2017-07-23 Baker's Dozen III (Red Velvet)

The Verdict:
There's a standout amount of quality jamming in 7/23's second set, but during the first set the band drops one of the best jams I've heard from them out of pretty much nowhere, so I'm sort of focused on that right now.



I'll swallow my enthusiasm and just review chronologically, though.


The "Sunday Morning" opener, with Fishman vocals, is the first nod to the night's theme, but from there things are a bit more predictable...briefly. Your mileage may vary, but for my money, this "Back On The Train" spins off into some really interesting territory for a few minutes thanks to guitar pyrotechnics from Trey. I'm someone who usually zones out during this song, but this take got my attention. "How Many People Are You?" doesn't technically get "extended," but Trey locks on to a neat riff right after the lyrics and the band develops it for a few minutes. It's already a great song, and that jamming bit makes this a mandatory listen.


It's worth mentioning that next the band plays a pretty flawless "Glide" (sorry, but "Glide" always makes me think of Coventry). But what REALLY MATTERS is the "It's Ice." It's a contemplative, jazz-inflected improvisation that stretches to fifteen minutes, wraps back around to finish the song proper at the end, doesn't feature a peak that you can see a mile away, and is pretty much perfect. I love this jam and have already replayed it three times after listening to the show. I feel like I'm pretty enthusiastic in at least some way about every jam the band plays, but this one is special. Check it out:

Set two opens with a fairly normal "Bag" before moving a "Wolfman's" that starts by heading in the "Gin"-inflected direction many versions of the song have pursued lately. But then, the wheels come off in the best way and we visit ambient territory for a few minutes, just rolling along on a pleasant, loosely melodic wave until it crashes onto the shore of "Twist." "Twist" moves smoothly through a few distinct sections: more "It's Ice"-style jazz jamming, a more beat-heavy version of the "Wolfman's" ambient jam, and then a great loops-and-synth-style peak.



 "Waves" starts off with Page leading a great Type I jam but then jumps off track and, goes back to the ambient territory that "Wolfman's" started exploring. This is even more minimalist, though, going to a really creepy place and winding down so far that it seems like the song has ended a few times before it finally does. I'm not sure if this one is great music, but it's unique jamming (for this era, at least) and deserves a listen.

"Miss You" is the absolute weirdest call ever after this evil jam, but there it is. It also institutes a pretty jukebox-y fourth quarter with nothing much to comment on. But hey, that wraps up another fantastic BD show with five more jams worth sinking your teeth into, so I'm not really complaining. The on-theme "Sweet Jane" cover for the encore would be the perfect cherry on top if people put cherries on top of donuts.

The Live Review:
7/23/17: Sunday Morning opener.                   
7/23/17: That was neat. Axila I.                   
7/23/17: I remember when I thought it was weird when they started playing Axila I again when I was used to Axila II.                   
7/23/17: Now if they played Axila II I'd be totally confused.                   
7/23/17: Your Pet Cat! This is one of my favorite of the Thrilling, Chilling songs.                   
7/23/17: Your Pet Cat is followed by a BOTT highlighted by some seriously great Trey leads.                   
7/23/17: People are audibly cheering, on the SBD recording, for BOTT. That's how good it is, in case you were wondering.                   
7/23/17: How Many People Are You? is next. Early on after the lyrics, Trey moves away from the song's main riff to something more bliss-y.                   
7/23/17: Great build after with vocal refrain before returning to the song's outro. I feel like that counts as a 'jam.'                   
7/23/17: Well, that definitely upped my interest in this set. Now, Glide!                  
7/23/17: The silence from the crowd waiting to see if Trey would nail Glide was palpable. He did.                   
7/23/17: I always expect Tweezer to start after Glide. Instead, Theme.                 
7/23/17: Oddly, that's only happened live three times, last time in '94, as per @phishnet                   
7/23/17: Glide > Tweezer, I mean.                   
7/23/17: Theme had some extra mustard (extra icing?).                   
7/23/17: It's Ice next.                   
7/23/17: Interestingly bass-led middle jam in It's Ice.                   
7/23/17: Legit jam here, folks. Page to electric piano and synth. Trey stepped back. Fish raining jazz beats.                   
7/23/17: This is like watching the Weather Channel 10-Day Forecast on acid.       
7/23/17: This is mellow, layered improvisation that doesn't seem to exist just for the sake of rocketing to some pre-planned explosion.                   
7/23/17: I love that there's more of that going on lately.                   
7/23/17: I understand it's likely less fun to play, but it's way more fun to listen to.                   
7/23/17: Well, that was just gorgeous. More is next.                   
7/23/17: More is getting better and better live. Nice Number Line-style outro jam on this one.                   
7/23/17: End set. Set 2 opens with AC/DC Bag.                   
7/23/17: One thing I love about this run is that most of the songs that aren't debuts/covers/bust-outs/surprise jams still get some love.                   
7/23/17: Like, there was nothing particularly special about that Bag, but it was a particularly great, 'normal' version.                   
7/23/17: Wolfman's jam going the echoplex-chording route briefly. Oh, and they're playing Wolfman's. Forgot to mention that.                   
7/23/17: Massive Gin-rock-style jam now in this Wolfman's. Trey and Page killing it.                   
7/23/17: Ooh, sudden post-peak move into a darker jam space. This isn't over yet.                   
7/23/17: Really pretty minimalist jam now. Really spacey and ambient, but not with that hard edge that usually shows up in those jams.                   
7/23/17: Easing back into rock and roll territory again.                   
7/23/17: This is the most interesting Wolfman's jam I think I've ever heard. That goes for It's Ice, too.                   
7/23/17: > Twist.               
7/23/17: Another jazzy Type II jam forming in Twist.                   
7/23/17: I swear I've heard Trey tease Woman From Tokyo a few times this summer and Page just teased it. Am I crazy?                   
7/23/17: Another pretty space that sort of recalls the Wolfman's ambient jam, but with a beat.                   
7/23/17: Out of the happy space and now into something more space-funky. Page on synth. Weird place for it.                   
7/23/17: Intense looping jam now. Synth with the loops is pretty great.                 
7/23/17: Awesome guitar and bass breakdown now.                   
7/23/17: Smooth return to the Twist riff. Nice!                   
7/23/17: > Waves. These guys just aren't stopping.               
7/23/17: Nice, piano-heavy Type I jam unfolding here.                   
7/23/17: Things getting ambient again. Page playing piano chords over noise.     
7/23/17: Such space between noise crowd doesn't know if the song is over yet or not. Neither do I.                   
7/23/17: Nope, still going. Spooky.                   
7/23/17: This is hilariously creepy. Wow.                   
7/23/17: I want to see CK5's lights on this.                   
7/23/17: Serious Gorge RnR throwback.                   
7/23/17: Going into Miss You from that was pretty much the weirdest thing that's ever happened.                   
7/23/17: Even Boogie On doesn't escape unscathed, getting a brief echo-plinko treatment.                   
7/23/17: > Wading. At this point I'm sort of expecting them to tack a funk jam onto the end.               
7/23/17: No funk jam, but a big time Velvet Sea there. Sweet Jane encore as another gesture to the velvetly, velvety donuts.                   
7/23/17: Those last few tunes look like a victory lap on paper, but they were great. Huge Miss You and Wading, and Boogie On was jammed.                   
7/23/17: Hope shows like this don't get buried in all the talk of OMG PHISH PLAYED SO MANY 20 MINUTE JAMS AT BD                   
7/23/17: I mean, I love 20 minute jams, but this show had 3 15 min jams, 3 shorter jams. 6/17 went Type II in some way.                   
7/23/17: Incredible show, is all I'm saying. NO 20 MINUTE JAM means nothing, really.                   
7/23/17: 7/24/15 II doesn't have a 20 minute jam and it's probably my favorite set I've seen live.                  

2017-07-22 Baker's Dozen II (Strawberry)

The Verdict:
Strawberry night blew my mind. Here's why.

Opening with a "Strawberry Fields Forever" cover done a capella is pretty awesome. Following that up with a 17-minute "Moma Dance" and a ten minute "Breath and Burning" is just hilariously good. The "Moma" jam is long and deep, the one thing the first night was arguably missing. A funk-plinko hybrid jam drives "Breath and Burning" and a "Funky Bitch" that Trey just annihilates. And that's your first quarter, folks.

The second quarter is almost as good, with great takes on "Mound," "Foam," (!) and "Coil," as well as a particularly good version of "Roggae" in the mix.

If for some reason you were thinking, insanely, "That amazing first set fucking sucked," well, the second set is here for you.

The opening "Disease" doesn't quite reach the heights of the Dayton version, but is satisfying nonetheless, covering ground similar to the previous night's "Tweezer": fun, but not particularly interesting. Still, I'll take it. Especially since it's followed by a pitch-perfect, Phish-style cover of "Strawberry Letter 23."

"I Always Wanted It This Way" goes abstract for an extended jam, using loops and Page's new synth to great effect, then segues into the bustout "All of These Dreams," a great call for a cooldown song if I've ever heard one. And you're going to need that cooldown, because what follows is an awesomely dissonant 3.0-style take on "Split" that dead-stop-segues into a "Disease Reprise"!

I love me those six- (or five-) song second sets, but what I like even more is a show where you can't really tell the first set from the second, and that's what we've got here. There's so much to enjoy in this show it's almost embarrassing. And there are eleven more shows left.

The Live Review:
7/22/17: Time for BD2, also known as the first time in three years I didn't see a Phish show on my birthday.                  
7/22/17: Of course, after 7/22/16, maybe it's better if there ISN'T a Phish show on my birthday :)                  
7/22/17: Anyway, a cappella Strawberry Fields Forever opener. Song call isn't surprising, but the arrangement is. Nice.                  
7/22/17: Halley's second.                  
7/22/17: Love the big ol' crowd roar at the strawberry goo lyric.                  
7/22/17: Quick but hot little solo from Trey, then > Moma.                  
7/22/17: I was just about to gripe about the predictable Halley's > Moma combo, but they look to be taking Moma for a walk.                  
7/22/17: Nice repeating riff from Trey there for a bit as the jam lifts off.               
7/22/17: Evil guitar tone from Trey now. Things turning more ominous.               
7/22/17: Whoa. Neat transition out of the evil jam and into something prettier. Trey and Rhodes playing off of each other. Mike droning.                  
7/22/17: Awesome, abstract space now with Trey chording and Page playing synth underneath.                  
7/22/17: Love the fractured beat that Fish is laying down.                  
7/22/17: Song breaks up. Breath and Burning follow up.                  
7/22/17: Page over to clav, and now we're jamming B+B, too.                  
7/22/17: Echoplex now. Fish picking up the beat.                  
7/22/17: Fast-paced almost-plinko jam now. Love what Mike is playing.               
7/22/17: Brief ambient noise fade-out > Funky  Bitch.              
7/22/17: Okay, for the record, they did NOT jam out Funky Bitch, but Trey completely annihilated his solo.                  
7/22/17: 27 minute jam sequence in the first four songs of the show. Just sayin'. Oh, and another one was an a capella Beatles debut.                  
7/22/17: Mound. What would a Mound jam even be like?                  
7/22/17: No Mound jam :) FOAM is next, though!                  
7/22/17: I'm happy to report that there no major flubs in Foam. That makes a quality first set by itself.                  
7/22/17: Solid Foam. Roggae next. What a great setlist!                  
7/22/17: The only gripes I'd usually have would be the Moma and B+B BUT NOT THIS TIME                  
7/22/17: Extra-delicate breakdown in Roggae.                  
7/22/17: Giant peak in Roggae. Top-shelf take.                  
7/22/17: Coil as a first-set closer?! Yes!                  
7/22/17: That was such a hilariously good first set I'm sort of terrified to hear the second set.                  
7/22/17: Sublime = beauty + attraction + fear. Sort of how I feel about the Gorge RnR every time I listen to it.                  
7/22/17: Seemed like an extended solo from Page at the end. End set.                  
7/22/17: Set two opens with Disease. If this one's anything like the Dayton version, I'm going to lose my mind.                  
7/22/17: Keeping things simple early on. Pretty typical Disease jam.                  
7/22/17: Going spacey now. Nice minimalist riff from Trey. Mike playing over it.   
7/22/17: SPACE DISCO!                  
7/22/17: Page is doing the synth/Rhodes thing. PRAISE JESUS                  
7/22/17: Building out of that extended (and awesome) space disco jam now.       
7/22/17: Monster peak now.                  
7/22/17: That jam was definitely more 7/21 Tweezer than Dayton Disease, but that doesn't mean I wasn't fist-pumping in glee at the end.                  
7/22/17: (I was)                  
7/22/17: That said, I'd love to see some of the weirder jamming (7/21 Everything's Right, 7/22 Moma) make it into these monster jams.                  
7/22/17: Still 11.5 shows left, though :)                  
7/22/17: Disease ends on a scream of feedback and noise.                  
7/22/17: Strawberry Letter 23 debut.                  
7/22/17: I do believe we just got some Trey falsetto there.                  
7/22/17: > Birds. Strawberry Letter 23 actually *sounded* like a Phish song. Hope that stays in the rotation. It should.              
7/22/17: Quick, hot take on Birds. At this point it's almost a relief to hear a normal song played normally.                  
7/22/17: YES! I Always Wanted It This Way! This is definitely my favorite Big Boat song to hear live.                  
7/22/17: NO I'M NOT JOKING                  
7/22/17: Echoplex and synth jam. It sounds like Trey is killing a robot with his guitar.                  
7/22/17: Heavy synth jamming now. Trey maybe on marimba? Sounds a bit like a CRB jam with those weird pitch-shifted notes.                  
7/22/17: This has become more of a percussion jam now, but it's still pretty great. Crowd roaring.                  
7/22/17: Lands in All of These Dreams! Amazing!                  
7/22/17: Great ballad break choice. Page and Trey trading solos. SOAM next.      
7/22/17: Particularly gauzy and echo-heavy Split jam here.                  
7/22/17: I really love what Fish is playing here. Trey getting more frenetic.          
7/22/17: Squealing echoes, sonic chaos.                  
7/22/17: > Disease Reprise! Shit.              
7/22/17: Sounded like Trey just pulled that out of nowhere. Rest of the band took a minute to catch up. But great.                  
7/22/17: Awesome, bluesy, Type I jam of Disease. About 7 minutes.                  
7/22/17: > Shine a Light.              
7/22/17: End set. Encore kicks off with Peaches. Glad this one is showing up more lately, too.                  
7/22/17: > Cities. Seems like an odd placement.              
7/22/17: Short Cities. Kind of a bummer use of that tune for the run. Anyway, encore wraps up with a high-energy My Sweet One.                  
7/22/17: That show was bonkers. Every show this tour with the possible exception of Northerly 3 has been top-shelf Phish...                  
7/22/17: ...but this was a whole other level above that.                    

2017-07-21 Baker's Dozen I (Coconut)

The Verdict:
Baker's Dozen is great. I know this isn't really news to anyone but me, but I'm finally getting around to listening to the shows now, and I'm loving it.

That said, within the realm of wonder that is the BD, the opening night still sort of plays as an opening night in some ways.

First off, kudos to the band for the "Shake Your Coconuts" opener. It not only fits with the night's theme, it's just a great song to set the table for the run. After that, the band barely waits to get into it properly, taking "Timber" for a spin with a jam that leaves the song's typical boundaries only three songs into the show.

There's a bit of a lag in the middle of the set, but things pick back up with an excellent take on "Reba" and an absolutely shredded version of "Moonage Daydream" before ending on "Walls."

The second set opens, surprisingly (or maybe not) with "Tweezer." It actually follows a pretty standard bliss-jam blueprint, with the caveat that the band employs a pretty complex, patient build instead of a quick one. It's a jam that's great for kicking off the first second set of the run, but is likely not going to win any award for originality. The "Seven Below" that follows goes deep as well, and in much more engaging fashion. I'm actually listening to it again as I write this, so I'll just drop the video below. Watch it!

"Billy Breathes" > "Sparkle" makes a great landing pad after this half-hour of improvisation, and then we're off again as the band takes "Everything's Right" deep again (award for Weirdest New Jam Vehicle, anybody?). This is easily the most complex and interesting jam of the show despite its relative brevity.


Finally, after five legitimate jams over two great sets, the guys are "content" to end with a "Slave" > "Suzy" combo and an a capella "Coconuts."

The Live Review:
7/21/17: Here we go! BD1 opening w/ Shake Your Coconuts.                   
7/21/17: This is the perfect opener for this run.                   
7/21/17: > Martian Monster               
7/21/17: Timber!                   
7/21/17: Pretty jazzed to be jumping into these shows just after they've finished.                   
7/21/17: Hoping that I can finish reviewing all thirteen before I hit the road for Dick's!                   
7/21/17: Judging by the amount of work I have to do over the next few weeks during my summer 'break,' I'll have time : \                   
7/21/17: Guys sounding super-loose during this Timber jam.                   
7/21/17: Moving into a surprisingly happy space for Timber.                   
7/21/17: *Great* full-on Type II Timber jam there, complete with return to the song at the end. 555 next.                   
7/21/17: One of my very, very few complaints about the BD run is that 555 didn't get an 'unexpected jam' call.                   
7/21/17: My other big complaint is that I didn't get to go.                   
7/21/17: False start from Fishman.                   
7/21/17: Pigtail.                   
7/21/17: It amuses me to hear the guys singing Jen's backup vocals on this.         
7/21/17: Halfway To the Moon features a pretty great lightning-quick harmonics fill from Trey right before the jam starts.                   
7/21/17: That said, the middle of this set (post-Timber) is skewing toward Typical 3.0 First Set a bit too much.                   
7/21/17: Reba! That should shake things up nicely. Forgot about the 'coconuts and chloroform' lyric...but Trey didn't.                   
7/21/17: Composed portion was pretty spot-on. Decent tempo, too.                   
7/21/17: I love the beginning of the Reba jam because it (almost) always forces Trey to play lyrically for a few minutes.                   
7/21/17: He's doing it here, and it's awesome. Page adding electric piano flourishes now.                   
7/21/17: Trey building on a theme now. My favorite Rebas always start out this way.                   
7/21/17: Great Reba jam! No whistling outro, but > Moonage Daydream. Neat to see the Bowie tunes staying in rotation.                   
7/21/17: Trey just went goddamn nuts on the outro to Moonage Daydream. Walls seems like the only possible set closer choice after that.                   
7/21/17: Big ol' Walls to finish off the set.                   
7/21/17: That was solid. There might not have been a huge set one jam to enjoy, but definitely some serious highlights in...                   
7/21/17: ...Shake Your Coconuts > Martian Monster opener, Timber mini-Type II jam, Reba, and Moonage Daydream > Walls shredfest.                   
7/21/17: Second set opens with Tweezer. I see now why people were doubting no repeats at this point. Why blow yer Tweezer wad on night one?                   
7/21/17: Well, obviously, for the night 13 Tweeprise. Duh.                   
7/21/17: Anyway, the place explodes when Tweezer starts.                   
7/21/17: Surprisingly quiet, minimal funk jam to start Tweezer off.                   
7/21/17: Really smooth move into a bliss space now.                   
7/21/17: Really like what Mike is doing during this hazy jam.                   
7/21/17: The ending peak here is a little predictable, but the build to it was really interesting and patient.                   
7/21/17: Long, extended rock peak section to this Tweezer.                   
7/21/17: Post-peak, > Seven Below.                   
7/21/17: Almost immediately, a move into a jam space I can only describe as 'Space Timber.'                   
7/21/17: Page using Rhodes and synth.                   
7/21/17: Great, building jam out of Seven Below. Where did that come from?       
7/21/17: Particularly great peak-y section where Trey holds a note for infinity and Page solos on piano under it.                   
7/21/17: Will not make any snarky 'Too many bliss jams' comments here because this is unexpected and awesome.                   
7/21/17: Seven Below -> Unstoppable Fireballs -> Melodic Orgasm -> Big Truck Full Of Music Running You Over -> Synth Fuzz > Billy Breathes
7/21/17: If @phish refuses to play Mist at Dick's again, Billy Breathes would be an acceptable substitute :)                   
7/21/17: Quiet breakdown during second chorus of BB.                   
7/21/17: BB solo is my favorite recorded (studio) Trey solo.                   
7/21/17: He got the first half of it or so on this take :)                   
7/21/17: Sparkle > Everything's Right.               
7/21/17: If there's an upcoming TAB album with Everything's Right and Rise/Come Together on it, it'll probably be a pretty good album.                   
7/21/17: Funk jam emerging out of the 'Everything's Right' refrain. I love that *this song* has somehow become a jam vehicle.                   
7/21/17: Trey combining loops and what I think is the echoplex for a truly weird effect. Page on synth just making it weirder.                   
7/21/17: *Really* digging the one-hand synth/one-hand electric piano attack.        
7/21/17: Shortest but most interesting of the 3 (!) Type II jams in this set.            
7/21/17: More of THAT in the next 12 shows, please.                   
7/21/17: -> Slave               
7/21/17: Slave was extra Slave-y. Suzy next as the set keeps going.                   
7/21/17: End set.                   
7/21/17: Coconut a cappella to start the encore.                   
7/21/17: Surprise Mango Song encore!                   
7/21/17: > GTBT               
7/21/17: An encore with a little something for everyone!                   
7/21/17: Incidentally, 'No matter how I try, I find my way into the same old jam' sums up Phish 2015 pretty well.                   
7/21/17: Great show all around. Strong, varied first set with just a little lag in the middle section. Second set was crazy.                   
7/21/17: Nothing new in the first two jams, but surprise jam out of -7. Rest of the setlist was great + Everything's Right jam A++.                   
7/21/17: Should get to N2 tomorrow or Friday.                   

2017-07-19 Peterson Events Center

The Verdict:
Well, I'll admit to being surprised by the fact that the "warm-up" shows before the Baker's Dozen have been anything but. I wouldn't believed you if you'd told me in June that all five of these opening shows would stand up to the best of '13-'16 Phish, but there it is (and, for what it's worth, 7/15 II and 7/18 are three of my favorite sets of the current era). The final show of the set continues to be great, albeit in slightly less consistent fashion than 7/18 and most of the Northerly run.

The first set, fortunately, is of the 2017 "Surprise Type II jam" variety. The lead-up to it is pretty great, too. An old-school trio of "My Soul," "NICU," and "Halley's" kicks things off in excellent fashion, and "Undermind" continues its seemingly endless streak of turning in compact-but-interesting jams. Somewhat rote takes on "Divided Sky" and "Home" bracket the debut of the Mike tune "Marissa," which is a great fit for Phish. Then..."Caspian." I could go home happy after one set with a jam like this one. It starts with some delicate interplay between Trey and Page, then builds to an enormous peak of the type that's simultaneously satisfying and predictable...BUT THEN Trey moves into a sort of "Dark and Down"-sounding jam and the band follows and absolute rock madness ensues, culminating with a vocal reprise over a massive crashing wall of noise. It's amazing.

Everything that's great about the second set comes in the first half of it, but that's okay because it's a huge first half. "PYITE" starts things off, but that's only an appetizer for the second-ever Phish version of "Mr. Completely," which rides a few waves between bliss space and something mellower before peaking massively near the twenty-minute mark and then segueing into "Mercury." "Mercury" proper is a pretty standard version, but a brief, evil-funk outro jam segues perfectly into the Phish debut of "Rise/Come Together."

Things settle into a more predictable jukebox-y mode after that, but that opening quarter of songs is pretty much perfect (minus the flubs on "Rise/Come Together"). A great conclusion to the (ahem) warm-up run.

The Live Review:
7/19/17: So, having already live-reviewed the Dayton show awhile back, I'm doing Pittsburgh today and then it's on to the BD. Excited.                  
7/19/17: Can't remember ever reviewing a tour that started off with 4 consecutive great shows. Will this be the fifth? I'm pretty sure, yes.                  
7/19/17: My Soul opener.                  
7/19/17: Swinging take on My Soul > NICU              
7/19/17: Early-set, old-school swing continues with Halley's.                  
7/19/17: Sudden stop > Undermind in Halley's. Cool.              
7/19/17: Neat use of Page's organ and Trey's pitch-shifter in this jam. Pretty deep for this early in the show.                  
7/19/17: Over the last few years, Undermind has evolved into a Roggae-type tune: it always results in a short, but deep jam.                  
7/19/17: It might be my favorite set one song for that reason.                  
7/19/17: Divided Sky is an interesting mid-set choice.                  
7/19/17: Reggae-ish Mike tune called Marissa.                  
7/19/17: Neat organ work from Page during this tune.                  
7/19/17: Home! I love this tune on Big Boat, but it generally seems to lose its verve live. Always fun to hear it, though.                  
7/19/17: The weirdest part is that Page can't seem to sing the chorus. I usually think of him as the reliable voice of the group.                  
7/19/17: Neat build during the outro jam of Home instead of the usual rock noodling.                  
7/19/17: Trey throwing some echo chords in now as Page pounds away on the piano.                  
7/19/17: Nice attempt at a little jam there, at least.                  
7/19/17: > Caspian              
7/19/17: Nice melodic interplay between Page and Trey right out of the gates here.                  
7/19/17: Caspian jam builds to a peak and then fades to a dissonant, eerie sort of space jam.                  
7/19/17: Dark blues jam happening now. Almost reminds me of Dark and Down or something similar.                  
7/19/17: Massive peak out of nowhere. Still going. Wow. First set.                  
7/19/17: Trey shouting Caspian vocals over the wall of sound.                  
7/19/17: Maybe transitioning back into the song now?                  
7/19/17: Wow, that was huge.                  
7/19/17: First four songs of the set were great, then things kind of settled...but that Caspian made up for it.                  
7/19/17: I'd listen to a first set that opened with The Line > Ocelot -> Alaska -> Ocelot > TTE if it ended with a Caspian jam like that.  
7/19/17: Damn, PYITE S2 opener. Guaranteed fire coming, then.                  
7/19/17: Noise at the end of PYITE > Mr. Completely.              
7/19/17: I must confess I've already listened to this jam, so no surprise here. Glad Mr. Completely's sort of in-rotation now, though.                  
7/19/17: Nice, loose jam so far. Trey starting to integrate some loops. Veering toward funk.                  
7/19/17: Really gorgeous transition into a bliss jam space. Page over to electric piano.                  
7/19/17: Toned down on the bliss now. Shuffling rock jam instead.                  
7/19/17: Trey noodling around the Mr. Completely riff but not quite going there.                  
7/19/17: Under Pressure-like riff now from Trey.                  
7/19/17: Page with some mellow tones that I think are from the synth?                 7/19/17: Guys are just slowly exploring here for minutes on end. Sounds like the old days. Love it.                  
7/19/17: Really picking up momentum now at about the 17 minute mark.              
7/19/17: Winding back down from a peak at 19:30, Trey is returning to the Under Pressure riff a bit.                  
7/19/17: Quiet noise now. Then, > Mercury.                  
7/19/17: Mercury seems a bit more solid than usual this time around.                  
7/19/17: Really interesting riffing from Trey in the Mercury jam, but sets up a -> Rise/Come Together segue.                  
7/19/17: Neat move, but it would have been cool to see where that went for a bit longer.                  
7/19/17: That said, it was a cool segue, and Rise/Come Together would be a great song if Trey knew how to play it.                  
7/19/17: Maybe the BD version is smoother?                  
7/19/17: Yeah! Contact!                  
7/19/17: The guys cracked themselves up with that Contact.                  
7/19/17: Axila I next.                  
7/19/17: > Steam.              
7/19/17: Steam just got Number Line'd post-lyrics.                  
7/19/17: I've never heard a version of Number Line where I didn't like the outro jam. The problem isn't the song, it's the placement.                  
7/19/17: I think that big ol' jangly G chord is just too tempting for Trey to pass up when he's looking to bail out of an awkward space.                  
7/19/17: Plus, it likely segues easily out of lots of other songs.                  
7/19/17: I think that all adds up to the dread of hearing the first chord of what often turns out to be a great Type I jammed song.                  
7/19/17: End set after a typically solid version of Number Line.                  
7/19/17: Encore is a weird combo: Things People Do, Bug, Rocky Top.                  
7/19/17: Love me some Bug set closer/encore. Not sure why people hate the song so much. Leftover angst from 2.0?                  
7/19/17: Anyway, odd-but-great show. Mid-set one lagged a bit, but shored up by hot opening and MEGA Caspian.                  
7/19/17: Set two was frontloaded with the Mr. Completely > Mercury sequence. Odd-for-2017 scattered fourth quarter.              
7/19/17: Did really like the Mercury -> Rise/Come Together segue. Mr. Completely was great. Caspian was CRAZY.              
7/19/17: Coconut night next!                    

2017-07-16 Northerly Island III

The Verdict:
Night three at Northerly is definitely my least favorite show of the run; however, there's a particularly inspired bit of improv in the third quarter and an overall energy that still makes it a solid show and bodes well for things to come.

The first set deserves brief mention for an opening "Possum" that recalls the early 90s in swagger (if not necessarily in dexterity or tempo) and a what-might-have-been version of "Tube" that pokes its head into a few interesting places briefly before getting wrangled back into the tune's blues outro. Then there's a lot of predictable songs played predictably, a weird most-of-a-set consider the tenor of the previous two nights.

Anyway, what really matters here is the "Carini" that opens the second set. While not as varied as the "Simple" from the night before, it makes for a great companion piece. Where the "Simple" was audaciously wide-ranging, this "Carini" latches on to a theme (first suggested by Mike and then taken up by Trey) and develops that theme for something like thirteen minutes, riding to a peak and then a fantastically pretty wind-down section. And though it tends a bit that way, this ain't your 2015 bliss jam; instead, it's something that uses the same template to develop and explore much more nuanced ideas, and I love it. More of this, please. Especially when it lands in a gorgeous "Twenty Years Later" that gets its own deconstruction-style outro jam.

The "Piper" that follows is pretty standard, but it leads to the debut of the interesting-but-maybe-too-weird "Thread." More on "Thread" later, hopefully.

YMMV on the last few tunes here. On one hand, "Gin" goes Type II to a great, hose-y place, "2001" features some fun "Sex Machine" and "No Men" teases, and "Cavern" ties it all together with explosive energy. On the other hand, the "Gin" sounds like every other "Gin" that's been played over the last two years, "2001" is more gimmicky than interesting, and "Cavern" is "Cavern." I'm not sure how I feel about this section of the set, yet.

But hey, it's not that important. I'll just listen to "Carini" again instead.

The Live Review:
7/16/17: Possum opener!  
7/16/17: Neat little early-90s-ish riff from Trey during the intro.  
7/16/17: Only lasted about fifteen seconds, but still cool.  
7/16/17: Fiery Possum followed up by a 555 featuring an extra-evil-sounding solo from Trey. Tube next.  
7/16/17: Tube jam almost going jazzy.  
7/16/17: Just modulating into something new when it's cut off. Interesting but short Tube jam.  
7/16/17: Ocelot. BLRRRRRRRRR  
7/16/17: Ocelot was Ocelot. Now Lawn Boy.  
7/16/17: Maybe Stash will open things up a bit.  
7/16/17: The Line'd.  
7/16/17: Birds next.  
7/16/17: Not much to comment on in this first set so far. Pretty rote. Liked the Possum and the Tube okay.  
7/16/17: > Funky Bitch
7/16/17: Antelope ends the set.  
7/16/17: 'Average-great' opening set there. Not bad by any means, but every S1 this year so far has something to get excited about. Not here  
7/16/17: Carini opens the second set, though, so that's cool.  
7/16/17: This just in: Carini had a lumpy head.  
7/16/17: Starts off angry, but pretty quickly moves into a mellower space. Tremolo and Page to electric piano.  
7/16/17: Mike and Trey playing off each other now.  
7/16/17: Almost funky now. Like if the Taxi theme had sex with The Darkness Inside All of Us.  
7/16/17: Page on (I think) synth now along with the piano. Trey chording.  
7/16/17: Super mellow jam so far. Really digging this.  
7/16/17: Neat riff from Trey now. Dynamic. Band jamming on it.  
7/16/17: This jam is definitely not as varied as 7/15's Simple, but I'm a huge sucker for these extended-jamming-on-a-riff jams.  
7/16/17: Especially when the 'riff' isn't just a three-chord progression repeated ad nauseum.  
7/16/17: Within those particular parameters, then, this jam is $$ :)  
7/16/17: That was a pretty consistent, coherent build for about 14 or so minutes, based on the same idea. Real good.  
7/16/17: Wind-down now, but still sticking with the same theme.  
7/16/17: Great, slow -> Twenty Years Later.  
7/16/17: Trey deconstructing the outro of Twenty Years a bit. MuTron (?) might be involved.  
7/16/17: Loops and synth now reprising the tune's outro.  
7/16/17: Not a *long* jam there, but a unique treatment of Twenty Years nonetheless.  
7/16/17: > Piper
7/16/17: Do you think it's possible that one of the remaining Baker's Dozen flavors could be Long Piper Introduction?  
7/16/17: Piper jam starts off pretty standard, but gets interesting at about the 8 minute mark.  
7/16/17: Then, at the 9 minute mark, it gets abandoned for Thread.  
7/16/17: Need to listen to Thread a few more times before I can (hah) untangle it. Gin next.  
7/16/17: Serious '15-style Gin build coming right now.  
7/16/17: Good, high-energy, peaky Gin jam, but you've heard the exact same version a bunch of times in the last two years.  
7/16/17: > 2001
7/16/17: Trey with a very No Men's riff early on in 2001.  
7/16/17: Now Trey playing what sounds like the Martian Monster riff into a 'Woo' jam.  
7/16/17: 'Get on up!' vocals from band.  
7/16/17: Fishman screaming 'I'm a sex machine!' is just terrifying.  
7/16/17: Back to No Men teasing, then > Cavern. Short but busy 2001.  
7/16/17: Cavern ends the set amid what sounds like some Carini teases.  
7/16/17: Encore kicks off with Wilson.  
7/16/17: Wilson > Zero.
7/16/17: Show was a bit third-quarter-heavy, but MAN the Carini -> Twenty Years was great.  
7/16/17: Liked hearing Thread, strong 2001, and high-energy finish, just doesn't stack up to the previous night. That's okay.    

2017-07-15 Northerly Island II

The Verdict:
Night two at Northerly Island gets off to a bit of a slow start compared to night one, but then the band turns in one of my favorite second sets in a long time.

Things take a little while to pick up even during the first set, as a really rough two-slot "Moma" sort of kills the momentum. An extended take on "Martian Monster" gets us back on track, though, and the rest of the set continues in strong (if not particularly memorable) fashion.

The second set starts off with the show's first real surprise: the Phish debut of "Corona." I really like this tune on Traveler and the way that TAB plays it, so while the band turns in a workmanlike version here, without the full TAB sound, it feels like it's missing something. It wouldn't be a bad arrow for Phish to keep in their quiver, though.

The real second set begins with the enormous version of "Simple" that follows. It clocks in at around twenty-seven minutes, and does a little bit of everything. Of particular note are a nasty "Timber"-like jam, and a moment when the entire band winds to a stop, pauses, does not ripcord into another song, but then picks back up with a completely new, melodic jam instead. You should just watch and listen below:

Not content to rest on their laurels, though, the guys immediately continue on into "Winterqueen," sinister backing loops and all. "Winterqueen" gets a brief but fantastic Type II jazz jam before segueing perfectly into "Light." While this might seem to have set the table for a huge "Light" blowout, this time we go the compact-but-effective route before a beautifully-done transition into "Scents." "Scents" then employs Page's synth to great effect, building up into yet another distinct Type II space (that's four in a row for those keeping score at home) before another perfect segue into "Cities."

"Cities" only serves as a breather (only!) before the set ends with "Slave."

And it just doesn't get much better than that, folks. It really doesn't.

The Live Review:
7/15/17: Night two of Northerly Island starts with my least-favorite opener: Stealing Time.  
7/15/17: Reviewing this show from ten days ago while tonight's show is being tweeted about is going to be confusing.  
7/15/17: Rough take on Moma in slot two, but a nice transition into The Wedge at the end.  
7/15/17: Long pause after The Wedge. Halfway To the Moon next.  
7/15/17: Fish playing a different beat than usual, I think.  
7/15/17: Ya Mar keeps a pretty song-based set going. No more big-time hiccups like with Moma, though.  
7/15/17: Trey calls for a Mike solo in Ya Mar after the usual 'Leo' solo.  
7/15/17: Extra clav-heavy Martian Monster up next.  
7/15/17: Neat little wind-down bit in the middle of MM, now a huge blues guitar peak out of nowhere at the end. Neat version!  
7/15/17: Party Time is next. Page is destroying the organ during the composed section.  
7/15/17: Wingsuit is Wingsuit.  
7/15/17: Bouncing Around the Room > More ends up the first set.
7/15/17: Compared to 7/14 and 7/18, a pretty songy, straightforward first set. On the upside, they're getting better at rocking out More.  
7/15/17: I would recommend a listen to the Martian Monster, though. Even though it's only 5 1/2 minutes, it's pretty interesting.  
7/15/17: Set two opens with Corona. That's exciting. Love this as a TAB song.  
7/15/17: Pretty straightforward rock reading of Corona > Simple. Delicate interplay typical of Simple gets going right away.
7/15/17: Fades away after a few minutes. Page to synth. Everyone else playing underneath him.  
7/15/17: Trey putting down some bluesy licks now.  
7/15/17: Trey trying some funk chording over a mellow electric piano riff now.  
7/15/17: Really contemplative space that's starting to lean a little sinister.  
7/15/17: Loving this. Hard to imagine the band playing this before fall '16 without a ripcord or three-chord bliss jam emerging by now.  
7/15/17: Darker rock riff from Trey now from what sounded like the seeming end of the jam. More of this kind of creativity, please.  
7/15/17: -> Timber?
7/15/17: Crowd reacting as if it's a segue into Timber, but the jam just continuing w/o lyrics. Echoplex coming out now.  
7/15/17: Man, if we get a few jams like this and the Dayton Disease at Dick's, I'll be a (literal) happy camper.  
7/15/17: This is magic.  
7/15/17: Still sounding like Timber, but winding down now.  
7/15/17: Some neat droning from Mike now.  
7/15/17: SEAMLESS transition into an uplifting, melodic space led by Trey.  
7/15/17: Really like what Mike and Fish are doing rhythm-wise here.  
7/15/17: Trey repeating a neat descending riff now. Rest of the band building around it.  
7/15/17: The Dick's Disease riff would go really nicely here.  
7/15/17: I don't think that would be cheating to reuse a riff...mostly because I'd literally die of a heart attack if it happened.  
7/15/17: Rock build-up winds down again into a The Who-sounding jam. -> Friends would probably be appropriate. But I hope not.
7/15/17: Last big guitar fade-out and that's that. Amazing Simple jam. Wow. Followed up, appropriately, by Winterqueen.  
7/15/17: ALMOST sounded like Mike was winding up for Disease instead. That was interesting.  
7/15/17: Spooky loops to start off the Winterqueen outro, instead of the usual Trey noodling.  
7/15/17: 7/15 probably can't really compete with a jammed-out Sample and Lawn Boy but I'm going to keep going :0  
7/15/17: Jazzy, Victor-Sessions-style jam now.  
7/15/17: So, Type II Winterqueen Jam -> Light. Just to make sure we're staying on top of this jamfest.  
7/15/17: Trey skipping the arpeggios and going straight into a chording funk jam here in Light.  
7/15/17: They are packing a lot of serious jamming into this Light in a short space, helped Page's circus organ.  
7/15/17: HOLY SHIT on-a-dime -> Scents
7/15/17: WHO. IS. THIS. BAND.  
7/15/17: If I had been at this show in person, I would have joy-cried at least three times by now.  
7/15/17: Meanwhile, in real life, Phish is apparently currently playing a 40 minute Lawn Boy.  
7/15/17: I'm not sure why, but there's just something special about Scents to me. Ever since hearing it at BGCA, at least.  
7/15/17: Trey leading the jam with harmonics. Now a Rift-sounding...uhh...riff.  
7/15/17: Oh, by the way, this Scents jam continues to be amazing.  
7/15/17: It's not just that they're jamming so much, it's that there's a distinct character to each jam. Not just rehashing ideas.  
7/15/17: ALL HAIL THE SYNTH  
7/15/17: Everyone's freaking out about Lawn Boy and I'm over here listening to 7/15/17 II like https://t.co/HktEU5WAUJ  
7/15/17: -> Cities. /dead
7/15/17: Short but fun Cities. Breather before Slave to close the set.  
7/15/17: No surprises with that Slave, but it was a version worthy of closing that ridiculous set.  
7/15/17: Sending everyone home with a Loving Cup encore.  
7/15/17: A slight drag of a first set there, but OH BOY that second set. One of my favorite 3.0 six-song sets, right there. Wow.    

2017-07-14 Northerly Island I

The Verdict:
In a way, this show reminds me of 7/21/15. It's got a unique, but (mostly) well-put-together setlist, the debuts of a lot of new songs, and a surprising amount of polish for a tour opener. Additionally, it has the one thing that 7/21/15 was missing: meaty improvisation. The only thing we're really lacking here is a standout tentpole jam. But relax. Those are coming.

"What's the Use?" as the tour opener sets the tone: expect the unexpected. And I'm more than willing to cut a show without a long jam some slack if it surprises me a few times. This surprise is the first of many for this show. The second is the weirdness that is following "What's the Use?" directly with "Breath and Burning." The third, though, is when the three-slot "Wolfman's" modulates into a bliss jam out of nowhere, and suddenly we've gone Type II three songs into the tour.

"In The Good Old Summertime" is an a capella debut of a traditional tune, and I can't think of a better cover for the first set of the summer.

If you were expecting things to settle down a bit in the second quarter, they don't. The debut of the Trey tune "Everything's Right" goes deep out of nowhere, employing loops, ambient noise, and all kinds of other tricks we'll see plenty more of this tour. It's arguably the improvisational highlight of the show.

The rest of the set is a bit more predictable, but is still played with a verve the band usually takes a few shows to work up to.

"No Men" gets taken for a long walk to open the second set, revisiting some of the territory probed by "Everything's Right" while also incorporating more funk elements. It's also a good listen and a sign of things to come.

And that's it for the show's deep improv, but there's still a lot to like. Namely, a surprisingly well-jammed "Your Pet Cat" that sandwiches a (terrible) "Golden Age" in its middle, the debuts of "Leaves" and "Love Is What We Are," as well as a "Hood" that's really a "Hood" -> "WTU?" -> "Hood".

So, yeah. Wow. No warm-up shows necessary here.

The Live Review:
7/14/17: I've got to admit, What's the Use? would be pretty low on my list of Expected Tour Opening Songs. But I like it.      
7/14/17: Going almost inaudible during the wind-down middle section here.      
7/14/17: Tonal weirdness continues with Breath and Burning following WTU?      
7/14/17: Still not sold on B+B minus the horns, but that was a neat little outro jam. Band sounds great for an opening show.      
7/14/17: Wolfman's next.      
7/14/17: Okay, after a brief rhythm-heavy section, Wolfman's just modulated into a Gin-style jam. That's pretty cool for three songs in.      
7/14/17: Trey soloing his way back to the Wolfman's riff in an atypical scale.      
7/14/17: In The Good Old Summertime a capella debut. Interesting call to have Fishman so up front in the arrangement.      
7/14/17: Great choice for a tour-opening set, though.      
7/14/17: Phish debut of TAB tune Everything's Right.      
7/14/17: Everything's Right is a catchy Paper-Wheels-style tune, but this very takes a quick turn into spacey blues at the end.      
7/14/17: Trey with some squealing licks over Page's electric piano now.      
7/14/17: Noise loops cascading over the piano now.      
7/14/17: Great building riff now. This is some serious second-set stuff.      
7/14/17: Back to the 'main' part of the jam after a big peak.      
7/14/17: Spooky, ambient jamming going on over Fish's consistent beat now.      
7/14/17: > Limb By Limb.  
7/14/17: Great Trey/Page bit in LxL. I know I always say that, but this one's more on than usual. Some tension-y drumming from Fish, too.      
7/14/17: Nellie Kane next.      
7/14/17: > Theme.  
7/14/17: It might just be me, but it felt like that Theme was swankier than usual.      
7/14/17: > Blaze On.  
7/14/17: End first set. Weird mix of tunes and a somewhat rote ending, but lots to like, too.      
7/14/17: Good energy, interesting playing, and the surprising song choices are great when they work.      
7/14/17: Wolfman's and Everything's Right jams would be at home in any second set.      
7/14/17: S2 starts off with No Men. Pitch-shifted Type I soloing from Trey early on, then back into a vocal refrain.      
7/14/17: Eerie loops now. Mike leading the melody section.      
7/14/17: Love when this tune gets jammed as something other than just straight-up funk.      
7/14/17: Almost a WTU? soundscape now.      
7/14/17: Nice building jam with the addition of some guitar loops and great organ work from Page.      
7/14/17: This is a great funk/bliss rock mashup. Teetering on the edge of a '15 rehash, but not going there.      
7/14/17: > Fuego  
7/14/17: Pretty straightforward take on Fuego. Briefly interesting outro, but winds into MFMF. A -> could be argued, there.      
7/14/17: Rough MFMF > Your Pet Cat.  
7/14/17: Your Pet Cat getting extended a bit with a spacey funk jam. Page on synth.      
7/14/17: Now more droning guitar jamming. Page on organ.      
7/14/17: Fish playing a Golden Age-y beat.      
7/14/17: -> Golden Age  
7/14/17: Nice!      
7/14/17: Dude, Trey, PLEASE just play this song a half or full step down from now on.      
7/14/17: I know vocals don't matter as much with Phish, but Trey trying to sing this song just hurts me, every time.      
7/14/17: I am not one of those O NO FLUBS people, but that was awful.      
7/14/17: Right after the end of the composed bit of Golden Age, -> Your Pet Cat. Nice save!      
7/14/17: I'm going to officially remember this sequence as Your Pet Cat ->     [REDACTED] -> Your Pet Cat.
7/14/17: Fade-out segue into the debut of Leaves.      
7/14/17: Liking the Trey/Page vocal trading. Very musical-y.      
7/14/17: Very piano-heavy song. Digging it as much as one can dig a Phish ballad.      
7/14/17: Could see that being a great jam-landing-pad tune in the future. Hood next!      
7/14/17: Neat, arguably Type II stop-start section in the middle of Hood. Just slid it in there without ever losing momentum.      
7/14/17: Sorry, that was grosser than I meant it to be.      
7/14/17: But seriously, this is a neat take on Hood. WHICH JUST GOT NEATER BECAUSE -> WTU?      
7/14/17: ->     Hood peak  
7/14/17: That was awesome. Followed, oddly, by Shine a Light > Julius to close the set.      
7/14/17: That was a pretty swingin' Julius, tho.      
7/14/17: Love Is What We Are debut for the encore. Nice little reggae tune.      
7/14/17: Golgi now. I love the new/old juxtaposition there.      
7/14/17: That show had more of all the Phish things than most Phish shows, even if they felt like they were put together in a weird order.      
7/14/17: That it was the tour opener makes it even more impressive. Looking forward to more.