The second leg of Summer Tour 2011 continued tonight as Phish returned to the Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harvey’s in Stateline, Nevada for the second of two shows in the mountain town.
[Photo via @TeaJewelry]
The Anastasio/Marshall-penned Dogs Stole Things opened tonight’s show. Having last been performed on July 12, 2003, Dogs Stole is the biggest bust out of the leg thus far. A theme of stealing emerged to start the show with Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan and Poor Heart coming next. Even Alaska, which followed the opening trifecta, has a line about theft keeping the theme going. Fans hoping for another jammed out Halley’s Comet ala Bethel will have to wait as this evening’s version was a quick one. That trend kept up throughout the set; even Stash didn’t get far out there and Tahoe attendees might have witnessed the shortest Ya Mar yet. A pair of covers – Son Seals’ Funky Bitch and Instant Karma! by John Lennon – led into a relatively tame Run Like An Antelope closer.
The beginning of the second set featured one “big jam” song after another done in “hit it and quit it” style. While the Down With Disease that kicked off set two didn’t stray far from the song’s main foundation, the Runaway Jim that followed did get out there and also contained another staccato jam in between verses. A highlight of the closing stanza, this Jim should be your first listen when you get the recording. Ghost, which started with an arena rock shredfest and ended in a dark, spacy part of town, emerged out of Runaway Jim. Golden Age was also chock full of energy as was 2001. All in all, the dream setlist sequence of Disease > Runaway Jim > Ghost -> Golden Age > 2001, Sneakin’ Sally which opened the second set ran a mere 50 minutes.
You Enjoy Myself had been missing in action this tour and wasn’t performed at Super Ball IX. The Phish staple finally found its way back to the stage this evening to close the set. Despite the long layoff, the ensemble handled the composed sections with aplomb leading to an intense solo from Anastasio. In keeping with the theme of the show, Trey’s solo was short but sweet. The tender Show of Life and a rockin’ cover of Led Zeppelin’s Good Times, Bad Times served as the stamp on the first Phish shows in Lake Tahoe.
- Previously on HT: Lake Tahoe Night One – Phish
READ ON for the setlist and The Skinny from Tahoe…
Last night was the first of two Phish webcasts from the Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys in Stateline Nevada. We asked fans tuning in to tweet pictures of their #couchtour setups to @Hidden_Track, with the winner receiving Steve Conroy’s show poster. Several good submissions have rolled in but there’s still time, so send @Hidden_Track a snapshot of your #couchtour rig and you just might win a poster to add to the ambiance of your room.
The folks behind the webcast, Nugs.net, gave a glimpse of what is arguably the sickest setup possible:
READ ON for the couch tour pics sent in so far…
Another night, another new venue for Phish as the HT faves headed to the Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena for the first of two performances in the mountain town. These shows are being webcast on LivePhish.com leading to fans to speculate as to whether the broadcast would have an impact on the band’s performance. Would they play a “greatest hits” show or would they jam? We got a little of each tonight, but certainly more improvisation than the last shows which were webcast – Alpharetta – as the quartet threw down an exceptional 17-minute Light in the second set.
[Unofficial Lake Tahoe Poster by Steve Conroy]
After an uplifting opening segment of Party Time, Oh Kee Pa Ceremony > AC/DC Bag and Mellow Mood kicked off the set, guitarist Trey Anastasio struggled to find his footing in the composed sections of Rift, Punch You In The Eye and Horn. The first Meat of 2011 was an example of how Phish dug deeper into their catalog in the opening stanza as compared to the first three shows of the leg. David Bowie featured the first exploration of the night and was highlighted by a beautiful but short major-key jam. A blazing 46 Days that didn’t stray too far out of the box closed the set.
The second slot in the second set seems to indicate “jam” in the 3.0 formula. This slot has hosted many of the wildest explorations of the era and that was the case again tonight when Light came out of a wild and wooly Gotta Jibboo. Light was used as a springboard to a lengthy trip to the unknown often in 2009 and 2010, but in 2011 its role was for quick and dirty jams. That started to change back in Watkins Glen and Light returned to its former glory tonight. This jam wasn’t a Trey shredfest – all four members made important contributions to keep the psychedelia flowing for over 10 minutes. Page McConnell made ample use of the synthesizers in his arsenal while Anastasio added effect-laden layers to mesh with the rhythm section. At times the jam hinted at Timber Ho and Undermind but the “ripcord” was never pulled. READ ON for the rest of the recap, the setlist, The Skinny, photos, tweets and much more on Phish in Tahoe…
Following webcasts of sold out shows from Madison Square Garden and the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, Phish will once again offer pay-per-view broadcasts on Aug. 9 and 10 from
Phish rolls into Lake Tahoe for a pair of shows on August 9 and 10 adjacent to the Harvey’s Resort and Casino. Before the second show, on August 10, the
Heavenly Mountain Resort straddles the California/Nevada border and offers several dozen trails for any level of skier and snowboarder, all with a regal view of Lake Tahoe that
