The Verdict:
Okay, so, the good news is that the second Grand Prairie show isn't nearly as bad as the online ratings would have you believe (it's placed below 8/14/04 and just barely above 8/15/04). The bad news is that there's literally zero units of jamming throughout the show.
I can't say that if you're coming to it having heard a lot of Phish shows before that it's a show that's worth your time. It's certainly not going to teach you anything new about the band that you didn't already know; however, it is two first sets of really well-played Phish music.
On the other hand, again, it is two first sets of Phish music.
I don't have a lot to say in terms of specifics. "Daniel Saw the Stone" is great opener. "Moma" and "Cities" are tight. "Foam" is a great bust-out. "Waking Up Dead" is my favorite "new" live song, and "Walk Away" > "WTU?" > "More" is straight Type I fire.
Going into the second first set, it starts out a bit slow, but "Number Line" takes a somewhat different route than usual, "Lifeboy," is another rare ballad bust-out to follow 10/24's "Dog-Faced Boy," "Meatstick" is a blast, "The Line" is a darkly funny joke in the middle of a jamless second set, and "Tide Turns" is just in bad taste. Speaking of taste, "Taste" is next, though the scarce momentum that is built up there is spent by another ballad bust-out in the form of "Friday." A short "Waves" > "Julius" before "Good Times Bad Times" ends things is probably the highlight of a musically unadventurous rock and roll raveup of a set. The second one of the night, in case you're keeping score at home.
"Show of Life" as the encore call actually made me laugh out loud.
So, while I'd like in some ways to write this show off as being a weird, negative anomaly, it's actually quite good in a two-first-sets sort of way. If each of these sets opened a show on consecutive nights, we'd be raving about how good they were. But we aren't. So, on to MGM!
The Live Review:
10/25/16: Daniel Saw the Stone opener!
10/25/16: I love Phish's version of this song so much.
10/25/16: Moma is second.
10/25/16: Guys sound extra energized tonight. Also, there's a guy right next to the SBD who can't stop screaming.
10/25/16: If experience at Phish shows has taught me anything, though, it's that he'll be asleep on the floor in 20-25 minutes.
10/25/16: Fiery Moma > CDT.
10/25/16: Cities next. Feels like early jamming is imminent.
10/25/16: Some mellow interplay between Trey and Mike.
10/25/16: Short little outro there, but pretty playing from everyone.
10/25/16: FOAM
10/25/16: Trey struggling a bit, but otherwise they're not sounding too rusty on this tune.
10/25/16: Waking Up Dead! Glad to see the boys seem to like this one live as much as I do.
10/25/16: Divided Sky next. Loving the way the new songs fit in with the old ones.
10/25/16: I Didn't Know! Trey telling a story mid-tune about being a 'real Texan' since he was born in Ft. Worth.
10/25/16: Only Moses DeWitt is a 'cosmic Texan,' though.
10/25/16: Walk Away!
10/25/16: I don't know what it is, but the Walk Away jam is always one of my favorite bits of Phish music. I think it's Fish's drumming.
10/25/16: He rarely plays anything that driving otherwise.
10/25/16: > WTU?
10/25/16: Whatever these guys have been doing to write the first set setlists lately, I hope they never stop.
10/25/16: Mellow '16-style WTU? > More.
10/25/16: End set w/ More.
10/25/16: Stealing Time opens the second set.
10/25/16: Second is Number Line. Clearly, the boys had so much fun playing the first set that they're just going to play another one.
10/25/16: Neat Number Line, though. Continues the (Type I) evolution of the tune, keeps it unpredictable.
10/25/16: > Lifeboy.
10/25/16: It's always great to hear the slow, gorgeous piano intro to a song like Lifeboy and then hear in the background...
10/25/16: ...tons of bros screaming 'FUCK YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAH!!!'
10/25/16: THIS FUCKING BALLAD GIVES ME AN OPPORTUNITY TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE FEELINGS SOCIETY GENERALLY FORCES ME TO BURY DEEP WITHIN MYSELF!!!
10/25/16: But seriously, it's a great song. And patriarchy makes men sad, too.
10/25/16: Meatstick! I'm not sure what they're doing for this second set, but I almost don't care because MEATOSTAQUE
10/25/16: UNSURE IF YOU ARE STILL CORINNE
10/25/16: The Line. By god, I think...I think they've given up for the evening.
10/25/16: Seriously, this is a really well-played set so far (even The Line!) but they just aren't playing anything with a jam.
10/25/16: I suspect people FUCKING HATE this show.
10/25/16: HAHAHA...it has a lower @phishnet ranking than 8/14/04. C'mon, guys. Really?!
10/25/16: Having attended a wonky/out-of-sync/truly bad show just this year (7/22), I can say that this is 10x better.
10/25/16: There isn't much 'bad' in some objective way about this show. In fact, they're playing their asses off. Just no jams.
10/25/16: Okay, so having said all that, a second set The Line > Tide Turns sort of feels like a punch in the nuts.
10/25/16: > Taste
10/25/16: Friday is next! Great take on Taste.
10/25/16: Gorgeous little outro jam in Friday. Followed by a short, standard Waves. > Julius.
10/25/16: Good Times, Bad Times closes the set.
10/25/16: Show of Life encore. Is Trey trolling us?
10/25/16: Maybe he secretly hates jamming and took the 'home field' show to just play all the songy songs he's ever wanted to song song.
10/25/16: Regardless, imagine fast, fiery, competent Phish from your favorite era playing this show and that's what it sounds like.
10/25/16: Literally 0% jamming, but a great show by pretty much every other metric.
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