9/2-4 Phish @ Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City, CO

Phish
9/2/11
Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Commerce City, CO

I: Sample in a Jar, Sparkle, Sloth, Sweet Virginia, Suskind Hotel, Strange Design, Stash, Sneaking Sally through the Alley > Sparks, Scent of a Mule, Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan, Shine A Light, Split Open and Melt, Squirming Coil

II: Sand, Simple > Steam > Soul Shakedown Party > Seven Below > Suzy Greenberg, Scents and Subtle Sounds, Slave to the Traffic Light, Silent in the Morning, Sanity, Sweet Adeline

E: Sabotage


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I drove out to Colorado on Thursday and stayed the first night in Ft. Collins with my buddy Dave.  The journey took over 12 hours from Illinois.  On Friday we made the drive down I-25 to Denver.  Commerce City as the name suggests is an industrial suburb on the north side of the city near the airport.  A long time friend from hometown Eric and his girlfriend Karla met us at the Super 8 and we all rode together to Dick's Sporting Goods Park which is the MLS home of the Colorado Rapids.  There was a good sized shakedown st. assembled in front of the venue.  The now infamous Dave Anver Incident took place in the lot directly next to where we were parked. 

The show was delayed briefly because of an electrical storm in the area.  Sample and Sparkle was an anti-climatic beginning.  It allowed late arrivals time to get inside the venue.  Sloth got things going.  This was my first time hearing Sweet Virginia.  It was at this point when I noticed the S pattern.  It was good to see Phish continue to keep Suskind Hotel in the rotation after its first appearance at Super Ball IX.  Strange Design was another ballad where one probably wasn't necessary.  It had been a rather mellow start to the show.  Stash, Sally > Sparks was the highlight of the first set.  Sally had excellent usage of the envelope filter by Gordo and patient playing by Anastasio.  This segued seemlessly into The Who's Sparks off their legendary Tommy album.  Again this was my first time hearing that cover.  I had room to do the Fiddler on the Roof style dancing during Scent of a Mule.  Stealing Time seems to vary little with each version.  Shine A Light was the second song off Exile on Main Street played during this set.  I had yet to hear Split Open and Melt in 2011 and that selection made the show for me.  Squirming Coil capped off this unusual first stanza. 

When they opened the second set with Sand it became apparent that they would continue with the S show.  Sand is the biggest gun they have at this point.  Its interesting how far that jam vehicle has come since its debut with Phish in 1999.  Its now a full band jam instead of Trey dominating.   This was another strong rendition.  Simple is another one of the best jams they have going at this point.  This bled into their newest tune Steam.  Soul Shakedown Party served as a reggae breather.   Seven Below may have been the best jam of the set.  Unfortunately, this went into yet another standard Suzy.  To my ears SaSS is a generic sounding jam that is inferior to other songs of its ilk.  Slave was an above average version and they should have probably ended the set at that point.  SiTM didn't work all that well following it up.  We were expecting Sanity.  That was my first Sweet Adeline so I appreciated that.  Sabotage was like a cherry on top of a very unique show that was tied together by all the songs starting with the letter S. 

Phish
9/3/11
Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Commerce City, CO

I: Possum, Moma Dance, The Wedge, Ocelot, The Divided Sky, Funky Bitch, Axilla, Llama, Fast Enough for You, Wolfman's Brother

II: Down With Disease > Tweezer > Golden Age > Limb By Limb, Kill Devil Falls > 2001 > Light > Julius, Cavern, Run Like An Antelope

E: Sleeping Monkey Tweezer Reprise


postshow P.A. music was Earth, Wind, and Fire 'September'

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The show started out with them playing many songs that have been frequent in the rotation during the 3.0 era.  Possum and Moma Dance certainly fit into this category.  The Wedge is always enjoyable with its "take the highway" lyrics.  I've heard Ocelot too many times.  The Divided Sky and Funky Bitch are two songs I've heard quite a few times recently.  I'm not a fan of Axilla.  This was the best Llama I may have ever heard and this was when the set really started for me.  Trey's playing during Llama was early 90s-esque.  FEFY is my favorite slower Phish song.  The jam during Wolfman's Brother was clearly the highlight of the set.  The last three songs of the set redeemed it for me. 

DWD to open set II was predictable.  However, this was a rather brief version that segued smoothly into Tweezer.  The soaring jam during Tweezer turned out to be the biggest golden nugget mined out of The Rockies over Labor Day weekend.  The eventually led into Phish's best new cover, Golden Age.  I'm not a fan of a mid second set Limb by Limb but this was well played.  This was one of the best versions of Kill Devil Falls to date and it segued into 2001.  Light included a DWD reprise jam.  A fiery Julius continued this dynamic set.  Cavern worked as a faux closer and Antelope brought us home.  This may have been the most cohesive set of music the band played in Denver.  Monkey, Tweeprise was a rather standard encore.  The sounds of Earth, Wind, and Fire's September sent the masses into the night. 




Phish
9/4/11
Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Commerce City, CO

I: Maze, Back on the Train, Rift, Bathtub Gin, The Way It Goes, Halfway to the Moon, Gumbo, Halley's Comet > Tube, Timber Ho!, Roses Are Free, Chalkdust Torture

II: Rock and Roll > Come Together > Twist > Piper > Harry Hood > Roggae, Ghost > Guy Forget, Walls of the Cave

E: Backwards Down the Number Line


postshow P.A. music was Dolly Parton '9 to 5'

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An unusual Maze opener got the crowd's attention.  I liked how both sets each night were under the cover of darkness.  BOTT served as a another opener of sorts.  Rift was the second tune from that album of the night.  Bathtub Gin was an impressive version and was my highlight of the first set.  However, I don't think this Gin topped the recent rendition in Chicago.  I really enjoyed Gordo's take on the Gillian Welch cover.  Halfway to the Moon is a solid new Page song that I was happy to see played.  Gumbo, Halley's, and Tube were three songs in a row that used to be jammed out that are now truncated.  Timber Ho! and Roses Are Free can lead to improvisational glory but not on this occasion.  Chalkdust was a high energy set closer. 

When they opened with Rock and Roll I had hopes of a version like the one played at the Gorge in August.  However, this was nowhere near that rendition.  I wasn't happy when they went with a familiar groove into an off the cuff cover of Come Together.  Twist was paired with its usual setlist partner Piper.  This Piper had an interesting jam that featured the band stepping into the Storage Shed for the only time of the weekend.  Harry Hood was well played on this occasion and I liked how they followed it up with Roggae.  Ghost had an interesting jam that went into my first time hearing Guy Forget.  I think everyone thought YEM was coming but instead we got WOTC at the last show before the ten year anniversary of 9/11.  BDTNL has been the 3.0 anthem so it was a fitting end to the weekend. 

8/20/11 Blues Traveler @ LeClaire Park - Davenport, IA

I went with my parents to Blues Traveler on Saturday evening at River Roots Live in Davenport, IA.  I have been to almost every incarnation of this festival over the years sans perhaps one or two years.  It has become a free music event in conjunction with the Ribfest.  There was a huge crowd and it was hard to navigate the field by the time we arrived at showtime of 9:30 pm.  You had a lot of older people who were sitting down and there were also people standing as well.  The situation was far from ideal. 

Blues Traveler played a cover of "I Want You To Want Me" by Cheap Trick early on in the set.  John Popper was entertaining on his trademark harmonica all evening.  It appeared he had gained back some of the weight he had taken off with his Al Roker surgery.  They ended the set with the second radio hit from 1995, "Hook".  The encore was interesting with them doing a cover of "What I Got" by Sublime and they ended the night with "Runaround".  This last song of course was their first hit. 

I remember Blues Traveler because they redid the Roseanne theme song and appeared in an episode.  I'd always been curious to see this band and obviously they were one of the groups involved with the original H.O.R.D.E. Tour with Phish and Widespread Panic.  This performance was a good representation of Blues Traveler.  It was almost 15 years after the peak of their commercial success yet they were still a fun live experience. 

8/15-17 Phish @ UIC Pavilion - Chicago, IL

Phish
8/15/11
UIC Pavilion
Chicago, IL

I: Back on the Train, Rift, Guelah Papyrus, Scent of a Mule, Jesus Just Left Chicago, Wolfman's Brother, Anything But Me, Babylon Baby, Reba, Alumni Blues > Letter to Jimmy Page > Alumni Blues

II: Sand > Light > Dirt, Waves > Undermind > Steam, Fire

E: Camel Walk, Guyute, The Horse > Silent in the Morning, Harry Hood







The drive into Chicago was uneventful. I had worked a half day. The weather in the city was gorgeous with temperatures in the low 80s. I parked at my sister's apartment in Wicker Park and then walked to my buddy Steve's place. We drove to our pre-show gathering at Ethyl's on Racine across the Eisenhower from the Pav. It was good to see all of the Chicago crew. The lot was happening with more activity and vending than I had ever seen at that venue. We saw several tanks that had been confiscated. In the lot we also saw a guy dressed as Jesus Christ and this was appropriate with JLC being played in the first set. The posters went very fast and were gone by the time I got inside the building. It was extremely hot in the poorly ventilated, antiquated arena. They have renovated the place and were now serving booze but it was basically polishing a turd. However, I enjoy the gritty vibe of seeing Phish in venues such as UIC Pavilion.

The band hit the stage about 8:05 and it was clear there was a certain urgency to the playing right from the get go. BOTT got the energy going and this continued with Rift. I love the vocal exchanges between Trey and Page on that song. Guelah Papyrus featured its usual stop/start at the end and at this point it was clear how jacked up the crowd was. I hadn't heard Scent of a Mule since Alpine Valley last year. I wanted to do the Fiddle on the Roof dancing but there wasn't enough room in my row on the Page side in section 114. During this song there was a kid with a laser beam which was actually appropriate with the lyrics in Scent of a Mule. "I hate laserbeams". Jesus Just Left Chicago is always welcome and especially in the city of broad shoulders. Trey brought out his best blues licks. Wolfman's the obvious highlight of the first set with some very unusual playing. Page took the jam to a different level with some unique textures which Trey fed off. Anything But Me worked as the cooldown song and it seems like these are the clearer days which Trey longed for in that song back when he wrote it. Babylon Baby was a logical song from Moss for Mike to bring over to Phish. Reba was another amazing version. Once again they did the whistling at the end. Alumni Blues included Letter to Jimmy Page in the middle and during the reprise Trey took his playing to another level. The energy was through the roof which is what you want for a set closer. I was very impressed with the first set and was hoping they could continue the momentum into the second frame.

Sand got the attention of everyone and this was yet another in a series of recent great versions. This eventually led into Light which had jamming that put me in the mind of the rendition they played in Tahoe. They took a similiar approach. The choice of Dirt in the ballad slot was great. They did a fantastic job with this delicate song. I loved the organic nature of the jamming that occured during the Waves > Undermind. This was such a slick segue. They continued the set by seguing into their newest vehicle Steam. Kuroda was on point with huge amounts of fog/steam during that one. A shredding version of Fire wrapped up a short but improvisational set from Phish.

As a result they played an extended encore. Camel Walk in the encore slot put me in the mind of Alpine 99. I think I like Guyute in the encore slot. This version made me appreciate Guyute again. I thought The Horse > SITM was going to end the night. Hood caught the whole crowd off guard. Last night was an above average version. I would say the first night of UIC was one of the best shows of the modern era.





Phish
8/16/11
UIC Pavilion
Chicago, IL

I: Dinner and a Movie, Ha Ha Ha, Chalkdust Torture, Mexican Cousin, Walls of the Cave, Runaway Jim, Foam, I Didn't Know, Ocelot, Ginseng Sullivan, The Wedge, Limb by Limb, Let It Loose

II: Down with Disease > Twist, Backwards Down the Number Line, Theme from the Bottom, Golden Age > A Day in the Life, You Enjoy Myself

E: Heavy Things, Slave the Traffic Light, Rocky Top


postshow P.A. music was Heatwave "Boogie Nights"



Once again the weather was ideal in Chicago on Wednesday. My sister and I went out for dinner at Pizza Metro where we consumed a clutch pre-show meal. She dropped me off in line for the floor and I got an excellent spot very close on the floor between Trey and Page. I was closer than Antelope Greg who was located off to my left. There were some familiar characters around me on the floor. The show started a little after 8 pm with Dinner and a Movie getting things going nicely. Ha Ha Ha was a request from a banner hanging from the balcony. Chalkdust Torture had the most succesful jam of the first set but yet it didn't stray far. Mexican Cousin is fun for comedic value. Walls of the Cave is pretty tame these days compared to what it was during the post hiatus years. Runaway Jim was well played but the jam stayed type I all the way. Foam continued this song based first set. During I Didn't Know both Trey and Mike held up t-shirts with pictures of Otis Redding on them. Ocelot doesn't vary much from version to version. Ginseng Sullivan and The Wedge were well played but obviously were void of any improvisation. Limb by Limb was a highlight of the first set with the only other jam besides Chalkdust Torture in the opening frame. That was only the second time they've played Let It Loose from Exile on Main St. This was very well played but I'm not sure it worked that well as a set closer. The first set on Tuesday had nowhere near the amount of energy that the first set on Monday had.

Down with Disease was over twenty minutes long and was the obvious highlight of the show. The jam moved through many different themes before finally settling into a quiet ambient noise that segued smoothly into Twist. Twist had a very nice mellow piece of improvisation. Backwards Down the Number Line had some strong playing from Trey but this version stayed inside the box. Theme from the Bottom harkened back to the pre-hiatus versions. I became a fan of Golden Age at Super Ball IX. The "ghetto blaster" lyric is appropriate for Chicago's southside. It wasn't a very extended version but the spacey outro transitioned nicely into A Day in the Life which was a faux closer. Last night's YEM was a very strong rendition that had great licks from Trey after a solid bass groove had been established by Gordo. Tuesday had another huge encore with Heavy Things starting it off folllowed by a gorgeous Slave to the Traffic Light. Rocky Top was an energetic closer to the evening. This was a fun show. The playing was more straightforward than the night before. I preferred the Monday show to the Tuesday night performance. However, going in I knew it was going to be tough to surpass Monday's superior effort and what we got on Tuesday was a nice compliment to the previous show.







Phish
8/17/11
UIC Pavilion
Chicago, IL

I: Colonel Forbin's Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird, Gumbo, Possum, Weigh, The Divided Sky, Alaska, Bathtub Gin, Maze, Cavern, First Tube

II: Crosseyed and Painless > No Quarter, Timber Ho! > Tweezer > Prince Caspian > Piper > Ghost > Makisupa Policeman, Sleep, Buffalo Bill, Golgi Apparatus, Character Zero, Run Like An Antelope

E: Funky Bitch, Show of Life, Tweezer Reprise




I spent the morning watching coverage of President Obama's visit to my company in Atkinson, IL.  They were using our east warehouse for the town hall meeting.  My parents were in attendance.  It was amazing to see the President talking about and answering questions from people I know.  After this I watched a very frustrating Cubs loss to the Houston Astros.  I took the blue line train to Racine and walked over to Taylor St. for Al's #1 Italian Beef for dinner.  On Wednesday I was finally able to secure a poster which had a Great Chicago Fire of 1871 motif. 

Phish hit the stage a little after 8 pm with the first Colonel Forbin's opener since the 1980s.  Unlike the Super Ball IX version there was no narration moving into Fly Famous Mockingbird.  This was another weak sauce 3 minute Gumbo with the ragtime ending.  Possum has been played to death in the last few years but this was still fun.  On the way home after the show I did see a possum.  That was my first time hearing Weigh in 80 shows.  The Divided Sky harkened the 1994 version at UIC which Trey mentioned on Charlie Rose as a major spiritual moment for him.  Alaska is one of my least favorite songs in their rotation currently.  It's a poor man's Ocelot.  Most people like myself used this as the obvious bathroom/water fountain break.  Bathtub Gin was expected but I felt this was the highlight of the whole show.  The four songs they put together to end the set were all impressive and solidified the set.  I love the interplay between Page and Trey during Maze.  Cavern was the faux closer but that songs always brings the energy.  First Tube brought the house down (not like Sugarland) to close out the set.  I couldn't help but think of the fireworks from Super Ball during First Tube. 

Set II got off to a promising start with a huge dance groove with Crosseyed and Painless.  "Still waiting" would become the theme of this set as it was vocally reprised several times.  I was hoping they were heading for deeper exploration when they settled into No Quarter.  I think they need to give that one a rest after playing a few times at several high profile gigs.  Trey's guitar work was great during the Led Zeppelin though.  Timber Ho! was the third cover in a row to start off the set.  This was the first "Still waiting" moment.  Predictably this bled into Tweezer.  Tweezer was a short version but had a brontosaurus-like bassline from Gordon.  Caspian is one of Trey's favorites and this unfinished version worked nicely as a landing point for the Tweezer and as a starting point for the ensuing Piper.  This segment from Tweezer through Piper was the improvisational highlight of the second set which quickly took a song based turn after Makisupa truncated Ghost in a miniscule 3 minute version.  The key words in Makisupa were comical.  Sleep was a nice choice at this point.  Buffalo Bill is Phish's ode to Deliverance.  Trey butchered Golgi.  Next came a below average Character Zero.  Run Like an Antelope salvaged the end fo the set.  Funky Bitch in the encore wasn't a huge surprise given the sign being held up and since Son Seals was from Chicago.  I really like Show of Life and it was a nice moment of reflection before Tweezer Reprise ended the show with authority.  In my opinion this was the weakest of the three shows.  The "Still waiting" vocals in the second set gave this show a more playful vibe.  It had a more celebratory feel where the previous two shows had much more to offer in the way exploratory playing.