Phish Completes A Gorgeous Two Night Stand At The Gorge [Recap]
Phish returned to The Gorge last night to finish off their two-night stand at the famed George, WA venue. After Friday night’s top-notch tease-fest—easily a contender for best of the tour so far—excitement was high for Gorge night two.The band got the show on the road with the tour debut of instrumental “Buried Alive” into the second “AC/DC Bag” of the tour. “The Moma Dance” came next, adding a dose of funk before hopping into Bill Monroe’s bluegrass standard “Uncle Pen”. Up next was a well-played version of the Mike Gordon-penned “555”. This song has appeared to be on the verge of a really great, jammed out version for a long time now, consistently reaching some cool grooving places, but never breaking through to the other side. While well played, this version followed precedent, staying strictly inside the lines.“Sleep Again” followed, making just its sixth-ever appearance in a Phish setting. The “It’s Ice” that came next was, as always, a welcome addition, and stayed mostly within its meticulously composed structure, but featured a super funky breakdown from keyboardist Page McConnell.“Driver” came next, making its first appearance in three years (111 shows), followed by a rare first set “Sand” dance party. “Horn” and “Halfway To The Moon” offered a breather before dropping into “Bathtub Gin”. The set-closing Gin was the improvisational highlight of the show, building to several ripping peaks with Anastasio leading the way, hose on full blast.The second set had a noticeably different feel from the previous night’s. While Friday’s set flowed cohesively, weaving the songs together with quotes, teases, and segues, Saturday night’s second set was lighter on the improv and more song-oriented. It was almost as if the first night was about the Phish, but the second night was about the Gorge—singing along, being with your friends, and appreciating the incredible beauty of the surroundings.The band got the set started with a relatively standard “Blaze On” that briefly flirted with some major key jam space before Trey opted for an unusually placed “Backwards Down The Number Line”. Normally appearing late in sets or as a closer or encore, hearing it pop up here was a little jarring. “Number Line” gets a lot of flack from fans for supposedly disrupting setlist flow, and while the song is upbeat, its appearance in the generally improv-heavy second song spot was a bit disappointing.If the crowd deflated a little at the first notes of “Number Line”, the opening riff of “Carini” had the opposite effect, bringing the energy right back up to a boil. “Birds Of A Feather” followed, maintaining the momentum that “Carini” had injected. Next, the soaring, Pink Floyd-esque “Wingsuit” gave way to the new ballad “Shade”, making just its fifth-ever appearance after debuting last year.The Mike’s Groove that came next followed suit with the rest of the show, featuring well played but straightforward versions of “Mike’s Song” and “Farmhouse”, and an upbeat, bass-heavy “Weekapaug Groove”. Finally, the band closed out the set with a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Shine A Light”.With the previous night’s “Tweeprise” still on the table, many fans had an idea of where the encore would end up, but nobody predicted what came first: the familiar piano part of “Hold Your Head Up”, which sends Trey to the drum set and Fishman to center stage. After admitting that he only ever remembers Syd Barrett songs, Fish sang Barrett’s “Love You” (the first in 216 shows) before delivering an always-hilarious vacuum cleaner solo. The “HYHU” refrain saw Fishman run and jump around stage—as he is known to do—before taking his usual seat behind the drums for the meat of the encore: “Harry Hood”, a song that’s become a sort of Gorge tradition for Phish. During the song, Trey asked lighting designer Chris Kuroda to turn off the lights so that everyone could appreciate the beautiful night sky, making for a glow stick war of epic proportions. Finally, the “Tweezer Reprise” that we all knew was coming rang out through the Gorge to bring a great run to a close.The one drawback of such a strong first night of a run is that it always has the potential to overshadow the second, and last night surely didn’t shine as brightly as Night 1. But with the ripping first-set “Gin”, the long, crazy encore, and tight playing from all four members of the band throughout, there was certainly a lot to like in this show, which rounded out a successful run at one of the world’s most beautiful venues.Phish makes their way to San Francisco tomorrow to begin a three-night stand at the famous Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, another venue where Phish is known to bring their A-game. Check out the full Phish.net setlist below.Setlist: Phish at The Gorge Amphitheatre, George, WA – 7/16/16Set 1: Buried Alive, AC/DC Bag > The Moma Dance, Uncle Pen, 555, Sleep Again, It’s Ice, Driver, Sand, Horn, Halfway to the Moon, Bathtub GinSet 2: Blaze On > Backwards Down the Number Line > Carini > Birds of a Feather, Wingsuit > Shade, Mike’s Song > Farmhouse > Weekapaug Groove, Shine a LightEncore: Hold Your Head Up, Love You > Hold Your Head Up, Harry Hood > Tweezer RepriseNotes: This show was webcast via Live Phish. Driver was played for the first time since August 3, 2013 (111 shows). Love You was played for the first time since October 23, 2010 (216 shows).Photography by Jordan IngleeInstagram: @visualsuplex Load remaining images
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