6/17 is a marked improvement over 6/15, but it lacks a bit in consistency that makes it one of those odd shows where the first set is more satisfying than the second.
The show starts promisingly enough, with a flaming-hot "PYITE" into an "Ocelot" that even I actually like. This "Ocelot" is a little swankier than usual, a little slower (maybe?) and a little more Mike-powered. Trey's use of the whale here is, right at the start of the show, a lot more restrained and clever than it has been in earlier 2010 shows, and that makes a huge difference.
"Dinner and a Movie" keeps the early momentum rolling, straight into another epic "Stash." This one is a little rough through the composed section, but the jam starts off with a great back-and-forth between Trey and Page before blossoming into a slowly-building, tension-y affair that has more in common with most "Melt" jams than with "Stash."
Things slow down a bit (out of necessity) with "Esther," but we're right back on the train (so to speak) with "Walk Away." Trey absolutely decimates this version, and if you miss old-school Trey Shredzzz, I suggest you make with the clickety click right away to give it a listen. "Divided Sky" is absolutely on point, and "Walk Away" Trey comes back immediately during the outro jam, bringing his biggest rock and roll guns to bear.
"Sugar Shack" is a rare clean version, and then the rock madness continues into a best-of rock 'n' roll "Alaska" > "Golgi."
This first set is actually one of my favorites in a long time, despite the not-so-favorite song choices. It's high-energy, there's a more-than-reasonable amount of improv for a first set, and there aren't many of the typical 3.0 S1 standbys getting trotted out. This is, though, a really Trey-dominated set, and the downside of this is that when Trey's not on, the music suffers. This doesn't happen much in the first set, and so it's quite the outing. The second set, though, is a different story.
It's not even that Trey's playing during the second set is bad in any substantive way; it's just that at this point in the show it's pretty clear that the band has given him the reins, and so when he eventually wanders off course, it's all the more obvious. "Party Time" is just a mess, and while "Disease" is long, it's pretty much the standard Composition > Type I Rock > Space-Funk > Type I Rock > Ambient Jam template that we've been seeing again and again since Hampton. This particular take on the trope is rollicking, for sure, but we've all heard it before.
"Sand," on the other hand, is a different beast. This is a multisectional beast in the best tradition of more recent 3.0 jams, and while it isn't as coherent as some of the best jams of '12 and '13, it's definitely a prototype of that sort of space. You should check it out immediately if you want to hear some of the roots of 2013 jamming.
After the "Sand," though, the consistency flags a bit as Trey can't carry the entirety of the show's momentum himself. There's a clever segue (ripcord?) > "The Horse" from "Sand," wherein Trey starts up "The Horse" while Fishman continues to play the "Sand" beat underneath, but "Silent" is a rough take, "Guyute" has seen better days, and the closing "Mike's Groove" is absolutely standard. The one real standout in the back half of the second set is the "Farmhouse," which features a sort-of-jazz outro jam that sees some more clever, restrained use of the whale pedal.
This show isn't quite as consistent as 6/15, but the first set is a capital-s Scorcher, and there's a marquee jam in "Sand" (and one, arguably, in "Disease," though I wouldn't say so), and that makes up for a lot. Looking forward to the second show in the run.
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