The Verdict:
Similarly to the first Lockn' night, the 8/28 show starts off with a relatively forgettable first set. The setlist, with the potential exceptionally of a particularly egregiously-placed "The Line," is really solid in a festival-y way, but the entire set feels rushed. None of the songs are jam vehicles that get unexpectedly truncated or anything, but there's a three minute "Martian Monster," and "Halley's," "Moma," and "Bag" in particular seem like they don't get a chance to develop into even a decent Type I affair. The one big bright spot in this set is the also-short "Possum," which, like a few versions lately, goes the '93-esque tension-and-release route. It's awesome. Oh, and "First Tube" closes the set, which I guess is neat in a "rare placement" sort of way.
The second set is similar to something like 7/19/16 II in how it's a constant, hour-plus-long flow of great ideas but in the midst of all those great-but-not-deep versions of songs there's also a satisfying tentpole jam.
"Carini" is up first, and goes dark immediately, with Trey deploying all sorts of echoes and distortion to drive the jam down into the mud. Emerging slightly with a nasty riff, he slowly evolves it into the "CDT" riff and we segue into that song. This is a pretty standard version of that tune, but at the last moment, Trey seems to be doing something different by chording instead of playing but the rest of the band doesn't pick up on it and the song ends in a minor crash...that segues nicely into a '16-style "Twist."
So far, "Carini" and "Twist" have offered up some good ideas, but the band hasn't really stretched its legs yet. Fortunately that changes with "Light," which is an excellent departure from the normal type of jam that comes out of the song. After breaking away from the Type I outro, the entire band, led by a great beat from Fish, departs on a few gorgeous, patient minutes of a quiet melodic jam before bringing it up slowly to a more typical bliss ending. It's one of my favorite jams in awhile.
That's the definite high point of the set, but the energy carries over into a filthy "Tweezer," a heavy "No Quarter," a complex "2001," and finally a "Hood" that comes close to matching the Chula Vista version's intensity.
It's truly one of those "all killer, no filler" sets that the band has been dropping more and more often lately. This bodes well for the Dick's run.
The Live Review:
8/28/16: Sample opener.
8/28/16: YOUR TRIP IS SHORT
8/28/16: Troy using the echo to great effect during this Martian Monster.
8/28/16: A surprisingly short and sample-filled Martian Monster segues into Axila I.
8/28/16: Moma Dance now.
8/28/16: Short Moma Dance, too. Halley's Comet is next, with Trey letting the crowd sing a bit of the vocals.
8/28/16: > Bag. Mid-set seems like a rare placement for this tune.
8/28/16: Trey with a sparse start to the Bag solo, leaving Page some pockets to play around in.
8/28/16: Short Bag, too. Good song choices so far, but feels a bit rushed. FYF is next.
8/28/16: > 46 Days.
8/28/16: Band builds up energy for the first time in the set with a hot 46 Days, and then...The Line'd.
8/28/16: Limb By Limb, and then Possum to finish the set.
8/28/16: Trey with some great blues licks during this jam.
8/28/16: Machine-gun tension bit.
8/28/16: Holding the tension for an absurdly long time. Crowd goes nuts at the release.
8/28/16: That was a super-short Possum, but a really good version. I like that they've been bringing the tune back to its roots lately.
8/28/16: First Tube to close the set. Sorry, I jumped the gun.
8/28/16: I love Fish on this tune.
8/28/16: Carini opens the second set.
8/28/16: I know I always rave about PYITE as my favorite set opener, but this one's up there, too.
8/28/16: Super dirty tone from Trey to start the solo.
8/28/16: Nicely developed mini-jam that moved toward a slow -> CDT.
8/28/16: Trey dancing around the solo a bit like he wants to push CDT to Type II land.
8/28/16: Rather than the typical outro riff for CDT, Trey just hits a fuzzy power chord a few times.
8/28/16: Seems like he was trying to launch a jam, but it just confused everyone else and the bottom fell out. > Twist.
8/28/16: Another minimalist, pitch-shifted Twist jam.
8/28/16: I like taking this song in this direction, but it seems like what they've been doing with it since late '15. Like, every version.
8/28/16: Short Twist > Light.
8/28/16: Trey struggles a bit with the initial chords in Light, but now there's a great Type I jam developing.
8/28/16: Awesome Fish beat driving the jam into a new direction.
8/28/16: Neat, low-key melody solo from Trey.
8/28/16: That was something you rarely hear these days: a melodically interesting jam that patiently builds from near-silence over time.
8/28/16: The end, of course, was a '15-style bliss chord progression. But getting there was way more rewarding than usual.
8/28/16: > Tweezer.
8/28/16: Trey going echo-crazy during the composed part of Tweezer.
8/28/16: Super momentum in this Tweezer. Great Type I solo from Trey and now a chunkier, more percussive bit.
8/28/16: Quick wind-down and a nice landing in No Quarter.
8/28/16: Trey just ripped off a great No Quarter solo. Moving immediately from the end of the tune into 2001.
8/28/16: 2001s have had a new sort of verve to them lately. That one was no exception, even if it was a bit short.
8/28/16: > Hood.
8/28/16: I'm curious to see how this version goes after the Chula Hood permanently altered the earth's orbit around the sun.
8/28/16: So far, Trey is taking the melodic gorgeousness of the Light and Tweezer jams and applying it here too.
8/28/16: Excellent but not earth-altering Hood > Tweeprise.
8/28/16: Loving Cup encore.
8/28/16: Great show. The first set fell a bit into the 'average-great' category, but the second set mixed together...
8/28/16: ...two great 3.0 traditions: a tentpole jam and lots of interesting little jamlets dotting the set. Very little filler.
Feb 28, 2017
2016-08-26 Lockn' I
The Verdict:
Both Lockn' shows follow a similar template. Each first set is a reasonably predictable festival-style affair, and each second set contains more high-quality jamming than a summer '16 show has a right to.
There are a lot of welcome song choices in this night's first set, but for the first half of the set or so, the band is a bit...looser...than usual. "Tube" is perhaps the highlight, not getting extended to the lengths of the Chula version, but still showcasing some more versatile funk than it typically has in the 3.0 era. It's not until "It's Ice" that the band really starts to gel, hitting the funk breakdown that's become de rigeur lately. "Wingsuit" is solid, and "Simple" gets a mini-jam that gestures at greener pastures before the set wraps up with "Space Oddity."
The second set starts off with the always-great "PYITE" opener, and then continues with a few songs that get "jammed" in that '16 way that's great but also always leaves you wishing they'd stretched for another five minutes or so. "Blaze On" goes this way, as does "Fuego," and it feels like we're about to fall into another one of those second sets that would be satisfying if only I could shake my obsession with twenty minute jams...and then "Ghost" hits.
Hoo, boy. This "Ghost" jam makes the turn into the Bliss Zone on a dime. After the bliss jam, there's a short "Woo!" section, and almost-"Piper" segue, then an almost-"McGrupp" segue before the song actually lands in a late second-set "Gin." This "Gin," like a lot of other Trey-led jams lately, goes the pitch-shifter route before transitioning into something that sounds an awful lot like the "Jumpin' Jack Flash" jam out of "Sally" at BGCA. It's an amazing one-two punch.
To close out the set, there's a pretty, cooperative "Number Line" and then a "YEM" that actually carries behind it the punch of the band having just played a great set.
I like this show a lot, and the second night at Lockn' is even better.
The Live Review:
8/26/16: Onward and upward today. I saw the 8/26 webcast back in the day, and remember the show being quite good.
8/26/16: I was also super high, so that might have made a difference.
8/26/16: Wilson opener.
8/26/16: Trey having some serious trouble finding the right key here.
8/26/16: Otherwise, BLAT BOOM
8/26/16: False start on Disease. So far, pretty rough start.
8/26/16: Nice Type I Disease jam developing eventually :)
8/26/16: Free is next.
8/26/16: Loose take on Free. Now Wolfman's.
8/26/16: Pretty standard Wolfman's > Tube. So far, so festival-first-set.
8/26/16: Some echo chording reminiscent of the Chula version happening here.
8/26/16: This version of Tube wasn't *really* jammed, but got slightly extended.
8/26/16: Am I the only one who was absolutely sure 555 would have achieved jam vehicle status by now and is sort of bored with it otherwise?
8/26/16: I mean it's a great song, but the ratio of times played / times played in an interesting way is pretty miserable.
8/26/16: It's Ice next.
8/26/16: Nice funk bridge in the middle of It's Ice.
8/26/16: Solid take on Wingsuit, Simple with a nice little mini-jam...band sounds like they're jelling better from It's Ice on.
8/26/16: Space Oddity will close out the set.
8/26/16: PYITE opens the second set. Still my favorite set-opening song. #NYE95Bias #phish
8/26/16: Also, the combo of Page/Fish on the dance breakdown part of the song is one of my favorite bits of Phish.
8/26/16: > Blaze On
8/26/16: Great little Type I solo from Trey. Loving the tone he's using in this jam.
8/26/16: Wall of sound ending.
8/26/16: Nice Page-led landing in Fuego.
8//26/16: Pretty standard, '16-muddy Type I jam at the end of Fuego...but a great -> Ghost.
8/26/16: After a chunky (not clunky!) start, Ghost is modulating into something really cool.
8/26/16: Holy shit bliss time
8/26/16: This jam is all Fish. Don't let Trey fool you. Holy crap.
8/26/16: Fantastic Ghost bliss jam that winds down into a more rock and roll space before ending with a 'Woo!' jam. So good.
8/26/16: There was moment where I was totally feeling a -> Piper, but the 'Woo!' jam cut that off.
8/26/16: Now almost a McGrupp vibe...aaaaand > Gin.
8/26/16: I don't know about you all, but I love when Gin lands in a second set.
8/26/16: Man, Troy loves the pitch shifter lately. He's back at it again.
8/26/16: Great tone from Trey. Some weird syncopation going on. Noise rock overload.
8/26/16: Great build-up now.
8/26/16: Another Jumpin' Jack Flash-style jam a la BGCA Sally.
8/26/16: > Number Line. Lots of repeats from 7/23.
8/26/16: Not that that's really a huge deal since it's been a month, but it's still weird.
8/26/16: Interesting full-band Number Line. It seems to be less of an excuse for Trey to solo lately and more the whole band trying things.
8/26/16: YEM! Damn, that was a very festival-y first set, but the second set has been straight out of '15.
8/26/16: It might be year 500 of Phish, but a well-earned and well-played show-closing YEM is still pretty much the best thing.
8/26/16: Longer-than-usual vocal jam to close out the set.
8/26/16: I wonder how often a capella performances have closed both sets at a Phish show.
This looks like fun. https://t.co/nwSg36g549
8/26/16: End set.
8/26/16: Character Zero encore because fuck you, that's why.
8/26/16: Troy is shredding this Zero in spite of my grumpiness.
8/26/16: Great show, and better than most of '16 thus far. Pretty predictable first set, but wow that second set.
8/26/16: Sure, they could have done more with Blaze On and Fuego, but the Ghost > Gin pair was just fantastic. And that YEM!
8/26/16: Good stuff.
Both Lockn' shows follow a similar template. Each first set is a reasonably predictable festival-style affair, and each second set contains more high-quality jamming than a summer '16 show has a right to.
There are a lot of welcome song choices in this night's first set, but for the first half of the set or so, the band is a bit...looser...than usual. "Tube" is perhaps the highlight, not getting extended to the lengths of the Chula version, but still showcasing some more versatile funk than it typically has in the 3.0 era. It's not until "It's Ice" that the band really starts to gel, hitting the funk breakdown that's become de rigeur lately. "Wingsuit" is solid, and "Simple" gets a mini-jam that gestures at greener pastures before the set wraps up with "Space Oddity."
The second set starts off with the always-great "PYITE" opener, and then continues with a few songs that get "jammed" in that '16 way that's great but also always leaves you wishing they'd stretched for another five minutes or so. "Blaze On" goes this way, as does "Fuego," and it feels like we're about to fall into another one of those second sets that would be satisfying if only I could shake my obsession with twenty minute jams...and then "Ghost" hits.
Hoo, boy. This "Ghost" jam makes the turn into the Bliss Zone on a dime. After the bliss jam, there's a short "Woo!" section, and almost-"Piper" segue, then an almost-"McGrupp" segue before the song actually lands in a late second-set "Gin." This "Gin," like a lot of other Trey-led jams lately, goes the pitch-shifter route before transitioning into something that sounds an awful lot like the "Jumpin' Jack Flash" jam out of "Sally" at BGCA. It's an amazing one-two punch.
To close out the set, there's a pretty, cooperative "Number Line" and then a "YEM" that actually carries behind it the punch of the band having just played a great set.
I like this show a lot, and the second night at Lockn' is even better.
The Live Review:
8/26/16: Onward and upward today. I saw the 8/26 webcast back in the day, and remember the show being quite good.
8/26/16: I was also super high, so that might have made a difference.
8/26/16: Wilson opener.
8/26/16: Trey having some serious trouble finding the right key here.
8/26/16: Otherwise, BLAT BOOM
8/26/16: False start on Disease. So far, pretty rough start.
8/26/16: Nice Type I Disease jam developing eventually :)
8/26/16: Free is next.
8/26/16: Loose take on Free. Now Wolfman's.
8/26/16: Pretty standard Wolfman's > Tube. So far, so festival-first-set.
8/26/16: Some echo chording reminiscent of the Chula version happening here.
8/26/16: This version of Tube wasn't *really* jammed, but got slightly extended.
8/26/16: Am I the only one who was absolutely sure 555 would have achieved jam vehicle status by now and is sort of bored with it otherwise?
8/26/16: I mean it's a great song, but the ratio of times played / times played in an interesting way is pretty miserable.
8/26/16: It's Ice next.
8/26/16: Nice funk bridge in the middle of It's Ice.
8/26/16: Solid take on Wingsuit, Simple with a nice little mini-jam...band sounds like they're jelling better from It's Ice on.
8/26/16: Space Oddity will close out the set.
8/26/16: PYITE opens the second set. Still my favorite set-opening song. #NYE95Bias #phish
8/26/16: Also, the combo of Page/Fish on the dance breakdown part of the song is one of my favorite bits of Phish.
8/26/16: > Blaze On
8/26/16: Great little Type I solo from Trey. Loving the tone he's using in this jam.
8/26/16: Wall of sound ending.
8/26/16: Nice Page-led landing in Fuego.
8//26/16: Pretty standard, '16-muddy Type I jam at the end of Fuego...but a great -> Ghost.
8/26/16: After a chunky (not clunky!) start, Ghost is modulating into something really cool.
8/26/16: Holy shit bliss time
8/26/16: This jam is all Fish. Don't let Trey fool you. Holy crap.
8/26/16: Fantastic Ghost bliss jam that winds down into a more rock and roll space before ending with a 'Woo!' jam. So good.
8/26/16: There was moment where I was totally feeling a -> Piper, but the 'Woo!' jam cut that off.
8/26/16: Now almost a McGrupp vibe...aaaaand > Gin.
8/26/16: I don't know about you all, but I love when Gin lands in a second set.
8/26/16: Man, Troy loves the pitch shifter lately. He's back at it again.
8/26/16: Great tone from Trey. Some weird syncopation going on. Noise rock overload.
8/26/16: Great build-up now.
8/26/16: Another Jumpin' Jack Flash-style jam a la BGCA Sally.
8/26/16: > Number Line. Lots of repeats from 7/23.
8/26/16: Not that that's really a huge deal since it's been a month, but it's still weird.
8/26/16: Interesting full-band Number Line. It seems to be less of an excuse for Trey to solo lately and more the whole band trying things.
8/26/16: YEM! Damn, that was a very festival-y first set, but the second set has been straight out of '15.
8/26/16: It might be year 500 of Phish, but a well-earned and well-played show-closing YEM is still pretty much the best thing.
8/26/16: Longer-than-usual vocal jam to close out the set.
8/26/16: I wonder how often a capella performances have closed both sets at a Phish show.
This looks like fun. https://t.co/nwSg36g549
8/26/16: End set.
8/26/16: Character Zero encore because fuck you, that's why.
8/26/16: Troy is shredding this Zero in spite of my grumpiness.
8/26/16: Great show, and better than most of '16 thus far. Pretty predictable first set, but wow that second set.
8/26/16: Sure, they could have done more with Blaze On and Fuego, but the Ghost > Gin pair was just fantastic. And that YEM!
8/26/16: Good stuff.
Chris Robinson Brotherhood: 2016-08-28 Lockn'
The Live Review:
8/28/16: Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go opener. Great opener choice.
8/28/16: Being a festival slot, this is a shorter show, but it's the show (webcast) that got me into the band, so this should be fun.
8/28/16: Leave My Guitar Alone is second. A little faster-paced than they've been playing it lately. More of a shuffle.
8/28/16: Some great, reserved guitar from Neal on Let's Go.
8/28/16: I love the doo-wop backing vocals during this song.
8/28/16: Second song in and Neal's already hitting the super-space-echo tone. That's always a good thing.
8/28/16: Neal brings the tune home with a short solo. Forever As the Moon next.
8/28/16: Now that's one of those songs that you just don't care that they don't jam, because it's so good it doesn't need an instrumental.
8/28/16: Roan County Banjo is next. If there's a CRB song that is perfect for summer lawn-dancing, it's this one.
8/28/16: Precious, Precious. Chris's voice is fantastic for this song. Great cover.
8/28/16: Backup vocals are alright, too :)
8/28/16: I feel like I'm at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance.
8/28/16: New Cannonball Rag.
8/28/16: 'Boogies all night with the T-Rex arms.' Love it. One of my favorite lyrics.
8/28/16: Neal opening up a bit during Cannonball Rag.
8/28/16: Nice little Adam solo there, too.
8/28/16: It's weird to listen to this show compared to the last four full shows of theirs that I've seen live.
8/28/16: These are like the 'album' versions of these tunes, and nothing's really getting opened up.
8/28/16: I guess that's the festival set at work.
8/28/16: Still fun to listen to, but no jams to tweet furiously about :)
8/28/16: Ain't It Hard But Fair is next.
8/28/16: Wind-down bit in this song always makes me think of the Uncle Ebeneezer bit in Tweezer. 8/28/16: Short vocal jam.
8/28/16: It's All Over Now, Baby Blue.
8/28/16: I love how Tony switches up the beat on the drums for the chorus parts in this cover.
8/28/16: Absolutely nasty solo from Adam between verses.
8/28/16: Neal rocking the hell out of the end of the song.
8/28/16: Where does this guy get his tone from? It's amazing.
8/28/16: Vibration and Light Suite.
8/28/16: Love how they drop out of that Interstate Love Song opening riff into space boogie. So smooth.
8/28/16: Adam doing an almost 1890s watering hole thing on the piano behind the boogie. Hilarious.
8/28/16: Echoes and distortion from Neal and Adam at once is driving this jam into space.
8/28/16: Dueling guitars now from Chris and Neal.
8/28/16: It got a bit drowned out, but excellent drumming from Tony in that section.
8/28/16: Cymbal wash, ambient guitar noise.
8/28/16: -> Narcissus Soaking Wet.
8/28/16: And the set's going to wrap up with a harmonica solo from Chris and one last space-echo solo from Neal's demon-possessed guitar.
8/28/16: Welp, typically great playing for the band, but almost none of the typical jamming/instrumental bits.
8/28/16: It's a neat show as the show that got me into the band, but not really worth much relistening.
8/28/16: Would likely be a great recording to turn other people on to the band, though: short, precise versions of great tunes played live.
Feb 22, 2017
2016-07-23 Chula Vista
The Verdict:
After two shows (or at least three sets) of clunky music (at least by typical Phish standards), Chula Vista ends a pretty rocky tour on a high note. There's a lot to like here, even if, like most summer '16 shows good or bad, there's no tentpole jam. In a weird way, that makes it seem like an appropriate way to end the tour.
The show starts with the surprisingly strong opening sequence of "Farmhouse," "555," and "Water in the Sky." From there, the band switches to high gear immediately with a for-the-throat bliss-jammed take on "Ghost." This version would be totally at home in the middle of a second set. It's really good.
From there, we get the first of our few "Ass Handed" versions for the night, and things proceed in a more standard first-set fashion for a moment until "Reba" comes up out of nowhere. This version struggles a bit through the composed section, but the jam is gorgeous, reminiscent of the excellent Shoreline '15 version. Then we get our asses handed to us again by Fishman.
Then, the highlight of the first set: a jammed-out "Tube." This is a great moment for the sheer surprise of hearing the song jammed, but it's also a great, slowly developing funk jam that would be worth a listen even in a more expected spot. Follow that with a "Wolfman's" that features a "California Love" jam and lyrics and a "Walls" set closer, and you've got one of the best opening frames of the tour.
The magic continues into set two with a "2001" opener that runs over ten minutes, and, like the first-set "Tube," features slowly developing full-band funk. When the "46 Days" that follows doesn't go deep, it feels like a wasted moment, but man is this a great, rocked-out Type I version of the tune.
After that, the rest of the set is pure Phish excellence: "Piper" features a spacey, pitch-shifted jam, "Twist" is the epitome of the tour's minimalist Type I versions, "Number Line" finds yet more ways to stay Type I but be interesting and take advantage of some great full-band interplay, "Carini" is dark and sludgy (and yes, even more so than usual), "Hood" is probably the best version of the year, starting with Trey looping his guitar backward and ending with an enormous, enormous peak...and "Loving Cup" ends it all perfectly. Again, there might not be a huge jam in this set, but back to front, it's consistently great.
The encore is pure fun Phish. First, with "Sleeping Monkey" being introduced as Page's favorite song and then played while Fishman pretends to be overcome with emotion in the background. Then second, and finally, with "Tweeprise" being played out of nowhere and having the normal lyrics replaced with, for the third time in one show, "Ass Handed." It's a great encore to end a great show.
The Live Review:
7/23/16: I remember loving this Farmhouse opener. The band came out and started fairly early and most fans were still in the lot/in line.
7/23/16: The place was almost completely empty and I sort of thought they might have just way undersold the tour closer.
7/23/16: People eventually filtered in, but the first three songs were sort of surreal, up near the top of an empty bowl of seats.
7/23/16: Solid version of 555 in the two-spot. Then, the slow version of Water in the Sky. 7/23/16: GHOST
7/23/16: Ghost jam slowly building.
7/23/16: Trey just hit a great change and now we're in full-on '15 bliss mode.
7/23/16: This jam does not belong in a first set.
7/23/16: Return to Ghost proper for the wind-down ending.
7/23/16: That fantastic jam is followed by...Ass Handed.
7/23/16: The Sloth!
7/23/16: YOUR TRAP IS SHART
7/23/16: Whoops, that didn't work so well. Umm...Martian Monster is next.
7/23/16: Slow-paced Martian Monster, but Trey's using the echo to great effect.
7/23/16: Page is going sample-crazy now.
7/23/16: Super-short Martian Monster, but that's okay because Reba is next!
7/23/16: Reba was a little rough through the composed section, but the jam is featuring some fantastic Trey/Page interplay right now.
7/23/16: Second take on Ass Handed after Reba. Tube is next.
7/23/16: Echo-funk emerging in the Tube jam.
7/23/16: Sticking with the funk here, but deconstructing it in some pretty awesome ways. 7/23/16: Big funk-rock peak and them immediately into the blues section of Tube. Crowd loses it. 7/23/16: At the show, I was just jazzed that they jammed out Tube, but that was actually a really good Type I jam.
7/23/16: Wolfman's is next, with a California Love jam and lyrics from Trey.
7/23/16: After so more typical Wolfman's jamming, Trey returns to the California Love riff. 7/23/16: Fun take on Wolfman's. Walls should close the set now.
7/23/16: End set.
7/23/16: Second set opens with 2001.
7/23/16: Long ambient drone before Fish kicks in.
7/23/16: Sounded a bit like a No Men tease in 2001. Trey's definitely using the No Men's tone. 7/23/16: Definitely California Love teasing from Trey now.
7/23/16: Maybe it's just me, but Fish's drumming sounds a lot more muscular in this 2001 than usual.
7/23/16: Great, slightly extended 2001 > 46 Days.
7/23/16: Really raucous version of 46 Days lands in Piper.
7/23/16: Fish and loops from Trey are dominating the beginning of the Piper jam.
7/23/16: Trey doing some great pitch-shifting stuff now.
7/23/16: Great rock riff now from Trey. Staccato notes from Page.
7/23/16: A bit of a ripcord out of a nice jam into Twist, but the band adjusts quickly.
7/23/16: Great minimalist pitch-shifted soloing now from Trey. Everyone else adding little flourishes.
7/23/16: Muddy tone now from Trey. Dueling w/ Mike.
7/23/16: That was about as good and varied of a jam as you can get while still staying Type I. Neat Twist.
7/23/16: > Number Line.
7/23/16: Great piano and bass work in this Number Line. Trey laying back a bit more than usual. 7/23/16: Nice Number Line jam and perfect landing in Carini.
7/23/16: During the lyric outro, Trey shouts the Ass Handed lyrics, and then before the jam, Fish screams 'CARINI GOT HIS ASS HANDED TO HIM'
7/23/16: Neat, murky, chord-driven jam that winds way up and then winds back down into a huge wall of sound.
7/23/16: > Hood!
7/23/16: Neat reverse-loop solo from Trey to start off this Hood.
7/23/16: Fucking monster peak on this Hood. Holy hell.
7/23/16: Great landing in Loving Cup.
7/23/16: End set with a rocked-out version of Loving Cup. Awesome.
7/23/16: Trey thanking everyone for coming to the tour. They 'can't not end...with Page's favorite song.'
7/23/16: Sleeping Monkey
7/23/16: Trey taunting Page and Mike for crying during the song.
7/23/16: Fish making crying sounds while Trey sings.
7/23/16: Trey tells everyone to google 'Sleeping monkey revived at train station in India' to explain the origin of the song.
7/23/16: Now, Tweeprise. The confusion in my section of the stands when this Tweezer-less Tweeprise started was immense.
7/23/16: Then the Ass Handed lyrics kicked in and we all freaked the fuck out.
7/23/16: Awesome Phish moment.
7/23/16: I have probably heard Tweeprise at least 500 times in my life, but I still get goosebumps when Fish's drums come in.
7/23/16: I personally think the fact that Ass Handed and Mercury didn't make Big Boat are equal tragedies.
7/23/16: YOU GET YOUR ASS HANDED TO YOU EVERY DAY! DON'T YOU FORGET IT! And with that, summer tour ends.
7/23/16: That was a great show. Literally the only thing to complain about is the song lengths.
7/23/16: Want a show that makes a great case for why every show doesn't need a 20 minute jam to be good? It's this one.
7/23/16: Second set didn't get quite as far out there as 7/19's, but it had more momentum. And THAT HOOD.
After two shows (or at least three sets) of clunky music (at least by typical Phish standards), Chula Vista ends a pretty rocky tour on a high note. There's a lot to like here, even if, like most summer '16 shows good or bad, there's no tentpole jam. In a weird way, that makes it seem like an appropriate way to end the tour.
The show starts with the surprisingly strong opening sequence of "Farmhouse," "555," and "Water in the Sky." From there, the band switches to high gear immediately with a for-the-throat bliss-jammed take on "Ghost." This version would be totally at home in the middle of a second set. It's really good.
From there, we get the first of our few "Ass Handed" versions for the night, and things proceed in a more standard first-set fashion for a moment until "Reba" comes up out of nowhere. This version struggles a bit through the composed section, but the jam is gorgeous, reminiscent of the excellent Shoreline '15 version. Then we get our asses handed to us again by Fishman.
Then, the highlight of the first set: a jammed-out "Tube." This is a great moment for the sheer surprise of hearing the song jammed, but it's also a great, slowly developing funk jam that would be worth a listen even in a more expected spot. Follow that with a "Wolfman's" that features a "California Love" jam and lyrics and a "Walls" set closer, and you've got one of the best opening frames of the tour.
The magic continues into set two with a "2001" opener that runs over ten minutes, and, like the first-set "Tube," features slowly developing full-band funk. When the "46 Days" that follows doesn't go deep, it feels like a wasted moment, but man is this a great, rocked-out Type I version of the tune.
After that, the rest of the set is pure Phish excellence: "Piper" features a spacey, pitch-shifted jam, "Twist" is the epitome of the tour's minimalist Type I versions, "Number Line" finds yet more ways to stay Type I but be interesting and take advantage of some great full-band interplay, "Carini" is dark and sludgy (and yes, even more so than usual), "Hood" is probably the best version of the year, starting with Trey looping his guitar backward and ending with an enormous, enormous peak...and "Loving Cup" ends it all perfectly. Again, there might not be a huge jam in this set, but back to front, it's consistently great.
The encore is pure fun Phish. First, with "Sleeping Monkey" being introduced as Page's favorite song and then played while Fishman pretends to be overcome with emotion in the background. Then second, and finally, with "Tweeprise" being played out of nowhere and having the normal lyrics replaced with, for the third time in one show, "Ass Handed." It's a great encore to end a great show.
The Live Review:
7/23/16: I remember loving this Farmhouse opener. The band came out and started fairly early and most fans were still in the lot/in line.
7/23/16: The place was almost completely empty and I sort of thought they might have just way undersold the tour closer.
7/23/16: People eventually filtered in, but the first three songs were sort of surreal, up near the top of an empty bowl of seats.
7/23/16: Solid version of 555 in the two-spot. Then, the slow version of Water in the Sky. 7/23/16: GHOST
7/23/16: Ghost jam slowly building.
7/23/16: Trey just hit a great change and now we're in full-on '15 bliss mode.
7/23/16: This jam does not belong in a first set.
7/23/16: Return to Ghost proper for the wind-down ending.
7/23/16: That fantastic jam is followed by...Ass Handed.
7/23/16: The Sloth!
7/23/16: YOUR TRAP IS SHART
7/23/16: Whoops, that didn't work so well. Umm...Martian Monster is next.
7/23/16: Slow-paced Martian Monster, but Trey's using the echo to great effect.
7/23/16: Page is going sample-crazy now.
7/23/16: Super-short Martian Monster, but that's okay because Reba is next!
7/23/16: Reba was a little rough through the composed section, but the jam is featuring some fantastic Trey/Page interplay right now.
7/23/16: Second take on Ass Handed after Reba. Tube is next.
7/23/16: Echo-funk emerging in the Tube jam.
7/23/16: Sticking with the funk here, but deconstructing it in some pretty awesome ways. 7/23/16: Big funk-rock peak and them immediately into the blues section of Tube. Crowd loses it. 7/23/16: At the show, I was just jazzed that they jammed out Tube, but that was actually a really good Type I jam.
7/23/16: Wolfman's is next, with a California Love jam and lyrics from Trey.
7/23/16: After so more typical Wolfman's jamming, Trey returns to the California Love riff. 7/23/16: Fun take on Wolfman's. Walls should close the set now.
7/23/16: End set.
7/23/16: Second set opens with 2001.
7/23/16: Long ambient drone before Fish kicks in.
7/23/16: Sounded a bit like a No Men tease in 2001. Trey's definitely using the No Men's tone. 7/23/16: Definitely California Love teasing from Trey now.
7/23/16: Maybe it's just me, but Fish's drumming sounds a lot more muscular in this 2001 than usual.
7/23/16: Great, slightly extended 2001 > 46 Days.
7/23/16: Really raucous version of 46 Days lands in Piper.
7/23/16: Fish and loops from Trey are dominating the beginning of the Piper jam.
7/23/16: Trey doing some great pitch-shifting stuff now.
7/23/16: Great rock riff now from Trey. Staccato notes from Page.
7/23/16: A bit of a ripcord out of a nice jam into Twist, but the band adjusts quickly.
7/23/16: Great minimalist pitch-shifted soloing now from Trey. Everyone else adding little flourishes.
7/23/16: Muddy tone now from Trey. Dueling w/ Mike.
7/23/16: That was about as good and varied of a jam as you can get while still staying Type I. Neat Twist.
7/23/16: > Number Line.
7/23/16: Great piano and bass work in this Number Line. Trey laying back a bit more than usual. 7/23/16: Nice Number Line jam and perfect landing in Carini.
7/23/16: During the lyric outro, Trey shouts the Ass Handed lyrics, and then before the jam, Fish screams 'CARINI GOT HIS ASS HANDED TO HIM'
7/23/16: Neat, murky, chord-driven jam that winds way up and then winds back down into a huge wall of sound.
7/23/16: > Hood!
7/23/16: Neat reverse-loop solo from Trey to start off this Hood.
7/23/16: Fucking monster peak on this Hood. Holy hell.
7/23/16: Great landing in Loving Cup.
7/23/16: End set with a rocked-out version of Loving Cup. Awesome.
7/23/16: Trey thanking everyone for coming to the tour. They 'can't not end...with Page's favorite song.'
7/23/16: Sleeping Monkey
7/23/16: Trey taunting Page and Mike for crying during the song.
7/23/16: Fish making crying sounds while Trey sings.
7/23/16: Trey tells everyone to google 'Sleeping monkey revived at train station in India' to explain the origin of the song.
7/23/16: Now, Tweeprise. The confusion in my section of the stands when this Tweezer-less Tweeprise started was immense.
7/23/16: Then the Ass Handed lyrics kicked in and we all freaked the fuck out.
7/23/16: Awesome Phish moment.
7/23/16: I have probably heard Tweeprise at least 500 times in my life, but I still get goosebumps when Fish's drums come in.
7/23/16: I personally think the fact that Ass Handed and Mercury didn't make Big Boat are equal tragedies.
7/23/16: YOU GET YOUR ASS HANDED TO YOU EVERY DAY! DON'T YOU FORGET IT! And with that, summer tour ends.
7/23/16: That was a great show. Literally the only thing to complain about is the song lengths.
7/23/16: Want a show that makes a great case for why every show doesn't need a 20 minute jam to be good? It's this one.
7/23/16: Second set didn't get quite as far out there as 7/19's, but it had more momentum. And THAT HOOD.
2016-07-22 The Forum
The Verdict:
I've jokingly called this show the worst Phish show. While that's a bit of an exaggeration, it's definitely the worst Phish show I've seen live. It's essentially two sets of the disjointed, weird, improv-less second set from BGCA III. Add to that some severe dehydration (see my tweeted story below) and it's a recipe for discontent. But, considering that this show has just barely cracked a 2.5 on Phish.net, maybe I'm not crazy for disliking it so much (it has about the same rating as the first Coventry show, for perspective).
There's not much to say that the live review below doesn't already say. The first set isn't so bad, as it opens with a strong "Moma Dance," contains a "Paul and Silas" bustout, and some great work from Page on "Heavy Things." The problem is that the set is lacking any sort of improvisation whatsoever and every song feels like a completely predictable choice with the exception of the aforementioned "Paul and Silas."
The second set starts with "Axila I," which sort of presages the kind of set it's going to be: mostly first-set songs with a few brutally axed jam vehicles to up the frustration factor.
That said, if I'm being honest, the following "Fuego" jam is Type I only, but still great. Trey gets an absolutely dark and evil distorted tone that he plays with for a few minutes before setting up a flawless segue...but it's into "BOTT" and from there the guys seem to think it's just the first set again. "Caspian" seems like it might be about to go somewhere, but it cut in half in favor of starting "Waves." "Waves" stays Type I but winds down into a pretty space...which ends in "Joy" and drops the energy level through the floor again. Then there's some more inexplicable first set songs and some instrument switching in "Scent of a Mule," but who cares at this point in a show like this...
The "YEM" closer just feels weird. And that's the best, vaguest word I could use to describe this show: weird. Even as I've described it above, it likely doesn't sound that bad, but both in person and on the tape something just feels off about the music all night long, and it's a pretty uncomfortable listen.
The Live Review:
7/22/16: Some background: this was my 35th Phish show, on my 35th birthday, in Los Angeles. 7/22/16: I'd just finished a huge road trip for my honeymoon and immediately jumped on tour after at the Gorge.
7/22/16: I was a little worn out from all the driving, but pumped after BGCA and looking forward to #35.
7/22/16: Long story short, I went hiking solo in the San Gabriel mountains before the show, it was 105 degrees, and I got heatstroke.
7/22/16: Spent three hours recovering on a beach in god knows where, then got to the show and sat down just as Moma hit.
7/22/16: It proceeded to be the worst show of Phish's I've seen since I started going to shows, and the only show I almost walked out of.
7/22/16: The fries and nachos and bottled water at the venue were AMAZING though. No joke. 7/22/16: So that's my story. Moma opener.
7/22/16: Despite all my grumping, is there a better first-set Phish song than Moma Dance? 7/22/16: Someday when I'm 80 years old, I'll remember S1 on-the-lawn-in-the-sun Momas as well as I remember the Tahoe Tweezer.
7/22/16: You don't have Phish without both of those, together.
7/22/16: > Sample.
7/22/16: I did get a Paul and Silas during this show, though, so there's that.
7/22/16: Super high-tempo Yarmouth Road is next.
7/22/16: Nice little Mike-led jam for a few minutes there in Yarmouth.
7/22/16: KDF next.
7/22/16: > Horn.
7/22/16: Page just nailed a great solo during Halfway To the Moon.
7/22/16: Heavy Things is next, and features an extended Page organ solo.
7/22/16: > Blaze On.
7/22/16: Short Blaze On. Nothing really getting stretched out in this set. High energy, though.
7/22/16: If I had to pick a highlight, it might be Heavy Things.
7/22/16: Stash next. We're going to have to open things up a little now whether Trey likes it or not :)
7/22/16: High-energy but straightforward take on Stash crashes right into Cavern, which plows into Antelope.
7/22/16: It's worth mentioning that as a first set, this ain't bad. It's way more predictable than the last few shows'...
7/22/16: ...but there's nothing bad about it, and it's got a momentum that's comparable to 7/20 S1.
7/22/16: This Antelope came from a different show. Great set closer.
7/22/16: Axilla I starts off the second set. So that's interesting.
7/22/16: Fuego in the two-slot.
7/22/16: Some evil, distorted soloing from Trey during this Fuego jam.
7/22/16: Staying Type I, but definitely getting EVIL.
7/22/16: Nice -> BOTT out of the developing jam.
7/22/16: Can't really fault that one as a ripcord because it was super-smooth.
7/22/16: Short and sweet Saw It Again next.
7/22/16: Prince Caspian next. Nice interplay between Trey and Page for a bit, tho it's feeling like another one of those dartboard setlists.
7/22/16: Caspian jam cut immediately for Waves.
7/22/16: Some jaunty chording from Trey in the Waves jam.
7/22/16: Compact take on Waves fades out into a pretty, Simple-jam-like space, and then transitions into Joy.
7/22/16: The Wedge.
7/22/16: Late-set Scent of a Mule with some marimba lumina action from Trey (I assume).
7/22/16: I think that maybe he and Fish are playing it together at the moment.
7/22/16: Rock and Roll seems like a weird choice, but okay.
7/22/16: Rock-out peak to end Rock and Roll, similar to the end of Antelope in S1.
7/22/16: Second summer in a row that Phish has played a pretty below-average show at the Forum and closed with YEM.
7/22/16: Feels a little like an apology. OH HERE'S ONE SONG YOU'LL LIKE
7/22/16: Great Mike-led percussion jam right at the end of YEM.
7/22/16: Weird setlist continues with an encore that goes Boogie On, Bouncin', Golgi.
7/22/16: fwiw, Boogie was a great, high-energy version.
7/22/16: That said, this remains my least favorite Phish show I've seen.
7/22/16: It's a shame, because if I'm trying to be objective, it's not a badly-played show at all.
7/22/16: But really, there's absolutely no surprises, except maybe the -> BOTT segue or the instrument switching on Scent of a Mule.
7/22/16: I like Phish a lot, and if I'm being honest I wouldn't even mind just sort of kicking back at home with this show...
7/22/16: ...and hearing some songs that I like, played with some verve and sequenced in a fairly compelling way.
7/22/16: The problem is, when you put in the time and money and anticipation to actually go to a show, you expect something in addition.
7/22/16: I don't need a 20-minute jam every night to be happy, but this show is, to me, literally comparable to just playing a Phish album.
7/22/16: There's nothing unexpected at all, and that's, I think, why it was/is so disappointing to me as a show.
7/22/16: It's entirely possible that I'm being 'an entitled fan' about this, but I don't think so.
7/22/16: That ability to surprise, even if it's not through long-form improvisation, feels like a pillar of Phish to me.
7/22/16: That they can play for 3.5 hours and not manage to do that once, even for a few seconds, makes this a bummer of a show.
7/22/16: Fortunately, 7/23 wraps up the summer proper on a higher note.
I've jokingly called this show the worst Phish show. While that's a bit of an exaggeration, it's definitely the worst Phish show I've seen live. It's essentially two sets of the disjointed, weird, improv-less second set from BGCA III. Add to that some severe dehydration (see my tweeted story below) and it's a recipe for discontent. But, considering that this show has just barely cracked a 2.5 on Phish.net, maybe I'm not crazy for disliking it so much (it has about the same rating as the first Coventry show, for perspective).
There's not much to say that the live review below doesn't already say. The first set isn't so bad, as it opens with a strong "Moma Dance," contains a "Paul and Silas" bustout, and some great work from Page on "Heavy Things." The problem is that the set is lacking any sort of improvisation whatsoever and every song feels like a completely predictable choice with the exception of the aforementioned "Paul and Silas."
The second set starts with "Axila I," which sort of presages the kind of set it's going to be: mostly first-set songs with a few brutally axed jam vehicles to up the frustration factor.
That said, if I'm being honest, the following "Fuego" jam is Type I only, but still great. Trey gets an absolutely dark and evil distorted tone that he plays with for a few minutes before setting up a flawless segue...but it's into "BOTT" and from there the guys seem to think it's just the first set again. "Caspian" seems like it might be about to go somewhere, but it cut in half in favor of starting "Waves." "Waves" stays Type I but winds down into a pretty space...which ends in "Joy" and drops the energy level through the floor again. Then there's some more inexplicable first set songs and some instrument switching in "Scent of a Mule," but who cares at this point in a show like this...
The "YEM" closer just feels weird. And that's the best, vaguest word I could use to describe this show: weird. Even as I've described it above, it likely doesn't sound that bad, but both in person and on the tape something just feels off about the music all night long, and it's a pretty uncomfortable listen.
The Live Review:
7/22/16: Some background: this was my 35th Phish show, on my 35th birthday, in Los Angeles. 7/22/16: I'd just finished a huge road trip for my honeymoon and immediately jumped on tour after at the Gorge.
7/22/16: I was a little worn out from all the driving, but pumped after BGCA and looking forward to #35.
7/22/16: Long story short, I went hiking solo in the San Gabriel mountains before the show, it was 105 degrees, and I got heatstroke.
7/22/16: Spent three hours recovering on a beach in god knows where, then got to the show and sat down just as Moma hit.
7/22/16: It proceeded to be the worst show of Phish's I've seen since I started going to shows, and the only show I almost walked out of.
7/22/16: The fries and nachos and bottled water at the venue were AMAZING though. No joke. 7/22/16: So that's my story. Moma opener.
7/22/16: Despite all my grumping, is there a better first-set Phish song than Moma Dance? 7/22/16: Someday when I'm 80 years old, I'll remember S1 on-the-lawn-in-the-sun Momas as well as I remember the Tahoe Tweezer.
7/22/16: You don't have Phish without both of those, together.
7/22/16: > Sample.
7/22/16: I did get a Paul and Silas during this show, though, so there's that.
7/22/16: Super high-tempo Yarmouth Road is next.
7/22/16: Nice little Mike-led jam for a few minutes there in Yarmouth.
7/22/16: KDF next.
7/22/16: > Horn.
7/22/16: Page just nailed a great solo during Halfway To the Moon.
7/22/16: Heavy Things is next, and features an extended Page organ solo.
7/22/16: > Blaze On.
7/22/16: Short Blaze On. Nothing really getting stretched out in this set. High energy, though.
7/22/16: If I had to pick a highlight, it might be Heavy Things.
7/22/16: Stash next. We're going to have to open things up a little now whether Trey likes it or not :)
7/22/16: High-energy but straightforward take on Stash crashes right into Cavern, which plows into Antelope.
7/22/16: It's worth mentioning that as a first set, this ain't bad. It's way more predictable than the last few shows'...
7/22/16: ...but there's nothing bad about it, and it's got a momentum that's comparable to 7/20 S1.
7/22/16: This Antelope came from a different show. Great set closer.
7/22/16: Axilla I starts off the second set. So that's interesting.
7/22/16: Fuego in the two-slot.
7/22/16: Some evil, distorted soloing from Trey during this Fuego jam.
7/22/16: Staying Type I, but definitely getting EVIL.
7/22/16: Nice -> BOTT out of the developing jam.
7/22/16: Can't really fault that one as a ripcord because it was super-smooth.
7/22/16: Short and sweet Saw It Again next.
7/22/16: Prince Caspian next. Nice interplay between Trey and Page for a bit, tho it's feeling like another one of those dartboard setlists.
7/22/16: Caspian jam cut immediately for Waves.
7/22/16: Some jaunty chording from Trey in the Waves jam.
7/22/16: Compact take on Waves fades out into a pretty, Simple-jam-like space, and then transitions into Joy.
7/22/16: The Wedge.
7/22/16: Late-set Scent of a Mule with some marimba lumina action from Trey (I assume).
7/22/16: I think that maybe he and Fish are playing it together at the moment.
7/22/16: Rock and Roll seems like a weird choice, but okay.
7/22/16: Rock-out peak to end Rock and Roll, similar to the end of Antelope in S1.
7/22/16: Second summer in a row that Phish has played a pretty below-average show at the Forum and closed with YEM.
7/22/16: Feels a little like an apology. OH HERE'S ONE SONG YOU'LL LIKE
7/22/16: Great Mike-led percussion jam right at the end of YEM.
7/22/16: Weird setlist continues with an encore that goes Boogie On, Bouncin', Golgi.
7/22/16: fwiw, Boogie was a great, high-energy version.
7/22/16: That said, this remains my least favorite Phish show I've seen.
7/22/16: It's a shame, because if I'm trying to be objective, it's not a badly-played show at all.
7/22/16: But really, there's absolutely no surprises, except maybe the -> BOTT segue or the instrument switching on Scent of a Mule.
7/22/16: I like Phish a lot, and if I'm being honest I wouldn't even mind just sort of kicking back at home with this show...
7/22/16: ...and hearing some songs that I like, played with some verve and sequenced in a fairly compelling way.
7/22/16: The problem is, when you put in the time and money and anticipation to actually go to a show, you expect something in addition.
7/22/16: I don't need a 20-minute jam every night to be happy, but this show is, to me, literally comparable to just playing a Phish album.
7/22/16: There's nothing unexpected at all, and that's, I think, why it was/is so disappointing to me as a show.
7/22/16: It's entirely possible that I'm being 'an entitled fan' about this, but I don't think so.
7/22/16: That ability to surprise, even if it's not through long-form improvisation, feels like a pillar of Phish to me.
7/22/16: That they can play for 3.5 hours and not manage to do that once, even for a few seconds, makes this a bummer of a show.
7/22/16: Fortunately, 7/23 wraps up the summer proper on a higher note.
2016-07-20 BGCA III
The Verdict:
The first two BGCA shows comprised the first back-to-back great Phish shows in awhile. While it would be nice to be able to say that night three rounds out the run in similar style, it really doesn't.
The good news is that the first set is amazing. It's that once-in-a-tour rarities set that Phish always seems to pull out these days, but with more verve and an even better song selection than usual. From the jaw-dropping bustout "Demand" opener to the straightforward-but-beautiful "Bowie" closer, everything is perfectly paced and there are a number of bustouts that should have even the most jaded fan of "classic" Phish smiling.
Then, the second set.
As has often been the case with second sets during this tour, there's just never any liftoff. Worse than that, there are enough false starts to leave you with that "If only..." feeling by the end. "No Men" seems like it might be a promising, jammy start to the set, but Trey guts it out of nowhere for "Mike's," and as the meat in the "Mike's" sandwich we get a nice "Fee" bustout and a compact "Seven Below," but those are followed by a bummer of a "Waiting All Night," "Jibboo," "Miss You" sequence that forms the middle of the set. "WAN" and "Jibboo" both feature some great soloing from Trey, but it's hard to care as the run just feels like it's running out of gas here in the final set. Things don't really recover after that. The second set ends with "Julius" and the encore is "Zero," which makes it feel a bit like the band is in on the joke, but it's not that funny.
Come for the first set, though. It's really good. Then leave.
The Live Review:
7/20/16: Demand opener. I remember the crowd being surprisingly quiet during this. Tape reinforces my memory of this.
7/20/16: Is it possible that sold-out BGCA just didn't know Demand?!
7/20/16: I personally had a miniature stroke of amazement and had to be helped up off the floor. 7/20/16: Well, peeps made up for it by FREAKING OUT when The Curtain With started.
7/20/16: Incidentally, when you're on n3 of BGCA and tired of road tripping for 2 straight months and trying to decide if ur gonna hit LA...
7/20/16: ...The Curtain With is the perfect song: 'Follow the lines going south!'
7/20/16: This song being played on 7/20 is at least 50% of why I ended up driving to The Forum and Chula last summer.
7/20/16: All that said, Trey's guitar is pretty anemic during this version for some reason.
7/20/16: Alumni Blues > Jimmy Page > Alumni Blues.
7/20/16: Fuck Your Face > Cry Baby Cry.
7/20/16: Trey dedicates Sing Monica to Bob Ezrin.
7/20/16: > McGrupp
7/20/16: You know it's one of those first sets when you get Alumni Blues > Jimmy Page > Alumni > FYF > Cry Baby Cry > Monica > McGrupp.
7/20/16: Loving the setlist, of course, but Trey is struggling a lot more than I remembered from seeing it live.
7/20/16: Attendance bias, I guess.
7/20/16: > The Very Long Fuse
7/20/16: I love how airy the riff on Fuse is. Weird stand-out in the Haunted House batch of songs for that reason.
7/20/16: > BBFCFM. Even by 'rarity first set' standards, this set is super-weird and awesome. 7/20/16: > Walk Away.
7/20/16: Trey hosing down the crowd during a short Walk Away.
7/20/16: Student just came in to pick up a paper, noticed TAB poster: 'Hey! Trey's great! I saw him play with Phil Lesh at the Warfield!'
7/20/16: That had to have been 1999, right?
7/20/16: Sanity.
7/20/16: This is the best Sanity b/c Trey yells 'I don't need a place to hide...RAWHIDE!' and Fish immediately responds with 'YAH!'
7/20/16: Song ends as a march, because Phish.
7/20/16: Sanity -> Bowie intro.
7/20/16: Bowie jam starts out muted and builds slowly. Big modular turn at about 8:30 though. Getting more interesting.
7/20/16: Moving that second jam space pretty flawlessly into the Bowie peak.
7/20/16: End set. NMINML is next.
7/20/16: And by 'next,' I mean 'opens the second set.' I'm tired.
7/20/16: Fadeout from Trey. Fishman pushing the beat.
7/20/16: Trance-y sort of riffing from Page.
7/20/16: Slow-developing No Men's jam garroted by Trey for Mike's.
7/20/16: Trey deploying the echo in Mike's.
7/20/16: Great echo-funk jam building.
7/20/16: > Fee.
7/20/16: Neat little harmonics jam outro to Fee. Very short. Seven Below is next.
7/20/16: Short Type I jamlet in Seven Below. Then, Waiting All Night.
7/20/16: Nobody cares because it's a god-damn second set Waiting All Night in a jamless show, but Trey's solo here is killer.
7/20/16: Jibboo next.
7/20/16: Same with Jibboo. Trey took literally the shittiest part of the show setlist-wise and decided to start playing all-star guitar.
7/20/16: Miss You seems like a fantastic fucking setlist choice right about now.
7/20/16: That was sarcasm.
7/20/16: You know what Phish fans really want to do in the middle of the second set at a historic venue?
7/20/16: Think about people they'll never see again and how that makes them sad, that's what. 7/20/16: Miss You is a great song, but if they're going to insist on playing it live, it's a end-set-one sunset song, and that's it.
7/20/16: Finally the Groove comes along. Some echo chording from Trey.
7/20/16: Great drumming from Fish on this Groove. He's going nuts.
7/20/16: Percussion jam!
7/20/16: Second set's going to end with Julius. Encore is going to be Wading, Zero. Because that's the kind of show this is.
7/20/16: Well, that was just about as weird as I remembered it being.
7/20/16: First set was tightly paced with LOTS of awesome rarities. Second set was just a pacing nightmare and absolutely no exploration.
7/20/16: Well-played second set, but who cares when the whole thing is a Mike's Sandwich with ballad bread?
7/20/16: Err...'ballad meat.' Which is a thing that I laughed really hard at as I typed it. GET YER BALLAD MEAT
7/20/16: Unfortunately, my griping about this show will just be followed by my griping about The Forum show.
7/20/16: aka THE WORST PHISH SHOW THERE IS
7/20/16: I might be a little biased, but...we'll see. I guess.
The first two BGCA shows comprised the first back-to-back great Phish shows in awhile. While it would be nice to be able to say that night three rounds out the run in similar style, it really doesn't.
The good news is that the first set is amazing. It's that once-in-a-tour rarities set that Phish always seems to pull out these days, but with more verve and an even better song selection than usual. From the jaw-dropping bustout "Demand" opener to the straightforward-but-beautiful "Bowie" closer, everything is perfectly paced and there are a number of bustouts that should have even the most jaded fan of "classic" Phish smiling.
Then, the second set.
As has often been the case with second sets during this tour, there's just never any liftoff. Worse than that, there are enough false starts to leave you with that "If only..." feeling by the end. "No Men" seems like it might be a promising, jammy start to the set, but Trey guts it out of nowhere for "Mike's," and as the meat in the "Mike's" sandwich we get a nice "Fee" bustout and a compact "Seven Below," but those are followed by a bummer of a "Waiting All Night," "Jibboo," "Miss You" sequence that forms the middle of the set. "WAN" and "Jibboo" both feature some great soloing from Trey, but it's hard to care as the run just feels like it's running out of gas here in the final set. Things don't really recover after that. The second set ends with "Julius" and the encore is "Zero," which makes it feel a bit like the band is in on the joke, but it's not that funny.
Come for the first set, though. It's really good. Then leave.
The Live Review:
7/20/16: Demand opener. I remember the crowd being surprisingly quiet during this. Tape reinforces my memory of this.
7/20/16: Is it possible that sold-out BGCA just didn't know Demand?!
7/20/16: I personally had a miniature stroke of amazement and had to be helped up off the floor. 7/20/16: Well, peeps made up for it by FREAKING OUT when The Curtain With started.
7/20/16: Incidentally, when you're on n3 of BGCA and tired of road tripping for 2 straight months and trying to decide if ur gonna hit LA...
7/20/16: ...The Curtain With is the perfect song: 'Follow the lines going south!'
7/20/16: This song being played on 7/20 is at least 50% of why I ended up driving to The Forum and Chula last summer.
7/20/16: All that said, Trey's guitar is pretty anemic during this version for some reason.
7/20/16: Alumni Blues > Jimmy Page > Alumni Blues.
7/20/16: Fuck Your Face > Cry Baby Cry.
7/20/16: Trey dedicates Sing Monica to Bob Ezrin.
7/20/16: > McGrupp
7/20/16: You know it's one of those first sets when you get Alumni Blues > Jimmy Page > Alumni > FYF > Cry Baby Cry > Monica > McGrupp.
7/20/16: Loving the setlist, of course, but Trey is struggling a lot more than I remembered from seeing it live.
7/20/16: Attendance bias, I guess.
7/20/16: > The Very Long Fuse
7/20/16: I love how airy the riff on Fuse is. Weird stand-out in the Haunted House batch of songs for that reason.
7/20/16: > BBFCFM. Even by 'rarity first set' standards, this set is super-weird and awesome. 7/20/16: > Walk Away.
7/20/16: Trey hosing down the crowd during a short Walk Away.
7/20/16: Student just came in to pick up a paper, noticed TAB poster: 'Hey! Trey's great! I saw him play with Phil Lesh at the Warfield!'
7/20/16: That had to have been 1999, right?
7/20/16: Sanity.
7/20/16: This is the best Sanity b/c Trey yells 'I don't need a place to hide...RAWHIDE!' and Fish immediately responds with 'YAH!'
7/20/16: Song ends as a march, because Phish.
7/20/16: Sanity -> Bowie intro.
7/20/16: Bowie jam starts out muted and builds slowly. Big modular turn at about 8:30 though. Getting more interesting.
7/20/16: Moving that second jam space pretty flawlessly into the Bowie peak.
7/20/16: End set. NMINML is next.
7/20/16: And by 'next,' I mean 'opens the second set.' I'm tired.
7/20/16: Fadeout from Trey. Fishman pushing the beat.
7/20/16: Trance-y sort of riffing from Page.
7/20/16: Slow-developing No Men's jam garroted by Trey for Mike's.
7/20/16: Trey deploying the echo in Mike's.
7/20/16: Great echo-funk jam building.
7/20/16: > Fee.
7/20/16: Neat little harmonics jam outro to Fee. Very short. Seven Below is next.
7/20/16: Short Type I jamlet in Seven Below. Then, Waiting All Night.
7/20/16: Nobody cares because it's a god-damn second set Waiting All Night in a jamless show, but Trey's solo here is killer.
7/20/16: Jibboo next.
7/20/16: Same with Jibboo. Trey took literally the shittiest part of the show setlist-wise and decided to start playing all-star guitar.
7/20/16: Miss You seems like a fantastic fucking setlist choice right about now.
7/20/16: That was sarcasm.
7/20/16: You know what Phish fans really want to do in the middle of the second set at a historic venue?
7/20/16: Think about people they'll never see again and how that makes them sad, that's what. 7/20/16: Miss You is a great song, but if they're going to insist on playing it live, it's a end-set-one sunset song, and that's it.
7/20/16: Finally the Groove comes along. Some echo chording from Trey.
7/20/16: Great drumming from Fish on this Groove. He's going nuts.
7/20/16: Percussion jam!
7/20/16: Second set's going to end with Julius. Encore is going to be Wading, Zero. Because that's the kind of show this is.
7/20/16: Well, that was just about as weird as I remembered it being.
7/20/16: First set was tightly paced with LOTS of awesome rarities. Second set was just a pacing nightmare and absolutely no exploration.
7/20/16: Well-played second set, but who cares when the whole thing is a Mike's Sandwich with ballad bread?
7/20/16: Err...'ballad meat.' Which is a thing that I laughed really hard at as I typed it. GET YER BALLAD MEAT
7/20/16: Unfortunately, my griping about this show will just be followed by my griping about The Forum show.
7/20/16: aka THE WORST PHISH SHOW THERE IS
7/20/16: I might be a little biased, but...we'll see. I guess.
Feb 4, 2017
2016-07-19 BGCA II
The Verdict:
I remembered this show as the best of the west coast jog this year, but upon relisten didn't enjoy it nearly as much as Gorge I. There's nothing wrong with it, for sure, and it's definitely a more varied and interesting show than even the excellent 7/18 show from the previous night. Its charms are just a little more...subtle...than I remembered.
Like night one, the first set is a series of cleverly chosen songs, delivered well. The one difference is that there's no particularly standout track (like "Ya Mar" or "Possum" from the previous night) to set this opening set apart from so many others. Sure, "Cities" briefly gets into some slinky funk, "Wombat" gets extended a bit, and "Split" acquits itself well, but it's nothing you haven't heard before.
The magic here is in the second set. There's no real tentpole jam like "Sally" from night one, but this is one of those latter-day 3.0 "all killer, no filler" sets, and that makes up for the lack of a single monster jam in my book. At least mostly.
The longest and arguably most interesting jam of the night kicks off the set when "Disease" goes deep. After a lengthy Type I section, Trey leads the band in a great jam that skirts the edges of typical bliss jam territory without falling in, and then there's a pretty clear "Under Pressure" tease from Trey that drives the band into a new space before things slow down and segue into "Fuego."
The departure from the "Fuego" jam isn't as pronounced as something like the Dick's '15 version, but it features some heavy "Bug" teasing, which makes it unique. Next up is "Ghost," which does head to a pretty blissed-out zone without much hesitation and ends in a massive peak before seguing into "Scents."
"Scents" is a gorgeous cooldown jam, not letting up on the improvisation, but heading somewhere similar to the first few minutes of your typical "Simple" jam and staying there for awhile before building slightly and transitioning into "Light." "Light" proper starts to go the typical space-funk route before the calypso style becomes a bit more pronounced, even, than usual and the guys actually sing and play through a version of "Manteca" before ending the song. Probably not a strong argument to be made for "Light" -> "Manteca" -> "Light" here, but you could make a case for it.
The jam fades out into ambient space from there before "No Quarter" starts up, and this is one of the best-played, best-rocked-out versions the band has played thus far. Follow that with "Fluffhead" as your victory lap and a set-closing "Bug" that calls back to the jam in "Fuego" and you've got a pretty perfect set. It doesn't have the depth of something like 7/24/15, say, but it never lets up, and each song has some notable improv. The "First Tube" closer doesn't hurt, either.
The Live Review:
7/19/16: Alright, so after this show in person I was ready to call it one of the best shows I've ever seen. Excited to hear it again.
7/19/16: CDT opener.
7/19/16: Trey is taking this CDT to town. No warmup needed.
7/19/16: Free is next. Harmonies sounding good.
7/19/16: Standard take on Free > Breath and Burning.
7/19/16: You might love or hate the 'Rage with Page' line in this song, but the crowd roar that goes with it is awesome.
7/19/16: Early Theme From the Bottom.
7/19/16: Trey nails the composed solo heading into the jam. I remember losing my shit when that happened live. Love that riff.
7/19/16: > Cities. I love Cities, but have never heard a real jammed-out version live.
7/19/16: Was definitely feeling like this one was going to go deep, but no. Certainly would have kicked the first set up a notch.
7/19/16: Some Slip, Stitch, and Pass-style funk jamming to start off.
7/19/16: Easy funk continues. Cue echoplex.
7/19/16: Too-brief Cities, but nice landing in Maze.
7/19/16: It never really comes through on tape, but Maze is a great 3.0 song to see live. Super tension-and-release with Page and Trey.
7/19/16: This one is a great version. The Eugene '14 version had energy through the roof.
7/19/16: Wombat! always fun when the wombat comes out.
7/19/16: Wombat getting extended a bit. Great workout from Fish.
7/19/16: SoaM is next. Relaxed, loose feel to the beginning of the jam.
7/19/16: Takes a melodic route to get there, but the jam eventually reaches some epic, dissonant proportions.
7/19/16: Sparkle is a hilarious follow-up to Split.
7/19/16: > ASIHTOS.
7/19/16: Space Oddity for the set closer.
7/19/16: A bit unevenly paced like a lot of S1s lately, but great energy.
7/19/16: Cities and Wombat if you like the funk. Split was pretty interesting.
7/19/16: Regardless, high-energy going into the S2 opener. Disease.
7/19/16: Transition from Type I to space funk at about 8:30. Fish shuffling on drums.
7/19/16: Modulating into a more melodic, uplifting space now.
7/19/16: Trey using the pitch shifter now to great effect. Buoyant jam without moving into typical bliss territory.
7/19/16: Lengthy riff on Under Pressure by Trey.
7/19/16: Build up to some crazy feedback echoes from Trey. Settling back down now.
7/19/16: > Fuego.
7/19/16: Super-slow tempo.
7/19/16: Trey is very close to the Bug riff in this Fuego jam. Ah, there it is.
7/19/16: Neat Bug-style outro jam. Quieting down a bit now.
7/19/16: Quiet, Simple-like jam for a minute or so, now back to the Bug-jam-thing.
7/19/16: > Ghost.
7/19/16: HYHU-ish riff from Trey during the Ghost break.
7/19/16: Neat, dirty Ghost jam picking up speed now. I feel Bliss Jam action coming.
7/19/16: Fish is killing it with a disco beat.
7/19/16: Recalling the end of the Disease jam with this crazy peak.
7/19/16: > Scents.
7/19/16: Really pretty, slow-paced jam out of Scents. Nice breather for a minute.
7/19/16: Nice build. > Light.
7/19/16: Nice, non-arpeggiated Light jam.
7/19/16: Light jam now with Manteca lyrics!!
7/19/16: Manteca jam fades out. Almost ambient now.
7/19/16: Trey with more Manteca lyrics over Page's organ.
7/19/16: -> No Quarter.
7/19/16: No Quarter lands nicely in Fluffhead.
7/19/16: Bug proper ends the set.
7/19/16: Bug is one of those great songs that gets shit on because it's often so badly placed in a set. This is great placement.
7/19/16: First Tube encore.
7/19/16: Second set was one of my favorites in a long while.
7/19/16: First set was a little weaker than I remembered it being, while still being solid.
7/19/16: Wouldn't necessarily dethrone a show like 10/17/14 or 7/24/15, but still one of the best shows I've seen.
7/19/16: On to the wacky third night of BGCA next, where first sets are amazing and second sets are hilariously bad.
I remembered this show as the best of the west coast jog this year, but upon relisten didn't enjoy it nearly as much as Gorge I. There's nothing wrong with it, for sure, and it's definitely a more varied and interesting show than even the excellent 7/18 show from the previous night. Its charms are just a little more...subtle...than I remembered.
Like night one, the first set is a series of cleverly chosen songs, delivered well. The one difference is that there's no particularly standout track (like "Ya Mar" or "Possum" from the previous night) to set this opening set apart from so many others. Sure, "Cities" briefly gets into some slinky funk, "Wombat" gets extended a bit, and "Split" acquits itself well, but it's nothing you haven't heard before.
The magic here is in the second set. There's no real tentpole jam like "Sally" from night one, but this is one of those latter-day 3.0 "all killer, no filler" sets, and that makes up for the lack of a single monster jam in my book. At least mostly.
The longest and arguably most interesting jam of the night kicks off the set when "Disease" goes deep. After a lengthy Type I section, Trey leads the band in a great jam that skirts the edges of typical bliss jam territory without falling in, and then there's a pretty clear "Under Pressure" tease from Trey that drives the band into a new space before things slow down and segue into "Fuego."
The departure from the "Fuego" jam isn't as pronounced as something like the Dick's '15 version, but it features some heavy "Bug" teasing, which makes it unique. Next up is "Ghost," which does head to a pretty blissed-out zone without much hesitation and ends in a massive peak before seguing into "Scents."
"Scents" is a gorgeous cooldown jam, not letting up on the improvisation, but heading somewhere similar to the first few minutes of your typical "Simple" jam and staying there for awhile before building slightly and transitioning into "Light." "Light" proper starts to go the typical space-funk route before the calypso style becomes a bit more pronounced, even, than usual and the guys actually sing and play through a version of "Manteca" before ending the song. Probably not a strong argument to be made for "Light" -> "Manteca" -> "Light" here, but you could make a case for it.
The jam fades out into ambient space from there before "No Quarter" starts up, and this is one of the best-played, best-rocked-out versions the band has played thus far. Follow that with "Fluffhead" as your victory lap and a set-closing "Bug" that calls back to the jam in "Fuego" and you've got a pretty perfect set. It doesn't have the depth of something like 7/24/15, say, but it never lets up, and each song has some notable improv. The "First Tube" closer doesn't hurt, either.
The Live Review:
7/19/16: Alright, so after this show in person I was ready to call it one of the best shows I've ever seen. Excited to hear it again.
7/19/16: CDT opener.
7/19/16: Trey is taking this CDT to town. No warmup needed.
7/19/16: Free is next. Harmonies sounding good.
7/19/16: Standard take on Free > Breath and Burning.
7/19/16: You might love or hate the 'Rage with Page' line in this song, but the crowd roar that goes with it is awesome.
7/19/16: Early Theme From the Bottom.
7/19/16: Trey nails the composed solo heading into the jam. I remember losing my shit when that happened live. Love that riff.
7/19/16: > Cities. I love Cities, but have never heard a real jammed-out version live.
7/19/16: Was definitely feeling like this one was going to go deep, but no. Certainly would have kicked the first set up a notch.
7/19/16: Some Slip, Stitch, and Pass-style funk jamming to start off.
7/19/16: Easy funk continues. Cue echoplex.
7/19/16: Too-brief Cities, but nice landing in Maze.
7/19/16: It never really comes through on tape, but Maze is a great 3.0 song to see live. Super tension-and-release with Page and Trey.
7/19/16: This one is a great version. The Eugene '14 version had energy through the roof.
7/19/16: Wombat! always fun when the wombat comes out.
7/19/16: Wombat getting extended a bit. Great workout from Fish.
7/19/16: SoaM is next. Relaxed, loose feel to the beginning of the jam.
7/19/16: Takes a melodic route to get there, but the jam eventually reaches some epic, dissonant proportions.
7/19/16: Sparkle is a hilarious follow-up to Split.
7/19/16: > ASIHTOS.
7/19/16: Space Oddity for the set closer.
7/19/16: A bit unevenly paced like a lot of S1s lately, but great energy.
7/19/16: Cities and Wombat if you like the funk. Split was pretty interesting.
7/19/16: Regardless, high-energy going into the S2 opener. Disease.
7/19/16: Transition from Type I to space funk at about 8:30. Fish shuffling on drums.
7/19/16: Modulating into a more melodic, uplifting space now.
7/19/16: Trey using the pitch shifter now to great effect. Buoyant jam without moving into typical bliss territory.
7/19/16: Lengthy riff on Under Pressure by Trey.
7/19/16: Build up to some crazy feedback echoes from Trey. Settling back down now.
7/19/16: > Fuego.
7/19/16: Super-slow tempo.
7/19/16: Trey is very close to the Bug riff in this Fuego jam. Ah, there it is.
7/19/16: Neat Bug-style outro jam. Quieting down a bit now.
7/19/16: Quiet, Simple-like jam for a minute or so, now back to the Bug-jam-thing.
7/19/16: > Ghost.
7/19/16: HYHU-ish riff from Trey during the Ghost break.
7/19/16: Neat, dirty Ghost jam picking up speed now. I feel Bliss Jam action coming.
7/19/16: Fish is killing it with a disco beat.
7/19/16: Recalling the end of the Disease jam with this crazy peak.
7/19/16: > Scents.
7/19/16: Really pretty, slow-paced jam out of Scents. Nice breather for a minute.
7/19/16: Nice build. > Light.
7/19/16: Nice, non-arpeggiated Light jam.
7/19/16: Light jam now with Manteca lyrics!!
7/19/16: Manteca jam fades out. Almost ambient now.
7/19/16: Trey with more Manteca lyrics over Page's organ.
7/19/16: -> No Quarter.
7/19/16: No Quarter lands nicely in Fluffhead.
7/19/16: Bug proper ends the set.
7/19/16: Bug is one of those great songs that gets shit on because it's often so badly placed in a set. This is great placement.
7/19/16: First Tube encore.
7/19/16: Second set was one of my favorites in a long while.
7/19/16: First set was a little weaker than I remembered it being, while still being solid.
7/19/16: Wouldn't necessarily dethrone a show like 10/17/14 or 7/24/15, but still one of the best shows I've seen.
7/19/16: On to the wacky third night of BGCA next, where first sets are amazing and second sets are hilariously bad.
Feb 3, 2017
2016-07-18 BGCA I
The Verdict:
When I saw it in person, the first night of the BGCA run was my fourth favorite show of the west coast run. Sure, it might have been an uneven run of shows (Gorge 2, Forum, I'm looking at you), but there were some legit highlights in there when you consider that this show isn't even close to the best.
That said, it's certainly not a bad show; in fact, it's a great show, and right in line structure-wise with many 3.0-era classics. That is to say, there's a strong-though-first-setty opening set, a second set with a few songs that paddle tentatively out into the deep end of the pool, and then one major tentpole jam to send everyone home happy.
The first set features a nice selection of songs, and pretty much everything (even "Sugar Shack"!) gets a solid reading. That said, you're not going to hear much that you haven't heard before. "Roggae" is worth a listen if you like that tune in particular, and "Ya Mar" features a brief percussion jam, which is neat.
There is one legitimate highlight in S1, though, and that's the set-closing "Possum," which hits on a tension jam partway through and takes us all the way back to '93 before resolving in spectacular fashion. This is how "Possum" should be played, folks.
The second set starts off with an impressive foray into "Golden Age." It isn't going to win any "Jam of the Year" awards, but it goes to a chunky, spacey place and builds momentum there for awhile before slamming into "Twist." Take a listen.
The middle of the set is pretty standard business, and while the "Simple" begins to work its way toward what sounds like a potential bliss jam, it's cut short in favor of "Sally." But that's okay, because "Sally" is the jam of the show, and possibly the run. There's a high-energy vocal jam almost immediately after the lyrics finish, followed by a slow build from Trey to a monster rock peak...but we're not done yet, because at the conclusion of the peak the band switches on a dime to what's basically a "Jumpin' Jack Flash" jam followed by another massive peak. Check it out.
If that wasn't enough, Trey uses the pitch shifter on "Limb By Limb" to revisit the "Possum"'s tension-and-release territory, and the set ends with a patient "Slave." Oh, and there's a an "Antelope" encore, if you're into that kind of thing.
The Live Review:
7/18/16: SF run kicks off with Martian Monster.
7/18/16: Very clav-y, short Martian Monster. Halley's next.
7/18/16: HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE YOUR THICK STRAWBERRY GOO
7/18/16: Standard Halley's into a short-but explosive 46 Days. Solid Type I version.
7/18/16: Long pause, then Sugar Shack. Presumably Trey was trying to quickly relearn the guitar part :)
7/18/16: Good version of Sugar Shack, honestly. Now, Roggae is featuring a really patient jam with some good Trey/Page interplay.
7/18/16: Nice walk through Roggae. Daniel Saw the Stone is next.
7/18/16: Great tune. DSky is next.
7/18/16: I've seen 36 shows, and somehow only heard DSky twice. Both times were in BGCA.
7/18/16: I love that, but also I've seen 8 shows at the Gorge and how the fuck do they not play Divided Sky at THE GORGE?
7/18/16: Nice slow build in the follow-up Ocelot.
7/18/16: Now Ya Mar, featuring a Mike solo 'for [his] grandpa,' and then a Fish drum solo 'for [his] grandpa.'
7/18/16: Drum solo evolving into a percussion jam. Maybe Mike on guitar?
7/18/16: Return to the song proper now.
7/18/16: Possum, possibly to close the set.
7/18/16: Really rad tension part here.
7/18/16: Seriously, is it 1993 in here?
7/18/16: Holy shit!
7/18/16: That was my favorite Possum in a long time. End set.
7/18/16: Setlist choices didn't really hang together in That Way (little 'flow'), but great playing throughout anyway.
7/18/16: Legit rock-outs in 46 Days and Possum. Ya Mar and Roggae jams A+.
7/18/16: S2 starts with Golden Age. Minimal introduction. Fish laying off the drums at first, cymbals only.
7/18/16: Trey laying into this Golden Age early on.
7/18/16: Huge dissonant chord breaks up the Type I jam. Page on piano.
7/18/16: Space-funk now with a driving beat from Phish.
7/18/16: Hahahaha..well, yeah, that too, but I meant 'Fish.'
7/18/16: Now Phish is playing a song. It is a long song. Performed by Phish. Phish is a muscular drum players.
7/18/16: TOO MUCH CAFFEINE TODAY FOLKS
7/18/16: Sparse echoplex chording from Trey (who is also Phish).
7/18/16: Jam staying chunky but also picking up speed. Like a cake lover running downhill...I guess?
7/18/16: Frankly, I don't remember this jam being this awesome in person.
7/18/16: Digging it a lot.
7/18/16: Another Trey lead fades out into Twist.
7/18/16: Twist jam starting minimally, like most versions lately.
7/18/16: Hot-but-short Twist > My Sweet One. Then, Line'd.
7/18/16: I like The Line as a song on Fuego, but there should be a permanent ban of The Line in second sets.
7/18/16: > Simple.
7/18/16: Simple fading out a bit after the typical opening to the jam.
7/18/16: Building three-chord jam forming. This is promising.
7/18/16: Trey jumps on the echoplex, and the chord jam loses its momentum. > Sally. Seemed like an attempt at a ->, but it didn't work.
7/18/16: Nice swing to this Sally. Immediately into a vocal jam out of the lyrics.
7/18/16: Some more soaring-type guitar from Trey now.
7/18/16: Mega Type I peak here.
7/18/16: Switching out of Type I mode now. Driving beat from Fish, repeating riff from Trey.
7/18/16: Basically a Jumping Jack Flash jam there for a second. Now another Trey solo.
7/18/16: Jam exploding into high-energy peak.
7/18/16: Big-time energy in that jam. > Limb By Limb.
7/18/16: Pitch-shifting bit in Limb jam, followed by more tension-jamming a la the first set's Possum. Great!
7/18/16: Now a huge build from Trey. This is pretty out there for Limb By Limb.
7/18/16: > Slave.
7/18/16: Slave closes the set.
7/18/16: When the Circus Comes encore. Now *this* is a slow song that kicks ass as an encore.
7/18/16: Antelope to wrap the show. Maybe we'll get some more of that tension jamming?
7/18/16: No real tension jamming, but a strong version nonetheless. End show.
When I saw it in person, the first night of the BGCA run was my fourth favorite show of the west coast run. Sure, it might have been an uneven run of shows (Gorge 2, Forum, I'm looking at you), but there were some legit highlights in there when you consider that this show isn't even close to the best.
That said, it's certainly not a bad show; in fact, it's a great show, and right in line structure-wise with many 3.0-era classics. That is to say, there's a strong-though-first-setty opening set, a second set with a few songs that paddle tentatively out into the deep end of the pool, and then one major tentpole jam to send everyone home happy.
The first set features a nice selection of songs, and pretty much everything (even "Sugar Shack"!) gets a solid reading. That said, you're not going to hear much that you haven't heard before. "Roggae" is worth a listen if you like that tune in particular, and "Ya Mar" features a brief percussion jam, which is neat.
There is one legitimate highlight in S1, though, and that's the set-closing "Possum," which hits on a tension jam partway through and takes us all the way back to '93 before resolving in spectacular fashion. This is how "Possum" should be played, folks.
The second set starts off with an impressive foray into "Golden Age." It isn't going to win any "Jam of the Year" awards, but it goes to a chunky, spacey place and builds momentum there for awhile before slamming into "Twist." Take a listen.
The middle of the set is pretty standard business, and while the "Simple" begins to work its way toward what sounds like a potential bliss jam, it's cut short in favor of "Sally." But that's okay, because "Sally" is the jam of the show, and possibly the run. There's a high-energy vocal jam almost immediately after the lyrics finish, followed by a slow build from Trey to a monster rock peak...but we're not done yet, because at the conclusion of the peak the band switches on a dime to what's basically a "Jumpin' Jack Flash" jam followed by another massive peak. Check it out.
If that wasn't enough, Trey uses the pitch shifter on "Limb By Limb" to revisit the "Possum"'s tension-and-release territory, and the set ends with a patient "Slave." Oh, and there's a an "Antelope" encore, if you're into that kind of thing.
The Live Review:
7/18/16: SF run kicks off with Martian Monster.
7/18/16: Very clav-y, short Martian Monster. Halley's next.
7/18/16: HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE YOUR THICK STRAWBERRY GOO
7/18/16: Standard Halley's into a short-but explosive 46 Days. Solid Type I version.
7/18/16: Long pause, then Sugar Shack. Presumably Trey was trying to quickly relearn the guitar part :)
7/18/16: Good version of Sugar Shack, honestly. Now, Roggae is featuring a really patient jam with some good Trey/Page interplay.
7/18/16: Nice walk through Roggae. Daniel Saw the Stone is next.
7/18/16: Great tune. DSky is next.
7/18/16: I've seen 36 shows, and somehow only heard DSky twice. Both times were in BGCA.
7/18/16: I love that, but also I've seen 8 shows at the Gorge and how the fuck do they not play Divided Sky at THE GORGE?
7/18/16: Nice slow build in the follow-up Ocelot.
7/18/16: Now Ya Mar, featuring a Mike solo 'for [his] grandpa,' and then a Fish drum solo 'for [his] grandpa.'
7/18/16: Drum solo evolving into a percussion jam. Maybe Mike on guitar?
7/18/16: Return to the song proper now.
7/18/16: Possum, possibly to close the set.
7/18/16: Really rad tension part here.
7/18/16: Seriously, is it 1993 in here?
7/18/16: Holy shit!
7/18/16: That was my favorite Possum in a long time. End set.
7/18/16: Setlist choices didn't really hang together in That Way (little 'flow'), but great playing throughout anyway.
7/18/16: Legit rock-outs in 46 Days and Possum. Ya Mar and Roggae jams A+.
7/18/16: S2 starts with Golden Age. Minimal introduction. Fish laying off the drums at first, cymbals only.
7/18/16: Trey laying into this Golden Age early on.
7/18/16: Huge dissonant chord breaks up the Type I jam. Page on piano.
7/18/16: Space-funk now with a driving beat from Phish.
7/18/16: Hahahaha..well, yeah, that too, but I meant 'Fish.'
7/18/16: Now Phish is playing a song. It is a long song. Performed by Phish. Phish is a muscular drum players.
7/18/16: TOO MUCH CAFFEINE TODAY FOLKS
7/18/16: Sparse echoplex chording from Trey (who is also Phish).
7/18/16: Jam staying chunky but also picking up speed. Like a cake lover running downhill...I guess?
7/18/16: Frankly, I don't remember this jam being this awesome in person.
7/18/16: Digging it a lot.
7/18/16: Another Trey lead fades out into Twist.
7/18/16: Twist jam starting minimally, like most versions lately.
7/18/16: Hot-but-short Twist > My Sweet One. Then, Line'd.
7/18/16: I like The Line as a song on Fuego, but there should be a permanent ban of The Line in second sets.
7/18/16: > Simple.
7/18/16: Simple fading out a bit after the typical opening to the jam.
7/18/16: Building three-chord jam forming. This is promising.
7/18/16: Trey jumps on the echoplex, and the chord jam loses its momentum. > Sally. Seemed like an attempt at a ->, but it didn't work.
7/18/16: Nice swing to this Sally. Immediately into a vocal jam out of the lyrics.
7/18/16: Some more soaring-type guitar from Trey now.
7/18/16: Mega Type I peak here.
7/18/16: Switching out of Type I mode now. Driving beat from Fish, repeating riff from Trey.
7/18/16: Basically a Jumping Jack Flash jam there for a second. Now another Trey solo.
7/18/16: Jam exploding into high-energy peak.
7/18/16: Big-time energy in that jam. > Limb By Limb.
7/18/16: Pitch-shifting bit in Limb jam, followed by more tension-jamming a la the first set's Possum. Great!
7/18/16: Now a huge build from Trey. This is pretty out there for Limb By Limb.
7/18/16: > Slave.
7/18/16: Slave closes the set.
7/18/16: When the Circus Comes encore. Now *this* is a slow song that kicks ass as an encore.
7/18/16: Antelope to wrap the show. Maybe we'll get some more of that tension jamming?
7/18/16: No real tension jamming, but a strong version nonetheless. End show.
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