The Verdict:
So the third night of the MGM run was my least favorite of the three, but it's really like comparing (golden) apples to (golden) oranges. It's not as much to my preferences as the other two nights, but it's great enough Phish to cement this run as one for the ages.
The first set starts off in the "good-not-great" category, with high-energy playing but without the absolutely bonkers song choices of the previous two nights. It takes a turn for the 10/17 S1, though, right around "Gin," which is a 14 minute monster in the style of what I'm calling "Type 1.5" at the moment: it never departs completely from the typical "Gin" structure, but it gets weird enough that it warrants more notice than the occasional "average-great" version. Next up is a "Free" chock full of "Martian Monster" quotes from the band, and a flaming-hot "Walls" featuring more of the same. Granted, the last third of this set is bolstered more by S2-style goofiness than S2-style playing, but it ups the quality of the set by quite a bit nonetheless.
The "CDT" > "Piper" pair that opens the second set is like 10/21's "CDT" > "Ghost" on steroids. Really, really mellow steroids. It's easily the show highlight, and a quintessential example of the band's new favorite jamming style (at least during fall). "Piper" lands beautifully in "Theme," "Wombat" features Fishman screaming about "Australian assless chaps," and "Bowie" achieves a level of destruction atypical in the last few years. It's one of those sets. To cap it off, you've got a fantastic "YEM" that not only has a longer-than-usual, more-exploratory-than-usual jam section, it also has Trey wielding the "Fee" megaphone while he chases Mike around the stage, and a four-person percussion jam...before the weird-as-hell vocal jam, which, strangely, does not feature any Halloween album quotes.
It's ridiculous when this show is the worst show of the weekend. I've set it before, but I'll say it again: if there was still any doubt that New Phish is at least as interesting and talented and just plain fun as Old Phish, it should be gone now. Or you don't have ears, maybe?
The Live Review:
11/2/14: Time to see if this already-classic run can finish off in style. Jim opener suggests yes.
11/2/14: Great, old-school Jim > Foam pair to start off.
11/2/14: Mexican Cousin! Actual, audible, synchronized laughter from the crowd as the song starts.
11/2/14: Am I in bed, or in a hearse?
11/2/14: Ocelot is next after Mexican Cousin. Trey slaps a little extra mustard on this one toward the end of the solo/jam.
11/2/14: Pretty good...for Ocelot
11/2/14: Sugar Shack! Really liking the song selection so far (again).
11/2/14: ASIHTOS next. This S1 doesn't really have the same verve as the last two, but...
11/2/14: ...it does have some great song choices and solid playing, even from Trey on Sugar Shack.
11/2/14: Compact, but very well shredded version of ASIHTOS. Sad that it doesn't get the jam treatment these days, but it's great in S1 too.
11/2/14: Gin! Opportunity for the set to shift from 'good' to 'interesting'?
11/2/14: Slowly, gooey rock solo starting off the Gin jam.
11/2/14: Trey playing over some loops now. Still usual Gin structure.
11/2/14: Fish speeding up a bit, departing slightly from the usual Gin structure now. Trey playing over loops again.
11/2/14: Kind of a neat 'Type 1.5' jam there in Gin, lands nicely in Free.
11/2/14: Martian Monster vocal quotes from just about everyone. Fishman losing his mind.
11/2/14: Super extensive Martian Monster quotes throughout Free. Crowd is losing it.
11/2/14: Walls of the Cave to close (?)! If so, great last chunk of the set here.
11/2/14: Walls ends with Fish bellowing 'YOUR. TRIP. IS. SHOOOOOORT.'
11/2/14: Well, those shenanigans really upped the quality of that set. Nicely done.
11/2/14: CDT opens S2. Almost immediately, Page goes to the electric piano after the lyrics.
11/2/14: Hard to describe jam. Everyone is mellow except for Fish, who's drumming to save his life. Interesting effect.
11/2/14: Sort of sounds like a jam outtake from Round Room, or the Victor Disc.
11/2/14: Serious echoplex/clav action here, but not funk, sort of like space-jazz. From the 50s.
11/2/14: Okay, the last two minutes or so of this are SUPER COOL.
11/2/14: Really expansive and weird CDT jam fades nicely into Piper, which heads to a Birds-like jam almost right away.
11/2/14: Fall tour is really the tour for huge, expansive mellow jams. Which is totally fine with me.
11/2/14: Page is back over the electric piano and Fish slows things down. Real purty stuff comin' outta them instruments.
11/2/14: This is like the Chalkdust > Ghost I loved so much on 10/21, but the bigger, better sequel.
11/2/14: Fantastic Piper jam lands in Theme.
11/2/14: Sudden drop into Wombat at the end of Theme. Nicely done again.
11/2/14: Wombat is super meaty. Between Fish and Mike, they've almost made the jam sound like disco instead of funk. Really cool.
11/2/14: Trey: 'Cuddly but muscular, it's the thunder from down under.' Fish: 'BLIMEY!'
11/2/14: Fish: 'Australian assless chaps!'
11/2/14: Bowie!
11/2/14: This Bowie is a little less paint-by-numbers and more playful than the typical post-Hampton version. I appreciate this.
11/2/14: Martian Monster vox from Trey during the Bowie peak. That was great.
11/2/14: Really, really weird spot for The Line.
11/2/14: Okay, well, when it's followed by YEM, I can't complain much.
11/2/14: This YEM has serious swing to it.
11/2/14: All sorts of weird noises and crowd screaming. I think this is probably one of those things you need to see the video for.
11/2/14: Regardless, the jamming is departing pretty radically from the usual YEM funk jam.
11/2/14: Now someone's playing the damn siren...on the megaphone?
11/2/14: It's moments like this where the tape fails you.
11/2/14: Sounds like multiple people on the kit now, or else Fish is an octopus.
11/2/14: Off to the vocal jam, now.
11/2/14: Monster YEM. Moma closer. Good times.
11/2/14: Slave!
11/2/14: This is going to go down as the worst night of the Halloween run, but still one of the better shows of the year.
11/2/14: Goes to show how amazingly good this run has been.
11/2/14: This is not a shoddy show-ending Slave. Trey's doing a great job of the slow build.
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