The Verdict:
The second Alpharetta show is an improvement over the first, but hey, when you've hit the bottom, there's nowhere to go but up, so that's not saying much.
Okay, so maybe that judgment is a little harsh, but frankly this show doesn't offer up much besides jukebox Phish. The most interesting part of the show is when they have to leave the stage during "Mound" and then expertly pick up right where they left off in the middle of the song when they return.
"Water In the Sky" is the slow version, if you're into that. There are a few brief moments of plinko during "Jim." The "Roses" > "Timber" combo is especially hot if you're not sick of Trey just soloing over everybody at this point in the tour. The "Hood" is pretty good, despite a short running time. Some serious flubbing in "Birdwatcher" drives it into a weird space that resolves into "Kung," which is guess is cool in a sort of backhanded way.
I'm running out of stuff to say, guys.
The Live Review:
6/15/11: Paul and Silas opener!
6/15/11: > BOTT.
6/15/11: Fiery version of BOTT leads into Foam.
6/15/11: Slow-tempo version of Water in the Sky.
6/15/11: Jim is next, and immediately jumps into a plinko jam.
6/15/11: Army of One! Never get sick of this song.
6/15/11: Roses is next. They're doing that thing where the setlist is so good I'm almost not noticing that none of the music is interesting.
6/15/11: End of Roses > Timber.
6/15/11: Short, but *very* hot Timber leads into Mound.
6/15/11: Mound comes to an end as the band has to vacate the stage because of a storm...
6/15/11: After the break, they start Mound back up right where they left off. And that's why I love this band.
6/15/11: Tweezer is next, with 'It's gonna be wet, wet, wet...' lyrics.
6/15/11: Tweezer jam starts with a riff that sounds a bit like the one from The Wedge.
6/15/11: Literally as the Tweezer jam was moving from Type I to Type II, Trey started up Julius.
6/15/11: Surprisingly placed Slave is next.
6/15/11: Julius was only fifteen seconds shorter than Tweezer. I feel compelled to point that out.
6/15/11: Slow, patiently developing Slave. Trey has sort of a happy-droning thing going on leading into the peak.
6/15/11: Slave leads right into David Bowie. That's a neat combo.
6/15/11: Bowie staying more or less on track, but I suspect that this is the closest we're getting to a jam tonight.
6/15/11: Suzy is next. At the end of the solo, Page keeps on playing over Trey's vocals.
6/15/11: Everyone starts laughing and screaming 'Page's house!' in response and the crowd goes nuts.
6/15/11: Gotta Jibboo seems weirdly placed here.
6/15/11: Hood follows Jibboo.
6/15/11: Trey is taking this Hood to town like it's from a better show. Goddamn.
6/15/11: Zero'd!
6/15/11: End set. Soccer-style chant from the crowd during the break. A capella number coming.
6/15/11: Birdwatcher!
6/15/11: A few timing problems lead to a goofy, half-time version of the tune. 'Birdwatcher!' moans and groans lead > Kung!
6/15/11: Funky Bitch!
6/15/11: Crazy Funky Bitch > Tweeprise to end the show.
6/15/11: Oddly, the encore was probably my favorite part of that show.
6/15/11: Like 6/14, not much really going on. Strong versions of a few tunes to be had (Hood comes to mind) but 0% jams.
Apr 21, 2016
2011-06-14 Alpharetta I
The Verdict:
Instead of thinking of it as a one-two punch, think of the Alpharetta run as a one-two light-tap-on-the-shoulder. There's not much going on here in general, but on a scale of "Boring" to "Super Boring," I'd put night one slightly below night two.
As usual for 2011 so far, the setlist is actually pretty great. A "Dinner and a Movie" opener, a nicely-placed "Cities," and a surprising "Light Up Or Leave Me Alone" are among the high points of the first set. But also as usual for 2011 so far, none of these tunes really ascend to anything other than well played but rote versions.
The trend continues into the second set. Typically, a set that began with "Carini" > "Sand" > "Disease" -> "Maze" would be a monster, but here "Carini" is five minutes long, "Sand" spends its entire running time as a Trey-soloing vehicle, and "Disease" only manages to break out of the box for three or so minutes of 2009-derivative space jamming. And that's it. The rest of the set goes exactly how it looks on paper.
The Live Review:
6/14/11: Dinner and a Movie opener. Lots of evil Fish screaming already.
6/14/11: > Moma.
6/14/11: Possum is third and features a hilariously fast and baroque-sounding solo peak.
6/14/11: Mixing things up a bit with Cities.
6/14/11: Page on electric piano. Mellow jam developing.
6/14/11: Short jam followed by another early-show Fluffhead.
6/14/11: Trey going to back to a bit of that ol' Van Halen action during his Ocelot solo.
6/14/11: Ginseng Sullivan!
6/14/11: KDF is next in what's turning out to be an even-more-straightforward-than-usual set.
6/14/11: Pretty standard Type I Gin follows.
6/14/11: Light Up Or Leave Me Alone injects a little bit of excitement into the setlist.
6/14/11: Hot Trey solo at the end of Light Up, goes right into Cavern. Maybe end set?
6/14/11: It is. S2 starts off with Carini.
6/14/11: Super-short Carini, but a droning outro sets up a long segue into Sand.
6/14/11: That then falls flat anyway and requires a full band restart before > Sand.
6/14/11: Standard Sand crashes into the fuzz of the Disease intro.
6/14/11: Going for a very 2009 space-funk vibe in the Disease jam.
6/14/11: Evil, ambient weirdness now.
6/14/11: After a brief noise jam, a nice segue into Maze. Page is taking this version over on organ.
6/14/11: MOESTAAAACK
6/14/11: Meatstick lands in 2001.
6/14/11: Despite a few shining 2001s lately, that one was played pretty straight. > Bug.
6/14/11: Trey just shredded that Bug, as if it was the exclamation point on a great show. Which it wasn't.
6/14/11: Nice little piano-only segue from Bug into A Day in the Life, though.
6/14/11: Still totally weirds me out when a S2 ends with Antelope.
6/14/11: Quinn the Eskimo encore.
6/14/11: And that was pretty much the most uninteresting Phish show I've listened to so far in 2011. Maybe I'm just worn out.
6/14/11: No real interesting song choices in S1 except Light Up. Nothing interesting happening in the rest of the S1 tunes.
6/14/11: No surprises at all in S2. Carini blows a Sand transition and abandons what might have been a jam.
6/14/11: Disease has about 2 minutes of 2009-derivative jamming and 2 minutes of ambient space, and then we're back to S1 playing.
6/14/11: I mean, hey, it's a Phish show, and most days I'd rather listen to Phish than any other music.
6/14/11: But it's been 8 shows since I've heard any improv of note, and only 4 of the 15 2011 shows so far have been at all interesting.
6/14/11: So I guess I'm getting a little bored.
6/14/11: 6/15 has a 3.1 rating, so I don't imagine things are going to get better any time soon.
Instead of thinking of it as a one-two punch, think of the Alpharetta run as a one-two light-tap-on-the-shoulder. There's not much going on here in general, but on a scale of "Boring" to "Super Boring," I'd put night one slightly below night two.
As usual for 2011 so far, the setlist is actually pretty great. A "Dinner and a Movie" opener, a nicely-placed "Cities," and a surprising "Light Up Or Leave Me Alone" are among the high points of the first set. But also as usual for 2011 so far, none of these tunes really ascend to anything other than well played but rote versions.
The trend continues into the second set. Typically, a set that began with "Carini" > "Sand" > "Disease" -> "Maze" would be a monster, but here "Carini" is five minutes long, "Sand" spends its entire running time as a Trey-soloing vehicle, and "Disease" only manages to break out of the box for three or so minutes of 2009-derivative space jamming. And that's it. The rest of the set goes exactly how it looks on paper.
The Live Review:
6/14/11: Dinner and a Movie opener. Lots of evil Fish screaming already.
6/14/11: > Moma.
6/14/11: Possum is third and features a hilariously fast and baroque-sounding solo peak.
6/14/11: Mixing things up a bit with Cities.
6/14/11: Page on electric piano. Mellow jam developing.
6/14/11: Short jam followed by another early-show Fluffhead.
6/14/11: Trey going to back to a bit of that ol' Van Halen action during his Ocelot solo.
6/14/11: Ginseng Sullivan!
6/14/11: KDF is next in what's turning out to be an even-more-straightforward-than-usual set.
6/14/11: Pretty standard Type I Gin follows.
6/14/11: Light Up Or Leave Me Alone injects a little bit of excitement into the setlist.
6/14/11: Hot Trey solo at the end of Light Up, goes right into Cavern. Maybe end set?
6/14/11: It is. S2 starts off with Carini.
6/14/11: Super-short Carini, but a droning outro sets up a long segue into Sand.
6/14/11: That then falls flat anyway and requires a full band restart before > Sand.
6/14/11: Standard Sand crashes into the fuzz of the Disease intro.
6/14/11: Going for a very 2009 space-funk vibe in the Disease jam.
6/14/11: Evil, ambient weirdness now.
6/14/11: After a brief noise jam, a nice segue into Maze. Page is taking this version over on organ.
6/14/11: MOESTAAAACK
6/14/11: Meatstick lands in 2001.
6/14/11: Despite a few shining 2001s lately, that one was played pretty straight. > Bug.
6/14/11: Trey just shredded that Bug, as if it was the exclamation point on a great show. Which it wasn't.
6/14/11: Nice little piano-only segue from Bug into A Day in the Life, though.
6/14/11: Still totally weirds me out when a S2 ends with Antelope.
6/14/11: Quinn the Eskimo encore.
6/14/11: And that was pretty much the most uninteresting Phish show I've listened to so far in 2011. Maybe I'm just worn out.
6/14/11: No real interesting song choices in S1 except Light Up. Nothing interesting happening in the rest of the S1 tunes.
6/14/11: No surprises at all in S2. Carini blows a Sand transition and abandons what might have been a jam.
6/14/11: Disease has about 2 minutes of 2009-derivative jamming and 2 minutes of ambient space, and then we're back to S1 playing.
6/14/11: I mean, hey, it's a Phish show, and most days I'd rather listen to Phish than any other music.
6/14/11: But it's been 8 shows since I've heard any improv of note, and only 4 of the 15 2011 shows so far have been at all interesting.
6/14/11: So I guess I'm getting a little bored.
6/14/11: 6/15 has a 3.1 rating, so I don't imagine things are going to get better any time soon.
Apr 14, 2016
2011-06-12 MPP II
The Verdict:
If MPP 1 dabbled very slightly in a second set that went somewhere other than back to the first set, MPP 2 gets confused and throws us some legit jams in the first set and then calls it a day.
Like MPP I, you can get a sense of most of the first set just by reading the setlist. It's pretty cool. Some rarities, a good mix of raging songs and mellow songs, etc. But everything's pretty standard until "Wolfman's" takes off in a blues-funk direction that departs a bit from the usual solo and then segues nicely into "Boogie On." This seems to set the band off a bit, and "Boogie On" deconstructs itself before moving to a standard "Gumbo." A regular "Halley's" gets butt-slammed (in a good way) into "Gin," and then the "Gin" > "JJLC" pairing, while never leaving Type I land, visits some really engaging blues-rock territory.
As I said, the second set is less interesting. The setlist is still well put together, and you shouldn't sleep on the "Hood" > "Number Line" pair, as they both deliver a lot of bang for their short running times. But other than that and a pretty hot solo from Trey during the "Crosseyed," the only jam that really strains at all at the seams is "Steam." And I'm being generous.
The Live Review:
6/12/11: This show opens with Buried Alive. So that's neat.
6/12/11: We just went Buried Alive, Lonesome Cowboy Bill, Ha Ha Ha to open. It's like they're picking songs based on increasing the gap.
6/12/11: Next is a fast Sample that leads directly (and I mean directly) into DSky.
6/12/11: Nice little ending solo to DSky propels us into Wolfman's.
6/12/11: Nice little vocal jam leading into a pretty straightforward blues space.
6/12/11: Trey bending some notes and then settling on a descending chord progression while Page lays down the foundation for some plinko.
6/12/11: Band forgoes a deeper jam for an excellent, drawn-out segue into Boogie On.
6/12/11: Great little Mike-led funk jam coming at the end of this Boogie On. Touching on plinko territory but more rhythm-driven.
6/12/11: Great blues-funk duo there, and a nicely chosen landing in Gumbo at the end of the Boogie On jam.
6/12/11: Halley's! Loving this song selection. Again.
6/12/11: Quick little Halley's with a perfect cut-off landing in Gin.
6/12/11: Kicking off a bluesy little jam in Gin, now.
6/12/11: That Gin stayed Type I throughout, but it was definitely a highlight reel version anyway.
6/12/11: Jesus Just Left Chicago! Seems like a very blues-oriented set in general.
6/12/11: Pretty typical JJLC jam, but with Mike featuring a bit more prominently than usual.
6/12/11: Really slick version of JJLC. Zero is next. End set?
6/12/11: Yep.
6/12/11: A rough Party Time to start the second set.
6/12/11: Ooh! Slow-tempo Crosseyed in the two-slot!
6/12/11: This Crosseyed is proceeding as a Trey-headed shred-fest, but it's a good 'un.
6/12/11: Ambient wash/loops end the song after a vocal refrain. Steam starts up.
6/12/11: After the composed part, there's an extended vocal outro with Mike singing different lyrics than usual.
6/12/11: I think I like that better than what's now the 'official' version.
6/12/11: Great Steam jam, with Mike holding it down.
6/12/11: Fading back into the ambient drone after the Steam jam.
6/12/11: Light!
6/12/11: Trey has been going arpeggio-crazy for awhile now.
6/12/11: A completely straight-laced Light lands in The Wedge.
6/12/11: Trey just got super-lost in The Wedge.
6/12/11: Alaska! Haven't heard that in awhile.
6/12/11: Kind of nice instrumental wind-up to the vocals. That's different.
6/12/11: Trey takes Alaska to town. Now, an early version of Halfway.
6/12/11: Organ solo from Page in the middle. Lyrics about 'the emotion train.' Sort of glad that one got changed.
6/12/11: > Hood.
6/12/11: No slow build in this Hood jam. They get right to it.
6/12/11: This might not be the most patient Hood jam ever, but it's pretty awesome anyway.
6/12/11: When I saw the running time of that Hood was 9:30, I expected to be disappointed. I am not disappointed.
6/12/11: Ending crashes into Number Line.
6/12/11: Number Line is done gettin' blowed up.
6/12/11: > Loving Cup!
6/12/11: End S2.
6/12/11: Sanity encore.
6/12/11: Okay, Sanity > Makisupa might be the weirdest thing ever.
6/12/11: Tons of 'What?!'s during the intro to Makisupa.
6/12/11: > First Tube.
6/12/11: There were a lot of songs in this show before the three-song encore.
6/12/11: Not that that's a bad thing.
If MPP 1 dabbled very slightly in a second set that went somewhere other than back to the first set, MPP 2 gets confused and throws us some legit jams in the first set and then calls it a day.
Like MPP I, you can get a sense of most of the first set just by reading the setlist. It's pretty cool. Some rarities, a good mix of raging songs and mellow songs, etc. But everything's pretty standard until "Wolfman's" takes off in a blues-funk direction that departs a bit from the usual solo and then segues nicely into "Boogie On." This seems to set the band off a bit, and "Boogie On" deconstructs itself before moving to a standard "Gumbo." A regular "Halley's" gets butt-slammed (in a good way) into "Gin," and then the "Gin" > "JJLC" pairing, while never leaving Type I land, visits some really engaging blues-rock territory.
As I said, the second set is less interesting. The setlist is still well put together, and you shouldn't sleep on the "Hood" > "Number Line" pair, as they both deliver a lot of bang for their short running times. But other than that and a pretty hot solo from Trey during the "Crosseyed," the only jam that really strains at all at the seams is "Steam." And I'm being generous.
The Live Review:
6/12/11: This show opens with Buried Alive. So that's neat.
6/12/11: We just went Buried Alive, Lonesome Cowboy Bill, Ha Ha Ha to open. It's like they're picking songs based on increasing the gap.
6/12/11: Next is a fast Sample that leads directly (and I mean directly) into DSky.
6/12/11: Nice little ending solo to DSky propels us into Wolfman's.
6/12/11: Nice little vocal jam leading into a pretty straightforward blues space.
6/12/11: Trey bending some notes and then settling on a descending chord progression while Page lays down the foundation for some plinko.
6/12/11: Band forgoes a deeper jam for an excellent, drawn-out segue into Boogie On.
6/12/11: Great little Mike-led funk jam coming at the end of this Boogie On. Touching on plinko territory but more rhythm-driven.
6/12/11: Great blues-funk duo there, and a nicely chosen landing in Gumbo at the end of the Boogie On jam.
6/12/11: Halley's! Loving this song selection. Again.
6/12/11: Quick little Halley's with a perfect cut-off landing in Gin.
6/12/11: Kicking off a bluesy little jam in Gin, now.
6/12/11: That Gin stayed Type I throughout, but it was definitely a highlight reel version anyway.
6/12/11: Jesus Just Left Chicago! Seems like a very blues-oriented set in general.
6/12/11: Pretty typical JJLC jam, but with Mike featuring a bit more prominently than usual.
6/12/11: Really slick version of JJLC. Zero is next. End set?
6/12/11: Yep.
6/12/11: A rough Party Time to start the second set.
6/12/11: Ooh! Slow-tempo Crosseyed in the two-slot!
6/12/11: This Crosseyed is proceeding as a Trey-headed shred-fest, but it's a good 'un.
6/12/11: Ambient wash/loops end the song after a vocal refrain. Steam starts up.
6/12/11: After the composed part, there's an extended vocal outro with Mike singing different lyrics than usual.
6/12/11: I think I like that better than what's now the 'official' version.
6/12/11: Great Steam jam, with Mike holding it down.
6/12/11: Fading back into the ambient drone after the Steam jam.
6/12/11: Light!
6/12/11: Trey has been going arpeggio-crazy for awhile now.
6/12/11: A completely straight-laced Light lands in The Wedge.
6/12/11: Trey just got super-lost in The Wedge.
6/12/11: Alaska! Haven't heard that in awhile.
6/12/11: Kind of nice instrumental wind-up to the vocals. That's different.
6/12/11: Trey takes Alaska to town. Now, an early version of Halfway.
6/12/11: Organ solo from Page in the middle. Lyrics about 'the emotion train.' Sort of glad that one got changed.
6/12/11: > Hood.
6/12/11: No slow build in this Hood jam. They get right to it.
6/12/11: This might not be the most patient Hood jam ever, but it's pretty awesome anyway.
6/12/11: When I saw the running time of that Hood was 9:30, I expected to be disappointed. I am not disappointed.
6/12/11: Ending crashes into Number Line.
6/12/11: Number Line is done gettin' blowed up.
6/12/11: > Loving Cup!
6/12/11: End S2.
6/12/11: Sanity encore.
6/12/11: Okay, Sanity > Makisupa might be the weirdest thing ever.
6/12/11: Tons of 'What?!'s during the intro to Makisupa.
6/12/11: > First Tube.
6/12/11: There were a lot of songs in this show before the three-song encore.
6/12/11: Not that that's a bad thing.
2011-06-11 MPP I
The Verdict:
Just when I think the band can't get any better at the "lots of songs played well, no jams" type of show, they pull out a run like this MPP one, which is simultaneously incredibly fun to listen to and completely devoid of an improvisation of interest. Well, that second part might not be entirely true, but it mostly is.
The first night's setlist can mostly tell you all you need to know about the show. As is frequently the case lately, there's very little surprise in how any of the songs are played; the surprise all comes in which songs are played. The jammiest parts of the first set are the Van Halen-esque solo that Trey lays down in "Wilson" and the brief outro jam in "Roses" that sounds a bit like "Get Back." The "Reba" is pure gold, though. Definitely worth a listen.
The second starts off the usual (for now) strong-but-boring way. "Birds" features another little Van Halen interlude, "Tweezer" doesn't jam but turns in a strong Type I performance, etc. The "Rock and Roll" > "Albuquerque" > "Piper" > "Wading" sequence is really quite good, though. "RnR" goes a little deep into a roiling, echo-y, loop-filled space before the haze congeals perfectly into "Albuquerque," and the same goes for "Piper," which jams itself into a very "No Quarter"-sounding space before seguing nicely into "Wading."
It's almost as if they're trying to play a real second set. For a few songs, at least.
The Live Review:
6/11/11: Daniel Saw the Stone opens MPP 1. That's awesome. Would love to hear this one live some day.
6/11/11: AC/DC Bag is next, heading into more traditional opener territory.
6/11/11: Bag > Ocelot.
6/11/11: Access Me!
6/11/11: It literally never occurred to me before that this is sort of a disco tune.
6/11/11: Vultures is next. Just when I think I'm going to get sick of straight-laced, no-jam Phish, they keep pulling out awesome setlists.
6/11/11: (NO) POTATO TO THE THROAT
6/11/11: Kinda rough Vultures leads into a kinda rough Wilson. Enthusiasm over proficiency, here :)
6/11/11: Trey laying down some serious Van Halen action during the Wilson breakdown.
6/11/11: Sand! Maybe an opportunity here for something other than just good old American fun?
6/11/11: Pretty weirdly all-over-the-place Sand. Type I all the way. Now, Roses.
6/11/11: Quick little jam out of the end of Roses that sounds a bit like Get Back.
6/11/11: Trey cuts it off for Reba.
6/11/11: Welp, they ran through Reba like it wasn't no thang.
6/11/11: Great Trey/Page jamming now. Page on electric piano.
6/11/11: This is a BADASS Reba solo.
6/11/11: I don't really have any idea where it's coming from, since there hasn't been a single jam for like 1,000 shows, but man.
6/11/11: Low-tempo On Your Way Down next. Love this cover.
6/11/11: Lands in Antelope.
6/11/11: Some On Your Way Down and (maybe?) Access Me teasing in the intro.
6/11/11: End set.
6/11/11: S2 starts off with Birds, and Trey bringing back a little of that Van Halen action.
6/11/11: Birds gets butt-slammed into Tweezer!
6/11/11: Tweezer jam starts in a very Manteca-y fashion.
6/11/11: End of the Type I jam crashes pretty naturally into the opening of The Horse.
6/11/11: The Horse > Silent, then an oddly placed Waves.
6/11/11: Short, precise Waves lands in Chalkdust. Birds tease to start the song.
6/11/11: Trey just killed that Chalkdust solo like it was the first set.
6/11/11: Rock and Roooooooooooooooooooll
6/11/11: Strong Rock and Roll solo to start the jam. Now getting weird. Lots of looping and synth sounds.
6/11/11: This little jam is so spooky and weird.
6/11/11: Super-spookiness > Albuquerque. Perfect.
6/11/11: Great version of Albuquerque > Piper.
6/11/11: Piper is staying Type I so far, but it is, as the kids would say, 'raging.'
6/11/11: Some whammy pedal and organ now. Heading into a more contemplative space.
6/11/11: We could go No Quarter from here easily. We won't, but we could.
6/11/11: Slowing down a bit...
6/11/11: Nice landing in the opening chords of Wading.
6/11/11: This second set has almost (*almost*) sounded like average-great Phish )
6/11/11: Sounded like it was going to be a > Hood, but went for > 2001 instead.
6/11/11: Proto-woo jam happening in 2001.
6/11/11: Aw, hell no. I think they might be using Stealing Time as the S2 closer.
6/11/11: 'That was a fun show, wasn't it? Let's celebrate with five minutes of the most boring shit we can play!'
6/11/11: I mean, Stealing Time is PERFECTLY FINE. Just not here.
6/11/11: Nope, Suzy is the actual closer.
6/11/11: Raucous version of Suzy ends with Fish screams of 'What?!' over and over.
6/11/11: Show of LIfe > Tweeprise encore. The most emotionally baffling encore of all.
Just when I think the band can't get any better at the "lots of songs played well, no jams" type of show, they pull out a run like this MPP one, which is simultaneously incredibly fun to listen to and completely devoid of an improvisation of interest. Well, that second part might not be entirely true, but it mostly is.
The first night's setlist can mostly tell you all you need to know about the show. As is frequently the case lately, there's very little surprise in how any of the songs are played; the surprise all comes in which songs are played. The jammiest parts of the first set are the Van Halen-esque solo that Trey lays down in "Wilson" and the brief outro jam in "Roses" that sounds a bit like "Get Back." The "Reba" is pure gold, though. Definitely worth a listen.
The second starts off the usual (for now) strong-but-boring way. "Birds" features another little Van Halen interlude, "Tweezer" doesn't jam but turns in a strong Type I performance, etc. The "Rock and Roll" > "Albuquerque" > "Piper" > "Wading" sequence is really quite good, though. "RnR" goes a little deep into a roiling, echo-y, loop-filled space before the haze congeals perfectly into "Albuquerque," and the same goes for "Piper," which jams itself into a very "No Quarter"-sounding space before seguing nicely into "Wading."
It's almost as if they're trying to play a real second set. For a few songs, at least.
The Live Review:
6/11/11: Daniel Saw the Stone opens MPP 1. That's awesome. Would love to hear this one live some day.
6/11/11: AC/DC Bag is next, heading into more traditional opener territory.
6/11/11: Bag > Ocelot.
6/11/11: Access Me!
6/11/11: It literally never occurred to me before that this is sort of a disco tune.
6/11/11: Vultures is next. Just when I think I'm going to get sick of straight-laced, no-jam Phish, they keep pulling out awesome setlists.
6/11/11: (NO) POTATO TO THE THROAT
6/11/11: Kinda rough Vultures leads into a kinda rough Wilson. Enthusiasm over proficiency, here :)
6/11/11: Trey laying down some serious Van Halen action during the Wilson breakdown.
6/11/11: Sand! Maybe an opportunity here for something other than just good old American fun?
6/11/11: Pretty weirdly all-over-the-place Sand. Type I all the way. Now, Roses.
6/11/11: Quick little jam out of the end of Roses that sounds a bit like Get Back.
6/11/11: Trey cuts it off for Reba.
6/11/11: Welp, they ran through Reba like it wasn't no thang.
6/11/11: Great Trey/Page jamming now. Page on electric piano.
6/11/11: This is a BADASS Reba solo.
6/11/11: I don't really have any idea where it's coming from, since there hasn't been a single jam for like 1,000 shows, but man.
6/11/11: Low-tempo On Your Way Down next. Love this cover.
6/11/11: Lands in Antelope.
6/11/11: Some On Your Way Down and (maybe?) Access Me teasing in the intro.
6/11/11: End set.
6/11/11: S2 starts off with Birds, and Trey bringing back a little of that Van Halen action.
6/11/11: Birds gets butt-slammed into Tweezer!
6/11/11: Tweezer jam starts in a very Manteca-y fashion.
6/11/11: End of the Type I jam crashes pretty naturally into the opening of The Horse.
6/11/11: The Horse > Silent, then an oddly placed Waves.
6/11/11: Short, precise Waves lands in Chalkdust. Birds tease to start the song.
6/11/11: Trey just killed that Chalkdust solo like it was the first set.
6/11/11: Rock and Roooooooooooooooooooll
6/11/11: Strong Rock and Roll solo to start the jam. Now getting weird. Lots of looping and synth sounds.
6/11/11: This little jam is so spooky and weird.
6/11/11: Super-spookiness > Albuquerque. Perfect.
6/11/11: Great version of Albuquerque > Piper.
6/11/11: Piper is staying Type I so far, but it is, as the kids would say, 'raging.'
6/11/11: Some whammy pedal and organ now. Heading into a more contemplative space.
6/11/11: We could go No Quarter from here easily. We won't, but we could.
6/11/11: Slowing down a bit...
6/11/11: Nice landing in the opening chords of Wading.
6/11/11: This second set has almost (*almost*) sounded like average-great Phish )
6/11/11: Sounded like it was going to be a > Hood, but went for > 2001 instead.
6/11/11: Proto-woo jam happening in 2001.
6/11/11: Aw, hell no. I think they might be using Stealing Time as the S2 closer.
6/11/11: 'That was a fun show, wasn't it? Let's celebrate with five minutes of the most boring shit we can play!'
6/11/11: I mean, Stealing Time is PERFECTLY FINE. Just not here.
6/11/11: Nope, Suzy is the actual closer.
6/11/11: Raucous version of Suzy ends with Fish screams of 'What?!' over and over.
6/11/11: Show of LIfe > Tweeprise encore. The most emotionally baffling encore of all.
2011-06-10 Camden
The Verdict:
6/10 follows pretty much exactly in the mode of 6/8: it's a terribly fun show without much else going for it. Straight from the "Rocky Top" opener to the rare one-set-repeat "Mike's Groove," to an extended, Type I "Stash" and the set-closing "The Curtain With," set one delivers the goods in a very first-setty sort of way. It's got some great momentum some (other) great song choices, and as is par for the course lately, that's about it.
The "Disease" that opens the second set actually (perhaps inevitably) moves into a Type II space, going evil early on and then evolving into a pretty interesting two-tone jam, with half the band playing something bouncy while the other half stays in the land of darkness. It's an interesting effect. Next is a mostly-standard "Possum" with a crazy, loop-filled crescendo at the end, and then some interesting song choices that seem to belong in a first set. "BBFCFM" comes out of nowhere and features some Van Halen-esque soloing from Trey, and "Swept Away" > "Steep" is its usual beautiful self, albeit with an extended little jam onto the end of "Steep," which makes it even better than usual. The rest of the set peters out a bit by comparison, unless you're a fan of pretty standard takes on "Bowie" and "Fluff."
Oddly enough, someone posted surprisingly high-quality video of the entire show on YouTube, so I guess if you're interested you can check out the whole thing:
The Live Review:
6/10/11: Rocky Top opener! One of my favorite shows has a Rocky Top closer.
6/10/11: Someone (I think Mike) teases the Rocky theme beforehand.
6/10/11: Mike's Song second! Didn't they just play this last show or am I high?
6/10/11: I am not high. They literally played it one set ago.
6/10/11: I'm not complaining. So far Trey is killing the solo.
6/10/11: > Hydrogen > Groove. Nice.
6/10/11: Groove bit is not quite as punchy as the 6/8 sequence, but it's a great, legit start to the first set.
6/10/11: Stash!
6/10/11: Extra hectic build during an extended Stash.
6/10/11: Tube, then Guyute.
6/10/11: Aside from that little departure in Stash, another S1 that's staying interesting basically just because the setlist is so good.
6/10/11: A tight Guyute lands right in Guelah Papyrus. Nice pairing.
6/10/11: Scent of a Mule continues a pretty badass greatest-hits set.
6/10/11: Trey playing almost a surf-rock style solo during the break.
6/10/11: Somewhat oddly placed Cavern next, followed by a The Sloth that Trey's having trouble getting started.
6/10/11: The Curtain! Maybe to end set? That's a nice surprise, though.
6/10/11: Probably no 'jam' coming, per se, but a nice call out of left field anyway.
6/10/11: The Curtain definitely does get out there a little bit. Trey keeping it rocking the entire time. Not much of a melodic lull, here.
6/10/11: Second set opens with a high-tempo Disease.
6/10/11: Some heavy, chord-driven jamming early on. Now evolving into something more straightforward.
6/10/11: Synth and heavy fuzz tone from Trey are putting this jam at something like a 7.3 on the Evil Scale.
6/10/11: Fish and Page are playing something much more bouncy. It's a weird effect. Almost like two jams at once.
6/10/11: IT'S A DOUBLE JAMBOW
6/10/11: Seemed like maybe there was going to be a -> Taste, but then > Free instead.
6/10/11: I COOOOOOOOOOOME FROM TACO MOUNTAIN. BABY.
6/10/11: Crazy loop-rock madness in the Possum jam.
6/10/11: That Possum was cray-cray.
6/10/11: WHEN YOU GET HOME FROM WORK WHAT DO I DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
6/10/11: (Try to kill you.)
6/10/11: Trey doing a Van Halen/Marty McFly breakdown in the middle of BBFCFM.
6/10/11: Swept Away > Steep! I would kill to hear this live.
6/10/11: Just had to check @phishnet to make sure I hadn't actually heard it live already and forgot that I'd killed someone.
6/10/11: Steep is developing into an ominous, building jam.
6/10/11: Ambient bit now.
6/10/11: That three minutes was the most interesting thing the band has done in like 4-5 shows.
6/10/11: And yes, that's what you call a backhanded compliment.
6/10/11: Drone lands in Bowie.
6/10/11: Some great, subdued soloing from Trey during the Bowie jam. Now Page and Trey playing off of each other.
6/10/11: Pretty standard Bowie. Julius is next. We may have entered the paint-by-numbers part of the set.
6/10/11: Yep. Julius, Golgi > Fluff, Joy.
6/10/11: Some funky back and forth between Trey and Page during the Fluffhead breakdown.
6/10 follows pretty much exactly in the mode of 6/8: it's a terribly fun show without much else going for it. Straight from the "Rocky Top" opener to the rare one-set-repeat "Mike's Groove," to an extended, Type I "Stash" and the set-closing "The Curtain With," set one delivers the goods in a very first-setty sort of way. It's got some great momentum some (other) great song choices, and as is par for the course lately, that's about it.
The "Disease" that opens the second set actually (perhaps inevitably) moves into a Type II space, going evil early on and then evolving into a pretty interesting two-tone jam, with half the band playing something bouncy while the other half stays in the land of darkness. It's an interesting effect. Next is a mostly-standard "Possum" with a crazy, loop-filled crescendo at the end, and then some interesting song choices that seem to belong in a first set. "BBFCFM" comes out of nowhere and features some Van Halen-esque soloing from Trey, and "Swept Away" > "Steep" is its usual beautiful self, albeit with an extended little jam onto the end of "Steep," which makes it even better than usual. The rest of the set peters out a bit by comparison, unless you're a fan of pretty standard takes on "Bowie" and "Fluff."
Oddly enough, someone posted surprisingly high-quality video of the entire show on YouTube, so I guess if you're interested you can check out the whole thing:
The Live Review:
6/10/11: Rocky Top opener! One of my favorite shows has a Rocky Top closer.
6/10/11: Someone (I think Mike) teases the Rocky theme beforehand.
6/10/11: Mike's Song second! Didn't they just play this last show or am I high?
6/10/11: I am not high. They literally played it one set ago.
6/10/11: I'm not complaining. So far Trey is killing the solo.
6/10/11: > Hydrogen > Groove. Nice.
6/10/11: Groove bit is not quite as punchy as the 6/8 sequence, but it's a great, legit start to the first set.
6/10/11: Stash!
6/10/11: Extra hectic build during an extended Stash.
6/10/11: Tube, then Guyute.
6/10/11: Aside from that little departure in Stash, another S1 that's staying interesting basically just because the setlist is so good.
6/10/11: A tight Guyute lands right in Guelah Papyrus. Nice pairing.
6/10/11: Scent of a Mule continues a pretty badass greatest-hits set.
6/10/11: Trey playing almost a surf-rock style solo during the break.
6/10/11: Somewhat oddly placed Cavern next, followed by a The Sloth that Trey's having trouble getting started.
6/10/11: The Curtain! Maybe to end set? That's a nice surprise, though.
6/10/11: Probably no 'jam' coming, per se, but a nice call out of left field anyway.
6/10/11: The Curtain definitely does get out there a little bit. Trey keeping it rocking the entire time. Not much of a melodic lull, here.
6/10/11: Second set opens with a high-tempo Disease.
6/10/11: Some heavy, chord-driven jamming early on. Now evolving into something more straightforward.
6/10/11: Synth and heavy fuzz tone from Trey are putting this jam at something like a 7.3 on the Evil Scale.
6/10/11: Fish and Page are playing something much more bouncy. It's a weird effect. Almost like two jams at once.
6/10/11: IT'S A DOUBLE JAMBOW
6/10/11: Seemed like maybe there was going to be a -> Taste, but then > Free instead.
6/10/11: I COOOOOOOOOOOME FROM TACO MOUNTAIN. BABY.
6/10/11: Crazy loop-rock madness in the Possum jam.
6/10/11: That Possum was cray-cray.
6/10/11: WHEN YOU GET HOME FROM WORK WHAT DO I DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
6/10/11: (Try to kill you.)
6/10/11: Trey doing a Van Halen/Marty McFly breakdown in the middle of BBFCFM.
6/10/11: Swept Away > Steep! I would kill to hear this live.
6/10/11: Just had to check @phishnet to make sure I hadn't actually heard it live already and forgot that I'd killed someone.
6/10/11: Steep is developing into an ominous, building jam.
6/10/11: Ambient bit now.
6/10/11: That three minutes was the most interesting thing the band has done in like 4-5 shows.
6/10/11: And yes, that's what you call a backhanded compliment.
6/10/11: Drone lands in Bowie.
6/10/11: Some great, subdued soloing from Trey during the Bowie jam. Now Page and Trey playing off of each other.
6/10/11: Pretty standard Bowie. Julius is next. We may have entered the paint-by-numbers part of the set.
6/10/11: Yep. Julius, Golgi > Fluff, Joy.
6/10/11: Some funky back and forth between Trey and Page during the Fluffhead breakdown.
2011-06-08 Darien Lake
The Verdict:
So far, 2011 has been less of an improvement on 2010 than I'd imagined. Despite the first two Bethel shows and the Clarkston > Blossom run, the band has mostly been focusing on honing that already-tried-and-true(ish) 2010 formula: long first sets with lots of well-played but uninteresting songs, and second sets that are pretty much another 90 minutes of the same thing. This is just made more frustrating by the fact that when they do occasionally bust out some improv, it's usually quite good. This trend continues from 6/8 up through (at least) 6/11, but somehow the first sets get even longer and the song selection gets even better. But still, the jams are (almost) nowhere to be found.
The Darien Lake show opens with a few mellow tunes ("Nellie Kane," "Mellow Mood," and "Buffalo Bill"), which I really enjoyed. From there, things get a little more normal in terms of song selection, and probably the highlight of the set in terms of improv comes when Trey deploys his pitch shifter for a brief time in "Undermind." There's another run of mellow songs later in the set ("Ride Captain Ride," "It's Ice," "Dog-Faced Boy," and "Brian and Robert") and that's about it. Fourteen songs total in the first set.
The second set works really well despite pretty much entirely lacking any sort of jam. "Golden Age" head-fakes at a funk jam for a moment, but that's about it. That said, the "Mike's" > "FEFY" > "Groove" sequence is amazingly well-played and even features a little plinko-style jamming near the end, "What's the Use?" has a nice, extra-ambient touch, and the rest of the set is a bunch of well-played, high-energy tunes that set up a great "2001" that includes some "WTU?" teasing and a full-on "Golden Age" jam.
So...yeah. Like I said above, it's about the best show the band can play without any sort of long-form (or even medium-form) improvisation. It's a fun show, I'll give it that. Your mileage may vary.
The Live Review:
6/8/11: Nellie Kane opener. Now that's cool.
6/8/11: Slow tempo, too. Fun way to start a show.
6/8/11: MELLOW MOOOOOOOOD
6/8/11: Buffalo Bill. Such a weird but great opening to this show.
6/8/11: KDF breaks up the weirdness with a strong version.
6/8/11: Wolfman's is next.
6/8/11: Short-but-great guitar-led Type I version, there.
6/8/11: Rift! Love Fish's drumming during the first instrumental passage. It's like he's playing around Trey's riff somehow.
6/8/11: KDF, Wolfman's, and Rift make this more of a 'normal' set than where we started, but that said, they're all great S1 takes.
6/8/11: Trey deploying the pitch shifter a bit for some Undermind fun.
6/8/11: Ride Captain Ride! Love their version of this song.
6/8/11: It's Ice is next. Trey having a little trouble getting started.
6/8/11: Solid It's Ice makes a neat swing into Dog-Faced Boy at the end.
6/8/11: Dog-Faced Boy > Brian and Robert.
6/8/11: Another great run of fantastically mellow songs there. Now, 46 Days.
6/8/11: No end set. Limb By Limb now. This is both the Mysteriously Mellow Set and the Endless Set.
6/8/11: Character Zero to presumably finally end the set.
6/8/11: 14 songs in the first set, great mix of rare tunes and covers. Sags a bit at the end, but worth it to hear the rest of it.
6/8/11: As with pretty much all 2011 shows so far, whether or not this is just another fun 2010-esque show or something interesting...
6/8/11: ...will hinge on how the second half turns out.
6/8/11: But we've really got this weird tale-of-two-bands thing going on with 5/27, 5/28, 6/3, and 6/4 sounding like 2014 or so...
6/8/11: ...and everything else sounding a bit like a Phish mix you'd put together if you'd only ever heard the studio albums.
6/8/11: Second half starts with Golden Age.
6/8/11: Ah, the days when Trey still knew the lyrics to Golden Age.
6/8/11: Golden Age stays mostly in Type I soloing confines until the very end, when it heads in a more clav-heavy funk direction for a sec.
6/8/11: Nice landing in Mike's, though. Mike's solo is fantastic.
6/8/11: Mike's lands in FEFY! Love it!
6/8/11: Groove is next and starts with a Golden Age tease from Mike.
6/8/11: Another fast-paced full-band Golden Age tease in the middle of the song.
6/8/11: Really neat jam happening in the Groove now. Sort of like a double-speed plinko jam.
6/8/11: Huzzah! What's the Use!
6/8/11: A little more ambient than recent versions, somehow.
6/8/11: Haze from the end of WTU? fades nicely into Theme.
6/8/11: Number Line is next after a particularly fiery ending to Theme.
6/8/11: Super-hot Number Line! Can hardly tell these guys have been playing for two hours already.
6/8/11: Piano outro > 2001
6/8/11: Some teasing of Golden Age to start.
6/8/11: Full-on Golden Age jam now.
6/8/11: Whole 2001 taking on a Golden Age flavor. Happy birthday tease in there, too.
6/8/11: Big chunk of WTU? in 2001, too.
6/8/11: Great 2001 smashes right into Hood.
6/8/11: Fish throwing down a particularly interesting beat at the beginning of the Hood jam.
6/8/11: Otherwise, pretty straightforward Hood to end the second set. GTBT encore.
So far, 2011 has been less of an improvement on 2010 than I'd imagined. Despite the first two Bethel shows and the Clarkston > Blossom run, the band has mostly been focusing on honing that already-tried-and-true(ish) 2010 formula: long first sets with lots of well-played but uninteresting songs, and second sets that are pretty much another 90 minutes of the same thing. This is just made more frustrating by the fact that when they do occasionally bust out some improv, it's usually quite good. This trend continues from 6/8 up through (at least) 6/11, but somehow the first sets get even longer and the song selection gets even better. But still, the jams are (almost) nowhere to be found.
The Darien Lake show opens with a few mellow tunes ("Nellie Kane," "Mellow Mood," and "Buffalo Bill"), which I really enjoyed. From there, things get a little more normal in terms of song selection, and probably the highlight of the set in terms of improv comes when Trey deploys his pitch shifter for a brief time in "Undermind." There's another run of mellow songs later in the set ("Ride Captain Ride," "It's Ice," "Dog-Faced Boy," and "Brian and Robert") and that's about it. Fourteen songs total in the first set.
The second set works really well despite pretty much entirely lacking any sort of jam. "Golden Age" head-fakes at a funk jam for a moment, but that's about it. That said, the "Mike's" > "FEFY" > "Groove" sequence is amazingly well-played and even features a little plinko-style jamming near the end, "What's the Use?" has a nice, extra-ambient touch, and the rest of the set is a bunch of well-played, high-energy tunes that set up a great "2001" that includes some "WTU?" teasing and a full-on "Golden Age" jam.
So...yeah. Like I said above, it's about the best show the band can play without any sort of long-form (or even medium-form) improvisation. It's a fun show, I'll give it that. Your mileage may vary.
The Live Review:
6/8/11: Nellie Kane opener. Now that's cool.
6/8/11: Slow tempo, too. Fun way to start a show.
6/8/11: MELLOW MOOOOOOOOD
6/8/11: Buffalo Bill. Such a weird but great opening to this show.
6/8/11: KDF breaks up the weirdness with a strong version.
6/8/11: Wolfman's is next.
6/8/11: Short-but-great guitar-led Type I version, there.
6/8/11: Rift! Love Fish's drumming during the first instrumental passage. It's like he's playing around Trey's riff somehow.
6/8/11: KDF, Wolfman's, and Rift make this more of a 'normal' set than where we started, but that said, they're all great S1 takes.
6/8/11: Trey deploying the pitch shifter a bit for some Undermind fun.
6/8/11: Ride Captain Ride! Love their version of this song.
6/8/11: It's Ice is next. Trey having a little trouble getting started.
6/8/11: Solid It's Ice makes a neat swing into Dog-Faced Boy at the end.
6/8/11: Dog-Faced Boy > Brian and Robert.
6/8/11: Another great run of fantastically mellow songs there. Now, 46 Days.
6/8/11: No end set. Limb By Limb now. This is both the Mysteriously Mellow Set and the Endless Set.
6/8/11: Character Zero to presumably finally end the set.
6/8/11: 14 songs in the first set, great mix of rare tunes and covers. Sags a bit at the end, but worth it to hear the rest of it.
6/8/11: As with pretty much all 2011 shows so far, whether or not this is just another fun 2010-esque show or something interesting...
6/8/11: ...will hinge on how the second half turns out.
6/8/11: But we've really got this weird tale-of-two-bands thing going on with 5/27, 5/28, 6/3, and 6/4 sounding like 2014 or so...
6/8/11: ...and everything else sounding a bit like a Phish mix you'd put together if you'd only ever heard the studio albums.
6/8/11: Second half starts with Golden Age.
6/8/11: Ah, the days when Trey still knew the lyrics to Golden Age.
6/8/11: Golden Age stays mostly in Type I soloing confines until the very end, when it heads in a more clav-heavy funk direction for a sec.
6/8/11: Nice landing in Mike's, though. Mike's solo is fantastic.
6/8/11: Mike's lands in FEFY! Love it!
6/8/11: Groove is next and starts with a Golden Age tease from Mike.
6/8/11: Another fast-paced full-band Golden Age tease in the middle of the song.
6/8/11: Really neat jam happening in the Groove now. Sort of like a double-speed plinko jam.
6/8/11: Huzzah! What's the Use!
6/8/11: A little more ambient than recent versions, somehow.
6/8/11: Haze from the end of WTU? fades nicely into Theme.
6/8/11: Number Line is next after a particularly fiery ending to Theme.
6/8/11: Super-hot Number Line! Can hardly tell these guys have been playing for two hours already.
6/8/11: Piano outro > 2001
6/8/11: Some teasing of Golden Age to start.
6/8/11: Full-on Golden Age jam now.
6/8/11: Whole 2001 taking on a Golden Age flavor. Happy birthday tease in there, too.
6/8/11: Big chunk of WTU? in 2001, too.
6/8/11: Great 2001 smashes right into Hood.
6/8/11: Fish throwing down a particularly interesting beat at the beginning of the Hood jam.
6/8/11: Otherwise, pretty straightforward Hood to end the second set. GTBT encore.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)