The Verdict:
The third night of MSG is definitely a step down from the first two nights, but it's still a solid show in the pattern of this run. That is to say that there are a few serious highlights sprinkled around in a show that's otherwise pretty average-great straightforward.
The difference in quality between the first two nights and this show, then, is really down how average the average-great parts are. Where the first two nights' jukebox-y sections get by somewhat with great song selection, consistent flow, and strong playing, this night's first set (and much of the second) is lacking the first two of those three qualities. There are a lot of mood-killing setlist calls, making this show overall a skip-everything-but-the-highlights affair.
All that said, the sole highlight of S1 is "Undermind," which might actually be my favorite part of the show. The middle of the jam gets extra weird, and a strong solo from Trey follows, before he proceeds to tease almost every other song played during the first set to that point.
The second set is pretty much completely a head-scratcher except for "Disease" and "Light," both of which are the epitome of 2015-style jamming. Neither is anything you haven't heard before if you've been listening to this tour, but it almost feels as if the guys have successfully and perfectly distilled the year's work into these two "greatest hits"-style jams. They're both legitimately great. It's also worth a mention that Trey thoroughly deconstructs the usual "Fuego" jam to extend the tune a little before wrapping up the set with a completely by-the-book "Slave."
The Live Review:
1/1/16: Early start today! Stealing Time opener. Probably my least favorite opener after KDF.
1/1/16: Pretty sure Trey just called for a Leo solo using his bedroom voice.
1/1/16: Oh, this is Heavy Things, by the way. Organ solo.
1/1/16: Okay, organ solo and some old-school Trey soloing makes that a better-than-average Heavy Things.
1/1/16: Happy to see How Many People staying in the rotation. Would love to see this song open a S2 next summer.
1/1/16: Mid-set Stash.
1/1/16: Nicely done Stash. Stays within the normal boundaries, but features some great melody playing by Trey.
1/1/16: Undermind starts up, and Trey is immediately on the echo. This is probably going to be a good version.
1/1/16: Really bizarro loop-based solo from Trey. Very cool.
1/1/16: Undermind 'second jam' after the vocal outro.
1/1/16: Extended Stash tease, then Stealing Time, then How Many People? How cool is that? Back into Undermind outro. Crowd goes nuts.
1/1/16: > Rift.
1/1/16: That was an old-school Rift. Especially for Page, who absolutely caught fire and blew up.
1/1/16: TIME to PUT your WINGSUIT on
1/1/16: Ocelot is next.
1/1/16: Wingsuit had a pretty great build at the end, but still. Wingsuit > Ocelot is less a one-two punch than a one-two light tap.
1/1/16: Lawn Boy is nice, but doesn't do a lot to jack up the energy level.
1/1/16: Antelope set closer.
1/1/16: If there's one thing that this run can't get right, it's S1s. Decent song choices, but really all throwaways except for Undermind.
1/1/16: Pretty awesome tension-y bit mid-jam by Page and Trey.
1/1/16: Huge peak in Antelope. Crowd explodes. Now echo-chord jamming.
1/1/16: Stealing Time, Stash teases.
1/1/16: End set.
1/1/16: Disease starts the second frame.
1/1/16: Trey is lighting it up early on in the jam.
1/1/16: We're in freaking serious office-air-guitar territory right now.
1/1/16: Good thing I wore my 'Real Outcasty' hoodie to work today.
1/1/16: Mellowing now, but maintaining momentum.
1/1/16: Mike taking over on the robot bass.
1/1/16: He and Page trading bluesy licks.
1/1/16: Loving the Mike-centrism of the back half of this jam.
1/1/16: Quasi ripcord into Dirt. Admittedly, the jam had been in a holding pattern for a bit.
1/1/16: And Dirt is a neat choice for a segue song.
1/1/16: Buuuut...Mike threw down a monster riff right before Trey yanked the cord, which makes it a little harder to swallow.
1/1/16: Awesome build in Dirt. Yeah, you read that right.
1/1/16: Really weird choice in putting Halfway next.
1/1/16: Theme now. Such a weird setlist so far.
1/1/16: Well, the band seems to have suddenly remembered how to play Theme with some freaking verve.
1/1/16: Light! The perennial S2 'What the Hell Do We Do Next?' song!
1/1/16: I actually really like Light when they just dive right into it. I just hate the usually-obligatory few minutes of arpeggios after.
1/1/16: This version is a bit heavier on Page and Mike early on, so maybe we'll skip that part.
1/1/16: Things getting murkier and funkier now.
1/1/16: Mike's driving toward a build now.
1/1/16: Moving toward a Manteca-sounding rock peak now. Crowd roaring.
1/1/16: Winding down now. Great beat from Fish.
1/1/16: Ambient drone...
1/1/16: Nice Page-only landing in Fuego.
1/1/16: Neither DWD or Light jams will change the way you feel about Phish jams, but...
1/1/16: ...they are both quintessential 2015-era improv, with absolutely no letup, for 15 and 17 minutes, respectively.
1/1/16: Really grungy, loopy outro solo.
1/1/16: Trey reprising the Fuego riff using the pitch-shifter. Very cool.
1/1/16: > Slave.
1/1/16: Pretty standard Slave. End set.
1/1/16: I'd love to see them work over Slave this coming year like they did Hood in '14.
1/1/16: Welp, Farmhouse encore is in keeping with how weird this show has been.
1/1/16: The first two shows had their fair share of low-tempo and jukebox tunes, but balanced them with monster jams.
1/1/16: The balance felt a bit off to me in N3. Undermind, Disease, and Light were all excellent, though.
1/1/16: Also, the Fuego is worth a mention, for sure.
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