8/8-9 Phish @ Alpine Valley Music Theatre - East Troy, WI

Last weekend was my 13th and 14th Phish shows at Alpine Valley Music Theatre which is where I saw the band for the very first time on July 24th, 1999.  I was recovered from my trip to Missouri on Wednesday.  I got to the lodge in time to hear them soundcheck Esther which was a preview of the next night.  They also played Wombat which still hasn't been seen all summer.  The weather was overcast and particularly mild for an August show in Wisconsin.  It occurred to me that I've spent almost half my life seeing Phish.  This tour has been rewarding musically.  However, it feels like the right time for me personally to begin to think about scaling back on the traveling.  Before the show I walked all the way around the golf course and by the green lot through the woods and to the yellow and blue lots.  I sold my extra to a longtime friend of our family Ryan.  Then it was good to see my buddies from high school Frank and Sand.  My spot was toward the back of the pavilion on the Mike side. I moved down several rows and found Angelo from Ft. Collins and watched the show with him. 


I liked the No Men from No Men's Land opener with the Jerry MuTron III disco Dead tone.  Julius is a favorite of mine.  Frankie Says is rarely played and is one I enjoy.  This led into hot Maze.  That was my first time hearing Mercury which leaves a lot to be desired in the vocal and lyrical department.  Reba had Anastasio playing a few clunker notes before a blistering machine gun ending.  Possum capped off a rather uneventful first set. 


Another DWD so soon on the heels of the one I'd just heard in KC was a bit disappointing.  This version wasn't quite as successful either from a jamming standpoint.  I thought for a moment that this would be the Halley's that would again have a jam but alas it was not to be as Trey quickly aborted in favor of another Twist.  See my comments on DWD in KC.  The most redeeming part of this set for me was the What's the Use?  Trey's emotive playing was impressive at this juncture.  You could say the same for the way he slayed the set closing Slave to the Traffic Light.  This show was light in the way of improvisation.  I would say this is more a show that would excite a more casual fan on a Saturday night at a large venue.  Meatstick kept with that theme.  Trey loves playing Character Zero at Alpine Valley it seems.  Night 1 wasn't a total loss but it simply wasn't my style of Phish at this stage of the game. 


I spent most of Sunday relaxing in the room and mentally preparing for what I knew would be a more serious effort from Phish.  I cooked some grilled cheese sandwiches on the grittle and it reminded me of all the lot food I'd had over the years.  This run made me really nostalgic about Phish and what it's all meant and where it goes from here.  My problem with seeing shows at this point is that there is too much downtime.  I went into the venue early because I had a Pit ticket.  I found the spot I like between Trey and Page and stayed there for the whole show.  I met a nice father/son tandem from Elmhurst and a cool guy from Fond du Lac.  My focus these days is to impart whatever Phish knowledge I can to the younger fans and be less about commandeering space.  When I'm down close to the stage it seems like a lot of the so called hardcore fans don't really get it.  I loved the opening song from the Halloween set, The Very Long Fuse.  The rest of the set were rarities and capped off by the tour's only Split Open and Melt.  The scene down in the pit became chaotic during Melt and matched the music.  Esther made the set for me.  The story Trey told during Forbins/Mockingbird made me think that perhaps this was the final Alpine Valley show.  I'd heard from an employee at the lodge that ticket sales were poor. 


I loved the positioning of Run Like an Antelope to open set two.  Though this version stayed within the box the energy was amazing from close range.  Carini went from hard rock to blissful setting up a seamless transition into Waves.  This went into some deep space before some scratchy ambience became a spectacular segue into Tweezer.  I would say this was the clear cut highlight of the show.  What made this even better was the classy choice of Dirt as the cooldown song.  Mike's included the 2nd jam which reappeared also in Nashville.  Anastasio set up some loops which worked well for the segue into the summer's anthem, Blaze On.  A short Weekapaug Groove was unexpectedly followed up by Tweezer Reprise which was a choice way to end the set.  I went over on the side of the venue which was a great vantage point to watch the crowd wave during Contact.  Page brought out the keytar for Frankenstein.  This was a special show and I savored the view as I exited the venue.  Alpine Valley has been a special place for me over the years.  I drove home afterwards and got a slice of pepperoni pizza from Casey's in Prophetstown.  This was my 124th Phish show.

8/5/15 Phish @ Starlight Theatre - Kansas City, MO

Last Wednesday I worked in the morning for a few hours and then got on the road for Kansas City.  Half the trip was retracing my route to Des Moines where I saw Umphrey's McGee in late June.  Having gone to school in Ames I know this route pretty well.  The weather was in the low 70s.  I drove through a very brief thunderstorm in Missouri.  For dinner I stopped at Arthur Bryant's and had a pulled pork sandwich.  I found a spot in front of the soundboard in the middle of the venue.  The crowd was rather chatty.  This was an out of the way show to hit.  Many people "on tour" might be inclined to skip this one.  Starlight is a great venue.  I've seen a couple Panic shows and the Phish show in 2012.


From the start I was impressed with Anastasio's technical prowess.  It's clear that the practice he put in for the GD50 shows has carried over into this summer Phish tour.  He's playing with more confidence and is incorporating his loops and effects more effectively than any other point of the 3.0 era.  Things are good in the Phish world right now.  The first set really didn't have much in the way of jamming but was teeming with energy from start to finish.  The Divided Sky had a little extra gusto on this occasion.  Mike Gordon's solo tune The Last Step was played for the only time on the Phish stage during the first set. 


Some youngsters who were going to Iowa State University asked me what I thought they would open the second set with.  I answered with Gotta Jibboo.  Some shows you can feel the flow.  I loved this Farmhouse heavy second set.  DWD was 20 minutes and was clearly the improvisational highlight.  Joy was perfectly placed in the cooldown slot.  This was the type of second set where they cap it off with YEM.  This was the better of the two versions they've played this summer.  Bug was a great call for the encore.  I tend to get brought down by the minutia of life at times when in the end "it doesn't matter".  I made it up to Iowa before taking a nap for a few hours at a rest area.  As the sun came up I hit the road for home and arrived around 8 am.