Ah phish fans... After getting ripped sideways the night before, everyone anticipated bigger and better things. As for which night is better, I probably side with the first night due to the rediculous strength of the first set, but I'm not going to argue against this show...

Set 1
Crowd control: I really don't like this song. Super cheesy. Although, it was some what fitting considering how rigorously people were being searched getting in the doors, at least at th gate we went through.

Dinner and a movie: here we go. This was a good version that got the crowd jumping.

Sweet Jane: personally, I'll take cool it down over sweet Jane all day, but hey, we already got cool it down. This was icing on the cake. Good version.

Limb by limb: this limb was solid, but the banter before was hilarious. Don't bring signs and hold them up too long, but we're going to play this guy's sign...

Possum: a solid rocking version. Many dog on possum but I'll take it. It provides trey a sure fire structure to get his blues wailing rocks off.

Mound: after going nearly 70 shows w/o a mound, I got my 3rd in 2 summers. This was a good version and everyone came out of the middle section in sync and soaring.

Life on mars: this set was starting to feel a little hodge podgey, but it was definitely high end hodge podge. Personally, I love this song, and I thought they did another nice job on it.

Mango: a solid version. Trey didn't sound so sharp the last couple times I saw him play this tune, but everyone sounded good on this take. As this one wound down, trey had a little curveball prepared for everyone...

Bbfcfm: boom... They packed maximum weirdness into this wild one. It seems they could have built on this one but they went in a different direction...

Strange design: weird choice after bbfcfm

Boaf: trey sounds very in control as they slam down a nice type 1 jam on this one. It doesn't travel to far out there, so it moves easily back into the traditional ending.

Halley's: I'm a sucker for this song. Once again, trey takes a dominating solo here, but as they are prone to do these days, they shut the door on this one rather abrubtly and go into...

Wmggw: well, if you're not going to get a Halley's jam...
This was a nice pleasant surprise and as phish does, they did this rock classic justice.

This first set was not as silky smooth in the cohesiveness department as the night before's, but it was still a good solid enjoyable set.

Set 2:
This is not a flawless set, but there is still some must hear stuff floating around...

Dwd: I always kind I cringe when this opens a second set because its become pretty predictable, but this dwd is no freaking joke. It's the best one I've seen since the monster from the creek in '03. This one explores 3 or 4 very interesting musical ideas. Also, they move seemlessly between these ideas. Around the 12 min mark or so, trey really starts wirking on a very undermind'esqe groove. I was really pulling for them to drive into it, but they move away. Right as I accepted they weren't going to shift into undermind, trey cranks up...

Sand: this sand is not your daddy's sand. In fact, none of 2012's were. Instead of gordo and fish just sitting on the beat and letting trey bury it, trey rotates brilliantly between rhythm and lead, and fish and, especially, Gordon are constantly shifting the beat. Gordon packs so many different grooves into 8-10 minutes it's insane. Like the dwd before, they move seemlessly between different ideas, and gordo just shines throughout this sand. He accentuates his bomb filled bass grooves with some beautiful flurries of notes for accentuation. This sand moves nicely into...

Twist: this twist was pretty fucked from the get go. Trey missed a verse, and then he had some word play fun. I think the lyric flub threw him off, so the twist jam just never happened. Many had visions of them pulling off another monster, being hot on the heels of the beast in Cincy, but it was not to be. Instead of jamming, they go into...

Rift: well, trey needed to hit th reset button.

Bt gin: bam!! Just what the doctor ordered. Only the 3rd 3.0 second set gin. They quickly move away from the typical gin formula into some very thick "storage jamming." Gordon and fish have some heavy stuff layed down, and trey and page really get something going here. It sounds like this could be heading into gorge rock and roll territory, but it slacks for a moment and trey pulls the cord.

Now, in the realm of phish, I try to focus on what is and not what could have been, but this jam kills me. Maybe it was out of gas and trey wanted to pull it before that was evident, but it seemed if he would have held out a bit longer, this gin could've been an all time keeper. Either way, trey, in what was a pretty smooth segue, moves into...

Fluffhead: well, it's played a lot, it killed the gin jam, but I love this song! They put a lot of fire behind this super sharp version.

Ride Cpt ride: this is a nice rare score and I liked the somewhat odd late 2nd set placement. It went nicely with...

Antelope: the deer creek antelope returns!!! They didn't just play this song at every creek run from '95-'04, they ripped it. Sadly to many, the deer creek antelope had yet to pop up in 3.0. This was a good solid version with some nice ride Cpt teases. Sure, it's the second time in 3 shows I'd seen a 2nd set close with antelope, but fuck it... It's antelope!!

Enc
Cavern: well, I thought it was going to be another standard enc but...

Sanity: good version. Funny placement. Love it!

1st tube: phish closes the creek run down rowdy style. Not my favorite tune but it does the job. Beats another loving cup...

All in all, a damn fine night of phish. Dwd->sand is a fantastic 1-2 punch. Sure, gin didn't do what I thought it could do, whatever that means, but it is a nice departure from the norm. This is another sharp 2012 performance making the deer creek run a strong candidate for 2nd best run of the year... Behind dicks, of course.

Highlights:
Set 1: sweet Jane, life on mars, wmggw (yeah, cover heavy)

Set 2: dwd->sand(must hear!!), bt gin(very interesting and worth checking out)