Phish @ Deer Creek – Night Two: Setlist

Thirty minutes later – got to love these shorter setbreaks – Gordon stepped to the mic and kicked off the a capella intro to Halley’s Comet. Once again Halley’s Comet was neutered before a jam got started. Outside of the Fox last summer, the consistent aborting of the Halley’s jam has been a major disappointment of ’10. The group’s latest jam vehicle, Light, featured some of the most exploratory full-band exploration of the evening. After jamming on the song’s chords for a bit Mike Gordon pushed his band mates into ambiance with impressive results. For a few minutes the quartet totally veered from any kind of structure mixing dissonance with the occasional melodic idea. 46 Days is another tune that often leads to off-the-beaten-path improv but the boys kept things more focused on the song’s arena rock sensibilities instead of jumping off into deep space.

Set I: Chalkdust Torture, Guelah Papyrus, My Sweet One, Axilla, I Didn’t Know, Walls of the Cave, Stash, Train Song > Backwards Down The Number Line, Ocelot, The Ballad of Curtis Loew, Wilson, Possum

Set II: Halley’s Comet > Light, 46 Days, Maze, Meatstick* > The Mango Song, Fluffhead > Julius

E: Contact > Slave to the Traffic Light

* Dave’s Energy Guide tease by Page

The most interesting part of the show came in the middle of the second set once Meatstick hit its stride. Just past a reading of the Japanese lyrics and a Fire On The Mountain-esque solo, Trey slyly worked the opening riff of Mango in at the pace of the Meatstick solo. Instead of immediately falling into line, McConnell challenged Trey and offered more atmospheric melodies on the synth. Anastasio kept on repeating the Mango intro as Page played the theme of old, long-dormant instrumental Dave’s Energy Guide before finally hopping on piano to join in on Mango. An impressive, interesting segue in a summer filled with terrible transitions.

With crowd and band feeding off each other at this point after a fun romp through Mango, Fluffhead came at the perfect time. Cheers and adulation greeted the start of each section of the tune and you might have thought the roof was about to blow when Fish hit the woodblock riff that signals the start of Fluff’s Arrival. Julius gave Trey one more chance to rip it up and he was ready, willing and able.

For the encore Contact and Slave to the Traffic Light were both tips of the hat to the travel ahead as the tour moves across the Midwest to Alpine Valley. Overall, while Deer Creek ’10 started on a down note with a terrible set on Thursday, the quartet dusted off the cobwebs and delivered three memorable sets to make the run a winner. We’ll continue our coverage of the tour tomorrow from East Troy, Wisconsin.

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5 Responses

  1. You mentioned they started with a “terrible set on Thursday”. You think that maybe those “cobwebs” had anything to do with playing their arses off 2 days in a row at 9000 ft. altitude right before Deer Creek? Think we can cut ’em just a little slack? Geesh…

  2. This is a dumb review from someone who lacks knowledge of Phish! Go do a tour before you profess some knowledge of Phish! Phuckin Custie!

  3. The auther of this post def knows his shit. I met him at fest 8. There is no doubt he knows the band inside and out.

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