The Verdict:
At first, after the Atlanta shows, I was disappointed with this show. Trying to look at it a bit more objectively, though, I've noticed it's pretty similar in a lot of ways to 8/1.
The first set has consistent energy and some interesting song choices, but nothing terribly interesting, which, in the context of this tour, makes it a slight disappointment. As is becoming typical, the opening two songs shoot the energy through the roof. I love "Train Song," "Devotion," and "Meat," but here they also contribute to a weird setlist flow that jumps back up for "Maze" only to get The Line'd right after. "Roggae" and "46 Days" are their usual excellent selves, and Page teases "Very Short Fuse" during the "fuse" lyric in "My Friend, My Friend," but that's the first set in a nutshell.
The second set opens with "Disease," and I think I described it the best I can below when I said that the jam resolves into a bliss-rock jam that resembles what The Who would sound like if they weren't so angry all the time. I'm not patting myself on the back for my wordplay, there, I just don't know how else to describe the jam.
The rest of the set plays out pretty much like it looks on paper, though the "2001" is stronger and funkier than you might expect, and the "Hood" is briefer and more perfunctory than you might expect. Oh, and the "Seven Below" is either a totally brilliant ten minutes of jamming or some basic noodling. I've listened to it three times now and I can't decide.
Frankly, this show is one of those big-third-quarter-jam, one-trick-pony sort of shows, but it's a really strong show in that mold. Unlike the Texas shows, the first set hangs together, even if it isn't going to blow anyone away, and some of the later jams in the second set attempt to Go There, even if they aren't achieving Shoreline or Atlanta levels.
The Live Review:
8/2/15: Sample opener.
8/2/15: CDT next. Is this a mid-90s show?
8/2/15: I guess if it was, the tempo would be twice as fast and you wouldn't be able to hear the band over Trey :)
8/2/15: Whoa! Train Song! It really *is* the 90s!
8/2/15: Devotion puts us firmly in 2015.
8/2/15: Meat! So far, I'm way more excited about this first set than I feel like I should be.
8/2/15: The Sample > CDT combo was neat, and I love all three of the other songs. Taken more 'objectively' though, I suppose this is boring.
8/2/15: Maze next. Maze is definitely not one of my favorite #phish songs, but it's been hot at least since the Eugene version last year.
8/2/15: I didn't notice this much live this summer, but on the recordings, Trey's melody playing/jamming is much more precise/assertive...
8/2/15: ...but his composed playing, even on songs like Maze, is a lot sloppier than usual.
8/2/15: Maybe the tradeoff of his learning all of those FTW songs is that he's got too many damn songs in his head at once.
8/2/15: I mean, I'd certainly prefer better jamming and shittier composed playing than the opposite.
8/2/15: But it seemed like he was on an upward curve in terms of improved composed playing from '09 to '14 in a lot of ways. Then, *thump*.
8/2/15: Umm...yes, that was a really good Maze, btw.
8/2/15: The Line. Nothing sucks the air out of a room faster these days.
8/2/15: The thing is, it's a great song. Occasionally, #phish writes a catchy, meaningful song like this, and it's great that they do.
8/2/15: But nobody on tour wants to hear it every other night, except the band themselves.
8/2/15: So, yeah, I cringe out on the lawn whenever they start it up...
8/2/15: ...but I also remember when it came on the shuffle while I was driving south to solo Mt. Shasta and captured my feeling perfectly.
8/2/15: A lot of times, #phish is even better at creating that magical lyrical moment than the 'great' songwriters I love.
8/2/15: But also, damn, stop playing The Line every other night Trey :)
8/2/15: You try to see your future from the line / clinging to the notion you'll be fine / but #phish keeps playing The Line all the time
8/2/15: Roggae! Been really happy to see this one get so much play the last two years.
8/2/15: It's a perfect S1 song OR jam landing pad. Like Reba, it doesn't really Go There, but the little variations make each version great.
8/2/15: Great Roggae. Peaky at the end, like a lot of recent versions. MFMF is next.
8/2/15: MFMF is one of those songs that I just can't like in concert for some reason.
8/2/15: Except the time I was really high and thought it was Guyute for the first two minutes. I really liked it that time.
8/2/15: Yeah!!! After MFMF 'Fuse' line, Page plays 'Very Short Fuse' samples!
8/2/15: Literally nobody in the audience reacted at all.
8/2/15: Is it possible that the Tuscaloosa crowd just sucks?
8/2/15: 46 Days!
8/2/15: Some great pitch-shifted soloing from Trey here.
8/2/15: All aboard the train to Shredtown. Trey is your engineer.
8/2/15: Cavern. For the last song of the set?
8/2/15: Yep. End set.
8/2/15: A weird set. Started strong, continue with some mellow semi-rarities. No sagging, really, though, except for The Line.
8/2/15: I guess a good way to think of it is 'Consistently good/strong, but never great.'
8/2/15: I really enjoyed listening to it, but will probably never listen to any of it ever again.
8/2/15: Alright, long setbreak of desk reorganization and moving a few hundred books around in my office.
8/2/15: S2 opener is Disease.
8/2/15: Disease jam opening with some excellent melodic work from Trey.
8/2/15: Some ambient fuzz. Fish pushing them through a transitional space.
8/2/15: Trey reeling out some more octave-shifted stuff now.
8/2/15: Ooh, nice landing in a hilariously jaunty chord progression.
8/2/15: This is what The Who would have sounded like if they hadn't been so angry all the time.
8/2/15: They jammed on that riff for a surprisingly long time by 201x standards. Now a totally weird alien feedback/echo edifice.
8/2/15: During any other tour, this would be a huge highlight. Here, it's just another notch in the 2015 belt. But yeah, it's real good :)
8/2/15: > Camel Walk? Weird.
8/2/15: Interesting solo from Trey in Camel Walk, then a snap-quick transition into Seven Below.
8/2/15: Really nice little jam space here. Fish keeps the Seven Below beat going, Page on electric piano.
8/2/15: Nice build in the solo, then a return to the Seven Below riff.
8/2/15: Fuego next.
8/2/15: Pretty standard Fuego.
8/2/15: > 2001!
8/2/15: 2001 excitement aside, this set is starting to feel a bit disjointed like most of the first one did.
8/2/15: Definitely more Texas going on in this show than Atlanta.
8/2/15: Great 2001, with some weird tones and echoes from Trey.
8/2/15: In a weird way, this reminds me of the Mike's from Dick's last year.
8/2/15: 2001 > Hood.
8/2/15: That was the leanest Hood I've heard in a long time. Not necessarily a bad thing, but would have liked to have heard more.
8/2/15: Possum now, of all things.
8/2/15: That was a surprisingly excellent version of Possum, but it still feels weird having it close the second set.
8/2/15: Gotta love a Day In the Life encore, though.
8/2/15: So that was a very Texas show, after all.
8/2/15: High-energy S1, but oddly plotted and no actually interesting highlights (which is more of a gimme this year, usually).
8/2/15: Second set was really just the Disease, though there were bits of Seven Below and 2001 that were interesting.
8/2/15: In short, it's sort of the 2015 equivalent of a 2009 or 2010 One Jam In The Second Set-style show.
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