Phish - DCU Center, Worcester MA June 7, 2012
(photo curtosey of me..instagram toddiet123)
Phish
DCU Center, Worcester, MA
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Night one of Summer Tour. Night one of
two in Worcester.
So, Phish is coming back to town.
Well, sort of. The last two times I made my way to the DCU Center I
was less than thrilled. The set lists were duds to me with little
spark in them. Hesitant for sure, since this June show was going to
be indoors and the band was gearing up for a slot at the Bonaroo
Festival the coming weekend. For the first time in some time I was
shut out via mail order so the day of on sale I decided to give it a
shot. I ended up landing section 201 which was straight off the
stage, about 5 rows up on the isle. I had a seat (the last two I did
GA Floor) and a really good sight line so it was looking up.
Hitting the stage about 20 after 8 (doors 630, show at 730, fans need to start getting their crap together earlier..sorry its just time to knock these massive delays off) the band opened with “Buried Alive”. It was a slow builder and had some good moments. The band was noticeably rusty though. Vocals came in a little late and Trey was struggling with some chords. Mike, Fish and Page were solid. They went right to “Runaway Jim” and the place was going, a good ripper and the place was loving it. “Torn and Frayed” followed and I decided it was time for a bathroom run. The DCU Center is awful for vendors and bathrooms with everything being on same level. Even 20 minutes in to the set I missed all of the tune and part of “Funky Bitch”. “Moma Dance” was easy and fun and it went well with Rift->Nothing.
“Ocelot” I found to be really
solid. Its a mid tempo track but for some reason they found their
groove with a solid jam. The dud of set one to me came in Beauty of
a Broken Heart. I sat down and just watched. The first set ended
with a fun rowdy take on “Possum” in to Rocky Top.
Set break was close to 25 minutes
Set two, rather than me go song by song was pretty solid. Everything was going along great, then Page started to get funky on the tail end of “Ghost” and it rolled right in to “Boogie On Reggae Woman”. This as a blast. For the first time of the night I said “this show is worth a download for this track alone” It just was great. We got a second cover later of “Quinn the Eskimo” and that went in to a personal favorite “Harry Hood”. The end of this is always the pay off but I found the jam went on too long to really blow it out good. “Cavern” followed and I dig this tune and it was fun. I am not sure I've ever heard them do this live actually.
We decided to listen to the encore in the hallway. They tend to do one tune so its usually the whole “if its a ripper we go back in”. “Loving Cup” was played. As solid a tune we were out the door by the second verse.
Overall it was a decent show. A little rust was there for sure and three cover tunes always sort of is a bummer with a catalog like theirs, but I realize they have another show Friday and a big festival to do.
They were far better than the last two
times there so that was a plus, but you need to take part of the day
off work to get there and park. The lot I was in was no tailgating
so the “scene” was sort of quiet. Start the show a bit more on
time and better bathroom situations would be key.
Oh, they were supposed to do some
sort of limited pins for the show but the city got wind of it I guess
and had to approve the logo, which wasn't done in time. Posters were
cool but limited to one per person same with the pins had they been
sold.
Full set and notes from
phish.net
Set
1: Buried
Alive > Runaway
Jim[1] > Torn
and Frayed, Funky
Bitch, The
Moma Dance > Rift, Nothing, Ocelot, Beauty
of a Broken Heart, Possum[2],Rocky
Top
Set
2: Carini -> Taste[3], Ghost > Boogie
On Reggae Woman > If
I Could, Quinn
the Eskimo > Harry
Hood > Cavern > Buried
Alive Reprise
Encore: Loving
Cup
[1]
Buried Alive tease.
[2] Beauty of a Broken Heart tease.
[3] Norwegian Wood tease.
[2] Beauty of a Broken Heart tease.
[3] Norwegian Wood tease.
Notes: Runaway
Jim included a Buried Alive tease, Possum included a Beauty of a
Broken Heart tease and Taste included a Norwegian Wood tease (all
from Trey). If I Could was last played on November 21, 2009 (102
shows).
Labels: live review, Review Link