The Verdict:
As I've made pretty clear through my tweets, Broomfield is easily the
worst three-show run I've encountered in 3.0. Hell, it might well be the
worst ever - at least some of the drugged-out 2.0 runs of a similar
"caliber" had some weird-ass freakout jams in them. While they're
certainly not quite there, and through 2011-2014 show that they never do get
there, this is the closest this band has come to embracing the infamous
"nostalgia act" label. It's been a long, slow, and weird decline since
the heights (relative to later 3.0 years, of course) of summer '09, but
ever since that initial tour ended, the guys have relied more and more
on just playing songs straight and playing them well instead of on
exploring, on building weird setlists instead of building weird jams, of
maintaining flow instead of pulling out exciting segues. Maybe this is
an essential part of the rebuilding process. Maybe this is what allowed
them to move from the jam-by-numbers approach in 2009 to something more
organic in 2011, to the amazingness that's come about in the last few
years. I don't know. What I do know is that I've never been this
bored listening to Phish in my fifteen or so years of doing so. Yet I
soldier on, hoping that Broomfield is the real nadir and we get back to
better shows very, very soon.
The above complaint/observation is something that applies to all three
shows, so that's my general "verdict." A few notes about each show will
follow, but I don't have much to say that I haven't already said.
The third night of the run is likely the best. It's a totally weird setlist (in a good way), along with a few interesting musical moments...it's probably a bottom-of-the-barrel "average-great" show to somebody out there. Which...yeah. Still makes it better than the last few shows. I guess.
The first set is front loaded with "TTE" and "Divided Sky," but there's also strong versions of "Meat," "Timber," and "On Your Way Down" in there.
The "Carini" that starts off the second set is compact, but gets weird fast and then sets up a great -> into an average version of "Bowie." The couple of minutes between this song is probably the highlight of the run, complete with Trey singing "Carini had bubonic plague" as the outro lyrics for the former song. The "Light" > "Theme" > "Free" sequence is the pinnacle of Songs Played Well, I guess, and maybe worth a listen for that.
Oh, and there's an early version of "Halfway To the Moon" late in the set that has a lot of different lyrics than the final version. So that's nice.
The Live Review:
10/12/10: Alright, time to see if there are any redeeming qualities to this Broomfield run.
10/12/10: Trey starts off by squeaking what sounds like the opening to KDF, but then they play Stealing Time instead.
10/12/10: Second-slot TTE. That's a 'good' sign.
10/12/10: Meat!
10/12/10: Divided Sky! Weird to have two long, composed monsters in the first four songs of the show.
10/12/10: Well, at least that Divided Sky outro solo was hotter than most.
10/12/10: Timber is next, and Trey dives right into a shredfest. Nice version.
10/12/10: On Your Way Down! Say what you will about the plainness of the playing during the Broomfield run (and I will)...
10/12/10: ...but they have taken setlist weirdness to a whole new level.
10/12/10: Short Heavy Things followed by a slow-tempo Sugar Shack.
10/12/10: Trey has a little trouble with the song throughout the verses, as usual, but puts together a pretty weird-but-great solo after.
10/12/10: 46 Days is next.
10/12/10: Stays Type I throughout, but a neat 'heavy' outro jam with a vocal reprise.
10/12/10: Oh, that was apparently the end of the set. Weird.
10/12/10: Carini starts S2.
10/12/10: LOL 'Carini had bubonic plague' lyrics. What the fuck?!
10/12/10: I love this band.
10/12/10: Carini departs for space at 6:30! Might we get an actual jam? The first one of fall tour?!
10/12/10: Carini -> Bowie! Okay, that was cool.
10/12/10: Strong version of Bowie, though it's in the typical 3.0 mode (i.e. minimal weirdness).
10/12/10: Rough but fast-paced version of Light is next.
10/12/10: The Light jam quickly turns into what I'd call 'Angry Salsa.'
10/12/10: I think that > Theme could be construed as a MASSIVE RIPCORD
10/12/10: Especially when you have jam blueballs going all the way back to 8/7.
10/12/10: Rock and roll take on Theme > Free.
10/12/10: Free fades into Joy.
10/12/10: The Light > Theme > Free sequence didn't do anything interesting, but man it was a blast anyway.
10/12/10: Trey is having some serious trouble with Joy. Never heard that happen before.
10/12/10: Really cool version of Halfway To the Moon, with a lot of different lyrics from the Fuego version.
10/12/10: Bug is next.
10/12/10: Summer of '89 as set closer? So weird.
10/12/10: Okay, nevermind. SOAM closes the set. Starts off really spacey and eventually ramps up into rock madness.
10/12/10: MEaTsTEKs encore
10/12/10: MEATSTACKS
10/12/10: Rough version of Meatstick, but a neat vocal refrain section at the end, to finish off the run.
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