2010-06-24 Camden I

As I said in my show wrap-up tweet for this show: "Just when I think Phish can't get any better at playing a great, fun, totally jamless rock show, they do." I've been slowly and repetitively documenting this long string of shows that has highlighted the band's ability to weave a bunch of fun, well-played songs into the quintessential "average-great" summer show ever since Blossom, and with the first night in Camden, they hit a new high in this regard. The downside is, of course, that there's nothing at all here to sink your teeth into, and after about five or six shows like this, it gets a bit "been there, done that." That they're consistently getting better at playing this kind of show is, I suppose, a lot less exciting to experience sitting at home four years later than it was out on the lawns as it was happening.

Anyway, Camden I kicks off with "Bowie," an early sign that maybe tonight is going to be different (it's not). Though the "Bowie" would be a standard version late in a second set, as an opener it's technically precise and is delivered with much more heat than you'd expect. "Stealing Time" is standard, but "Water in the Sky" and "Ocelot" both deviate successfully from their usual mini-jam templates, with whale-laden and blues-rock-laden jams, respectively. "Uncle Pen" is my favorite Phish bluegrass cover, and though this version is extra sloppy, it's still a welcome sight in the setlist.

The high-energy combo of "Boogie On" and "Gumbo" is pure summer, but then things finally get mildly interesting with "Timber," of all songs. Trey uses the whale to excellent effect again, here, and Page backs him up with some overlaid synth that lends this jam a much spacier and more angular sound than usual. Highly recommended.

"I Didn't Know" gave me the opportunity to tweet "Timber was REALLY good. Now Fishman attempts to put a curse on the Flyers through his I Didn't Know vacuum solo. In a good way," which I guess is a good thing. The crowd then begins to chant "Let's go Flyers!" over the vacuum solo, and hilarity ensues.

Standard takes on "Birds," "Bouncing," and "Reba" round out the set...but wait! There's a cover of Zeppelin's non-radio-hit "The Rover" out of the blue! And it's damn good, too!

Normally any S2 that started with "Disease" -> "Crosseyed" is going to make me squeal with delight, but this ain't 2013 (or even 2012, or 1998) here, folks. Both songs are long, sure, but they're each typical Type I soloing until the final minute or two when there's a clever but too-short transition into a different type of jam space. "Disease" dissolves into a funk jam that sounds like it's certain to turn into "Ghost" before a great segue into "Crosseyed," which melts into drone-space in turn before...Trey chops out the chords to "Nothing" out of nowhere. Now, I really like "Nothing," as it always seems to summon Trey's inner melodic solo-master. But...jeez. We're not talking Gorge '13 > "Roggae" level ripcording here, but it's awkward and frustrating to hear.

Fortunately, "Twenty Years" and "Hood" make up for this less-than-thrilling set opening, at least a bit. "Twenty Years" is maybe the jam highlight of the night, with another Oysterhead-y section kicking off around 6:00 and then a build-up of static with a bunch of quick bass runs bouncing along over top of it. It doesn't last long, but it's a really great moment (or two) before Fish starts up the "Hood" intro.

There's nothing about this "Hood" that's going to change the world, but it's got a nice, patient build into an extended climax that features both flawless machine-gun Trey and flawless whale-pedal Trey. So if you like "Hood"s, you should probably check it out.

After this, we wind to a stop. It seems funny to say "wind to a stop" when the set closes with "Fluff" > "Julius," "YEM," but that's what it feels like. I'm sure this was/is somebody's ideal S2 conclusion, and live it probably played beautifully. But on tape, for me, it's wrapping up over a week of improvless shows with 40-45 more minutes of heavily scripted playing. I hate to be all grouchy, but I could do with a 17-minute "CDT" right about now (foreshadowing!).