The Verdict:
12/27 is the first show of a five-show NYE run (two in Worcester, three at MSG), and I can't quite pin it down. I've been complaining throughout pretty much all of 2010 at this point about the band's quantity-over-quality approach to shows, and the disturbing frequency with which they are willing to engage Jukebox Mode, not only during first sets, but often for the vast majority of the second set. On paper, Worcester is basically yet another one of these shows, and you'd think that especially coming off the heels of a strong(er) Halloween run this would be disappointing. But for some reason that I can't fathom, I really enjoyed this show and found that it rose above many of its 2010 brethren.
It might very well just be Trey. Despite my problems with the general direction of the boys' playing this year, Trey has been pure fire throughout, and somehow he's even leaps and bounds better than usual in this show. Previously, I'd suggested that it's actually been his proficiency this year that has pushed the rest of the band away from stepping up. Generally speaking, from my perspective at least, that's a bad thing. But, is it possible that Trey can have such a strong show that it ends up not mattering that he's pushed the rest of the group into the position of backing band? That seems to be what's going on here.
The first set is another weird-but-good 2010 S1, with "Cool It Down" showing up and showing a bit of legs, an early "Roggae" hitting some squealing peaks that are above the song's pay grade, Mike's "What Things Seem" getting jammed out a little bit, and an especially delicate "Mountains in the Mist" setting up the "Julius" set-closer. Again, there's nothing positively interesting here, but the set hangs together extremely well and Trey makes it all work through sheer force of will while simultaneously sort of riding over everyone else except on the rare occasion that Page can keep up with him.
The second set starts off slow, with the only real notable thing about the "Mike's Groove" being the fact that "Mound" is the meat of that sandwich. Right about when you can feel the jukebox coming out, though, a fantastic "Seven Below" jam starts getting laced through with the "What's the Use?" riff, setting up an excellent pairing followed by a solid "Twenty Years Later" landing pad. None of these three songs go too far off the reservation, but they flow along so well that it's still one of my favorite sequences in a long time. Don't turn up your nose at the "Farmhouse" before or the "Wading" after, either: Trey's domination extends to a beautifully delicate, melodic outro solo in both cases. The rest of the show is pretty standard, but the middle of the second set transcends the usual 2010 good-but-straightforward feeling to make a legitimate highlight.
The Live Review:
12/27/10: Sample opens the pre-MSG Worcester pair.
12/27/10: Funky Bitch is second, Page on fire.
12/27/10: Great take on Funky Bitch. Ends with a sudden stop, and I mean sudden.
12/27/10: Cool It Down is next!
12/27/10: Swanky little jam out of Cool It Down here.
12/27/10: Roggae is a weird choice this early, but I'm not complaining.
12/27/10: Mike jumps into rapid-fire bass right away. Trey jumps on the pile shortly after.
12/27/10: Now Page adding some excellent accents. This is definitely an above-average version.
12/27/10: Getting surprisingly bombastic by Roggae standards.
12/27/10: Interesting, peaky Roggae > Heavy Things.
12/27/10: Trey having a little trouble with the loop timing.
12/27/10: Great Heavy Things. Fantastic Trey/Page passage toward the end.
12/27/10: It really seems like 2011 Phish started sometime during the Halloween run. I'm happy for that.
12/27/10: What Things Seem!!!!
12/27/10: Love hearing the Moss-era Mike songs reinterpreted by Phish. Next up is Roses.
12/27/10: I just read 'It's Ice' on my phone as 'Let's Be Nice.' I think that should be the new title of the song. #phish
12/27/10: By the way, What Things Seem was a little rough and is probably better as an MGB tune, but had a nice grungy outro jamlet.
12/27/10: Rough run-through of It's Ice but with a nice extended Page lead-in to the instrumental section.
12/27/10: Mountains in the Mist is next.
12/27/10: Julius. Hey, isn't that a repeat from 10/31?! No fair!
12/27/10: Okay, so you know that I'm not a huge fan of Julius, but Trey and Page just obliterated that version.
12/27/10: S2 kicks off with Mike's.
12/27/10: Standard rock-god Mike's, but a nice landing in Mound, of all things.
12/27/10: Slam into a high-speed Groove follows.
12/27/10: Nothing particularly noteworthy is happening in this show, but I'm having a hell of a good time listening to it.
12/27/10: Don't really know if there's some unquantifiable fun factor to this vs. lots of other rote 2010 shows...
12/27/10: ...or if it's just because I haven't listened to Phish in two weeks.
12/27/10: Either way, I'm digging it, missing jams and all.
12/27/10: Loopgasm to close out the Groove
12/27/10: Trey is losing his damn mind.
12/27/10: Or maybe I should say that he's loosing his damn mind.
12/27/10: Farmhouse is the cooldown tune.
12/27/10: Trey is actually laying down a pretty amazing solo at the end of this Farmhouse.
12/27/10: Farmhouse > Seven Below.
12/27/10: Staccato chords from Trey, then an almost half-time Timber section.
12/27/10: This is a fantastic jam. Really ethereal, but Mike and Fish are keeping it driving at the same time. Great.
12/27/10: Trey is playing WTU riff in the Seven Below jam.
12/27/10: If they transition I'm going to fucking die.
12/27/10: Well, they did it, but it was more of a > than a ->.
12/27/10: The rare case where the boys aren't picking up what Trey's putting down and ripcord him instead of the other way around.
12/27/10: Still, badass Seven Below > WTU? combo.
12/27/10: Great landing in Twenty Years Later.
12/27/10: I just find this song fucking mesmerizing and always have. The Number Line > Twenty
Years combo at Blossom '10 did it.
12/27/10: Wow. Mesmerizing, Simple-jam-like ending to Wading.
12/27/10: The highlights of this show are coming in the weirdest, mellowest places.
12/27/10: I COME FROM TACO MOUNTAIN, BABY
12/27/10: Cavern > Bowie to follow a strong Possum.
12/27/10: Strong, standard version of Bowie with some extra Trey Juice ends set 2.
12/27/10: Loving Cup closer.
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