The first set is a weird one, half great old songs ("Alumni" > "Letter To Jimmy Page" > "Alumni," "BBFCFM," "Jim," "SOAM," "The Sloth" and "Golgi"), one-third new songs ("Summer of '89," "Army of One," "TTE," and "Free Man in Paris"). It's almost all good, save for the usual "TTE" doldrums and some serious sloppiness from Trey on "Army of One," but it's just a strange mix of songs, especially since the guys have been totally nailing it lately when it comes to setlist-building. Personally, I like it, but the lack of a consistent pace might be a point against it for some listeners.
Phish - 6/25/10 "Alumni Blues > Letter To Jimmy Page > Alumni Blues" from Phish on Vimeo.
For me, the first half of the set is just fantastic, while "Free Man" is a surprisingly well-done cover and features a little outro jam. "Summer of '89" is really growing on me as a well-done, slow-down, summer-ballad kind of song, and the "SOAM," in the midst of a setlist that mostly recalls the mid-90s, is played like a version from that era.If the first set exceeded the low(ish) expectations I had after glancing at the setlist, though, the second set fell quite a bit short of what I was hoping to hear. This set's been talked up to me a number of times, and with a Michael Jackson seguefest strung throughout "2001" and a 17 minute "CDT" (one of my favorite jam vehicles; see Dick's this year and Brooklyn '04, for example), it seemed like an easy favorite.
While the "Chalkdust" definitely has length going for it, it seemed to be lacking the intention of the best Phish long-jams. There are a lot of sections in this jam, including a whale-based "Light"-type jam, a guitar loop jam, a section that contains probably the weirdest collection of tones I've ever heard the band play together, a reverb-rock section, a funk section, and a Mike-led softer section...but there's nothing really to connect them. Each of these parts are neat little spaces by themselves, but the jam as a whole sounds like the band jumping from idea to idea, abandoning each one as it sinks beneath their feet. The way this tour's been going so far, improv-wise, I hesitate to criticize some actual experimentation and I'm honestly really glad to hear it at all. But this isn't the greatest 17 minutes of Phish you're going to hear.
Phish - 6/25/10 "Chalk Dust Torture" from Phish on Vimeo.
Trey propels everyone through super-short versions of "Caspian" and "Heavy Things" next, as if he's got a schedule to keep and that 17 minute jam put him behind. But then it's actually "Alaska," of all songs, that pushes the band back into WeirdLand. Trey uses the whale pedal extensively at the end of an better-than-average rock jam, causing the whole band to dial down the tempo and move into a gooey, dark space that turns into "2001" very organically.The much-vaunted MJ sequence that pops up here seems like sort of a "You had to be there" moment. Sure, it's clever to weave bits of "Thriller," "Billy Jean," and "Wanna Be Startin' Something" into "2001," but this is more a Wacky Phish Moment than a Major Jam Moment. Trey doesn't know the words to "Billy Jean" or really the main riff to "Thriller," but damn if he doesn't try them anyway. The entire thing is sort of awkward and fun, which in a way is part of the point of Phish, but definitely don't come here for any sort of musical virtuosity.
Fortunately, the improv part of the show continues with a short-but-brilliant "Light" that quickly moves into a circular-riff jam before dissolving into a robotic-sounding space reminiscent of the weird "Psycho Killer"/"Pong" thing from '09. The remainder of the show is perfectly serviceable rock and roll from there, though.
In all, this show gets more points for style than for execution, but there are a few truly brilliant moments (in the "Chalkdust," in Mike kicking into the bass riff from "Billie Jean," in "Light") worth listening to. Hopefully this is the sound of the band breaking out of the mold a bit going into the last leg of Summer I.
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