Tonight felt like a wasted opportunity. 1st time in the state of Oklahoma, at a zoo, one of the years last shows...and it just felt phoned in. I don't wanna get into specifics because I like to just move on when Phish drops a dud on us, not wanting to dwell on the negative feelings that bubble up. After all, these are expectations that we set for ourselves and when there not met the wounds become self inflicted.
But still, one gets the feeling that Phish could weave gold on any given night and what it seems to come down to is a choice by the band to either bust ass and nail the gig or just put on the kind of standard show they did tonight.
Of course, having said that, the "standard" Phish show is still miles above most of the dreck that passes for concerts these days so harping on the negative just strikes me as an exercise in futility.
Onward to the Great Rocky Mtns...Lets' hope for more than just 2 standard shows and 1 balls to the wall scorcher.
On a side note, shows like this make it abundantly clear that Phish is in dire need of an injection of new tunes. Their clearly not interested in playing songs like Waves or Steam or any of the other tunes that are gathering dust on the shelf and Leg 2 has been a recycle fest galore. Phish has always been at their best when theres a steady infulx of new songs to play with so the fall recording of this new album can't come soon enough.

Just a note on the Gap Chart of this OKC show...and a comparison to the KC show the week prior. I was at the KC show this tour, so when I saw the OKC setlist, I was like..."I gotta post something!!" So, here goes...

In OKC, no gaps over 10 shows, except 2 songs, which were Divided Sky and Stealing Time. If I Could and Loving Cup both had the same gap of 5 shows, which was a week prior at Kansas City (which is 5 hours north of OKC). For those phans (both old and new) who live in between/around OKC or KC, and only made the KC and OKC shows, you may get some validation from me for wanting to kick your own ass for not doing St. Louis as well.

Midwestern phans are a unique lot of folk. I live in Nebraska and have been addicted to Phish since the KC show in 2000. Thankfully I was able to swing both Deer Creeks and Alpines this summer, because those 4 shows were beyond amazing. I've traveled all over the country for these guys, and I will continue to do so. And I'm still accepting that I'm doing the Dark Star Orchestra festival in Ohio instead of the Dicks shows in CO (bought DSO tix months before Phish announced Dicks shows, but I should have known. Anyway...)

I know that if I would have then done OKC, I would have been mad, at myself mind you, for being upset with a KC "repeat" of a lot of songs. I can never be mad at Phish. I love Phish, and always will, and at times, I wish I could let them just jam and fun, and not be a damn critic, either at the show or from using my LivePhish Ap (which, I have to note is pretty clutch!). But here is a chance to see how much of an ass i really am, online...

KC 8-22-12
Set 1: Chalk Dust Torture, Skin It Back, The Moma Dance > Rift > Bathtub Gin, Stash, The Ballad of Curtis Loew, Kill Devil Falls > Funky Bitch > Run Like an Antelope

Set 2: Tweezer > Piper > Mike's Song > Bouncing Around the Room > Backwards Down the Number Line > Heavy Things, If I Could > Weekapaug Groove, Harry Hood > Suzy Greenberg[1]

Encore: Loving Cup > Tweezer Reprise

OKC 8-29-12
Set 1: Kill Devil Falls> Rift, Wilson > BDTNL > The Moma Dance > Divided Sky, Wolfman's > Axilla > 46 Days, Ya Mar, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan > Antelope

Set 2: DwD > Birds of a Feather > My Friend, My Friend[1] > Rock and Roll > Twist, If I Could > Light > Harry Hood > Character Zero > Suzy Greenberg

Encore: Slave to the Traffic Light > Loving Cup

OKC and KC Show comparisons: 4 same songs in 1st set, 3 same songs 2nd set, 1 same encore song, and 1 cross-set repeat (BDNL). That's 9 repeats, in 25 songs, which is over a 3rd of the whole OKC show.

Maybe you have to have been a midwestern phan for over a decade to get what I'm talking about. A phan that drives or flies long distances b/c their life-source band doesn't travel their way that often (and with good reason, b/c there isn't a lot of crap out here). And then, when they do make their way through, the expectations get a bit high, and maybe, some folks walk away pissed or bothered. I truly hope that those at OKC had a blast, that Phish felt their performance was above par, and that the Phish community will rally their forces and blow the crap out of Dicks' Sporting Goods in Denver, how ever long of a drive it happens to be.

But to those Kansas / Oklahoma / Arkansas / Missouri phans out there, who only did the KC and OKC shows, you may have to take this OKC show on the kisser and count the days (or years, rather) until they come back through. Or else, get in your car and phuckin' drive. Much love, thanks to the .net community for letting me post.

Dave Tothetrafficlight

Not sure if you guys were at the same show I attended last night... I thought it was great. Part of this could be due to the fact that I haven't seen the guys for several years -and- it was the first time in my own hometown.

There was a great vibe going through the crowd, it was a beautiful summer evening and the tunes were flowing. We had a great time!

Intro:

Been a Phan for about 8 years now. Still wear the same Phish shirt I bought in high-school. This was my first Phish show, for various reasons. One, I am 25 years old which takes me out of the early Phish era. Two, I am not from a financially fortunate background that would allow me to troll around on tour for a couple months. Neither here nor there, no excuses, I have seen one Phish show and it was last night in OKC. I lived there for 5 years (until recently) and waited patiently for the band to come within a 300 mile radius.

Now, a review of a Phish show from a guy who has only seen one. Shield your eyes! You know who you are.

I thought the OKC show was a great time. The setlist was "standard" so I guess that's why I liked it. I haven't been to 100 phish shows, heard every phucking song they have ever written, and I am not a jaded, self-indulgent, Phade who only gets their rocks off when Trey plays a 25 minute long crunchy phuckin jam behind his head, one handed after pulling his electric guitar out of his a$$ all while playing no less than three 2 hour sets of 30+ GAPPERS with a guitar pick crafted from the tooth of a Great White shark.

You know why I like Phish? They are a truly talented group of musicians who invoke an emotional, if not spiritual, sense of musical consciousness that few, if any, other bands can muster.

I use to envy all of you Trustafarian Phades because you get to see Phish as many times as you want as long as they play music. Now after reading your reviews of what I thought was a good, if not great, show, I am glad I was there with 5 other phriends at our first show. I just hope maybe someday I'll have seen 50 Phish shows and I can be as cynically critical and jaded about my favorite band as some of you.
I know, I don't GET it because I haven't BEEN there enough MAN, but really, Phish's setlists don't take the phun out of a show. It's all you "phans" who would rather complain about the technical flaws of every song instead of downloading the FREE show and enjoying it all over again.

I saw it in person and this was f***ing incredible. Had a coworker with me (it was hits first show ever) and he was blown away.

I don't know how it sounded on couch tour, but live it was ridiculously good.

A brief preface, for those of you who might rather skip to the TL;DR: this was my first live experience with Phish. I've been a fan for nearly 20 years, going back to my college years, but financials, locations, and random happenstance conspired against me hitting a live venue over and over again, until the confluence that ended up with me in OKC on Wednesday night. I've listened to over 500 shows in my lifetime, with a solid 200 in my downloaded taper collection and at least 30 purchased soundboards (nevermind grossly neglecting my retirement in favor of my CD collection). I don't think this makes me an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm comfortable knowing what I like. This can probably be labeled as eclectic, but whatever; I find that Phish is a lot like wine in that regard. I like what I like, other people like what they like, and the only thing people generally will agree upon is when the bottle is corked. I don't feel that was the case last night.

The venue was outstanding. The open floor and the gentle slope down to the stage allowed you to really pick your favorite parking spot. There was plenty of room to dance away, although there might not have been had the house been packed (my understanding is that they expected 9kish to show up, the venue tops out at 12.8k). The vendors and bathrooms were way out of the way, so that they didn't interfere with the experience. I thought the most interesting thing about the place was the juxtaposition between the high tech lighting outfit and gear on a stage that was little more than girders with a weather-beaten facade, complete with cracks and chips and faded paint.

The show started functionally at sunset where the bowl basically kept the direct sunlight out but it was still fairly bright. This made the screens mounted on the side of the stage (which presumably displayed the webcast) impossible to see, but the stage lighting was otherwise good. For some reason, I dig Kill Devil Falls. It's a goofy fun song, without a lot of complexity or even really room to expand outward, but it gets me moving which is what matters. This version was fairly straightforward, with decent energy and got the crowd going.

End of the song and you jump straight into Rift. While beautifully complex, Rift isn't one of my favorite compositional pieces. Still, I thought this version was pretty spot on and played well with intensity. The crowd was pretty high-energy, and you could see the band responding to it. After Rift, Trey remarked that the Zoo Amphitheatre had been on their list to play for a while, and they were really psyched to have the opportunity to play there, The crowd responded well, and they kicked off Wilson, which was mostly a crowd piece with the typical riff to name call and response. Again, nothing crazy, but solid. This led into Backwards Down the Number Line, which is one of my three year old daughter's favorite songs, likely because I told her it had to do with birthdays. The crowd used this time to chat it up, but I had fun with it. The Moma Dance which followed was nice, funky and extremely danceable.

This led into Divided Sky, which was definitely on my list of pieces I wanted to see live. This version had a nice compositional section. Following the pause, I thought the jam muddled a bit in comparison to the best-ofs I have filed away, but hey, I got my Divided Sky. It still soared at the end. A brief pause and then startup into Wolfman's Brother, which had the crowd singing and enjoying themselves. It really jammed out well, but it was surprisingly short, and I wonder if they were feeling the need to rein in some to meet the stop time. It dropped well into Axilla (which I wish had been pt. II, which I like lyrically better) and that raged into 46 Days, which also blossomed. Ya Mar was nice enough, but I admittedly took the time to make a quick restroom break, so the flow of that was kinda lost to me.

Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan came on next, but truthfully the most memorable thing about that was my brother pointing out that the moon was rising above the stage, creating a really wonderful snapshot moment. Fumbling with my camera for much of the song trying to land a good shot with the stage lighting and the moon took my focus away from the music, but I thought this song as a backdrop to the celestial imagery was somehow appropriate. The guys then closed the set with Run Like an Antelope, another song on my bucket list. This version was fun, but felt a bit rushed at times, including dropping right into the frenetic top gear of the jam section from what I’d considered to be a solid middle. Again, I wonder how much the hard stop had to do with that, with what they otherwise wanted to bring in the 2nd set. 1st set ended up clocking at like 85 minutes, so they’d been feeding off the crowd for a while.

The 2nd set opened strong. Down with Disease rocked hard without getting noodlely, and Birds of a Feather was extremely hot. Then we hit one of the three highlight spaces for me, which was the My Friend, My Friend into Rock & Roll. These versions absolutely raged, a complete sonic assault in both pieces, and the entire crowd was moving hard at this point. The band definitely fed off the surplus in the air and created economical rocking jams for both.

This led into Twist, and I think the band had a lot of trouble taming this version after the opening third of the set. They were clearly trying to come down, but the song and the energy in the air had a lot of anxiety in it, such that the jam outro had trouble finding a level to ground itself and a level to which it aspired. But they came down enough for my second highlight of the night: If I Could. When describing Phish to non-Phans, I usually highlight that one of their strengths is that they do pretty very well. The OKC version of this was beautiful, with rolling hills in place of peaks and valleys, and finally tamed the energy that was desperately tearing at the cracks of songs wanting to be jammed out. A lot of people will disagree, but I almost always think this is a good thing.

Light then was almost a 2nd set reset, and was a strong opener to the acceleration towards the finish line. This immediately jumped into Harry Hood, yet another song on my bucket list. They truncated the opening playfulness in favor of diving into the compositional part, which I think also got a little truncated. I think they were starting to feel the time crunch and cutting corners where they could. This version soared a little too quickly for my taste, but was played well. They jumped right into Character Zero, and some has been made of Trey flubbing the beginning of the song. There was some crowd interplay here which started the whole mess, followed by Trey playfully trying to dig back into the piece organically, instead of a straight drop. He was having a lot of fun with it, and I thought it was hilarious, so for the haters who want to use this as signs of the Phishpocalypse, you can tinfoil hat elsewhere. This version rocked but wasn’t really allowed to jam out.

A brief band conversation as they hit the outro, and they jump into Suzy Greenberg, yet another in the bucket for me (it was at this point I realized that I’d possibly only realize completion of said bucket at a multi-day affair, and even then probably wouldn’t hit everything). This version smoked, and Page was going so hard that Trey (digging it extremely) was surprised when they (led by Fishman I think) dropped into the outgoing verse. At this point, I could feel that the band was aware that the clock was ticking and they wanted to leave room for the encore.

The encore break was barely time to breathe, and after a little more Zoo banter, they hit Slave to the Traffic Light. This is one of my favorite songs, because it often highlights the prettiness that the band can achieve alongside a soaring peak of energy that they are capable of producing. I really liked this version. I’m not sure I’d say it’s top 3 for me, but this version flew wonderfully, and was my final highlight of the night. They close out the set with Loving Cup, jamming out right to the noise ordinance dead stop. We walked out with the fullish moon above our heads and drenched with satisfaction.

So the TL;DR is that I’m rating the show a 4. It wasn’t epic, but had some really great moments. And I was there, so that’s like worth a half star by itself. The highlights for me were in the 2nd set and encore. I hit like 4 songs off my theoretical perfect setlist, and now I’m thirsty for more.

Yes there were no 30 minute mind bending exploritory jams. Yes there was little band banter and, there was no crazy spoofs or teases from the band. Yes they didn't play Pink Floyds Animals, or a whole set of animal themed songs. For once in my life I walked into a Phish show with no expectations. I walked into a Phish show for the first time in my soon to be twenty year history of going to Phish shows, in my home state of Oklahoma.

Expectations ruin shows. How many people were let down because Bob or Phil didn't jam in San Fran. Did anyone really expect Phish to fill their personal expectations. If so better get a new hobby cuz this one just gonna let you down. Phish absolutely rocked. They were on and visibly excited about being in a new place. Yes they played lots of repeats but they nailed them. Sure they didnt have deep inner explorations, but the jams were tight, and they did a great job of blending, and bringing the jams full circle, while still getting to the edge of that cliff over looking "out there".

Moma>Divided was spetacular. And the whole procession of second set DWD>Twist was some rock solid face melting! Of course the only expectation that every head in attendance that did come true was the total obvious choice of Slave encore. And I will admit tired of Loving Cup encores, we began the walk out as soon as they led into cup.

So all in all. Pretty great show! Am I biased, sure and heres why. I got to ride bikes with my beautiful wife to a Phish show, I got to hangout with 50 or so of my best friends boogying down to Phish, my friend in treatment got a 3 hour pass and was able to catch the first set, we all had lots of elbow room to boogie, and the views were incredible, the venue is really cool place with super low security, so scrutinize from your screen all you want, this was a quality Phish show full of excellent song choices and well played. Yes Ive listened to it since I got home.

I can't believe I'm saying this...but this second leg has been such a disappointment. (Wait for angry fan-boy bashing.) They have about four hundred songs and you can't look in the face and say they aren't playing the same old shit every show. It would be alright if they played the same old shit, but JAMMED! Dude...I could play a BOAF for like twenty minutes on the guitar that would be somewhat good...and it would mix things up...it would make this the best show of the tour!!! They won't do it.

Sorry folks...but first leg absolutely blows this shit out of the water. I can't even believe they are part of the same tour. The two hundred song thing was good because it broke shit up, and made them think on their feet. I hope they make me look like a fool at Dicks but...I'm not holding my breath.

I joined in on couch tour late into Divided Sky. Seemed like the energy wasn't great, the band playing one straight-forward tune after another with some guys next to the mics talking about the show like they were TV announcers in a golf tournament.

Big rockers and groove tunes, but not really cutting it. The Antelope had a jump from third gear to fifth, skipping fourth. Entirely standard, otherwise.

Set 2. The band was seeking the X-factor. The crowd was having a lot more fun. The jams were short and economical. Nothing transcendent like the previous night in St. Louis, but a good effort.

Trey really poured his heart out with If I Could->Light->Hood. I really liked this segment, the band played phenomenally, although never really above and beyond. Incredible, towering energy, at times. But above the average? I don't know that they ever achieved liftoff.

Nonetheless, a very enjoyable second set. If you're comparing this to St. Louis, it's disappointing. There's no way around that. Did the band give 100% in the second set tonight? You bet they did, and I think it sounded great.

Cool encore, as well. (Notice, I don't write the first words to nearly every sentence. You'll have to figure it out for yourself.)

Well said Weekapaugrooven.......Leg 2 is definitely not measuring up to Leg 1. It started out promising with that deep Long Beach show (biggest jam of the year so far) and the San Fran run was great but since then it's been pretty underwhelming.

R&R, C+P and Light have all produced monster jams but playing them constantly seems like a desperate attempt at recreating the previous night's magic. It's nice to see that Tweezer has been reinvigorated but where is Ghost? Waves? Seven Below? Drowned?

I thought the show was bad ass. Of course this was only my second show to see, the first being several years ago at bonnaroo. I'm just glad they came to okc!! I really enjoyed the encore. Very clever. All in all it was a great Wednesday night in Oklahoma City.

I agree with some of the previous reviews. Looking back, the KDF opener was a harbinger of the bland show which was soon to follow. I went into the show with the energy of a collapsed star; I was like a nuclear warhead in a T-shirt. I was expecting a show that would have the power of a tiger with chainsaw for feet, but got a washed up lot lizard giving hj’s for mcnuggets.

** only the 2nd divided sky of 2012

What a change of pace from the night before in St. Louis.

The last time I traveled for phish (other than a cushy 500 mile radius) was the summer of '09. I'm in a sales rep job, so basically as long as I have my phone on me and wi-fi I can travel around. The last two years however saw me keeping planted in seeing shows in the radius I mentioned above. I was itching to see phish out of the South again.

Flash back to 2004. One of my oldest friends, and phish travel companion moved from NC to Tulsa, OK. I made the visit in 2005 to see him. However, it's Oklahoma. And, being a crap friend that I am did not make a visit after that first trip. So when phish announced the 2nd leg and the St Louis and OKC shows popped up I was happy for two reasons: phish OUTSIDE of my radius and the BEST possible reason to catch a flight to Oklahoma and reunite with my pal.

Fast forward to the St. Louis show. Amazing time. Indoor phish (in my opinion) can't be beat. Especially phish at a College arena. Just good, good stuff.......So after the show it was on to Oklahoma City. Nothing better than late night nachos at the mid-west's favorite stop: QT

We get to OKC the following day about an hour before gates open. I made a point to get there early because I was meeting some fellow tapers and for GA shows, you want to claim the sweet spot (which we did). What a great venue this place was. A little run down (but hey, so is Lakewood), but not a bad seat in the venue. It's intimate, sounds amazing and the beer is cheap (6 bucks for a pint can, however, lower avb levels).

By now you have probably listened to the show in some form or another. It wasn't St. Louis. Not even close. But listening back to the recording, it was played amazingly well. The band isn't crying for attention, the band isn't on the rocks, the band isn't pissed with the fans. I'm not sure where people start getting all these idea. This was a straight forward show and although the song selections are kept short, they were all played very well and confident by all the members.

This show wont be remembered for anything except it being the bands first trip to OKC. But that's ok. I'd rather remember this show for the great atmosphere, great friends and a great band rather then to remember a show such as 6/25/00 (my first) and how bad it sucked.

Give this show a listen, it deserves it.

I appreciate Phish's themes. And I feel that there are many questions that the band are posing to their serious listeners. I believe that they intentionally do things that many fans don't appreciate for a reason. It depends on our openness as to how we perceive the outcome.

After the OKC show I asked:
1. What might be the theme behind the devil and demons involved during some of this show?
2. Why didn't they finish If I Could?
3. Why did they play so many repeats from KC and and elsewhere?
4. What might the knife in My Friend symbolize in context with the rest of the show?
5. What would it look like if we all heard the great neurologists: DJ Mulcahey, R&R's man on the radio, Wolfman Jack's brother and stopped these demons and lit up.

If I could answer these questions I would.

Did several of the leg one dates - the AC run, Burgettstown, SPAC - and my love for Phish soared higher than ever quite a few times during those seven shows.

There were a few times when I felt that my love for Phish was beginning to be reborn in some way, like my brain and senses were desperately trying to compute Phish for the first time again. A few times when I closed my eyes and almost felt sixteen years old again at my first show at Merriweather back in '98. The second set on Saturday at AC, the Light > Manteca sandwich - amazing. The Burgettstown muel duel made me chuckle even at home when I was re-listening to it. And the SPAC run, the Light > Twist > KDF > MFMF blew my fucking mind to put it bluntly. I was just overjoyed at how blissfully comfortable and well they were playing.

Needless to say it was bittersweet when I was on my home from New York State, for I knew I wasn't going to be able to do any of the leg two dates because of my job. I hate to say it now, but I'm almost relieved now that I've heard the majority of the shows being played just weren't as magical. Of course, I would relish any opportunity to see Phish, and I would have done the entire tour if I didn't have to work so heavily during the late summer, but I'm just somewhat relieved that I haven't been missing anything too spectacular. Night 2 at BGCA definitely had IT, but the majority of the leg two nights just aren't speaking to me.

And has anyone else noticed that the song choices for both sets have basically just been jumbled around every night and put in a different order?

I want a Waves, or a dark and spacey SASS akin to 7-30-03 (one of my all time favorite shows), or a Pebbles and Marbles that goes nuts, or if I'm really lucky... Army of One.