December 30th has also been a special day for Phish as they’ve delivered a number of memorable gigs on this night. Tonight, Phish continued their four-night NYE Run at Madison Square Garden.

[Photo via @phishfromtheroad]

The penultimate show of 2012 started off with a batch of staples that led into only the 16th version of Blues Image’s one-hit wonder Ride Captain Ride ever. Ocelot continues to win over Phish fans thanks to its swampy jam section. Ya Mar featured Mike Gordon taking a bass solo in lieu of a guitar solo. Horn has been a tune the quartet has struggled with, but not on this night – it was nailed. My Friend, My Friend also benefited from a near flawless performance and led into a typically ferocious Run Like An Antelope first set closer.

While the second show of the run didn’t contain much exploration, the same can’t be said about Night Three. Phish opened up Down With Disease in a big way, exploring multiple jam spaces in the near 20-minute version that kicked off the closing stanza. A particularly enthralling segment saw bassist Mike Gordon utilize a synth’d out tone that was so powerful the audience roared when he kicked into it. Guitarist Trey Anastasio followed along for a funky and dirty romp that closed out the Disease and led into Twenty Years Later. Next up was Carini which kept the “darkness” theme going and contained a jam that could’ve easily been played by early Pink Floyd as by Woodsman. This psych-y segment was Phish jamming without a net and was more spacey than melodic. The quartet followed the jam-laden first half of Set Two with straight-forward takes on Backwards Down The Number Line and Julius. A gorgeous, patient Slave To The Traffic Light was a powerful way to end the set of the run thus far. When Phish returned for the encore, they did something they’ve never done before over the last 29 years – they followed Slave with Harry Hood. Two of the more emotional and quintessentially Phish tunes back-to-back. Hood’s jam section was as patient as the powerful Slave, until it came time for the climax. Anastasio played a series of chords to end the tune instead of his usual rapid-fire flurry of notes. Show of Life was tacked on as a bonus second song in the encore slot.

[MKDevo's 12/30 Videos]

Setlist…

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Last night Phish began their annual New Year’s Run at Madison Square Garden in New York City with a show that featured memorable versions of Tweezer and Wolfman’s Brother. This evening the four-night stand continued for what was the band’s 25th show at “The World’s Greatest Arena.”

[Photo via @phishfromtheroad]

You can watch this evening’s show live via a LivePhish.com webcast. For commentary from the Garden, we recommend following @bizarchive.

Setlist…

Set 1: Crowd Control, Mound, AC/DC Bag > Rock and Roll, Sugar Shack, Reba,Halley’s Comet > Limb By Limb^[1], Wading in the Velvet Sea, Bathtub Gin^[2]

Set 2: Golden Age > Waves > Prince Caspian^[3] > Boogie On Reggae Woman >Suzy Greenberg > Bug > Cavern > 46 Days

Encore: The Squirming Coil, Grind, First Tube

[1] Follow the Yellow Brick Road tease
[2] Susie Q quote from Fishman
[3] Unfinished.

[via Phish.net]

Here’s The Skinny from Night Two of Phish’s NYE Run 2012…

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Tonight, HT faves Phish returned to Madison Square Garden in New York City for the first of four shows that comprise the quartet’s New Year’s Run. The band first performed at “The World’s Greatest Arena” on December 30, 1994 and will make their 24th appearance tonight.

Phish came out of the gates with a spirited romp through Stealing Time From The Faulty off Joy which believe it or not is still their most recent album. The first set focused on well played staples such as Moma Dance, Funky Bitch, Kill Devil Falls and Free. While Page McConnell’s Army of One was dusted off for its initial 2012 performance and Stash was its usual creepy and evil self, the clear highlight of the opening stanza was the Wolfman’s segment that closed the set. The Wolfman’s jam vacillated between funk and arena rock valleys and peaks before Trey led his mates through a wild instrumental version of Little Drummer Boy, marking the first time Phish had covered the holiday tune since April 16th, 2004. Jon Fishman kept a reggae beat going through the cover. After multiple runs through Little Drummer Boy’s verse and chorus, Fishman picked up the tempo and led a transition back into Wolfman’s. Trey wasn’t done yet as he drove the crowd wild with one fiery peak after another than brought the set to a close.

After that incredible end to the first set, Phish picked up where they left off with Tweezer. The second set opener receives high marks in both the quality and quantity department as it featured jaw-dropping interplay and clocked in at over 20 minutes. This must-hear version contained anthemic leads from Trey, powerful organ washes from keyboardist Page McConnell and dynamic lead bass action thanks to Mike Gordon. Maze kept the energy up, a trend that would continue throughout Set Two as there were no ballads included within. The band was feeling their oats on Night One as displayed in Twist when Trey once again threw Little Drummer Boy riffs in and his mates were only too happy to oblige for another quick turn through the holiday classic. Fluffhead showed Phish was also capable of nailing complex compositions despite a four-month layoff leading into the performance. The Bowie closer started with a brief but stellar McConnell solo before Anastasio took the reins and led the quarte to a furious and glorious peak. Surpringsly, Tweezer Reprise was left unplayed as a Bouncin’, Good Times Bad Times encore put a cap on the evening.

Setlist…

Set 1: Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, The Moma Dance, Funky Bitch, Army of One, Tube >Stash, Nellie Kane, Kill Devil Falls, Free, Wolfman’s Brother -> The Little Drummer Boy -> Wolfman’s Brother

Set 2: Tweezer -> Maze, Twist^[1] > Theme From the Bottom -> Fluffhead, David Bowie

Encore: Bouncing Around the Room, Good Times Bad Times

[1] Little Drummer Boy teases and quotes

Notes: The Little Drummer Boy was played for the first time since April 16, 2004 (187 Shows).  Twist contained multiple Little Drummer Boy teases as well as quotes from Trey, referring to Fishman.

[via Phish.net]

Here’s The Skinny from the Phish NYE Run 2012 opener…

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Last night’s first show of the final Phish run of the summer reached “instant classic” status by the end of set one and by the time the shenanigan-filled performance were over the phrase “best show of 3.0″ was being bandied about. Tonight Phish returned to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado for the penultimate show of Summer Tour 2012 and it was all about the amazing version of Light the band dropped in set two.

[Photo via @Phish_FTR]

The unusual setlist antics shown off in night one’s first set continued this evening as Run Like An Antelope opened a Phish show for the first time since January 26, 1990. The quartet delivered an in-the-box, rocking renditon which would also be applicable to the Backwards Down The Number Line and at first to the Tweezer that followed. Though just as Tweezer appeared to be ending, guitarist Trey Anastasio decided to stretch out the ending into a different, more ambient jamspace before Trey started up Fluffhead. Tonight marked the first time Antelope, Tweezer and Fluffhead were all played in the same opening stanza which is insane when you consider that those songs have been performed 400, 317 and 238 times respectively. A string of well-played, heavy rotation staples – Roses Are Free, Funky Bitch, The Moma Dance and When The Circus Comes – finished out a seamless string that made up the bulk of the set. The standards continued to end the top-heavy, high-energy set as Theme From The Bottom, Golgi Apparatus and Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan all saw action.

Setlist…

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We’ve reached the end of Phish Summer Tour 2012 which concludes with three shows at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in the Denver suburb of Commerce City, Colorado. This marks the second year in a row that Phish has closed out their summer tour with a Labor Day Weekend run at the soccer stadium. Phish raised the bar extremely high on Night One of the run delivering an exceptional performance in which they spelled out “Fuck Your Face” with the first letter of the songs used in the setlist.

From the start of tonight’s performance it was clear this wouldn’t be your average show. First Tube made a rare appearance in the opening slot and was followed by the return of Uncle Pen – last played on October 16, 2010. Next, Carini showed up in the opening stanza for the first time since Coventry and what a Carini it was. This stunning version had it all from a glorious major-key segment to an intense arena rock peak and even a minute of two of delicious ambient soundscapes.

When Kill Devil Falls followed a message had appeared as the first letters of the first four songs spelled out “FUCK.” The creative setlisting continued with YEM. And not only did You Enjoy Myself feature a short but sweet Trey solo but also contained a vocal jam on the word Dick’s – “Page Loves Dicks, Trey Loves Dicks, Mike Loves Dicks, Fish Loves Dicks, We All Love Dicks” and so on. Now that we had a setlist spelling “FUCK Y” why not go for the “O” and “U?” Phish complied with Ocelot and Undermind. So after opening last year’s Dick’s shows with the famed “S” show, tonight we got “FUCK YOU.” Undermind was the set’s second fantastic jam vehicle thanks to soaring, majestic leads from Anastasio over a lilting beat provided by drummer Jon Fishman. Check both the Carini and Undermind out as soon as you can from what just might be the best first set of the era.

Setlist…

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After nearly 29 years as a band Phish played their first show in Oklahoma this evening, when they visited Oklahoma City’s Zoo Amphitheatre. Located just outside the actual Oklahoma City Zoo, one of the city’s top attractions, the ampitheatre was built in 1936 by the civilian conservation corps and survived years of neglect to become the area’s premier outdoor venue.

[luckystrikes23 on Instagram]

Phish opened their first-ever Oklahoma gig with a concise Kill Devil Falls. After a hiccup-filled Rift, guitarist Trey Anastasio told the crowd how happy the band was to finally play Oklahoma. He mentioned that occasionally the members of the band make personal requests to the management of where to play and this was their call. Backwards Down The Number Line and Moma Dance were also short and sweet leading to Divided Sky which has shockingly become rare this year. The Junta track had only seen action once previously in 2012, back on June 20th in Portsmouth, leaving a 22-show gap between that performance and this evening’s take. Anastasio lit into his Wolfman’s Brother, 46 Days and Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan solos which each peaked quickly and powerfully. The same thing happened in Run Like An Antelope – the band didn’t take much time building the jam and instead focused on a vicious peak.

Setlist…

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We’ve passed the halfway mark of the second leg of Phish Summer Tour 2012 which tonight found the band at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Charlotte, North Carolina. Phish first visited the venue on July 7, 1999, returned to the shed on July 25, 2003 and again the past two summers. The fun-loving quartet focused on older material during tonight’s historic performance.

[CC-BY-SA-2.0 / benuski]

The first half of the leg has found Phish pulling from a much smaller rotation of songs than on the bustout-filled June/July tour. That trend continued throughout tonight’s well-played, high-energy opening stanza. During Fluffhead drummer Jon Fishman urged the crowd to singalong to the “Bundle Full of Joy” section leading up to the typically powerful Trey Anastasio-led “Fluff’s Arrival” climax. The fun continued throughout the Alumni Blues that followed with Fishman bantering about not having a degree. Anastasio clarified that Fishman did indeed have a degree but registered the “lowest grade point average ever recorded at the University of Vermont for a non-fraternity student” – .0036. Trey then mentioned that Page brought the guitarist and the drummer to Goddard College and received a total of $100 for recruiting the pair. Big Red finished by saying he took some lyrics from his roommate’s (Fishman) journal and turned them into song and that they were now going to play one of those tunes for the crowd before starting Tube.

The banter continued post-Tube when Trey said they would perform another song from the Jon Fishman song book titled My Sweet One. Anastasio added “count the number of times ‘you’ appears in this song” and was about to tell the origin of the tune when Fishman finally started My Sweet One.

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Phish returned to Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood tonight following two summers in which they made Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park in Alpharetta their Atlanta area stop. Before this evening Phish had played eight shows at the venue originally known as Lakewood Ampitheatre dating back to a June 15th, 1995 performance and including a memorable two-night stand in 1999.

Over the course of the tour’s first leg Phish played 208 distinct songs, but new-to-2012 tunes have been hard to come by on this second leg. Only one song was added to that total leading into tonight (The Ballad of Curtis Loew), but the counter nudged up immediately after the show started when Phish opened with the first Cars Trucks Buses of 2012. Wolfman’s Brother came next and gave guitarist Trey Anastasio a chance to burn up the fretboard and burn it up he did. The old school start to the show continued with standard, ripping takes on Runaway Jim and Ya Mar. Alaska, replete with its Grateful Dead-esque “jam,” broke a streak of 35 songs in a row from the 20th Century as the first song from the 2000′s since Backwards Down The Number Line back on Wednesday in Kansas City. Clifton Chenier’s My Soul was followed by a typically blazing Maze. When Roses Are Free began fans were hoping the quartet would jam ala the Worcester version earlier this summer, but it wasn’t to be as the Ween cover clocked in at five minutes and then segued into Backwards Down The Number Line. Another first set filled with heavy-rotation staples came to a close with Character Zero.

Setlist…

Set 1: Cars Trucks Buses, Wolfman’s Brother, Runaway Jim, Ya Mar, Alaska, My Soul, Wilson, Maze,Roses Are Free > Backwards Down the Number Line > Character Zero

Set 2: Kill Devil Falls > Golden Age > Free > Light > Wading in the Velvet Sea > Chalk Dust Torture^[1]> What’s the Use? > Joy > Run Like an Antelope

Encore: A Day in the Life

[1] Unfinished.

Notes: Chalk Dust was unfinished.

[via Phish.net]

The quartet hinted at breaking from the structure of Kill Devil Falls, the second set opener, yet it was the Golden Age that followed which featured the evening’s initial burst of full-band improvisation. Bassist Mike Gordon kicked on his Lovetone Meatball envelope filter just as the jam was starting up and his band mates quickly followed his lead. Off Phish went on an exploratory journey with dark and ominous overtones. Keyboardist Page McConnell powered Light with delicate electric piano work, though this take on the improvisational springboard from 2009′s Joy LP didn’t quite reach the heights of the year’s previous versions and melted into Wading In The Velvet Sea fairly quickly. The 400th Chalk Dust Torture ever came after the ballad and saw McConnell and Anastasio connect on a divine major key pattern that they worked for a few wonderful minutes. From there, the band changed direction, and took their time exploring, a more evil territory making for one of the best versions of Chalk Dust in recent memory. The majestic Chalk Dust jam segued into What’s The Use? which was debuted at this venue back in 1999. Run Like An Antelope has been on a hot streak of late and tonight’s scorching second-set closer was no exception as Phish built the pace of the straight-forward but smoking jam with workman-like precision. An encore of The Beatles’ A Day In The Life capped off a memorable evening in Atlanta. Phish visits Charlotte tomorrow.

Here’s The Skinny from Phish’s return to Lakewood…

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Phish Summer Tour 2012 continued tonight at Oak Mountain Amphitheatre in Pelham, Alabama; where the band last played on September 28, 1999. Interestingly, the quartet didn’t play one song tonight that was debuted after their last visit to the venue as they stuck to material from the ’80s and ’90s.

[Photo via @ThisWeekOnLot]

From the time the band took the stage they appeared loose and happy. Dotting the first set with banter about their return to Alabama and the audience members in front of them, Phish rolled through heavy-rotation staples including a trimuvirate of songs from 1994′s Hoist LP (Sample In A Jar, Down With Disease, Julius). For the loose and happy emotions flowing from the stage, the group had a hard time connecting musicially at points as they struggled through a few of their compositions, especially Sample In A Jar. Back On The Train and a set-closing cover of While My Guitar Gently Weeps stood out as the highlights of the first set thanks to two above-average Trey Anastasio solos.

Phish kicked off the second set with a 15-minute cover of Rock and Roll by the Velvet Underground that featured a distinct tease of Paul McCartney’s Live and Let Die and peaked with a gorgeous major-key segment. The jam eventually faded into the year’s second Lizards. A straight-forward Halley’s Comet led into Sand which contained a dose of groovy, out-of-the-box improvisation before giving way to Twist. Both Twist and the Birds that followed were tight and energetic. The run of well-played, straight-forward standards continued with covers of Boogie On Reggae Woman and 2001 before Waste filled the ballad slot. A typically beautiful Slave To The Traffic Light, with a bit of added oomph at its climax ended the set. By the time Phish had encored with Good Times, Bad Times they had gone the whole show without performing anything they had debuted this century – an old-school affair through and through. The tour continues tomorrow in Atlanta.

Setlist…

Set 1: Possum, Cities > Sample in a Jar, Timber (Jerry) > Back on the Train, Lawn Boy, Down with Disease, Gumbo, Ginseng Sullivan > The Wedge, Julius > Cavern, While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Set 2: Rock and Roll^[1] -> The Lizards, Halley’s Comet > Sand > Twist^[2] > Birds of a Feather, Boogie On Reggae Woman > Also Sprach Zarathustra > Waste > Slave to the Traffic Light

Encore: Good Times Bad Times

[1] Live and Let Die teases from Trey.
[2] Oye Como Va jam.

Notes: This show was officially webcast via LivePhish. Rock and Roll contained Live and Let Die teases from Trey. Twist contained an Oye Como Va jam.

[via Phish.net]

Here’s The Skinny from Phish’s return to Oak Mountain…

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After a four-show swing through California, HT faves Phish returned to Kansas City, Missouri tonight for a near-capacity show at The Starlight Theatre marking their first show in the area since a July 17, 2003 performance at Sandstone Amphitheatre in nearby Bonner Springs, Kansas.

[Photo by Tweeprise on Instagram]

Early in the first set Phish offered their second version of Skin It Back by Little Feat this summer, a song that the band busted out after 1,417 shows back on July 3rd at Jones Beach. Later in the opening stanza the group dusted off The Ballad of Curtis Loew marking the first time this year Phish tackled the Lynyrd Skynyrd cover (the 209th distinct song played by Phish in 2012). Both Bathtub Gin and the set-closing Run Like An Antelope built to quick, ferocious peaks with relatively short jam sections while Stash was on the complete other end of the spectrum. Lasting more than 14-minutes, this Stash, which was the improvisational highlight of the set, slowly builds to a grand crescendo that climaxes over and over again.

The second set started on the upbeat side with a fine 15-minute Tweezer opener that alternated between funky minor-key and beautiful major-key segments. There’s a point towards the end of the Tweezer where all four members of the band connect on a glorious peak that lasts a few minutes and makes it a version worth seeking out. Piper only weighs in at seven-plus minutes, but the band uses the time wisely swerving between one successful improvisational idea after another. Following a quick romp through Mike’s came a run of heavy rotation staples in Bouncing Around The Room (first Mike’s > Bouncin’ combo since July 9, 1996), Backwards Down The Number Line and Heavy Things. The introspective If I Could made its third appearance of the year after going unplayed in 2010 and 2011. Weekapaug was performed at a slower tempo than usual, while Harry Hood featured a slow, majestic build up and peak. An interesting moment occurred during the Suzy Greenberg closer, especially from a band that has long shied away from politics, when drummer Jon Fishman used one of the breaks during the chorus to yell, “Todd Akin’s a neurologist” in reference to the republican candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in Missouri who got himself in hot water for his recent comments on rape and abortion. Fish even took another dig at the embattled politician later in the song, which also featured a Stairway To Heaven tease from Trey Anastasio. A Loving Cup, Tweezer Reprise encore brought the evening to a close. Phish heads to Oak Mountain in Alabama for Friday’s show which will be webcast via LivePhish.com.

Setlist…

Set 1: Chalk Dust Torture, Skin It Back, The Moma Dance > Rift > Bathtub Gin, Stash, The Ballad of Curtis Loew, Kill Devil Falls > Funky Bitch > Run Like an Antelope

Set 2: Tweezer > Piper > Mike’s Song > Bouncing Around the Room > Backwards Down the Number Line > Heavy Things, If I Could > Weekapaug Groove, Harry Hood > Suzy Greenberg^[1]

Encore: Loving Cup > Tweezer Reprise

[1] Stairway to Heaven tease from Trey.

Notes: Suzy Greenberg contained a Stairway to Heaven tease from Trey and added lyrics from Fishman: “Todd Akin is a neurologist” in reference to embattled Missouri senatorial candidate Todd Akin who made controversial comments about rape days prior to the show.

[via Phish.net]

Here’s The Skinny from the first Phish show at Starlight Theatre…

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HT faves Phish concluded a three-night stand at San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium this evening, bringing a brief, four-show swing through California that started in Long Beach to a close.

[Photo by Lee Fenyves]

The quartet came out of the gates with a series of high-energy rockers in Crowd Control, Party Time and Axilla I. A typically beautiful Reba featured fine interplay between guitarist Trey Anastasio and Page McConnell and once again was completed with the familiar whistling section. Phish kept the energy up throughout the set as Walk Away, Back On The Train and Gotta Jibboo all contained furious and impressive soloing from Anastasio. The guitarist was also “on” for another powerful Roggae jam. Despite struggling with the start of the set-closing David Bowie, the foursome recovered to deliver an above-average take on the classic.

Setlist…

Set 1: Crowd Control, Party Time, Axilla, Reba, Free > Mound > Walk Away, NICU >Back on the Train, Gotta Jibboo > Roggae, David Bowie

Set 2: Crosseyed and Painless > Light^[1] -> Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley^[2] ->Crosseyed and Painless > Theme From the Bottom > Rocky Top, Boogie On Reggae Woman > Meatstick^[3], Bug, You Enjoy Myself

Encore: Ride Captain Ride > Tweezer Reprise

[1] Crosseyed and Painless and Tweezer Reprise teases.
[2] Crosseyed and Painless tease
[3] Japanese lyrics.

Notes: This was the third of three pay per view performances.  Eleanor Rigby was teased prior to the start of the second set. Light and Sneakin’ Sally both included Crosseyed and Painless teases. Light also included a Tweezer Reprise tease. Meatstick included Japanese lyrics. Alumni was teased before Bug. Prior to Ride Captain Ride, Page said, “We had a lot of fun tonight. Thank you guys. I hope we can come back here and play again.”

Phish went with a cover of Crosseyed and Painless by Talking Heads to open the second set and used the song as a springboard to open-ended improvisation. A pretty, major-key jam developed which the band gracefully and patiently explored before seguing into Light. There was no break in the free-form rock-improv; the quartet quickly went off on an inspired journey that featured notes of calypso, funk and jazz fusion as well as an arena rock peak over the course of more than 10 fantastic minutes of jamming. The improvisational fireworks weren’t finished yet as Phish pulled off a perfect transition into Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley.

Keeping the trend from the set going, Phish rapidly brushed past the song’s structure and got to the jam. Another transcendent improvisation transpired that featured one nasty peak after another and somehow led back into a reprise of Crosseyed and Painless complete with a spacey finish. All in all, 45 minutes of glorious Phish that needs to be heard to be believed.

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The second leg of Phish Summer Tour 2012 continued tonight at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, where the band played the first of three consecutive shows at the venue. This evening marked the band’s first visit to the BGCA and their first non-festival gig within city limits since 1998.

 [CC-BY-SA-3.0/J. Ash Bowie at Wikipedia]

Phish went with the same game plan as Wednesday night’s tour opener by playing it close to the vest improvisationally in the first set before filling the start of the second set with deep exploratory jams. The quartet took both Down With Disease and Tweezer, each extending to the 15-minute mark, out for long spins and inserted many of the spacey elements found in the Long Beach Rock and Roll within tonight’s Tweezer. Surprisingly, Tweezer Reprise was not played, the first time that’s happened since a May 27, 2011 show at Bethel Woods.

Setlist…

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.”

Here’s The Skinny from Night One of Phish at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium…

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The 20-show first leg of Phish Summer Tour 2012 came to a close tonight at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, aka SPAC, in Saratoga Springs, New York. Thanks to creative setlists, fun antics and bursts of improvisational magic, Phish has delivered arguably the best tour of the era. The final show of the leg gave fans ample doses of all three elements in one marathon performance.

[Photo by Mike Wren from 7/6]

Phish went the fan-friendly, singalong route out of the gates by opening with blues-rockers AC/DC Bag and My Soul, funk anthem Camel Walk and the pop-y Sample In A Jar. The band continued to play to the energy in the room with a well-executed take on Wilson and an absolutely scorching Party Time that featured a nasty solo from guitarist Trey Anastasio. A quick run through Gumbo led to the tour’s second Nellie Cane. Next up was our first 2012 debut of the evening, Driver, which was last performed 60 shows ago at MSG on December 30, 2010. Another rare ballad, If I Could, followed soon thereafter which marked the first time Phish has played the beautiful original twice on one leg of a tour since Fall ’95. Split Open and Melt served as the improvisational meat of the set as the quartet patiently built the evil jam to a strong peak. The biggest surprise of the opening stanza came at the end, when Phish dusted off their cover of ZZ Top’s La Grange for the first time since September 22, 1999 (301 shows), the 204th different song the Vermonters had played on the tour.

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Phish returned to Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York this evening for their penultimate show of Summer Tour 2012 – Leg One. Tonight’s second set continued the trend of performances from this tour that have put the fun side of Phish’s music on display.

[Photo by Mike Wren from July 6]

Having come into the evening with only two songs to go to reach the 200 different songs mark that keyboardist Page McConnell mentioned to Rolling Stone last month, Phish delivered #199 right away by opening with the a capella Undermind track Grind. It wouldn’t be a multi-night run without a Possum and the band obliged by offering the eighth version of the Jeff Holdsworth-penned original this tour. After a run of staples in Golgi and The Moma Dance, the quartet took another stab at The Rolling Stones’ Exile On Main Street scorcher Torn and Frayed. The song’s Drifting-like jam fits Phish like a glove as it did this evening – here’s hoping Torn and Frayed remains in the rotation. With that, we were back to heavy-rotation favorites as Rift and a cover of Cities by Talking Heads came next. Guitarist Trey Anastasio and keyboardist Page McConnell were settling in on a dirty funk groove during the third Cities of the tour when drummer Jon Fishman suddenly dropped out and started Maze. Page and Trey kept going with their staccato trilling over the Maze beat, but eventually waved the white towel. They each imparted a bit of the creativity they showed in the segue within their sizzling Maze solos. McConnell was also in the spotlight for the Lawn Boy that followed. A tight romp through Frank Zappa’s Peaches En Regalia led into the set closing combo of a blazing Mike-led Bathtub Gin and a rare first set Good Times Bad Times (last one happened 30 miles away in Albany on December 1, 2003). An uneventful first set song selection and improvisation wise, but the band played with fire.

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Phish @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center, July 6 

Photos: Mike Wren

We’ve reached the final stop on the first leg of Phish Summer Tour 2012 as the band returned to SPAC tonight for the first of three shows at the Saratoga Springs, New York venue. This evening marked Phish’s ninth gig at the shed which they first played on July 27, 1992.

[All Photos by Mike Wren]

Be sure to follow @bizarchive for live commentary.

Phish has raised the bar high for first sets over the past week, so it was a bit surprising that they decided to open the show, and the run, with a string of heavy-rotation staples. That said, songs such as Runaway Jim, Ocelot and Back On The Train each featured strong work by guitarist Trey Anastasio. When Tube started you couldn’t help but think the audience was in line for another five-minute rocker, but thankfully Trey quickly worked his solo into a cover of Psycho Killer by the Talking Heads. Psycho Killer, our 196th different song of the tour, was last played in Hartford on August 14, 2009. After singing the first verse and the chorus, the quartet slickly segued back into Tube to screams of appreciation from the crowd.

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