PHISH
6/4/11
Blossom Music Center
Cuyahoga Falls, OH
I: Kill Devil Falls, Guyute, Fuck Your Face, Foam, Ocelot, Rocket in My Pocket, Back on the Train, Guelah Papyrus, Tube, Run Like an Antelope
II: Birds of a Feather, Possum, Steam* > Piper > The Lizards, Sneakin’ Sally through the Alley > Harry Hood > Have Mercy > Harry Hood, Character Zero
E: Slave to the Traffic Light
*debut
above pictures by Michael Stein (phishthoughts.com)
We woke in Pontiac on Saturday morning still glowing from the second set the evening before. It was nice to not have to hurry since it was only a few hours to Cuyahoga Falls. Our drive gave us a good look at the Detroit metro area including Ford Field and Comerica Park. South of Detroit we saw the enormous Marathon Oil plant. We were in the buckle of the rust belt. Moving south toward Toledo it became clear the farming in Ohio was much further behind this year compared to Iowa and Illinois. They were still working to get their crops planted. At this point we met up with the Ohio Turnpike and took that to the Cleveland area. Our hotel was in Macedonia which made for a short commute to the show in nearby Cuyahoga Falls a city which of course was made famous by a song by The Pretenders.
We had VIP parking which cut down on the amount of walking to the gate and expedited our exit after the show. Undernearth the huge wooden roof of the pavilion it was very humid and there was very little breeze. The crowd at Blossom Music Center was larger than the night before in Michigan. After the improv heavy show the evening before I was not surprised that this turned out to be a Saturday Night Special rock show. We've seen it before i.e. Blossom '10. KDF in the opener slot seemed to stay closer to the vest than other recent versions. Guyute was expected at this point of the tour. That's not a bad slot to get it out of the way. That was the third time for me seeing the once rare Fuck Your Face. Foam sounded great from my spot in the pavilion which on this evening was in front of the soundboard. Mike's bass was loud and clear. Ocelot didn't vary much from the many previous renditions I've heard. I was pleased to hear them bring back Rocket In My Pocket from the Little Feat Halloween album. Back on the Train made for a nice Americana pairing. Guelah Papyrus was complete with the Asse Festival dancing. Page got after Tube for a bit on his funky keyboard but ultimately this was still a four minute version. Run Like an Antelope to finish out the set was predictable. It worked well with the poster which I purchased before the show.
I was really psyched to hear them start up Birds of a Feather but was disappointed that they really didn't jam it out. Possum featured a unique take on the song which may have resulted from a flub by Trey. I'm not a fan of playing Possum in that position in the setlist. The debut of Steam was a major highlight. This slow funky number will be a welcome addition to the Phish catalog. I heard them soundchecking the steam noise before the show. Piper > Lizards and the unusual jam that linked the two songs was the highlight of the show. Sneakin' Sally had the vocal jam and then a bit of exploration. Mike was dropping thunder by the end of the it and they seemlessly went into a predictable Harry Hood. I overheard some guy in the lot saying he had met Trey at a rest area and that he had requested Have Mercy. So the appearance of that song in the middle of Hood validated the story. That sandwich looks better on paper. Character Zero continued the rock show theme. With the fanbase moving across Ohio on the roadways the choice of Slave to the Traffic Light made sense in the encore. This was a fun show but I felt it was not on par with the special evening before.
above pictures taken by Dave Vann (phish.com)
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