A bit like 7/30, the Orange Beach show is a show that starts off with a lackluster S1, but is redeemed in the end by an excellent second set.
That said, where the 7/30 S1 at least has a few novel songs to recommend from it, this S1 is pretty much full-on jukebox mode. There's another one of those recent and weird mini-explorations in "Tube," "Wolfman's" features some clever use of Trey's guitar loops, and "Curtis Loew" makes an appearance, but otherwise, there's nothing you haven't heard before.
S2 opens with a "Disease" that's just all energy. The band moves through a few distinct spaces in this jam, but Fish keeps the momentum rolling throughout, and they manage to create a 20 minute rock monster that, amazingly, doesn't really flag in energy for a second of its running time. Highly recommended.
There's a short but amazingly sweet "Tweezer" that's built mostly around a great improvised Trey riff but fades in the last few minutes into a really melodic coda. It's also a great version, and when we come back from a brief cool-down break, "Fuego" picks up the same riff and runs with it! It's pretty amazing. It ends with a great segue into "Slave," and the "Slave" > "2001" pair does a great job of setting up what eventually turns into a "Boogielope" mashup that just needs to be heard instead of described. Give this show a better first set and it's a contender for best of the year.
The Live Review:
8/1/14: CDT opener. I know they won't but how funny would it be if they jammed this for twenty minutes?
8/1/14: Moma Dance is S1, song two in the #phish show that plays eternally in heaven, I'm sure.
8/1/14: 555. Goddamn I love this song.
8/1/14: Oh, there was a Heavy Things in there, too, with some decent organ stuff.
8/1/14: Another solid-ish version of Rift here. Playing it all summer has obviously made them a bit better at hitting all the notes.
8/1/14: Page's fills have started to remind me more and more of '93 instead of '03.
8/1/14: Of course, just as I write that, Trey totally bombs out for 10-15 seconds :)
8/1/14: 46 Days next. So far, very jukebox-y setlist, but songs are being played with a little extra energy than usual.
8/1/14: I'm loving the little funk departures in Tube lately.
8/1/14: Devotion, Wolfman's. Still a fun S1, but weird to see such a plain setlist after some great song distribution in the last few shows.
8/1/14: Neat little echo bit from Trey in this Wolfman's.
8/1/14: Curtis Loew! That's better.
8/1/14: Curtis Loew aside, I'm pretty sure that closing with Free > Character Zero makes this a Normal First Set.
8/1/14: The whole thing is played with a consistent energy, but there's nothing here you haven't heard twenty times before.
8/1/14: S2 starts with Disease. Even the jam slot is a jukebox song :)
8/1/14: First few minutes of Disease jam is Type I, but awesomely kinetic. If they keep this momentum up, this jam is going to be fantastic.
8/1/14: Descending into some really spacey Mike-based territory, but Fish is keeping the beat rolling.
8/1/14: Great switch to all-out rock mania now. Awesome, awesome.
8/1/14: Wow, they really did just stick with that all the way through. Great jam.
8/1/14: I think Trey tried to pull a clever > Theme and it didn't work that well.
8/1/14: Tweezer! Is there such a thing as a jukebox S2? :)
8/1/14: Okay, this Tweezer is no joke. Building on a great Trey riff.
8/1/14: Really, really cool melodic coda tagged on to the end of this Tweezer jam. Back into another build...
8/1/14: Okay, I've been forgiving with the ripcords this year, but that > Caspian was fucking murder. Tweezer jam was going places still.
8/1/14: Waiting All Night. Love this song, too.
8/1/14: FuEGo! Can a show be a jukebox show and have awesome jams simultaneously? My worldview trembles in the shadow of Orange Beach!
8/1/14: Fuego jam reprises the riff Trey made up for Tweezer. Yes!
8/1/14: EXCELLENT segue into Slave immediately after.
8/1/14: Smooth Slave > 2001 transition.
8/1/14: Boogie!
8/1/14: Strange Boogie/Antelope hybrid rearing its head.
8/1/14: I'm going to insist that this goes on the setlist as Boogie On -> Antelope -> Boogie On -> Antelope -> Boogie On -> Antelope.
8/1/14: Way extended tease of something I didn't recognize.
8/1/14: For some reason, I find Bouncin' encores charming instead of annoying. All that time spent listening to 90s tapes, maybe?
8/1/14: Someone singing something during Tweeprise. Fish? Can't tell what he's saying.
8/1/14: So...that second set was better than it looked on paper. Wow.
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