Considered within the context of a Fall '09 tour that has so far been largely underwhelming compared to the late Summer '09 fireworks, the Wachovia Center run feels a little like a practical joke.
Night 1 had a totally flat first set, and some uninspired jamming in the second set flagship "Disease," but teased real brilliance at the end with an unreal "Simple" > "Slave" > "Weekapaug" segment.
Night 2 starts off strong, dashes hopes with weird setlist choices, then comes back in the second set, starts strong and...dashes hopes with weird setlist choices.
There's still a slight upward curve to the quality of these fall shows in general, but it's frustrating because the peaks are (so far) few and far between. And it's not for lack of playing ability or energy, because when the band actually makes contact, they hit it out of the park, as with the last quarter of 11/24 or 11/20's second set. But everything else is just sort of...bleh. Maybe it's just that I've been listening to 2013 shows too much lately and the lack of consistency in '09 stands out more than usual in comparison. Anyway, 11/25.
The "KDF" and "46 Days" pairing that starts this show is absolute fire. Trey is firing off melodic rock leads like it's the mid-90s, and a good time is had by all. It feels like the momentum from the end of the previous night has carried over totally unabated. Then "Sugar Shack" derails the guitar pyrotechnics. Now, I love this song, actually. But Trey just cannot seem to play it, and struggling through it seems to shut him down until "Antelope." The rest of the first set, honestly, is forgettable. There's a tight version of "Divided Sky" (segued into incredibly suddenly out of a promising "Halley's" jam), and "Sleep Again" as a rare Phish performance, featuring a pretty little piano jam from Page, but that's about it. "Antelope," featuring Trey goofing around with the intro riff and then annihilating the song's peak, brings the damn house down, but everything between that and "46 Days" sounds like a different band.
The guys come back strong with a spacey "Birds" jam that features some interesting guitar-looping action and staccato chording over a burbling, murky soundscape instead of the typical funk jam. This was an absolute surprise, and easily one of my favorite jams since the Gorge run, if not my top choice. "Farmhouse" is surprisingly shreddy, and then Trey (because this is a Trey show, despite Mike's usual bass heroics) rips into "Tweezer" with a Type 1 barrage that culminates in a really clever, ever-building arena-rock riff. Whether you're a 2009 hater or apologist or somewhere in-between, it's hard to argue against the fact that "Tweezer" has provided more than its share of highlights throughout this year. Yet, each version is a little different and unique, and this one keeps up the trend by managing to be inventive and powerful while staying within standard rock and roll confines. Highly recommended.
The "Tweezer" fire carries over to "YEM," which features a great composed section and nice solos from everyone but Fish and a vocal jam that entertains for its entire length, even just on tape. I can't really look past the "YEM," "Esther," "TTE" close to the set, though. Especially after having "Divided Sky" in the first set, this is just too much composed "goodness" in one show for me. I get that it's 2009 and the guys have been practicing and want to show off their chops, but when this much of your show gets blocked out for compositional opuses (which is apparently the plural form of "opus"), I lose interest. I'm sorry, but this show just derails for me after what's honestly a pretty amazing first half of the second set.
"O! Sweet Nuthin'" is a great closer, and Trey plays his solo with the same energy and creativity we heard earlier in "Farmhouse" and the two show-opening tracks, but the second half of this second set is shut down by astoundingly goofy (maybe intentionally goofy?) setlist choices.
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