7/12-14 Phish @ Alpine Valley Music Theatre - East Troy, WI

Last weekend was a classic Phish experience.  It was just shy of  20 years later from my first show which was also at Alpine Valley in East Troy, WI.  The weather was in the 80s for most of the weekend.  It was a bit warm but it could have been much worse.  My nephew Tommy came out to visit so I spent Friday morning with him.  I left for America's Dairyland a little before 3 pm.  Parking in the yellow lot brought back memories of the first time I visited this venue for Phish in 1999.  Moving forward while respecting the past.  Isn't that what life is? 


I saw some familiar faces in the lot before heading into the venue.  On Friday I was close on the middle of the lawn on the Page side of the soundboard.  It was great to watch this show with my friend Ryan and his girlfriend Abby.  I hadn't seen Phish with Ryan in over 19 years.  We were joined at setbreak by my buddy Soren from Madison and his friends.  The vibe was good and Phish was playing well.  Sand, Tweezer was them getting down to business from the start.  Free kept the momentum going.  That was my second Turtle in the Clouds of the tour.  I appreciated Page giving us a shoutout on the lawn with Lawn Boy.  Theme was played better here than a month earlier in STL.  Rift and Camel Walk were relatively straightforward with the set closing Wolfman's stepping slightly out of the box.  I liked the energy of this first set.  During the setbreak they played a new album by a group called the Black Pumas. 


I'm starting to get a little weary of No Men in No Man's Land having seen it quite a few times recently.  This explored some real estate but didn't get anywhere before landing in Prince Caspian.  Everything's Right was clearly the most successful jam of the night.  Roses Are Free like in Rosemont got a big reception from the crowd.  This second set was a bit song based for my liking though I dig 2001 and the Wedge.  I'll never complain about hearing Squirming Coil.  It's one of my favorite Phish songs.  I didn't mind hearing A Life Beyond the Dream from the Ghosts of the Forest album though it did seem to lose some of the crowd before bringing everyone back into it for Tube and the acapella Grind.  This was a fun, energetic show with good interplay from all four band members.  The sound was good in our area of the lawn and it was fun to be back at Alpine Valley.


I stayed at Soren's house in Madison.  He had to work early so I was on the move to Waukesha.  I spent the day watching TV and escaping the heat at Craig Sand and his girlfriend Laura's house.  This was my first time to his place.  I was impressed by his garden out back.  His brother Curt drove up from the Chicago suburbs.  We ate lunch at a neighborhood bar.  I had a Cuban sandwich and cheese curds.  From there it was onto Alpine Valley.  We met up with Ryan and Abbey in the blue lot.  I watched the show with them again this time on the Mike Gordon side of the soundboard on the front of the lawn.  Before the show I was introduced to a new album called Eraserland by Strand of Oaks on the PA system.  This first set was a little bit too much of a jukebox.  I liked the AC/DC Bag, NICU opener but Shade was not placed properly.  These songs all worked but as a whole the set lacked cohesion.  I was glad to see Frost stay in the Phish rotation.  It seems like Character Zero is one of Trey's favorites to play at Alpine Valley over the years. 


I was disappointed that they didn't jam out Halley's Comet.  This seemed like the time to do it.  The rest of the set had concise jamming.  Not too much exploration.  It was the biggest crowd of the weekend and they made the music as accessible as possible.  Ghost had some interesting ideas from Anastasio.  Back on the Train featured Trey using the "donkey" lick to his and Fishman's amusement.  Harry Hood showed on this occasion why its been a consistent war horse for Phish over the years.  Of the songs from last Halloween I dig Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S probably the most.  This is what space smells like. 


I didn't have that much in the way of expectations for the Sunday show.  My friends weren't attending this night.  I was Han Solo as I so often am.  I was free to explore this classic Midwest venue.  I want to thank Craig again for letting me stay.  I was able to catch up on my sleep which was important. I paid the $20 for early entrance.  I was the 11th car in.  The weather was very hot.  I walked all the way around past the green lot and the golf course and down to the lodge.  I saw the band pull into the back of the venue in their bus.  On my way back while walking in the woods from the green lot to the blue lot I could clearly hear the My Soul soundcheck.  It was awesome to be alone in nature and yet hear Phish playing live.  One of the people parked nearby was grilling and helped with me with bratwurst.  I went into the venue when the doors opened and enjoyed the Khruangbin album on the PA system.  Fortunately I made friends with a crew from Kentucky and they proved to be good company for the show on the front of the lawn toward the Gordo side of the soundboard.  Shows like this happen only once in a while.  They dug deep into their catalog.  That was my 2nd time hearing Landlady which is obviously the basis for Punch You in the Eye.  I would have preferred Shafty but I'll take the rare Olivia's Pool.  TMWSIY > Avenu > TMWSIY reminded me of my first show 7/24/99 which was at this same venue.  Meatstick made me realize how similar this song is to Fire on the Mountain.  Vultures is always good to hear.  I'm pretty sure that was my first Spock's Brain.  Pebbles and Marbles was a great call.  Glide again reminded me of 7/24/99.  About to Run was a raging juxtaposition to the older composed material.  Strange Design hadn't been played in a while.  I Didn't Know featured Fishman on the vacuum.  Good Times Bad Times is a tune I hadn't heard since 2016 at Wrigley Field.  Trey shredded the Zeppelin. 


I called the Mercury from the tuning.  This version didn't have much in the way of a jam like many recent versions have had.  If there hadn't been much jamming this weekend it all changed with the 38 minute Ruby Waves.  This was an unbelievable odyssey of music that saw the band working together to became far greater than the sum of their parts.  Moments like that are why I've dedicated 20 years to doing this.  That was my first time hearing the classic Billy Breathes pairing of Swept Away > Steep.  Steep was appropriate with the lawn.  I've only been lucky enough to see one other version of Icculus.  Read the book.  Buffalo Bill continued the rare setlist.  YEM contained Catapult and a Contact which was dedicated to a couple that Trey met.  The crowd was in total unison doing the arm thing during Contact.  The vocal jam of YEM wrapped up an epic set.  More was a predictable encore.  I made my way to the top of this gargantuan venue as Tweezer Reprise sent us off into the Wisconsin evening.  This was the first 3 night for Phish at Alpine Valley and they closed it off with a huge bang.  I'm thankful for weekends like this.  I got to see some old friends and hear some great music from my favorite band.