This was my first of three shows this summer. Having had listened to the last couple nights shows on the drive, I was very gassed to see what the boys had in store for us.

Unfortunately, this was the weakest show of phish's summer 2012 Midwest gigs.

The first set had some high points but largely, it seemed uninspired and lacked in cohesiveness.

Sample- not my favorite opener, but the crowd did seem a little foggy/groggy from the last 2 nights. Solid version.

Tube- this was welcome in the 2 slot. As they do these days, they shot straight through the middle section. It was nice and tight, but nobody really sunk their teeth into this one.

Axilla- this version was fine but this selection didn't really fit well between tube and...

Bt gin- once again, there was nothing too atypical about this version. Trey and page did limber up, as brought this gin back around to a rousing climax.

Roses are free- it felt like this set might start to pick up. As this roses was winding down, Gordon and fish made a little move like they may want to tack on a jam, but it was collectively shut down. As it wound down, trey brought up...

Limb by limb: this placement seemed a little odd to me. Trey did push this limb more than anything else in the set, but it just never completely took off. Trey did start to take over, for good or ill, from about this point to the end if the set.

Free- hmm, this placement seemed really off. I feel free works best after a darker type 2 jam, and limb just didn't get out there enough to make me "need" a free. It just seemed forced...

Nicu- solid version, but the hodge podge feel of this set continues...

Possum- everyone knew the "awesome Blossum possum" was coming tonight. This was possibly the high point of the set. Trey did do a nice job power ripping this one apart!

The wedge- for a moment, it seemed they may finish this set well. The wedge seemed to provide a cool breeze after a hot possum. I felt something big was coming next.

Corrina- well, I'm the king of getting bust outs I don't care about. Not my favorite tune. I don't dislike it either, but it just didn't seem to fit at this juncture.

Meatstick- sweet Jesus... I hit the pisser once trey starting bringing a bunch hussies on stage to do the dance, which none of them knew. If you're a meat stick fan, I guess this was a good set closer. I'm not.

The boys seemed to come out w/ a bit more of a game plan in the 2nd set. It wasn't spectacular, but they tried...

Golden age: I got my first taste of phish's 2012 jamming on this one. While I don't think they struck on anything particularly wild here, they did really hone in on a focused/patient jaunt. Unfortunately, no one seemed to really bring any inspiration to the table. It did provide a good warm up, getting everyone in the 2nd set groove. Gordon layed a forceful foundation, and the rest of the band was responsive. This one moved smoothly and easily descended into...

Ghost: like the golden age jam, this ghost jam was focused and patient, but for the most part, really seemed to lack inspiration. Around the 8-9 min mark, this jam started to fizzle out. Trey stepped closer to the audience and looked like he was about to rip cord this one, but instead he shot off a brilliant flurry of notes. The last 2-2:30 min's of this jam really explores some pretty exotic and unique soundscapes. They finally down shift and make a pretty organic transition into...

Sweet Virginia: king of bustouts I don't care about...
Either way, this seemed to fit here much better than corrina in the 1st set. I liked it better when page sang it but watcha gonna do?

Rift: an obvious breather after a solid three song run to open the set.

Tweezer: I was happy to see them break away from their typical approach to this one, but at the end of the day, this tweezer kind of fell on its face. As the jam begins, they tear into a pretty ferocious tweezer reprise'esque jam. As they work out of that they find a nice little groove which ends up being very similar to "under pressure." Trey picks up on this and tries to get the guys moving on it, except no one really knows the words... or exactly how the song goes. They end up hamming it up quite a bit, complete w/ meat stick teases. As this one winds down, trey starts to move toward the horse, but after seeming to call the shots all night, he got a big veto as the rest of the band breaks for...

Walk away: this version is white hot 2nd set fire. The segue into it wasn't as slamming as some of the great tweezer->walk aways, but it did the job. Anyway, trey took the veto well as he absolutely brutalized this must hear version.

Horse/silent: now trey got what he wanted but it just didn't really fit. Solid version though.

Piper: I liked this placement, although it seemed to be a bit of an unusual spot. Fish held it down here as the boys went on one last cosmic journey. Gordon and trey played off each other well as they let this piper drive them. As it washed away, the boys fell into...

Waste: I was wondering if they would keep the interesting set list decisions coming and let waste close this down, but trey jumped right into...

Antelope: piper->waste->antelope really allowed a nice peak-valley-peak roller coaster to end the 2nd set. This antelope was its typical rowdy self, but it was overly littered w/ meat stick teases. Either way, an up and down show did end on a high note.

Enc:
Cup>tweeprise- blah.

So, a very hodge podgey 1st set was followed by a second set that really tried but never quite delivered the goods. That is the bad side of seeing phish. If you beg for them to take leaps, you have to know that sometimes it's just not going to work. That's the nature of the beast. I would rather see them take a risk and fail than phone it in and play a plain jane predictable set. Golden age->ghost set the stage, but there was still a lot of pressure on tweezer to deliver the goods. It didn't, but walk away, while light on type 2, was some good balls to the wall phish power rock.
Highlights:
Set 1: gin, possum, limb
Set 2: golden->ghost, walk away