Phish Long Beach Arena Setlist and The Skinny
HT faves Phish played their first indoor show in California since early 2003 tonight when they kicked off the second leg of Summer Tour 2012 at the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, Calif. The Long Beach Arena is one of five venues that will host Phish for the first time during the 13-show run.
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New Phish fan Justin Bieber learned a lesson at his first show that has taken other fans years to learn – you can’t always judge a show by its setlist. While an uneventful opening stanza gave the band a chance to get their legs under them following a five-week layoff, the second set started with powerful and exploratory versions of Rock and Roll and Ghost that set the bar high on an improvisational level for the next two weeks. Clocking in at 25 minutes, the second-set opening Rock and Roll checked off both the “quantity” AND “quality” boxes. The Ghost that came next featured a vicious Trey-led peak which made the crowd go nuts. So while this opening show may not feature any bust outs or setlist antics, the beginning of the second set and the unusual Harry Hood which came later made it a fine showing in Long Beach for Phish.
Setlist…
Set 1: Suzy Greenberg, Cities > Kill Devil Falls[1], Guelah Papyrus, Cool It Down, Rift, Stash, Bouncing Around the Room > Bathtub Gin, Quinn the Eskimo
Set 2: Rock and Roll > Ghost[2] > Limb By Limb, Guyute, Dirt, Harry Hood > Good Times Bad Times
Encore: Julius
[1] Whole Lotta Love tease.
[2] Roggae tease and quote.
Notes: Kill Devil Falls contained a tease from Trey of Whole Lotta Love. The jam at the end of Ghost included a Roggae tease and (vocal) quote from Fish.
[via Phish.net]
Here’s The Skinny for Phish at Long Beach Arena…
- Venue Capacity / Attendance / Type: 13,500 / 13,121 / Indoor Arena
- Previous Shows at Venue: Phish Has Never Played Long Beach Arena Before Tonight
- Number Of Songs / Length – First Set: 10 / 8:18PM – 9:33PM (75 Minutes)
- Number Of Songs / Length – Second Set & Encore: 8 / 10:09PM – 11:41PM (92 minutes)
- Total Number of Songs / Covers / Originals: 18 / 5 / 13
- Biggest Bustout: Guyute – 13 shows
- Debuts: N/A
- Weather: 74°F and Partly Cloudy at Showtime
- Wardrobe: Trey – Jeans and Grey T-Shirt w/ Light Grey Jacket, Mike – Black Sleeveless T-Shirt and Jeans, Page – Navy Short-Sleeve Button Down Shirt and Jeans / Fish – Dress
- Average Song Gap: 4.5
- The Spread: Lawn Boy – 2, Picture of Nectar – 2, Rift – 1, Story of the Ghost – 3, Farmhouse – 1, Hoist – 1, Joy – 1, Misc. – 2, Covers – 5,
- Longest LivePhish Track / Shortest LivePhish Track: Rock and Roll (25:27) / Dirt (4:50)
- Audio: Live Phish
Poster…
Scott Bernstein
Scott Bernstein co-founded Hidden Track in October 2006 and was managing editor until taking over as EiC in January 2008. Scotty also writes for Relix Magazine and curates YEMblog.com.
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8000 ppl? Whoa!
Yeah, 8000 sounds about right. The floor was full, the seats not so much. Really, Phish should be playing the Greek (6,000) for two nights. Didn’t see many out-of-state plates in the parking lot, I think they’re up in SF already.
Trey was fantastic tonight, a virtuoso in total command of his instrument. Highlights: a fiery Stash, a Gin that really went places with Trey leading the way, a 25 min RnR that was mostly space (though I felt Fish could have taken it in a more rock direction but he declined), an almost note perfect Guyute and an absolutely gorgeous Dirt.
A fine tour kick-off show, the crowd came to listen and was in great voice all night.
Im wonderin if that was the first Suzy opener since mid 90′s maybe 95! Any confirmation on last Suzy opener?
Actually meant think ot might be the 1st suzy show opener since 95
Moecigars, 12/14/95, Binghamton NY, good memory! It was a fairly common opener in the 80′s and early 90′s.
The show started well, but the venue was kind of lame.
As a Californian, the outdoor shows are the best way to see phish in the state- the long beach arena is a WNBA stadium that is shaped like a toilet seat- which affected the sound. Definite echo and odd mixing – especially during mike and page’s backing vocals.
and whereas the first set featured some great interplay and song selection, set 2 put nearly half of the seated section where we were to sleep – as the 25 minute jams did not excite too many people at 10:30- the way they would have an hour earlier
The thing about long beach – and California in general- is that the venue was hard to get to and the roads were lethal on the way home- lots of DUI cops on the freeways.
(written from jail)
This was a really solid show. The band was in mid-season form from the outset. Each member had several MVP moments. The first half of the second set went deep…well below the water line which was nice since it is shark week and we were in a venue with whales painted on it…I really enjoyed it and look forward to a second listen. The first set was strong too. The band had no rust and came out swinging. The KDF is scorching. Guelah! Good sign for the tour to come.
The venue was a old school to say the least, but the vibe was great. I too would have rather been at the Santa Barbara Bowl, but LA shows are risky for the band…financially. They probably got a great deal on a venue with whales pained on it. But odd since they sold out the Hollywood Bowl just a year ago (with the help of some savvy scalpers). All in all a very solid show.
Sweet show. definitely better than I expected for a tour opener. and also, probably, the best LA-area show the band has ever played. they usually don’t go Type 2 experimental in SoCal shows, but they really blew the roof off with that epic 25 minute R&R. Tub, Stash, Ghost and Hood were also sublime.
Biggest problem… the venue. I could not find a bottle of water for sale in the entire joint. But they had enough Lemonade to drown a herd of elephants. very strange. the floor was very roomy– extremely packed up front, with some surly fans– but it loosened up considerably halfway back.
It was hot as balls in there, too. Whatever happened to OUTDOOR shows in SoCal? In the summertime, no less? Phish should be playing the Greek in LA, for a couple nites. Re-establish the fanbase in this area. Because clearly they can deliver the goods.
“lots of DUI cops on the freeways”
Good! People who drive wasted deserve to be arrested. I went sober last night because I couldn’t get anyone to go with me/act as a driver.
“I too would have rather been at the Santa Barbara Bowl, but LA shows are risky for the band…financially”
Of course they’re risky, they’ve ignored this whole area (San Diego to Ventura aka Southern California) for most of the time since they’ve been back in 2009 and they weren’t great about it before that either. Sure, they played Festival 8 in Indio but otherwise they’ve played ONE show in Southern California since they came back in 2009, at the Hollywood Bowl and then they play an indoor place *during the summer* that’s hardly ever used for concerts any more (with good reason, though I’ve seen some amazing shows there) instead of booking at the Greek or the Bowl or Irvine.
Glad to see I am not the only one who is bummed Phish played in Long Beach. Venue (which I would guess had about 11,000 in it) is truly a toilet. Just grateful I got to see Phish at all this year. Fingers crossed they bless the southland with a 3 night run at the Greek next summer.