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).

Radiohead - Comcast Center Mansfield MA May 29, 2012

Radiohead
Comcast Center, Mansfield, MA
Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Support - Caribou

Taking the stage shortly after 8pm Radiohead would unload a 23 song marathon of music, the main set and two encores would find the band pushing the 11pm curfew of the sold out Comcast Center in Mansfield Tuesday night.

Basking in the glow of one of the more impressive light shows the six piece band would change gears on a dime, going form heavy lead piano lead tracks, to heavy pounding numbers. Front man Thom Yorke would roate from guitar to piano and back. When not playing he'd do that “freak out” dance he is so well known for. Flanked by Ed O'Brien and his barrage of guitar effects and the multi instrumentalalist Johnny Greenwood they'd lead the charge all night. Bassist Colin Greenwood was tucked in the middle of the stage, but set way back, his roaring basslines were outstanding all evening long.

Yorke was chatty for much of the show, not just the canned “thank you” and “this song is...” common banter. Topics from the looming rain, to the Russian elections he was far more chatty than this reviewer had expected.

Known in recent years for their light shows this did not fail to impress. The top portion of the light rig was fixed camera shots on the band members. The the images would blend from face, to tapping feet to hands on strings. Being a bit far back I am unusre if it was a series of lights or panels, but there were large screens that also dropped and angled and flashed above the bands heads. It was very impressive.

Audience was respectful, at least in my area and were elated with the song selection eveidence by a thunderous roar of approval.

The band is currently on this final leg of the King Of Limbs tour, so get at it, while the getting is good.

The full set list:

1.  Bloom

2. 15 Step

3. Airbag

4. Staircase

5. The Daily Mail

6. Myxomatosis

7. The Gloaming

8. Separator

9. Pyramid Song

10. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi

11. Morning Mr. Magpie

12. Identikit

13. Lotus Flower

14. There There

15. Feral

16. Idioteque

E1

17. Supercollider

18. The National Anthem

19. Lucky

20. Everything in the Right Place *

E2
21. Give Up the Ghost
22. Bodysnatchers
23. Reckoner

*After the Gold Rush intro/tease