Leg Two All-Stars

8.29.2012 – Oklahoma City, OK (Ryan MacNeill)

During Leg Two, Phish stuck to a very tight second set rotation. When looking to compile a second leg All-Star team, a few songs—“Light,” “Chalk Dust,” and “Tweezer”—jumped right out. But the 4th and 5th spots on the first team (using the NBA model) weren’t shoo-in selections. After a bit of thought, however, here are my picks.

“Chalk Dust Torture” — Already discussed in an article last week, “Chalk Dust” leapt onto this squad with three outstanding versions in its last three outings of summer, including an all-timer in Colorado.  Bursting out of nowhere following two relatively standard versions, “Chalk Dust” broke form in Atlanta in a big way, going unfinished into “What’s the Use?.” The next two versions, in St. Louis and Colorado, went in totally different directions, culminating with Dick’s masterpiece.

“Tweezer” — Also seen in an article of its own, “Tweezer” not only made the all-star team, but also took home the comeback player of the tour. Going 4-for-4 on the tour, “Tweezer” rolled out only great jams this tour, a welcome change from recent runs. From the darkness of Bill Graham’s to the bliss of Kansas City and Charlotte, “Tweezer” covered a lot of territory over Leg Two, and it is great to see the old dog gain this honor in 2012.

“Light” — If Phish had only played the Dick’s “Light” this tour, the modern jam vehicle would have a legitimate place on this squad. But in addition to this version of instant legend, “Light” also produced the moment of the summer, and arguably, the tour’s second best jam in Bill Graham finale. The other two times out, in Atlanta and Oklahoma City, “Light” had its least potent outings of the entire summer, but with Dick’s and BGCA’s versions, “Light” has captured another first-team All-Star selection, and is in the conversation for MVP.

“Rock and Roll” — “Rock and Roll” got the Leg Two party started in the LBC with one of the jams of the tour—a 25 minute, multi-thematic leviathan that showed Bieber his maker. Phish followed up the tour-opening standout with one of their most coherent and transcendent jams of Leg Two in Oak Mountains second-set opener. “Rock and Roll” only came out one more time in Leg Two—an innocuous mid-second-set rendition in Oklahoma City. But in such short tour, two top shelf excursions equals an All-Star berth.

“Golden Age” — The fifth spot on this team could go to any one of three different songs. “Golden Age,” however, gets the nod on the strength of two great jams, in Atlanta and in Colorado. Atlanta’s version is one of the dark horses of Leg Two, and Dick’s versions has gone incredibly underrated due to the monstrosity of the “Light” that followed.

Honorable Mention: 

“Sand” — Despite Denver’s all-timer, Phish infused far less creativity in the three other versions of tour, falling back on Trey solos each time. Losing quite a bit of bite from Leg One, “Sand” still had what it takes to claim an easy second team berth.

“Ghost” — Long Beach saw, arguably, the “Ghost” of the year, and Dick’s version closed tour with a scorcher. But there was a lot of time in between.

“Piper” — Phish never truly let loose on a “Piper” during Leg Two, with its most pronounced version taking place in the tour closer. Another strong, but underdeveloped version came in Kansas City.

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AUBURN HILLS ’97 GIVEAWAY!

12-6-97 The Palace

Thanks to Phish’s home offices, I have five download codes for Phish’s brand new release of a legendary show—December 6, 1997, at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan. This is a top fiver for me, and one of the best shows of 1997. This show has been begging for Fred Kevorkian’s remaster treatment for quite some time, and I’d like to thank archivist, Kevin Shapiro, for finally gracing us with this treasured nugget of Phish history!

To win one of these five download codes (mp3 only, sorry), Tweet me (@mrminer) a one-Tweet description of the second-set opening sequence, “Tweezer > Izabella.” Please use the hashtag #palacegold. I will RT the six winners at 12 noon PST and Direct Message you your winning codes!

Thanks for playing!

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Jam of the Day:

Rock and Roll > Ghost” 8.15 II, LBC

The astronomic start to Leg Two in Southern California.

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/ph2012-08-15t12.mp3,http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/ph2012-08-15t13.mp3,http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/ph2012-08-15t14.mp3]

 

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811 Responses to “Leg Two All-Stars”

  1. sumodie Says:

    Thnx, gdad. Spoke to my dad earlier tonite, he sounded weak & spacey but glad to be home. Turns out he’s also got 4 cracked ribs, which doesn’t surprise me. Can’t stop replaying those fateful moments in my head, grrr. Life can sure change dramatically in just a few seconds.

    ***
    Anyone else’s home innudated with western conifer seed bugs? Every autumn they start creeping & crawling around the house. Supposedly harmless to the house but oh so annoying when they dive bomb you in bed

    zzz time…

  2. bobby weird Says:

    @sumo, so sorry u saw something so traumatic. fucking sucks bro. feel for u about that man.

  3. xpun Says:

    northern lights ipa….vodka…kickdown’d 12-6-97…and day off tomorrow

    lovin life

    close at 3pm tomorrow 14hrs away and this saga will be donzo but one final big twist tonight that still hasnt resolved….f this shit

  4. xpun Says:

    realized lovin life and f this contradict….. 3 straight 16 hrs days will do that…

    life is good, love all

  5. bobby weird Says:

    u don’t fool me w your code xp.

  6. purplehumpbackwhale Says:

    12/6/97 set 2 part 1

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9lRVcXoULU

    set 2 part 2

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zirHYoz9tw

    there was no way to password protect so for the sake of these being real sbds, keep it within the BB or close friends.

  7. viola Says:

    sickness!! thnx purp….. srsly thank you, great effort

    i’m doing it like poop tonight…. wax globe + torch toob

    holy shit trey dancing in twist to mike funkin it up, timeless.

  8. xpun Says:

    hell yeah phw.

    and reading back you guys are funny as hell

    and not to be political, but check this, love me some jon stewart

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/20/jon-stewart-fox-news-romney-47-percent-video_n_1899787.html

  9. xpun Says:

    “hey don’t bring anything to the table. makes no sense to me. even a small dog can at least deter a burglar.”

    you ever throw a cat at someone’s face poop? they are a great deterrent

    “dogs are all, oh no i have to be home to walk the dog and shit.”

    me: can you cover me on saturday?
    doggy bitch: i cant leave my dog crated all day
    me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byEGjLU2egA

  10. xpun Says:

    AW pimpin some waterwheel is shit i like

    and t3 with the transforming emoticon is a bit too much for me right now

  11. xpun Says:

    and maybe its been covered

    but fuck a simultaneous catch. not the case at all. GB had the ball but mofo should have fn slapped it down to incomplete.

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