julius. That was a really rough one for awhile, imho.
, comment by GrooveMerchant
GrooveMerchant Does anyone know why there were so many extra tickets floating around? I don't think I have ever seen that at a phish show before...and a 4th of July show at that. Someone actually handed me an extra ticket at the gate and I saw someone else selling orchestra seats for 30 bucks?!

I went to both nights and the first set of the 4th was my favorite, but the Sand> Golden Age from the night before was outstanding. Lots of different sounds coming from Trey.
, comment by JesusFreak
JesusFreak Some phans are the epitome of selfish. How could anyone complain? I understand that there were lots of songs that didn't get played that we all wanted to hear but, the band literally played for over 3 hours. They could have ended the 2nd set after Hood, but they chose to keep playing. Who cares what they're playing after 2.5 hours, as long as they're still playing. It's like Elfinitio said, the music wasn't bad at all, just strange in its mellow vibe towards the end. I rather enjoyed it very much from my couch. The Hood, Shine a Light, and Slave were all played beautifully.
To be honest, I was getting the feeling during the first set that Trey wanted to slow things down for some reason. He seemed like he wanted to play a slow and relaxed show. And I'm fine with however and whatever they want to play. I mean, did anyone ever expect to still be following this band in 2012? And that they'd still be playing such inspired music, at such a high caliber? I choose to have an attitude of gratitude.
, comment by RobesPierre
RobesPierre @JesusFreak said:
Some phans are the epitome of selfish. How could anyone complain? I understand that there were lots of songs that didn't get played that we all wanted to hear but, the band literally played for over 3 hours. They could have ended the 2nd set after Hood, but they chose to keep playing. Who cares what they're playing after 2.5 hours, as long as they're still playing. It's like Elfinitio said, the music wasn't bad at all, just strange in its mellow vibe towards the end. I rather enjoyed it very much from my couch. The Hood, Shine a Light, and Slave were all played beautifully.
To be honest, I was getting the feeling during the first set that Trey wanted to slow things down for some reason. He seemed like he wanted to play a slow and relaxed show. And I'm fine with however and whatever they want to play. I mean, did anyone ever expect to still be following this band in 2012? And that they'd still be playing such inspired music, at such a high caliber? I choose to have an attitude of gratitude.
the reason phish.net exists is so fans can talk about and critique the music. some might call that complaining... get off your high horse. would you prefer that we all just pretend every show was amazing?
, comment by ericwyman
ericwyman @TwiceBitten said:
I'm interested in hearing what @ericwyman thought about this one. Loved his review of night 1...
Compared to the previous night, a bit of a come down. Set flow was off throughout the second but had some really great individual parts.
, comment by ericwyman
ericwyman @JesusFreak said:
Some phans are the epitome of selfish.
I got my "Selfish" merit badge last summer at UIC night 3. Talking shit about a multi-song tease thread was the final checkpoint.

So proud.
, comment by bertoletdown
bertoletdown I fully expect to get pinned with my "Jaded" merit badge the night of Long Beach.

It's a big deal.
, comment by funkbeard
funkbeard Trey wants to play a night off with an orchestra and find his new groove again. Damn that orchestra tour did him well. Maybe they'll do an orchestra tour in the future with the whole band (as Wayne Shorter Quartet has done in the past). Let the whole band feel the majesty of that massive groove!
, comment by JesusFreak
JesusFreak Well I wasn't actually calling any particular individuals out on this one. And I do appreciate the analyzing/critiquing that goes on here. I actually feel there is less complaining here than some other places. Maybe I was transferring some frustration onto this site that wasn't completely warranted. But I guess I do feel that if people are feeling "jaded" and aren't moved/inspired by Phish shows anymore, then they should stop going to so many shows. Find a new hobby. Fill the void in your life with something else. Get to know Jesus. He'll never letcha down.
, comment by Phikus
Phikus The author has removed all of the text from their comment
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