Good thing Sunday is short-run day. Another late night at the Phish show meant another early afternoon run in the relentless July heat. But it was only four miles, so it was easily do-able and it allowed me to get to SPAC a little earlier.
After roaming around the previous two nights, I planted myself in the front Page-side (rage side!) corner of the lawn, which was mostly muddy from the rain we had been experiencing on and off, for the final show of the run.
I am not fond of "AC/DC Bag" openers (too predictable), but what came after was a top notch set with a nicely extended "Back on the Train", relatively short but exciting versions of "Free" and "Limb by Limb", and triple-threat 'Rift' sequence of "It's Ice", "Mound" and "Maze", the latter with a typically explosive jam. I do not think I have ever encountered three 'Rift' songs in one set, even 20 years ago when the album was still new. My guess is that Phish well aware of the album's 20th anniversary milestone and playing up to it.
It is about time "Divided Sky" gets retired, or at least relegated to lunar rotation. The jam never feels fluid anymore and often feels fumbled. The set-closing "Walls of the Cave" was another disappointment, not because it was not played well, but because it could have been played so much better. I love that song way too much to accept a mediocre rendition, especially when I have seen such excellent versions as Deer Creek 2004. Though not as bad as Coventry, it ranked pretty low. That pregnant F# needs to be humongous so it bursts into the last chorus of the "silent trees" bit before the jam, and this version just did not do it.
The second set picked up on the initial potential of the first. When a 15-minute "Down With Disease" leads to an 11-minute "Ghost", followed by a 10-minute "Piper", you can pretty much mark it down as a damn good set. And though I love "Wading in the Velvet Sea", I thought it oddly placed. Still, I could not help but remember my first SPAC show (2004) when they played it for the encore. A beautiful memory.
"Run Like an Antelope" could have easily finished the set at a short but sweet 52 minutes, but Trey started throwing in "Meatstick" references for what seemed like no reason at all - "You've got to run like a meatstick out of control!" - leading the band into the next tune.
Question - am I the only one left in the crowd that actually does the meatstick dance? Come on, people! It is an interactive song!
Despite the fact that it had not yet been played in the first four shows of the tour, "You Enjoy Myself" came as quite the surprise - the set was already almost an hour and the typical "YEM" is 15 to 20 minutes long, plus it was the last song of last year's SPAC run (the encore, actually).
After watching Trey's groovy dance moves during Mike's bass solo, I started heading for the exit. I needed to get up early the next day to run 10 miles and check out of the motel, so I listened to the vocal jam and the "Loving Cup" encore while walking back to the lot. This is what happens when Phish tour coincides with one of my heaviest weeks of marathon training!
If pressed, I would say the second night was the winner of the three-night stand at SPAC, but the finale was definitely a close second.
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