A Peak At The Creek
Something clicked last night for sure. After two shows in Telluride that musically did not stand out in comparison to the rest of the tour, Phish unleashed a beast of a show last night at Deer Creek that is easily one of the strongest performances all year.
Phish kicked the evening off with four tour firsts - “Runaway Jim,” “PYITE,” “Roggae,” and “Cars Trucks Buses” (note: I’ll count the second leg of the tour to be a separate tour). “CTB” was a standout version, seeing Trey take a solo in what is usually a Page-dominated song. “Sugar Shack” brought on some well-needed Gordo-funk to keep everyone dancing. After a strong (albeit short) “Wolfman’s Brother,” “Time Turns Elastic” closed off the set. I think “TTE” starting to fit into rotation properly. As a set closer, it works well in my opinion…those last 5 minutes are intense!
Set two opened with The Who’s “Drowned,” which the band used as a launching pad for the evening’s first real jam. “Drowned” segued into “Gotta Jibboo” followed by a great mid-set “Bathtub Gin.” “My Friend My Friend” was awkwardly placed mid-second set, but well executed. After “MFMF,” the band played the first 3.0 “Buffalo Bill” to shake things up. The end of the second set deserves special notoriety as well, with a blistering version of “Split Open And Melt,” which saw the band really stretch out and leave the song’s structure. “Melt” went unfinished (a first for 3.0, and first since Coventry) and instead transitioned into the tour’s first “Dog Faced Boy.” “Harry Hood” and “Golgi” capped the set off.
Coming back for an encore, Fish kicked in the bass drum leading the band through “Fee,” which featured Trey on the megaphone (a great throwback to the old days)! Much to the audience’s delight, the night was far from over, as Gordon began his famous “NO2” dialogue followed by the ancient chant, “Kung.” Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire” ended the night, with Trey adding his own twist to the lyrics, shouting “let Cactus take over.” A solid and standout night indeed. See below for a great HD video of the encore (minus “Fire”).
Thursday August 12, 2010 Verizon Wireless Music Center, Noblesville, IN
Set I: Runaway Jim, Punch You In The Eye, Roggae, Cars Trucks Buses > Sample In A Jar, NICU, Horn, Sugar Shack, Wolfman’s Brother, Time Turns Elastic
Set II: Drowned > Gotta Jibboo > Bathtub Gin, My Friend My Friend, Buffalo Bill > Twist > The Horse > Silent In The Morning, Split Open And Melt > Dog Faced Boy, Harry Hood > Golgi Apparatus
E: Fee* > NO2 > Kung > Fire**
*with Trey on megaphone
**lyrics changed to “move over and let Cactus take over.”
setlist courtesy of www.phish.com
download the show here.
