I’m told that the other Phish bloggers trashed the second night of Phish at Lake Tahoe and I’m a bit perplexed by that assessment of this show; check out the setlist…
Phish @ Harvey’s Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena, Stateline, NV 8/10/11
Set 1: Dogs Stole Things, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, Poor Heart, Alaska, Halley’s Comet > It’s Ice > When the Circus Comes, Ya Mar, Stash, Funky Bitch, Instant Karma! > Run Like an Antelope
Set 2: Down with Disease* > Runaway Jim > Ghost > Golden Age > Also Sprach Zarathustra^ > Sneakin’ Sally through the Alley, Guyute, Wading in the Velvet Sea, You Enjoy Myself
Encore: Show of Life > Good Times Bad Times
* – Pop Goes the Weasel tease; unfinished.
^ – Golden Age teases.Notes: This was the second of two Pay Per view performances. Dogs Stole Things was played for the first time since July 12, 2003 (167 shows). The intro to Down with Disease featured a Pop Goes the Weasel tease and Also Sprach included Golden Age teases. Disease was unfinished. Setlist via Phish.net.
Loved the “Dogs Stole Things” opener and a bunch of the other first set choices, although I do wish “Halley’s Comet” was not consistently cut short. But it also gives me a killer idea for a lot shirt, so I’m not minding much. Other highlights for me include the always sublime “When the Circus Comes” and a raging “Runaway Jim” in the second set. The band ran over curfew to finish off “Good Times Bad Times” in the encore and I came away with an immediate need to relisten to the show. So far I’m only halfway through “Jim” and it’s as good as I remember it. Also, listen back to this “Ghost” with three minute space jam to close it out. Clearly a melodic nod to the band launching into “2001” later in the show, but only after they hammered out another version of “Golden Age.”
I’ll wait to pass further judgment but let me just remind everyone to step back and remember that not all of these shows are going to have those elements of this band that you love front to back. I personally wish there was a 30 minute ambient jam at Gorge, but I’m not pissed I didn’t get it and I’m not saying that the show sucked because it wasn’t there. Everyone needs to re-check their expectations at the door, and The Gorge > Lake Tahoe four shows were perfect examples of everything I love about Phish and why today’s set at Outside Lands is going to be a welcome respite from the jaded vets on tour that I kept running into.
The band plays two sets tonight at Outside Lands here in San Francisco. Follow along with my updates from the show over @livemusicblog or check out @YEMblog tonight, where our good buddy @PeteLikesPhish will be tweeting from the show in his official debut for the site. Verizon > AT&T FTW!