Just got back to the hotel. Needless to say Phish 2012 is firing on the cylinders. The feeling I got from Tweezer > Tela and then Mike's McGrupp Train and Bike Groove is why I traveled through three hours of hellish rain also known as Tropical Storm Debby in northern Florida. The band, the crowd, the vibe at shows this year is something even the most jaded vets sitting on the sidelines need to experience again!

Phish is playing like it's the end of the world, and I for one am enjoying every minute of it.

After skipping the creek in 2011, it was generally assumed phish would destroy deer creek in 2012. A hot Cincy>star lake>Blossum stretch managed to knock anticipation up another peg. Well, there's only one cure for the heat...

Set 1:
Bird watcher: I don't think anyone called this one. The accapella tune gave the deer creek shed that hanging out with phish on the back porch feel. They manage to do that here.

Curtain with: perfect electric opener. This rather lengthy and complicated tune was performed flawlessly. Treys lead cut straight through the muggy Indiana air...

Fuck your face: slamming out of curtain with with this rare gem got the crowd immediately revved. A change or two was missed but it did not diminish the overall effect. Great placement.

Old home place: great version of a snappy bluegrass song that seems to be rare everywhere but deer creek

Pebbles and marbles: another rarer score... Noticing a pattern? Once again, very well played. Treys solo soars right out of the gate into a blistering type one explosion.

Weigh: perfect choice! Good light hearted fun after a rather intensely played p&m's.

Cdt: this one picks the crowd up for the home stretch. It doesn't get as deconstructed as some, but still a nice version.

Wolfmans: hot on the heels of cdt, this page driven version doesn't particularly aspire for the big climax that most get to anymore. Instead, it finds a nice hot summer groove wih enough room for everybody to contribute. Like I said though, page really sits on this groove and owns it.

Cool it down: this seemed to be the bust out everyone wanted and phish delivers. My favorite tune off loaded. Good version.

Tweezer!: I just saw one the set before at Blossum, but hey, bring it on! Unlike Blossum's fun but somewhat goofy version, trey is all business here. He starts out with a very focused melodic lead that everyone else rides to the top. In rare fashion, this one actually comes back into the "traditional" tweezer ending. Good version. Great for a 1st setter.

Tela: if cool it down didn't get you "cooled down," this one sure did. Excellent placement. Can you misplace tela?

Faulty plan: between the heat and that first set, I think everyone had a blank space. Solid set closing version.

Overall: a very cohesive first set with very inspired playing. Outside of a bit of slop on fuck your face(which isn't a horrible song to have some slop) and a lyric miscue on wolfmans by trey the boys were honed in early.

Set 2
Mikes song: this one was blasting right out of he gates. Trey took his typically menacing lead while page had some very dark fills. Good version for 3.0. I would have liked a slower descent but the transition to mcgrupp still felt nice and natural.

Mcgrupp: this one may be my highlight. This fit the mikes song like a glove. Page weaves seemlessly through this one. Fish holds it down well too. As the best mcgrupp's do, this one felt like a real whirlwind by the end.

bott: trey leaves mcgrupp in a wash of feedback and delay loops. From there he lands perfectly into bott. Once the groove is established, he opens things up with a fairly raunchy lead before getting to the vocals. As the jam opens up, there's is some extremely playful interplay between all 4 members. They keep this nice groove going for a few minutes, slowly augmenting it. Then we find our selves in a bit of deep funk space land. Eventually, Gordon leads the charge into...

Hyhu/bike/Hyhu: Gordon throws in some nice psycho killer teases, which work well against Hyhu. Standard/fun fish action...

Weekapaugh: trey does a nice job directing Hyhu into weekapaugh, leaving fishman an opening. He grabs treys guitar and begins to solo away on weekapaugh. Just imagine one of fishmans rock a williams solos set to the back drop of weekapaugh. Not the most musical thing but fun none here less. Trey stays on the drums for a bit with fish allowing Gordon and page to get their groove on. Finally, trey comes back home and hammers down a pretty solid solo.

Caspian: not my favorite song but the middle section dissolves nicely into waves

Waves: trey leads the charge on this jam initially before giving way to page. Page dances through this one nicely driving up the waves theme. When trey comes back, the jam takes a momentary dive towards spacier realms, but trey comes back with a mix of funky and dissident rhythm playing. Once he settles on funky, page reasserts himself. Finally, trey fades back and allows gordon to lead the charge. He goes forth with a thick and forceful bass line that quickly allows trey and page a place to call home. Fishman has some wonderfully loose playing in this one. Moving precisely but without any desire for a clear climax the boys move smoothly into bug.

Bug: like caspian, not one of my favorites. Actually a solid version that fits this set well. Good trey solo. Works nicely into...

Bowie: this is a nice sharp set closing Bowie. It's not overly ambitious but it also gets the job done. Trey and page move nicely around each other building to the obligatory balls to the wall coda.

enc
Show of life>tweeprise: it is what it is

This show competes with the 3rd night of sb9 for best show I've seen since the return. The song selection was superb. The playing was both creative and precise. Both sets had a very coherent feel to them. Good to be back at the creek!

Highlights:
Set 1: curtain w/>fuck your face, pebbles, cool it down, tweezer>tela
Set 2: mikes groove, waves

I was in the PIT for this perphormance which provided me that multisensory mind melt as if I wasn't hot enough. Weather never seems to phase these now approaching 50 year old legends - heros from the East! THE CURTAIN WITH was stunning. Pebbles & Marlbles was good - LOVE that song. TWEEZER and Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan knocked me wacky wailing arms spinning by the garbage can now uncontained out of the PIT. YES YES YES - as mentioned by someone else here, the MCGRUPP has a unique ending five minutes to it - what a treat what a Deercreek treat. Hearing Jon Fishman solo on Trey's guitar out of key during Weekapaug had me laughing sweat balls slamming Heinikin. Highlight of the night for me was WAVES and all the WAVES during WAVES tsunami style that brought back the mind melt as I tendered to my brother passed out on the lawn - he's 50 as well and still rockin it for PHISH. We love you PHISH> Thank you for Cooling It Down! You are the highlight of many man many man summers past and future.

IMO Setlist should note "Waves was unfinished". They never returned to the song after the main solo section. And what an outstanding Waves it was! Complete with "Echoes"-like seagull calls and spaceship-launching synth-bass bombs. Waves>Bug is just tremendous.

Phish has focus and precision beyond what I've heard at any point this era. Beyond that though, they have a JOY that I haven't heard in even longer. This show is a perfect example of all of that. Give it a spin. Soon.

Fucking incredible show. By far my favorite 1st set of the year. The jams out of bott n waves were incredible. I'd like to add that waves was not finished. Or am I wrong?

It's always a good show when McGrupp joins you.

This is an amazing show. One quick glance at the set-list shows that this one will pad out your Phish stats. Way Cool.

But, the more amazing aspect is, it realty, really works. Not just, wow, I added a Fuck Your Face, Tela, Old Home Place and a HYHU>Bike>HYHU to my stats, This is a sublime, unique and extraordinary show. Nothing like it has existed in Phish 3.0

Best of 3.0? I don't know, there are some great 2011 shows.
Unique in 3.0: Definitely.
Worth Downloading: Absolutely.

I'm happy to give this one 5 stars.

I'll say this:
AWESOME feeds on hoodstream for this really cool show.....hope it continues!
#CouchTour2012

Good Lord I just have to comment on this show...hot as all get out...literally and figuratively...The Curtain and Pebbles and Weigh got the first set for me...the Mike's>McGrupp>BOTT is fully jammed out...I mean really jammed out......hijinks abound and then Waves crashes over me like a tide...so precise...the Bug is way better than average and then the Bowie...locked in and a few extra riffs thrown in from Trey...yes...peace my friends...

Attended this show with my friend, Patrick, an Indianapolis native who took me to my first show at Deer Creek in '09. He picked up on something in the Fishman vacuum solo that haven't seen mentioned before. After the show he tells me Fishman's vacuum playing sounded just like an Indy car racing, going in for a pit stop, and then taking off again.

I didn't believe him at first, but during my third or fourth listen it became plain-as-day. Starts at the 4:21 mark into Bike on the SBD and lasts for about a minute.

Fitting ode to the home of the Indianapolis 500. Genius!

After such a solid summer of shows, I decided to review this one out of the 23 I was fortunate enough to catch. This show gave me my long chased Pebbles and Marbles and was just a truly special night, even with the scorching temperature on that night! Well the boys came out as usual, with Trey sporting a Flyers shirt rather than one of his usual flannel shirts that he's been wearing the last few years. That was the first sign to me that this was going to be a special show, and when the guys walked up to the microphone set up they have to go acapella, I knew it was on.

Birdwatcher was a good, oddball opener that just kind of worked. I had no idea what it was at the time but was definitely enjoying it. The Curtain with to follow was a real treat, and definitely one of the most solid versions I can ever recall hearing... up there with the version from Camden last year. Solid start, to only be followed by Fuck Your Face! Nice, high energy start to the show. Followed by The Old Home Place!? Whatttt? When's the last time they even played that before this show? 09 i think.... but anyway what a treat. After OHP, the boys were talking and then I heard Trey tuning(?) his guitar and I just knew it. I said it immediately to my friends, "PEBBLES!" Then before I knew it, the glorious and beautiful intro to Pebbles and Marbles rang out onto the lawn from the speakers at Deer Creek. That was followed by the group of 15 or so friends I was with on the lawn running up me and giving me a hug. I was filled with joy, never thinking I would actually see the song. I have been dying to see this song since I got into the Phish, it was prime hooking material for me as it was on the IT DVD that my friend's older brother had. Anyway, it wasn't the most perfectly played version (I actually really prefer the version from Great Woods last year... just something about the way Page and Mike are on in that version that truly is something else) it still sufficed. Pure euphoria. After P&M was wrapped up, the boys bust into Weigh. I was verrrrry pleased to hear this, especially since it was my first because I missed UIC 1 and 3 last year Awesome Weigh on a very sunny day, to be followed by Chalk Dust. First "standard" song of the night was played pretty decently.... nothing that touches any of the versions played on Leg 2 after Charlotte though. Chalk Dust was followed by Wolfman's, and I remember that this version of Wolfman's was nice and smooth, nothing too crazy on this hot summer night. Just enoough to keep us all movin. Wolfman's broke into Cool It Down, the first of several VU covers that was played during this Deer Creek>Alpine run. This was a nice suprise, especially as I never actually heard this song before. I enjoyed it alot. Good solid playing by everyone in the band, and then before we knew it we > were in the funkland of Tweezer. After the song is over and the jam begins, Trey tears into some serious licks that really set this Tweezer jam above the Tweezer jam with all the antics from the previous show at Blossom. Trey just meant business from the get-go in this one, and the boys took it for a nice but short ride and then the old school ending a-kin to the album Picture of Nectar. Tela's up next and continued with the theme of the set, awesome songs. It was a great GREAT treat to finally get, been chasin this one for a while. The only Tela of the summer lead into the set closing STFTFP. Standardly awesome Faulty Plan that wrapped up the set. Great first set overall, and set the bar pretty high for the 2nd set.

House lights go down and we're off and into Mike's Song. This was a more or less standard version of Mike's, which means it was awesome and Trey threw it down. The > into McGrupp was extremely unexpected and well received. This is an awesome McGrupp, flawlessly played to this listener's ears and it featured quite a bit of extra mustard tonight. McGrupp actually > into BOTT. BOTT featured a mini-extended jam that lasted for 5 or so minutes, wrapping up around the 10 minute mark and actually featured a decently heavy Psycho Killer tease. I thought for a minute they were actually gonna go into it... but we had to wait to SPAC for that bad boy to be busted out BOTT -> into HYHU was funny, and that led to the first Bike in a while. After they wrapped up the HYHU segment, they lead into a Weekapaug. But this Weekapaug features Trey on drums and Fish on Guitar for the beginning!! Very cool and unique, but not ultimately pleasant to the ears ; ) lol but who cares when we're all having so much fun and laughing. Weekapaug was short and lead to an even shorter Prine Caspian, no complaints from this guy! Maybe could've jammed Weekapaug and went straight into Waves, but whatever. This Waves is the improvisational highlight of this set, IMHO. It's only a little over 12 minutes or so, but it's beauty. A very beautiful Waves leads into -> Bug. Bug was standard, featuring solid playing from all. Bug went into > a very solid David Bowie. This Bowie was very sharp and to the point, the band was firing on all cylinders. It was a great and high energy Bowie to end the set. The Show Of Life>Tweeprise encorce isn't too much, but it's just the cherry on the top to a great show.

This is one of my favorites the boys played all year IMHO. It's just a great, well played and clean Phish show. Great song selection and flow in the first set. A couple good jams in the second frame. I give this show a good solid 4/5.

*SOF = SOL !!

This show had two well-crafted sets and many fun surprises. Instead of the heat conjuring song list we expected (SOAMelt, Fire, Steam, etc.), the band decided it was best to distract our minds from the exhausting weather with a flurry of songs not seen since 2011 (or earlier).

S1:
Birdwatcher – The acapella opener was surprising but welcomed. It seemed to create an immediate bubble around the venue and provided an intimate, charming introduction to the night. “It's just a hot flash or else those fire breathing lessons.”

The Curtain With - It's always a pleasure to get this tune. The rush of upbeat optimism in the opening riff washed over me and eased any of the remaining tension generated by the gruelingly hot day and long drive.

Fuck Your Face - A perfectly placed FYF after the sensitive ending of the song prior. I love any song where Mike gets to tell a story..."Hi. I'm Bill."

Old Home Place - I remember seeing a sign for this at Blossom (maybe it was Burgettstown), so I knew there was a strong possibility that we would hear it at one of the following shows. True to what we've been told, they see the signs! A very nice rendition of an old favorite -- a rarity that reappeared almost 9 years to the day it was played at DC in '03.

Pebbles and Marbles – I like this song a lot. This version was just “OK”, but I hope it stays in rotation, and I hope to see it explored in the second set one of these days. "She started a blaze from one tiny spark..."

Weigh - It was obvious from the beginning that they were trying to take it easy on us, knowing the heat exhaustive state we were in, haha. This song choice allowed us to groove without too much exertion and, of course, provided smiles for miles at the thought of a “…swimming pooooool…”

Chalk Dust Torture - the second of only two “fast-paced” songs (the other being Old Home Place), it didn't quite end on that 'note' but good energy nonetheless.

Wolfman's Brother – Ah, back to the grinding groove. A lyric flub induced a little laughter from band, and a hearty cheer of acknowledgement from the crowd. The outro gave everyone on stage a chance to flex.

Near the end of the first set, we got a string of tunes reminding us that relief was just a sunset (or mindset) away: Cool It Down, Tweezer, Tela ("the wind from beyond the mountains"), and STFTFP (mmmmm..."cold green tea").

S2:
The Mike's > McGrupp > BOTT was a beautiful beginning to the second set. The unconventional, extended breakdown in McGrupp left many with tilted heads, mouths agape with curiosity. Trey and Mike easily picked up the quirky lines set down by Page during his solo -- starting with Mike around 5:25 and followed by Trey around 5:45 -- until a new tapestry was woven. It was beautiful interplay by all four members...and I just melt when trey turns on that pitch shifting, perception bending thingamajig at 7:07ish. It peaks with unexpected oddity around the 7:45 mark.

BOTT oozed from the aftermath, dispensing an easy going bounce to the atmosphere, with some added delay loop and laser action from Trey. The jam was turned up a notch by Page around the 4min mark, and then tilted on its axis by Trey around 4:30 before finally reaching orbit around 6:40. Things tapered off around 7:45 with cascading loops and gentle play by all 4 members (a blissful massage of binaural tones). Now they were in our heads. Now they could fuck with our minds! BOTT ended with a familiar pulse, but instead of Psycho Killer, they stumbled right into HYHU!

What's a variety show w/o comedy? Fishman walked quickly to the mic. "What am I doing here?" he asked. "If you think you're the only one asking that question, you're wrong" he answered. The stage banter before "Bike" was great. During Weekapaug, watching Fishman lay down awful licks (with earnest) on the ocedoc caused me to double over with laughter.

Prince Caspian > Waves > Bug seemed to pick up where BOTT left off. As mentioned by others, Waves was unfinished – they did not return to the 3rd/4th verses. I could hear Page and Fish trying to get back, but the ardent licks and runs by Trey and Mike swept away that intent. Page jumps on the Rhodes around the 7min mark and soon we were drifting back into deep space, riding the edge of a yawning black hole as it burps out deep vibrations (via Mike’s midi bass pedal). Or, maybe some of us were drifting in a submarine near the ocean’s floor observing another uncharted frontier. Either way, the loops turned this one into more brainwave entertainment. The “> Bug” fit hand in glove bringing its usual existential serenity, with a slight nod to our current mindset (“Cold in my hand, in a country pool…”).

All night long, we’d been bombarded with subliminal messages to focus our minds on wind, freezers, water, and just being ‘cool’. Who’s cooler than David Bowie, haha? It was a great way to end a fantastic set. SOF > Tweeprise for the encore/recharge, and we were ready for night 2!

I'm sitting here in our hotel room keeping cool with the AC blasting, resting up before what looks to be another scorcher in Deer Creek, and no, I'm not just talking about the weather: Phish is on fire right now, make no bones about it.

Last night was my first show this year, and boy was I lucky to hop on the tour when I did. As the offcial Phish.net review noted, there really was something for everything last night: bust outs, patient and textured jamming, classic Phishy antics, two trips to Gamehendge, grooving crowd pleasers, and yet even more bust outs.

Many legendary Phish shows have been crafted at the hands of intense weather: think of wild thunderstorms and snow dumping blizzards, but the other natural phenomenon that people tend to forget about from time to time is the heat -- unless of course, you were at Oswego. And while the setlist might not have been temperature focused for the majority of the evening, the ready to rage sweat-drenched Deer Creek crowd took care of the rest.

I'm sure by now you've heard plenty about the record heats all across the midwest (it's 110 today in Indianapolis). I can't comment on the lot scene since I pulled up to the venue right as the show started, but I think it's safe to say that most of the showgoers took it easy yesterday afternoon. Instead of partying in the lots, most people heeded the severe weather advisories and stayed out of the oppressive sun until showtime. But make no mistake, once the fans got into the venue, it was time to throw down.

And after an uncharacteristic 2 year break from the cornfields, the band were happy to oblige us. They came to play. If it wasn't apparent after an unusual acapella opener The Birdwatcher or the precise rendition and soaring jam in the Curtain With, the first Fuck Your Face since last June certainly put everyone on notice. Not only was the band crafting a solid setlist with 8 tour debuts crammed into the first set, but they also seemed locked in from the first note.

Yet there were no references whatsoever to the record heat -- until after a solid rendition of a mid-set Wolfman's, Trey walked over to Mike and Fish and started visibly singing/reminding them how a certain song went. A bustout was clearly at hand...unless Trey was reminding Fishman the opening to Moma Dance after last week's misstep. Sure enough, Trey's play calling did not disappoint for once and we were treated to my first Cool It Down since Burgettstown 2003 (another bustout laden show). While the song was clearly not rehearsed as well as it could have been, the intent was there and you could tell the band was enjoying themselves. And after this laid back segment, the band brought the tempo right back up and tried to cool us down another way: with a trip into the freezer. With the first real jamming of the night, this solid rendition of Tweezer got everyone grooving in stark contrast to last weekends' antics filled version. The band meant business, with nary a wasted note in this version which seemed almost ready for liftoff into the muggy stratosphere, when they reeled it back in for the classic old school slowed down ending.

Next they dusted off Tela, one of the handful of songs I had really been hoping for during this 3 day mini-run of mine. Many in our section used this as a place to catch a breather after the previous 12 minutes of madness, but Tela is such a rare treat that I could easily wait til setbreak. A concise and rocking Stealing Time closed out the set, and left us all in a soaked daze, not quite sure if we had really witnessed what had just happened. Setbreak was spent resting our legs, grabbing a bite to eat, and calling songs for the 2nd set, but I'm not sure any of us would ever have predicted what was about to happen.

The second set started off innocently enough with Mike's Song, but this Mike's Groove was anything but typical. After a standard 3.0 compact Mike's the band landed in the opening notes of the first McGrupp of 2012, and BAM! we were back in Gamehendge. While these eyes have only witnessed a few versions of the song, I can say without question that this was one of the better versions, with only a few bum notes in the composed section, and a nice extended solo from Trey at the end. Back on the Train followed, which surprisingly this took the prize for spaciest jam of the night. They quickly descended into the type II ambient realm, and my buddies and I heard tastes of No Quarter and Psycho Killer emerge from the ether, but they opted for Hold Your head up instead.

Despite asking aloud what the hell he was doing up there, Fishman was in good spirits and treated the adoring masses to a seemingly lyric flub free version of Bike. After the vacuum antics, Fish ran a few laps around the stage before tucking his dress into his briefs, and when he was about to assume his place back at the drum kit, trey started drumming the Weekapaug intro and Mike soon follow suit. With nowhere else to go, Fishman walked over to Trey's guitar and strapped it on. While Fishman isn't the most gifted guitar player, this was a fun sight to see. Luckily, Trey & Fish switched back places between verses so we got a healthy taste of Trey's machine-gun licks and more sweat inducing groove.

An unfinished Caspian gave everyone a much needed breather, before the last clear highlight of the night: the first emergence of Waves since the famed UIC "Element's set". After the jam, they drifted back into more ambient soundscapes. Trey applied tastefully small doses of the whale call, while Mike dropped a series of laser precision bombs. Standard versions of Bug and Bowie closed out the end of the set, but there was nary a complaint to be heard. Show of Life was a predictably tame encore call, but Tweeprise more than made up for it. The post show scene seemed a bit subdued, which was to be understood after one of the hottest days on record, but everyone was still amped on such a blistering two sets. Phish is on a roll over these last 5-6 shows, and with 8 more over the next 10 day, they will only be gaining momentum. See a show by any means necessary before leg 1 ends if you can; they are currently playing the stuff of dreams.

This was my 6th Phish show, and it was probably the best one I've seen yet (Alpharetta 7/4/10 and Blossom 6/4/11 being the other competitors). It was super nice to see so many songs come out for the first time this tour at this show.

The first set had an excellent balance of songs, and, for the most part, they were all executed well. Wolfman's is the noticeable exception; Trey missed the telephone guitar riff and the vocals to that line, but in my opinion he made up for it when they got to the jam. It had a nice, funky groove, and I really enjoyed the final two-thirds of the song. The highlights from this first set were The Curtain With and Pebbles and Marbles.

This second set was, in one word, awesome. You can't say enough good things about the execution and jamming in McGrupp, BOTT, and the Waves > Bug > Bowie section. The antics, instrument switching, and vacuum solo during the HYHU, Bike > HYHU > 'Paug section was very enjoyable.

To sum up, download this one now. You won't regret it.

This show was amazing and so much fun!! I had VIP pavilion seats for this show. The first time being in pavilion ever in Deer Creek since first going there in 03. What can I say, Im a Lawn Boy! Anyways, my view of the band was the best I ever had at any show and it just enhanced the experience so much. The Curtain With is an awesome version and a great way to kick off the show right after a fun Birdwatcher. It seems when they play The Curtain With early in a show you are gonna get more bustouts and more rarely played song selection by evidence in this show of TOHP, Weigh, Cool it Down, Tela, Mcgrupp, and of course Fuck Your Face. Talk about padding your phish stats! Im sure they busted out Cool it Down to give the audience a chance to actually cool down in the 100 degree heat of that day and the heat of that first set. The whole Mikes Groove is the main highlight of this shoe IMO. I think the boys were not on the same page tho on the 2nd half of BOTT so they kinda just led it into HYHU cause they didnt know where to go with it but Im not complaining. Fish, "What am I doing here? If you think you're the only one asking that question you're wrong." We got a tuck from Fish as well. Hilarious. I"ve read some reviews saying that Fish "ruined another Weekapaug by trying to play the guitar." That is an absurd statement. First of all it was awesome and funny. 2nd, When has Fish ever ruined a Weekapug. Third, the reason Fish even picked up the guitar was cause trey wouldn't get off the drums. I thought it was all great. You could tell how much fun they were really having and the best shows always comes when the band is having fun. I get flak from other phans when I tell them thatI dont really care for Waves all that much in general, but thats the incredible thing about Phish, they can make you love a version of a song you dont normally like which is the case here. awesome jam on Waves that > into Bug which is a song I love at all times. Then a Bowie to close it out. THANK YOU! I gave this show 5 stars but musically its probably 4 stars but it was so fun I had to bump it up another star. Either way its a must listen. So is the 2nd night BTW

This was mine and a couple of my close frist Phish show! It was a long time coming, and we finally did the full deer creek/alpine run! Epic way to start one of the best weekends of my life! The Curtain With was my personal highlight of the show.

The Birdwatcher was a very odd choice for an opener (I didn't know the song and kept wondering when it was going to end). Other than that, set 1 had a great song selection, though there were no outstanding moments in particular - set 2 is where it's at. McGrupp sported an excellent jam. Bike was wonderfully sloppy. And, while the Trey/Fishman percussion combo at the beginning of Weekapaug was VERY cool, the Waves jam and its smooth-as-butter segue into Bug might have been the highpoint of the show.

Wow!!! I left this show on such a high. Thank you boys for one hell of a heater. Lets get into it...
After listening to all the shows of the first leg up to this point on couch tour, I had a lot of high hopes going into this show and I was not dissapointed. The band has been playing on such a high level and having such a good time while doing it and that was only solidified in this show.

Right out of the gates you could feel something special when they all came out a capella and hit The Birdwatcher perfectly. I guess you could say that was the calm before the storm. Once the first notes hit for The Curtain With I looked over at my buddy and gave him the nod and started running in place. There was a lot of us before the show looking for this one during the run. And we got it right out of the gates. Little did we know we were going to get a 14 minute mammoth. For the first 7 minutes we were in an all out battle with heat literally and musically. Then those soft notes that Trey hits to segway into the second 7 minutes that really hit me hard. I panned across the whole venue and really started to take it all in. We made it. We were here. Phish 2012 was about to begin. The remainder of the set was just peppered with one highlight after the next. Pebbles and Marbles is not usually a song that I write home about but this one gave new meaning to this song for me. Seeing it form itself into a jam vehicle this year just proves even further that the band is taking more chances with different songs as jam vehicles than in other 3.0 years. Pebbles had parts that reminded me of DWD Clarkston which was a highlight for me in '11. The jam just kept climbing and lifted me to the clouds. Landing itself in the beginning of the highlight of the first set...Pebbles, weigh, chalkdust, wolfman's....it set the tone for just a all out barrage of sick Trey licks and bass bombs from Mike throughout The Chalkdust and Wolfman's combo. I've probably listened to this segment a good 5 or 6 times since the show. Once Wolfman's ended we were all drenched in sweat. The heat was at about 110 degrees and the band was only contributing to that. Cool It Down was placed perfectly to let us take a breath and then get right back into a quality Tweezer that only assured me that this was one of the best first sets of the first leg. Too many heavy hitters and down right spot on JAMMING to disagree. Tela and Stealing time rounded out the first set and were both above average versions. Damn...I needed a shower and about a gallon of water at this point. Little did I know what to expect going into the second set...

Lights...

Mike's started and the journey began. Clocking in at about 9 min this Mike's had all the crunchiness we expect and could be a highlight in any other show but what would then follow is what we all went home writing about. The band did not break once throughout the whole second set and we got down and dirty jams with Mike's and McGrupp and BOTT to funky Fishman antics with HYHU->Bike->HYHU->Weekapaug to out of this world spacey melodies with Caspian->Waves->Bug and we were all chewed up and spit out with the Bowie set closer. If you ever want to go on a intergalactic space ride into another dimension then take a listen to Waves. This song has now emerged into my Phish top 10. This version or UIC '11 are two that will forever remain in my Phish lore.

The encore of Show of Life and Tweezer Reprise let me come back down to earth and gather my thoughts sort of. There was so much running through my mind and soul after this one. I gave everyone in our large crew big hugs and high fives. The look on everyones faces affirmed that we got a good one on this scorcher at the Creek.

Of the 4 night Creek->Alpine run I put this show and Sat. Alpine up there as 2 of the better shows of the first leg. Something about this night though I have a feeling will stand out for me for so many reasons.

All I can say is THANK YOU PHISH! I needed this night more than you know.

I'll let you all know how I feel about the other shows of this 4 night run in other reviews.

I'll see you all in San Fran and Denver!!!

My first show, and a good one at that. I'll try my best to remain impartial.

Set 1:

Birdwatcher: Cool tune that I'd never heard. Boys sang it well. Nice way to kick it off.

Curtain With: I had been really hoping to hear this, so to get it as an opener was extra special. If I've ever come close to shedding a tear at a concert, it was here.

Fuck Your Face: Crowd loved it, nice way to take a break while also keeping the energy up.

Old Home Place: Not a bad haul of tunes for my first show! I won't lie, despite hearing this song 50+ times by various bands, I thought it was Ginseng until the chorus. Don't know why.

Pebbles and Marbles: Recognized after a few minutes. Solid playing in here, and I really like the song. Lot of energy when they came back into the lyrics.

Weigh: Not my favorite, but it was fun and the crowd liked it.

Chalkdust: No we're talkin! Everyone was dancing and grooving. Not too much shredding but it kept the energy high

Wolfman's: This on the other hand brought it! Page on the clav as usual for the jam was funky and then Trey just starts going off until they reached a huge peak

Cool it Down: Didn't know it until I heard them say "Cool it Down" but it was a nice, catchy tune after that Wolfman's

Tweezer: There we go! Maybe it was because I was 15 feet from Fishman but he was going to town on the drums. A nice little jam and a cool ending

Tela: A nice bustout

Stealing Time: A good high energy closer. My friend loved it (his first show too, but with much less listening time). Didn't get out there but a good way to close the set as the sun went down.

Set 2:

Mike's: Great opener! Didn't break any 3.0 barriers but boy did they rage it! And those lights!

McGrupp: Took me a bit to remember what this was. Cool plinko jam. Like how they're taking tunes like this and giving them the jam treatment

Back on the Train: Interesting placement. Jam got way out there. A few minutes of wondering where it would go and then....

Hold Your Head Up: I went crazy when I heard that opening groove. Gotta love Fishman antics!

Bike: Fishman was hilarious as always

HYHU: Typical running around the stage, then the tucking came back

Weekapaug: Holy shit he's playing Trey's guitar! Now a dual drum segment! It's funny, at setbreak I told my friend he never really does drum solos. So that was an interesting way to prove me wrong.

Caspian: Nice breather, a little better than most boring 3.0 Caspians (still like the song myself)

Waves: Made up for me missing UIC last year. What a jam! When Mike hit that foot pedal, oh boy!

Bug: Had heard it but couldn't figure out what it was. Crowd loved it, don't why alot of .net doesn't like it

Bowie: Oh shit Bowie! Nothing crazy, but this song capping off the run starting with Waves I will never forget as long as I live. Succinct version but Trey raging at the end never gets old.

Encore:

Show of Life: I can dig it. Plus we all know what's next

Tweeprise: They raged this one. Mike dropped some bombs during the intro and as they tend to do with Tweeprise they brought the house down with the energy

Epic show!!! SO much fun for phans and the band. good times at the creek. both night were equally awesome! I preferred night one for fun and night 2 as probably a more intense show!

The heat outside my vehicle on the way over to Indianapolis read 107. When I got to the lot (around 4), I had no idea it was gonna be this hot. I stayed near my vehicle for about 2 and a half hours before going inside. I drank plenty of things out in the lot, but not until late in the second set did I drink any thing else. I kinda regret that now, but anyway, the show started out a way I've never seen before, Phish walking out to the edge of the stage and singing The Birdwatcher. This would make for a very unique night. The next song I haven't heard since the my first show back in 1995, The Curtain With. It was as good as the first time I heard it. Then came a song I've never heard before fuck Your Face. Then came The Old Home Place. A good tune which I've always liked. I thought things would pick up from here, but they really didn't. Pebbles and Marbles followed Weigh. The tunes are decent enough, but not what I expected at this point. Then came Chalkdust Torture which kinda picked the crowd up followed by a great Wolfman's Brother. This is a song I have to be in the mood for, and of all things, I was. It really picked me up. Then came Cool It Down followed by one of the groups better songs, Tweezer. That got the crowd going again. Then came Tela followed by the closing song of the first set, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan. A decent ending but kinda surprised at this. Maybe I thought they'd end it with a different song, who knows. The second set started off with another tune I love, Mike's Song. It really never lived up to other ones I've heard the group either start the first or second set with. Maybe I was expecting more out of it. Then came McGrupp. You either like it or you don't. This is a song that doesn't do much for me. Maybe it's just me cause a lot of people really got into it. I think I've seen them do it one other time. Back on the Train was next which I hadn't heard in a while. Good timing. I enjoyed it quite a bit. The next few songs were let downs again for me. Hold Your Head up and Bike finishing back up with Hold Your Head up. At this point, the heat had gotten to me, so I went up on the lawn to get some air. Then came Weekapaug Groove which I love. They really never got to jam this tune out, in fact it kinda died out going into Prince Caspian followed by Waves. They then did Bug which I really like. Strange song but very interesting to say the least. The closed the set with Bowie which I saw them do the week before in Cincinnati. It's another one of my favorite tunes by Phish. I enjoyed it. The encore consisted of two tunes, Show of Life and Tweezer Reprise. A good ending to a very hot day and night. I hope to hell I never have to see Phish perform in these hot conditions again. It was a bit much for me and I hope that next summer, they play Deer Creek either earlier or later than they did this year. You never know what kind of weather your gonna get in Indiana this time of year. A September show over there would be a nice change of pace!