BGCA 3: BESTEST WEBCASTED SHOW EVER
Written by: Tim Wade @TheEmu
Phish’s return to San Francisco, perhaps the Mecca of the jam band world, for their first non-festival shows there since 1998 came with almost impossibly high expectations. A three night stand in the intimate and historic Bill Graham Civic Auditorium proved to be the toughest Phish ticket of the Summer. A strong first leg that finished with a bang at SPAC and a much-praised, jam-heavy second set to open leg two in Long Beach only added to the hopes and excitement of those lucky enough to attend. With the bar set that high, it’s unsurprising that Phish's first two shows of the weekend would leave many fans feeling disappointed and counting on a big Sunday comeback. And comeback they did.
“Crowd Control” started off the show quite well, perhaps a nod to the fans who were left thinking “Show us why we came here… give it to us loud and clear!” after nights one and two. Turning up the flame a bit, “Party Time” hops in and really gets the dancing started. “Party Time” is a song that seems to be coming into its own, following a raucous rendition with Carl “Geerz” Gerhard at Portsmouth1 and an exceptional, modestly jammed-out one at SPAC3. While this performance doesn’t outdo either version from leg one, it further solidifies “Party Time” as a strong first-set energy infusion. “Axilla” completes the warm-up process by being its rowdy, fist-pumping self, and with a little whale call from Trey tagged on the end, the band jumps into the first real jamming opportunity of the night, “Reba.”
San Francisco has seen some memorable “Rebas,” including three standout versions (4/17/92, 3/27/93, and 5/27/94) at The Warfield Theater and the rare type-II outing at The Fillmore (10/15/98). This “Reba,” while pretty, isn’t in the same league, as it passes on a chance at introspection and leaves any meaningful peaks in the tub. Still, its jam is smooth and charming. “Free” is up next, and does what “Free” has been doing for a while now; it gives Mike a chance to funk things up for a minute and then takes a bow. “Mound” is always a welcome treat, even when it’s flubbed a bit, but the first real standout of the night walks in on its heels, a “Walk Away” that Trey absolutely rips apart before returning to the chorus. (And, yes, there is a "Tweezer Reprise" theme of sorts in this version as there has been at other times in recent years.) “NICU” is fun and provides some chuckles and cheers, for Cactus and “Leon…Leon!” and for Trey, who laughs at the crowd’s response to the “Look back on those days when my life was a haze” line. Strong versions of “Back On The Train,” “Gotta Jibboo,” and “Roggae” show up next, and the "Roggae" in particular needs to be heard, as it is an unusually impressive version featuring Mike employing an almost Phil-Lesh-esque tone. The first set closes with a sloppy (in part), and rather dark and disturbed “David Bowie,” which is compelling for anyone who is keeping score as far as versions worth hearing from the last three years go.
Despite the flubs, which are sprinkled throughout (with an extra pinch for “Mound” and “David Bowie”), set one is quite strong, with some consistently upbeat jamming and excellent flow. Second sets, though, have been increasingly strong in 2012, as evidenced by SPAC1, SPAC3, and Long Beach, and the final set of the BGCA run is no exception.
“Crosseyed And Painless” kicks off the second set with nine minutes of straightforward power jamming before moving smoothly into type-II exploration, the last five minutes of which are truly spectacular, gorgeous, and majestic, before resolving into “Light.” Once again, the first section of "Light" is more or less typical, with dissonance and tension, as well as a “Crosseyed” tease. From there, the jam takes off and becomes magnificent. There’s amazing, mesmerizing work from Page, with Mike and Fish laying a pulsing base and Trey exploring different themes, first quirky and then nasty-good. The jam is allowed to calm and build before absolutely EXPLODING in rock glory and, moments later, we are treated with a completely fluid segue into “Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley!” This version of “Sneakin’ Sally” grooves, rages and peaks with awe-inspiring intensity before dropping, again flawlessly, into a “Crosseyed And Painless” reprise, which eventually dissolves and becomes “Theme From The Bottom.”
Last night's “Theme” is arguably among the finest versions of the song, as Trey's solo is focused and almost-soulful, quite unlike many other efforts in recent years in particular. “Rocky Top” contains another “Leon!” shout, and it was followed by “Boogie On Reggae Woman,” which while it doesn’t go as deep as the Worcester version from the start of the Summer, it is suitably funky with a nice, clavinet-heavy outro jam that blends well into the opening of “Meatstick.” Both “Meatstick” and the “Bug” that follows it are satisfying, as long as you can forgive minor flubs in “Bug” and are not predisposed to “Bug” (or "Meatstick") hate. Ultimately, though, this wonderful set is capped in what is perhaps the only appropriate way, with 2012’s third “You Enjoy Myself.” This YEM also doesn’t get out there too far, but Trey’s solo is quiet, sly and sweet, and the bass and drums segment is thunderous and outstanding, with Trey adding some percussion of his own to Mike's extended solo. The encore features a tip of the hat to San Francisco in “Ride Captain Ride,” and the “Tweezer Reprise” puts the exclamation point on a fantastic final set.
Despite its imperfections, whatever your opinion on the show overall, the “Crosseyed” > “Light” -> “Sneakin’ Sally” -> “Crosseyed Reprise” is must-hear Phish, with improvisation that vaults the entire show, as a package, into both “Best of 2012” and “Best of 3.0” conversations. Debate it to your heart’s content, but do yourself a favor and listen to it now!
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Phish.net
The Mockingbird Foundation
Clearly the best show of the weekend - and to my ears I thought during the set break that it was the best 1st set so it wasn't just the jams that came later that made it so great. After Theme - it was clear that this was truly a special show. The YEM made it feel cosmically epic - as if confirming just how musically mind blowing Phish can be at their best. This show struts it's stuff on par with any show from any era...
The "Ride, Captain Ride" made it clear that Phish felt the same way we did - there's no place else and no other show any of us wanted. This was it!
Having been to every Bay Area show since the reunion - this was the single best night yet.
I really loved Theme..gets lost in the mix...and boogie on could've went a little longer..
Whatever lacked the previous two nights...phish made up for it in a big way last night..
P.S. nice calls on the first few songs of set II last night
I agree that this was the best webcasted show ever followed closely by the "S" show from Denver last year
Good writeup.
anyone else having this issue or know how to resolve it?
thx
The first night of Tahoe - 8/9/11 - blows this show away.
Stronger playing, less flubs, and a more fluid second set.
Bill Graham Civic Aud. was the smallest place I've seen Phish. After the show, while I was obviously over the moon about how the band sounded, I was blown away by Chris Kuroda.
Holy S., that guy is good.
The second set was a big surprise!! Totally reminded me of the first Crosseyed I got to see in Florence Italy (2/21/97). The whole set was incredible.
The most exciting part was watching Chris Kuroda still be into his job as much as he was when he started. Seeing him jump up and down during the peaks was spectacular. Truly amazing. Thank you!!
another listen..
I feel very lucky to have made it to this show, and that I was able to catch the two shows that built it up.. I think LB was really special too. I am so happy Trey is alive and the band seems so healthy.
Unbelievable show.
It must be nice to be able to allow the music to play you instead of the normal opposite.
@Scott said:
@ProfPhan said:
Easily a top 5 3.0 show for me.
Some fantastic reviews here. Thanks everyone.
So here's the thing... I don't listen to the Dead, never seen a Dead show, could care less about tributes. BUT
I just thought I'd add that to those who thought there should have been a Dead / Jerry tribute... listen to the beginning of Meatstick again.
Sounds like "Fire on the Mountain". Fire, Fire on the Meatstick. Cool. I guess.
Set 2: A+
Last night was SPECTACULAR and while there have been a number of excellent shows in 3.0, NONE of them BLOW LAST NIGHT AWAY, NONE.
the difference between the #1 show, Big Cypress New Year's, and 8.19.12 is just over one tenth of a point. i'm not drawing any conclusions from that, just calling it out as potentially interesting.
the list is misleading b/c some shows on it do not have anywhere near the number of votes that 8.19 has -- seems like there ought to be some weighting system in place. there might be something to be said for the fact that 8.19 is hanging in there despite having almost three times as many voters as some of the other very high ranking shows on the list.
not making an argument one way or another for how the show ought to be placed in the pantheon, just calling attention to the metric for anyone who thinks all of us phish.net users get it right when we rank the shows (or for anyone who wants to use this ranking to suggest that maybe we don't
i was lucky enough to be there, and for me, it was unquestionably the best Phish show i've ever seen (got me to create this account after all these years!).
Honestly, my first thought was Vulcan, but then, with Boogie On boogieing my badonkadonk in the background, into my head pops a vision of Leonard Nimoy, playing the older Spock in the latest Trek movie, grooving his a$$ off twirling the Lirpa weapon around like a baton.
I also thought it more diplomatic to imply that critics with no clue were at least derived from humanity and not mechanical, metallic robots.
So I went with Cylon. Some of the fans at the show were rather less than that in terms of their obnoxious behavior, but that's a subject for another thread.
August 19, 2012. This was the Ode to Joy. The Buddhist held a huge culture festival in this room on Sunday August 19, 2001, and, given that that was a turning point for me, I was determined to manifest some results together with my favorite band.
My dearest friend miracled me a ticket, finding one miraculously at face value, and giving it to me. We shared the most spectacular time imaginable, a happy happy night. And the band definitely delivered. I kinda thought Crowd Control would be appropriate, and that was the choice. Some of the woofers on Fish's side blew out with the first chord, which lead to some sound issues in the room for round 1, but the crack team found a way to minimize the issue. Party Time was a release from the serious note of the opener, and Axilla was performed superior to any I've witnessed, possibly save Halloween '98, which had more insane crowd energy. Reba was really cool, colorful, wonderful, and the whistling brought the energy up a notch.
Free was relatively standard, although I found the Mike-> Trey instrumental segment to be very creative. Mound was a treat, and the crowd nearly hit that silent "Clap" in the intro, and that's something that doesn't happen often enough. Some call this version flubbed, but I don't agree. They've been exploring dynamics and orchestration lately, coming up with unique variations on many of their song, such as the guitar riff of NICU this evening. Walk Away impressed me on relistening. Back on the Train followed in the footsteps of 2/28/03 with a huge Trey solo. Jiboo was bubbly and psychedelic. Roggae deeply exploratory. And Bowie was just monsterous, despite a flubbed intro. Sounded like Trey tried an experiment by hitting the scratch early, leaving a pause, and they came in out of synch. Nonetheless, the jam is wild, chaotic, and highly entertaining, with some Fluff-ish rhythmic synchopations thrown into the chaos for good measure.
Set 2. It keeps growing on me. I loved it when I was there. It played out like an ode to my friend. Cross-eyed and Painless-- that's how I was feeling. Meditative jamming. Right on. Light, and Trey sings like he was really feeling it! The light jam morphs this way and that, growing more wonderful with each turn, and then comes this ascending mutation of the Mind Left Body theme that Trey likes to bring in San Francisco (see the YEM from 11/29/96 at the Cow Palace). Here, the band plays into the theme with such unity, presence, and thick thick groove, and out of nowhere... drop into Sally! The dance party is on! Meditation time is done, and it's time to throw down! Spectacular! Mike is in the lead now. And on a dime, the band begins singing, and on the very next dime, returns to the Cross-eyed groove along with the song.
The jam dies down into mud, but before we really jump in, Page turns to his piano and the notes sounded like ice crystals in winter. A most refreshing, purifying tone. A breath between phrases, and he introduces Theme. Trey nails the solo on his way into the instrumental break. Mighty fine majestic music! Rocky Top for my Tennessee friend, played with all the presence, perfection, drive and straight-up abandonment one could ever wish for.
And if you haven't danced enough, Mike starts up Boogie on Reggae Woman. For those who say Trey flubbed the words, he did it for Mike. Cactus was owning the song so hard that Trey just let him play through! The jam was short, but so rich that it felt like a 10 minute monster. And yet virtually no time passed at all. Meatstick next, and it was balls to the wall, san francisco style.
The band finally took a moment to breathe here. Hell, we were dancing in the back of the floor, around the corner in the walkway Fish side, and the sound was perfect! Further, there was more than plenty of room to dance, and we were throwing down. But now there was no music, we couldn't really see the band, and we didn't know it wasn't an encore break.
Bug started up, and it was performed to its full potential, each nuance handled with utmost consideration. Driven, yet sublime. And then we got the YEM. Not your old school powerhouse YEM, and not your New York City shake that building YEM. This YEM was a loving, warm, purifying endeavor. The full composition was glorious, and Trey's solo segment saw the band drop out while he quietly grooved to the united hand-clapping of the crowd. Rather than building a fire of intensity, this quiet solo brought everyone together with intimacy. Mike Gordon stepped up for his solo, bringing in quotes from Herbie Hancock's Chameleon, before going on his own gorgeous journey. In the spirit of the Grateful Dead, this performance relied less on flash, more on nuance, details, and the things you might not notice the first time you hear it. The vocal jam was also very well done, just enough, never over the top, not too long, and featured the sound of their voices moderately spinning around the room.
One point about the Chameleon reference: on the songs with Page solos, Trey called out in the effeminate way, "Play it, Leon!" Thinking of the Herbie quote, Chame-leon! Seems Mike threw in a prank under the radar right there.
Page introduces the encore by saying "We had a really fun time tonight." Ride Captain Ride. After the San Francisco Bay reference, I didn't pay much attention, I was dancing and thoroughly enjoying the show. Tweeprise came up, and there were clowsticks and streamers, lights and energy, a spectacular build up, the vocals, and that final refrain where the band slams the theme that one last time with rock solid confidence and unbreakable conviction. And the finale!
The fans walking the halls all seemed to have this peaceful, enchanted look on their faces. Few people were talking, although occasionally a pocket of crowd would start to cheer.
And for a very rare San Francisco event, stepping out into the Civic Center fog, the temperature was warm, pleasant, perfect. A sense of peace and happiness permeated everywhere.
All you can ask these days is to have a show "in the discussion" of greatness. That in itself proves it's a keeper. What a night in SF!
Crosseyed > Light > Sally > Crosseyed
The only problem is I don't get out of bed for 45 minutes
These second set transitions are fucking killer
I'd love to get a copy of this show.
Anyway, I agree with the people who are freaking out about how great this show is. First set is good, high energy, strong finish. But yeah, that second set. Golly gee. You can hear how awesome they know they are in the transition from Light> Sally- I swear you can literally hear Trey's guitar saying, I'm so f*ing Badass.
Best of 3.0, etc. questions are irrelevant to this particular guy- I don't really know what the word 'best' means- but I know I'll be playing that second set- a lot. I play Phish a lot in general (ask my poor wife) but I mean- a lot.
Whoo hoo. This is why we're here.
Now THAT'S why I have always loved Phish. I had the feeling that as soon as I heard those opening notes to C&P that they were on a mission. 2 1/2 shows at Bill Graham - a place they obviously hold dear to their hearts - without really hitting their stride. I knew they were going to put all their energy into this, but I had no idea it would flow and be so energetic like it was. It really was the perfectly executed set, with the cherry on top with Ride Captain Ride and Tweeprise. At times, when I hear something so perfect, the beauty overcomes me and I start to tear up... I did that three or four times over the second set and encore. Including the 35+ shows I've seen live plus all the online videos and DVDs, etc., that was the BEST SET I have ever witnessed.
Congrats to the boys, they seemed to get a lot of satisfaction out of the set, and A LOT of fun. And congrats to all who got to attend a very special show.
The energy was off the charts, circa '89-'91 level. I hope they're exercising and eating right so we can continue to have fantastic shows like this for years to come!!!