Well, here we are. The end of 2009. It was momentous show for Phish at the time (who had just completed their first year together after "breaking up" in 2004), and it's a momentous show for me now, as I've spent the last year (including a few serious lapses to while I was, you know, following 2013 Phish around the country) reviewing every show from 2009 in painstaking, sometimes repetitive detail. In the end, the experience was absolutely worth it, both because I now have a much better sense of where Phish was at in 2009 in the context of the rest of their career and because I found a lot of amazing jam-gems that I otherwise never would have heard, let alone put on "highlight reel" CDs and listened to over and over again in the last few months. But more on that in my wrap-up post later on this week.
So, the last show of the year. Is it a fitting sendoff? Well, it's sort of unrealistic to have high expectations for a NYE show in the modern age of Phish. With the exception of 2013, which was fucking amazing, the days of 12/31/95 are long gone, and I came to this show expecting a solid three-set revisitation of the things that made '09 tour better than I'd expected it to be. And that's what I got: not a sonic revelation, but a great coda to the year.
Night four of the Miami run features some great setlist choices and some solid playing (mostly) all the way around. There aren't any "...of the year" type jams to be had here, or even "...of the tour" jams, but there are a few that come satisfyingly close.
The night starts off with a solid "Bag" that segues nicely into a "46 Days" that features more than its fair share of blues swagger. The fast version of "Water in the Sky" follows, then there's a too-short "Gin" that nonetheless features some great rhythm work from Fish and a slow, rocking build from Trey during its abbreviated length. "PYITE" > "Moma" is another great pairing, but I'm a little biased as I'm obsessed with both songs.
Up until this point, we've had a jukebox show, but a jukebox show with a little more energy and flair than you might expect. "Moma" would be a perfect jumping-off point into some weirder territory...and "Guyute" sort of qualifies. I mean, there's little to no room for improvisation here, but a first-set "Guyute" in a three-set show is pretty exciting stuff. It's followed by "Swept Away" > "Steep," on which the guys hit all the right (singing) notes, though Trey struggles a bit with the ballad-y outro solo.
Then: "Demand." What a great surprise. This comes totally out of nowhere, and in all honesty, it's been so long since I've heard the studio version of the song, I really can't speak to whether they nail it or not. But it's great to see it played at all, and it gets butt-slammed decisively into "Seven Below," which is my current favorite Phish song. This version unfortunately sort of blows the potential of its awesome segue set-up, though, by taking the same route the recent Bill Graham version did: namely, Trey totally biffs the song's main riff. The song's jam is played through in typical Type I fashion by three members of the band, but Mike goes absolutely fucking nuts and carries on as if it's the last song he's ever going to play. It's one of those moments where you'd expect another band member to pick up what he's putting down and eventually change the jam to build on it, but in this case it just goes on for something horribly awkward like four minutes until the song just ends.
"Julius" is absolutely the opposite of my favorite Phish song, at least when played live, but this version is surprisingly strong to close the first set.
All the fun (at least on tape) happens in set two. "Rock and Roll" gets us off to a stereotypical '09 start: it's an eight minute rock jam that tapers off into ambient space in the last minute or so to segue into another song. Real original, right?! But, the "Piper" that follows is probably the best part of this show. There's a standard bit of funk at the beginning of the jam, something sort of "Birds"-like, at least in terms of what Trey's playing. Then it takes a quick left turn into space-funk territory with a change of guitar tone. If anyone's ever wondered what the hell I'm talking about when I talk about "space-funk," the second phase of this jam is it. There's some great Page/Trey layering on the way out of the funk jam, and then a sudden > into "Simple."
There's not really anything special about this "Simple," but like most times the song is jammed, it features a lot of light, airy, textured playing that in this case winds down to just Page playing and then segueing into "Theme." The third of this three-song run is a pretty standard version, but overall this is the highlight of the show for my money.
"Ghost" -> "NO2" is a close second, though. Mike runs things for awhile in the "Ghost" jam, until about the 7:00 mark, when Trey comes in with some light melody stylings. There's a tone change again, and suddenly we're back in a jam space that sounds very much like the earlier "Piper." This builds momentum for a bit before winding down into dissonant hissing that, of course, "resolves" in "NO2."
I'm sure the NYE gag was a fun time for all involved, but on tape we don't really get to anything worth noting again until "Fluffhead," starring Fish as "Sarah." In keeping with his impersonation of a "bad" drummer, Fish biffs the rhythm a few times and absolutely destroys a few fills in a ham-handed rock drummer sort of way near the beginning of the song, but otherwise there's not much to differentiate this "Fluff" from any of the other ones this year.
"Coil" works well to set up the inevitable "YEM" that's coming at the end of the set, but the outro jam, usually my second-favorite mellow jam after "Simple," is cut short in favor of...getting to "YEM" early, I guess? Page only plays his solo outro for about 45 seconds, if that.
The "YEM" itself is surprisingly average-great. Or maybe not surprisingly, considering this is the last night of a four night run and the last of three sets on the evening. But anyway, we close the show (and the year) with a touching/hilarious spoken/sung "thank you" from Trey over Page and then eventually the rest of the band playing "Blue Moon," then a strong "Loving Cup" finisher that sounds a lot less mailed in than many of the more recent versions.
While all the meat of this show is really in the second set, the other two sets feature some great song choices and solid playing (mostly)...and who really expects the post-NYE set to blast off into orbit anyway?
Not me. So, I'm satisfied. At least until I go back to write my fall review post and remember all the things I'm unsatisfied about :)
No comments:
Post a Comment