Some of my favorite shows were Bethel 5/27 and 5/28: The two strongest of the 3 night run in Bethel, these shows had not only fun set lists, but also well played. The segue from Tweezer > My Friend, My Friend from the first night is worth a listen, as is Wolfman's Brother, Boogie On Reggae Woman > Waves. From the second night, I cannot stop listening to the Makisupa > Harry Hood because of the funny banter in Makisupa, the awesome little tip off into Harry Hood, and then an intriguing Hood jam.
After two low key nights at PNC Arts Center, Phish brought it back for DTE Energy Center 6/3 and Blossom 6/4. These in my opinion have been the two best shows so far. The Down With Disease from 6/3 is a solid 25 minutes of pure fun and teases taboot. The entire 6/4 show is pretty fantastic; the playing is solid, and the setlist had good energy and great songs. Harry Hood > Have Mercy has been on repeat for me.
The encore of the 6/12 show at Merriweather Post Pavilion made a bipolar second set seem totally manic. It started by busting out Sanity and raging off the stage with First Tube, with a raunchy Makisupa sandwich in the middle. By far the most unexpected and most fun encore I've seen in a very long time.
That list, by all means, does not cover every highlight of every show. Just saying.
The reason I named this post "WHAT?!" is not only due to the amusing ramblings of Fishman during Suzy Greenberg, but because I've found that I've been saying more or less the same thing to myself after every show. While some great and not as frequently played songs have made their way into the rotation, like Carini and to my happiness Crosseyed and Painless, some of their more popular songs have been appearing on too many setlists. Don't get me wrong, I love a raging Possum, and Possum has certainly been getting better throughout the tour. But I just don't know if I can hear it again for the rest of tour without thinking-really? Of course, before I go back to dancing.
Another confusing point for me throughout this tour is song placement. There have been several first sets that have played out like second sets; Mike's Song et al has been played in the first set twice. Also, some sets have been all over the place in terms of energy levels. Set II of the 6/11 Merriweather show contained a weird Piper > Wading in the Velvet Sea > 2001- not only was the energy fluctuation odd, but 2001 is another song that has been showing up too often.
While some the baffling nature of Phish this tour has been negative, I think the fact that Phish has been so puzzling only lends itself to the fact that they are, and always have been, an unpredictable band. Sure now we can pretty much expect to Possum or Fluffhead every other show, but on the flip side, a Crosseyed and Painless may not be far behind it. Phans have been diligent with their signs in the past, much to our delight (Guyutica!), but has now provided us a new array of rare openers, like Nellie Kane on 6/8, Daniel Saw the Stone on 6/11, and Buried Alive on 6/12. One of my favorite moments on tour was watching Trey grab the Page's House sign from the pit in Merriweather and giving it to Page, who held it up and received a well deserved round of applause.
With that being said, the unpredictability of Phish tour can both exhilarating and unnerving. They could go in any direction with the set list and the jams, but it could for better or for worse. We've seen some pretty interesting cases of both on tour so far, but I still can't say with any certainty what the rest of the summer holds for us.
But that's why we go see Phish, right?
I'll be posting about the Alpharetta webcast and my report of the h3ddiest lot eats on tour in the next few days. Also, check facebook for some pictures of shows I went to this Winter/Spring- Furthur, Disco Biscuits, EOTO, Railroad Earth.
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