night two was the awesome. not that there weren't issues, but the overall effect was a lot more positive than night one. which is odd, because i originally remembered thinking the two nights were of pretty equal quality. but through the "magic" of reliving the shows via recording, i've now decided night two was far better. for whatever that's worth.
anyway, i came into night two having felt that the previous night was one of the best concert-going nights of my life, but also wondering if i could physically (and mentally) take 3 more hours of phish again this soon. the band started off with "mango song", which was pretty much the weirdest opener in the universe and it was so confusing that it took me until the next song, "chalkdust torture", to adjust. fortunately, they almost always blow this song out of the water, and they did here as well. kind of feel like they should have switched the order of these two in the setlist...
next was "middle of the road", which is apparently a mike gordon tune. this was a neat little song, and i hate to sound bitchy, but at this point, i was getting a little sick of first-set songs i didn't know or had never heard. i guess after waiting to hear the band live for 8 years and knowing and loving pretty much all of the 250+ songs they play, it was a little frustrating to hear at least 4-5 songs i didn't even know where there were so many songs i wanted to hear.
next was "tweezer", and as much as i usually love this song, after the first few minutes (with the notable exception of the island tour version) it usually devolves into a serviceable but unremarkable jam. no different this time. it was solidly played, but not nearly as exploratory or interesting as a lot of the late-set jams from night one.
next was "driver"...now, i love "driver", but again, i felt the same way i felt about "sleep" the first night. why play this if you're not in a room with 5 people and an acoustic guitar? i felt like i was at a DMB encore, where a solo acoustic performance is considered some sort of reverential occurrence, for some reason. i guess i just don't get it.
next was "twenty years later". another song i'd never heard, and another sort of workmanlike rendition (much like "joy" from the first night). at this point i'm loving the show, of course (it's still my virgin phish experience), but getting a little leery that if things continue as-is song-selection-wise for much longer, i might go home a little disappointed. fortunately, the next two songs are "ya mar" and "it's ice". "ya mar" is a pretty run-of-the-mill song, technically, but it such a fun, bouncy tune (and the crowd was obviously more familiar with it than a lot of the songs thus far that night) that it was just the right song to get everyone bouncing around and screaming and whatnot again. "it's ice" was a perfect counterpoint: a short, but technically complicated and interesting song that led beautifully into...
..."wolfman's brother". where the first night made me a believer in "down with disease", night two was all about the "wolfman". i've never liked this song much either, however, this night changed my mind. a great near-20-minute funk version, complete with the best glowstick war in the universe, and i still can't help but grin when i listen to the tape of this. great, great moment.
first set ended strong with "character zero" > "run like an antelope". the crowd responded to "antelope" like we'd been waiting since the beginning of the night to jump up and down screaming like maniacs when trey demanded that we "run like an antelope, out of control!"
where i liked second night, first set better than first night, first set, the second night second set was part great, part not-so-great (though it ended on a high note). first we got a 20 minute cover of velvet underground's "rock n roll", which was really fun and unexpected. next was "makisupa policeman", which included a jam where trey and mike switched instruments for a few minutes. then came "alaska", a song which i've desperately tried to like time and time again and just cannot. i'm sorry. then there was "the wedge", which is always a nice pop-ish gem, followed (finally) by "YEM". honestly, i was hoping all weekend for "divided sky", so the opening notes of "YEM" were a little disappointing for me. nonetheless; it was a great version of the song, with an excellent five minute vocal jam at the end.
the closing combination of "backwards down the number line > piper > grind" was fun, but at that point i think all the standing, dancing, heat, and contact high was wearing on me and i sort of felt like we were just waiting for the encore. "backwards" is not a high-energy song by any means, and the transition to "piper" was a little wonky. "grind" was cute, but singing a cappella is about as far from rock as you can get :)
fortunately, the encore was a great (nay, perfect!) way to end a two-night stand: "good times bad times" and "tweezer (reprise)". the encore thus made sure that we were all screaming like mad(wo)men by the end.
ultimately, it was a more enjoyable weekend than i had even hoped, and more than lived up to my live phish expectations. was it the best phish show i've ever heard? no, but the fact that i was finally actually there in the flesh more than made up for some of the lacking technical proficiencies. on the recording, things don't stand up quite as well. the high points and the intensity come across a lot less, and the glitchy playing stands out more. i feel like the recordings do a good job (for better or worse) illustrating the semi-episodic nature of both nights: the good and bad seemed to come in chunks...so i suppose in a way having a recording is nice because i can skip the parts i don't necessarily feel like i need to hear again.
i hope they tour again next summer because i'll totally be there...
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