The Verdict:
This is one of those shows that's hard to review because it's a really good Phish show, but not for the reasons I typically really enjoy a show. So on one hand, I look at a lot of the second set and wish that it had more Shoreline- or Blossom-style jams, but if you're not too locked into that way of thinking, there's a whole lot here to sink your teeth into.
The first set is a bit unique. It starts off strong, as many 2015 S1s do. This time, it's "No Men" and "Stealing Time" that provide the opening one-two punch before the now-customary fumbling around happens during the middle of the set. "Frankie Says" is a nice bustout that gets us back on track, and the guys play around a bit with the usual tones used for the song, giving it a more ominous feel (and hinting at the "WTU?" to come?). The rest of the set is mostly made up of longer composed pieces, but maybe not the ones you'd expect: "Maze," "Mercury," and "Reba." We close with a strong "Possum." So, I think that whether you see this set as falling into the stronger pile of S1s we've gotten this year or the weaker pile depends a lot on how you feel about "Maze," "Mercury," and "Reba." "Maze" and "Reba" have been extra-good lately, and these versions are no exception, and I love "Mercury" in general. So, for my money, this is a somewhat uneven but ultimately satisfying set.
The second set is anything but uneven, but if you're insistent on monster jams, you might be a little disappointed. "Disesase" opens, and actually does a good job of Going There as far as I'm concerned: it doesn't do anything that we haven't heard the boys do already this summer, but it combines a few comfortable jamming ideas so well and with such verve that it's hard not to love. "Halley's" gets slightly extended with a funk jam, "Twist" stays Type I but with some fun MuTron soloing, "Light" echoes the blissful, "Hood"-like Gorge '09 version before melting nicely into "WTU?", and even "Number Line" and "Slave" have a little extra juice to them. "Fuego" is really the only song in the entire set that doesn't have at least a few notable moments in it. How much you like this show probably depends on how much you can put off your lust for huge jams and just appreciate consistently strong, mildly innovative playing. It's definitely a show that I feel like deserves to be liked more than I can like it. If that makes sense.
The Live Review:
8/8/15: Slow-tempo No Men's to open. I like it.
8/8/15: Strong leads from Trey to start.
8/8/15: There might some pretty rote first sets this year, but the opening song or two each show has been a LOT stronger than in years past.
8/8/15: Stealing Time is in the two-slot.
8/8/15: Some nice Trey/Page interplay here.
8/8/15: Poor Heart. Page goes to town on the piano for an extended solo.
8/8/15: Julius next.
8/8/15: Yeah! Frankie Sez.
8/8/15: Page is playing the clav (I think) instead of whatever he usually plays on Frankie Says. It sounds great.
8/8/15: Nice fadeout from a flanger-y Frankie ending into Maze.
8/8/15: Mission: Impossible tease from Page at the beginning of the organ solo. Neat.
8/8/15: Maze was its usual 2014-2015 badass self. Lots of chording and a great organ solo.
8/8/15: Extended noodling break after Maze. Sounds a bit like WTU?
8/8/15: Mercury! Hell yes.
8/8/15: Once they finally settle on how to play this, it's going to be fantastic. So happy to still hear new songs like this and Fuego.
8/8/15: Middle Trey jam needs to be a little more dynamic instead of just being him hitting random notes for awhile.
8/8/15: I love the marimba solo and the move back into the funk-style mode of the song afterward.
8/8/15: Reba!
8/8/15: Trey starts off with a pretty compelling melodic lead here.
8/8/15: FTW helped Trey's Reba skills. They've all been good this year so far. Shoreline is my favorite and this one is just as good.
8/8/15: Whistling ending.
8/8/15: Possum set closer?
8/8/15: Glad they've brought Possum back just because Trey's been doing such a great job of shredding it.
8/8/15: Disease opens the second set. Curious to see what they can do with this that they haven't already.
8/8/15: Disease has been consistently great for a long time as a jam vehicle, but there comes a point where you start to wonder...
8/8/15: ...if using a comfortable song as a launch pad starts leading to similar jams.
8/8/15: Of course, CDT and Tweezer both kicked ass on 8/7, so what do I know.
8/8/15: Typical noodling, but with some loops as background.
8/8/15: Great move into funk space. So far this jam is like Coca-Cola: totally predictable and incredibly satisfying.
8/8/15: Oh shit bass party.
8/8/15: Ooh, Trey is putting together a really need melody solo now.
8/8/15: Really neat Disease jam that honestly probably benefited from not getting stretched beyond its natural length. > Halley's.
8/8/15: Trey starting the funk chording early in Halley's, during the vocals.
8/8/15: Holy Halley's funk jam! Is it 1997 in here?!
8/8/15: Loops! Clav! MADNESS!
8/8/15: Okay, so that Halley's jam still had some serious legs, but how can you argue with the Twist segue? So smoooooth
8/8/15: Trey is dirtying it up. Page to electric piano, then clav.
8/8/15: Totally Type I Twist, but really fun nonetheless.
8/8/15: Light, the table resetter of S2s everywhere, is next.
8/8/15: Almost a Hood feel to this Light jam. Reminds me of the '09 Gorge version a little.
8/8/15: YES! Awesome landing in WTU?
8/8/15: Grungier WTU? than usual, if that's possible. > Fuego.
8/8/15: Fuego is surprisingly rocky.
8/8/15: Neat, short, drone-y ending to Fuego.
8/8/15: Number Line is next. Trey is doing the trilling style of solo he's been doing for this song lately.
8/8/15: Slave to close the set.
8/8/15: Awesome extended peak in this Slave.
8/8/15: Meatstick encore!
8/8/15: Frank Herbet said that fear is the mind-killer. I'd argue that Character Zero is the mind-killer.
8/8/15: Anyway, that show was a sort of combination of traits that we've seen in 'average-great' 2015 shows...
8/8/15: High energy S1 with a great setlist but all in-the-box playing, and S2 with a bunch of interesting, short jams that segued nicely.
8/8/15: Perfectly fine show, but missing the two things I love most about 2015: first set surprises and multiple BIG jams.
8/8/15: Both happened on 8/7, but not tonight.
8/8/15: Reba was notable, I suppose, in S1.
8/8/15: Just about every song in S2 had something interesting about it. Just nothing to compare to the real behemoths of the summer so far.
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