When summer tour was announced, I eyed the last 5 southeastern shows because they were the last of tour and I had never really seen Phish in the deep south. A month before the show, my brother in law texted me that he noticed Phish would be playing at a resort they had booked for their vacation. What are the odds that my sister's family would unknowingly fall right into my tour plans?

My brother in law had for years asked me to describe why I go on tour. After Coventry, I moved from Baltimore to Oregon. I stopped in my hometown of Lexington to see my family on the way out west. He bet me $50 or a concert ticket that Phish would eventually get back together in the next 10 years. On 08-01-14, I was able to gladly pay my debt and take him to his first Phish show.

The venue was a strange place, part mall, marina, amusement park and condominiums. After driving from Portsmouth, we just wanted to get to the lot and start vending. That was quickly squashed by security. Outside alcoholic beverages were confiscated and K9s were spotted at the entrance. No open vending allowed. Please spend your $ at our mediocre restaurants instead of Christy's quesadillas on lot. Buy our overpriced alcohol, not Jeff and Tara's delicious liquor concoctions.

There were tickets all over the place and the venue looked about 90% capacity when the lights went down. Security booted people out who were missing wrist bands in the pit and there was plenty of dancing space down low. My brother in law couldn't stop watching the crowd and other distractions. He did listen to the music, but there was so much to take in at once. This was a completely different world than what he was used to at a concert. I walk the aisles thanking staff and police at every show and he said, "You know you don't have to do this. Their getting paid." I just smiled and agreed with him.

Musically, the first set was pretty standard, but with each new song he would mention how diverse its style was from the song before it. People singing along to Curtis Loew was my highlight.

The second set changed the vibe completely. The Orange Disease was fantastic and everyone around me was dancing up a storm. Phish liked it so much they released it as an official video. Grooved based riffing that chugs along until finding some direction around the 11 minute mark. What follows is a cascade of Trey and heavy dose of whompy Mike. By 13 minutes, we have found bliss pasture once again. That's when my brother and law says, "this is really good!" The intensity builds slowly over the next few minutes and by 17 minutes, we have segments that sound a lot like Sonic Youth. Cycling down, the logical transition into Theme proved a great landing pad. Tweezer brought the crowd right back up again and the jam reached inspired territory around the 8 minute mark. Delicate and democratic with Trey playing a complimentary role. This has been common with much of the year's successful jams. This Tweezer may not get much press, but the last few minutes are divine. Keep going, keep going I said to myself, but Trey had Caspien on his mind. We are on a barrier island after all. Waiting All Night belonged exactly where it was played. Although we haven't heard a jam in this song, it still works very well for a second set exhalation. Fuego was one of my brother in laws favorite songs on the night. He even danced and chanted a little with the rest of us. Now he's totally invested in the music.

The transition into Slave was insane. Everyone in the audience let out an ahhhhh at the same time. Slave to the toll booth became our mantra after some spent an hour trying to cross the bridge from the mainland. Trey's solo brought the usual fire and another smooth transition got us grooving to a short 2001. Page still had enough time to put his mark on this version. Next it was Mike's turn to Boogie On. I'm glad to see some cover tunes stay in the rotation. One of the greatest moments of the SE shows was the transition into Antelope. The band was on FIRE for the next 11 minutes. The crowded responded very loudly to Fishman taking total control of things. My brother in law had his proudest moment when he correctly identified the Munsters theme before anyone else. I will forever laud this 'lope as one of my favorites. Bouncing and a thunderous T. Reprise finished the show and I could tell he felt something he had never felt before. He put a Team Phun sticker on his Corvette when he got home and plans to see Phish with me again next year, when convenient. He said several days later that music means a lot more to him now and he feels a strange feeling of empathy towards others. Mmmmm, after glow.

This isn't the greatest show Phish has played this year, but it deserved more recognition for the second set cohesion, jams and transitions that show this band can create great art night after night.

Really enjoyed this show. In speaking with a few of the other tapers while tearing down, the prevailing thought was "this was a show that seems mediocre on paper but was much better in practice." Couldn't agree more.

Not many huge 15+ minute explorations or a series of bust outs, but what we got were a lot a tightly knit and compact jams from a band that really is locked in and having fun.

No Jerry homage as noted, but honestly wasn't expecting one nor disappointed. Pretty much expected we weren't getting one after we got Curtis Loew.

Now what to call the Boogie/Antelope segue and teases. Boogalope?

Solid 4/5 star show for me after listening and I personally thought the Boogie>Antelope was clearly the high point of the night and one of the better transitions/combos I have heard this tour. The rest of the show was solid and very well played, but nothing remarkable or standout.

I am also curious why no love for the Dead? Jerry's B-Day yesterday and a nice Jerry cover would have been awesome and a nice tasteful nod to one of the bands that I would have to assume has influenced Phish most. I would agree with the above poster that a Scarlet (or even Scarlet>Fire) or something would be a great 2nd set jam piece for the band to throw out at times. Would love to see this.

Curious what the next two nights bring. With Randalls night 3 being the best show of the tour and the Tweezerfest show last Sun in 2nd place (IMO), will they be able to top either of these the next two nights? Will be interesting to see.

One other complaint.........I don't like all the down time before Dicks's. I think a big part of what made Dicks 2012 so amazing is the tour headed in there full steam ahead. Having nearly a month off before Dicks gives the band a chance to cool off (as evidenced by last years Dicks which was fine, but obviously on a different level vs 2012) and I don't like it. Oh well, hoping they prove me wrong as I will be at all 3 Dicks shows and am looking forward to them either way!

This show will be overlooked considering the shining shows the weekend before in the mid-Atlantic and the arguably stronger show on the following Sunday in Alpharetta. The fact is this show proves that even a so-called "standards" show can contain dynamic interplay and revel in IT. Expectations seem to be higher than ever within the phanbase, which also contributes to the severe underrating here. The first set felt very much "in the pocket," as the versions of Moma Dance and Wolfman's were as tight as they have been in the last few years. I am surprised no mention in the show notes is made of Trey's emotional revelation that 555 was partially recorded in Muscle Shoals, AL. "I'm getting kind of teary-eyed just thinking about it," he said. Set two really flowed well, with a superb exploration in DWD, a soaring Tweezer, an inspired Fuego-Tweezer mash-up, and a 4th quarter no one can question in Slave>2001>Boogie>Antelope. Antelope indeed contains Boogie and Munsters elements, as well as a noticeable tease of Miami Sound Machine's "Conga" from Trey and Page. Being able to unwind after the show on some of the softest sand in the continental US didn't hurt in cementing this show and Orange Beach as special to me, and I certainly hope Page was sincere in saying they will come back as soon as possible.

This is from a retrospective lens, I'm more into Phish now being a couch tour person and hitting any shows if I can. This was very convenient to head to Orange Beach to see the Phish. At the time I only knew Llama and the whole Fuego album. I bought Fuego to blast in my car before the show. It's crazy to think I didn't even know what this band would be like, but we all have to start somewhere.

My dad rented a car, and rounded up myself and my two cousins who have different tastes in music. I took a dive on the $70 price tag for tickets, buying 3 of them for myself and the cousins. The joys of being eighteen and not knowing how to be responsible. $1000 of my high school graduation went to getting $200 in tickets for us. We got to the venue, got in and settled down for a good night. There was a couple a few bleachers down and by the end of the show, the boyfriend was so drunk out of it he hugged us and shook our hands lol. And a guy complimented me on my Adidas sneakers.

Hearing the opening notes of Chalk Dust locked me in. I got into it just from how awesome sounding the riff was. The first set, Rift, Chalk Dust, and Free were my picks that got me into this band.

Then, we got treated to a DwD jam. My first ever show to give me my first ever jam. I actually was in my head and sometimes thought "this song hasn't changed, but I like the beat". Moving on, Tweezer and Caspian. But to me Slave To the Light made me get into it again. That song has a feel good, reflection type of feeling that I can't explain. 2001 was a nice surprise, I would later learn that would be a Phish staple. Boogie On -> Antelope was the highlight between jamming and segueway. The boys threw that munster tease in there that made me grin even harder.

A great show. Afterwards, I signed up on .net, liked Phish on facebook, and would follow this band. After diving into past shows, the 90s etc, I found jams I liked and songs I really liked. I'm still trying to find jams that can convert me to certain songs. But, this show got me into the boys. And I thank them.

SET 1:

Chalk Dust Torture: always down for this as an opener. Pretty slow tempo and very standard version.

The Moma Dance: classic party-starter placement. A bit shaky from Trey early on but he settles in and this one ends up grooving nicely.

Heavy Things: don’t care what people say, I love this song. No Trey solo here, Page tears it up on organ and makes this one feel extra rootsy. Very good.

555: standard. Trey takes a moment after the song to thank the crowd and talk about recording the song with the Muscle Schoals players. He seems chatty! First time in Alabama apparently, so makes sense.

Rift: decent for a 3.0 version but Trey still struggles a bit. >

46 Days: standard.

Tube: there is no such thing as a bad Tube, even if it’s totally meat-and-potatoes like this one.

Devotion to a Dream: standard.

Wolfman’s Brother: check out Mike’s playing during the jam! Slapping along like nobody’s business. Very cool as you don’t see him do that in jams much these days. Trey builds this one up to a great peak too! NICE. Very good Wolfman’s.

The Ballad of Curtis Loew: cool, forgot this got played pretty often in early 3.0.

Free: pretty icky bum note at 0:51 ish. Wish they’d done something more with this one. >

Character Zero: standard.

—

SET 2:

Down With Disease: outro riff before the jam is rough from Trey. Standard and blissful up through around 9:30 when Trey signals he wants to take things in a minor key direction. Fish keeps the same feel as Trey experiments with some cool effects jamming. Check out Mike on the wah-wah pedal @ 11:30, something else you don’t see him doing much these days. Trey takes them out of the minor key space at 13 minutes in. Is that Mike doing the burbly synth-ish thing around 14:00? Neat if so. Some more bliss jamming until the band enters a really cool tense space for a while with piano noises and more synthy Mike. That last 3 minutes is genuinely great and the best part of the jam. Otherwise a mostly standard, if pleasant, jammed out DWD. ->

Theme From the Bottom: very suddenly appears out of Disease. Very standard with a nice washy outro out of which appears… >

Tweezer: fuck yeah! Love the bit where Page starts TEARING it up on the clav at 3 minutes in out of nowhere. A pretty good, succinct, intense rendition that mellows out nicely around 8 minutes. Trey’s playing at the end is nice. Sounds like he’s playing with Piper or Tela for a bit, and then >

Prince Caspian: this one weirdly has Trey’s most dextrous playing of the night… for about a minute. Tiny version. Fish starts up a fast beat right at the end and eggs Trey on to pounce on it. Trey declines, and instead we get… >

Waiting All Night: good song, weird placement.

Fuego: good song, VERY weird placement. Needed more after Caspian and WAN. Briefly turns into Tweezer at 8:20, before a cool transition into ->

Slave to the Traffic Light: song is obviously a classic but set is all over the place at this point. >

2001: standard, short. >

Boogie On Reggae Woman: fun, but there’s no real cohesiveness left. AWESOME transition into ->

Run Like An Antelope: they mess around with the Boogie On feel constantly at the beginning here, the two songs basically meld into one for a bit a la Miami 2009. Then we get Munsters theme and Conga by Gloria Esteban teases – awesome. A big organic peak, some more Boogie On stuff in the Rye Rye Rocco section, and then a tight finish. Really great version of a song that I don’t always love. This one is top notch though.

—

ENCORE:

Bouncing Around the Room: standard.

Tweezer Reprise: standard, but watch out for the bass bomb at the start and Fish singing a song I can’t make out.

—

OVERALL: pretty nondescript, slightly above average show. Mike is the MVP all night. I want to say DWD is a big highlight, but it’s not really that interesting as a whole - maybe worth checking out though because your mileage might vary. Clear highlight overall is that Antelope which is fantastic for the era. Wolfman’s and Heavy Things are also worth relistens.

3.5 stars.

I was in attendance but just gave this show another listen today and really enjoyed it. Very tight playing all around with the band stretching their legs with the new, at the time, Fuego material. The Ballad of Curtis Loew was a highlight for me, but both sets are really tight and a good listen. DWD is not usually my favorite, but this one has some sauce. Awesome teases in Antelope. Good times! This one is definitely under-rated here.

https://medium.com/the-phish-from-vermont/beached-review-8-1-14-d56fb0d67cec

Beached: Review 8/1/14

Well, I guess every tour needs a stinker. Don’t get me wrong — the DWD was top notch. It created perhaps one of my favorite jam moments of the entire tour. Perhaps we are spoiled, but I think we should expect a Phish show to give us more than 10 “must hear” minutes in an entire show (I should also mention the “Tweezer” jam was amazing, but mercilessly ‘f*ckerpants’d’). I think another factor worth mentioning: Orange Beach, Alabama is a 14 hour drive from Portsmouth, VA. With only one day off in between, those on tour were forced to go on quite an epic journey (only to head back north today!). In the past, Phish has rewarded fans who trek to out of the way shows, but if I had driven 14 hours for last night’s oh-so-standard affair, I would have not been pleased. With Jerry’s birthday, a sublime beach setting, and an out of the way, late-tour show, we should’ve expected more.

The first set was painfully standard. The “Chalkdust” opener saw this song back in its comfort zone as a first set rocker. However, they played it slow like they have in many of the epic second set versions this tour. But, it should have a higher tempo for a set 1 opening type 1 rocker. “Moma”, “Heavy Things” (Page again with the solo sans Trey), and “555" followed (a lot of funk numbers in a set that also included “Tube” and “Wolfman’s”; as a fan of set 1 “diversity”, I think that’s too much funk — if that’s possible). Is anyone else surprised “555" has been the most played Fuego song along with its title track? I would have probably predicted “The Line” or “Sing Monica”, but kudos to Mike for penning a song that Phish (read: Trey) really seems to love to play (unlike “Sugar Shack” and other Mike songs). Trey said some cool stuff about the Muscle Shoals studio and him getting “teary eyed” playing “555" which was recorded there (see this article for an amazing story of the sessions musicians who play with Phish for those recordings — and see netflix for a cool, if overly cheesy, documentary on the legendary studios in this town). “Rift”, the overplayed “46 Days” (something about this song in 2014 — the Letterman show opener was a sign), and an under 5, “Tube”, were all standard versions, and the second “Devotion to a Dream” in as many shows is probably too much. The highlight of the set I guess was “Wolfman’s Brother” (which, as I’ve mentioned before, has settled in a pretty predictable formula for its jam: funk->rock peak). But, even this one was weaker when compared to other recent versions (more Trey wank than patient funk). The bustout of “The Ballad of Curtis Loew” was a nice “southern” touch for (sweet home) Alabama, but not enough to recover this set. The redundant rock pairing of “Free” and “Character 0" to end the set was unspectacular to say the least.

Set 2 gave us the predictable opener of “Down with Disease.” This version at first appeared to be going through the ‘groove’ motions of most versions this tour. Out of the type I jam, Trey switches to minor chord rhythm guitar and the jam grooves along to its conclusion. After several groove minutes, however, this one switched to a major key melodious section. If one can complain about Phish “bliss” jams (I would never!), it is that they often sound very similar — pretty arpeggios, Trey trills, and Page on the piano. Well, this one was altogether different. After Trey signaled the major key modulation, the jam took on a driving, hypnotic orientation. With Mike playing circular “fluttery” bass runs, and Page playing repetitive arpeggios on the piano, Trey was playing off beat major key chords. It was simultaneously beautiful and syncopated (a rare combination). Eventually, this groove started just building and building energy. I have mentioned that in the last few shows it seemed like Phish wants to avoid the easy “peaks” where jams build to an explosion of Trey joyous soloing. Well, this one couldn’t avoid it — the energy demanded it — but Trey kept his soloing to a brief minimum (I would have preferred he go for about 8 more measures!), before the jam transitioned into yet another section based on a droning Trey open stringed note that creates a more abstract space. As another groove picked up, it felt like this on could go another 10 minutes, but a well played “Theme From the Bottom” interrupted the flow. “Tweezer” in the 3rd quarter? Yes please. From the get go this one started with less funk than usual, and created a jazzy melody of Trey octave phrases. After building that for a few minutes, the jam turned more ethereal and spacious, and Mike found this very beautiful descending melody. Trey picked up on it an started playing what can only be described as a lullaby-esque melody. Delicate and gorgeous. In a relatively recent type ii cast (I really wish this podcast would come back!), @jeffersonwaful — the light tech for Umphrey’s McGee, and also a big Phish fan — discussed how Hood jams often create these simple melodies that take us to place of “childlike wonder.” What an amazing insight, and that is exactly what this “Tweezer” did. As the jam started to lift off from the simple quiet lullaby, I thought we really might be in for something extraordinary. But, Trey decided to go with the second “Prince Caspian” since Tuesday — hmmmmmm. “Fuego” actually went back into “Tweezer” which was kind of nostalgic, but I doubt the band wanted to reenact another “Tweezer-fest” — and that would have been gimmicky and disrespectful to the organic, spontaneity of 7/27/14. Another mid-set “Slave” followed. I don’t like this placement. This is best as set capper, but in the middle it just feels odd. Nevertheless, it was its usual beautiful soaring self. 2001->Boogie->Antelope had some nice teases (Boogielope!), but also could be seen as a ripchorded “Boogie” (the segue into Antelope did not feel natural…the Boogie was just starting to go “out there” and Trey started playing it abruptly). The encore of “Bouncing->Tweeprise” just seemed like an appropriate choice given the show that happened.

Again, in early 3.0 an amazing 20 minute jam like the DWD would have created a “house money” situation. But, this is ‘14 — and this show was 14 hours from the last one — we should expect a bit more on the last weekend of tour. If I had to pick one, this would definitely be the weakest overall show of the summer.

As an aside, I really wished they would’ve played a dead song on Jerry’s birthday. They are so comfortable as Phish now, why not? My idea: just integrate “Scarlet Begonias” (or something) into the rotation. Let it become a “Rock and Roll” or “Crosseyed”; a set 2 opening jam vehicle. Why not? Surely Phish is as influenced by the Grateful Dead as they are by the Velvet Underground or the Talking Heads. Oh well. Only two shows left. If I had to bet money, I would predict tonight will be the first “Fuego-less” venue of tour. But, who knows, maybe the “everybody gets a Fuego” rule will hold.