, attached to 2012-09-01

Review by wattznext

wattznext The only question going into tonight was "how can they possibly top  last night (The Fuck Your Face Show)?"
My buds and I theorized pre show: perhaps a song filled Saturday night rock fest? Perhaps they'd continue to spell another phrase.
But no - contrary to all expectations and sense of decency Phish came out and destroyed with a top notch, free flowing show from front to back, with more than a few top shelf excursions to sink your teeth into.

Antelope was a statement of an opener, the boys putting us on notice that the fire didn't burn out last night. A jammy opener - though type I, and yet here a peaking 10 minute monster - is always a good sign.
BDTTN was fine, energetic and placed PERFECTLY within the show, it was bounced along to and gave Trey a chance to nimble up his fingers.
Tweezer was known to be on deck for tonight, having been destroyed through at least leg II, but where it was placed - similar to last night's Carini - spelled big things for this show. A smooth segue into Fluffhead (ALSO perfectly placed) followed a gorgeous albeit mainly type I Tweezer jam, and kept the energy going while the audience got to bask in the compositional glory that is Phish.
Roses Are Free has been straining at the leash for over a year, and one might have thought the boys'd take this last opportunity to jam this song out. Alas, it was not to be, though a rousing version drew showers of adulation from the assembled crowd. The ensuing Funky Bitch > Moma was pleasingly, rockingly standard in the best possible way.
The remainder of the first set, containing Circus, Theme, Golgi and Stealing Time landed with quiet and then loud intensity. Set break was upon us and we were more than pleased with the follow up offering from the boys.

Golden Age, Caspian, Light and Boogie made up the first 55 minutes of the second set and I tell ya, they could have stopped there. Within the cliche of "if you only hear one jam from this tour..." well, you gotta hear all four. And that's in addition to the 5 top tier jams from night I (this CO stand really has been an embarrassment of riches.)
But seriously, if you only get one jam from this show, get Light. Good god man, go get a Light that carries with it the momentum of all previous Lights; a Light that is a culmination of all we've expected of the song these past few summer. I don't have the exact time, but this HAD to be one of the giddiest, sickest, dirtiest 20 minutes of music Phish has ever played. Ever. Confident and exploratory, deep and communicative, this Light of Lights was indicative of the connection and control Phish has put on display since note 1 night 1.
With a Wedge, Silent> Horse combo, the band again perfectly placed a comparatively tame combo in just the right spot.
After band and crowd caught their collective breath, it was time to bring it all home, and did they ever. A firey Mikes into a No Quarter that was as heavy as the thunder of the gods set up a funky smoking melodic Weekapaug that shut things down RIGHT. Sleeping Monkey into Tweeprize was the only thing left to play, and Trey and the audience headbanged as one while Tweeprize built to the shows final  crescendo.

Judging against night 1, you can't say this show was "better," because hell, nothing is better. But night II was equally mind blowing in a completely different sense. How many more possible types of mind blowing sets are Phish poised to lay on us tomorrow night? As these two shows have shown, whatever form it takes, it will be the real deal.

Tl;Dr - drop what you are doing and download these shows for your trip to Dick's tomorrow night.


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