If you were in Alpharetta this past mid-week, you experienced something very standard and very rare. The standard part I speak of refers to their repeatability and inability to jam certain songs at the - seemingly - most opportune times, and the fact that Phish has played an 11-song-greatest-hits-of-the-weaker-variety-rotation 20% of the the time! The rare part I speak of comes in the form of a few bust-outs and a suspended show due to the worst storm I've ever seen roll through a Phish show - even worse than Deer Creek '09. Alpharetta had it all, but at the end of the day very few people were blown away by the shows. Not to keep making the comparison, but Alpharetta '11 paled in comparison to their debut shows there the year before, 4th of July celebration or not. Although many lots didn't open until one-and-a-half hours before ticket time and the venue strictly disallowed tailgating (although many "security" guards were very cool and even suggested ways around the rule), the lot was CLACKIN'. The police were incredibly cool - at least from our experiences - even asking us post-show how the show went, and the venue staff were overly polite and friendly. The weather was true to Hotlanta form, but we'll get to that later. Yes, there is a lot that makes Alpharetta one of the better venues on tour - certainly the best new venue - which is why we were expecting these shows to lay Georgia to waste. Not quite, although we got excitement in spades.
The sun was beaming Tuesday afternoon as temperatures approached 100 degrees. Lot A was jumpin' and it seemed all bases were covered, stepped on or not. For the second year in a row signs large and small littered the pit - obviously a function of the very friendly and accommodating staff. Trey pointed somewhere towards the front of section 101 - way beyond the pit - and answered the call of that person with only the fifth Dinner And A Movie (4:45) since 1.0. Moma Dance (7:49) followed and > the SIXTH Possum (9:28) of the tour (15 shows so far in case you're wondering - that's 43% of the shows or EVERY 2.3 SHOWS!). Much more to come on the repeats and nostalgia. Next was a short but groovy Cities (5:26) which > Fluffhead (14:29). Fluffhead, like Possum, is a Phish classic. And although long and structured - unlike the end of Possum which has the ability to take off - Fluffhead's classic suite of musical parts should be a welcome sound. But after a 2.0 Fluffhead hiatus (last played in Vegas in 2000 as Phish 1.0 > Hiatus 1.0) the boys have played it 25 times in 3.0. I count 117 shows in 3.0. Fuffhead's made 21% of 3.0 shows? Are you kidding? That's a little overkill after a two year absence in 2.0, isn't it? It's been FOUR times this tour alone (29%, every 3.5 shows). Ocelot (9:55) followed and was rocked out nicely, with Trey really reaching new heights during a getting rare Type II-ish jam. Ginseng Sullivan (3:00), the first of the tour, only the third of since 2.0, and only the fifth since 1.0 should have set the place ablaze, but the drunken babbling locals didn't even catch the "to the North Georgia hills" part. Oblivious fools. A ROCKIN' KDF (7:53) > a Bathtub Gin (11:53) that had plenty of lift-off potential but never quite got there. The boys rocked the fucking house with Light Up Or Leave Me Alone (8:38), which was one of the highlights of the weekend, despite them BUTCHERING the end. The set ended with a standard Cavern (4:52), the FOURTH of tour.
Set Two opened with a destructive Carini (5:57, also FOURTH of the tour), which > an insane Sand (10:09) > DWD (11:44) > Maze (10:44). FUCKING SICK! 38 minutes of heat. With barely a break the boys dove into Meatstick (6:10) - which is becoming increasingly popular > 2001 (5:53, WAY TOO SHORT, FORCED, AND THE FIFTH OF TOUR...never thought I'd complain about the Zarathrustra) > an incredible Bug (9:08) > a standard A Day In The Life (4:53) > THE FIFTH FUCKING ANTELOPE (9:46) OF TOUR!!! DUDE, IT'S GETTING RIDICULOUS!!! The boys encored a rockin' Quinn The Eskimo (5:13), which basically saved many people from immediately remembering the repeats that had begun to plague the latter half of ST11:1. Alpharetta 1 had some insane moments - bust-outs and especially the Carini > Sand > DWD > Maze. But the repeatable nostalgia rock act, especially the timing of said act, was beginning to wear the dedicated down.
Alpharetta 2 had looming black clouds hanging over the venue by the time these ridiculous lots opened at 6:00 p.m. Was this an ominous sign? We sure hoped not. By the time we were ready to head up to Shakedown the first in a series of violent storms hit - and hard. Henry The Third had a ticket to sell - or basically give away I should say considering what the scalpers did to this "sold-out show" - and ended up taking shelter in the middle of the pavilion as he was pelted by driving rain that reached the pavilion center. Lightning streaked across the sky and deafening thunder rocked the ground. We took up shelter in the adjacent parking garage and waited out the first wave. Everything was soaked. Streams formed out of nowhere. Enormous ponds littered lots. Hundreds of pine cones lay across the lots, with some of their parents snapped in half across the streets, lots, and even INSIDE THE VENUE! It was a pretty dangerous situation. After everyone settled into the venue Phish launched into Paul & Silas (3:10, only the second of 3.0 - and the last before that was 11/29/98). A CK5 deep purple - lighted (always a great sign) Back On The Train (6:53) followed, then some THICK CACTO POP OFF Foam (8:52). They kept the weather references coming with a real slow and groovy Water In The Sky (3:18). A great but short Runaway Jim (8:59) followed and then the storm rolled in. A perfectly placed Army Of One (4:38) blasted off as it appeared we'd all be battling Mother Nature within minutes - she roared in the distance. An entirely too short and not-so-inspiring Roses Are Free (5:06) > Timber [Jerry](6:40), one of the highlights of the show, which > a sick Mound (4:47...) then shit hit the fan - literally if you'd be willing to consider rain shit for a second. This storm got so fucking violent that Phish HAD TO LEAVE a la Deer Creek '09. Their rig was getting wet the rain was coming in so hard. Thunder and lightning had people running scared - some obviously not so scared for myriad reasons - as the band/venue staff came on the PA asking people to seek shelter, which included the pavilion whether you had a ticket or not. It was MAYHEM. Personal video to follow in a day or so. We were in 105 back, so we had a perfect view of the storm and the confused, wet, wide-eyed, fucked-up, drunk, smiling, stumbling hordes of people as they stuffed us in towards the back of the pavilion. I'm still shocked more people didn't panic. Everyone seemed fine...even slightly amazed, with no where near the nervousness anyone should have been expressing in those dangerous conditions.
After a nearly 50 minute break, with the storm STILL raging, Phish's crew removed the protective rain tarps and the boys blasted right back into Mound - at the same exact moment they had left off - for what we're calling Mound > Mayhem > Mound (...4:44 for a total of 1:59:31) > Tweezer (9:43), one of the other highlights of the show until Trey cut off the sickest jam of the night. Tweezer > Julius (9:27), which was rockin', but weirdly placed. As they rocked into Julius, Miguel Cocineros leaned in and said "This could be the set ender...even though they just took a long break, they need to clear these isles, it's a fire hazard...they'll take a 10-minute break and come right back out." I agreed. If for nothing else, because the pavilion was dangerously crowded, like a giant pit. No doing. Julius > Slave (10:54), another potential set ender. However, Phish continued on with yet another potential set ender in Bowie (11:39). What the fuck are these guys doing? It was that weird feeling like you think the set is ending every song - for three straight songs. Oh, let's not forget: This was the FIFTH FUCKING BOWIE OF THE TOUR AND IT WASN'T EVEN A GREAT BOWIE!!! Are you guys following this? That's four songs five times (Possum, Bowie, Antelope, Tweezer) and three songs four times (Fluffhead, Carini, Cavern) in 15 SHOWS!!!!! Where's David Steinberg when you need him? Is this some kind of post mid-90's record for song rotations? FUCK!!! Things only got worse in my opinion as they chose yet ANOTHER potential set ender in the FIFTH Suzy Greenberg (6:39), in which the ONLY highlight came when Page keyed Trey right off his mic when Trey almost screwed up the timing. This prompted Trey to scream "This is Page's house!" as Page ripped a riff then stood up smooth as shit before sitting back down to continue playing. Suzy > Jibboo (9:23), then yet ANOTHER Hood (11:26), the FIFTH FUCKING Hood of the tour. FUCK!!! As if things couldn't get any worse they followed up with Character Zero (8:58), the FIFTH OF THE TOUR!!! Let's recap: That's seven songs played five times and four songs played four times in 15 shows. Did some of them shred? Of course. Did some of them blast off? No doubt. Did many of them FUCKING SUCK? Yes. This band is entering territory never ventured before - in the WRONG direction. When all hope seemed lost - OK, I'm just kidding there, although I am nervous - the boys sang a cappella Birdwatcher (2:28) - after an eternity - over the drunken Atlanta Braves chants. Guys, we just won the Stanley Cup. If you're cheering anything, cheer the for us and the sport you've never heard of. Keep you're pathetic small-ball National League baseball nonsense to a minimum at these Phish shows. The band still managed to get the crowd quasi-quiet for Birwatcher, which > a welcomed but oddly placed Kung (3:21), only the second of 3.0 (8/12/10 Deer Creek) and the fourth since 1.0. The nostalgic repeat fumbled stormy rock party was semi-revived when they blasted into first Funky Bitch (5:51) encore since 10/3/99 in Rosemont, which included Birdwatcher teases, then > TweepriZe (3:59). Oh yeah, Tweezer again. I NEVER IN MY LIFE THOUGHT I'D SAY "THEY'RE PLAYING TWEEZER AND 2001 AGAIN? WHY??". Dude, what the fuck is going on? I could be wrong, but I count 315 songs so far for ST11:1. 59 of those songs belong to the same 11 songs. That's basically 20% of what we've heard. A band with hundreds of songs to chose from, that PRIDES itself on anti-redundancy, is playing 11 measly songs 20% of the time. Remind you of any other band that's already older and much more predictable? I'll give a hint: Phish eerily and coincidentally covered them during Indio in '08. Is that where we're headed? Shit, I hope not.
Do I sound bitter? Well as a tour rat I am. As a weekend warrior, a summer show catcher, or even a run-or-two'er you're probably pumped - and I respect that. But as a seasoned vet with HIGH expectations for 2011 after a rocking Summer '10, Fall '10, and SICK Holiday '10-'11, the latter half of this first leg is beginning to disappoint me for all of the aforementioned reasons. But don't get me wrong, our crew still rocks it EVER NIGHT. I'll dance to any Phish song, any day, any tour. But the stresses of tour begin to wear much faster and take longer to recover from when you're blasted with Possum and weak Bowie's every 2.5 nights. I'm just saying. Alpharetta had it's INSANE moments - storm obviously included - but it had some horribly flat and custied-out moments, and they seemed to come at all the wrong times. Trust me, it's hard for me to write this. It's not like this is becoming Coventry - is it? - but the boys seem less interested by the night. Maybe my days of full tours are over. I could be retiring from full-to-nearly-full-tour soon. In the meantime, Phish has three shows left on the First Leg, a Ballin' festival over July 4th weekend, and another 12 shows for the second leg through Labor Day weekend. Things could go either way, and I have all of the faith in the world in Phish. The spaceship will land again and Phish will take off...hopefully.
Next the band heads off to Charlotte, NC for the last set of weekend shows in the First Leg before a six-week break. Last years show in Charlotte blew the roof off. I think this is do or die time. If they're tired, they have three more days until vacation...or whatever. If it's disinterested, they only have three more days until they can become interested in something else...or whatever. If that's the case, fucking pretend...for three more days. If it's anything else - as it could easily be - the boys will rebound and blow the roof off Charlotte again. I'm thinking they will. Maybe they won't. They will...they should. Right? But, hey, either way look on the bright side: No matter what Phish plays, they can't fuck up the local North Carolina talent. That's worth the trip alone.
- Trigger Treinta Uno
Trigger31.com
Thanks to LivePhish & Phish.net for set list help. Are you guys as annoyed as us?
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