Headstash

PHISH Summer 2012 in PORTSMOUTH

Photo Courtesy of Phish's Facebook

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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Though the jams may have been a little sloppy and the shows lacked a little cohesion, the stage banter about tucking Fishman's dress in was reminiscent of the goofy Phish of yesteryear. There were some standout moments at the nTelos Pavilion in Portsmouth, VA like Trey playing guitar with a lightsaber (he is a Jedi after all) and a sit-in from Carl Gerhard on trumpet was a welcome treat.

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
June 16 – Bader Field – Atlantic City, NJ
June 17 – Bader Field  – Atlantic City, NJ

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

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June 19 – nTelos Pavilion – Portsmouth, VA

Set I: Sample in a Jar, Party Time, Simple > Axilla, Tube, Kill Devil Falls, Water in the Sky > Horn, Babylon Baby, Bathtub Gin > Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan, I Didn't Know > Run Like An Antelope
Set II: Back on the Train > Rift, Split Open and Melt > The Mango Song > Backwards Down The Number Line, Limb By Limb, Shine A Light, Lengthwise > Maze, Cavern > Fire
Encore: Mexican Cousin > Slave To The Traffic Light

Best Song: Party Time - A sit-in from Carl Gerhard on trumpet elevated this version and his presence is always a treat.

Best Jam: Back On The Train - With only a few notable jams to pick from, I have to say it was the best of the night.

Best Segue: Split Open and Melt > The Mango Song - Very smooth

Best Moment: Trey playing "Maze" with a lightsaber proved he truly is a Jedi.

Sloppiest Moment: The "Split Open and Melt" jam had me cringing at times. Lots of forced notes from Trey made this a version to forget.

Twitter Recap: The band is having so much fun on stage! All this stage banter makes me think it's the 90s, but the music needs to tighten up. Tuck, tuck, tuck, tuck, tuck . . . 

Rating out of 5: 3

Buy/download/pass: I would definitely download the show just to hear the banter. It had me laughing for a while.

Other Notes: The first set seemed to have no flow and cohesiveness whatsoever. The “Bathtub Gin” really got going, but throughout the show it seemed Trey was just a step behind the rest of the band.

All of the banter on stage stemmed from Trey asking Fishman to tuck in his shirt. They then proceeded to reference “tucking” in “Run Like An Antelope,” “Split Open And Melt,” “Lengthwise,” “Maze” and “Fire.”

They’re obviously enjoying playing together. Hope that positive attitude leads to some more experimenting and type II jams.

June 20 – nTelos Pavilion – Portsmouth, VA

Set I: Sparkle, Ha Ha Ha, AC/DC Bag > Divided Sky, Dog Log, Undermind > Mike's Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Cities > Ya Mar, Bold As Love > Julius
Set II: Rock and Roll > Tweezer > Free > Guyute, Birds of a Feather, Harry Hood > What's The Use? > Wading in the Velvet Sea > Possum
Encore: Sleeping Monkey > Tweezer Reprise

Best Song: "Guyute" and "Divided Sky" were pretty flawless.

Best Jam: Tweezer

Best Segue: Cities > Ya Mar

Best Moment: The "Sleeping Monkey" with Trey singing to Fishman. More fun stage banter. Trey also took over on drums for awhile while Fishman tucked his dress into he underwear and sang the chorus.

Sloppiest Moment: The "Harry Hood > What's The Use > Velvet Sea" was just forced. I was upset they didn't go back into "Hood." The set had a lot of steam, but after that moment, it pretty much lost all the energy and creativity it once had.

Twitter Recap: A solid first set with the first "Dog Log" since IT! Monster jam in "Tweezer" might be the best jam of the tour so far. May the force be with tuck.

Rating out of 5: 3.8

Buy/download/pass: Buy this show for the very well played first set and the jams in the beginning of the second.

Other Notes: A very well played show. Trey seemed to have his 'A' game for most of the show and Fishman really brought the heat. Page seemed to be forcing some transitions and Mike . . . well, he never really seems to have a bad show in 3.0.

The band seems to be having a lot of fun which is great to see after a generally sloppy NYE run. Hopefully they can keep the momentum up.

- Sean Wilmsen

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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 Portsmouth run? Let us know in the comments below . . .