All you need to know about Phish’s first of two shows at Jones Beach.
Recap, setlist and The Skinny from the second show of Phish Summer Tour 2012 at the DCU Center.
Phish kicked off Summer Tour 2012 at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass.
Phish kicked off the second leg of their summer tour tonight at the iconic Gorge Amphitheatre in George, WA for the first of two shows. The quartet first performed at The Gorge in 1997 and has played a total of five two-night stands (’97, ’98, ’99, ’03 & ’09) leading up to this year. We’ll have a full review and photo set from Friday night’s show later this weekend, but in the meantime we’ve shared some facts, thoughts and images from the show.
The first set of the tour was heavy on the songs with 12 tunes performed in total and somewhat light on improv with Bathtub Gin, David Bowie and surprisingly Roggae standing out. Roggae was described by YEMblogger/HT staffer Andy Kahn as “the best Roggae ever” featuring a “minimal/blues/funk jam.” Phish stuck to heavy rotation favorites for the most part with Walk Away, a song they’ve already played this year, being the biggest bustout of the set with a 21-song gap since last played. According to Kahn it didn’t take long for the group to warm up having noted “no rust” and “patient jam(s)” in both Bathtub and Bowie. He felt guitarist Trey Anastasio was in fine form, “cocky in the best possible way.”
For the second set, Phish came out of the gates with another song from Joy to open and this time it was Backwards Down The Number Line. A 20-minute take on Velvet Underground’s Rock and Roll displayed some of the lessons the band learned during the Super Ball IX Storage Jam as Page McConnell took to the theremin leading the group to settle on what Kahn described as a “Moma Dance-esque groove.” All in all this most exploratory part of tonight’s show to Kahn was “ambient, dark [and] groovy” and showed that “patient jamming continues.” Eventually the ensemble landed in a jam space that was equal parts spacey, funky with disco overtones out of which Meatstick commenced.
This wasn’t a typical Meatstick as it was extended and showcased bassist Mike Gordon. Page returned to the clav, Mike kicked in his Akai Deep Impact bass synth and soon Phish completed a “great segue” into Boogie On Reggae Woman. The closing stanza had so much potential as Phish toyed and extended Boogie On. Rock and Roll -> Meatstick -> Boogie On Reggae Woman was clearly the biggest take-away sequence from the show and should be the first listen for fans who download/stream recordings of the tour opener. Two ballads followed (Farmhouse and Show of Life) before the group ended the set with two high-energy crowd pleasers (Julius and Character Zero). Phish went with a Stones cover in the encore slot – the sixth Loving Cup of 2011. Leg two of Summer Tour 2011 continues tomorrow night at The Gorge.
READ ON for the setlist, The Skinny and much more…
For this edition of our stat-heavy Number Line column, we’ve enlisted the help of Billy “Sweet River” Hollems for an in-depth look at the Allman Brothers Band’s March Madness run “on paper.” Each year, Hollems puts together a comprehensive list detailing all the sit-ins, songs played and setlists for the AllmanBrothersBand.com forums and this time around he’s kindly sharing the stats with our readers.
[Photo by Rob Chapman]
So without further ado, here’s the ABB Beacon Run ’11 final tally…
THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND
BEACON THEATER, NEW YORK CITY 2011
March 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 2010
BACK AT THE BEACON WHERE THEY BELONG
Gregg Allman
Butch Trucks
Jaimoe
Warren Haynes
Marc Quinones
Oteil Burbridge
Derek Trucks
The Sweet River Compilation Lists
TOTAL SHOWS: 13
TOTAL DIFFERENT SONGS: 82
TOTAL SONGS PLAYED: 210
TOTAL SONGS PLAYED 1X: 28
TOTAL SONGS PLAYED 2X: 12
TOTAL SONGS PLAYED 3X: 20
TOTAL SONGS PLAYED 4X: 15
TOTAL SONGS PLAYED 5X: 5
TOTAL SONGS PLAYED 6X: 2
TOTAL SONGS PLAYED 7X: 1
TOTAL DIFFERENT GUESTS: 51
READ ON for a list of songs divided by times played, a full list of guests and every Allman Brothers Band March Madness 2011 setlist…
Our first list of Phish Summer Tour stats was so popular that we figured we’d share some more statistics from the recently completed tour…
[Photo by Adam Kaufman]
143 – Total Number of Songs Played First Leg
139 – Total Number of Songs Played 2nd Leg
38 – Songs Played Leg I But Not Leg 2 (MSO, Nothing, Sand, Scent, CurtisLoew, Connection, TMWSIY, Walk Away, Timber, WhenTheCactus, Wading, ASIHTOS, Bug, Frankenstein, HelloMaBaby, Julius, Lizards, Anthem, Twist, Avenu, Aof1, Bike, Bobby Jean, Brother, Buried, Contact, DogFaced, FEFY, Fire, Frankie, FBitch, GloryDays, IfICould, Lengthwise, McGrupp, Meatstick, Mustang Sally)
36 – Total Number of Covers Played
34 – Songs Played Leg II But Not Leg I (BoaBH, Esther, MofR, O!SNuthin, CWith, AnyButMe, Axilla, BBreathes, Bittersweet, Carini, CTB, Catapult, Forbins, Crowd Control, Dinner and A Movie, Drums, FFMockingbird, HaHaHa, Harpua, IBAround, IKissedAGirl, Icculus, It’s Ice, Llama, Mound, Party Time, Paul and Silas, Pebbles and Marbles, Psycho Killer, Roses, Sally, Mango, Sloth, WindyCity) READ ON for more stats from Phish Summer Tour 2009…
