Headstash

PHISH Summer 2012 at ATLANTIC CITY (Night 2)

Photo Credit: Nick Rhodes

As the preeminent jam band in the country ventures off on their 2012 Summer Tour, various fans, Headstash staff writers and even some random, first-time Phish-goers will submit reviews of each night. They'll tell you their favorite songs and segues, how the crowd reacted and whether this show is worth buying, downloading or skipping altogether.

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Phish continued their A.C. run at Bader Field with a fiery performance for night two that featured some superb jamming and dynamic lights. From the opening "Mike's Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove" to the soaring "Run Like An Antelope" that ended the second set, the show was high-energy and awesome from start to finish.

Read out previous Phish tour reviews below:

June 7 and 8 – DCU Center – Worcester, MA
June 10 – Bonnaroo 2012 – Manchester, TN
June 15 – Bader Field  – Atlantic City, NJ

For a complete list of tour dates, check out Phish's official website.

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June 16 – Bader Field – Atlantic City, NJ

Set I: Mike's Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Gumbo, Halley's Comet > My Friend, My Friend, Wolfman's Brother, Lawn Boy, Possum > Punch You In The Eye > Ocelot, Suzy Greenberg
Set II: Crosseyed and Painless > Slave to the Traffic Light > Light > Manteca > Light > Theme From The Bottom > Golgi Apparatus > Sand > Backwards Down the Number Line > Run Like an Antelope
Encore: Good Times Bad Times

Crowd Atmosphere: The field was noticeably more crowded, but the high-energy setlist coupled with the frenetic yet tight playing by the band elicited even more raucous cheers than the night before. If Friday was "out there" and spacey, tonight was a complete rager. People were moving their feet from the beginning through the encore.

Best Song: Crosseyed and Painless - The band dropped into the Talking Heads song perfectly to kickstart the second set. The show featured "Crosseyed and Painless" chorus reprises during both "Light" and "Sand."

Best Jam: Light - The jam was quite different than it normally is, complete with a "Manteca" jam sandwiched in the middle. Phish is really enjoying using "Light" as a second set jam vehicle these past few tours.

Best Segue: Crosseyed and Painless > Slave To The Traffic Light

Best Lights: Slave To The Traffic Light - Utilizing those LED rings, Kuroda masterfully and colorfully lit the stage up with a bevy of colors. The rings seemed to be emulating launched glowsticks and really made for an enhanced visual experience.

Sloppies Moment: The placement of "BDTNL" not only disrupted the flow of the second set, but on top of that they aborted the jam abruptly.

Twitter Recap: Absolute rocking show that outshined night one. The "Crosseyed" opener and subsequent teases and lyrics throughout other set two songs really set the tone for the show. "Golgi" had the place exploding.

Rating out of 5: 4.5 - One or two misplaced songs, but a solid first set and a phenomenal beginning-to-end second set.

Buy/download/pass: Buy. The second set was everything you could hope for in a Phish set, brimming with Type I and Type II jams.

Other Notes: "Mike's Song" was an energetic punch that got the first started.

Later during the set, Trey was having a hard time starting "The Horse" and let the crowd know he was just thinking about how silly the ending to "My Friend, My Friend" was. Fishman chimed in that it was his favorite song ending, which prompted Trey to survey the rest of the band for their opinion on song endings.

After Page announced "Lawn Boy," he stood up and on cue kicked off the ballad. "Lawn Boy" was an unexpected treat that they would tease later on during "Possum."

- Andrew Duch

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Stay tuned as we continue to publish quick-hit fan reviews from each night of Phish's Summer Tour 2012.

What did you think of the Atlantic City night 2 show?