The Verdict:
Well, my review of the 8/14 show was meant to be the positive one...so I guess you already know what I'm going to say about this one. Really, it's hard to tell at this point whether Alpine II is particular bad, or if I'm just so sick of listening to same-y shows that it's just average and my frustration is just boiling over. Either way, I didn't like it that much.
First off, any time there's no ">"s or "->"s in any of my review tweets, that's a bad sign.
Second, this show made me mad because it opens with "Tweezer," giving the indication that something interesting might be coming, and then follows that opener up with the same old, same old rote S1 we've been getting all tour. This time, there's an "On Your Way Down" in the mix, which I loved, but otherwise we've seen all this before. Recently. The version of "David Bowie" that closes the set is technically well-played, but would work well on a greatest hits album of Phish songs for people who had never heard Phish before.
The second set opens with "Ghost," and it's a version that is subjected to all kinds of Trey-guitar histrionics but still manages to stay firmly in the box, depositing us politely in "Theme" at the end. Once again, Trey dominates the second set, seemingly burying everyone else in the process. This "YEM" seemed like the most perfunctory version I've heard in a long time, and "Piper" can only muster up a weak ambient fade for its final few minutes to do anything outside of the guitar-soloing box. The final seven songs could all be encore songs, but only the last four really are.
The Live Review:
8/15/10: Well...spring break is over. Time to review Alpine II to 'celebrate.'
8/15/10: Slow-tempo Tweezer to open the show. Interesting.
8/15/10: Mike's leading the way into the jam section.
8/15/10: Trey builds in Mike's foundation for a great little rock jam. Song ends with a wind-down and a return to the main riff.
8/15/10: A really hot Bag (that sounds gross, I guess) follows Tweezer. Then...On Your Way Down!!!
8/15/10: I really like this song, in case you couldn't tell.
8/15/10: Ooh, another early Divided Sky is next.
8/15/10: Stealing Time makes sure this set is staying firmly in the usual summer 2010 S1 mold, despite that Tweezer opener.
8/15/10: Moma just confirmed that opinion for me :)
8/15/10: Farmhouse. Audible groans from the crowd. That made me laugh.
8/15/10: Crowd-groaning aside, that was a pretty rock and roll solo from Trey. Interesting version of Farmhouse.
8/15/10: Well, if you have to drop a Farmhouse in there, it's probably best to follow with a Bowie.
8/15/10: That was an excellent S1-ending Bowie. Take that as you will.
8/15/10: Ghost opens S2!
8/15/10: Trey building up another huge rock jam here in this Ghost.
8/15/10: The Ghost stays rock and roll Type I the entire time, makes a fuzz-induced segue to Theme.
8/15/10: Trey is shredding the hell out of this Theme. That's sort of a surprise.
8/15/10: Theme >
8/15/10: Mid-S2 seems like a weird place for a YEM.
8/15/10: Maybe it's just because I'm in a bad mood today, but this show seems to be all over the place and boring both at once.
8/15/10: Trey is playing well, but playing over everyone else, no real jams, setlist flow is funky...
8/15/10: I mean, how do you open S1 with Tweezer and S2 with Ghost and I'm still bored? Yet, they've managed it.
8/15/10: Neat segue from the vocal jam >
8/15/10: Trey is at the helm now for a seriously crazy Type I Piper.
8/15/10: Fadeout around 9:00.
8/15/10: Three minutes of sort of aimless, weird noises dissolves into 2001.
8/15/10: As pissy as I'm being about this show right now, I'll point out again that 2010 2001s have way more swagger to them than today's.
8/15/10: Still My Guitar Gently Weeps. Still Trey Cannot Hit The High Note In The Chorus.
8/15/10: Okay, I got so bored by this show I fell asleep. But now I'm back.
8/15/10: Character Zero is next, after WMGGW.
8/15/10: Oh! Sweet Nuthin'...if there was a cover song to cheer me up about what's essentially a S2 full of encore songs, it's this one.
8/15/10: Cavern just ended with what sounded like Fish starting up the drumbeat for Hood when Trey cut him off with Joy.
8/15/10: That pretty much sums up my reaction to this show.
8/15/10: Band just launched in Tweeprise like they'd been playing an amazing show for the last 2.5 hours.
8/15/10: *into
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