Phish ~ June 28th & 29th, 2012 ~
Klipsch Music Center ~ Nobesville, IN
The weather report slated for Thursday and Friday was
simple. HOT and more HOT with record breaking highs.
Close By, Sleepy Bear, and Green Acres campgrounds were
filled, as it’s the normal thing to do for this venue,
but those that booked hotels in nearby locations
definitely appreciated the air conditioning and clean
showers. Needless to say, Phish obliged and brought the
heat and the funk to the corn field stage, making up for
their absence of 2011, showing up their awesome
performance of 2010, and marking their 21st
and 22nd time played at Deer Creek. Yes, it
will always be known as Deer Creek.
Pre-show Night 1, Kuroda can be found getting his tools
ready. The new light setup is phenomenal and has been
well received by fans so far. Page is onstage early,
playing some light Thelonius Monk tunes in front of a
handful of security, team Phish employees, venue
volunteers and the such. Doors open at 6pm and fans
begin their purchase of $8 tallboys and their hustle of
“which” pavilion seat they’ll snag. Lights go on at
8:07 and the crowd stands up. Fans are greeted with all
4 members standing at the microphone, in true acapella
form, with Trey donning a Philadelphia Flyers shirt, for
“The Birdwatcher”. “The Curtain With” had thousands
chanting words from a song, as it made its 2012 debut.
“Fuck Your Face” turned the moat into a smiling dance
party. The Dillards’ tune “The Old Home Place” showed
up at the Creek in 2003 and returned again with its 100+
show gap from LTP (last time played). “Pebbles and
Marbles” definitely started a blaze and treated us for
the next 11 minutes, proving to be a jam taxi with some
heavy play by Trey. Some will claim they called the
“Weigh” that came next, but let’s be honest and
acknowledge that it had only been played six times since
’97, also marking a return to Deer Creek (’98). The
torture of Chalk Dust shows its jammy face, on average,
every 4 shows; but disappoint, it did not. “Wolfman’s
Brother” apparently misdialed Liz, detailing the phlub
when Trey forgot the 2nd set of lyrics.
WB held up to his righteous standards, bringing the
funk and fantastic riff play by Red for another ten plus
minute jam. As a reminder of the heat outside and fire
onstage, Velvet Underground’s “Cool It Down” graced us
with its presence, taking many a fan back to Vegas ‘98’s
Halloween show. “Tweezer” showed up with back to back
shows, giving the Hater Phans something to complain
about and the Lover Phans another reason to keep their
bodies spinning. Clocking in at over eleven and a half
minutes, the jam contained some soulful, deep digging
melodic tunes that left planet Earth with a real slow
outtro. “Tela” did her part to Keep Gamehendge Alive.
First set would end with a Cliff Bar and some cold green
tea with “Stealing Time From A Faulty Plan”. First set
witnessed eight out of twelve songs appearing for the
first time in 2012, as well as a pause between every
song.
The sun had finally set and the lights went out,
beginning the second set with “Mike’s Song”, a common
second set tune used to open so many doors and some of
Phish’s most beloved moments in history. This one held
its own, transitioning down that hard crunching downward
spiral right into …”McGrupp & Watchful Hosemasters”…what?
This isn’t your typical segue out of Mike’s, happening
only three times, but nothing about this show was
typical. “McGrupp” allowed Page to shine as he traded
some licks back and forth with Trey and Mike. The
merger was cut short when a weird transition occurred,
taking only a minute to get “Back On The Train”, as well
as a minute for the crowd to join too. Phish made up for
it with a trippy jam through space, going type 2 with
“No Quarter’esque” sounds and “Psycho Killer” teases.
The beginning of true Phishiness was starting.
Fishman’s favorite tune, “Hold Your Head Up” would soon
segue and then stop as Jon would leave the drum kit,
approach front center and have some fun with the crowd.
Trey asks Fish to sing “Sexual Healing” but he’s
forgotten the lyrics. Page reminds Fish that he “could
just tuck”, he obliges and begins Pink Floyd’s “Bike”,
complete with vacuum, Trey on drums, full band
introduction and a self introduction as “Henrietta”.
“Bike” marked another Deer Creek ’98 return. “Hold Your
Head Up” rolled back in with Trey still on drums then
accompanied by Jon for a duel effort. Fishman returned
to the guitar as Mike Gordon starts “Weekapaug Groove”,
while Trey stayed on the drum kit. Fishman makes a
laughing attempt at nailing down Trey’s intro part of
“Weekapaug” and then tells the crowd that he “thinks the
band is better this way”. It truly is experiences like
this that keep the band alive and the crowd returning.
“Weekapaug” finishes strong as “Caspian” and bathroom
breaks begin. “Waves” erupted for the first time in
2012, providing some expressive listening and trippy
bass lines from Gordon, setting the stage for a welcomed
“Bug”. Some always guess “Maze”, some always guess
“David Bowie”, either way, when Fishman starts that high
hat riff, you know it’s going to be the tops. Bowie got
the nod from Trey and his ferocious shredding closed out
the second set.
When encore time rolls around, Trey and Page brought
tender voice to “Show of Life”. Perhaps, in spite of it
cooling down, the boys ignited the dancing fire with a
visit to the expected “Tweeprise”, nailing it to a T for
the last few minutes of the show.
Post show would unveil a thriving, lively lot scene
holding anything and everything that could be expected.
With the following Alpine Valley shows nixing vending of
any kind, those on Shakedown were offering up serious
deals. Worthy of mention were the poster artists, of
the “phanart” variety, that were stirring around. Otto,
Tripp, and Isadora, to name a few, were present, selling
their creations. Masthay’s piece sold well too. A lot
of this was due in part to the fans’ general disapproval
of what came from the official artist, Brosmind. A
piece of poster paper, covered in corn kernels with the
word “Phish” splattered across it, just simply didn’t
have the pop to please the majority of a very tough
crowd. Likewise, your basic grilled cheese isn’t
cutting it anymore. Blurry eyed, starving fans wanted
huge meat wraps with sliced ribeye, covered in mac n
cheese or something from the pizza truck, sporting an
actual brick oven.
The 29th would gladly welcome a stout, hail
filled storm that blew through around 5pm. Even though
Phish postponed the opening of doors by one hour,
bonuses were everywhere as the lot received a much
needed bath and the temperature would drop ten degrees.
The yin and yang of Phish tour crept up again, as the
lights of our ride were left on when we pulled in,
draining the battery. A helpful fan would give us a
jump off the cables after the show, restoring a little
karma.
Lights off and show time! Mike comes out with crazy,
tight, bright red pants or, in other words, typical
fashion. “Crowd Control” did not come with the crowd
standing still and proved that it could open a show
elsewhere than Merriweather. “Crowd Control” continued
the trend, from the night before, of playing songs new
for 2012 and with few repeats from earlier tour stops.
One of their oldest came next with “Dinner and a Movie”;
nothing special, nothing terrible, just good Junta
lovin’. Lou Reed’s energy was tapped again when that
slow, crunchy guitar riff, coupled with Page’s voice,
began “Sweet Jane”, another Vegas Halloween ’98 gem
showing up some 352 shows after its last time played.
“Sweet Jane” was a highlight in true bust out manner and
the cause of much envy from those across Phishland that
were not attending.
Signs at shows: you love ‘em or you hate ’em. Okay,
they’re mostly hated. There’s nothing quite like
scoring a pit ticket and having to stand behind a neon
orange sign for three hours, as the sign holder demands
the band to play a song from 1991. After “Sweet Jane”,
Trey acknowledged this and “notified” sign holders that,
as the band, they see them and they see them the first
time and would they please put the signs down and let
the rest of the crowd enjoy the show. Page then
dedicated “Limb By Limb” to the sign holders. Next came
“Possum”, which has become the national anthem of Phish,
appearing at one third of their shows, 2nd in
total times played behind “YEM”. A fan wearing a “Play
Mound, Dammit” shirt was all smiles when it started with
its slow, off beat drum schedule and bluesy guitar
riff. “Life on Mars?” is one of those rare treats we’ve
come to learn that Phish usually plays when something in
the space exploration or science world has occurred. At
this time, the significance is unknown (Higgs-Boson
particle work, perhaps?) but the funky David Bowie
original was savored. “The Mango Song” contains some
offbeat lyrics, interpreted many a different way, but
well loved by geniuses when it’s played. Perhaps
“Mango” was just a little appetizer in the middle of a
Martian sandwich. “BBFCFM” tore the house down with its
punk rock roots and screaming yelling to boot, letting
Kuroda go nuts with the lights in an attempt to keep up
with the tempo. Halfway through this atypical song, an
infant in the crowd, attending her 7th show,
had a full, epic meltdown on the lawn. “Strange Design”
is a beautiful song, hands down, as with just about any
selection Page takes lead vocals on. Fans relate to
wanting to take a few companions along for the ride and
gave full ovation at its ending. “Birds of a Feather”
flew in with its drum roll and rocked on with some
quality playtime by Trey before going space again with
its trip on “Haley’s Comet”. Who doesn’t like spaghetti
and who doesn’t like checking into Facebook at “Central
part of town” when this is played? George Harrison’s
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” closed out the first
set. Trey nailed the guitar licks but struggled with
some of those high pitched vocals.
Kudos to Deer Creek for providing several filtered water
re-fill stations and misting tents throughout the
venue. These were a big hit throughout both nights but
especially at set break. The crowd used their time to
flock to the beer tents, smelly grills, merchandise
stand, Waterwheel booth, and a spot highlighted by
yellow balloons.
Mike’s trippy bass intro leaves little mystery to what’s
about to rage when “Down With Disease” starts the second
set. It had been a week, four shows, and a stop in
Cincinnati since its last appearance, so it was only
fitting to open the second set with it. Total Type 2
and stretching way out into the fifteen minute range,
with No Quarter-esque sounds, “Disease” transitioned
into “Sand” quite nicely, keeping the dance party going
with another selection of Mike’s bass dominance. Just
like the “Tweezer” from the night before, “Sand” ended
with a slow, out of tune exit right into another tasty
version of “Twist”. Cincinnati was treated with a
great version of this song and although Deer Creek’s
version was much shorter, it WILL compete. With moving
letters all around, Mike and Page’s name was spoken
several different ways. Cutting it short, “Rift” grew
out of “Twist” and told its story while Trey and Page
battle their instruments and trade off vocals. Keeping
the second set seamless, Page went nuts on the keys to
crack open the “Bathtub Gin”, which swept nicely into
glow stick favorite, “Fluffhead”. Nowhere to be found
in 2.0, Fluff has been a regular in 3.0 and for good
reason. Fans simply eat up the complex, shape shifting,
twirlathon. Crowd Energy 11 happened next as one of
Phish’s oldest and least played covers materialized from
paper to sound when Blues Image’s “Ride Captain Ride”
graced our presence. Trey has made a career out of
blending teases and even whole songs into “Run Like An
Antelope” and worked his magic again, assuming the crowd
didn’t get enough of the previous song. Antelope’s
legendary mid-song build up screams “rage” and fans love
it. This song caught a couple more of Mike’s dub step,
electronica bass bombs, some more Twistful play on
words, and a little pool time fun with a crowd/band
“Marco/Polo” session to end the set.
The time was near for an encore and “Cavern” brought its
Trey and Mike dance-along and could’ve fit the shoe well
as a single encore, but some “Sanity” would take over.
Without question, few finer ways exist to close out this
awesome two night run than a Jedi inspired “First
Tube”. Mike’s never ending bass lets Jon drop some
serious beats and gives Page and Trey the chance to
build each other up into a serious crowd pleasing
finale.
With 21 songs making their 2012 debut, the feeling of
being blessed to have caught these two shows was strong
and felt by all upon leaving the venue. Big thanks to
the Phish.
Edited by: Rosemary A.W. Roberts
