As usually happens with Phish shows, it was late when I finally went to sleep. Like, 3 a.m. late. Needless to say, I slept through the morning, the consequence of which meant an afternoon long run on a hot July day.
I stayed in the Econo Lodge in Colonie, a suburb of Albany. It is on Route 5 (Central Avenue), a major four-lane thoroughfare that leads directly into the city. The motel sits less than a mile from Interstate 87. If you are from North Jersey, think Route 46 in Parsippany. Running across it was definitely not happening, so I ran west along it and then north almost to the Mohawk River, before swinging back and hitting the motel from the other side.
It was brutally hot and the sun was so intense that I kept switching sides on the residential roads to whichever shoulder offered better tree shade. Mostly, though, I felt like a hapless chicken in a rotisserie oven. By the time I finished, exhausted and dehydrated, there was only enough time to shower and shave before heading back to Saratoga for the show.
But there is nothing like the opening strains of "Crowd Control" to shake off the fatigue and give me a second wind. I danced my way through the lawn to enjoy solid performances of "Chalk Dust Torture", "The Wedge", "Funky Bitch", and "Heavy Things" before finding a new sweet spot with a great view of the screens and decent sound.
A rare first set "Bug" was nice and, darn it, I still like "Bouncing Around the Room". But it was "Tube" that really set the funk in motion, followed by a raucous "Julius" that could have easily ended the set. So it was a pleasant surprise to hear the opening drums to "Split Open and Melt".
I have not been much of a fan of "Melt" lately. I can not get the bad taste of the Holmdel 2011 version out of my mouth. That one was experimental, yes, and maybe in the context of a different song I would have enjoyed it more. But it never felt like a "Melt" jam, which is a very special thing. I realize it will never sound like 4/21/1993 again, but still...make it sound like "Melt"!
Oddly, the SPAC "Melt" was closer to the 6/1/2011 "Melt" than the classic '90s variety, but I enjoyed it much more this time. The jam seemed to take more time getting to the weird point, so it never felt like "Melt" was being abandoned. It was more organic.
The second set was a killer. The joy of "Backwards Down the Number Line" led to the double-dose of funk in an amazing "Tweezer" and "Sand" (with more funk in "Boogie On Reggae Woman" later in the set) and bang-up rock in "Carini" (which is not a great song but always leads to a sick jam) and "Wilson".
The Phish debut of "Architect" followed in the tradition of great solo-Trey songs that become even better Phish songs. I saw the Trey Anastasio Band play this in January. But this version had me singing along within minutes.
Ending on "Possum" is easy and reliable, I suppose, but I have heard enough of these to last a lifetime.
The encore of "Show of Life", which is still one of my favorite 3.0 era songs, and the climactic "Tweezer Reprise" made for a perfect ending to a perfect evening. Of the three shows thus far in the tour, this was clearly the winner.
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