First, I just want to say hello. This is my first time posting anything on any Phish related board.

First time visitor to the phish.net boards
First Phish Concert experience: Last night 6-23-2012 Burgettstown PA
First Phish Concert Impression: Astounded. Been a peripheral fan since around '95 or so, but the live experience was a welcome breath of fresh air.
The Green Crew? The Light-stick Explosions? The self-sustaining Phish-nation economy? Wonderful surprises.

Then I add on the fact that I have heard several places (fellow concert-goers, online reviews, etc.) that I was served with a phenaomenal setlist for a first-time attendee.

Sorry to ramble. I just wanted to drop in real quick and offer my sincerest gratitude to the Phish community for their wonderful character, vibe, and overall generosity towards a relative outsider.

Plus the fact that seeing Phish for the very first time was a life-changing experience. Thank goodness I'm 35 with three kids. If I was still 19-22 and childless, I could easily see myself touring from city to city.

Thank you once again for the wonderful first impression. Now I'll get back to listening to the MP3 version of the show I just attended. You Enjoy Myself is just ending and fading out with that insane vocal crescendo.

That's a pretty decent song.....

I didn't see this show, therefore im crying

Good to see Phish back in Pittsburgh after not stopping for a few years!

Definitely a good show. (Mental) notes:

Set I: Seems like people either love or hate BDTNL, but if you're gonna get one, second song is a good place, IMO. Jammed well. Maze was tight, Trey showed a ton of patience with this jam, which I think is evident and welcome with his playing in general right now. Torn and Frayed I personally like and was pumped to hear. Scent of a Mule the mule dual ventured into some unique territory, and at one point sounded to me like something straight out of the old west or something...almost show tuney. Pretty wild. YEM closer, awesome. One of my crew actually called a 1st set YEM on the ride there, which made it that much more sweet.

Set II: Mike's Groove was off the charts. About half way through Mike's I knew we were getting Simple, I feel like you can just tell at times that that is where they are headed with it. As much as I like H2 in places, def prefer the Simple. The Light and Weekapaug that followed were fantastic. Slave was nice, a good way to end the show.

E: Lizards is always a good tune, and definitely a great encore. In some odd way, one of the highlights of the show to me was Trey flubbing a vocal in Lizards and the crowd basically cheering him like you would a friend who just did something...as if to say, we don't care, we're still having the time of our lives. Good to see the crowd has matured some with the band, in a positive way (not meaning that we're all getting old, which we are).

Simply incredible. The band spoiled us with all kinds of magic. I would point out highlights but the entire show was just sweet..

Great setlists
Great jams
Great venue

And then a perfect lizards to end the night

I wasn't there.
But I listened.
Closely.
And not to discount the rest of the phenomenal playing.
But when I heard Light > Weekapaug.
I remembered why I fell in love with this band.
Thank you.

My wife's first show and my 69th. Oddly as we were driving in, we looked over and Mike was right next to us in the back of a pimped out Honda Accord (ok not really pimped out but a dependable car...) What a way to start the day.
Set 1: Good opener to get the blood flowing, but really takes off with Maze followed with a great tune, Torn & Frayed. Moma really gave way to the set highlight, Mule Duel & YEM ! Was hoping to get a vacuum duel solo, but the Theremin Solo really gave flash backs of the Big Ball Square Secret Set. My first Scent and it only took 69 shows!!! Just happen to miss this one repeatedly. Phish really made the wait for the first YEM of Summer 2012 payoff. Worth the wait and anticipation. Gordo seemed very happy salppin' the bass in the solo. CK5 lights are better than ever. Thanks Toph !

Set 2: Not much to look at on paper, but played very well. Simple>Light>Weekapaug being a highlight. Always beautiful to hear Slave (especially since we purchased a nice canvas painting in the lot that quoted Slave) and this version was certainly one that did not disappoint.

Being my wife, Kristin, and I got married in December 2012, we were oh so hoping to hear Waste, our Wedding Song. As I type this I'm reading Waste played at Blossom the following night which was the shortest drive of the Summer.... A huge reason I've followed Phish all these years. They'll always play something you want to hear at the next show that makes you say "We should have went !" But work duties what they are, we make what shows we can. So with about .000001 of a sec of disappointment, the encore did not start with Waste but rather LIZARDS !!!!!!! I'm sure no one was really upset with that call... Coming from someone who saw the epic 1999 Alpine Encore (Glide>Camel Walk>Alumni>Tweezer Rep), this Encore was a complete surprise and certainly one we will never forget ! Just remember.... The Trick is to Surrender to the Flow.

Thank you Phish for making every show an enjoyable and truly unique event.

Johnny 8's
Buffalo, NY

First time since 11/22/94 that Lizards has been the sole encore song

Insane. The Mule Duel was unbelievable and very involved. The best part was when the band would rotate who played what, then all of a sudden they went silent and gave the crowd the chance to get involved. LOVED that!

YEM bustout was VERY HEAVILY cheered, as it should've been. Well done.

Second set was amazing from top to bottom. A few notes were flubbed here and there, but nothing to freak out about. SUPER energy, lots of great type-I AND II. Loved it! Mike's raged so hard and Simple was loaded with spacey jams. Seven Below caught me by surprise but I was VERY happy to hear it! CK5 had the new lights going and it looked like palm trees during the 'pretty' riffs of the song. It really matched the mood IMO. Bouncing was unexpected but SO nice. Slave gave me goosebumps. It was so pretty.

Lizards encore? Yes please! When Trey broke into the first chords, you could hear high fives all over. Truly incredible. I had serious goosebumps going on. So awesome. Trey did forget the lyrics though, and he mentioned it. But it was okay. He made up for it by raging out the rest of the song.

The best show of Leg 1, IMO, and the second-best jam sequence (next to San Fran 3, of course); Simple drops into a mellow, ambient-esque range reminiscent of the glorious Vegas '96 rendition, Light gets noisy and weird in the best possible way, and that Weekapaug Groove really might be one of the best of 3.0. Just like San Fran 3, this show would not be out of place in any of the most hallowed 1.0 years (well, other than Light, #L, and 46 Days, but you know what I mean); if that sounds like it's damning with faint praise, give a listen to one of your favorite '93 or '98 shows, and then put this one on and see if I'm wrong.

This show was just amazing!!! 2nd set..... speechless! You had to be there! :-)

For the most part, the first set here is straightforward and solid, with strong versions of Funky Bitch, Maze, and Moma. Aside from a rough start to Gumbo, there are few flubs. The obvious home run of the first set is Scent of A Mule, with one of my new favorite Mule Duels, including Page on theremin FTW, and some crowd participation. Also, props to Fishman for not playing the vacuum trump card there and letting Page have the victory. The YEM is good, too, though not amazing. It is, however, the first YEM of the tour, and contains a Mule tease and a bitchin' B&D segment.

Of course, the second set here is classic. A fairly rockin', though somewhat short Jibboo to kick things off, followed by a pretty solid Mike's. There is a little flubbage at the end of Mike's as Trey tries to play the ending chords while the band plays on. I also (if I can nitpick for a second) think Simple needs to come right out of those power chords and not the traditional Mike's ending, in order to keep the energy high. But that's OK, because what follows is money.

Simple gets really beautiful for about 90 seconds before vanishing into ambient space, which is nice enough. Light, though, is one of the top jams of Leg I. It starts in that odd Light fashion that never really sits well with me, yet seems to consistently yield deep creativity, and this version is the perfect example. The odd jam becomes interesting, with a wailing loop effect, and then becomes ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR! It rocks a little, then drifts into a Norwegian Wood-ish melody that you just have to hear. Kind of plinko-y, kind of NICU-y, but just fantastic, and not ripcorded. Trey lets things get weird again, before the whole thing dies away and Weekapaug sneaks in. But the 'Paug, too, has a few different sections; some plinko, some funk, a Divided Sky tease...really nice Weekapaug! Julius and Slave to close are pretty standard, and the now-rare Lizards as an encore delivers a humorous Trey-flub punchline that adds, rather than detracts from the gig.

If you were to take everything but Light from this show, you might be able to call this a three star gig (though high three stars, and maybe four). But the Light, IMHO, vaults this show all the way up to 5 stars. Simple>Light>Weekapaug is worth listening to again and again again.

My Complete Review

I would like to share the experience that I had with this very magical night or should I say Knight...

I was lucky enough to catch all three shows over in Atlantic City, which were just wonderful to say the least. I knew instantly after that weekend that the band was back in action; they were together, consistent, creative and fearless. I am not here to tell you that the boys haven't gifted us with a handful of spectacular shows since there return. I am here to point out a notion that many of us share... That this summer tour is really something else. It's as if this face-melting, live music machine that we know as Phish has decided to fill it's tank up with premium fuel from the depths of some deep lagoon in Gamehendge. Since their return in 2009 I have had no problem attending and enjoying shows but I have just been unable to listen to "3.0" recordings of phish very often, when I have access to hundreds of shows from the 90s that exhibit the bands sheer excellence. For the first time since their return I have found myself listening to & loving a majority of the shows that I was unable to attend

Anyways back to Burgettstown.

Set l: Funky Bitch was a great opener with some nicely held vocals. BDTNL, I'm not a big fan of the song itself but the jam was danceable. The Gumbo>Maze is a must listen featuring a sweet segue from page to fish. The maze is simply unconventional and exciting, instead of hitting each part perfectly trey instead gives page the floor and extends the buildup to the famous maze riff. Love the stones, love torn & frayed. Moma Dance...well I guess its time to booggiiee. And then comes Scent of a Mule, easily a highlight and one of the most fun, well played mules I have ever heard. 46 Days, this track never fails to please..ever since hearing this at MSG I feel like the ground is shaking every time they drop it. YEM, We were all waiting for it and boy-man-god-shit did they deliver!!! Let Icculus be my witness, the crowd was roaring with approval.

Set ll: Mama sing sing watcha gotta jibboo, the jam was crisp and full of energy. Then came something absolutely beautiful Mike's>Simple>Light>Paug...I mean what the fuck Phish? I felt like I was in a different world. Extremely creative and just brilliant. At one point, I thought I was in The Odyssey and each time trey made that sound, I thought I was being sung to by Sirens from across an ocean...check that jam out!! Seven Below was real nice and hit the mood just right. Bouncin was well placed & is always a treat The Julius was well played yet much more mellow than usual...which set up Slave as thee perfect closer.

Finally came the most magical encore the band could have picked... Lizards. Trey messed up a small segment of it and screamed "fuck" which was absolutely awesome. The crowd was just lovinnnn it. Great energy, Delightful encore...Fantastic night !!!!

I think the Golden Age tease in the vocal jam is certainly worth mentioning.

10 years after, I still dig this show. In fact, through this passage of time, I appreciate it even more. This was the first time my wife made a road trip for Phish and to visit with friends and all. We had a blast. During the ride on some new (to me) Pennsylvania roads, I blasted the Darien ’00 Live Phish and got a bit nervous. She really doesn’t like spacey stuff, Dead or Phish. I do. Always hoping for a spacefest, I was simply hoping that we would see shows that she enjoyed (hit up Blossom, too).

Never in a million years could I have anticipated a show that would scratch both yens: shorter, more structured, groovalicious songs segueing one into the other for the second set. This is wifey’s jam! And yet, that song string held plenty of intergalactic goo to get me all fluttery and excited. The entire segment of Jibboo through Seven Below was firing on all cylinders, and we danced ourselves into a lather. It was magical.

Part of this magic came from the newness of our union and our first forays into exploring the continent with one another. In a truly odd twist, we had secured lodging in Steubenville, OH in an Air BnB. It was simultaneously heart-warming and sad. The hulking relics of industrial waste dominated the landscape like abandoned whales along a broken-spine river. And yet our hosts were entrepreneurial and full of hope for the future. Nary a fan or head was to be seen in the town. It was desolate.

Backroads into the lot, and suddenly familiar smells and sounds wafted over me. We had caught up to the carnival. What a feeling! We were holding tickets to Blossom and SPAC, had some roaming plans, and I was tucking Furthur shows into the quilt of summer in and around Phish adventures. The wacky, aggregate boulder field of Star Lake lot, the great venue and dance party were just what I needed.

10 years removed, when I give it a listen, this show’s precision, vocal clarity, and strong attack reminds me that 3.0 has been an incredible blessing. There are many hidden gems in the ’09 through early-’13 corridor with many doors left to open and explore. The Seven Below was, to me, the icing on the cake. They nail it.

Listen with an open mind, dropping the 2021 face melt expectations, and what you’ll find is an incredibly good Phish show, something no one else could pull off. Thanks to the Phish from Vermont, I’m still dreamin’ on the open road from time to time.

Not to discredit the first set, but this show is straight heat from Mule on.

Great show. Best Mike's groove of the summer. Wondering if anyone else heard that Cars, Trucks, Buses tease in Light by Page around the 11:55 mark.

Lizards, though botched a bit, was a great way to end this show.

Set One was calling for a Cities opener, got Funky Bitch. This just set the tone for what was to come. BDTNL was a good tune to hear live, no complaints. Gumbo surprised me and was glad to hear it, Torn and Frayed was played as a solid middle ground set breaker. When they busted into Moma dance and Scent of a Mule I knew we have hit the ground running. 46 Days into YEM was a solid closer of a sick first set.
Set Two came with Jibboo. I can't complain was hoping for a DWD but hell, you can't win them all. The Mike's > Simple > Light > Weekapaug was the highlight for me and I am sure others, solid playing and kept with the crowd which IMO was raging at this point. Seven Below kept the flow of the crowd and the band at a tight race of neck and neck, Bouncing chilled things out for a few, always have loved this song and always enjoy hearing this being played. Julius > Slave was an odd placement regarding the energy factor was still going strong, was happy with Slave as a closer for the show because in the past have gotten either Character Zero, Caspian or First Tube. Then the Encore- Lizards, really? I forgot about this gem. Seriously from the moment i heard the opening cords from Trey I was finding myself saying "Holy $#@!. Driving home pumping tunes of past shows, i was really given a solid performance. What a show, what a venue and the crowd was a group of energy driven with the band this evening.

Just now listening, and Page initiates a very Weekapaug-esque jam in Seven Below.

this show plus the next is the only time in my phish career that i have been able to see phish play on more than one nite in a row, and last, so far.

SOAM was awesome, i got yet another YEM (my fav song)

and that was the Lizards tour debut, i do believe

What a show, probably my favorite still in my limited experience (though coming back to the tent after waiting an hour and a half in what became a COLD night for the shuttle and finding that some guys from NY had pulled in right between our car and the next site to set up their nitrous tank (and it was fine for the first couple hours) right behind my tent (I'm talking within six feet from my head when I layed down) and proceeded to rage and scream until 7 meant no sleep until after Cuyahoga) seeing the band. I shit you not, but I actually called each of the first three songs before they were playerd, honest! I was never a fan of Maze until I saw the interplay in this version. The whole first set was just all over the place in all the right ways. Then of course, the second set was magic- I know this will sound weird, but in the end of Light I hear this year's Tahoe Tweezer! I must have listened to it too much, because I am beginning to hear some aspect of it in every concert I relisten to. Great transition between the Light to the Paug. I think Mike was the unsung hero of that set. Trey's phrasing in Slave had a uniqueness to it that befit the night. Great show.

Hey, throwing this out there, is anyone else an Ocarina of Time fan? I swear that the ending credits after you beat the game are almost identical to the 'heroic opera' at the end of the Lizards. Anyone else hear that?

Brought the gf for her bday... super fun!! glad I made the trip!!

@Phacemelter

Not sure if you saw this thread, (http://forum.phish.net/thread.php?thread=1340658856) but I noticed this too and just said "hey that guy kinda looks like Mike Gordon...yeah the one in the back seat." But I never thought he would just drive up in a normal car. Pretty awesome.

Anyway what a great show. Sometimes when I'm not totally with it and in orbit a bit it's hard to discern what I would think would be a good jam or not if I listened to the show the next day (usually I just focus on dancing and get critical later). But when the Mikes>Simple portion of Mike's Groove was starting to get there I could just feel it in my bones how monster the whole Mike's Groove frame was. I thought the slave was incredibly beautiful but again I was in full orbit at this point. Encore: loved how Trey flubs the lyrics and coincidentally the next lyric, which he says as he smiles and laughs at the crowd, was "their clumsy end was perilously near" as if he was gunna be the one to end us for cheering at his flub. Phun stuph

Didn't see it mentioned, but anyone notice the brief but clear Weekapaug tease from Page during the Seven Below jam? About 5 minutes in on the LivePhish.com version? Not sure what actually qualifies as a tease, but it's there.

Some personal highlights:

-I believe I turned to my friend during Maze and said, "Pagemazing!" Little did I know what was to come during Mule! From my vantage point, I couldn't clearly see the madness that was happening on stage, but I just watched the video and was tickled by how goofy they were. I liken Page to a mad scientist when he plays the theremin.

-Exile is my favorite Stones album, and the people next to us in the lot were playing it before the show, so I hoped to hear something other than Loving Cup. I geeked so hard during Torn and Frayed.

-The more that I listen to the Mike's--->Seven Below run, the more I fall in love with it. The jam out of Light is fantastic. I had hoped it would go on even further to see where else they could take it.

-LIZARDS.

WOW!!!!!!!! What a great show! Start to finish just a complete rocker. The guys always throw down at Starlake but this was something special. I am by no stretch an authority on Live Phish. I have about a dozen shows under my belt so for me to say this is the best show I have ever seen doesn't hold much weight for anyone but me. HOWEVER, when i have cats that are 100+ shows deep saying the same thing, I start to think there is some resounding truths to the statement.

After the "Slave" set II closer, my buddy said, "well, here comes our "Loving Cup" or "Good Times, Bad Times". I looked him dead in the eyes and said, "After that show, there is NO WAY they are coming to encore with either of those two songs.(Both good, but not the thrilling end we all want). Well, I was absolutely correct as they encored with the first solo "Lizards" since '94.

Everything about the show was great. The stage banter and theatrics via the "muel duel", the YEM bustout, Type I and II jamming, and most importantly the vibes. You just couldn't beat the vibes at this gig. It truly makes me smile when I see the guys laughing and having fun on stage. And you know when Page is smiling that it is a special evening!!! Overall, this is one of those shows that if you weren't there, you truly missed something special.

To Phacemelter's comment up there about Gordo in the back of a Honda - I read yesterday that a couple guys actually picked him up in Pittsburg and drove him to the venue because his tour bus had gotten lost in some backcountry roads. I didn't believe it at first but just check out this link (and picture)!

Absolutely hilarious and totally Cactus!

http://forum.phish.net/thread.php?thread=1340658856&offset=0

Bitch opener. Great way to start it off. From Maze on, it was, well, ON. Obvious highlights the very duelly Mule and YEM, but Torn and Frayed is one that's really growing on me

Lots of good jams in the last halves of just about every song in the 2nd. Week was a bit on the mellow side, by Week standards, but that's not a complaint. Great crowd at STAR LAKE (that's what I'll always call it). Give yourselves a round of applause!

And let's give Star Lake a round of applause, because while they still have a lot that's very hard on the feet (what are those rocks anyway) they staff was awesome tonight, and they now allow some food and unsealed water to be brought in, which was news to me.

First set best of the week! At one point Page was simply glowing. Very nice Gumbo - YEM! Simply great! There was a great grove in the and great energy from the good folks in Section 2 Row P? LAST ROW of the section! I was pumped with the Second Set, however would have liked more out of the Mikes>>>>but it was still a great set and a VERY NICE Weekapaug!! Quote of the night was when Trey flubbed Lizards and I read his lips...."FUCK""""""""""" GREAT SHOW! Hope they bring it home before their break in Blossom Tonight!

Now that I am 12 years removed from walking away from the lower pavilion to head back to our camp completely melted, I thought I’d share what I think of this show.

It’s interesting to see how Phish has changed during this time, just as I have. This show is a reminder to anyone that you need to enjoy the moment for what it is. And let me tell you what it was…

Throughout this show, the playing is pretty tight from Trey. Set I was very well played, and I remember everyone (incl. myself) just jumping for joy when they started YEM.

Now onto set II, Gotta Jiboo was a nice way to start the set, Mikes was well played, Simple gets spacey, now let’s talk about the Light > Weekapaug. For me this is a reminder of how fast Trey use to be able to play, very little time wasted on fiddling effect pedals, the band is locked in. I think they took me to so many different place musically during those 2 songs that it’s hard to grasp that it’s only like a 23 min segment of a show. Just straight gas, no breaks, and this goes for the rest of the set.

The Lizards encore was just the cherry on the cake.

As I listen back to 2012 (did the whole PA>OH>Deer Creek>Alpine) although they didn’t throw that many 15+ and no 25+ min jam, Trey’s guitar playing was unreal. Very reminiscent of a “standard” 93 show, where although nothing breaks those 15 min marks, the amount of music they crammed is nothing but remarkable.

Did all three [RUST BLET TOUR] and this was by far the hottest show of the three !! Incase u are new to the scean that means [cinny >STAR LAKE>cleveland} AT cinny we saw some old tunes get brought out and a crazy FLUU encore.The mikes>simple>light >weekapaaug was tight !Again the vibe and the lot scean has GROWN UP !!Nice to see it's like 95 ,96 and 97 all over again !Please keep it up as the band does know this .They vibe off us and so forth so ,,,PHISH is way back and the KIDS on lot are keeping it Kind and DRAMA free !!Thank u and PHISH !!

DAMN. Best show of the first leg for me. Liked the groovy Funky Bitch opener, got the Backwards out of the way early. Gumbo is another really good groove and the crowd was eating it up, maze was a welcomed suprise early on, really brought the energy in the pavillion up. Torn and Frayed is a great song for them to cover and they have delivered some solid performances, this being one. Moma brought the funk to PA, and then the Mule began. Awesome Mule Deul with Page hopping on theremin and all the members having a good time. 46 Days is always solid. YEM! The first YEM in 12 shows and of the tour, people were raging the whole time and everyone knew the second set was gonna rage.

Jibbo was a good opener with Gordo on his old Fender bass. Then the fun really started with a raging Mike's song, into a good Simple. But then the came Light which had one of the better jams of the summer with Page really getting into it. The Groove started odd with Trey playing the opening licks, and after a brief little jam/segue the best 'Paug of the summer and possibly 3.0 began. 7 below was a good cooldown until its jam started up and had people grooving again. The Bouncing was brief and in my opinion unnecessary, take it out and you have a fire set. Julius brings the energy up again and Slave finishes it off. Everyone figured a Loving Cup or GTBT encore but we were all treated to Lizards, even though Trey flubbed the lyrics. It just made this version the much funnier.

A great show, top 3 for the first leg for sure.

looking for Jason from sec 1