Phish Saratoga Performing Arts Center Setlist And The Skinny

FULL BREAK DOWN OF PHISH’S SECOND OF THREE SHOWS AT SPAC

[Photo via @Phish_FTR]

Tonight Phish returned to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, aka SPAC, in Saratoga Springs, NY for the second of three consecutive shows at the venue. This evening’s performance marked the band’s 13th at the shed since they made their SPAC debut opening for Santana on July 27, 1992.

The night began with “Crowd Control”, a track from Phish’s 2004 album Undermind that has remained a relative rarity but also a favorite show-opener for Phish, as it has served as the opener the last six times the song has been played. Up next was the first repeat of the tour, “Chalk Dust Torture,” which was also played at the tour opener in Bangor. “The Wedge”, the night’s first cover selection “Funky Bitch,” and “Heavy Things,” which did not feature Trey setting his one-note guitar loop per usual, continued the first set. Power-ballad “Bug” then made a rare first-set appearance, the first in almost 13 years (9/25/2000). After “Bouncing Around The Room”, a fast-paced “Tube” picked the tempo back up as the crowd cheers seemed to encourage the band to continue jamming the middle section just a little longer. A high-energy “Julius” brought the band to the 60-minute mark of the set before Fishman dropped the drumbeat to “Split Open and Melt.” The Split covered a lot of musical ground over the course of its 18+ minutes – with some serious highlights in the jam and a comical, somewhat struggling ending to the tune. As the band had a laugh, Page announced that they would be right back. . .

The second set began with another repeat song from the tour opener in Bangor, ME in “Backwards Down The Number Line.” After a standard reading, the band launched into “Tweezer.” Tweezer had been a hot- topic online earlier in the day as many people began to discuss the fact that in all of Phish’s 12 performances at SPAC, they had yet to play “Tweezer.” The first SPAC “Tweezer” was a brief one as Trey began the guitar riff to “Sand” just as the song hit the ten minute mark. Similarly, “Sand” did not have much time to develop, the song ended relatively quickly and Trey played the opening lick to “Carini.” A fantastic reading of “Carini” developed into the first-ever Phish performance of “Architect,” which appears on Trey’s 2012 studio album Traveler. The set came to its first full stop at the conclusion of “Architect” as they took a pause for a few seconds and the opening notes of “Wilson” rang out. This was the first performance of “Wilson” since Trey had lobbied for Seattle Seahawks fans to use it as intro music for Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. Stevie Wonder’s “Boogie on Reggae Woman” and “Possum,” two tunes in the band’s repertoire since 1987 and 1985, closed the set.

“Show Of Life” filled the encore slot, joining the previously played “Architect” as songs that Trey has written with Steve Pollak aka “The Dude of Life.” “Tweezer Reprise” closed it all out, Though “Tweezer” had never been played at SPAC before tonight, this marks the third “Reprise” played at the venue.

Click here to view the full breakdowns of every show Phish has played in 2013 including setlists, recaps and our statistical rundowns.

Setlist…

Here’s The Skinny from Phish’s second show of 2013 at SPAC…

Venue Capacity / Attendance / Type: 25,100 / 24,000 (estimate) / Outdoor Amphitheatre
Previous Shows at Venue: 12 Shows – 07/27/1992, 07/10/1994, 06/26/1995, 06/19/2004, 06/20/2004, 08/16/2009, 06/19/2010, 06/20/2010, 07/06/2012, 07/07/2012, 07/08/2012 and 7/5/2013
Number Of Songs / Length – First Set: 10 / 8:23 p.m. – 9:43 p.m. (80 minutes)
Number Of Songs / Length – Second Set & Encore: 10 / 10:13 p.m. – 11:31 p.m. (78 minutes) Forthcoming
Total Number of Songs / Covers / Originals: 20 / 2 / 18
Biggest Bustout: Split Open and Melt – 17 shows (LTP – 8/18/2012)
Average Song Vintage: 1995
Debuts: Architect
Weather: 82 degrees and party cloudy at ticket-time.
Average Song Gap: 5.16
The Spread: Lawn Boy – 2, A Picture of Nectar – 3, Rift – 1, Hoist – 1, Farmhouse – 3, Undermind – 1, Joy – 1, Misc – 6, Covers – 2
Longest LivePhish Track / Shortest LivePhish Track: Forthcoming
Audio: Live Phish