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.
No comments:
Post a Comment