Phish @ Alpine Valley, August 14
Phish’s stop at Alpine Valley in East Troy, WI this past Saturday and Sunday was setup for success with its placement near the end of the group’s summer tour. The quartet, like most bands, typically gets better with each passing show, so it’s no surprise that the band turned in two sizzling performances at the familiar shed that’s a regular summer stop for them.
[All photos by John Schulze]
Unlike Deer Creek it didn’t take much time for Phish to achieve consistency at Alpine. Coming out with Tube was a strong statement and the band nailed it, though once again the tune came to a close after an all-too-short jam. A tight Oh Kee Pah followed and went into another raging version of Suzy Greenberg in which keyboardist Page McConnell laid down some nasty licks on the Moog. Bassist Mike Gordon – the MVP of the run, the tour and 3.0 for that matter – slapped the living shit out of his bass drawing all sorts of smiles from guitarist Trey Anastasio and cheers from the crowd. The applause was still going as Mike stepped to the mic to sing Funky Bitch.
Not only did this show start with fun and well-placed song selections, the band was tight and wasn’t rushing through tunes. This patience paid dividends in a gorgeous Reba that like most of the rest of the Alpine shows was light on the “whale calls.” Mike and Trey locked in a number of inventive patterns of notes while McConnell layered electric piano underneath and drummer Jon Fishman kept things moving. For the 99.9% of the crowd who weren’t at Charlotte in July, our first Fuck Your Face came next and once folks realized what they were hearing they flipped. Despite only performing Fuck Your Face once since about 1987, the boys delivered a tight and nasty version that featured metal licks from Trey with a crunchy tone reminiscent of his early sound. READ ON for more on Phish @ Alpine Valley…
