Welcome back to the second leg of summer tour, Phish fans! This will be a necessarily abbreviated recap so that the recapper may make tracks up the coast of California (“must be somewhere over here”). Let’s get right to it.
Long Beach Arena was far less than full last night as the band took the stage just after 8:15. A rare opening “Suzy Greenberg” starts us off, the first time it had opened a shows since the famous 12/14/95 show immortalized on Live Phish 1. The set then settles into a pleasant if uneventful segment featuring “Cities” > “Kill Devil Falls” and a well-executed “Guelah Papyrus.” “Cool it Down” seems to be easing its way into the rotation and featured an extended ending – not quite “type II” but definitely a little added spice; the band clearly loves this groove.
A mostly tight “Rift” is followed by a typically awesome if more-or-less standard “Stash.” “Bouncing” provides some breathing space before the first set highlight, “Bathtub Gin.” Patient and soaring in the climax, this version doesn’t stand out from others of recent vintage – as so many have been awesome – but nevertheless delivers the goods. “Quinn the Eskimo” sends this set home in fine fashion. A first set to write home about? Not so much, but the set improved as it progressed and was a great second-leg warm-up.
The second frame would be a rather different affair. Starting out innocently enough with “Rock and Roll,” little did we know we were about to jump off the cliff into the unknown. Dispensing with the main theme fairly quickly this jam – or, rather, the multitude of jams contained in this single segment – was patient, thoughtful, psychedelic, exploratory and just simply awesome. Every time a musical thought was completed and (as has so often been the case in 3.0) the next of a dozen songs was up on deck, instead another corner would be turned revealing a new layer. After one of the longest jams of 3.0 (sorry, our crack research team and/or our readers will help me on this in the comments, I’m sure), the fun doesn’t stop, with “Ghost.” Always pregnant with possibilities, this one does not disappoint. Like all good “Ghosts” this one ceased being “Ghost” and inherited the collective wisdom of the band and the room and the moment... it blew this listener’s mind, not an easily accomplished task. When the dust settled on this opening ~40-minute combo, what is left is one of the most impressive extended improvisational segments offered by Phish since their 2009 return to the stage. Hear it now. Don’t walk... run. Seriously.
“Limb By Limb” grounds us back to “reality” but not in a jarring or disappointing manner at all. Paired with “Guyute” mid-set wouldn’t have been my call, but that shows what I know, as it actually turned out to offer an excellent flow in the set. While not for everyone, “Dirt” also seemed to be placed not just well, but brilliantly. The energy arc was set for one final climax, first through an exploratory (~14 min) “Harry Hood” that was a thrilling counter-point to so many 3.0 late second sets (or “fourth quarters”) that seem to go through the motions. Despite the improvisational behemoth of the “R&R” > “Ghost” there was still something left in the tank for “Harry.” “Good Times Bad Times” throws the hammer down on this spectacular set, and a “Julius” encore sends the fans home happy.
For those only here for the music, thanks for reading and be on with your day. While we at phish.net try to keep the focus on the stage, we’d be remiss not to mention a guest in the building, Justin Bieber. Curiously, he and his crew happened to land precisely where this reviewer and his crew were set up, directly to the right of Chris Kuroda’s light rig, where they remained for the majority of the show. During “Suzy” some security guys come barreling in and we're thinking and giving indications of “dude WTF this is our space" but the situation settled quickly. It was a kid out having fun with his girlfriend and some of his buddies, no big deal. They were totally chill and perfectly fine. They hung out and danced and tossed glow sticks and flirted like teenagers. My attention was fixed on the stage, but to the degree I noticed he seemed genuinely into the music. I give the kid props – just some dude at a Phish show having fun.
In sum – good times, Long Beach. Let’s mobilize this party on up the coast. We’ll see y’all in San Francisco tomorrow night!
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But yeah, terrific second set for sure! I too felt the Dirt was perfectly placed (anyone else notice Dirt teases in Ghost - say starting around 9:00?)
And the Rock & Roll was a treat...just. kept. going.
The R&R > Ghost was like peeling back an eternal onion. I couldn't believe how many different permutations they explored. At the time I was thinking that as a single "suite" of jams it was on par with the Waves soundcheck. Not sure if that will hold up when I give it a second listen today.
as tour openers go, i'm very pleased with how last night went. wish I could follow the boys up to the Bay.
I was in front of the soundboard, great group of people around me. Didn't know Justin Bieber was there, after seeing all the celebrities at the Hollywood Bowl --they sure as hell aren't going to Long Beach on a Wednesday-- funny he'd show up in the LB.
My impression of the show matches pretty much with pzerbo's. I was expecting kinda ragged "first show of tour" playing but they all played well. Trey was consistently good all night --he even played the Mr. Miner part in Hood correctly!-- a virtuoso at the top of his game. Loved his solos in Stash, Gin, Ghost and LxL.
One thing I was a bit disappointed about was that the RnR jam, while very interesting and containing some very cool jamming, kind of hummed along at the same spacey pace. There were a couple of points where Trey locked in to a cool riff and looked over at Fish, as if to say, "OK, 4/4 rock out" and Fish just kept playing fast fills on the toms and cymbals.
Overall, I had a great time and I wish I had the money to go to the Bill Graham or Dick's Sporting Goods shows. Oh well, 'til the 2013 summer tour........
Yeah, but it did take that long to get a slice of nasty, overpriced pizza.
Anyway, that Gin smoked. Wished it went a little deeper, though. Quinn was especially energetic. Stash felt a little discordant - not in a good way. Like the boys couldn't fully link up. Will have to confirm on a re-listen. Cool It Down was fun.
Second set was tits start to finish.
I was talking to one of the security guys at the setbreak and I said "You guys aren't really used to this are you?". "No, since the Ice Dogs left, there's not much going on here". What was annoying is that before the show, I got in a long-ass line to get in, go through the ticket check and pat down and I hand the ticket to a woman at the door and she says "Oh, you're on the floor, that line is on the other side of the building". Grrrrrrrrr.......
Rock n Roll Long Beach 8/15/12
I get that we're all size queens at heart, but Phish has been doing a pretty great job reminding everybody why they got into this band in the early 90s before they started taking such singular huge jams. Ive been comparing leg 1 to a latter day august93 and coming out the gates like this could be a hint that we're shifting into a 94 analogue, with random monoliths spotting the landscape.
I can't add much more than what's already been said, but I'm not sure I've seen a jam with more textures than this one in a live setting. There were some pretty funny exchanges going on all around me about what they were going to segue into, as everyone anticipated a more standard 10 minute jam into something else. I kept mental notes, and as I re-listen it went something like this:
-6 minutes in, a girl in front of me says "Tweezer, yeah!". Just kidding.
-around 12 mins in, I hear calls of "Makisupa". Then, nope!
-at 19 minutes in, the guy behind me says "2001, for sure". Two minutes later he looks on, confused.
-21 minutes in, I call out "Kung!" to a few smiles. No dice
-at 24 minutes in, I was certain of "Frankenstein". Still nothing!
And then the mighty Ghost. Just fantastic, I put this one up there with 12.31.10 when considering how it all evolved. The flow of the second set was just brilliant from there on, culminating in a blistering GTBT. As well played as the Phish standards were tonight, you have to tip your hat to the covers as they really shined on 8/15.
the second set was basically this fans best set of phish he's seen.. it contained basically a taste of everything they do
familiar high energy cover blasting into unfamiliar territory, incredible multi-movement filled improvisation and exploration with abundant artistry = rock n roll
funk fused bluesy rocknroll with soaring peaks, wonderful chemistry, and flashy musicianship = ghost
rhythmically textured jamming with great band chemistry = limb by limb
elaborate composed and technically difficult song executed very well = guyute
beautiful ballad placed perfectly right after a energy high ripper = dirt
beautifully unique version of a fan favorite = harry hood
killer cover to end a set of a revered classic rock band = good times bad times
top it off with a fun julius encore to keep folks dancing and you've got a stellar start to the second leg.. easily one of the favorite phish nights for this guy. the rock n roll jam contained amazing amazing stuff and so much of it.. loved fishmans playing in it particularly was just great
But tell me: is it greater 2nd set than Albany 11-28-09??
...Which also had Ghost 2nd song, and was about the same opening length (they say 40+)...
Just wondering....
Cant wait to stream Fridays show......Carry on good peoples...Enjoy the 2nd Leg!
the long beach r&r is more fluid and multifarious than the albany seven below -- the build that starts around 22 minutes into r&r has a unique texture, and when the bottom falls out of the jam and fish starts getting abstract the jam only *deepens*, which can't always be said of the band's 2009 stuff. i'm really impressed by how responsive and egoless this jam is!
the 11/28/09 seven below does have that unbelievable moment early on, about 11 minutes in, when mike starts playing this quick upper-register pattern over a jibboo drumbeat and trey folds in from whale calls to a robot-cry minor chord, page starts bashing out primary coloured piano lines and the whole goddamn building seems to lift off into space. (that's how it felt to me on the night, as i rapidly acquired lingering tinnitus up in the cheap seats.)
the albany ghost essentially folds in a swell piper jam and blows itself out spectacularly at the close; it's a 'type ii' ghost, in the threadbare local parlance. the long beach ghost is a lot more linear, after an opening bit of sass -- lots of NYE 2010 ghost echoes in there, and a dose of weekapaug too. after settling in, this latest ghost is pure momentum -- they're bombing downhill on skis instead of scaling some tricky cliff face. but there's so much tension built in that r&r jam that the ghost feels *necessary*. same thing as the ghost > boogie from worcester in june, actually: after a more cerebral exploration it's nice to just get everybody off.
nice little transition in to L*L though, and some hair-raising work from fish in that tune. raise your hand if you treasure the languid 13-minute pre-y2k versions of that song but still love the rhythmic zest of the new limbs!
anyhow the point here is that in this weird misguided hopeless head-to-head comparison of the -7> ghost and rock> ghost suites, long beach has the stronger opener, successfully experimental and cohesive, and a very pure focused green-means-go ghost climax; albany's got that surprising cloudburst feeling to -7 and a more wide-ranging take on ghost.
the hood decisively tips any such comparison in long beach's favour, i think. but why compare? hard drives are cheap, broadband is cheap.
But it seemed like they were crafting in all the senses of the word: they developed -> 's instead of > 's, they dropped teases that actually made sense in where they were at that point in a song/jam, with the exception of the jedi show the antics were for spice and not the main attraction, they felt the flow of the setlists and said no to the jukebox, they could always count on one (alpine fee!) if not two or even three first set mini jams (stash goes somewhere again?!), the *quality* of the jamming was on par with '11, and last (and least to me) they dropped many many bustouts that added to the overall good feelings about first sets.
I'm sure I'm forgetting something here, but there is an absolute plethora of crafting involved in which the whole is greater than the parts. Just that feeling you might have remembered like every song and definitely every jam always had the potential to go somewhere; that elusive extraness that causes us all to listen to shows from start to finish (at least some of the time...) to simply bask in the wonder and glory that is phish going for it. Finally, just about everyone I've heard from agrees Leg One saw the band totally enjoying the shit out of playing music for us all. Like the ghosts of Coventry have finally been exorcised from the collective psyche and the swagger is back opening up play. Between phish and the crowd, between themselves musically, and as a general outlook to life as lived in the moment.
And yes, I was secretly jaded asshole-style cognitively dissonant just seeing how *loose* they were and enjoying things, BUT where is my disease supreme, where is my element set, where is my (fill in the '11 moment)?? I am greedy. Lots of us are. But at the time I was saying in posts that this is the bedrock of craft that allows moments of transcendence to become a regular thing instead of a hallowed anomaly. Sure '11 had those moments, but the overall night in and out quality of Leg One bar none hands down blows that shit away no contest. But, like a needy girlfriend, I was feeling panicky about the 20-MINUTER.
Well now we have it. And how awesome it is. I really feel like Leg One was a return to roots, let's get it really tightly together for the overall show, era that will allow the band to consistently feel comfortable playing better 20- minuter's and these lengthier jams more often. Like consummate musicians, they honed the shit out of their playing and shows last tour. And we will reap the benefits this tour. And I do mean reap.
Rare opener now weirder...
It's the whole point of going to shows, yeah? Of listening intently all day to some random show in 94 you didnt even knew existed, yeah?
Otherwise....what the hell are we doing here ???? (By here I mean the Earth.)
Anyway, yeah....the R&R here at LB is fucking DOPE. Easily one of best jams of 3.0.
My name....yeah....that's from years an years collecting vinyl and DJ'ing. I wasnt trying to steal your thunder. There's much 'wax' in the world mate....lets melt it all.