The Verdict:
Riding the wave of 10/19's second set, this show lays down another six-song set.
The opening set is a bit like the previous show's: no real improv, but a great mix of old and new songs. Trey puts a little extra mustard on everything he touches here, building up some serious anticipation for a great second set. "Birds" and the debut (?) of "Let's Go" are both worth a listen.
The huge "Disease" that opens the second set has all the cohesiveness and momentum that the previous night's "Piper" was missing. Space-rock and looping madness are bisected by a brief Woo! jam, and it's easily the best thing from fall tour so far. "Carini" follows, and starts off as its typical rumbling, hate-rock self, but then transitions perfectly into a melodic, prettier space which it hangs out in for a few minutes before segueing into "Winterqueen."
You might imagine that "Winterqueen" would derail the momentum of this set, but instead, it feels completely natural coming out of the beautiful "Carini" jam. "Ghost," despite coming in the second set, takes the path of a lot of recent first-set "Ghost"s; however, it features a monster '15-style peak. This version sets up another great '93-style "Possum" jam that uses tension to throw us all back about fifteen years before an equally old-school and patient "Slave" brings us home.
This second set isn't quite as consistently great as the previous show's, but it hangs together quite well even if the magic is more concentrated in one part (the first half) of the set this time. That's two amazing shows in a row!
The Live Review:
10/21/16: ASIHTOS opener.
10/21/16: Compact version of the tune, featuring some Trey trilling.
10/21/16: Bag > BOTT. So far, it's a first set, folks :)
10/21/16: Super-hot take on BOTT of all things. If you're into that sort of thing. Blaze On next. Lots of S1 Blaze Ons lately.
10/21/16: Solid Blaze On, too. Trey's guitaring well today. Hoping that keeps up until we get to the part of the show where jams happen.
10/21/16: Oh, good! Sugar Shack will ruin everything I just tweeted about!
10/21/16: Well that was a long Sugar Shack. Next is the Johnny Cash-style version of Things People Do. Trey gets a solo.
10/21/16: Trey just ripped Birds apart, too. Someone give this guy a real jam to dig into.
10/21/16: Ah, yes. Mercury will do nicely.
10/21/16: Trey struggling with this take on Mercury a bit.
10/21/16: Some nice melodic soloing now that we're at the jam section.
10/21/16: Nice Type I outro jam to Mercury.
10/21/16: Let's Go!
10/21/16: The other song I always miss when I listen to Big Boat!
10/21/16: Mike should just write 80% of Phish songs from now on.
10/21/16: You know what two songs of Phish's I really like? Mercury and Let's Go. You know which Phish song I don't like? Alaska.
10/21/16: Alaska.
10/21/16: When I asked her where she's going, she said 'To the bathroom, so I can get back before the next song.'
10/21/16: Trey is really good at Type I tonight. More closing the set.
10/21/16: That version seemed a bit better performed than the debut version.
10/21/16: S2 opens (reliably) with Disease.
10/21/16: Trey's all over the goddamn fretboard during the Type I part. This bodes well.
10/21/16: Trey just switched on the distortion and powered us into Type II.
10/21/16: Neat jam developing that manages to be heavy and spacey at the same time.
10/21/16: Some nasty rock and roll happening here.
10/21/16: This is badass. Also, a woo jam.
10/21/16: I wonder how the guys decided that Fall 2016 was the time to bring back the Woo Jam.
10/21/16: Not complaining, it just seems hilarious.
10/21/16: Guitar looping happening now.
10/21/16: This jam continues to be pretty much the best thing to happen for most of 2016.
10/21/16: I have this crazy theory that I'm going to write about at the end of tour that 2016 was all about letting go of bliss jamming.
10/21/16: This is some goddamn solid evidence for said crazy theory.
10/21/16: This is not a jam the band could have played between '13 and '15.
10/21/15: > Carini.
10/21/16: I love that the totally deranged outro vocals to Carini are now a normal thing.
10/21/16: Letting Carini jam rumble a bit.
10/21/16: Carini jam is getting purty.
10/21/16: That was an exceptionally good bit of jamming. > Winterqueen.
10/21/16: Also, Carini > Winterqueen just amuses me in principle, for some reason.
10/21/16: BUT TRUST ME Y'ALL IT MAKES SENSE THEMATICALLY
10/21/16: Nice back-and-forth between Trey and Page in a typically mellow, jazzy Winterqueen jam.
10/21/16: If you're still on the fence about Winterqueen, that version might win you over.
10/21/16: Ghost is next, back in its old home spot in the second set.
10/21/16: Cat Scratch Fever tease in Ghost jam.
10/21/16: Gorgeous melodic jamming building up to a '15 style peak in this Ghost.
10/21/16: Holy Ghost peaks, Batman.
10/21/16: Smooth fade out of the jam into the Ghost riff to close.
10/21/16: Outro Ghost vocals from Page! That was cool. Possum next.
10/21/16: Judging by Trey's guitar, this is going to be one of those '16-cum-'93 Possums. I hope so.
10/21/16: Great Possum > Slave to close the set.
10/21/16: Extra slow, patient Slave jam. The '93 feel from Possum continues on here.
10/21/16: Trey just ripped up that Loving Cup encore like he hasn't been playing for three hours already.
10/21/16: A great show. No improv in the first set, but a great mix of tunes suffused with greater-than-usual guitar fire.
10/21/16: The second set reminded me of no-filler sets like 7/19. Great stuff. Not a dull moment.
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