The Verdict:
The second Mann show was just about as good as everyone online made it out to be. As has been the case this year, mostly because of the band's high level of playing in general, what really sets the shows with strong S2s apart from the pack is a good S1. And this one achieves top-tier status in exactly this way.
Unlike the S1s of the last few shows, none of the songs here are tunes we haven't heard a few times already this tour. But, the flow and song choice are impeccable, there's a "Martian Monster" jam in "Free" as a throwback to the previous night's show, and a smooth-as-hell funk jam in "It's Ice." Oh, and legitimate jams in "Cities" and "Stash." The "Cities" jam falls into what I'm calling the "echo-funk" genre of jams, a la "Mike's" from Dick's '14, the 8/9 "Tweezer" or the 8/5 "Sand." The "Stash" is a bit more pedestrian, but opens with a few minutes of Mike-led jamming that's unique for a "Stash" jam. Worth a listen.
The second set, then, is where the magic really happens. There's two things that need to be said about this set. First off, it's only five songs long. The caveat to that is that "Gin," "No Men's," and "Hood" are all long, but really 2015-average. I don't bring this up to be a dick, but to just point out that as awesome as this set is, I've heard better jams out of each of these three songs already this year, so these performances aren't necessarily the be-all-end-all of jamming as some might have you believe. They're great takes, though, and you should probably listen to them.
The second, and more important thing about this second set is that "Twist" and "Scents" are two of the best jams of the year so far, and they happen back-to-back. So definitely listen to that shit. In the end, it adds up to a second set that matches, and probably defeats heavy-hitters like 7/24 or 8/7. It's very, very good.
The Live Review:
8/12/15: Finally checking this show out.
8/12/15: Bag opener. Always a good sign.
8/12/15: That was a great little version of Bag. Fish is a monster. Hopefully that continues throughout the show.
8/12/15: Bag > Free.
8/12/15: Martian Monster tease during the Free breakdown. Now samples. I love that this is carrying over from last night.
8/12/15: Legit MM jam now.
8/12/15: -> Free.
8/12/15: Ya Mar!
8/12/15: Sample is next.
8/12/15: THINK OF LONDON SMALL CITY
8/12/15: DARK
8/12/15: (It's Cities next)
8/12/15: Echo-funk a la Mike's at Dick's last year or 8/9 'Tweezer' or 8/5 'Sand.'
8/12/15: Mike's taking more of a lead here, though.
8/12/15: YESSSSSS THIS IS RAD
8/12/15: This is Phish, folks. Trey adding a solo overtop now.
8/12/15: That was fantastic. Jam naturally comes to an end.
8/12/15: Stash, the quintessential 'We're jamming but not' S1 song. Let's see if that changes this time around.
8/12/15: Awesome beginning to the Stash jam. Mike is an alien.
8/12/15: After the initial bass jam in Stash, the song follows the typical build structure, but it's a particularly good one nonetheless.
8/12/15: Trey really laying down some serious licks.
8/12/15: Birds of a Feather is next.
8/12/15: When will we finally get the inevitable Birds -> The Birds -> Birds sequence?
8/12/15: Trey is losing his damn mind on the guitar over here and the rest of the band can't figure out when he's going to end this Birds.
8/12/15: The Line. Boom.
8/12/15: It's Ice. Everyone's standing up again.
8/12/15: Superfunk breakdown in It's Ice again.
8/12/15: End set with a rambunctious Zero.
8/12/15: Set two starts off with Gin.
8/12/15: Nice building progression starts the Gin jam off right away.
8/12/15: Great melody soloing now from Trey over the new progression.
8/12/15: Fantastic soloing now from Trey. Fish picking up the tempo.
8/12/15: Huge peak now...return to the Gin riff afterward.
8/12/15: Page throws in a Rhapsody in Blue tease during the sound explosion at the end of the song.
8/12/15: No Men's.
8/12/15: Loopy funk time!
8/12/15: Big ol' sloppy ropes of funk just slapping you in the fuckin' face
8/12/15: Okay, I've had enough of myself.
8/12/15: Evil breakdown around 9:00 mark.
8/12/15: Neat jam developing here, returning, sort of, to typical No Men's realm after the breakdown but strong rock soloing by Trey.
8/12/15: TWIST
8/12/15: Major minimalist breakdown early in Twist.
8/12/15: Page working the electric piano, Trey over to a No Quarter-y tone.
8/12/15: Fish is being amazing with cymbals during this breakdown.
8/12/15: Foundation and bass bombs from Mike while Trey lays down an eerily distorted melody solo.
8/12/15: They're staying in this weird space for a LONG time. It's good.
8/12/15: Holy shit, whale pedal!
8/12/15: I'm having 2010 reviewing flashbacks NOOOOOOOOOOooooooo
8/12/15: He's using it to some pretty great effect here, though.
8/12/15: Jam still staying pretty low-key. Mike is driving now. About 13 mins in.
8/12/15: Transitioning into something new now. Something like a cross between Manteca and the Mule Duel.
8/12/15: Picking up the pace now. Heading into bliss-jam territory.
8/12/15: Build leads back into the Twist riff.
8/12/15: After 19 minutes.
8/12/15: That was pretty fantastic. Maybe not the weirdest jam Phish has played lately, but definitely the longest Weird Jam in some time.
8/12/15: Long pause, now.
8/12/15: SCENTS
8/12/15: Intro first. I think. I can't remember.
8/12/15: This has always been one of my favorite Phish jam launchpads, for as little as it's really been played.
8/12/15: Maybe we'll hear it more often in 2016.
8/12/15: So far, Trey is just noodling, but hey, I'm still jazzed to hear this song at all.
8/12/15: Okay, space rock time now.
8/12/15: Trey has been repeating the same distorted rock riff over and over for a few minutes while the jam builds. Really cool.
8/12/15: Return to the vocal refrain at the end of the jam. Fade out. So good.
8/12/15: Hood is next. Setlist reminds me a bit of the Shoreline show.
8/12/15: Hood jam goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
8/12/15: Great staccato interplay between Mike and Trey near the beginning of the jam here.
8/12/15: Really great build going on right now.
8/12/15: Only thing I don't like about Hoods lately is that Page always starts the outro riff on piano before the rest of the band does.
8/12/15: Vastly prefer when they all suddenly bust into it at once.
8/12/15: Trey is doing a fantastic job of building tension right now while crawling toward the outro patiently.
8/12/15: Page just prematurely ejaculated again.
8/12/15: Held note from Trey.
8/12/15: There she blows.
8/12/15: Trey: 'Thank you. Your trip is short.'
8/12/15: Loving Cup encore. Seems appropriate.
8/12/15: Hell of a solo by Trey to close the show.
8/12/15: Well, that was a great show. Upper-echelon for sure. In competition with 7/24 and 8/7, and probably better than them in some ways.
8/12/15: Great first set, two legit S1 jams, then the back-to-back-to-back madness of S2.
8/12/15: For all the screaming about this show, though, I didn't find it notably better than many other great shows this summer.
8/12/15: Second set was only five songs, but there have been more interesting versions of Gin, No Men's and Hood already for sure.
8/12/15: Nice to hear them stretched out, nonetheless, though.
8/12/15: Twist > Scents was frigging awesome, though.
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