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.

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).