The Verdict:
It's even harder to be objective about Bend II. I mean, it was my birthday, my 24th show, and part of a fantastic vacation weekend in Bend, two hours' drive away from my new house, with my soon-to-be-wife.
So I'm a little biased. But, I think it's better than Bend I and an all-around great show. I mean, we probably all wish that the "Simple" was a little longer, but really, this show has a little bit of everything anyway.
"Stash" gets 2015 Trey, ultimate melodic guitar Jedi Master, out of the gates early, and then there's a bunch of first set debuts that actually work perfectly as the glue for the set, somehow. "How Many People Are You?," "Heavy Rotation," "Scabbard," and "Mercury" are all excellent Phish tunes, and pretty much the rest of the set are top-notch S1 takes on "Winterqueen," "Maze," and "Possum."
For all the (deserved) raving about the jam-heavy second set at Shoreline, even I didn't realize until now that this second set is only six songs long. Sure, a little of that has to do with the early curfew at Les Schwab, but not as much as you might think. Neither "ASIHTOS" or "Waves" goes deep, but they're versions that would be the obvious highlight of any first set, at least. The spacey jam at the end of "Waves" drops nicely into "Wingsuit," and then there's a chordy, unique "Farmhouse" before the "Simple," which is easily the best (and most evil) jam of the run. "First Tube" blows the roof off, and then the guys encore with "Gin," which falls firmly into the "Type 1.5" category and is better than any encore "Gin" has a right to be. Whew.
I suspect that like last year's Eugene show, this is going to be another one of those unappreciated gems, because all the right pieces are there, but they don't fall into the right places. Fortunately, they don't actually need to.
The Live Review:
7/22/15: In the office again today, so I'm tackling Bend II, also known as the My Birthday Show.
7/22/15: Getting to spend my birthday watching my 24th show as close to my house as @phish will ever come was great enough in itself...
7/22/15: ...but this show was way better than the already-great 7/21 one. I'm excited to hear Mercury again, especially. And dat Simple.
7/22/15: Stash opener.
7/22/15: Great Stash, especially as an opener. Standard style, but with that extra '15 Trey magic.
7/22/15: How Many People Are You? is such a great song. Not very Phish-y, really, but better to hear them play for that.
7/22/15: Winterqueen is one of those songs I love in spite of myself. Perfect choice for an early mid-set in Bend.
7/22/15: Winterqueen jam is extended a bit beyond normal and features some more great post-FTW Trey action.
7/22/15: Love Heavy Rotation, too. Great melody from Page, and awesome, dirty breakdown. Thought it was a Phish tune at first.
7/22/15: Clearly, my Page-fu is weak.
7/22/15: Neat little building mini-jam, now.
7/22/15: You know the guys are good this year when they can even make BOTT exciting after I've heard it probably 500 times in my life.
7/22/15: So happy to hear Scabbard, too. One of my favorite TAB songs.
7/22/15: Couldn't hear it well at the show for some reason, but SBD sounds amazing.
7/22/15: Necessarily missing some of the arranged element because smaller band, but otherwise awesome.
7/22/15: Outro not quite as good with electric guitar instead of acoustic, but the loops Trey lays down here are neat ambiance.
7/22/15: Appreciate the segue into Maze, but like the Weekapaug one from last night, there's a bit of hesitation b/t Trey and Fish before.
7/22/15: I know it's weird, but near-perfect segues are almost more annoying to me than entirely missed ones.
7/22/15: Eugene's Maze was fantastic last fall and so is this one. Energy is palpable, even on the recording.
7/22/15: Okay, I fucking love the beginning of Mercury. Please don't change that part of the song, guys. #phish
7/22/15: Middle section sounds a little hollow.
7/22/15: I do appreciate that they're still trying to do big compositional pieces, though. Fuego was amazing.
7/22/15: Mercury is close to awesome.
7/22/15: Love the lyrics, too.
7/22/15: That break before the last section made me think that this was yet another new song.
7/22/15: They need a return to those awesome intro vocals at the end :)
7/22/15: Possum set closer.
7/22/15: As you might imagine, Possum with 2015 Trey is good.
7/22/15: First set is super-weird with all the new songs, but it works better for me than 7/21's S1.
7/22/15: Doesn't hurt that all the debuts were strong.
7/22/15: Listening to the Alpine Valley version of Mercury during 'setbreak.' Sounds a bit more intentional and less empty in the middle.
7/22/15: They get to the 'Red Queen' part faster, I think. An improvement, for sure.
7/22/15: Super happy to hear Fish marimba-ing a composed part in Mercury.
7/22/15: Alpine version of Mercury doesn't have the empty space after marimba. Goes immediately into build. Not as cool, methinks.
7/22/15: This is so good. I'm almost as excited for the new album as I am for more shows. That pretty much never happens w/ #phish.
7/22/15: Okay, second set ASIHTOS opener.
7/22/15: Like the first night's Ghost, I was really hoping to see this go into space, but hey.
7/22/15: How long has it been since an ASIHTOS spacejam?
7/22/15: I'll answer my own question: 2004 SPAC.
7/22/15: There might not be a serious jam here, but Trey is slaying.
7/22/15: Sorta-but-not-really segue into Waves.
7/22/15: Same deal with the Waves; it's not going anywhere special, but Trey is going TO TOWN.
7/22/15: Long loops 'n' Page outro. Now Mike bass bombs.
7/22/15: Wingsuit was a nice landing spot for that weird, ethereal space.
7/22/15: Low-key Waves outro > Wingsuit > Farmhouse seems like a minor setlist misstep.
7/22/15: That said, it's a pretty interesting Farmhouse solo from Trey. Peaks near the end a bit like Number Line solos have recently.
7/22/15: Simple slides nicely into the usual gentle melodic interplay.
7/22/15: Fade-out. Trey changing keys.
7/22/15: Love the dirty guitar tone.
7/22/15: It just keeps getting filthier.
7/22/15: That was about as cool as I remembered it being.
7/22/15: First top-shelf jam of the tour, for sure.
7/22/15: A little one-dimensional, but I like the angry, dark stuff.
7/22/15: This First Tube blew the goddamn roof off the place in person.
7/22/15: Well, I guess first it built a roof over the place, but only to DESTROY IT
7/22/15: Watching the encore Gin on YouTube instead of listening.
7/22/15: Love the encore choices for this run.
7/22/15: Audio/video syncing off just a bit on the official video. Never had that happen before.
7/22/15: Nice, airy space in the middle of this Gin that I don't remember.
7/22/15: Build w/ Trey chording.
7/22/15: Okay, great closer. Think I was still reeling over the Simple > Tube combo at the show and zoned this out.
7/22/15: Excellent show, unless you absolutely need a 25 minute jam to jerk off to.
Aug 12, 2015
2015-7-21 Bend I
The Verdict:
I'll admit right off that I'm a bit partial to these first four 2015 shows because I saw them in person, and it's always difficult to review a show you saw in person while holding it to the same standards as you've held the 11 million shows you've only listened to on headphones to. But here goes.
Bend I is a great tour opener, but in the light of everything that's come since, it withers a little. I love all the debuts, both during Bend I and Bend II, and I suppose your mileage with this show will vary depending on how you feel about the new songs (both new originals and new covers).
The first set is split between the debut of Trey's absolutely commanding 2015 playing style and a sagging middle section that's as messy as it is been-there-done-that. "Sand" is about as good as it gets without a "real" jam, "Devotion" is excellent, and the first "Blaze On" is a surprisingly confident take. The middle of the set sort of drags the high points down, though, the worst part being a pretty nasty butchering of "Horn."
An uneven first set moves into a much better second set, though. "Ghost" peters out before getting really serious, but it's still a great opener call and worth a listen. "Fuego" veers into a brief but eerie ambient space at its close (its different than the usual outro, which is, admittedly, similar) before landing beautifully in "Shade." And the highlight of the show comes in the "No Men" > "Groove" -> "Boogie On" funkfest. This isn't a sustained "jam," per se, but like Shoreline's S2 run, a couple of songs doing the work here instead of a 30 minute version of one song doesn't detract from the quality of the improvisation.
The Live Review:
7/21/15: Excited to have an excuse to relisten to the Bend run. Still hard to believe that @phish actually played there, and I saw it.
7/21/15: Sample opener. Made Ms. Saxscraper very happy :)
7/21/15: Remembering thinking 'Sounds like Trey has been practicing!' during this Sand. Happy to have been right :)
7/21/15: Relistening to the Sand, I LOVE Trey's tone. Somehow different than usual. Maybe clearer?
7/21/15: Oh yeah, this solo is $$$$
7/21/15: This was the earliest in a @phish show that I've ever screamed at the top of my lungs.
7/21/15: Harmonies seem a lot stronger on this tour, too. See 555 and Rift so far.
7/21/15: Little bit more sag in this set than I remember. Rough Halfway To the Moon.
7/21/15: Trey has some major struggles with Horn, but back in fine form for a Type I DtaD.
7/21/15: Blaze On debut is next. Such a cool song, even without the Shoreline jam.
7/21/15: A little Manteca-y jam tacked onto this shorter version of Blaze On. Love it.
7/21/15: Tube!
7/21/15: Love Page's clav here. So dirty.
7/21/15: Shit, Page is KILLING it.
7/21/15: Nice, bouncy funk in this Wolfman's (as opposed to filthy, disgusting, dirty funk).
7/21/15: With my rose-colored glasses off, that S1 was a little weaker than I remembered.
7/21/15: Great Sand, Devotion, Blaze On, and Wolfman's, though.
7/21/15: When this Ghost started, I was sure that it was freaking ON.
7/21/15: I suppose in a way it was, if by 'it' you mean 'a set full of incredibly funky mini-jams.'
7/21/15: Hot lead from Trey heading into the jam.
7/21/15: Trey keeping things in rock-god mode. Sounds a bit like Fish is trying to push them somewhere else.
7/21/15: Angry, dissonant chords now. Fish winding down.
7/21/15: Ghost jam sort of peters out. Sounded a little like Page might be cooking up something, but then > Birds.
7/21/15: Pretty low on the ripcord meter, though. They kicked around a few ideas post-Trey-solo, but nothing stuck.
7/21/15: 'They Attack!' action from Page.
7/21/15: Mike's. I'm going to retroactively miss the second jam in this one.
7/21/15: Nasty tone from Trey. Page on organ.
7/21/15: Great landing from Mike's into 'The Wedge.'
7/21/15: The Wedge gets extended a bit. Now Fuego.
7/21/15: This Fuego seems to be a higher tempo than the typical version.
7/21/15: I have to admit, when the bottom dropped out of the Fuego at 9:00, I thought there was a serious jam coming.
7/21/15: That said, Shade was a great debut and an AWESOME landing pad for this dark little jamlet.
7/21/15: Shade is such a fucking gorgeous song.
7/21/15: Can't wait to hear that one on the new album.
7/21/15: Awwwww yeah. No Men In No Man's Land.
7/21/15: Definitely more interesting take on this song that I remember. I think at the time I was just in funk-shock.
7/21/15: Doesn't hold a candle to the Shoreline version, but everybody's throwing in some seriously interesting bits.
7/21/15: Let's call it Type 1.5.
7/21/15: Still bummed they fumbled that No Men's -> Groove.
7/21/15: Part of Groove jam sounds like Runaway Jim riff.
7/21/15: Really soaring Groove jam. It's been awhile since I've cared about Groove, but this one does it.
7/21/15: On the other hand, the segue from Groove to Boogie On works just fine.
7/21/15: CDT still seems like a weird place for this set to end.
7/21/15: Love Theme as an encore choice.
7/21/15: Especially when Trey nails that walk-up riff o h m a n
7/21/15: Strong show across the board. I suppose no big jams is a knock against it.
7/21/15: Some great moments in the first set, though, and love those debuts, AND the last half of S2.
7/21/15: Weakest show of the first four, for sure, but a great start.
I'll admit right off that I'm a bit partial to these first four 2015 shows because I saw them in person, and it's always difficult to review a show you saw in person while holding it to the same standards as you've held the 11 million shows you've only listened to on headphones to. But here goes.
Bend I is a great tour opener, but in the light of everything that's come since, it withers a little. I love all the debuts, both during Bend I and Bend II, and I suppose your mileage with this show will vary depending on how you feel about the new songs (both new originals and new covers).
The first set is split between the debut of Trey's absolutely commanding 2015 playing style and a sagging middle section that's as messy as it is been-there-done-that. "Sand" is about as good as it gets without a "real" jam, "Devotion" is excellent, and the first "Blaze On" is a surprisingly confident take. The middle of the set sort of drags the high points down, though, the worst part being a pretty nasty butchering of "Horn."
An uneven first set moves into a much better second set, though. "Ghost" peters out before getting really serious, but it's still a great opener call and worth a listen. "Fuego" veers into a brief but eerie ambient space at its close (its different than the usual outro, which is, admittedly, similar) before landing beautifully in "Shade." And the highlight of the show comes in the "No Men" > "Groove" -> "Boogie On" funkfest. This isn't a sustained "jam," per se, but like Shoreline's S2 run, a couple of songs doing the work here instead of a 30 minute version of one song doesn't detract from the quality of the improvisation.
The Live Review:
7/21/15: Excited to have an excuse to relisten to the Bend run. Still hard to believe that @phish actually played there, and I saw it.
7/21/15: Sample opener. Made Ms. Saxscraper very happy :)
7/21/15: Remembering thinking 'Sounds like Trey has been practicing!' during this Sand. Happy to have been right :)
7/21/15: Relistening to the Sand, I LOVE Trey's tone. Somehow different than usual. Maybe clearer?
7/21/15: Oh yeah, this solo is $$$$
7/21/15: This was the earliest in a @phish show that I've ever screamed at the top of my lungs.
7/21/15: Harmonies seem a lot stronger on this tour, too. See 555 and Rift so far.
7/21/15: Little bit more sag in this set than I remember. Rough Halfway To the Moon.
7/21/15: Trey has some major struggles with Horn, but back in fine form for a Type I DtaD.
7/21/15: Blaze On debut is next. Such a cool song, even without the Shoreline jam.
7/21/15: A little Manteca-y jam tacked onto this shorter version of Blaze On. Love it.
7/21/15: Tube!
7/21/15: Love Page's clav here. So dirty.
7/21/15: Shit, Page is KILLING it.
7/21/15: Nice, bouncy funk in this Wolfman's (as opposed to filthy, disgusting, dirty funk).
7/21/15: With my rose-colored glasses off, that S1 was a little weaker than I remembered.
7/21/15: Great Sand, Devotion, Blaze On, and Wolfman's, though.
7/21/15: When this Ghost started, I was sure that it was freaking ON.
7/21/15: I suppose in a way it was, if by 'it' you mean 'a set full of incredibly funky mini-jams.'
7/21/15: Hot lead from Trey heading into the jam.
7/21/15: Trey keeping things in rock-god mode. Sounds a bit like Fish is trying to push them somewhere else.
7/21/15: Angry, dissonant chords now. Fish winding down.
7/21/15: Ghost jam sort of peters out. Sounded a little like Page might be cooking up something, but then > Birds.
7/21/15: Pretty low on the ripcord meter, though. They kicked around a few ideas post-Trey-solo, but nothing stuck.
7/21/15: 'They Attack!' action from Page.
7/21/15: Mike's. I'm going to retroactively miss the second jam in this one.
7/21/15: Nasty tone from Trey. Page on organ.
7/21/15: Great landing from Mike's into 'The Wedge.'
7/21/15: The Wedge gets extended a bit. Now Fuego.
7/21/15: This Fuego seems to be a higher tempo than the typical version.
7/21/15: I have to admit, when the bottom dropped out of the Fuego at 9:00, I thought there was a serious jam coming.
7/21/15: That said, Shade was a great debut and an AWESOME landing pad for this dark little jamlet.
7/21/15: Shade is such a fucking gorgeous song.
7/21/15: Can't wait to hear that one on the new album.
7/21/15: Awwwww yeah. No Men In No Man's Land.
7/21/15: Definitely more interesting take on this song that I remember. I think at the time I was just in funk-shock.
7/21/15: Doesn't hold a candle to the Shoreline version, but everybody's throwing in some seriously interesting bits.
7/21/15: Let's call it Type 1.5.
7/21/15: Still bummed they fumbled that No Men's -> Groove.
7/21/15: Part of Groove jam sounds like Runaway Jim riff.
7/21/15: Really soaring Groove jam. It's been awhile since I've cared about Groove, but this one does it.
7/21/15: On the other hand, the segue from Groove to Boogie On works just fine.
7/21/15: CDT still seems like a weird place for this set to end.
7/21/15: Love Theme as an encore choice.
7/21/15: Especially when Trey nails that walk-up riff o h m a n
7/21/15: Strong show across the board. I suppose no big jams is a knock against it.
7/21/15: Some great moments in the first set, though, and love those debuts, AND the last half of S2.
7/21/15: Weakest show of the first four, for sure, but a great start.
Aug 10, 2015
Fall and Winter 2010 Wrap-Up
I've said pretty much everything I've ever wanted to say about 2010 in general and fall/winter tour in particular over and over again throughout individual reviews and don't feel compelled to repeat myself at length yet again here.
Quantity over quality. Lots of songs, played well. No jamming. Interesting setlists. High energy. Solid segues. S2s that could easily be confused for S1s. And so on. If there's any real difference between late 2010 and early 2010 (and I'm not convinced that there is), it's that the Trey-dominated nature of the band's playing slowly becomes less about his running roughshod over everyone else during every potential jam and more about him playing so damn well that the rest of the band has no choice but to hold on for dear life. Occasionally, there's an October (10/22, 10/23, 10/30, 10/31) or December (12/27, 12/30, 12/31) show where this is a virtue. Even more occasionally, there's a show where the band actually improvises together (10/19, 10/20, 10/26).
Let's hope for more of that last category in 2011.
10/8: Strong entry, for a festival show. Three hours worth of energy in a 90 minute show. Only notable improv, though, is a great "Hood" -> "Light" sequence.
10/10: The beginning of the worst three-show run of Phish I've ever listened to. This show takes on the early-3.0 template of single-jam-early-in-S2 by following a decent "Mike's" > "Simple" combo with a strong "Ghost." And that's about it.
10/11: I hesitate to call any Phish show "bad," but this one is definitely a not-good one. There's a rare Phish take on Mike's "What Things Seem," and a few interesting minutes in "Twist." Otherwise, this is basically a Boring First Set > Boring First Set Reprise.
10/12: Really weird song choices in the first set, in a way that might make it interesting to someone out there. There's an early version of "Halfway To The Moon" that's worth a listen for the novelty value. And maybe the "best" part of the run, a short-but-sweet "Carini" that pulls off a hilariously weird -> into a "Bowie" that is, unfortunately, just standard.
10/15: Better than Broomfield. Strong opening to S1 and an interesting "Stash" near the end. The "Disease" jam is nothing new, but at this point it's just nice to hear even old jam ideas recycled into new forms. "Twist" continues to evolve...a little.
10/16: S1 still doesn't wander very far out of the box, but "The Curtain With" and "Sand" are strong and the setlist in general adds some spice. The second set seems underwhelming after starting with a hot "Crosseyed," despite containing "Fluffhead," "Tweezer," and "YEM." Sign of the times, I guess.
10/19: A few heavy-hitter Type I songs in the first set are overshadowed by a Type II "Gin" of all things. The second set opens with a "Mike's"/"FYF" mashup, and then a legitimate jam (the first since 8/7, IMHO) in the dark, angry "Light" that extends the sinister tone into "Twenty Years Later." The "Hood" is unique in its mellowness and likely worth a listen as well. The first show of the tour that I was legitimately excited about.
10/20: Obviously a top-notch show here, hence the DVD release. First set is very strong without even considering the "Guyute"/"Bowie"/"Wilson" mashup and the scathing "Antelope" to close. The second set doesn't stand up to the first, but there is the late "Split" -> "Have Mercy" > "Piper" -> "Split" sequence which beats the hell out of anything so far this tour except for bits of 10/19 for sheer quality of improv.
10/22: Like 10/19's "Light" > "Twenty Years" sequence, "Rock and Roll" > "Carini" start off the second set here with a fantastic burst of EVIL. Also of note is the "Sanity," which gets "jammed" a bit and is weirder even than the standard version. The rest of the show is stridently standard-great.
10/23: This show is one of those weird-but-good ones for me. For example, the first set features an out-there "Tweezer" as well as a "Tweezer Reprise" with "Meatstick" lyrics substituted in, for apparently no real reason. Though the second set starts off with a great bliss-jammed "Disease," the highlight is probably the "MFMF" -> "Caspian" -> "Halfway" -> "Boogie On." I told you it was a weird one.
10/24: Like 10/11, this one plays like two first sets, but at least these are interesting first sets. And there's a mini-jam out of "Fee" that sets up a great segue into "TTE," of all things.
10/26: Absolutely weird first set full of rare songs. If you like the setlist, you'll dig hearing these songs together. If not, you won't find anything musically new here. The second set is stronger, with another fantastic "Light," a "Makisupa" -> "Night Nurse" -> "Makisupa" sandwich, a short-but-sweet "Ghost," and an amazing "Groove" that moves into "Can't You Hear Me Knocking?" territory before seguing into a "Llama" reprise. Whew. Up there with 10/19 and 10/20.
10/29: Highlights of an otherwise standard S1 are a great solo from Trey on "Light Up Or Leave Me Alone," and a sudden, on-a-dime "Moma" > "Cities" transition. In the second set, "Sand" doesn't get weird, but is another excellent Type I take on the tune. "Carini" "gets there" quickly again, "Corinna" is gorgeous and unexpected, and "Piper" is an overachiever in its sub-seven-minute running time.
10/30: TweeZeppelin is obviously the big news in this show, but the first set is one of the better opening frames of the tour, too. Even aside from the excellent "CDT" -> "Whole Lotta Love" -> "CDT" preface to the second set, there are a lot of great song choices, and a fantastic "Wolfman's" that moves like butter into "Undermind." Barring a bit of a premature wind-down at the end, the second set is strong across the board. Of course the Zeppelin medley is the best part, but "Possum" has some Zeppelin jamming, too, "2001" is longer and stronger than the typical 3.0 take, and "Bowie" is a great close (to the interesting part of the set).
10/31: I'm not terribly familiar with Little Feat, so I found this show to be a bit lower on the scale than the 10/30 show. That said, the difference between the Halloween run and, say, the Bloomfield run is night and day. S1 features another strong "Stash," but the real story is the "Ghost" -> "Spooky" sequence, which is just pure Halloween setlist fun. The third set is by no means just a "landing pad" set this time around, and features excellent takes on "Disease," "Hood," and "YEM," along with a jammed-out "Wilson." This would have been one of the stronger shows of fall even without the covers set.
12/27: On paper, this show falls into the lackluster 2010 mold, but I liked it for some reason I have a hard time explaining. The band's quantity-over-quality approach to S1 works here, I think, because they hit on a combination of songs that just works so well together. The second set starts off slow, but the guys save it from wandering too far into Jukebox land with an excellent "Seven Below" -> "What's The Use?" pair and then some great work from Trey on "Twenty Years Later," "Farmhouse," and "Wading" (yeah, you read that right).
12/28: In terms of organization and (lack of) jamming, this show is really similar to 12/27, but the setlist doesn't work as well at distracting me from the lack of interesting tidbits as it did on the previous night. "Birdwatcher" and "Pigtail" are both neat debuts to hear, and "Stash" continues to turn in jam after jam in denial of the band's general jamless tendency this tour (and this year). "Carini" continues to evolve as a second set vehicle, and though this version isn't going on any year-end lists, I like it because it's weird in a year that's lacking greatly in that quality. And oh man, check out the plinko-style "Hood."
12/30: Follows the 2009 template of one big jam at the onset of S2. That jam is "Tweezer," and it's a really strong bit of improv, especially considering the obvious lack of such in most of this tour's shows. Outside the jam, there's nothing to really write home (or on this blog) about, but the jam itself hints toward greater things to come in 2011.
12/31: S1 is a good warm-up set, and rarities "Burn That Bridge" and "Gone" are worth a listen, if you're into that sort of thing. Lots of jam vehicles pop up in the second set, but the only one that really goes anywhere is the "Ghost," which is a pretty easy shoe-in for Jam of the Year. The following "YEM" -> "Manteca" -> "YEM" would be at the top of the highlight reel on any other night. S3, unfortunately, is just a cooldown set, but you're not going to care at all after hearing S2.
1/1: This one makes me think "hangover show." Everyone sounds either mellow or tired, based on how forgiving you're being. The first set is a really mellow affair with some great song choices including the long-missing "Round Room," and a great "Reba." The second set starts with a "Crosseyed" that becomes a clinic in Trey Shredding, but never moves beyond Type I. The only big takeaway from this show is the "Simple," which combines the typical "Simple" jam structure with the guitar pyrotechnics that have characterized 2010 for one last go-round.
Quantity over quality. Lots of songs, played well. No jamming. Interesting setlists. High energy. Solid segues. S2s that could easily be confused for S1s. And so on. If there's any real difference between late 2010 and early 2010 (and I'm not convinced that there is), it's that the Trey-dominated nature of the band's playing slowly becomes less about his running roughshod over everyone else during every potential jam and more about him playing so damn well that the rest of the band has no choice but to hold on for dear life. Occasionally, there's an October (10/22, 10/23, 10/30, 10/31) or December (12/27, 12/30, 12/31) show where this is a virtue. Even more occasionally, there's a show where the band actually improvises together (10/19, 10/20, 10/26).
Let's hope for more of that last category in 2011.
10/8: Strong entry, for a festival show. Three hours worth of energy in a 90 minute show. Only notable improv, though, is a great "Hood" -> "Light" sequence.
10/10: The beginning of the worst three-show run of Phish I've ever listened to. This show takes on the early-3.0 template of single-jam-early-in-S2 by following a decent "Mike's" > "Simple" combo with a strong "Ghost." And that's about it.
10/11: I hesitate to call any Phish show "bad," but this one is definitely a not-good one. There's a rare Phish take on Mike's "What Things Seem," and a few interesting minutes in "Twist." Otherwise, this is basically a Boring First Set > Boring First Set Reprise.
10/12: Really weird song choices in the first set, in a way that might make it interesting to someone out there. There's an early version of "Halfway To The Moon" that's worth a listen for the novelty value. And maybe the "best" part of the run, a short-but-sweet "Carini" that pulls off a hilariously weird -> into a "Bowie" that is, unfortunately, just standard.
10/15: Better than Broomfield. Strong opening to S1 and an interesting "Stash" near the end. The "Disease" jam is nothing new, but at this point it's just nice to hear even old jam ideas recycled into new forms. "Twist" continues to evolve...a little.
10/16: S1 still doesn't wander very far out of the box, but "The Curtain With" and "Sand" are strong and the setlist in general adds some spice. The second set seems underwhelming after starting with a hot "Crosseyed," despite containing "Fluffhead," "Tweezer," and "YEM." Sign of the times, I guess.
10/19: A few heavy-hitter Type I songs in the first set are overshadowed by a Type II "Gin" of all things. The second set opens with a "Mike's"/"FYF" mashup, and then a legitimate jam (the first since 8/7, IMHO) in the dark, angry "Light" that extends the sinister tone into "Twenty Years Later." The "Hood" is unique in its mellowness and likely worth a listen as well. The first show of the tour that I was legitimately excited about.
10/20: Obviously a top-notch show here, hence the DVD release. First set is very strong without even considering the "Guyute"/"Bowie"/"Wilson" mashup and the scathing "Antelope" to close. The second set doesn't stand up to the first, but there is the late "Split" -> "Have Mercy" > "Piper" -> "Split" sequence which beats the hell out of anything so far this tour except for bits of 10/19 for sheer quality of improv.
10/22: Like 10/19's "Light" > "Twenty Years" sequence, "Rock and Roll" > "Carini" start off the second set here with a fantastic burst of EVIL. Also of note is the "Sanity," which gets "jammed" a bit and is weirder even than the standard version. The rest of the show is stridently standard-great.
10/23: This show is one of those weird-but-good ones for me. For example, the first set features an out-there "Tweezer" as well as a "Tweezer Reprise" with "Meatstick" lyrics substituted in, for apparently no real reason. Though the second set starts off with a great bliss-jammed "Disease," the highlight is probably the "MFMF" -> "Caspian" -> "Halfway" -> "Boogie On." I told you it was a weird one.
10/24: Like 10/11, this one plays like two first sets, but at least these are interesting first sets. And there's a mini-jam out of "Fee" that sets up a great segue into "TTE," of all things.
10/26: Absolutely weird first set full of rare songs. If you like the setlist, you'll dig hearing these songs together. If not, you won't find anything musically new here. The second set is stronger, with another fantastic "Light," a "Makisupa" -> "Night Nurse" -> "Makisupa" sandwich, a short-but-sweet "Ghost," and an amazing "Groove" that moves into "Can't You Hear Me Knocking?" territory before seguing into a "Llama" reprise. Whew. Up there with 10/19 and 10/20.
10/29: Highlights of an otherwise standard S1 are a great solo from Trey on "Light Up Or Leave Me Alone," and a sudden, on-a-dime "Moma" > "Cities" transition. In the second set, "Sand" doesn't get weird, but is another excellent Type I take on the tune. "Carini" "gets there" quickly again, "Corinna" is gorgeous and unexpected, and "Piper" is an overachiever in its sub-seven-minute running time.
10/30: TweeZeppelin is obviously the big news in this show, but the first set is one of the better opening frames of the tour, too. Even aside from the excellent "CDT" -> "Whole Lotta Love" -> "CDT" preface to the second set, there are a lot of great song choices, and a fantastic "Wolfman's" that moves like butter into "Undermind." Barring a bit of a premature wind-down at the end, the second set is strong across the board. Of course the Zeppelin medley is the best part, but "Possum" has some Zeppelin jamming, too, "2001" is longer and stronger than the typical 3.0 take, and "Bowie" is a great close (to the interesting part of the set).
10/31: I'm not terribly familiar with Little Feat, so I found this show to be a bit lower on the scale than the 10/30 show. That said, the difference between the Halloween run and, say, the Bloomfield run is night and day. S1 features another strong "Stash," but the real story is the "Ghost" -> "Spooky" sequence, which is just pure Halloween setlist fun. The third set is by no means just a "landing pad" set this time around, and features excellent takes on "Disease," "Hood," and "YEM," along with a jammed-out "Wilson." This would have been one of the stronger shows of fall even without the covers set.
12/27: On paper, this show falls into the lackluster 2010 mold, but I liked it for some reason I have a hard time explaining. The band's quantity-over-quality approach to S1 works here, I think, because they hit on a combination of songs that just works so well together. The second set starts off slow, but the guys save it from wandering too far into Jukebox land with an excellent "Seven Below" -> "What's The Use?" pair and then some great work from Trey on "Twenty Years Later," "Farmhouse," and "Wading" (yeah, you read that right).
12/28: In terms of organization and (lack of) jamming, this show is really similar to 12/27, but the setlist doesn't work as well at distracting me from the lack of interesting tidbits as it did on the previous night. "Birdwatcher" and "Pigtail" are both neat debuts to hear, and "Stash" continues to turn in jam after jam in denial of the band's general jamless tendency this tour (and this year). "Carini" continues to evolve as a second set vehicle, and though this version isn't going on any year-end lists, I like it because it's weird in a year that's lacking greatly in that quality. And oh man, check out the plinko-style "Hood."
12/30: Follows the 2009 template of one big jam at the onset of S2. That jam is "Tweezer," and it's a really strong bit of improv, especially considering the obvious lack of such in most of this tour's shows. Outside the jam, there's nothing to really write home (or on this blog) about, but the jam itself hints toward greater things to come in 2011.
12/31: S1 is a good warm-up set, and rarities "Burn That Bridge" and "Gone" are worth a listen, if you're into that sort of thing. Lots of jam vehicles pop up in the second set, but the only one that really goes anywhere is the "Ghost," which is a pretty easy shoe-in for Jam of the Year. The following "YEM" -> "Manteca" -> "YEM" would be at the top of the highlight reel on any other night. S3, unfortunately, is just a cooldown set, but you're not going to care at all after hearing S2.
1/1: This one makes me think "hangover show." Everyone sounds either mellow or tired, based on how forgiving you're being. The first set is a really mellow affair with some great song choices including the long-missing "Round Room," and a great "Reba." The second set starts with a "Crosseyed" that becomes a clinic in Trey Shredding, but never moves beyond Type I. The only big takeaway from this show is the "Simple," which combines the typical "Simple" jam structure with the guitar pyrotechnics that have characterized 2010 for one last go-round.
Aug 4, 2015
2011-01-01 MSG III
The Verdict:
A 1/1 show after the big 12/31 party might seem like the perfect opportunity for a toss-off show. And that's sort of what it is. For the most part, at least.
The opening of the first set features some particularly mellow, laid-back song choices, which seems appropriate for the night, considering it's sort of like the NYE hangover show. A slow "My Soul," a mellow "Tube," "Guelah," and even "Round Room" get the show "rolling." Now, I love a mellow mood as much as the next guy, if not more. But at some point in the show you want this mellowness to at least lift for a bit and shift gears into something more intense.
Now, I should say in all fairness that Trey slays "Reba" and "Crosseyed," and that the S2-closing "Bowie" is a lot more tension-y and longer than most recent versions, though it doesn't "go deep," particularly. But aside from those specific instances, this is almost a too-mellow show. Even the highlights (and they are pretty serious highlights) are a slow, bluesy take on "Twist," and an extended "Simple" jam that's quieter than the usual quiet "Simple" jam before abandoning a rock build for a sudden end and > "Sneakin' Sally."
It is, frankly, an interesting show for 2010, which has been just about all energy and little-to-no exploration. There's still not much exploration in the typical sense here, but there is a sort of tonal exploration, which is cool.
The Live Review:
1/1/11: My Soul opens the first show of '11. Which I will still be tagging under '10. For obvious reasons.
1/1/11: Sort of a slower, bluesier take than usual. Gooey. I like it.
1/1/11: Mellow, slowed-down version of Tube is next.
1/1/11: Runaway Jim is third, and includes a little plinko-y section before the jam starts in earnest.
1/1/11: Short Jim > Foam!
1/1/11: Rough take on Guelah Papyrus is next.
1/1/11: Divided Sky!
1/1/11: ROUND ROOM
1/1/11: So awesome.
1/1/11: So far this set has been sort of like the hangover after a huge party.
1/1/11: But in the best way. Great song choice, really mellow, solid takes on some excellent tunes. Except Guelah, which was messy.
1/1/11: Walk Away tries to pick up the pace a bit.
1/1/11: Gotta Jibboo comes next. Trey starts off the jam in a really low-key way.
1/1/11: Jibboo was a nice slow-builder. Reba is next. Trey is currently bombing the composed section, but I appreciate the intent.
1/1/11: As is often the case, the more butchered the composed section is, the better the jam is.
1/1/11: That version was especially melodically coherent and subtle right up until the moment that it shifted into Peak Mode and blew up.
1/1/11: Great Reba peak > Walls to close the first set.
1/1/11: My overview writeup is going to suck, seeing as how it comes like three weeks after listening to the first set.
1/1/11: On the upside, this Walls doesn't suck.
1/1/11: C+P opens the second set. Pretty much the best second set opener I can imagine.
1/1/11: Standard Trey opening soloing taking on some serious momentum.
1/1/11: Spooky fadeout > Twist.
1/1/11: C+P was long, but stayed in the box, but Trey shredded it. Basically, a perfect Type I-only version.
1/1/11: Twist is more interesting than C+P so far. Staying in the box, but really minimal blues. Page is up front, Trey staying back.
1/1/11: Great landing from jam in the Twist ending, then buttslammed into Simple.
1/1/11: Big cheers during the 'skyscrapers'-related lyrics. Those New Yorkers sure do like to embrace their misery, don't they? ;)
1/1/11: Simple jam starts in the typical fashion, but quickly goes into a slower, more blissful space (if that's possible).
1/1/11: Little to no drums, now. Whale pedal.
1/1/11: Sounded like it was going to fizzle for a minute, then Trey switched effects and now we're floating along nicely.
1/1/11: Building back up from the quiet. Nice little rock riff Trey is constructing.
1/1/11: Build never got extremely peak-y, but ended in a good place. Weird introduction to Sneakin' Sally from a dead stop.
1/1/11: Vocal breakdown almost immediately out of the song proper.
1/1/11: Really great funk section to follow up on the vocal jam.
1/1/11: Breaks down into a really minimal, loopy spot for a minute or so before > Makisupa.
1/1/11: Extended Mike solo leads to some serious looping madness.
1/1/11: Makisupa > Bowie.
1/1/11: Eerie looping continues over Bowie intro drumming.
1/1/11: Tight, extended Bowie jam. Still stays 'in the box' as compared to a real 'jammed' Bowie, but better than most standard takes.
1/1/11: End set. Fee for an encore? Cool!
1/1/11: Frankenstein (w/ keytar) is going to wrap up this year's shows.
A 1/1 show after the big 12/31 party might seem like the perfect opportunity for a toss-off show. And that's sort of what it is. For the most part, at least.
The opening of the first set features some particularly mellow, laid-back song choices, which seems appropriate for the night, considering it's sort of like the NYE hangover show. A slow "My Soul," a mellow "Tube," "Guelah," and even "Round Room" get the show "rolling." Now, I love a mellow mood as much as the next guy, if not more. But at some point in the show you want this mellowness to at least lift for a bit and shift gears into something more intense.
Now, I should say in all fairness that Trey slays "Reba" and "Crosseyed," and that the S2-closing "Bowie" is a lot more tension-y and longer than most recent versions, though it doesn't "go deep," particularly. But aside from those specific instances, this is almost a too-mellow show. Even the highlights (and they are pretty serious highlights) are a slow, bluesy take on "Twist," and an extended "Simple" jam that's quieter than the usual quiet "Simple" jam before abandoning a rock build for a sudden end and > "Sneakin' Sally."
It is, frankly, an interesting show for 2010, which has been just about all energy and little-to-no exploration. There's still not much exploration in the typical sense here, but there is a sort of tonal exploration, which is cool.
The Live Review:
1/1/11: My Soul opens the first show of '11. Which I will still be tagging under '10. For obvious reasons.
1/1/11: Sort of a slower, bluesier take than usual. Gooey. I like it.
1/1/11: Mellow, slowed-down version of Tube is next.
1/1/11: Runaway Jim is third, and includes a little plinko-y section before the jam starts in earnest.
1/1/11: Short Jim > Foam!
1/1/11: Rough take on Guelah Papyrus is next.
1/1/11: Divided Sky!
1/1/11: ROUND ROOM
1/1/11: So awesome.
1/1/11: So far this set has been sort of like the hangover after a huge party.
1/1/11: But in the best way. Great song choice, really mellow, solid takes on some excellent tunes. Except Guelah, which was messy.
1/1/11: Walk Away tries to pick up the pace a bit.
1/1/11: Gotta Jibboo comes next. Trey starts off the jam in a really low-key way.
1/1/11: Jibboo was a nice slow-builder. Reba is next. Trey is currently bombing the composed section, but I appreciate the intent.
1/1/11: As is often the case, the more butchered the composed section is, the better the jam is.
1/1/11: That version was especially melodically coherent and subtle right up until the moment that it shifted into Peak Mode and blew up.
1/1/11: Great Reba peak > Walls to close the first set.
1/1/11: My overview writeup is going to suck, seeing as how it comes like three weeks after listening to the first set.
1/1/11: On the upside, this Walls doesn't suck.
1/1/11: C+P opens the second set. Pretty much the best second set opener I can imagine.
1/1/11: Standard Trey opening soloing taking on some serious momentum.
1/1/11: Spooky fadeout > Twist.
1/1/11: C+P was long, but stayed in the box, but Trey shredded it. Basically, a perfect Type I-only version.
1/1/11: Twist is more interesting than C+P so far. Staying in the box, but really minimal blues. Page is up front, Trey staying back.
1/1/11: Great landing from jam in the Twist ending, then buttslammed into Simple.
1/1/11: Big cheers during the 'skyscrapers'-related lyrics. Those New Yorkers sure do like to embrace their misery, don't they? ;)
1/1/11: Simple jam starts in the typical fashion, but quickly goes into a slower, more blissful space (if that's possible).
1/1/11: Little to no drums, now. Whale pedal.
1/1/11: Sounded like it was going to fizzle for a minute, then Trey switched effects and now we're floating along nicely.
1/1/11: Building back up from the quiet. Nice little rock riff Trey is constructing.
1/1/11: Build never got extremely peak-y, but ended in a good place. Weird introduction to Sneakin' Sally from a dead stop.
1/1/11: Vocal breakdown almost immediately out of the song proper.
1/1/11: Really great funk section to follow up on the vocal jam.
1/1/11: Breaks down into a really minimal, loopy spot for a minute or so before > Makisupa.
1/1/11: Extended Mike solo leads to some serious looping madness.
1/1/11: Makisupa > Bowie.
1/1/11: Eerie looping continues over Bowie intro drumming.
1/1/11: Tight, extended Bowie jam. Still stays 'in the box' as compared to a real 'jammed' Bowie, but better than most standard takes.
1/1/11: End set. Fee for an encore? Cool!
1/1/11: Frankenstein (w/ keytar) is going to wrap up this year's shows.
2010-12-31 MSG II
The Verdict:
So, here we are at the second-to-last show of the year. Or if you're being pedantic, the last show of the year. It's been a few weeks since I actually listened to this because house-buying shenanigans and then (more importantly) the first four shows of summer tour 2015 derailed my rhythm. But I'll do my best to recap my "instant" impressions anyway.
The opening frame is, appropriately I suppose, a 2010-standard first set. It gives Trey a lot of opportunities to shred his way through classics in a rote but energetic fashion, and there are a few spices added to keep things interesting (in this case, "Burn That Bridge," which is maybe my favorite Phishified HoaHB song, and "Gone"). "Rock and Roll" is a strong choice for a closer, but really, we're still just warming up here.
In a S2 with "46 Days," "Sand," "Disease," and "Ghost," you'd be forgiven for thinking that there is a lot of jamming. You'd have to be forgiven because, of course, you'd be wrong. Pretty much everything in the second set is only a "jam" to the degree that a "jam" is an extension of Trey driving the entire band on guitar, which is pretty much what he's been doing all year, (often) to the music's detriment and (sometimes) to its improvement. In this case, though, the go-nowhere versions of a number of jam vehicles that get sacrificed at the altar of Machine Gun All The Time Trey don't matter much because The Holy Ghost is the apotheosis of all that is 2010 Trey, and it is beautiful and terrible.
How's that for a Mr. Miner sentence?
Anyway, the "Ghost" is incredible, and you should just watch the video if you've somehow never heard it before. It's followed by a pretty crazy "YEM" -> "Manteca" -> "YEM" mashup that starts as a musical mashup and extends into the vocal jam section of "YEM" in cool ways.
The third set cannot, of course, live up to this monstrosity. The "Meatstick" thing is probably cool if you were there, but is just a really long "Meatstick" on tape. Here, you can watch it if you want!
Also, "After Midnight" should just be the obligatory post-"Auld Lang Syne" song for every NYE show from now on.
Aaaaaand...that's about it. Really, the third set is all about the gag and maybe, if you like smooth segues like I do, the "Piper" -> "Free" combo. But like S1, everything else here is all about the benevolent dictatorship of Trey's shredding, and it's just a nice, loud, note-filled descent to the encore and the parking lot.
I say that like this was a bad show, but it's not. It's consistently average-for-Phish for three entire sets, which is more than you can say about many of their three-set shows. Add in the fantastic "Ghost," "YEM" -> "Manteca" -> "YEM" run and you've got an excellent NYE show.
The Live Review:
12/31/10: Probably not going to make it through this entire gargantuan show today, but I'm going to start.
12/31/10: Opening with PYITE is a ballsy move (12/31/95 opener).
12/31/10: Bag is second.
12/31/10: Trey is getting in one last burst of 2010 guitar mania here.
12/31/10: Bag -B Moma. Nice landing.
12/31/10: I think of all the songs that Phish plays Type I style ALL THE DAMN TIME, Moma is my
favorite.
12/31/10: Though as much as I love this song live, I think my favorite version might just be the one from SoaG. Moma -> Ghost reprise.
12/31/10: Can I just take a moment during this review to express how FUCKING PUMPED I am to be going to Bend in eight days?
12/31/10: 25th show, my birthday (the 22nd), in my backyard (2 hrs from my house), surrounded by mtns. I'll be climbing b/t shows.
12/31/10: Then hitting the road for SF, LA, and the Sierras right after. Taking a break until Dick's after.
12/31/10: KITTY FELT LASER BEAMS BEING FIRED AT HER HEAD
12/31/10: I might have just ingested a shitload of caffeine...or not. YOU DECIDE
12/31/10: THIS REVIEW IS GONNA BE SO FUN YOU GUYS
12/31/10: If you want to die of a cardiac infarction, turn to page 73.
12/31/10: If you want to get fired for raging to 12/31/10 S1 too hard at your new standing desk, turn to any of the other pages.
12/31/10: If this caffeine doesn't wear off b4 the Holy Ghost, I'm almost definitely gonna swanton bomb through my new desk.
12/31/10: Can you believe how good I am at pretending to be a Phish fan despite never having heard the 11/17/97 Ghost?
12/31/10: Debut (I think) of Burn That Bridge.
12/31/10: I think this song suits Phish a lot more than My Problem Right There.
12/31/10: Love me some Summer of '89, though.
12/31/10: Weight, Ocelot. S1 going as expected. Solid song choices, solid playing.
12/31/10: Honestly I'm having trouble really paying attention aside from just wanting to get to the Ghost.
12/31/10: Super mellow Ocelot jam so far.
12/31/10: Auld Lang Syne tease in Ocelot makes this my favorite Ocelot ever.
12/31/10: Beauty of My Dreams! The Obligatory Bluegrass Song selection lately has been impeccable.
12/31/10: Gone is next. Now that's a surprise.
12/31/10: I really like this song but wasn't a fan of the TAB arrangement of it I heard them play in Seattle in 2013.
12/31/10: It's a very TAB-style song, but I sort of like the minimal Phish arrangement better. Party Time version, ftw.
12/31/10: Studio version: https://t.co/g096Bg2qDe
12/31/10: Always seemed sort of like a landing pad for the hypothetical Light jam the guys laid down while recording Joy.
12/31/10: The studio versions of each really compliment each other, Light -> Gone.
12/31/10: Or maybe Gone -> Light?
12/31/10: Rock and Roll to close the first set.
12/31/10: Another huge Treygasm to close the first of three sets here in the Caffeine High Palace.
12/31/10: Quick Wilson > 46 Days to kick off the second set.
12/31/10: Sand! Oh yes. Yes. YES.
12/31/10: Trey is taking the train to Funk City pretty much immediately.
12/31/10: Diversion to Plinko Town in the works.
12/31/10: Sand got more standard and boring as it went on, but still a great version. NICU next.
Weird S2 choice.
12/31/10: Trey passes on what sounded like another Auld Lang Syne tease at the end of NICU for
> Disease.
12/31/10: Machine Gun Trey is losing his fucking mind on this Disease.
12/31/10: Neat little ambient/funk fade-out leads to the beginning of the Ghost.
12/31/10: Or should I say The Ghost.
12/31/10: Hard rock chords to start the jam. Page on clav.
12/31/10: Page to piano, tempo switching up around 7:00. Trey going to bliss-land.
12/31/10: Trey currently developing The Riff.
12/31/10: Never really realized how much Fish contributes to this jam ending up where it does.
12/31/10: Trey finally hits it at 10:10 and all hell is now breaking loose in the dopamine factory.
12/31/10: Man, that moment when he moves the riff up the neck rivals That Moment in the Tahoe Tweezer for my favorite Phish moment.
12/31/10: But being on the floor for the Tweezer and screaming in awe with 8,000 other people was pretty much the best thing ever.
12/31/10: This is totally nuts, though.
12/31/10: And the landing back into the Ghost riff is sooooo smoooooooth.
12/31/10: Immediately into YEM from there. My bet that that was an audible based on how much they just bashed Ghost into space.
12/31/10: Holy YEM -> Manteca!
12/31/10: Lyrics and all. -> YEM.
12/31/10: Manteca lyrics over YEM jam now. Sort of like a woo jam, only with 'Grabbin' my shoe mouth' instead.
12/31/10: Crab.
12/31/10: Fuck.
12/31/10: Vox continue throughout Mike solo.
12/31/10: Vocal jam interweaving typical 'lyrics' and Manteca lyrics.
12/31/10: Technically, I suppose the YEM lyrics aren't really any weirder than the Manteca ones.
12/31/10: Guessing YEM will end S2.
12/31/10: Yep. S3 kicks off with the Meatstick-O-Rama.
12/31/10: Okay, so like most Phish gags, this Meatstick is super weird to just listen to.
12/31/10: Okay guys, when it comes to the Meatstick, length isn't everything. At least that's what I've been told.
12/31/10: Auld Lang Syne > After Midnight. Which, come to think of it, should be obligatory every friggin' year.
12/31/10: Little funk interlude in the midst of Trey fireworks.
12/31/10: Number Line, and Trey is so excited I think he just cut off the last chorus by immediately jumping into the solo.
12/31/10: 'Fuck words! Who needs words when you have...THIS!?' *destroys Languedoc with fingers*
12/31/10: Trey just went all The Who on the end of Number Line.
12/31/10: Then forgets the chorus chords.
12/31/10: Guitar haze > Piper.
12/31/10: Piper building steam...and fizzing out...and Trey is maybe trying to pull off a ->
Free...yep!
12/31/10: That Piper seemed like it was going places, but hard to argue that that was a cool segue.
12/31/10: Pretty standard Free > Waste.
12/31/10: The back half of this set has been sort of weird, but closing it with Slave will help.
12/31/10: Piper -> Free > Waste sequence not really up to NYE standards, but that first segue really was cool.
12/31/10: Gave up on work early last night, hence I did not inform you that the encore was Grind, First Tube.
12/31/10: Okay, and there's a Auld Lang Syne tease in First Tube.
12/31/10: Like a lot of 3-set shows lately, the first two sets were very strong, but the last one sort of petered out.
12/31/10: Though I imagine if I'd seen the Meatstick performance in person, I would feel differently.
So, here we are at the second-to-last show of the year. Or if you're being pedantic, the last show of the year. It's been a few weeks since I actually listened to this because house-buying shenanigans and then (more importantly) the first four shows of summer tour 2015 derailed my rhythm. But I'll do my best to recap my "instant" impressions anyway.
The opening frame is, appropriately I suppose, a 2010-standard first set. It gives Trey a lot of opportunities to shred his way through classics in a rote but energetic fashion, and there are a few spices added to keep things interesting (in this case, "Burn That Bridge," which is maybe my favorite Phishified HoaHB song, and "Gone"). "Rock and Roll" is a strong choice for a closer, but really, we're still just warming up here.
In a S2 with "46 Days," "Sand," "Disease," and "Ghost," you'd be forgiven for thinking that there is a lot of jamming. You'd have to be forgiven because, of course, you'd be wrong. Pretty much everything in the second set is only a "jam" to the degree that a "jam" is an extension of Trey driving the entire band on guitar, which is pretty much what he's been doing all year, (often) to the music's detriment and (sometimes) to its improvement. In this case, though, the go-nowhere versions of a number of jam vehicles that get sacrificed at the altar of Machine Gun All The Time Trey don't matter much because The Holy Ghost is the apotheosis of all that is 2010 Trey, and it is beautiful and terrible.
How's that for a Mr. Miner sentence?
Anyway, the "Ghost" is incredible, and you should just watch the video if you've somehow never heard it before. It's followed by a pretty crazy "YEM" -> "Manteca" -> "YEM" mashup that starts as a musical mashup and extends into the vocal jam section of "YEM" in cool ways.
The third set cannot, of course, live up to this monstrosity. The "Meatstick" thing is probably cool if you were there, but is just a really long "Meatstick" on tape. Here, you can watch it if you want!
Also, "After Midnight" should just be the obligatory post-"Auld Lang Syne" song for every NYE show from now on.
Aaaaaand...that's about it. Really, the third set is all about the gag and maybe, if you like smooth segues like I do, the "Piper" -> "Free" combo. But like S1, everything else here is all about the benevolent dictatorship of Trey's shredding, and it's just a nice, loud, note-filled descent to the encore and the parking lot.
I say that like this was a bad show, but it's not. It's consistently average-for-Phish for three entire sets, which is more than you can say about many of their three-set shows. Add in the fantastic "Ghost," "YEM" -> "Manteca" -> "YEM" run and you've got an excellent NYE show.
The Live Review:
12/31/10: Probably not going to make it through this entire gargantuan show today, but I'm going to start.
12/31/10: Opening with PYITE is a ballsy move (12/31/95 opener).
12/31/10: Bag is second.
12/31/10: Trey is getting in one last burst of 2010 guitar mania here.
12/31/10: Bag -B Moma. Nice landing.
12/31/10: I think of all the songs that Phish plays Type I style ALL THE DAMN TIME, Moma is my
favorite.
12/31/10: Though as much as I love this song live, I think my favorite version might just be the one from SoaG. Moma -> Ghost reprise.
12/31/10: Can I just take a moment during this review to express how FUCKING PUMPED I am to be going to Bend in eight days?
12/31/10: 25th show, my birthday (the 22nd), in my backyard (2 hrs from my house), surrounded by mtns. I'll be climbing b/t shows.
12/31/10: Then hitting the road for SF, LA, and the Sierras right after. Taking a break until Dick's after.
12/31/10: KITTY FELT LASER BEAMS BEING FIRED AT HER HEAD
12/31/10: I might have just ingested a shitload of caffeine...or not. YOU DECIDE
12/31/10: THIS REVIEW IS GONNA BE SO FUN YOU GUYS
12/31/10: If you want to die of a cardiac infarction, turn to page 73.
12/31/10: If you want to get fired for raging to 12/31/10 S1 too hard at your new standing desk, turn to any of the other pages.
12/31/10: If this caffeine doesn't wear off b4 the Holy Ghost, I'm almost definitely gonna swanton bomb through my new desk.
12/31/10: Can you believe how good I am at pretending to be a Phish fan despite never having heard the 11/17/97 Ghost?
12/31/10: Debut (I think) of Burn That Bridge.
12/31/10: I think this song suits Phish a lot more than My Problem Right There.
12/31/10: Love me some Summer of '89, though.
12/31/10: Weight, Ocelot. S1 going as expected. Solid song choices, solid playing.
12/31/10: Honestly I'm having trouble really paying attention aside from just wanting to get to the Ghost.
12/31/10: Super mellow Ocelot jam so far.
12/31/10: Auld Lang Syne tease in Ocelot makes this my favorite Ocelot ever.
12/31/10: Beauty of My Dreams! The Obligatory Bluegrass Song selection lately has been impeccable.
12/31/10: Gone is next. Now that's a surprise.
12/31/10: I really like this song but wasn't a fan of the TAB arrangement of it I heard them play in Seattle in 2013.
12/31/10: It's a very TAB-style song, but I sort of like the minimal Phish arrangement better. Party Time version, ftw.
12/31/10: Studio version: https://t.co/g096Bg2qDe
12/31/10: Always seemed sort of like a landing pad for the hypothetical Light jam the guys laid down while recording Joy.
12/31/10: The studio versions of each really compliment each other, Light -> Gone.
12/31/10: Or maybe Gone -> Light?
12/31/10: Rock and Roll to close the first set.
12/31/10: Another huge Treygasm to close the first of three sets here in the Caffeine High Palace.
12/31/10: Quick Wilson > 46 Days to kick off the second set.
12/31/10: Sand! Oh yes. Yes. YES.
12/31/10: Trey is taking the train to Funk City pretty much immediately.
12/31/10: Diversion to Plinko Town in the works.
12/31/10: Sand got more standard and boring as it went on, but still a great version. NICU next.
Weird S2 choice.
12/31/10: Trey passes on what sounded like another Auld Lang Syne tease at the end of NICU for
> Disease.
12/31/10: Machine Gun Trey is losing his fucking mind on this Disease.
12/31/10: Neat little ambient/funk fade-out leads to the beginning of the Ghost.
12/31/10: Or should I say The Ghost.
12/31/10: Hard rock chords to start the jam. Page on clav.
12/31/10: Page to piano, tempo switching up around 7:00. Trey going to bliss-land.
12/31/10: Trey currently developing The Riff.
12/31/10: Never really realized how much Fish contributes to this jam ending up where it does.
12/31/10: Trey finally hits it at 10:10 and all hell is now breaking loose in the dopamine factory.
12/31/10: Man, that moment when he moves the riff up the neck rivals That Moment in the Tahoe Tweezer for my favorite Phish moment.
12/31/10: But being on the floor for the Tweezer and screaming in awe with 8,000 other people was pretty much the best thing ever.
12/31/10: This is totally nuts, though.
12/31/10: And the landing back into the Ghost riff is sooooo smoooooooth.
12/31/10: Immediately into YEM from there. My bet that that was an audible based on how much they just bashed Ghost into space.
12/31/10: Holy YEM -> Manteca!
12/31/10: Lyrics and all. -> YEM.
12/31/10: Manteca lyrics over YEM jam now. Sort of like a woo jam, only with 'Grabbin' my shoe mouth' instead.
12/31/10: Crab.
12/31/10: Fuck.
12/31/10: Vox continue throughout Mike solo.
12/31/10: Vocal jam interweaving typical 'lyrics' and Manteca lyrics.
12/31/10: Technically, I suppose the YEM lyrics aren't really any weirder than the Manteca ones.
12/31/10: Guessing YEM will end S2.
12/31/10: Yep. S3 kicks off with the Meatstick-O-Rama.
12/31/10: Okay, so like most Phish gags, this Meatstick is super weird to just listen to.
12/31/10: Okay guys, when it comes to the Meatstick, length isn't everything. At least that's what I've been told.
12/31/10: Auld Lang Syne > After Midnight. Which, come to think of it, should be obligatory every friggin' year.
12/31/10: Little funk interlude in the midst of Trey fireworks.
12/31/10: Number Line, and Trey is so excited I think he just cut off the last chorus by immediately jumping into the solo.
12/31/10: 'Fuck words! Who needs words when you have...THIS!?' *destroys Languedoc with fingers*
12/31/10: Trey just went all The Who on the end of Number Line.
12/31/10: Then forgets the chorus chords.
12/31/10: Guitar haze > Piper.
12/31/10: Piper building steam...and fizzing out...and Trey is maybe trying to pull off a ->
Free...yep!
12/31/10: That Piper seemed like it was going places, but hard to argue that that was a cool segue.
12/31/10: Pretty standard Free > Waste.
12/31/10: The back half of this set has been sort of weird, but closing it with Slave will help.
12/31/10: Piper -> Free > Waste sequence not really up to NYE standards, but that first segue really was cool.
12/31/10: Gave up on work early last night, hence I did not inform you that the encore was Grind, First Tube.
12/31/10: Okay, and there's a Auld Lang Syne tease in First Tube.
12/31/10: Like a lot of 3-set shows lately, the first two sets were very strong, but the last one sort of petered out.
12/31/10: Though I imagine if I'd seen the Meatstick performance in person, I would feel differently.
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