Phish Alpine Valley Setlist and The Skinny – Night One

With only three stops remaining, we’ve headed into the home stretch of Phish Summer Tour 2012 – Leg One. Tonight, Phish returned to Alpine Valley in East Troy, Wisconsin. The group first played the huge amphitheatre on August 10, 1996 and have visited the venue on each summer tour since with the exception of 2011. Memorable performances include a quadruple encore on July 24, 1999 and the shows that led to the release of Live Phish Vol. 5 (July 8, 2000) and Phish – Alpine Valley 2010 (August 14 and 15, 2010).

[Photo by Joe Ringus for Hidden Track]

Phish kicked off a cover-heavy opening set with the swampy blues of My Soul and bluegrass spiritual Daniel Saw The Stone, last played on June 11, 2011 (40 shows). Standard romps through staples AC/DC Bag, The Moma Dance and Runaway Jim begat another tour debut, the Stones’ Let It Loose which had only been performed twice before tonight (August 16, 2011 at UIC Pavilion in Chicago and at Festival 8 in Indio, California on October 31, 2009). Our second Reba of the summer, complete with a typically beautiful jam and the relatively rare whistling ending, came next. More covers came after Sloth, Ocelot and Poor Heart with the tour debut of When The Circus Comes and another take on Timber. The classic Oh Kee Pa > Suzy Greenberg pairing brought the set to a close.

[Photo from @Phish_FTR]

The quartet strung together one high-energy heavy-rotation classic after another to form the bulk of Set Two. A short, even by the song’s standards, Backwards Down The Number Line opener gave way to Carini. Carini was the first song of the night to feature out-of-the-box jamming, but there would be more funk-laden, Page-led improvisation during a cover of Golden Age. Page and Trey helped work a transition out of the groovy Golden Age jam into a brief but bold 2001. The covers kept coming with Rock and Roll, the third Velvet Underground cover in the last three shows. Following a romp through the solo, Trey summoned his band mates off-the-beaten path towards a majestic jam space that quickly became a highlight of the night. Out of the gorgeous improv came the tour’s first version of Phish’s only original debuted in 2011, Steam, last seen shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve when dancers levitated above the crowd at Madison Square Garden. Steam melted into a spacey interlude that eventually worked its way into Piper, another improvisational highlight filled with a few interesting turns in different directions. When a cover of Bob Dylan’s Quinn The Eskimo ended, Phish finally took a pause for the first time all set, 70 minutes into the closing stanza. Standard versions of Harry Hood and Character Zero were tacked on for good measure. Another cover – Led Zeppelin’s Good Times, Bad Times – served as encore. Phish returns to Alpine tomorrow.

Setlist…

Set 1: My Soul, Daniel Saw the Stone, AC/DC Bag > The Moma Dance, Runaway Jim, Let It Loose,Reba, Kill Devil Falls, The Sloth, Ocelot, Poor Heart, When the Circus Comes, Timber (Jerry) > The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony > Suzy Greenberg

Set 2: Backwards Down the Number Line > Carini > Wilson > Golden Age -> Also Sprach Zarathustra> Rock and Roll^[1] > Steam > Piper > Quinn the Eskimo, Harry Hood > Character Zero^[2]

Encore: Good Times Bad Times

[1] Dirt teases.
[2] Streets of Cairo teases and a Jean Pierre tease from Trey.

Notes: Rock and Roll contained Dirt teases. Character Zero featured Streets of Cairo teases and a Jean Pierre tease from Trey.

[via Phish.net]

Here’s The Skinny for Phish at Alpine Valley…

[Photo from @Phish_FTR]

• Venue Capacity / Attendance / Type: 37,000 / 30,000 (Estimate) / Amphitheater
• Previous Shows at Venue: 13 Shows – 08/10/1996, 08/09/1997, 08/01/1998, 07/24/1999, 07/08/2000, 07/18/2003, 07/19/2003, 06/25/2004, 06/26/2004, 06/20/2009, 06/21/2009, 08/14/2010, 08/15/2010
• Number Of Songs / Length – First Set: 15 / 7:51 PM – 9:22 PM (91 Minutes)
• Number Of Songs / Length – Second Set & Encore: 12 / 9:59 PM – 11:34 PM (95 Minutes)
• Total Number of Songs / Covers / Originals: 27 / 10 / 17
• Biggest Bustout: Daniel Saw The Stone – 40 Shows (LTP – 06/11/2011)
• Debuts: N/A
• Weather: 88° and Sunny at Showtime
• Wardrobe: Trey – Red and Grey Striped T-Shirt and Jeans / Mike – Grey Short-Sleeve Polo w. Suspenders and Jeans / Page – Navy Short-Sleeve Button-Down and Jeans / Fish – Dress
• Average Song Gap: 10.37
• The Spread: Lawn Boy – 2, Picture of Nectar – 1, Billy Breathes – 1, Story of the Ghost – 1, Farmhouse – 1, Joy – 3, Misc. – 8, Covers – 10,
• Longest LivePhish Track / Shortest LivePhish Track: Reba 13:11 / The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony 1:46
• Audio: Live Phish

[Photo by Joe Ringus for Hidden Track]

Poster…