The Verdict:
There are a lot of songs in this show. Or at least, that's what it felt like. S1 starts hot, with a "PYITE" > "Possum," "Gin" sequence that includes generous helpings of the mustard all the way around, but after that things fade back into the usual-for-2010 category quickly. Unless you want to hear Page's dad sing a song for the novelty value, there isn't much that really stands out about this set except for parts of the "Gin" and a legitimately interesting jam in "Stash."
The second set starts with "Disease," and it gets stretched out a bit. Though the boys don't really do anything interesting with the jam space, they make really fluid transitions between a few (recycled) ideas that honestly makes this one of more interesting jams I've heard from them post-Berkeley. And yes, that's backhanded praise, but praise nonetheless. The short-but-sweet "Twist" is probably worth a listen as well, but the rest of the set after that is pure jukebox.
The Live Review:
10/15/10: Alright, here's hoping we're getting an improvement over Broomfield.
10/15/10: PYITE opener helps.
10/15/10: Rough-ish version of PYITE leads into Possum.
10/15/10: A little extra blues on that Possum. Gin is third.
10/15/10: Nice, slow build in this Gin.
10/15/10: That was the epitome of an average-great Gin right there, yes siree.
10/15/10: Jack McConnell making an appearance on stage as 'the world's greatest tap dancer.'
10/15/10: Jack singing Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home now.
10/15/10: Boogie On, Destiny.
10/15/10: Happy with the frequency with which Destiny is getting played this summer.
10/15/10: Short Destiny, short Number Line. Nothing really to see here.
10/15/10: Okay, playing Bouncing next makes it seem like they're trying to be boring on purpose.
10/15/10: Stash! This will force them to do something interesting...right? RIGHT?!
10/15/10: Really dark, rolling bit to this Stash, driven by Fish.
10/15/10: Seems like every time something cool happens lately, it's just because of Fish entirely.
10/15/10: Which is just fine.
10/15/10: Trey is building some serious tension now. This actually sounds like not-asleep-at-the-wheel Phish!
10/15/10: Rough landing at the end, but what the hell.
10/15/10: Of course they have to follow with Joy because THE UNIVERSE SEEKS BALANCE
10/15/10: Buffalo Bill!
10/15/10: Antelope. End of a really weird set.
10/15/10: Strong start, absolutely no flow, teeny-tiny improv in Stash, everything else play-by-numbers.
10/15/10: Jack's appearance was cool, though.
10/15/10: Slightly extended murky intro to DwD to start S2.
10/15/10: Solid Type I jam until about 9:00, when there's a seamless move into organ-powered funk territory.
10/15/10: A synth-y, more ambient sound now.
10/15/10: This jam really just reused ideas we've heard a bunch of times before instead of coming up with anything new...
10/15/10: ...but damn were those ideas stitched together well.
10/15/10: Arguably a -> into Caspian.
10/15/10: Caspian moves toward a driving space...and Trey whips out Twist.
10/15/10: It's really weird how quick the band is to jump into another song as soon as a jam starts to change from Type I.
10/15/10: I've said this before, but it almost seems as if the goal of this year is to just play as many songs as possible.
10/15/10: Really cool electric piano and guitar interplay at the start of this jam.
10/15/10: That was short, but neat. Now, Roses!
10/15/10: MFMF > My Problem Right There. We might be back in jukebox mode alright. That's a shame.
10/15/10: Mike's! Sorta late for it
10/15/10: REALLY hot Mike's, pretty much out of nowhere.
10/15/10: So, MIke's > The Horse > Silent. That's weird.
10/15/10: Mexican Cousin for fun, before they dive into Groove.
10/15/10: Nice solo from Trey in Groove. > Suzy.
10/15/10: For the most part, this show has been More Of The Same, but there's also that Stash and bits of the Disease to think about.
10/15/10: Suzy, then Slave. Sorry for the boring review. It's a bit of a boring show.
10/15/10: I feel like a jerk spending an entire year's worth of review essentially ripping on my favorite band.
10/15/10: But, after 34 2010 shows, there have been about 6-7 that I wouldn't describe as 'mediocre at best.'
10/15/10: And that's even applying 2009 or 2011-2012 expectations, not just 2013-2014 or 1997-1998 expectations.
10/15/10: All complaining aside, though, this is a really slow and delicate take on Slave. So, that's purty at least.
10/15/10: Zero'd for the encore. That seems appropriate.
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