My 2nd show. It's very possible that this may be the best Phish show I've been to so far. Taking place exactly 4 months after my first show and at the same venue where my mother saw Led Zeppelin 37 years ago. Still very much a noob at this time. DwD, Funky Bitch, NICU, Rock and Roll, Carini, My Problem Right There and Sanity were all songs I had never heard before this night.
Left my house with my friend Shay in the early evening and made the easy 80 minute drive to Providence, dropped 2 tabs in the car, hung out in the garage we parked in and headed in around 7:30. I loved our seats. Section 228 Row K, Seats 6 and 7 (sideview, Fishman side, 11th row back, dead center.) Much more enjoyable perspective than the one I had from the lawn in Mansfield a few months ago. Another thing that made this show so special was the people I was around. So genuinely nice, I wish every fan was like the crowd that I encountered that night. Such good vibes. Now, onto the show review.
I don't even know where to start with the first set. DwD through Ocelot was incredible. A personal highlight for me was going from the extremely energetic (although standard) performance of Rift into the philthy phunk phest that was Moma. Sample provided a little time to breathe and Julius was a great way to end an extraordinary first set.
Intermission was ridiculous, the Dunkin Donuts center needs to separate the food concessions from the beverage concessions. The staff was overwhelmed and it's pretty annoying that it takes 15 minutes just to get two bottles of water when you see people walking away from the counter with chicken fingers, popcorn and pretzels. At least I got to have a nice conversation with a cute hippy girl that was saying that the venue should give out the water for free because there's no way they'd have enough water for everybody and if they gave it away for free people would be more likely to share it. Then I made a comment along the lines of "Yeah I can see the newspaper headlines now 'Thousands die of dehydration at Phish concert'" this girls pupils were huge and in hindsight that might not have been the best thing to say to somebody with a head full of psychedelics but I thought it was funny at the time.
Anywho, 2nd set starts and I'm still in line trying to get water. Get back to my seat during the Rock and Roll jam and everything after that is all good.
This set has a much different vibe to the last, more dark and cryptic jamming. RnR -> Carini? How is that even possible? Then My Problem Right There, a song of deep despair and woe. Yay! Mike's Song! Another song I know! Pretty standard. Tight and a somewhat eerie jam that goes into Sanity. Now this is where things get legitimately scary. At first my feelings are that this is a pretty quirky song musically with somewhat generic but spooky lyrics. Then the vocal jam begins. I notice that everybody around me is standing absolutely motionless. I'm really starting to get freaked out by this (thanks fake acid) and feel like a weight is lifted from my entire body when Mike starts his solo in Weekapaug. Suzy > Light made for a good time. Character Zero was fun but doesn't really stand out in my memory but 2001 was very enjoyable. Great work from CK5 on this number. Projecting UFO shaped lights over the floor while Trey plays the ascending notes. Loving Cup was kinda disappointing because that was the same song to close the 2nd set in Mansfield a few months earlier (and i'm not a big fan of it anyways.) I had the same feelings with the First Tube encore but after listening to the download of the show I noticed that this one was much better due to Trey's new guitar. The tone was much nicer and the feedback he was getting at the end was much more powerful. However, it was still very enjoyable at the time. I mean c'mon, it's First Tube!
Left Providence a very happy man and couldn't wait to do it again in Amherst tomorrow. Unfortunately the "friend" that said he would hook me up with free tickets decided not to answer his phone and I was unable to attend the 1st night due to lack of funds. Oh well, guess it's time to get drunk at my sister's dorm at Westfield State and wait for night 2.