So, I finally got to the much-hyped 7/27 show. I "watched" this show unfold live over Twitter and have since wondered if it could possibly be as amazing as those reacting live made it sound.
Well, it's not. I imagine this has a lot to do with the fact that seguefest-style shows are always more amazing in the moment, and a huge part of what makes them amazing is the surprise. Knowing what's coming next, seeing that after 1:43 of "BOTT" there's going to be more "Tweezer," makes it less awesome and less mysterious to listen to on tape than seeing "23:20" after "Disease" and being excited to play the track and see what happens during the jam, even if someone on Twitter already told you it's a badass funk jam.
So, yeah. S2 is clever, and fun. I honestly expected tunes like "BOTT" and "Free" to get full run-throughs, and it was hilarious to hear how little of them were played before the band jumped back into "Tweezer." Most of the segues were excellently done, and the only ones that seemed a bit forced were a few of the ones that came up after it was clear that Tweezerfest was going to be a thing, so it's hard to be put off by that. Wrapping back around to finish "Free" after abandoning it for "Tweezer" was brilliant. The eight-minute "Tweezer" jam before "Waiting All Night" was great. "Slave" was a great landing pad for the entire thing, and "Disease -> NICU" was short but surprisingly sweet, with a great segue and then the sudden funk jam that begins the closing goofball sequence. This section in particular was just sort of silly and awkward on tape, but it's hard to imagine it wasn't amazing as it was playing out. I mean, "Jennifer Dances," even a butchered, half-ass version with Fish rhyming "this song" with "my dong"? The playing is top-notch throughout this set, too, and the band definitely doesn't just coast to the finish, as "Boogie On" in the encore slot is given a weird, spacey treatment, at least from Trey.
The opening frame drags things down a bit, as the guys' setlist experimentation went a little awry for me. Lots of great song choices, but it still felt a bit like the first time I tried to drive a stick shift. "Sand" is probably the improvisational highlight from the set, and hearing "YEM" to close was a nice surprise. But, for the most part, these are normal songs being played normally, and the setlist surprises aren't as good as they look on paper ("The Curtain With" is flub-heavy, for example, and "Saw It Again" clocks in under four minutes).
For me, this show has one of the weaker S1s in awhile, and while the setlist shenanigans are neat, when the boys are jamming as well as they've been lately, it's actually sort of disappointing to see a whole second set given over to setlist antics. They've melded the jamming and segueing well a few times recently, and I think I would have been happier if we'd gotten another of those shows. That said, there's no doubt in my mind that if I'd made it to MPP in person this year, this set would have been my hands-down favorite moment of the summer.
The Live Review:
7/27/14: Fee to open.
7/27/14: Trey, over the megaphone, at the end of the song 'Wait, I think I forgot the nectarine line...' Band obliging plays it through.
7/27/14: Curtain!
7/27/14: Trey struggling a bit with this version, but With is still always nice.
7/27/14: Early 46 Days is next.
7/27/14: I haven't listened to any #phish in a few days and this is a good reminder of how awesome 555 is.
7/27/14: My Sweet One. So far, loving the song selection.
7/27/14: Loopy-weird Sand. If this gets some traction, it's going to make this set even more awesome.
7/27/14: Okay, a pretty mellow Sand that stretched just slightly out there. But a good sign for things to come nonetheless.
7/27/14: Bouncin' comes next, of all things. But then a standalone Saw It Again!
7/27/14: Short Saw It Again, quick > Fuego from Page.
7/27/14: Short Fuego, but then...first set YEM?! What's going on?
7/27/14: Great Trey and Mike interplay on the YEM outro jam. Now Trey playing with his megaphone siren w/ the vocal jam.
7/27/14: Wilson > Tweezer to start what I'm sure will be a glorious second set.
7/27/14: Weird little funk break at 2:15. Back to the Tweezer riff and verse.
7/27/14: Fish initiates a great segue into a high-tempo BOTT.
7/27/14: Just one verse of BOTT, then back into Tweezer.
7/27/14: Aaaaaand right back into BOTT. Crowd goes nuts. Love it.
7/27/14: Trey cracking up.
7/27/14: Another verse of BOTT and straight into the Tweezer jam.
7/27/14: Loopy, Mike-heavy jam developing now.
7/27/14: This is developing really well. Page building volume, Trey putting some great chording together.
7/27/14: Now they've hit on some bizarre reggae/salsa/space robot hybrid jam space.
7/27/14: Great placement of Waiting All Night at the end of that jam fadeout.
7/27/14: Right at the beginning of the Free jam, Trey goes back into Tweezer. Nice quick adjustment by Page to make that make sense.
7/27/14: Trey just fucking butt-slammed into Simple. Awesome.
7/27/14: Simple breakdown. Page on electric piano. Sounds great.
7/27/14: Now Mike's running the show...and a build back into Tweezer!
7/27/14: Mike leads a segue back into Free! What the hell is going on?!
7/27/14: Free is not the end...Trey keeps strumming the last chord...and...Catapult!
7/27/14: Catapult > Slave.
7/27/14: Slave is the perfect breather at the end of this madness.
7/27/14: Late-set Disease initiated by Mike. Interested to see if they do anything with this after the seguefest.
7/27/14: Disease jam does an interesting slowdown, then lurches back up to speed as Fishman takes over.
7/27/14: Clavs and drums.
7/27/14: Brilliant segues just keep on coming as Disease -> NICU.
7/27/14: Not sure if Fish is doing something weird with the drums here or if he's just gotten lost.
7/27/14: Based on his previous track record, I'll suspect the former.
7/27/14: Trey is now trying to start an NICU jam. Like, a real one. This show just doesn't stop.
7/27/14: Little Under Pressure action going on here.
7/27/14: This 'jam' is slowly morphing into HYHU!
7/27/14: Fish is out on the carpet, now. He knows no words to anything b/c he forgot to practice 'any songs.'
7/27/14: Fish sings the first two lines of Jennifer Dances, then 'That's all the words I know to this song / Uh...my dong.'
7/27/14: Chorus now being sung over a vacuum solo. Clearly the Tweezerfest propelled the guys all the way back to '93. > HYHU.
7/27/14: Banter leads into I Been Around.
7/27/14: Little Tweezer tease at the end of I Been Around.
7/27/14: Boogie On for the encore!
7/27/14: Some surprisingly weird, spacey, loopy guitar from Trey on Boogie On. Mike holds down the funk end. Neat juxtaposition.
7/27/14: > Tweeprise, of course.
7/27/14: Hate to harp on 'flow,' whatever that is, but despite great song selections, S1 is totally lacking it. Sand, YEM highlights.
7/27/14: Tweezerfest was fun and nicely executed, but probably more exciting live than on tape. Missed the jams hiding under the surface.
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