The Verdict:
There is a lot of gorgeous music in this show. There aren't any enormous space jams, but the guys strike what is (to me) a perfect balance between the short jams/segue style and the long-form jamming style, and most of those jams are of the ethereal, beautiful type. It's like the "CDT" > "Ghost" from 10/21 in overdrive. But really relaxing, mellow overdrive.
The first set sags in the middle, but the near-opening "Mike's Groove" features some pretty-much-total Trey shredding in a way that recalls the highs of the early 90s. The songs in the middle of the set are great choices ("Wingsuit"! "Plasma"! "Halfway To the Moon"!), but they're all rote versions (albeit of the high-energy variety). The highlight of the set is easily the extended "Gumbo" with a flawless segue into "Sanity." Check it out.
The second set is perfect. Well, if you can overlook a decently-shredded "Julius," at least. "KDF" gets extended into a delicate ambient jam that fades into "Mountains," a perfect pairing. "Fuego" goes a bit long, and while it doesn't do anything special, it and "Julius" both contain some more of S1's high-quality licks. "Twist" goes evil briefly, but then fills most of its jam-time with a wonderfully serene jam that fades into an atonal and interesting "Jim." And how else to end a melodically brilliant set than with a near twenty-minute "Hood" made up of several distinct sections connected by flawless segues?
I feel like I'm fluffing, but I'm not. This show is really that good. Look!
The Live Review:
10/28/14: Crowd Control opener. Opened BGCA III in '13 with this song, too.
10/28/14: Early Mike's!
10/28/14: Early Mike's jam echoes (hah!) the Dick's version. Now Trey taking over w/ melody soloing.
10/28/14: This is a way dirtier Mike's than I'd expect as the second song in the night. Great stuff!
10/28/14: > Hydrogen is exactly what I was hoping for. Excellent.
10/28/14: Trey has absolutely shredded Mike's and 'Paug. This is a very good sign.
10/28/14: Sounded like Mike was set to start Boogie On for a second, but after a pause, they start up Wingsuit instead.
10/28/14: Water in the Sky (fast)!
10/28/14: Plasma! So glad this wasn't a one-off. Love the bass-based version.
10/28/14: Halfway To the Moon next. This set hasn't entirely delivered on the promise of the first few songs, but...
10/28/14: ...it's been great in terms of song selection and high energy. Hoping some of that improv energy carries over into S2.
10/28/14: Poor Heart, Gumbo.
10/28/14: Super clav jam in Gumbo!
10/28/14: Oh wow.
10/28/14: Gumbo JAM with a perfect -> Sanity. Gumbo teases in Sanity. Forget what I said earlier about this set.
10/28/14: Antelope set closer. Trey's relying on chords for the most part, but this version still got some of that old early-90s fire to it.
10/28/14: KDF to open the second set. Interesting choice.
10/28/14: Maybe we'll get a reprise of the 6/12/09 version?
10/28/14: Early loop action from Trey. This bodes well.
10/28/14: Just as they were building to a bliss jam, Page is over to electric piano and now things are super-mellow. Trey adding whales.
10/28/14: Gorgeous. I love rock/bliss Phish, but this kind of thing is why I keep buying tickets.
10/28/14: -> Mountains in the Mist! Holy shit!
10/28/14: Fuego next. Interesting juxtaposition.
10/28/14: Neat sort of Type 1.5 jam at the end of Fuego. Slow segue into Julius.
10/28/14: Late-set Twist! Woo!
10/28/14: I've loved just about every Twist since the beginning of '13 and am always waiting for them to take it deep.
10/28/14: Oh, I should mention that Julius was extra blues-rocky. Some more Trey shredding on par with the Mike's Groove in S1.
10/28/14: Fantastic, minimalist blues jam so far. Page on piano, Trey bending notes all over the place.
10/28/14: Mike is dropping some evil robot spider bass-bombs over the blues jam now. Pushes everyone into a more evil, circular jam.
10/28/14: Really gorgeous melodic solo from Trey powered by a great repetitive bass riff from Mike. Wow.
10/28/14: Ambient fadeout > Jim, of all things.
10/28/14: Tangly, atonal jam in Jim. This is way more interesting than I'd expected. Page hammering the piano into the ground.
10/28/14: Grungy feedback ending resolves into Hood!
10/28/14: This set didn't look particularly awesome on paper but man it is SO AWESOME.
10/28/14: Maybe my favorite non-Eugene part of the tour so far. Probably objectively better than Eugene, but I'm biased :)
10/28/14: Massive crowd cheer during the glowstick war section of Hood.
10/28/14: 'Let's hear it for the Chairman of the Boards!' shouted during the breakdown pre-jam. #phish #crowdbanter
10/28/14: Somewhat more typical noodling > build structure to this Hood.
10/28/14: Belay that. 7:30 left turn into dark-rock madness.
10/28/14: Now moved to a jam that sounds like a cross between Plasma and Undermind.
10/28/14: Seamless move back into Hood-land.
10/28/14: Trey is teasing something...fuck, what is it?
10/28/14: It was Have Mercy! Whew, thanks @phishnet for saving my sanity.
10/28/14: Epic build to the outro of the song.
10/28/14: On SBD, after Hood, a woman yelling 'Excuse me, but I am their biggest fan!' Pleased to meet you! #phish #crowdbanter
10/28/14: Lovin' Cup encore!
10/28/14: Fantastic show.
Jan 27, 2015
Jan 22, 2015
2014-10-27 BGCA I
The Verdict:
I wasn't as impressed by the first night at BGCA as everyone else was, apparently. And not because I'm trying to be difficult. Instead, it's just because it didn't do much to distinguish itself from most of the other shows I've listened to from this tour. When the band jams, they do it with a precision and an intention that's quite possibly unique across three decades of improvisation. And I really appreciate how amazing that is. But I'd almost prefer they sacrifice a bit of that to make these shows surprising. Part of what made summer '14 great was the amazing jamming, but it was also a sense of never knowing what might happen next. Fall '14 only really has one of those things. And damn, that's way better than nothing, and it's way better than all the "average-great" shows of '09-'12, but repetition has a way of making even brilliance seem dull.
So, here we've got a first set that's got a lot of great song choices that don't really hang together well. Those songs are played with a lot of energy but also in some places a surprising lack of preciseness. There is no improvisation to speak of. It's neat to hear "Walfredo." I like "Camel Walk" and "Brian and Robert." "Party Time" gets funked out a little bit. That's all.
And, also keeping with the template, we have a second set where brilliant, short jams are joined together by tenuous segues that are either clever or total ripcords, and a section of the set (either the middle or the end) sags and veers into jukebox territory. It leaves you wanting more but feeling bad that you're not happy enough with what you have.
"Sand" is a really interesting S1 version of the song. I recommend it, but don't come in expecting a huge space jam because it's not there. Trey is a monster on "Birds" > "WAN," making that sequence more interesting than it might look on paper. "Ghost" reminds me of the "Chalkdust" -> "Ghost" bliss jam from 10/21, and "Seven Below" gets a great, guitar-led reading. "2001" is pure old-school Phish funk in the best way, but it's paired with the worst, most tenuous "Slave" I've heard in a really long time.
The Live Review:
10/27/14: Walfredo opener! Perfect!
10/27/14: Ocelot in the two-spot. I suppose it's a good early choice for SF, but still assuming it'll be boring.
10/27/14: Okay, have to admit that Trey is on top of his game with the screechy, almost-whale-y Ocelot tone here.
10/27/14: How's that for damning with slight praise? :)
10/27/14: Camel Walk!
10/27/14: Really slow, grungy Simple tease from Trey.
10/27/14: Axila I is next. High-energy, mostly old-school S1 so far. Would Axila II count as a bustout at this point? Would love to hear it.
10/27/14: Rift! Also known as Most Played S1 Song This Year.
10/27/14: A quick trip to @phishnet would probably prove me wrong, there, but it sure feels that way.
10/27/14: Rift was one of the weaker takes of the year, fwiw.
10/27/14: This tension-y version of Maze is chord-filled, in the vein of the awesome Eugene version.
10/27/14: Brian and Robert! I'll never get sick of this one.
10/27/14: Decent tension-y Stash. Pretty standard. S1s seem to be moving away from improv (again) and focusing on song choice + energy.
10/27/14: Which is fine, but I'd sure love more S1s like the Eugene one.
10/27/14: Page on clav for Party Time mini-jam.
10/27/14: That Party Time seemed to go a bit longer than usual.
10/27/14: Trey shreds a short 46 Days, and end set.
10/27/14: Sort of a weird set in terms of flow. Lots of great songs getting played (mostly) well.
10/27/14: So, really nothing to set it apart from most fall '14 S1s.
10/27/14: Seemed like there were more surprises in the first half during summer shows. But there have been some killer S2s in fall so far...
10/27/14: Sand! Love this as a S2 opener, though it always makes me think I'm listening to an early 2000s TAB show for a minute.
10/27/14: This one rides the train to heavy distortion and clav Funkytown right away.
10/27/14: Trey-loop section breaks away from the funk a little, but afterward Page shifts back to the clav. Loops + clav = happiness.
10/27/14: Trey breaks into a cool melody part, but that actually seems to break the jam, somehow. Everybody stops, then suddenly > Birds.
10/27/14: Trey just dropped some VERY 90s style playing into that Birds. WAN is next. Great choice for a needed cool-down.
10/27/14: Another great solo from Trey on WAN.
10/27/14: Trey is either playing slightly out of key (on purpose) or using some sort of modulator for Ghost. Either way, wow.
10/27/14: Not playing wrong notes, definitely doing it on purpose. My money's on an effect of some kind.
10/27/14: This off-key thing is freaking me ouuuuuuuuuuuuuut.
10/27/14: Early off-key dissonance jam fading into melodic, mellow space.
10/27/14: Still very melodic jamming, but with Fish heavy on drums.
10/27/14: Page on electric piano now.
10/27/14: Angry, Steam-sounding jam emerging now.
10/27/14: Jam winds to a natural close, > Bug.
10/27/14: That was an appropriately epic ending to Bug.
10/27/14: Really pretty Page-led jam coming out of this Seven Below. Jazzy.
10/27/14: Now we're back in straight-up Trey-rock-shredding territory, but he's doing a hell of a job of it.
10/27/14: Jam doesn't get too weird, but is amazing the whole way through despite being sort-of Type 1.5.
10/27/14: I Didn't Know is next. Weird placement, but who cares. Great 'song.'
10/27/14: Late-set CDT, though something tells me that this one isn't going to go deep.
10/27/14: Trey shredding again. He's been ON FIRE during this set. If you miss guitar-centered #phish, check this set out.
10/27/14: Short CDT. 2001 next!
10/27/14: Super old-school dirty funk happening here. Almost two minutes in and no 2001 riff in sight.
10/27/14: Reminds me of the Dick's Mike's jam.
10/27/14: Hmm. After that awesome 2001, a shaky and perfunctory Slave ends the set.
10/27/14: Take Me Out To the Ballgame instrumental to start off the encore.
10/27/14: Winterqueen, ADITL is probably the weirdest encore combo in THE UNIVERSE
10/27/14: Incidentally, hearing A Day In the Life live is one of my few #phish wishes that the band hasn't already answered.
10/27/14: Maybe at the four-night Gorge run this summer? :)
10/27/14: And that's that. Another weird-ish show in the way 10/25 was weird...but there were a few monster jams stuck in there.
I wasn't as impressed by the first night at BGCA as everyone else was, apparently. And not because I'm trying to be difficult. Instead, it's just because it didn't do much to distinguish itself from most of the other shows I've listened to from this tour. When the band jams, they do it with a precision and an intention that's quite possibly unique across three decades of improvisation. And I really appreciate how amazing that is. But I'd almost prefer they sacrifice a bit of that to make these shows surprising. Part of what made summer '14 great was the amazing jamming, but it was also a sense of never knowing what might happen next. Fall '14 only really has one of those things. And damn, that's way better than nothing, and it's way better than all the "average-great" shows of '09-'12, but repetition has a way of making even brilliance seem dull.
So, here we've got a first set that's got a lot of great song choices that don't really hang together well. Those songs are played with a lot of energy but also in some places a surprising lack of preciseness. There is no improvisation to speak of. It's neat to hear "Walfredo." I like "Camel Walk" and "Brian and Robert." "Party Time" gets funked out a little bit. That's all.
And, also keeping with the template, we have a second set where brilliant, short jams are joined together by tenuous segues that are either clever or total ripcords, and a section of the set (either the middle or the end) sags and veers into jukebox territory. It leaves you wanting more but feeling bad that you're not happy enough with what you have.
"Sand" is a really interesting S1 version of the song. I recommend it, but don't come in expecting a huge space jam because it's not there. Trey is a monster on "Birds" > "WAN," making that sequence more interesting than it might look on paper. "Ghost" reminds me of the "Chalkdust" -> "Ghost" bliss jam from 10/21, and "Seven Below" gets a great, guitar-led reading. "2001" is pure old-school Phish funk in the best way, but it's paired with the worst, most tenuous "Slave" I've heard in a really long time.
The Live Review:
10/27/14: Walfredo opener! Perfect!
10/27/14: Ocelot in the two-spot. I suppose it's a good early choice for SF, but still assuming it'll be boring.
10/27/14: Okay, have to admit that Trey is on top of his game with the screechy, almost-whale-y Ocelot tone here.
10/27/14: How's that for damning with slight praise? :)
10/27/14: Camel Walk!
10/27/14: Really slow, grungy Simple tease from Trey.
10/27/14: Axila I is next. High-energy, mostly old-school S1 so far. Would Axila II count as a bustout at this point? Would love to hear it.
10/27/14: Rift! Also known as Most Played S1 Song This Year.
10/27/14: A quick trip to @phishnet would probably prove me wrong, there, but it sure feels that way.
10/27/14: Rift was one of the weaker takes of the year, fwiw.
10/27/14: This tension-y version of Maze is chord-filled, in the vein of the awesome Eugene version.
10/27/14: Brian and Robert! I'll never get sick of this one.
10/27/14: Decent tension-y Stash. Pretty standard. S1s seem to be moving away from improv (again) and focusing on song choice + energy.
10/27/14: Which is fine, but I'd sure love more S1s like the Eugene one.
10/27/14: Page on clav for Party Time mini-jam.
10/27/14: That Party Time seemed to go a bit longer than usual.
10/27/14: Trey shreds a short 46 Days, and end set.
10/27/14: Sort of a weird set in terms of flow. Lots of great songs getting played (mostly) well.
10/27/14: So, really nothing to set it apart from most fall '14 S1s.
10/27/14: Seemed like there were more surprises in the first half during summer shows. But there have been some killer S2s in fall so far...
10/27/14: Sand! Love this as a S2 opener, though it always makes me think I'm listening to an early 2000s TAB show for a minute.
10/27/14: This one rides the train to heavy distortion and clav Funkytown right away.
10/27/14: Trey-loop section breaks away from the funk a little, but afterward Page shifts back to the clav. Loops + clav = happiness.
10/27/14: Trey breaks into a cool melody part, but that actually seems to break the jam, somehow. Everybody stops, then suddenly > Birds.
10/27/14: Trey just dropped some VERY 90s style playing into that Birds. WAN is next. Great choice for a needed cool-down.
10/27/14: Another great solo from Trey on WAN.
10/27/14: Trey is either playing slightly out of key (on purpose) or using some sort of modulator for Ghost. Either way, wow.
10/27/14: Not playing wrong notes, definitely doing it on purpose. My money's on an effect of some kind.
10/27/14: This off-key thing is freaking me ouuuuuuuuuuuuuut.
10/27/14: Early off-key dissonance jam fading into melodic, mellow space.
10/27/14: Still very melodic jamming, but with Fish heavy on drums.
10/27/14: Page on electric piano now.
10/27/14: Angry, Steam-sounding jam emerging now.
10/27/14: Jam winds to a natural close, > Bug.
10/27/14: That was an appropriately epic ending to Bug.
10/27/14: Really pretty Page-led jam coming out of this Seven Below. Jazzy.
10/27/14: Now we're back in straight-up Trey-rock-shredding territory, but he's doing a hell of a job of it.
10/27/14: Jam doesn't get too weird, but is amazing the whole way through despite being sort-of Type 1.5.
10/27/14: I Didn't Know is next. Weird placement, but who cares. Great 'song.'
10/27/14: Late-set CDT, though something tells me that this one isn't going to go deep.
10/27/14: Trey shredding again. He's been ON FIRE during this set. If you miss guitar-centered #phish, check this set out.
10/27/14: Short CDT. 2001 next!
10/27/14: Super old-school dirty funk happening here. Almost two minutes in and no 2001 riff in sight.
10/27/14: Reminds me of the Dick's Mike's jam.
10/27/14: Hmm. After that awesome 2001, a shaky and perfunctory Slave ends the set.
10/27/14: Take Me Out To the Ballgame instrumental to start off the encore.
10/27/14: Winterqueen, ADITL is probably the weirdest encore combo in THE UNIVERSE
10/27/14: Incidentally, hearing A Day In the Life live is one of my few #phish wishes that the band hasn't already answered.
10/27/14: Maybe at the four-night Gorge run this summer? :)
10/27/14: And that's that. Another weird-ish show in the way 10/25 was weird...but there were a few monster jams stuck in there.
2014-10-25 Sleep Train
The Verdict:
This one-off show in Chula Vista is another weird one, in what has so far been a tour of shows that have bounced from amazing to below par, sometimes a few times within a single show. The first set The first set starts off as a run through a neat selections of songs that's satisfying in a Plain Jane first-set sort of way: the boys are playing with a lot of energy and that always-elusive flow is really working. This culminates in a multifaceted "Wolfman's" that is about one movement away from being worthy of inclusion in a second set. Then, the guys dig deep for some oldies, but where the setlist looks the best near the end of the set, the playing gets really shaky..."Timber" and "Tela" are both a bit of a mess, which detracts from the precision of the rest of the set.
The second set provides one marquee jam in the "Golden Age." Trey butchers the song proper (as per usual), but the jam itself goes from funk to space and then to space-funk, so you know I love it. However, it ends suddenly in a weird segue to "Gotta Jibboo," of all things, and that sets the tone for the rest of the second set. It's standard late '14 fare, with great improvisation, but only in the form of mini-jams that often get yanked just as they're getting interesting. Sometimes this new S2 style works for the band, when the segues really work, but here a few of them are just too sudden and too awkward, and the "clever" transitions really mess up some fantastic playing. The "Carini" > "Piper" > "Caspian" > "Tweezer" sequence is great, but you'll have to wince every few minutes when they switch songs, which takes some of the fun out of it. If they could pull off these transitions more reliably, the momentum of these sets would mesh brilliantly with some of the fantastic improv they've been laying down lately in < 5 minute increments...but they're not there yet, it seems.
The Live Review:
10/25/14: Well, there have certainly been better show opener choices in history than Devotion To a Dream.
10/25/14: High energy Bag in the two-slot. I'll just pretend the show started here :)
10/25/14: Standard version, but with some extra horseradish mustard. Weird, awesome, sort-of ->
My Sweet One.
10/25/14: Long pause before the last 'naaaaaaaaaaaame.'
10/25/14: They could play Moma 300 times a year (like they actually do) and I wouldn't mind. Love this song.
10/25/14: Halley's Comet next. Standard S1 stuff so far, but great song choices and higher energy than usual. Hoping it'll break out.
10/25/14: Sudden end to Halley's. That was weird. Funky Bitch next.
10/25/14: Weird start to Wolfman's Brother, too. Not 10/21 shaky, but a little shaky.
10/25/14: Wolfman's ending with a vocal jam.
10/25/14: Okay, back out of the vocal jam into some psych-funk.
10/25/14: Great version of Wolfman's there.
10/25/14: Jamming Destiny Unbound with Page on the clav.
1025/14: Timber, after a little Destiny jam. Trey is having some trouble finding the right key.
10/25/14: Holy Tela!
10/25/14: Loving the setlist here, but dipping back into the oldies seems to have made their playing rougher than in the first half.
10/25/14: Wingsuit. If it's the end, it's good placement for a new song after the oldies.
10/25/14: Second-set Free opener. Putting in a request early for 'decent harmonies.'
10/25/14: It'd be nice if '12 Trey taught '14 Trey how to play and sing Golden Age.
10/25/14: Neat looping in the jam. Page with some gorgeous piano overtop of it. Coordinated left turn into funk now.
10/25/14: Pink Floyd-sounding reprise of the Golden Age riff now, into space jam. Awesome.
10/25/14: This totally wacky space jam is still managing to be pretty melodic.
10/25/14: Trey's garroting of the song > Jibboo was somewhere between a ripcord and a natural fade.
10/25/14: Fantastic soloing from Trey, actually. Page is playing off of him wonderfully. This is a great (short) take on the song.
10/25/14: Golden Age > Jibboo is the first legit highlight of this show, unless you like slightly-better-than-usual versions of Wolfman's.
10/25/14: CARINI. Now things is serious.
10/25/14: Jam starts w/ really dark and creepy melodic solo from Trey.
10/25/14: Few moments of bliss jamming at the end of that Carini, then a somewhat smooth > Piper. Probably not a ->, but maybe.
10/25/14: I love Fish's drumming on this song, always.
10/25/14: Trey and Page really minimalist now. Mike showcase.
10/25/14: Page going nuts on the electric organ (?). Really fast-paced, almost Birds-like jam. Really cool.
10/25/14: Trey reasserting himself with a wall of distortion.
10/25/14: Really weird and sudden drop into Caspian. The segues tonight are just flat-out weird.
10/25/14: Neat, drone-y mini-jam out of Caspian...into Tweezer! Nice segue.
10/25/14: Woo jam in Tweezer. Brings back some great memories :)
10/25/14: This one's way more funk than bliss-rock though. After the woos, Trey goes digging for a bit while Mike takes over the wheel.
10/25/14: Another segue out of the funk jam into Rock and Roll. Huh.
10/25/14: This is such a weird fucking set.
10/25/14: Can't decide if great mini-jams and decent segues make up for lack of further exploration.
10/25/14: I guess I could just dance to this rock and roll station, and it would be all right.
10/25/14: Super short RnR > YEM. Clearly the band thinks they're kicking ass. They might be. I'm still not sure.
10/25/14: Solid YEM. Vocal jam is a bit yodel-y.
10/25/14: End set.
10/25/14: First set had some great song choices but really up-and-down in terms of energy and clarity.
10/25/14: Second set was of the 'mini-jams with segues' variety, but some of the segues were weak
and the jams left me wanting more.
10/25/14: Lots of small moments worth hearing, so I'm not disappointed...but a very weird show. I blame the lidocaine.
10/25/14: Suzy for the encore. Tweeprise next, presumably.
10/25/14: Yup.
This one-off show in Chula Vista is another weird one, in what has so far been a tour of shows that have bounced from amazing to below par, sometimes a few times within a single show. The first set The first set starts off as a run through a neat selections of songs that's satisfying in a Plain Jane first-set sort of way: the boys are playing with a lot of energy and that always-elusive flow is really working. This culminates in a multifaceted "Wolfman's" that is about one movement away from being worthy of inclusion in a second set. Then, the guys dig deep for some oldies, but where the setlist looks the best near the end of the set, the playing gets really shaky..."Timber" and "Tela" are both a bit of a mess, which detracts from the precision of the rest of the set.
The second set provides one marquee jam in the "Golden Age." Trey butchers the song proper (as per usual), but the jam itself goes from funk to space and then to space-funk, so you know I love it. However, it ends suddenly in a weird segue to "Gotta Jibboo," of all things, and that sets the tone for the rest of the second set. It's standard late '14 fare, with great improvisation, but only in the form of mini-jams that often get yanked just as they're getting interesting. Sometimes this new S2 style works for the band, when the segues really work, but here a few of them are just too sudden and too awkward, and the "clever" transitions really mess up some fantastic playing. The "Carini" > "Piper" > "Caspian" > "Tweezer" sequence is great, but you'll have to wince every few minutes when they switch songs, which takes some of the fun out of it. If they could pull off these transitions more reliably, the momentum of these sets would mesh brilliantly with some of the fantastic improv they've been laying down lately in < 5 minute increments...but they're not there yet, it seems.
The Live Review:
10/25/14: Well, there have certainly been better show opener choices in history than Devotion To a Dream.
10/25/14: High energy Bag in the two-slot. I'll just pretend the show started here :)
10/25/14: Standard version, but with some extra horseradish mustard. Weird, awesome, sort-of ->
My Sweet One.
10/25/14: Long pause before the last 'naaaaaaaaaaaame.'
10/25/14: They could play Moma 300 times a year (like they actually do) and I wouldn't mind. Love this song.
10/25/14: Halley's Comet next. Standard S1 stuff so far, but great song choices and higher energy than usual. Hoping it'll break out.
10/25/14: Sudden end to Halley's. That was weird. Funky Bitch next.
10/25/14: Weird start to Wolfman's Brother, too. Not 10/21 shaky, but a little shaky.
10/25/14: Wolfman's ending with a vocal jam.
10/25/14: Okay, back out of the vocal jam into some psych-funk.
10/25/14: Great version of Wolfman's there.
10/25/14: Jamming Destiny Unbound with Page on the clav.
1025/14: Timber, after a little Destiny jam. Trey is having some trouble finding the right key.
10/25/14: Holy Tela!
10/25/14: Loving the setlist here, but dipping back into the oldies seems to have made their playing rougher than in the first half.
10/25/14: Wingsuit. If it's the end, it's good placement for a new song after the oldies.
10/25/14: Second-set Free opener. Putting in a request early for 'decent harmonies.'
10/25/14: It'd be nice if '12 Trey taught '14 Trey how to play and sing Golden Age.
10/25/14: Neat looping in the jam. Page with some gorgeous piano overtop of it. Coordinated left turn into funk now.
10/25/14: Pink Floyd-sounding reprise of the Golden Age riff now, into space jam. Awesome.
10/25/14: This totally wacky space jam is still managing to be pretty melodic.
10/25/14: Trey's garroting of the song > Jibboo was somewhere between a ripcord and a natural fade.
10/25/14: Fantastic soloing from Trey, actually. Page is playing off of him wonderfully. This is a great (short) take on the song.
10/25/14: Golden Age > Jibboo is the first legit highlight of this show, unless you like slightly-better-than-usual versions of Wolfman's.
10/25/14: CARINI. Now things is serious.
10/25/14: Jam starts w/ really dark and creepy melodic solo from Trey.
10/25/14: Few moments of bliss jamming at the end of that Carini, then a somewhat smooth > Piper. Probably not a ->, but maybe.
10/25/14: I love Fish's drumming on this song, always.
10/25/14: Trey and Page really minimalist now. Mike showcase.
10/25/14: Page going nuts on the electric organ (?). Really fast-paced, almost Birds-like jam. Really cool.
10/25/14: Trey reasserting himself with a wall of distortion.
10/25/14: Really weird and sudden drop into Caspian. The segues tonight are just flat-out weird.
10/25/14: Neat, drone-y mini-jam out of Caspian...into Tweezer! Nice segue.
10/25/14: Woo jam in Tweezer. Brings back some great memories :)
10/25/14: This one's way more funk than bliss-rock though. After the woos, Trey goes digging for a bit while Mike takes over the wheel.
10/25/14: Another segue out of the funk jam into Rock and Roll. Huh.
10/25/14: This is such a weird fucking set.
10/25/14: Can't decide if great mini-jams and decent segues make up for lack of further exploration.
10/25/14: I guess I could just dance to this rock and roll station, and it would be all right.
10/25/14: Super short RnR > YEM. Clearly the band thinks they're kicking ass. They might be. I'm still not sure.
10/25/14: Solid YEM. Vocal jam is a bit yodel-y.
10/25/14: End set.
10/25/14: First set had some great song choices but really up-and-down in terms of energy and clarity.
10/25/14: Second set was of the 'mini-jams with segues' variety, but some of the segues were weak
and the jams left me wanting more.
10/25/14: Lots of small moments worth hearing, so I'm not disappointed...but a very weird show. I blame the lidocaine.
10/25/14: Suzy for the encore. Tweeprise next, presumably.
10/25/14: Yup.
Jan 15, 2015
2014-10-24 The Forum
The Verdict:
So the short version of the Forum show: it's another outstanding late '14 first set, and a second set that seems like another great first set except for an astounding "Disease" and a great "Hood" encore.
I'm almost always conflicted about shows like this. Are they great, high-energy shows that eventually ramp up even higher for a few transcendent minutes? Or do the highs underline how much better the rest could have been? I could go either way, really, but here I'm leaning toward the former interpretation over the latter.
I mean, just look at that first set. "It's Ice" and "Tube" both get the funk treatment, "Train Song" and "Divided Sky" are in there, the "Gin" is a perfectly-played teasefest, and the "Ghost" is actually pretty decent for the first set, or any set.
The second set is less cohesive, but the "Bowie" is nothing to sneeze at, the "Hood" upholds a great '14 tradition of expansive versions while staying a bit more in the box than many versions since Hollywood, and the "Disease" really is transcendent.
The Live Review:
10/24/14: Finally get to hear this Forum show I've been hearing so much about. 46 Days opener.
10/24/14: 46 Days > Tube is a great start. Tube's getting a great clav interlude right now.
10/24/14: I love the little funk jams coming out of Tube lately. Of course, I wish that they were big funk jams.
10/24/14: Fuckin' TRAIN SONG! Would love to hear this live someday.
10/24/14: Oh. According to @phishnet I have. BGCA '13. Well, that's nice.
10/24/14: Obviously it made a huge impression at the time :)
10/24/14: First set...Ghost? Okay, I'm paying attention, if I wasn't already.
10/24/14: Love Ghost in the first set because it's not a song like Gin that they can just solo over for 4-5 minutes. Forces some real improv
10/24/14: Jam goes back around to the Ghost ending. When was the last time they actually played the ending? Pretty cool.
10/24/14: Even the Sparkle > Sample is cracking with energy. This is a great set so far.
10/24/14: Holy crap, Divided Sky! Weird how that's become a rarity again.
10/24/14: Great Divided Sky. Next up is The Line.
10/24/14: The Line was actually a bit rough. But now...It's Ice. One of my favorite parts of the 7/16 show this summer.
10/24/14: And just like 7/16, it gets the funk interlude. Nice!
10/24/14: Sort of sounded like they were somehow going to do a -> 20 Years there. But KDF instead.
10/24/14: That was a better-than-average KDF. Now, Gin!
10/24/14: Fucking *Low Rider* tease from Page and Trey in Gin. What the hell? Hilarious.
10/24/14: Pretty thorough Long Tall Glasses tease too. It's like the 90s up in here at the moment.
10/24/14: This is a great, cleverly building Type I Gin. Fish is driving. And that's never a bad thing.
10/24/14: Set break (i.e., I'm biking back up to my office for the next 20 minutes).
10/24/14: Another great S1. Mini-Ghost jam, great Gin w/ teases, song selection is top notch, high energy, a few funk interludes.
10/24/14: S2 starts off with 555. Which reminds of the greatest question in #phish fandom today: Why are there no 20 minute 555s yet?
10/24/14: Number Line next. Weird opening to S2, unless this goes deep.
10/24/14: Standard, chordy '14 Number Line.
10/24/14: > DWD, though!
10/24/14: Page is over to the electric piano right quick.
10/24/14: Trey actually leading with some interesting melodic noodling instead of chording.
10/24/14: He's been getting better at that in fall, as compared to summer when the chording was sometimes a little crutch-y sounding.
10/24/14: STILL BETTER THAN THE WHALE IN '10 THOUGH
10/24/14: Slow, patient build to a circular, tension-y space that reminds me a little of a Stash jam. Dissonant, now.
10/24/14: Getting evil now.
10/24/14: Mike is totally killing it right now. Bliss jam with some really interesting tones from everyone.
10/24/14: Total bliss-rock conclusion. Trey just hit one of those Tahoe Tweezer peak notes that just blows your fucking mind apart.
10/24/14: This is a serious jam, folks. Not just great, but like, 'best of '14' conversation material.
10/24/14: Fantastically cool u-turn into Fuego at the peak of the jam...but then they can't all get on the same page and Page restarts 'em.
10/24/14: That could have been much cooler. But hell, that Disease!
10/24/14: Weird, fuzzy, spacey jam (with loops!) to end Fuego. Then sounded like they were trying to set up a segue again, but sudden Twist.
10/24/14: Oh well. I like Twist.
10/24/14: Standard, swanky '14 Twist. A little short. Bouncin' is next. Great playing here, but could use a bit more legit improv.
10/24/14: Not on the Bouncin', just in general :)
10/24/14: Bowie helps :) A slightly extended intro and come really intentional noodling from Trey helps even more.
10/24/14: Zero'd. Weird second set. Disease was amazing and Bowie was better than most recent takes, but mostly by-the-book otherwise.
10/24/14: Hood encore! Guys playing a LOT with the intro...for 3.0, at least :)
10/24/14: Starts off really noodly and delicate. Fish is picking up the beat now. He's really been more of a motivating force in this show.
10/24/14: Great build to the outro, long held note from Trey to kick it off.
10/24/14: Before '14, this would have been an exemplary version. Now it's just one of many :)
10/24/14: Grind to close. Great show, though a bit less improv-full than other recent offerings.
10/24/14: Lots of band chatter over the a capella mics beforehand. Nothing incriminating, though.
So the short version of the Forum show: it's another outstanding late '14 first set, and a second set that seems like another great first set except for an astounding "Disease" and a great "Hood" encore.
I'm almost always conflicted about shows like this. Are they great, high-energy shows that eventually ramp up even higher for a few transcendent minutes? Or do the highs underline how much better the rest could have been? I could go either way, really, but here I'm leaning toward the former interpretation over the latter.
I mean, just look at that first set. "It's Ice" and "Tube" both get the funk treatment, "Train Song" and "Divided Sky" are in there, the "Gin" is a perfectly-played teasefest, and the "Ghost" is actually pretty decent for the first set, or any set.
The second set is less cohesive, but the "Bowie" is nothing to sneeze at, the "Hood" upholds a great '14 tradition of expansive versions while staying a bit more in the box than many versions since Hollywood, and the "Disease" really is transcendent.
The Live Review:
10/24/14: Finally get to hear this Forum show I've been hearing so much about. 46 Days opener.
10/24/14: 46 Days > Tube is a great start. Tube's getting a great clav interlude right now.
10/24/14: I love the little funk jams coming out of Tube lately. Of course, I wish that they were big funk jams.
10/24/14: Fuckin' TRAIN SONG! Would love to hear this live someday.
10/24/14: Oh. According to @phishnet I have. BGCA '13. Well, that's nice.
10/24/14: Obviously it made a huge impression at the time :)
10/24/14: First set...Ghost? Okay, I'm paying attention, if I wasn't already.
10/24/14: Love Ghost in the first set because it's not a song like Gin that they can just solo over for 4-5 minutes. Forces some real improv
10/24/14: Jam goes back around to the Ghost ending. When was the last time they actually played the ending? Pretty cool.
10/24/14: Even the Sparkle > Sample is cracking with energy. This is a great set so far.
10/24/14: Holy crap, Divided Sky! Weird how that's become a rarity again.
10/24/14: Great Divided Sky. Next up is The Line.
10/24/14: The Line was actually a bit rough. But now...It's Ice. One of my favorite parts of the 7/16 show this summer.
10/24/14: And just like 7/16, it gets the funk interlude. Nice!
10/24/14: Sort of sounded like they were somehow going to do a -> 20 Years there. But KDF instead.
10/24/14: That was a better-than-average KDF. Now, Gin!
10/24/14: Fucking *Low Rider* tease from Page and Trey in Gin. What the hell? Hilarious.
10/24/14: Pretty thorough Long Tall Glasses tease too. It's like the 90s up in here at the moment.
10/24/14: This is a great, cleverly building Type I Gin. Fish is driving. And that's never a bad thing.
10/24/14: Set break (i.e., I'm biking back up to my office for the next 20 minutes).
10/24/14: Another great S1. Mini-Ghost jam, great Gin w/ teases, song selection is top notch, high energy, a few funk interludes.
10/24/14: S2 starts off with 555. Which reminds of the greatest question in #phish fandom today: Why are there no 20 minute 555s yet?
10/24/14: Number Line next. Weird opening to S2, unless this goes deep.
10/24/14: Standard, chordy '14 Number Line.
10/24/14: > DWD, though!
10/24/14: Page is over to the electric piano right quick.
10/24/14: Trey actually leading with some interesting melodic noodling instead of chording.
10/24/14: He's been getting better at that in fall, as compared to summer when the chording was sometimes a little crutch-y sounding.
10/24/14: STILL BETTER THAN THE WHALE IN '10 THOUGH
10/24/14: Slow, patient build to a circular, tension-y space that reminds me a little of a Stash jam. Dissonant, now.
10/24/14: Getting evil now.
10/24/14: Mike is totally killing it right now. Bliss jam with some really interesting tones from everyone.
10/24/14: Total bliss-rock conclusion. Trey just hit one of those Tahoe Tweezer peak notes that just blows your fucking mind apart.
10/24/14: This is a serious jam, folks. Not just great, but like, 'best of '14' conversation material.
10/24/14: Fantastically cool u-turn into Fuego at the peak of the jam...but then they can't all get on the same page and Page restarts 'em.
10/24/14: That could have been much cooler. But hell, that Disease!
10/24/14: Weird, fuzzy, spacey jam (with loops!) to end Fuego. Then sounded like they were trying to set up a segue again, but sudden Twist.
10/24/14: Oh well. I like Twist.
10/24/14: Standard, swanky '14 Twist. A little short. Bouncin' is next. Great playing here, but could use a bit more legit improv.
10/24/14: Not on the Bouncin', just in general :)
10/24/14: Bowie helps :) A slightly extended intro and come really intentional noodling from Trey helps even more.
10/24/14: Zero'd. Weird second set. Disease was amazing and Bowie was better than most recent takes, but mostly by-the-book otherwise.
10/24/14: Hood encore! Guys playing a LOT with the intro...for 3.0, at least :)
10/24/14: Starts off really noodly and delicate. Fish is picking up the beat now. He's really been more of a motivating force in this show.
10/24/14: Great build to the outro, long held note from Trey to kick it off.
10/24/14: Before '14, this would have been an exemplary version. Now it's just one of many :)
10/24/14: Grind to close. Great show, though a bit less improv-full than other recent offerings.
10/24/14: Lots of band chatter over the a capella mics beforehand. Nothing incriminating, though.
Jan 8, 2015
2014-10-22 Santa Barbara II
The Verdict:
Where Santa Barbara I was a disappointment with one shining moment in the middle, the second night was a great show with one disappointment at the end. I guess that's in improvement.
Well, actually, it really is. The first set is the epitome of the warm-up set, but in the best way. The song selection is great, the energy is high throughout, everything gels for ninety or so minutes and all signs of unease from the night before are gone. "Split" is the only slight improvisational highlight here: it goes minimalist right at the start of the jam and stays that way for the song's entire running time, aided near the end by Trey's echoplex and some fantastically atmospheric drumming by Fish. Check it out. Overall, this is one of my favorite first sets in awhile.
The second set starts off strong, with a "Drowned" that I honestly have a hard time describing, but that goes through a few satisfactory jam spaces without landing in any of the tried-and-true (or, for the more cynical, "boring") places the band usually goes, at least to get their footing before pushing off again. This is a really unique jam, and I really like it for that. It's followed by a "Theme" that gets a funk outro jam, of all things, before things sort of settle down.
I say "sort of" because while most of the rest of the show is the band in jukebox mode, they're still playing with a lot of spirit, which makes the last two thirds of the second set really fun when it might have otherwise been disappointing. I'd be lying if I wasn't a little disappointed at not seeing any late-set improvisation after such a strong opening frame and the great "Drowned" > "Theme," but overall this is still a much stronger show than last night and for that I'm grateful.
The Live Review:
10/22/14: Hopefully tonight will be a little more consistent than last night.
10/22/14: Though I wouldn't totally hate another uneven show with a gem like that CDT -> Ghost.
10/22/14: Soul Shakedown opener!
10/22/14: Solid The Wedge as a followup, and now a slanky Undermind. Sounding much more confident and energetic tonight.
10/22/14: Horn! Loving this song selection.
10/22/14: Ya Mar! Now THIS is a great, first-setty first set.
10/22/14: Jesus Just Left Chicago! It's like they're consulting with me on this setlist...
10/22/14: ASIHTOS! Seriously, this is ridiculous.
10/22/14: I should clarify that all these songs are being played competently by 2013-2014 S1 standards and not doing anything interesting.
10/22/14: But they all just fit together SO WELL.
10/22/14: Trey putting in some spooky-sounding minimalist playing here. Page filling in the blanks.
10/22/14: Winterqueen is the first hiccup so far.
10/22/14: Actually, they've come up with a few gorgeous little jams out of this song so far this year. But sometimes not.
10/22/14: I really love the beat Fish comes in with after the drop in Winterqueen. Reminds me of the best parts of Round Room.
10/22/14: This one falls in the middle. Neat jam, but not gorgeous, necessarily.
10/22/14: My Friend! This is still an awesome set, even if they continue to play it straight.
10/22/14: Split next. This is first time the band has sounded a little rough all night.
10/22/14: Jam starts out really minimal. Trey and Page droning a bit. Fish is up front.
10/22/14: Sounds like Trey's combining some spooky feedback and his echoplex. Neat effect, though if you like shredding Splits...
10/22/14: ...not gonna be your favorite.
10/22/14: This is going to stay spooky and abstract throughout. I like it.
10/22/14: Set's not over! Walls!
10/22/14: This has become one of my favorite S1 songs over the last two years.
10/22/14: Heard it for the first time live in 2011 at Tahoe. Blew my face off.
10/22/14: Trey is shredding this version to pieces.
10/22/14: S2 opens with Drowned! Mike having a little trouble with the vocals.
10/22/14: Trey looping early in the jam.
10/22/14: Fading out and moving into a mellow zone now. Page on electric piano.
10/22/14: Really weird space now, not sure how to describe it, but really interesting.
10/22/14: Mike anchoring the weirdness with a great bassline.
10/22/14: Wow. Trey hitting a dark tone now, and shredding over the soundscape. This is great.
10/22/14: Trey going loop-crazy HOOOLY SHIT.
10/22/14: That one was seriously a keeper. What a jam.
10/22/14: Theme is next.
10/22/14: Okay, so the Theme jam just transitioned seamlessly into a funk jam. Yeah, that happened.
10/22/14: Seemed like there was going to be a perfect -> Manteca there for a minute, but there was a near-perfect -> Steam instead.
10/22/14: Band is killing it. Great show.
10/22/14: That was weird. Short Steam jam, Trey suddenly going all Pink Floyd tone-wise and then ten seconds later > Waves.
10/22/14: Lots of neat Trey-trilling here in the Waves jam.
10/22/14: Really slow, spacey fade to close Waves, vocal refrain only. > 20 years.
10/22/14: Late-show Scent! That's gotta be a good sign.
10/22/14: Marimba Lumina coming your way. Spooky vocals contributed by some band members, too.
10/22/14: 2001 next. Band settling into a sort-of jukebox thing here, but playing is still super-tight.
10/22/14: Standard take on 2001. Late Mike's is next.
10/22/14: Standard 3.0 Mike's, but Trey's hitting all the right notes. Like, literally, it's a good solo.
10/22/14: Tentative noodling to open the Jim jam.
10/22/14: Weekapaug starts up with Jim teases from Mike and then the whole band.
10/22/14: Trey just did a chorded Jim tease into a 2001 tease into another Jim tease.
10/22/14: The Horse > Silent is back again!
10/22/14: With the new piano Horse, I'd love to hear The Horse -> Wading > Silent sometime. Mellow as hell encore, though.
10/22/14: Antelope encore! Cool.
10/22/14: Trey with Soul Shakedown lyrics in Antelope. Whole band into reggae mode now, then back out.
10/22/14: Great first set, fantastic opening pair in S2, the rest is just solid jukeboxy fare. Overall, great show, but almost fantastic.
Where Santa Barbara I was a disappointment with one shining moment in the middle, the second night was a great show with one disappointment at the end. I guess that's in improvement.
Well, actually, it really is. The first set is the epitome of the warm-up set, but in the best way. The song selection is great, the energy is high throughout, everything gels for ninety or so minutes and all signs of unease from the night before are gone. "Split" is the only slight improvisational highlight here: it goes minimalist right at the start of the jam and stays that way for the song's entire running time, aided near the end by Trey's echoplex and some fantastically atmospheric drumming by Fish. Check it out. Overall, this is one of my favorite first sets in awhile.
The second set starts off strong, with a "Drowned" that I honestly have a hard time describing, but that goes through a few satisfactory jam spaces without landing in any of the tried-and-true (or, for the more cynical, "boring") places the band usually goes, at least to get their footing before pushing off again. This is a really unique jam, and I really like it for that. It's followed by a "Theme" that gets a funk outro jam, of all things, before things sort of settle down.
I say "sort of" because while most of the rest of the show is the band in jukebox mode, they're still playing with a lot of spirit, which makes the last two thirds of the second set really fun when it might have otherwise been disappointing. I'd be lying if I wasn't a little disappointed at not seeing any late-set improvisation after such a strong opening frame and the great "Drowned" > "Theme," but overall this is still a much stronger show than last night and for that I'm grateful.
The Live Review:
10/22/14: Hopefully tonight will be a little more consistent than last night.
10/22/14: Though I wouldn't totally hate another uneven show with a gem like that CDT -> Ghost.
10/22/14: Soul Shakedown opener!
10/22/14: Solid The Wedge as a followup, and now a slanky Undermind. Sounding much more confident and energetic tonight.
10/22/14: Horn! Loving this song selection.
10/22/14: Ya Mar! Now THIS is a great, first-setty first set.
10/22/14: Jesus Just Left Chicago! It's like they're consulting with me on this setlist...
10/22/14: ASIHTOS! Seriously, this is ridiculous.
10/22/14: I should clarify that all these songs are being played competently by 2013-2014 S1 standards and not doing anything interesting.
10/22/14: But they all just fit together SO WELL.
10/22/14: Trey putting in some spooky-sounding minimalist playing here. Page filling in the blanks.
10/22/14: Winterqueen is the first hiccup so far.
10/22/14: Actually, they've come up with a few gorgeous little jams out of this song so far this year. But sometimes not.
10/22/14: I really love the beat Fish comes in with after the drop in Winterqueen. Reminds me of the best parts of Round Room.
10/22/14: This one falls in the middle. Neat jam, but not gorgeous, necessarily.
10/22/14: My Friend! This is still an awesome set, even if they continue to play it straight.
10/22/14: Split next. This is first time the band has sounded a little rough all night.
10/22/14: Jam starts out really minimal. Trey and Page droning a bit. Fish is up front.
10/22/14: Sounds like Trey's combining some spooky feedback and his echoplex. Neat effect, though if you like shredding Splits...
10/22/14: ...not gonna be your favorite.
10/22/14: This is going to stay spooky and abstract throughout. I like it.
10/22/14: Set's not over! Walls!
10/22/14: This has become one of my favorite S1 songs over the last two years.
10/22/14: Heard it for the first time live in 2011 at Tahoe. Blew my face off.
10/22/14: Trey is shredding this version to pieces.
10/22/14: S2 opens with Drowned! Mike having a little trouble with the vocals.
10/22/14: Trey looping early in the jam.
10/22/14: Fading out and moving into a mellow zone now. Page on electric piano.
10/22/14: Really weird space now, not sure how to describe it, but really interesting.
10/22/14: Mike anchoring the weirdness with a great bassline.
10/22/14: Wow. Trey hitting a dark tone now, and shredding over the soundscape. This is great.
10/22/14: Trey going loop-crazy HOOOLY SHIT.
10/22/14: That one was seriously a keeper. What a jam.
10/22/14: Theme is next.
10/22/14: Okay, so the Theme jam just transitioned seamlessly into a funk jam. Yeah, that happened.
10/22/14: Seemed like there was going to be a perfect -> Manteca there for a minute, but there was a near-perfect -> Steam instead.
10/22/14: Band is killing it. Great show.
10/22/14: That was weird. Short Steam jam, Trey suddenly going all Pink Floyd tone-wise and then ten seconds later > Waves.
10/22/14: Lots of neat Trey-trilling here in the Waves jam.
10/22/14: Really slow, spacey fade to close Waves, vocal refrain only. > 20 years.
10/22/14: Late-show Scent! That's gotta be a good sign.
10/22/14: Marimba Lumina coming your way. Spooky vocals contributed by some band members, too.
10/22/14: 2001 next. Band settling into a sort-of jukebox thing here, but playing is still super-tight.
10/22/14: Standard take on 2001. Late Mike's is next.
10/22/14: Standard 3.0 Mike's, but Trey's hitting all the right notes. Like, literally, it's a good solo.
10/22/14: Tentative noodling to open the Jim jam.
10/22/14: Weekapaug starts up with Jim teases from Mike and then the whole band.
10/22/14: Trey just did a chorded Jim tease into a 2001 tease into another Jim tease.
10/22/14: The Horse > Silent is back again!
10/22/14: With the new piano Horse, I'd love to hear The Horse -> Wading > Silent sometime. Mellow as hell encore, though.
10/22/14: Antelope encore! Cool.
10/22/14: Trey with Soul Shakedown lyrics in Antelope. Whole band into reggae mode now, then back out.
10/22/14: Great first set, fantastic opening pair in S2, the rest is just solid jukeboxy fare. Overall, great show, but almost fantastic.
Jan 6, 2015
2014-10-21 Santa Barbara I
The Verdict:
This show was a weird one. The S1 setlist was as bland as they come, and while a few of the songs in the middle of the set were at least high-energy rote versions, the flubs throughout the rest of the set were more frequent and more obvious than usual. Where a rough S1 will usually occasion the feeling of "Huh, seems like the guys are having a rough start," this set screams "Hey, these guys are really obviously failing to get on the same page." It's weird and a little uncomfortable.
Then, all of a sudden, the second set opens with a majestic "CDT" -> "Ghost" that's basically thirty minutes of mellow, melodic jamming beauty. If you're looking for a rager here, you're going to be disappointed, but this is one of the prettiest bits of music the guys have put together in a long time. After that, we shift gears into the boys' recent-default mode: lots of neat little jamlets at the ends of songs, connected by some clever segues. Peppered with yet more awkward and obvious stumbles. "Birds" and "Suzy" are bumbling, but "Tweezer" packs a lot of mileage into its short length, and the same can be said for "Piper" and "Wombat." "Boogie On" gets surprisingly weird for an encore, and I wish it could have gotten extended some more.
In all, this ends up being a show that is "good enough," cringe-inducing, and utterly brilliant all by turns. I can't say I recommend anything other than the "Tweezer" and this, in the end:
The Live Review:
10/21/14: Stash opener. That's promising.
10/21/14: Uninteresting-but-competent Stash to open. Nice setlist choice, but hardly a burn-burner.
10/21/14: Possum in the two-slot. Page seems to be taking the majority of spotlight so far. Trey laying back. That's cool.
10/21/14: Maybe it's because I stepped away for a second, but the timing in this Ocelot seemed way off for a minute. That was weird.
10/21/14: I expect flubs, sure, but the whole band sounded off from one another. OH MY GOD THEY'RE BREAKING UP
10/21/14: Aside from the weird part, Ocelot is satisfactorily shreddy. And Ocelot is probably my least favorite Phish song.
10/21/14: NICU > BOTT. Sounding really tight, but not branching out yet.
10/21/14: Solid Trey and Mike interplay here.
10/21/14: NICU > BOTT > LxL is a high energy run of songs. LxL jam puts Trey's chording and looping skills on display.
10/21/14: Waiting All Night and Yarmouth both shaky versions. Maybe the few days off threw them off a bit? Harmonies are really rough.
10/21/14: Nice rendition of When the Circus Comes.
10/21/14: Heavy Things! Not like it's going to make this set more memorable, but I love this song.
10/21/14: Page laying into a great solo.
10/21/14: Really rough start to Stealing Time. Everyone once in awhile the guys nail a song, but most of tonight is really sloppy.
10/21/14: ...and that's it for the set. One of my least favorite sets of Phish in a long time. Hopefully S2 is better.
10/21/14: Starting off with the safest choice possible: CDT. Maybe it'll help 'em get back on track?
10/21/14: Starting off the jam mellow. Nice repeating melody line from Trey, electric piano from Page.
10/21/14: Trey is doing some of that amazing melodic playing that I've missed for a lot of 3.0. This is great.
10/21/14: Really natural build occurring over the last few minutes, too.
10/21/14: Heading into some serious mechanical-sounding space now. Sounds like the weirdest parts of Dick's.
10/21/14: CHALKDUST -> FUCK YES -> GHOST #phish
10/21/14: Another blissful, melodic jam space here after a pretty great build.
10/21/14: Fish has a weird jazz beat going now. This is really cool.
10/21/14: Really sustained, melodic, mellow jamming over the course of two huge songs.
10/21/14: Seriously, where the fuck did that come from? Terrible S1 and then BAM! CDT -> Ghost!
10/21/14: BOAF is awkward and flubby, and Trey actually acknowledges it after the song. Huh.
10/21/14: Fortunately, the following Wombat is a total funkfest. Short version, but it's more interesting than the track length suggests.
10/21/14: TWEEZE TIME
10/21/14: Trey immediately goes to blues-chord-land here. It's pretty awesome.
10/21/14: Most of this jam is just Trey modulating the opening blues riff while everyone else plays around him. I'm loving it.
10/21/14: Impressively lean and mean Tweezer, there.
10/21/14: Another slow segue from Trey, -> Julius. He's doing that a LOT more lately, and it's great.
10/21/14: Extremely short-but-sweet Piper to follow Julius. Nice Page segue into Wading.
10/21/14: Most of this S2 after the opener is taking that short-jams-with-clever-segues format again. But they're getting better at it.
10/21/14: Flub start to Suzy, Fish yells 'I wish you'd look at me before you count off the song!' for his usual bit. Hilarious.
10/21/14: Funk-loop madness in the middle of a Boogie On encore. Reminds me a little of the Dick's Mike's.
10/21/14: This Boogie On doesn't deserve to be an encore. It deserves to be second-slot S2, right after a 15-minute Sand opener. Sheeit.
10/21/14: Tweeprise was gonna feel just obligatory until Mike dropped the bass bomb and I was all like OH FUCK HERE WE GO AGAIN
10/21/14: Always, always, always the best 3 minutes in rock and roll.
This show was a weird one. The S1 setlist was as bland as they come, and while a few of the songs in the middle of the set were at least high-energy rote versions, the flubs throughout the rest of the set were more frequent and more obvious than usual. Where a rough S1 will usually occasion the feeling of "Huh, seems like the guys are having a rough start," this set screams "Hey, these guys are really obviously failing to get on the same page." It's weird and a little uncomfortable.
Then, all of a sudden, the second set opens with a majestic "CDT" -> "Ghost" that's basically thirty minutes of mellow, melodic jamming beauty. If you're looking for a rager here, you're going to be disappointed, but this is one of the prettiest bits of music the guys have put together in a long time. After that, we shift gears into the boys' recent-default mode: lots of neat little jamlets at the ends of songs, connected by some clever segues. Peppered with yet more awkward and obvious stumbles. "Birds" and "Suzy" are bumbling, but "Tweezer" packs a lot of mileage into its short length, and the same can be said for "Piper" and "Wombat." "Boogie On" gets surprisingly weird for an encore, and I wish it could have gotten extended some more.
In all, this ends up being a show that is "good enough," cringe-inducing, and utterly brilliant all by turns. I can't say I recommend anything other than the "Tweezer" and this, in the end:
The Live Review:
10/21/14: Stash opener. That's promising.
10/21/14: Uninteresting-but-competent Stash to open. Nice setlist choice, but hardly a burn-burner.
10/21/14: Possum in the two-slot. Page seems to be taking the majority of spotlight so far. Trey laying back. That's cool.
10/21/14: Maybe it's because I stepped away for a second, but the timing in this Ocelot seemed way off for a minute. That was weird.
10/21/14: I expect flubs, sure, but the whole band sounded off from one another. OH MY GOD THEY'RE BREAKING UP
10/21/14: Aside from the weird part, Ocelot is satisfactorily shreddy. And Ocelot is probably my least favorite Phish song.
10/21/14: NICU > BOTT. Sounding really tight, but not branching out yet.
10/21/14: Solid Trey and Mike interplay here.
10/21/14: NICU > BOTT > LxL is a high energy run of songs. LxL jam puts Trey's chording and looping skills on display.
10/21/14: Waiting All Night and Yarmouth both shaky versions. Maybe the few days off threw them off a bit? Harmonies are really rough.
10/21/14: Nice rendition of When the Circus Comes.
10/21/14: Heavy Things! Not like it's going to make this set more memorable, but I love this song.
10/21/14: Page laying into a great solo.
10/21/14: Really rough start to Stealing Time. Everyone once in awhile the guys nail a song, but most of tonight is really sloppy.
10/21/14: ...and that's it for the set. One of my least favorite sets of Phish in a long time. Hopefully S2 is better.
10/21/14: Starting off with the safest choice possible: CDT. Maybe it'll help 'em get back on track?
10/21/14: Starting off the jam mellow. Nice repeating melody line from Trey, electric piano from Page.
10/21/14: Trey is doing some of that amazing melodic playing that I've missed for a lot of 3.0. This is great.
10/21/14: Really natural build occurring over the last few minutes, too.
10/21/14: Heading into some serious mechanical-sounding space now. Sounds like the weirdest parts of Dick's.
10/21/14: CHALKDUST -> FUCK YES -> GHOST #phish
10/21/14: Another blissful, melodic jam space here after a pretty great build.
10/21/14: Fish has a weird jazz beat going now. This is really cool.
10/21/14: Really sustained, melodic, mellow jamming over the course of two huge songs.
10/21/14: Seriously, where the fuck did that come from? Terrible S1 and then BAM! CDT -> Ghost!
10/21/14: BOAF is awkward and flubby, and Trey actually acknowledges it after the song. Huh.
10/21/14: Fortunately, the following Wombat is a total funkfest. Short version, but it's more interesting than the track length suggests.
10/21/14: TWEEZE TIME
10/21/14: Trey immediately goes to blues-chord-land here. It's pretty awesome.
10/21/14: Most of this jam is just Trey modulating the opening blues riff while everyone else plays around him. I'm loving it.
10/21/14: Impressively lean and mean Tweezer, there.
10/21/14: Another slow segue from Trey, -> Julius. He's doing that a LOT more lately, and it's great.
10/21/14: Extremely short-but-sweet Piper to follow Julius. Nice Page segue into Wading.
10/21/14: Most of this S2 after the opener is taking that short-jams-with-clever-segues format again. But they're getting better at it.
10/21/14: Flub start to Suzy, Fish yells 'I wish you'd look at me before you count off the song!' for his usual bit. Hilarious.
10/21/14: Funk-loop madness in the middle of a Boogie On encore. Reminds me a little of the Dick's Mike's.
10/21/14: This Boogie On doesn't deserve to be an encore. It deserves to be second-slot S2, right after a 15-minute Sand opener. Sheeit.
10/21/14: Tweeprise was gonna feel just obligatory until Mike dropped the bass bomb and I was all like OH FUCK HERE WE GO AGAIN
10/21/14: Always, always, always the best 3 minutes in rock and roll.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)