The Verdict:
This year's Dick's run was easily the best run of shows I've been to thus far. So I was excited to relisten and see how much of my enthusiasm was justified and how much didn't hold up on the tape. For night one, at least, it's just about as good as I remember it.
S1 works because the "LUSHINGTON" set gag forces some interesting songs into the mix and shuffles up the song order you'd typically expect. There aren't any really interesting musical highlights, but the unexpected song choices and the high energy makes it a solid first set. One big jam ("Gin," maybe?) would have put it into the higher echelon of great first sets like some we've seen already this year, but there are plenty of shows out there that just have high-energy first sets with weird song choices. That said, I'm partial to this one. Early "Stash," a S1 "Guyute," a short-but-sweet "Undermind," a rocked-out "The Line," and a "Llama" opener...it's hard to complain much. On top of that, the highlights for me was an out-of-leftfield "No Quarter" and the "Suzy." "Suzy" is surprisingly rough, considering that they must have practiced with the horns before the show...but still, "Suzy" even with slightly-scatterbrained horns is better than "Suzy" without any horns at all, so...
S2 is all about the "Simple." Sure, there's a lot else going on here, most notably a short but shockingly great "Ghost" rock-jam and an interesting (and sadly ripcorded) "46 Days" opener. "Number Line" is hot, and "Hood" goes the weird-but-great route yet again in '14. But it's really all about the "Simple." Which is easily my favorite jam since the Tahoe "Tweezer." Just watch it.
There are a few slight lulls in the second set, but for the second show in a row, the band delivers what's pretty much a top-shelf show from front to back, and this time they include not one, but two best-of-summer jams. So yeah. This one lived up to the hype.
The Live Review:
8/29/14: Kicking off the Dick's run (first of five con420utive shows I caught this year) with Llama.
8/29/14: I love the rare Undermind jam, but it's also a great choice for a second song slot.
8/29/14: Great too to see the setlist gag make Stash show up so early in the show. Trey pretty restrained in the jam, Page taking lead.
8/29/14: Halfway To the Moon gets extended a bit more than usual here. Trey rocking out.
8/29/14: I Didn't Know...'Here to suck...at Dick's...'
8/29/14: This was my first vacuum solo, so I remember it fondly.
8/29/14: Nellie Kane. Seems faster than usual.
8/29/14: Forgot that there was a Guyute in there :)
8/29/14: Great-sounding Guyute. Now a particularly swinging version of The Line.
8/29/14: Ah, Ocelot, in all its note-bending and whale-pedal 'glory.'
8/29/14: Actually hearing Phish play No Quarter live at this show was one of my top 5 live music moments ever. Favorite rock song.
8/29/14: Post-euphoria, the intro is a little rough, but Trey totally nails the tone and style of that awesome riff.
8/29/14: Page laying into the piano for the middle jamlet.
8/29/14: Pretty sure I enjoyed hearing Ha Ha Ha more than I would have enjoyed Lushington. Because I know how it goes.
8/29/14: Suzy sounds remarkably disorganized for what must have been a premeditated guest appearance.
8/29/14: That said, Suzy with horns is ALWAYS better than Suzy without.
8/29/14: I absolutely loved S1 live. On tape, it's strong because of great and rare song choices. Only real interesting moment is Suzy.
8/29/14: Not to be outdone by horns, Page has a great piano solo with the horns layered over the back half of it.
8/29/14: 46 Days S2 opener.
8/29/14: Trey going dark and Mike following at 6:00 in this jam.
8/29/14: Jam is sort of an evil version of Manteca.
8/29/14: Page to electric piano = awesome.
8/29/14: Really badass space jam now with arrhythmic Trey chording. Aaaand that ripcord > BOTT was just as bad as I remembered.
8/29/14: They end up making it up with the Simple > Ghost, of course, but Jesus, that was terrible.
8/29/14: 46 Days jam wasn't even fading out yet and Trey just killed it.
8/29/14: Bitching aside, it's a solid version of BOTT.
8/29/14: Butt-slammed into Simple.
8/29/14: Nice interplay between Trey and Page at 5:00 in Simple.
8/29/14: Neat rhythm work from Trey to drive the jam away from the usual Simple space.
8/29/14: Things are getting angrier now.
8/29/14: Really great Trey-led jam section starting at 11:30. Mike is setting down an awesome foundation.
8/29/14: The middle section of this jam reminds me a lot of many of the better sections of the Tahoe Tweezer.
8/29/14: A bit of a lull in the jam now. That's okay, just gives you a second to stop and think 'What the hell song was this again?!'
8/29/14: Move into funk space. And thus the weekend of Dick's funk begins in earnest.
8/29/14: Loving this seriously deep clav-funk.
8/29/14: Mike pushes for some more complex funk. Trey adds loops to the mix.
8/29/14: Good transition into Ghost. Not perfect, but good. And it's fucking Ghost, so hell yes.
8/29/14: This slowly building rockfest of a Ghost would be amazing normally. Coming on the heels of that Simple it's just HOLY SHITAFIAODUFE
8/29/14: That 9:26 moment during this Ghost is just ridiculous. Why don't people talk about this jam more?
8/29/14: Giant Mike bomb to end the Ghost jam. Trey misses his chance to pull a -> Number Line and does a > Number Line instead.
8/29/14: Short but interesting Number Line, with Trey working in some neat rhythm sections.
8/29/14: HOOOOOOOOD
8/29/14: Minimal flourishes from Trey and Page here. Mike driving the jam. Pretty interesting.
8/29/14: It's actually sort of amazing how little Trey is featuring in this jam. Fish is a monster.
8/29/14: I like the new, weird Hood jams as long as they don't mess with the peak. This one survives pretty intact.
8/29/14: Nice -> Wading from Page.8/29/14: S2 closer = Antelope. E = Zero. Doesn't get more cliche than that. Nice Antelope, though, and great show overall.
8/29/14: S2 close is a little flat, and I still wonder wtf happened with the 46 Days jam, but a fantastic first night otherwise.
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