Tonight Phish moved on to the second stop of Summer Tour 2011 and one that is familiar to both fans and the band – the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ. Located a short drive from guitarist Trey Anastasio’s hometown of Princeton, Phish first performed at what was then the Garden State Arts Center as part of the H.O.R.D.E. tour on July 11, 1992 and have since returned six times before this week’s two-night stand.
[via PNC Bank Arts Center Facebook Page]
The band came out of the gates by crafting a first set filled with high-energy, arena rock favorites including Chalk Dust Torture, Punch You In The Eye, The Moma Dance and Divided Sky. Anastasio dedicated a straight forward yet strong version of Sand to “Max” before struggling through The Divided Sky later in the set. Trey had such issues with the complex tune that he gave up at one point and urged the crowd to sing his part.
There were no trainwrecks in set two as the quartet put together a tight, engaging second stanza that started with a cover of J.J. Cale’s After Midnight and featured an exploratory jam out of Drowned before ending with the tour’s first YEM. Outside of Alaska, the newest original played on this night, Sand, was debuted in 1999. Phish returns to the PNC Bank Arts Center tomorrow. READ ON for the setlist and for “The Skinny”…