So, even now when I think back on the fifteen shows I've seen since Phish came back in 2009, Blossom is the only one I'm not totally over the moon about. Whether that was because of the circumstances surrounding the show, or the quality of the show itself, or both I don't know. So it was nice to sit down again with the recording and try to listen objectively.
After the relisten, I'm happy to say that the show as a whole has more highlights than I remember, but overall it's still largely how I remember it: sort of like one of those pizzas with a cracker crust, where the only stuff worth paying attention to happens in the middle, and the edges are disappointing.
We start off the night with "Look Out Cleveland," a thematically appropriate opener, but the beginning of Phish's summer 2010 habit of busting out half-baked, one-off covers, which is clever in theory but not my favorite thing in practice, at least not on tape. This is a pretty spare take on The Band's song, in part because Trey doesn't seem to know what to play so he just stays in the background until the lyrics are over. The outro features a killer bass riff from Mike though, that forms the spine of a neat little mini-jam.
"Ocelot" is next, which is probably my least favorite Phish song to hear live. Add some early '10 whale pedal and I'll pass. Trey's playing on the solo is solid, don't misunderstand me, but I only need a few versions of Ocelot to stay happy, and there are many better ones out there.
Fortunately, the "Water in the Sky" that follows is an uptempo version with what seems to be a slightly extended jam/instrumental section. There's some brilliant Trey/Page interplay here, featuring (believe it or not) some sparse, clever use of the whale pedal from Trey. I don't often find myself considering creating a "Best Of..." playlist for versions of "Water in the Sky," but if I ever did, this would likely be on there. It's really sharp in a technical sense, but also it's just purty.
The early-set "Stash" is slightly crippled by the whale, but thanks to Fish's insistent, frantic drumming, the band moves into a more abstract space around the 8:00 mark and that gives Trey a chance to brilliantly lead them out of the tangle and back to the song's main riff. After a '09 full of great takes on this song, it's good to hear it maintain much of its verve.
"Curtis Loew" was a standout moment at the show because at the time (at least I thought) it was a huge bustout. It was a 625-show bustout...when they played it at Fenway in '09. Oh well. Trey plays around a bit more than usual with "Sample," and there's about thirty seconds at the end of pure guitar overdrive/feedback madness that's usually badly lacking in 3.0 versions of the song. "TTE" is "TTE"; there's nothing much else to say about it. I was happy to hear it live at the time, because I never had before, and it is a really interesting, good song. But every version is more or less like every other version, so there's little to see here if you've heard it before.
The first set closes with an old-school "Mike's Groove" that's the first bite into the middle of the pizza. "Mike's" is not particularly interesting, but everyone's playing throughout is fiery. The "Hydrogen" is slow, patient, and gorgeous as a result. "Weekapaug" is the really interesting part, though. A short way into the jam, Page starts pushing for a plinko-style space, and Trey eventually accedes. This leads to a slow build into a song-ending rock peak, but with Trey's tone still set in plinko-mode. The effect is really bizarre and unique.
The second set kicks off with "Rock and Roll" that basically follows the blueprint of 2009 mega-jams that I was getting so cranky about by the end of fall tour: a few minutes of noodling, a transition into space-funk around the 9:00 mark, then about two minutes' worth of ambient fadeout before the transition into the next song. On one hand, this is old, hackneyed, and boring by this point. On the other hand, the next song is "Harry Hood"!
The "Hood" is nothing special, necessarily, but it's no slouch. Long by 3.0 standards at fifteen minutes, it features a really sustained, patient build (a theme with this show, it seems). Whatever the next step above "average-great" is, that's where this "Hood" sits. But then, the "Number Line." Oh, my.
Again, I'm likely biased since I was there, but this "Number Line" > "Twenty Years Later" is probably my favorite segment of 2010, excepting maybe the Berkeley "Light." That it starts off with a few minutes of somewhat rough, whale-y noodling speaks to how fantastic the last few minutes of the jam are. From the moment that Trey pushes everyone into dark, atonal weirdness right before the 8:00 mark, the rest is pure bliss. Or, at least, bliss for the listener. The jam itself is really quite dark, which is part of the reason I like it. Trey hits the first part of a great riff he'll weave throughout the rest of the jam right before 9:45, then Page kicks over to what I think of as the "No Quarter" organ tone, and it's all just amazing from there. My only regret about this near-perfect jam is that after Mike's massive bass attack at 12:00, Trey lays down an amazing, low riff that easily would have had 5-6 more minutes' worth of jamming on it if this had been 2012 or 2013 or the 90s. But here it peters out after a few seconds...but that sets up a great segue to "Twenty Years Later," which is a pitch-perfect rendition. Great segment. Just watch it.
As I mentioned above, the rest of the set after this is about as underwhelming as the beginning of the first set. There certainly nothing wrong with the guys' playing here, but it's more first-set material than second. And for some reason, "Coil" always bugs me as a show closer, unless it's an early night in a multi-night run. This is an especially punchy version, and the outro from Page is great...but for a single night in Cleveland it would have been nice to close with a noise-explosion instead of solo piano.
Anyway, it's definitely a step down in quality from Toyota Park in general, but the "Number Line" > "Twenty Years Later" combo is best-of-year material. I'd recommend the "Groove" too, if you're into that kind of thing already.
Next time, it's back to shows I haven't seen before!
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