The Verdict:
Amazingly, I think any of these three Greek shows would be received pretty positively by our spoiled asses here in 2015. Sure, some people would have some complaints, and those might not be unfounded, but this is one of those timeless runs that's just so good it doesn't really deserve any qualifiers like "for '10" or "for 3.0." And the third show is the best of the bunch.
S1, much like 8/6's first frame, is a great assortment of weird song choices that somehow hangs together. It doesn't hurt that the band plays every song like it's the last time they ever will, and Trey retains (mostly) the technical precision and creative fire he's shown for the whole run. The opening "Bag" is bonkers, and there's a legit -> into "Foam." "Gotta Jibboo" gets extended, and though it stays Type I, it gets developed slowly and patiently - a theme for the whole show. "Sleep Again" gets a fantastic Phish treatment, and "Army of One" pokes its head up. The rest of the set is more straightforward, but that spark never leaves.
S2 is an absolute monster. A fiery "Wilson" leads right into an absolutely transcendent "Light," the easy highlight jam of the run, and for my money, of summer '10 so far. It lands in a dark "Twenty Years," which drops right into a fifteen-minute, slow-burning "Hood." A few clever song choices late in the set yield, among others, a patient "2001," a "Suzy" with a second jam (yeah), and a set closing "Slave" that is one of the most slowly-developing versions I've heard since the 90s.
If that wasn't enough, the run closes with a "Lizards" > "First Tube" encore.
I've been throwing a lot of superlatives around in the last two reviews, but I think this run deserves it. For as down on the band as I've been through most of the late '09 shows and early '10 shows, this run deserves mention with any of the greats, and even more so for how out-of-nowhere it seems. Right now I'm just going to enjoy it a bit before moving on to Telluride. I love finding gems like this.
The Live Review:
8/7/10: Bag opener. Trey is extremely bluesy during the mini-jam.
8/7/10: That was a legitimate Bag -> Foam segue. Fish started up Foam drums while Trey was finishing Bag. Cool.
8/7/10: Trey having a little trouble with Foam, but otherwise it sounds great.
8/7/10: Great opening pair. Jibboo now. Jam starts with some squealing loops, then drops into a typical melody solo from Trey.
8/7/10: Jibboo was an old-school version: all Trey, slow build, lots of melodic noodling. Now Reba.
8/7/10: That composed section seemed especially tight.
8/7/10: Not a transcendent version by any means, but way better than it probably deserves to be as the fourth song of the night.
8/7/10: Sleep Again! Mike's bass sounds great on this tune.
8/7/10: Page taking the lead with some brilliant piano during the Sleep Again outro.
8/7/10: Army of One! I miss this song.
8/7/10: Poor Heart is next. Particularly tight version.
8/7/10: -B 46 Days!
8/7/10: The 46 Days is of the short, shreddy variety. But good.
8/7/10: Brief sort of slowed-down, drone-y segment, > Tube.
8/7/10: Zero set closer featuring a particularly distorted guitar tone from Trey.
8/7/10: Super-punch Wilson to start S2. Nice landing into Light. Argument could be made for a ->, prolly not though.
8/7/10: First few minutes of jam are the typical early-version-of-Light arpeggios, but Trey is now building some interesting tension.
8/7/10: Band's in serious lockstep.
8/7/10: Slowdown/move to a more muted space at 8:15.
8/7/10: Trey lays down one of my favorite improvised melodies every starting at 9:20. Mike backing him up. I love this version of Light.
8/7/10: Suppose I should have mentioned that before. I've heard this at least fifteen or so times already.
8/7/10: The song, not the whole show.
8/7/10: Moving on to the darkness-funk section.
8/7/10: Decent landing in Twenty Years, too.
8/7/10: I love this song.
8/7/10: Slightly extended, if by-the-book jam at the end > Hood.
8/7/10: Neat bit in this Hood jam that recalls the Simple jam from 8/6. Hearing bits of the earlier Light jam, too.
8/7/10: That was a really extended, spacey Hood in an era when I don't really remember them being so experimental. Very cool.
8/7/10: Theme! Did not see that coming.
8/7/10: I think that was the first time I've heard Theme just flat-out end in awhile. No segue. 2001 next.
8/7/10: Really uptempo 2001. Funky as hell.
8/7/10: Really loving this 2001. All three of these shows have featured a lot of tremendously patient playing. It's awesome.
8/7/10: Fish is having tons of fun with this Suzy.
8/7/10: Okay, Suzy's getting an extended jam. After the vocals. What the fuck.
8/7/10: I'm just going to call this the best show of the summer and not review any more of them.
8/7/10: I always sort of expect Suzy outros to go into Jumpin' Jack Flash, but this one more so than usual.
8/7/10: Insane tension segment at the end > Slave!
8/7/10: MY GOD.
8/7/10: Really slow, patient build here, like the earlier Hood.
8/7/10: Mind blown. The Lizards encore.
8/7/10: So, that show was ridiculous...and then they added a Lizards > First Tube encore.
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