Phish’s first night at Saratoga Springs seemed to exceed the expectations of most, with the band showing they hadn’t missed a beat in their time off, putting together a solid show with a variety of memorable spots. For the second night in the popular venue, the band continued on a similar trend of consistency, while sprinkling in some interesting placements and another Phish debut.
The first set was relatively standard, continuing the new SPAC night 2 tradition of a ‘Crowd Control’ opener before a raging ‘Chalkdust Torture’ to really get the crowd started. The first big surprise of the night was an interestingly placed ‘Bug’, mid first set, which made the song feel like it was being pushed a little harder. The next was a ‘Tube’ that, while similar to some of the longer versions of this era in length, felt like it contained some real inspired jamming. The real star of the set was the closing ‘Split Open And Melt’, which is absolutely worth a second listen.
The problem with ‘Backwards Down The Number Line’ is the song’s placement. It debuted as the first song of the second set in Phish’s first 2009 Hampton show after their return from break up, and the song has been given prominent placement in the second set and encores since. The song is fine, it’s fun, and there have been some awesome jams within certain versions – but in that opening slot after a fifteen minute set break, the song is usually a let down.
I’m sure many would have preferred the set just start with the ‘Tweezer’ that followed, which probably would have been more appropriate. While the venue did feel like it was about to explode, there was nothing really within this jam to make it stick out, especially after several top notch ‘Tweezer’s last year. The ‘Sand’ that followed created the nice (and I believe first time) one-two punch of ‘Tweezer>Sand’, but, again, there wasn’t much to really make it feel special and unique.
‘Carini’, however, was a whole different story. The song is clearly becoming one of the bands’ favorites to get weird during, and this one was no exception. The hard rock riff and the breaks that allow Mike to drop enormous bass bombs allows tension to build and release so often. The guys have been killing this song, and it may have been the highlight of the show.
The rest of the show was fairly solid – the Phish debut of “Architect’ from Trey’s latest solo album, ‘Traveler’, came out of Carini but didn’t exactly get a huge reaction. The ‘Wilson>Boogie On’ segment was a lot of fun, and the random placement of ‘Possum’ at the end of the second set almost made the song sound fresh. The somewhat predictable encore of ‘Show Of Life>Tweezer Reprise’ energetically closed down the night.
Watch the Show Below:
[courtesy of mkdevo]
Setlist:
Set 1: Crowd Control > Chalk Dust Torture, The Wedge, Funky Bitch, Heavy Things, Bug, Bouncing Around the Room, Tube > Julius, Split Open and Melt
Set 2: Backwards Down the Number Line > Tweezer > Sand > Carini[1] ->Architect[2], Wilson > Boogie On Reggae Woman > Possum
Encore: Show of Life > Tweezer Reprise
[1] Meatstick tease from Mike.
[2] Phish debut.
Performers: Trey Anastasio, Page McConnell, Jon Fishman, Mike Gordon
Notes: This show featured the Phish debut of Architect. Carini contained a Meatstick tease from Mike.
This show was part of the “2013 Summer Tour.”
[courtesy of Phish.net]
