The second Northerly Island show started up very similarly to N1; that is, with a totally pedestrian S1. Well, that's not entirely true: the song choices are pretty great, from a "Moma" > "Wolfman's" opening pair to "Brian and Robert" > "Wingsuit," to "Tube" and "Roggae." However, there's nothing really of interest about the way any of the songs are played. In fact, I think this show holds the new record for Fewest Tweets Overall, because there's just not much to talk about. There's a brief Smoke on the Water jam in Tube, and it returns in "Antelope," but teasing is the extent of the Points of Interest here.
Unfortunately, that continues on for most of the second set. "Carini" opens and heads into a neat, blissful ambient space, but it quickly fizzles out and Trey switches gears for a run-of-the-mill "Waves." "Fuego" is the "short version" this time around, and the best thing about another minimalist "Twist" is the way the ending "Woo!"s segue into the introduction to "Light." If there's anything from this show that belongs on this summer's impressively long list of highlights, it's this "Light," which manages that effortless-but-complex sound that Phish manages whenever they're really hitting it. It starts out rhythmic and dark, but for the last three minutes moves into an absolutely spooky ambient area. Highly recommended. The only other thing worth mention is yet another "Hood" that moves beyond the song's usual structure. This one goes in a rock-a-billy-oriented direction for much of its jam, in a way that reminded me weirdly of "Possum" or "CDT." It's another breakout-weird performance for the song, but nothing on the level of, say, 7/1's version: it's an awkward transition back into the outro chords and it never quite reaches a peak, which seems important to demand even from avant-gard takes on "Hood."
So, as much as I hate to say it after 7/18, you can pretty much listen to "Light" and "Hood" from this show and skip the rest without missing anything. That feels like the first time I've been able to say that this year, which is both awesome in a way and shitty in a way.
The Live Review:
7/19/14: Lots o' funk to start, with a Moma > Wolfman's opener. Wolfman's had a neat, driving bit w/ Page electric piano in the middle.
7/19/14: Devotion To a Dream, 46 Days. Nothing to really mention about this set so far. Of course, last night started that way, too.
7/19/14: Exceptionally tight version of Yarmouth Road till Trey comes in with random, improvised guitar lines on the bridge and destroys it.
7/19/14: Brian and Robert! Hearing this orchestrated in Portland the other night was amazing. Makes this take sound goofy :)
7/19/14: Brian and Robert > Wingsuit. Making for a super-mellow mid-set, but I love the song choices.
7/19/14: Clav-heavy Tube with a mini-Smoke-On-the-Water jam. Wingsuit was pretty standard.
7/19/14: Short Tube > Free.
7/19/14: Sorry for the boring review so far. Not much happening here. Weird song selection. High energy. Standard takes. That's about it.
7/19/14: Surprise late-set Roggae. Starts out pretty standard, but gets a bit of a bump from Fish. Now a driving, jazzy thing.
7/19/14: Trey puts Smoke on the Water back into Antelope, too. Page w/ 'Istanbul is Constantinople' lyrics. Otherwise standard version.
7/19/14: Pedestrian S1, but S2 opens with Carini. A good sign.
7/19/14: Carini headed into a buoyant sort of ambient space.
7/19/14: Neat little jam with electric piano and some clever chording. Trey > Waves.
7/19/14: Ripcord rating is pretty low there. I think that one was circling the drain anyway.
7/19/14: Standard Type I Waves. Next is Fuego. Can hear the crowd chanting 'Vlad the Impaler' on the SBD. Pretty awesome.
7/19/14: Little Drummer Boy tease from pretty much the whole band in Fuego. Weirdest tease ever.
7/19/14: Twist time!
7/19/14: Continuing in the minimalist-blues vein of many recent Twists. Extended Fuego teasing.
7/19/14: Twist outro 'woos!' overtop of the introduction of Light, which sounds like it might be in a different key than usual?
7/19/14: Yeah. Trey trying to decide if he's going to sing it higher or try to drop down to the right key.
7/19/14: Outro vocals of Light with Twist 'woo!'s overlaid.
7/19/14: Dare we call it 'Twi-Light'?!
7/19/14: Really murky, rhythm-based Light jam. Pretty neat. Page's electric piano makes a few interesting appearances as well.
7/19/14: Spooky, spooky ambience starting at 10:30.
7/19/14: Really drone-y now, but really neat. Haven't heard a #phish jam stay that abstract for that long and still be good for awhile.
7/19/14: Hood up next. Midway through, it's developed in an almost Possum- or Chalkdust-type jam.
7/19/14: Clever weaving of the 'peak section' of Hood back out of this rock jam. Also, Trey throws in a Fuego tease.
7/19/14: And Cavern to close.
7/19/14: Finally wrapping up this show today. Grind kicks off the encore.
7/19/14: Ooh, Bug! I generally dislike this as an encore song, but it seems like it's been awhile.
7/19/14: Suzy to close for good.
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