, attached to 2012-02-09

Review by GhostDawg

GhostDawg Easily one of the best Phish-related nights I've been to. The way the setlist plays out, this little tour seems like a nice culmination of Trey's orchestral work from the past decade. And Don Hart's orchestrations work wonderfully -- they end up sounding a little like Phish conducted by Igor Stravinsky if Stravinsky had jumped out of a Disney movie and said, "Sure, I'll hop on Phish tour."

The first half flowed beautifully, with a nice mix of old school compositions like Divided Sky and Stash alongside the prettier numbers like Let Me Lie. Guyute Orchestral was stunning live, and it was nice to hear the early bits of My Friend My Friend melding with the ugly pig's theme. Divided Sky was everything I hoped it would be after hearing the Scorchio Quintet version.

Things got real in the second half. TTE is a completely different beast at the symphony, and I came away with a better appreciation for the work. Definitely meant to be a large-scale orchestral piece. I wasn't checking my watch or anything, but I feel like this was close to 30 minutes long. If I Could was achingly beautiful ... complete with a mid-song marriage proposal by someone in the middle of the crowd! She said yes, of course. The response from everyone else nearby was ecstatic, loud enough for Trey and the orchestra to look up and wonder what the hell was going on. But after the song the musicians figured it out, and Trey offered his congratulations, dedicating YEM as the couple's first "post-engagement/pre-wedding" song. Icing on the cake: nice little tease of the Bridal Chorus during the space section.

And then for an encore the second half of the Abbey Road suite and a perfect Inlaw Josey Wales. I'm extremely grateful to the ASO musicians for such fantastic support. Walked out a happy listener.


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