2012-06-19 Portsmouth I

The Verdict:
Minus being the genesis of the now-infamous "tucking" gag, the first Portsmouth show is just a long series of songs. And I mean long. The first set is thirteen songs and the second set plus the encore is another thirteen. Not that song length is the only marker of a show's quality, but this should give you an idea of how much (or how little, I guess) the band stretches out during this show.

That said, if you're here for two first sets, here are the highlights.

The first first set is about as straightforward as they come except for a Carl Gerhart sit-in during "Party Time," which is worth a listen. "Tube" finds a particularly nasty groove, but abandons it way too soon. The accelerating, high-energy jamlet in "Gin" hints at the massive, bliss-filled versions to come a few years down the road. And that's about it. It's worth noting that this is a particularly high-energy and well-arranged opening set, especially for 2012, but you're not going to hear much you haven't already heard.

Trey picking on Fish during "I Didn't Know" starts the "tucking" gag, which continues through the set-closing "Antelope."

The second first set continues this trend by opening with "Back On the Train" > "Rift." "Split Open and Melt" is the jam highlight of the show, such as it is, with a somewhat spacier and more abstract middle portion before the band returns to more familiar dissonance-based jamming to close out the song.

We get a surprisingly long string of first-set-style songs for the rest of the show, but "Lengthwise" -> "Maze" is notable for more "tucking" antics, including a number of fans being invited on stage, Trey playing his guitar with a lightsaber and declaring himself to be Fish's father, and Trey and Fish berating the dancing fans because they "suck at tucking."

On one hand, I love being able to type sentences like that because what other band would be so awesomely goofy on stage? On the other hand, when the tucking joke is the highlight of a three-hour show, it doesn't say much in favor of the rest of the show.

Things finish up with a nice take on "Slave," though!

The Live Show:
6/19/12: Will the Portsmouth run be anything more than just a long series of songs? Tune in to find out now!  
6/19/12: Sample opener seems ironic in the context of that last tweet.  
6/19/12: Party Time in the two-slot. Page taking a great organ solo.  
6/19/12: Carl Gerhart introduced by Trey and now taking a horn solo during Party Time.  
6/19/12: Simple is next, and the outro jam is Mike-led, as in the Bader Field version. Weird echo effects at the ve… https://t.co/3d4IDrUAwm  
6/19/12: Trey, in a rare response to the crowd's request, plays Tube next.  
6/19/12: Better than average groove in this version.  
6/19/12: I wish that this was twenty years ago and they just rode this groove for like fifteen minutes.  
6/19/12: SHORTEST TUBE EVAR. KDF is next.  
6/19/12: Short KDF, then Water in the Sky (fast) and Horn.  
6/19/12: Always fun to hear Phish do Babylon Baby.  
6/19/12: Gin.  
6/19/12: At the 7:00 mark, this Gin shifts into a new gear. Great band interplay.  
6/19/12: Fun build-up in that Gin, different from the latter-day 3.0 versions but still similar. Stealing Time is next.  
6/19/12: You know you're in a seriously first-setty first set when you get both KDF and Stealing Time.  
6/19/12: There are few things that feel more like '10-'12 Phish to me.  
6/19/12: Grungy, sort of broken-down jam here. Trey and Mike trading dirty licks. This is neat.  
6/19/12: > I Didn't Know
6/19/12: In honor of Carl Gerhart, Trey tells Fish to 'tuck in your shirt' before the vacuum cleaner solo.  
6/19/12: Looks like the set is going to end with Antelope.  
6/19/12: Trey exhorting Fish to 'Tuck in your dress, mon!' Then commanding the crowd to do the same. Ends with 'Tuc… https://t.co/H8xMCc1Lbz  
6/19/12: End first set.  
6/19/12: S2 starts off with BOTT. So that's weird.  
6/19/12: Nice, extended take on BOTT. It never really goes anywhere jam-wise, but is a nice, momentum-filled version. Next up is Rift.  
6/19/12: Rift seems like a weird choice here.  
6/19/12: Pretty clean take on Rift. SOAM is next.  
6/19/12: 'Split open and tuck.'  
6/19/12: Trey using an interestingly spacey guitar tone here during a tension-filled SOAM jam.  
6/19/12: Interesting version of SOAM. > Gumbo.
6/19/12: Number Line.  
6/19/12: Pretty sure Trey just played part of the Billy Breathes solo on purpose near the end of that Number Line as part of his solo.  
6/19/12: If so, that's pretty amazing.  
6/19/12: Trey returning to the dexterous noodle-y workout from Number Line here in the following LxL.  
6/19/12: Shine a Light next.  
6/19/12: Fish inviting fans to come 'tuck' onstage.  
6/19/12: Fish singing Lengthwise now. Now Trey and Fish berating the fans for tucking incorrectly.  
6/19/12: Trey and Fish adding 'tuck' to the Lengthwise lyrics in various ways now.  
6/19/12: Trey and Fish now interspersing insults of the crowd's tucking ability and Star Wars quotes.  
6/19/12: In the midst of that, Lengthwise -> Maze.  
6/19/12: Hot version of Maze right dere.  
6/19/12: Cavern.  
6/19/12: Fire.  
6/19/12: Encore is Mexican Cousin (!) into Slave.  
6/19/12: End show with a better-than-average Slave jam.  
6/19/12: So, minus the weird tucking and Star Wars shenanigans, that was a show that was essentially two first sets… https://t.co/V8yRSBQIK8    

2012-06-17 Atlantic City III

The Verdict:
The final night at Bader Field continues in the mold of the previous two shows, with a slightly more interesting first set and a second that combines the worst bits of the two previous nights.

Once again, there are no real highlights in the first set. The rote set might not have the energy of the previous two nights, but it's got some rarer tunes, like "Brother," "Jim," "Dogs Stole Things," "NICU," "Foam," and "Timber." There's a lot of shredding, if you're into that sort of thing, on "Brother," "Timber," and a massively heavy "Walls of the Cave."

"Drowned" opens the second set, and the jam out of it is about as platonically Phish as it can be, going space funk for a few minutes while Trey Plays That One Chord Progression He Does and Page Uses That One Organ Tone He Uses, and then it's over and we follow the fade-out into "2001." "2001" and the "Reba" that follows are probably the highlights of this set (or show?), for what that's worth.

The rest of the set is pretty standard. "Chalkdust" is a solid, rocked-out version that ends in a nonstandard cloud of noise, out of which "Caspian" comes. This is the shortest "Caspian" ever (maybe true?) because at the beginning of the jam Trey hits on the "Silent" riff and pulls off a great segue. That sets up two set-ending tunes "Bug," then "ADITL" before a really oddly-placed "Disease" that actually ends the set.

"Gotta Jibboo" and "Quinn" make up the equally weirdly chosen encore.

The Live Review:
6/17/12: And now, the final of the three Bader Field shows.  
6/17/12: Brother opener.  
6/17/12: Some nice melodic playing from Trey there. Runaway Jim next.  
6/17/12: Dogs Stole Things in the three-slot after a pretty standard Jim.  
6/17/12: This song is always creepier than I remember it being.  
6/17/12: Some more songs happened. Boogie On, NICU, and now Foam.  
6/17/12: Solid take on Foam. Wilson next.  
6/17/12: Timber next! Jam starts with some pretty great guitar lines from Trey.  
6/17/12: Moody noodling happening now. That's fun to say, 'moody noodling.'  
6/17/12: Fun take on Timber. Trey quizzing the audience about song endings again afterwards.  
6/17/12: Fluffhead!  
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO… https://t.co/9VUv8ZRGxj  
6/17/12: Signs that I might need to take a break from Phish for awhile: I'm watching a War On Drugs concert video w… https://t.co/RBT3RlSztB  
6/17/12: Set continues after a mostly tight Fluffhead with Walls.  
6/17/12: After a Walls outro jam that returned oddly to the chorus progression (or at least Trey did), we continue… https://t.co/QxhNWYW6eC  
6/17/12: S2 opens with Drowned.  
6/17/12: Drowned evolves pretty quickly into a straightforward but fun space-funk jam. Mike playing a big role.  
6/17/12: Jam sputters out pretty quickly, but out of the haze comes 2001.  
6/17/12: Nice long intro to 2001.  
6/17/12: Nice, lengthy-ish take on 2001 leads into Reba.  
6/17/12: Pretty great Reba here.  
6/17/12: Roses Are Free  
6/17/12: Band teases another post-Roses jam ala Worcester, but Trey pulls out Chalkdust instead.  
6/17/12: Trey directing Chalkdust in a tension-y direction there briefly.  
6/17/12: Trey giving the scales a huge workout and Page giving the organ a huge workout during this version. Huge n… https://t.co/5sjNz3x9VI  
6/17/12: Weird, loop-filled ending to the song as well.  
6/17/12: Rest of the band adding to the noise now.  
6/17/12: > Caspian
6/17/12: Caspian goes short, as Trey replicates the Silent In the Morning riff and -> Silent occurs. Bug is next, a… https://t.co/W5Zf7Wudtv  
6/17/12: Page-only outro to Bug leads into Day In the Life.  
6/17/12: Noise rock at the end of ADITL leads into Disease.  
6/17/12: This is the tenth song of the second set.  
6/17/12: End set with a spicy Type I Disease.  
6/17/12: That sounded sort of gross.    

2012-06-16 Atlantic City II

The Verdict:
The second night in Atlantic City keeps the energy coming, but it's a very third-quarter-focused show if you're looking for improv.

"Mike's Groove" sets the rock and roll bar high by opening the show. A punchy "Halley's" > "MFMF" makes a nice midset combo, too. "Possum" features a delicate breakdown in the middle before ramping back up. Overall, it's a first set. Honestly, by the end, it feels like it could have been a bit shorter. But if you like concise, high-energy Phish, you'll get a kick out of it.

"Crosseyed" starts off the second set, but doesn't really turn into a jam vehicle. Instead, the band explores rocking, Type I territory for a few minutes fading into a haze of noise out of which "Slave," of all things, materializes. Trey teases the "Slave" riff near the end of "Crosseyed," actually, but then doesn't seem to be able to get the whole band on board for the ->, and instead settles for a full stop before "Slave" starts. Perhaps because of its odd placement, this version is particularly deep, and takes a patient journey to its conclusion.

"Light" comes next, and features both a vocal mashup with "Crosseyed" and a "Manteca" sandwich. The jam proper ain't bad either.

This set, too, might overstay its welcome after the fun "Light": it seems like "Golgi" is a great set closer, but then there is another thirty minutes of music after that that doesn't really fit at all into the flow of the set. I mean, I like "Sand" and "Number Line," but it feels like the band is playing longer here just to fill minutes.

That said, come for the high-energy first set, stay for the "Slave" and the "Light."

The Live Review:
6/16/12: Mike's Song opener.  
6/16/12: Mike's is a satisfying first-setty take and dumps nicely into Hydrogen.  
6/16/12: Nellie Kane tease from Trey in Groove.  
6/16/12: Nice Gumbo > Halley's combo after the Mike's Groove.
6/16/12: Nice on-a-dime segue out of Halley's jam into MFMF.  
6/16/12: Wolfman's next.  
6/16/12: Wolfman's kicking around at the edges of the box a little bit. Trey and Page introducing a little bit of tension in the jam.  
6/16/12: Trey starts up The Horse, then stops.  
6/16/12: Trey doesn't follow through with The Horse because 'I got distracted by how stupid the ending of MFMF is.' Fish disagrees.  
6/16/12: Fish's favorite song ending is MFMF. Presumably this changes when he writes Ass Handed.  
6/16/12: Trey says the end of Maze is his favorite.  
6/16/12: Page's favorite is Lawn Boy. Instead of asking Mike his favorite too, they just launch into Lawn Boy. Poor Mike.  
6/16/12: Possum. Stash tease from Trey during.  
6/16/12: In a weird way, I appreciate reviewing these early 3.0 shows more now. I tweet way fewer times as there's… https://t.co/iIrYEOBEaE  
6/16/12: I will probably tweet a third as often during this show as I did during any given BD show, for example.  
6/16/12: Which is probably great for the economy,  because it means I'll spend more time today doing my actual fucking job!  
6/16/12: Neat little noodly breakdown in the middle of Possum before the energy level ramps right back up.  
6/16/12: More 'Woo!'s from the crowd during the beginning of PYITE.  
6/16/12: PYITE ends with a weird loop that then continues into the intro to Ocelot.  
6/16/12: As much as I generally just fall asleep during Ocelot, I have to admit that Mike's putting in some particu… https://t.co/0NxjE35xRa  
6/16/12: Suzy to close the set.  
6/16/12: I'm not sure if it's because I've gotten interrupted a bunch of times during the listen, but that set seemed incredibly long.  
6/16/12: Keeps me wondering about how useful brevity might be to a truly quality Phish show.  
6/16/12: Most shows these days run around three hours long, yet most of the best remembered 1.0 shows (it seems) were closer to two hours.  
6/16/12: Nobody's looking back to the fall '97 shows this month and saying 'Eh, but that was only a two-hour show.'  
6/16/12: Anyway, end set 1.  
6/16/12: Set two starts off with Crosseyed.  
6/16/12: Fiery Type I jam in Crosseyed winds down into something more muted. Trey chording, others creating atmosphere.  
6/16/12: Really neat transition out of this ethereal jam. Trey playing a slowed-down version of the Slave intro. -> Slave
6/16/12: Neat having Slave so early in the set. A great version, too. Really peaky.  
6/16/12: > Light
6/16/12: Light jam includes The Light/Crosseyed interlocking lyrics.  
6/16/12: More Manteca-like jam than even usual growing out of Light tonight.  
6/16/12: -> Manteca
6/16/12: -> Light
6/16/12: Fish picking up the pace, and now we're taking off on a high-velocity rock jam. Page to the organ.  
6/16/12: Revisiting the Light/Crosseyed vocal mashup now as the jam reaches a fever pitch. This is really cool.  
6/16/12: Lots of atonal noise and loops after the vocal reprise.  
6/16/12: Great, antics-filled jam there. Theme is next.  
6/16/12: > Golgi
6/16/12: Weird placement for Golgi, as the set continues with Sand.  
I didn't get a chance to finish reviewing 6/16 yesterday. Sorry! Gonna finish it up now.  
6/16/12: 'Still waiting' quotes during the Sand jam peak.  
6/16/12: Otherwise, a pretty standard take on the song. Seems like an odd choice this late in the show.  
6/16/12: > Number Line
6/16/12: That was quite possibly the least interesting, lowest-key take on Number Line I've ever heard. And I say that as a fan of the song.  
6/16/12: > Antelope.
6/16/12: End set 2.  
6/16/12: GTBT encore.  
6/16/12: Another very 2012 show here (of which I suspect I'll review a lot in the next few months).  
6/16/12: Almost hilariously straightforward first set. An interestingly-placed Slave and a Light that sandwiched Ma… https://t.co/Mg7nL9qJyD  
6/16/12: The rest of the second set were just normal songs with 'Still waiting' vocal quotes.    

2012-06-15 Atlantic City I

The Verdict:
The first night of the Atlantic City run is probably the strongest of the three. All three nights offer by-the-book first sets and then stretch out a bit during the third quarter in their own ways.

This is probably the best of the three first sets. Even though all three of them offer up straightforward, hit-based setlists, this one keeps the energy level high throughout and there are some solid Type I-style highlights. It's nice to hear "Camel Walk" and "Cities," "Tube" gets a solid groove workout, and "Stash" is a better-than-average take.

After the second set's "My Soul" opener, things get weird with "Birds of a Feather," of all things. The jam gets loopy and spacey pretty quickly, before heading into an ambient space that segues perfectly into "Back On the Train." "BOTT" itself goes almost-plinko before segueing nicely into "Heavy Things."

It's somewhat damning praise to say the highlight of the Atlantic City run is "Birds" -> "BOTT" -> "Heavy Things," but there it is.

Phish - 6/15/12 "Birds Of A Feather > Back On The Train > Heavy Things" from Phish on Vimeo.

The second set finishes with some more straightforward tunes, but a Type I "Twist" is nice to hear, "Piper" features a few minutes of space jamming, and an ambient end that sets up a beautiful segue into "Billy Breathes." From there it's a standard-but-punchy "Sally" > "Bowie" combo to end the set.

The Live Review:
6/15/12: The Sloth.  
6/15/12: My Sweet One next.  
6/15/12: Slow-tempo 46 Days after a quick MSO.  
6/15/12: Big ol' blues-rock peak from Trey.  
6/15/12: TUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUBE  
6/15: Great Mike/Fish groove in this version.  
6/15/12: Cities! I feel like this one has been MIA lately in Phish-world.  
6/15/12: Trey puts a neat twist on the end of Cities that echoes the It's Ice riff (albeit in the different key). > It's Ice.
6/15/12: Ginseng Sullivan and Stash follow It's Ice. Hoping Stash will open up what's been a well-played but straightforward opening set.  
6/15/12: I know '12 isn't really known for its first sets in the way '15-'17 are, but a guy can still hope :)  
6/15/12: Some nice low-key, full-band interplay early on in Stash.  
6/15/12: Nice, technically tight build-up to Stash conclusion.  
6/15/12: Simple next.  
6/15/12: Weird to go back to the days when Simple was a seven-minute song, nearly always.  
6/15/12: That said, neat little noodly outro jam there. > The Wedge  
6/15/12: Stealing Time.  
6/15/12: Going back in time a few years with Phish, I'm always struck by a) how much tighter and faster they sound,… https://t.co/pu1IMQiJd0  
6/15/12: These days, I'm happy to sacrifice some speed and accuracy in the name of a version of a band that can do something like the BD.  
6/15/12: I mean, I'd prefer speed *and* creativity, but alas time and age don't really do that combination any favors.  
6/15/12: Coil is going to round out the opening set.  
6/15/12: This might be 2012 Phish, but I still didn't expect them to open S2 with My Soul.  
6/15/12: Really good Type I blues jam coming out of this My Soul.  
6/15/12: Birds in the two-slot.  
6/15/12: Trey switching scales to introduce some tension into this Birds outro.  
6/15/12: The jam is riding Page's organ into a Type II space.  
6/15/12: 'riding Page's organ'  
6/15/12: You know, just in case you missed that the first time.  
6/15/12: Trey deploying some loops and the pitch shifter.  
6/15/12: Sparse contributions here from Trey and Page, but a nice backbone from the rhythm section.  
6/15/12: Shuffle out of the ambient-ish jam leads to a perfect -> BOTT.
6/15/12: Ooh! Page bringing in the plinko tones!  
6/15/12: Interesting loop-funk ending to BOTT. -> Heavy Things.
6/15/12: Normally I wouldn't be thrilled with Birds -> BOTT -> Heavy Things as the meat of a second set, but this i… https://t.co/qQ7qQ0qo6y  
6/15/12: Twist. Piano-heavy, mellow intro before Trey kicks into the riff properly.  
6/15/12: Pretty Type I take on Twist. Ending 'Woo!'s carry over into the introduction of Piper.  
6/15/12: 'Woo!'s continuing as Piper builds. Love it.  
6/15/12: Piper staying in a fast-paced, Type I zone, but there's some great work from Trey and Page keeping it interesting.  
6/15/12: Continuing to pick up speed now.  
6/15/12: Rhythm section pushing the pace and pushing the jam into a more abstract space now.  
6/15/12: Legit ambient jam now. Mike bass bombs. Oddly enough, having mid-BD flashbacks.  
6/15/12: ALL PHISH IS PHISH IT'S ALL CONNECTED MAN  
6/15/12: Trey pulls the riff out of the ambient haze and -> Billy Breathes. That was gorgeous.
6/15/12: Trey biffs the outro solo a little, but then extends to something approaching a brief jam. Sally next.  
6/15/12: Brief plinko action happening here in Sally.  
6/15/12: Short Sally leads into Bowie to close the set.  
6/15/12: Series of teases from various band members during Bowie. Stash, I think, and Birds, and It's Ice teases.  
6/15/12: A 'Woo!' vocal tease, too. Ginseng Sullivan and Simple.  
6/15/12: I feel like I'm, like, reliving it all, man.  
6/15/12: This is neat: https://t.co/l4CT0Tnr7R  
6/15/12: First Tube encore!  
6/15/12: Overall, not a typical Phish second set, but lots of good stuff in there.  
6/15/12: That Birds -> BOTT -> Heavy Things sequence was great. Piper -> Billy Breathes was beautiful. Nice Bowie, too.  
6/15/12: Some proto-Tahoe-Tweezer 'Woo!'s happening from the crowd toward the end of First Tube.    

2017-09-03 Dick's III

The Verdict:
Summer tour ends with a solid show that doesn't reach the heights of the tour's best shows, but is a definite improvement over 9/2 and a worthy performance to go out on.

Notably, the show doesn't start with a fifteen minute jam, but instead the almost hilariously short "Buffalo Bill." It's hard not to see this as a joke on the band's part after the long openers during the previous two nights.

We continue with a jumbled take on "Moma Dance" before the energy (and technique) picks up a bit for "Birds" and "Sugar Shack." "Most Events Aren't Planned" continues to be a highlight during its second playthrough ever, getting expanded upon a bit and breaking the band out of what is a fairly rote set up until that point.

The rest of the middle-set is fine, but it's really just a holding pattern until we get to a short but interesting Type II "46 Days" and a '15-style take on "Gin" to close the set out.

Set two kicks off with a massive, 21-minute "Disease" that serves as a great Last Jam for the summer, slowly deconstructing itself throughout the entire running time before ending up with a wide open ambient jam that "Light" rises out of.

"Light" spends a bit too much time in its usual zone for my liking, but after that it departs for a more playful groove, adding some levity to the "Disease"'s darkness before dropping nicely into "Rise/Come Together." This is a welcome transition for me, as this tune is quickly becoming one of my favorite "landing pad" songs for the band to play.

Lest you think we're headed for a weak fourth quarter show, we aren't. "Piper" gets right back on the jamming train, visiting some bread-and-butter spaces courtesy of Trey's echoplex and Page's synth. "Meatstick" > "2001" take us on one more round of space jamming before we time-travel back to 1993 with an absolutely tension-soaked take on "Possum"...and "Suzy" takes us home for good.

"Waste" > "First Tube" might sound like an odd encore, but it feels like an absolutely appropriate way to close out the run.

The best news? As of right now, you can still watch the entire show on YouTube:

The Live Review:
9/3/17: Buffalo Bill opener. Love it.  
9/3/17: Moma Dance. Can still hear Mike really well.  
9/3/17: Standard take on Moma > Birds.
9/3/17: Trey playing around a little with the Birds solo. Hot-but-brief Type I jam.  
9/3/17: Change of pace with Sugar Shack.     
9/3/17: Solid, slightly extended take on Sugar Shack.  
9/3/17: Most Events Aren't Planned is next.  
9/3/17: Loved this tune at the BD. Happy to hear it again.  
9/3/17: Awesome use of the synth during the breakdown.  
9/3/17: Great solo from Trey. Awesome piano underneath from Page. Big rock jam forming.  
9/3/17: Love that tune and the jam that follows. BOTT is next.  
9/3/17: Nice, jazzy start to the BOTT jam before Trey works it up into its usual lather.  
9/3/17: Leaves! I really like this new tune. Decent placement for it, too.  
9/3/17: Interspersing some solo fills with the 'Breathe' refrain at the end of the song.  
9/3/17: The Wedge is next.  
9/3/17: Standard The Wedge outro, but I think Trey snuck a Stash tease in there partway through.  
9/3/17: > 46 Days
9/3/17: 46 Days jam getting a little funkier than usual. Trey on echo, Page laying down some circus organ.  
9/3/17: Really clever use of echoplex and synth here while the rhythm section holds it down. This is great.  
9/3/17: Band does a great, peak-y job of bringing the jam back to 46 Days proper.  
9/3/17: Vocal refrain includes some of Trey singing along to his guitar, Jimi-style.  
9/3/17: > Bathtub Gin
9/3/17: Nice breakdown early on in the Gin jam. Just drums and piano there for a second. Now some Trey noodling.  
9/3/17: Gin picking up steam again now.  
9/3/17: Nice, slow build happening here.  
9/3/17: End set.  
9/3/17: With the exception of the Buffalo Bill opener and the Most Events Aren't Planned jam, that first set was pr… https://t.co/PwlGl7FfFC  
9/3/17: During a run that had standout opening sets for the first two nights, this is still, unfortunately, the wea… https://t.co/OSts0eFWQz  
9/3/17: S2 starts with Disease.  
9/3/17: Jam starts typically, with some atypically strong Trey soloing until the 9 minute mark, where the bottom fa… https://t.co/7ZqCKWa7Hz  
9/3/17: Some arrhythmic looping from Trey as the band carries on.  
9/3/17: Band fades out and some ethereal soloing from Mike.  
9/3/17: Band coming back in, adding structure. Angry, Carini-style jam.  
9/3/17: Fish keeping this really abstract with some excellent drumming.  
9/3/17: Really great continuing dissonance without losing momentum.  
9/3/17: Definitely taking me back to some of the weirder BD jams.  
9/3/17: Full-on ambient jam now.  
9/3/17: Seriously Spooky.  
9/3/17: Whoops. Not Spooky the song. Just the adjective.  
9/3/17: Reminds me of a more meditative version of the insane 2011 Gorge Rock and Roll jam.  
9/3/17: Trey starts into Light slowly and the rest of the band joins in. Nice segue.  
9/3/17: Trey finds a neat riff and the band departs the typical Light jamming structure for something a bit more playful.  
9/3/17: Great interplay happening right now.  
9/3/17: Nice mellow groove happening now.  
9/3/17: Mike and Fish drive the jam into a more shuffle-y direction. Trey chording to add an extra layer of complexity.  
9/3/17: Not my favorite jam tone-wise, but technically pretty fascinating.  
9/3/17: -> Rise/Come Together. Nice segue.
9/3/17: I've said it before, but I love this song as a jam landing pad.  
9/3/17: > Piper
9/3/17: Piper departs its usual jam almost immediately for something that sounds like Woman From Tokyo briefly, the… https://t.co/13cAOZYlfi  
9/3/17: The rhythm section has been huge for this whole set, in case I haven't mentioned that yet.  
9/3/17: More echoplex and organ combo action like in the Disease.  
9/3/17: Great, spacey jam there that never really lost momentum over ten minutes. Fade into Meatstick!  
9/3/17: METSTEAK  
9/3/17: Fun, brief take on Meatstick. Fades nicely into a synth-laced 2001.  
9/3/17: Mike sounding a lot more upfront during this version than usual. Not sure if it's just the recording mix or what, but I like it.  
9/3/17: Wonderfully old-school, tension-filled Possum, then Suzy.  
9/3/17: End set. 2  
9/3/17: Waste  
9/3/17: > First Tube to wind things up
9/3/17: That second set had some seriously heavy improv, with Rise/Come Together just serving as an intermission be… https://t.co/pFKa3p48ns  
9/3/17: Don't let the track lengths scare you away, it's a great set front to back.  
9/3/17: So basically the Dick's run ended up as one show with a great first set and a lackluster second set, one sh… https://t.co/SH0M6NenLC    

2017-09-02 Dick's II

The Verdict:
It was almost inevitable that the second night of Dick's would fall short of the spectacular first night. But it falls even a little further than you might have expected.

Things start off wonderfully, with a "Simple" that goes the route of the previous night's "Blaze On," exploring fifteen minutes of compelling jam space before coming to an end.

The "Martian Monster" that follows is short, but is one of the more interesting versions I've heard, with Trey deploying a great improvised rock riff and Page piling on the samples. "Reba" is gorgeous, and is in contention for my favorite version I've seen live (7/24/15 is the only competition).

A great first set continues with a "Sand" that fades in out of a ex nihilo ambient drone, a "Crazy Sometimes" that's just begging to get taken deep, and a "Limb By Limb" that teases, of all things, "Yellow Brick Road."

This middle section doesn't have much in the way of exploration, but it keeps the ball rolling until we get to the set-ending one-two punch of a Type II "Wolfman's" and a flaming hot "Walls."

Maybe if this show switched sets it would make more sense, because for a first set, this is fantastic, almost better than the previous night's.

From there, though, things go downhill. The second set starts with "Everything's Right," of all songs, and while it does depart for Type II shores briefly, it's a pretty rote jam, which rolls into an equally straightforward take on "Fuego," with a standard "Steam" following.

"Chalkdust" goes the tension-rock route and does it well, but it's followed by a "Mike's" that signals, as it often does in 3.0, the end of improv for the night. Had this version proceeded into a second jam, I might feel differently about this set. Instead, it segues into "Winterqueen." "What's the Use?" is nice to hear next, but honestly by this point the set has lost all its steam.

If you're a connoisseur of "Slave," you'll want to check out this version: it features a really patient build-up and a lot of group listening from the band without really departing from the tune's usual structure.

It's also notable that the encore is "The Lizards" > "Antelope," which is nice, but after that lackluster and weird second set, the extended encore feels less like a gift and more like an apology.

The Live Review:
9/2/17: Well, if 9/1 was one of my favorite shows of the year, 9/2 was one of my least favorite (live, at least).  
9/2/17: Curious see how it stands up to a second listen.  
9/2/17: Simple opener.  
9/2/17: Some standout work from Page and Mike during the beginning of this Simple jam.  
9/2/17: I think the mix is different on these Dick's SBDs compared to the BD SBDs. Is that possible?  
9/2/17: Thought it was my headphones during 9/1, but on the usual speakers today and Page and Mike are both clearer… https://t.co/rHaogeeBAS  
9/2/17: Shifting out of the usual Simple jam now into a bluesier space.  
9/2/17: Jam getting weirder now. Page on electric piano, then synth.  
9/2/17: Fish driving now. Mike back to the Floyd-bass from 9/1.  
9/2/17: Great little synth-funk jam now.  
9/2/17: Really digging this jam. Didn't remember it being so good.  
9/2/17: Jam winds down with some funk chording > Martian Monster.
9/2/17: Super-sample-heavy middle section in this version.  
9/2/17: Neat rock riff from Trey now that the full band is jamming on.  
9/2/17: Somewhat exploratory but short Martian Monster > Reba.
9/2/17: Reba w/ whistling ending.  
9/2/17: Some great Trey/Page interplay in the middle, and more intentional, melodic playing from Trey than is typical in Reba these days.  
9/2/17: Maybe my favorite Reba I've seen live, with the Shoreline '15 version being the only real competition.  
9/2/17: Weird ambient pulse after Reba. After about thirty seconds of that, Fish starts up the beat for Sand.  
9/2/17: Crazy Sometimes! I love this tune.  
9/2/17: Sand was a pretty typical (good) Sand.  
9/2/17: Great synth playing from Page on the outro to Crazy Sometimes.  
9/2/17: Short outro to Crazy Sometimes this time. > Limb By Limb.
9/2/17: Follow the Yellow Brick Road tease from Trey in LxL.  
9/2/17: That was neat. Otherwise, a pretty straightforward, compact version.  
9/2/17: Wolfman's is next.  
9/2/17: Echo-funk jamming in Wolfman's almost immediately. Great bassline from Mike.  
9/2/17: Echo jamming getting more insistent as Fish switches to a more frenetic beat.  
9/2/17: Smooth move out of the echo jamming back into the Wolfman's progression. Trey is going for a set-ending peak now.  
9/2/17: Walls set closer!  
9/2/17: I remember I was friggin dying of thirst during this song, but was there alone and didn't want to give up my spot until setbreak.  
9/2/17: Trey using some loops to make the peak even LOUDER than usual.  
9/2/17: End set.  
9/2/17: Second set opens, oddly, with Everything's Right.  
9/2/17: I actually really like Everything's Right, though. Does that make me a bad person?  
9/2/17: Or am I just bad at Phish?  
9/2/17: I'm really enjoying Trey's recent 'The world is fucked, but it's okay' songwriting theme because it's prett… https://t.co/4nep9N1D5o  
9/2/17: I mean, I like when Phish sings about taking care of your shoes and Uncle Ebeneezer, but I also like when T… https://t.co/9P3sI4EGed  
9/2/17: Page to the Rhodes (I think?) as Trey continues the outro lyrics.  
9/2/17: Heavy distortion from Trey leading some dark funk jamming.  
9/2/17: Neat contrast between Trey's tone and Page's.  
9/2/17: Almost a Wolfman's-style jam now.  
9/2/17: Pretty straightforward few minutes of jamming, but it's neat to hear Everything's Right get extended. Piano… https://t.co/qsg7kewiIG  
9/2/17: Fuego starts off with a typical Type I jam. Trey throwing a little flanger in there for a minute. That was odd.  
9/2/17: Jam stretches a few times, but never really breaks out of it the typical structure. Little bit of quiet int… https://t.co/QbHaLnNuWq  
9/2/17: > Steam
9/2/17: Both of those first two tunes sounded like the band trying to break into something bigger, but not quite being able to get there.  
9/2/17: Standard take on Steam. Quiets down at the end, but peters out and segues into Chalkdust.  
9/2/17: Odd setlist choice there.  
9/2/17: Nice little tension section in Chalkdust. They're rocking this out pretty successfully, eschewing any sort… https://t.co/QrFr7cro6b  
9/2/17: > Mike's
9/2/17: With a relatively improv-less S2 like this one, Mike's starting up always makes me groan. You just know at… https://t.co/T8cQnDF9N9  
9/2/17: I wish it wasn't that way, but second Mike's jams continue to be rare and Groove hasn't seen a serious outi… https://t.co/uPIMQTUmZU  
9/2/17: Maybe NYE 2014?  
9/2/17: > Winterqueen
9/2/17: I think I was being especially pissy at this show because I had high hopes of hearing my first-ever second… https://t.co/Thx1tCkig8  
9/2/17: Instead, friggin' Winterqueen.  
9/2/17: My griping aside, this is a nice, jazzy Winterqueen jam.  
9/2/17: The nice choice of a dynamic take on WTU? follows Winterqueen.  
9/2/17: Groove next.  
9/2/17: Slave To the Traffic Light  
9/2/17: Slower build than usual from the band here, and a neat riff from Trey.  
9/2/17: It's hard for me to have a favorite version of Slave, since they're all generally the same thing, but that… https://t.co/dCc8ZVpWDq  
9/2/17: Extended encore kicks off with The Lizards.  
9/2/17: This was my first The Lizards in person, I believe.  
9/2/17: > Antelope
9/2/17: Neat encore, though it's always sort of weird when the encore feels like an apology for the second set.  
9/2/17: The problem with this show is that N1 sets really high expectations, N2S1 keeps the energy going, and then… https://t.co/YkubZZgJzV  
9/2/17: Reminds me of BGCA '16, when there were five successive sets of amazing music, and the sixth was a surprisingly below-average set.  
9/2/17: For what it's worth, the first set here is amazing. Simple is a legit Type II jam, Reba is great, and there… https://t.co/tbCD4qeGz6  
9/2/17: Everything's Right is a fairly interesting jam to start the second set, but the rest is just weirdly built… https://t.co/mM1bDJSNHp  
9/2/17: Oh well. Wrapping up '17 (thus far) on Tuesday!    

2017-09-01 Dick's I

Note: There are no PhishTracks links to these shows yet, so there won't be links to particular songs below for the time being.


The Verdict:
This show is my favorite of 2017. I know that's saying a lot, what with the BD and pre-BD and all, but for my money this is the most consistently exploratory, balls-to-the-wall jammed show of the year. There are better (read "more interesting") jams from the BD and a few of the pre-BD shows, for sure, but no other show has the embarrassingly huge pile of improv that this show does.

"Blaze On" is a great opening statement, a near-15 minute jam that explores some synth jamming and a Floydesque bass-based jam before returning to the song proper.

"555" hints at a return to a normal first set, but it doesn't happen. "Breath and Burning" goes deep again, just like it's debut version, transitioning to shuffling Type II before wrapping back around to home base. "Theme" is a pretty standard take, but it features a great one-a-dime segue into "Free," which, like the BD "Free," gets a bit extended in the middle with a full-band funk jam that isn't normally there. In an age of jammed-out "Tube"s, this one's weirder and more delicate than most, and likely my favorite. "Roggae" is, of course, its usual beautiful self, and "More" ends the set like a fist in the air.

Keep in mind, this is all before a five-song second set that sees the first three songs span an hour of jamming.

Yep, you should really just listen to the "No Men" > "Carini" > "Ghost" sequence that makes up the meat of the second set. The first two tunes pick up where some of the best BD jams left off, exploring synth-filled spaces, featuring some KAOS action from Trey, revisiting the ambient territory the band has mined so successfully in the past, and generally just exploring for 45 minutes without so much as a wasted note. "Ghost" goes a slightly more standard bliss(ish), peak(ish) route, but after the first two tunes, this feels warranted: we've gotten the entire summer's improvisation in microcosm over the course of this hour.

A fiery "Hood" > "Cavern" of course, follows to wrap things up.

Though the rest of the Dick's run might be a little short of improv, frankly the band brings enough on night one to last for three nights' worth of shows. And it's great.

The Live Review:
9/1/17: About to review what is probably my favorite show of this amazing year and likely my favorite of the 39 shows I've seen live.  
9/1/17: So, yeah, it'll likely be a pretty positive review.  
9/1/17: Blaze On opener. I remember hoping this run would follow in the footsteps of the BD, and at least for the first night, it did.  
9/1/17: Out-of-nowhere huge Blaze On jam, just after my wife and I found the worst seats ever in the stands two minutes before lights.  
9/1/17: During the rush to found a place to sit, I managed to cut the shit out of my foot and it was bleeding everywhere.  
9/1/17: Halfway into this jam, though, I'd just given up on it and was dancing on one foot :)  
9/1/17: Some fiery Type I action from Trey to get things rolling.  
9/1/17: We're probably still in the part of the song I missed the first time, trying to make a band-aid out of found objects.  
9/1/17: Echo-chording now.  
9/1/17: Some neat electric piano from Page now underneath Trey's chording. Then Page to synth.  
9/1/17: After a brief mellow section, building back up now with Mike leading. Serious reverb on the bass.  
9/1/17: After the spacey jam, the band working its way back to the Blaze On progression. Trey rocking out.  
9/1/17: Vocal refrain now.  
9/1/17: Pause after the end of the tune. Mike noodling a bit. Then, 555.  
9/1/17: Still waiting on the obvious blues-rock odyssey the outro of this song promises every damn time :)  
9/1/17: Great work from Mike during this 555 outro. I just put headphones in and I think they're making it easier to hear him in the mix.  
9/1/17: If my memory of this show is accurate, 555 is the only non-encore song where nothing amazing happens.  
9/1/17: Blaze On jam was definitely not THE BEST EVA, but as a show opener? Hell yes it's awesome.  
9/1/17: Breath and Burning.  
9/1/17: This is absolutely not my favorite song, but I do like how frequently it gets taken for a walk.  
9/1/17: Plus, Fish's beats are great.  
9/1/17: Upbeat shuffle from Fish on the Breath and Burning outro. Trey rock-soloing over it. Page on organ.  
9/1/17: Trey fading out. Letting Page and Mike lead the way.  
9/1/17: Neat shuffling jam emerging now.  
9/1/17: Jam never strays *too* far away from B+B proper, but a great little bit of playing nonetheless.  
9/1/17: The increasingly rare Theme is next.  
9/1/17: Trey machine-gunning the end of Theme pretty effectively.  
9/1/17: REALLY nice segue into Free at the end of Theme. I'd forgotten about that. Crowd (including me) went NUTS.  
9/1/17: Little noodly section from Trey before the vocals kick in. That's different.  
9/1/17: Mike solo leading the way now, Trey backing it up with more echo-chords.  
9/1/17: Neat synth effects from Page.  
9/1/17: Mellow, synth-laced bass jam now. Actually...that may have been Page on electric piano and Trey on KAOS pad.  
9/1/17: Does Trey have one of those? That's what it sounded like.  
9/1/17: Really enjoyed the extended Free there. Tube next, also getting extended.  
9/1/17: Loops and synth anchored by Mike's bass is making this a super-weird Tube jam. So far, Fish is keeping the beat, though.  
9/1/17: Killer riff from Trey rising above the noise.  
9/1/17: Some great interplay now between Page and Trey in a Tube jam that's left Tube behind except for Fish's drumming.  
9/1/17: Band brings the jam down slightly for a minute, then moves back in a Tube-like direction.  
9/1/17: Roggae.  
9/1/17: Roggae will complete a five-song run of 9+ minute songs in a first set that opened with a fifteen minute jam.  
9/1/17: We're doing pretty good here, methinks.  
9/1/17: More wraps up the first set with a Number Line-style guitar outro from Trey.  
9/1/17: Excellent opening set, in keeping with the great first sets of the early summer.  
9/1/17: Big Blaze On jam, little jams in B+B and Free, and the most experimental Tube of 3.0 most likely.  
9/1/17: S2 opens with No Men.  
9/1/17: Trey laying down a Type I solo with an extremely distorted, screechy tone. Rest of the band playing it straight so far.  
9/1/17: Band just rocking out in more typical style now.  
9/1/17: Crazy, squealing end to the Type I jam, followed by a vocal refrain.  
9/1/17: Some wacky loops from Trey lead Page over to the electric piano and results in some dense arpeggiated action from both.  
9/1/17: Fading out now.  
9/1/17: Great drumming from Fish and some excellent synth action from Page in this broken-down section.  
9/1/17: All-around spacey jam. Recalling some of the better BD ambient jams, albeit with more Fish drumming.  
9/1/17: I REALLY like Mike's bass tone. Very Floydian.  
9/1/17: Jam taking a turn for the sinister now.  
9/1/17: Fish picking up the beat more as the rest of the band continues in ambient mode.  
9/1/17: Now the band is slowly but surely transitioning back into rock mode (with Page staying on the synth).  
9/1/17: Neat descending chord progression from Trey.  
9/1/17: Another big ol' riff from Trey now. Band speeding up behind it.  
9/1/17: After that second jam (post-ambient), band returns to No Men proper for one more vocal refrain.  
9/1/17: Trey disrupts the resolution with a weird guitar tone, then cuts in quickly with the opening riff to Carini.  
9/1/17: Neat, overlapping 'Carini had a lumpy head' vocals heading into the jam.  
9/1/17: Starting off with some more great distorted guitar/synth interplay here.  
9/1/17: This jam is sort of picking up where the previous concluded in an interesting way.  
9/1/17: It's got the same sort of deconstructed feel. Page adding laser sounds. Yep, laser sounds.  
9/1/17: Jam going mellow and ambient now. Actually, that might be the KAOS pad again. Page doing some electric piano stuff.  
9/1/17: Great build-up now, taking the jam in a different direction from No Men.  
9/1/17: Almost reminded me of a Slave jam there for a minute.  
9/1/17: Great, high-energy interplay going on here between all four members.  
9/1/17: Loop-heavy peak now. Page picked the exact right time to switch over to the organ briefly.  
9/1/17: Almost a Party Time-like jam happening now.  
9/1/17: Neat little outro jam after that big peak now.  
9/1/17: > Ghost
9/1/17: Great little fill from Trey leading into the drop.  
9/1/17: Revisiting that Floyd-sounding space early on in this jam.  
9/1/17: Neat transition out of another dark jam space into something more approaching the '15 style bliss jam template.  
9/1/17: Build up leads to a really fun jam on some blues chords.  
9/1/17: -> No Men!
9/1/17: I'd completely forgotten about that.  
9/1/17: -> echoes and synth jam.
9/1/17: > Hood
9/1/17: Page deploying the synth briefly during the Hood intro.  
9/1/17: Larger than usual peak ending crests in a wall of noise. > Cavern.
9/1/17: End set after Cavern.  
9/1/17: The Horse > Silent kicks off the encore.
9/1/17: Particularly distorted and heavy Zero ends the show.  
9/1/17: If you're looking for wall-to-wall improvisation, this show has it.  
9/1/17: No Men and Carini remind me a bit of the other two back-to-back 3.0 jam titans, the Albany Seven Below > Ghost.  
9/1/17: They're both huge jams, but also borrow a lot from each other, and at 45 minutes, it all can feel a little repetitive.  
9/1/17: That said, I'm not sure there's a '17 show out there like this one (and that includes the Jam-Filled night).  
9/1/17: I'll give my rarest recommendation: that you listen to the whole show and not hunt for 'highlights.'  
9/1/17: A great show. Definitely not as great as I remember from being there, but what ever is on the relisten?    

2017-08-06 Baker's Dozen XIII (Glazed)

The Verdict:
It's the end! Rather than reinventing the wheel, Phish plays to their strengths in this final BD show, and wraps things up on a high note, including an encore that packed a surprising emotional punch even for me, who's only listened to the recordings of the shows, months after the fact, separated out over a few weeks.

Like 8/5, the first set is another assortment of random short songs: some rarities, some typical first-setty tunes. Collectively, they slot together into something approaching coherence and sent me into setbreak feeling good about the show so far. It's possible that the rough take on "Rift" precipitated the following "Ha Ha Ha," but either way, it's always good to hear the Fishman tune. "Camel Walk" is a nice setlist surprise as well.

"Crazy Sometimes" is quickly becoming one of my favorite non-jammed Phish songs, but it's certainly begging to extended, too. That does not happen here. It does kick of a trilogy of "crazy" songs, though, segueing nicely into "Saw It Again," which in turn leads to "Sanity." Page's "Most Events Aren't Planned" is definitely the highlight (read: "only") jam of the set, but it fits Phish as well, and "Bug" serves as a nice cooldown after. The exclamation mark of the set, though, is of course the "Izabella" bustout. Not only do they play the tune, though, but Trey lays into it like it's twenty years ago. A run highlight indeed.

The second set opens with a massive "Simple," the last of the many, many twentysomethingminute jams from this run. It's definitely not the most creative, the most interesting, or the most complex, but as it plows through a few minutes of filthy groove to reach a patient, extended build into a series of massive rock peaks, it captures the fundamental essence of so much of this summer's Light Side jamming an sends us on that particular magic carpet ride one last time.

The jam fades into recent Trey favorite and excellent jam landing pad "Rise/Come Together," then there's the surprise "Starman" cover, and, of course, "YEM." This "YEM" is a doozy and is delivered with all the energy and intensity that the Baker's Dozen version deserves.

The rest of the set and encore is a great Phishy victory lap. "Loving Cup" closes the set proper, before the encore sees a surprisingly emotional take on "On The Road Again," then revisits "Lawn Boy" via a "Tweeprise"-like riff, gives Mike a chance to play his previously aborted "Weekapaug Groove" intro riff, and then explodes into "Tweeprise," referencing the first-night "Tweezer" and bringing the whole shebang to a close.

I'll likely say more about the run as a whole in my summer wrap-up post later, but a thought, prefaced by the acknowledgment that the Baker's Dozen run is, frankly, unparalleled in terms of audacity (and, arguably, musicality) by anything else Phish has done in its career.

That said, I've heard a lot of people say that you can't analyze these shows individually and must only consider the run as a whole. Over the course of reviewing each show of the run, I've thought about this a lot and ultimately understand it in two ways.

Positively speaking, this statement implies to me that there's something special about this entire event (there is) and that to analyze its constituent parts too deeply distracts from the overall effect. I agree, all things considered. Every time I've written one of these thirteen reviews and found myself being negative about this or that aspect of this or that show, I've internally chastised myself for being whiny in the midst of what is perhaps the band's greatest achievement, perhaps the band's most consistent tour. On the other hand...

...taking each of these shows as they are, individually, reveals the weaknesses in the run's approach as well. There are lots of first sets with little to no flow, setlists that are, at first glance, collections or rarities in keeping with the no repeats gimmick, but are often, on balance, piles of weird songs thrown together just for the sake of playing a lot of different songs. First sets are just flat-out better when Phish plays with a smaller pool of songs. Do I want to hear "Ocelot" three times during an eight-show Phish run down the west coast? Of course not. But these sets feel less deliberate than usual. When the band is experimenting and taking chances musically in the first sets (as in the first five shows of the BD) this is offset a bit. But later on in the run, I found myself plodding through a lot of these first sets, happy to hear bustout after bustout but wishing for a common feel or groove to latch onto as well.

Similarly, lots of the rare songs, debut songs, and one-off songs just aren't played that well. Obviously, these guys are throwing out an unbelievable variety of songs over thirteen nights, and I don't expect them all to be played pitch-perfectly. But there really were times when I wished there were repeats, just so I could hear a full set of Phish playing songs they clearly know pretty well.

I like the BD's focus on jamming just like every other Phish fan on earth, but listening to these shows also made me reconsider the wisdom of wishing Phish would just JAM EVERY SONG. By the end of the thirteen nights, it was clear that pushing themselves to jam every night had led them to some really phenomenally interesting places that they likely wouldn't have reached otherwise. At the same time, the jams that didn't push boundaries ended up sounding so much the same that it was difficult for me to focus in on the details of, say, the "Simple" at all because it felt like I'd heard it all before. Maybe it goes without saying, but I don't think it's an accident that most of the highest-tier jamming in the BD came in the first few nights. From then on, it seemed like ideas where revisited and then repeated more and more often. Can Phish jam big every night? Yeah, obviously they can. Can Phish innovate every night? Not really, and it's unlikely any band can. So...should Phish jam big every night? It's something to think about.

Anyway, it's been really fun listening to this whole run. And I'm even more excited to relisten to Dick's now, the only shows I saw live this year. 9/1 was my 39th show and easily my favorite, and I can't wait to hear it again. DICKS IN MY EARS Y'ALL

The Live Review:
8/6/17: Here we go. BD Night 13.          
8/6/17: Dogs Stole Things opener.          
8/6/17: Rift next.          
8/6/17: Trey struggling with Rift a bit more than usual, but Page killing his piano solo.          
8/6/17: Ha Ha Ha next. Reference to Rift flubs, perhaps?          
8/6/17: If so, Trey is getting meta by flubbing Ha Ha Ha riff, too.          
8/6/17: > Camel Walk      
8/6/17: I've really liked the most recent few versions of this tune. It's got a new energy lately.          
8/6/17: Crazy Sometimes! Loving Phish's take on this song lately.          
8/6/17: Page is either making good use of the synth during this song or he's playing the keytar.          
8/6/17: Fun little piano-driven jam forming out of Crazy Sometimes.          
8/6/17: This song seems to have crazy jam potential. Each time they've played it, they've hinted at a big jam then pulled back.          
8/6/17: This time, it's for a segue into Saw It Again.          
8/6/17: Raucous take on Saw It Again leads into Sanity.          
8/6/17: Those two seem like a perfect pair. Wonder if they've ever been paired up before.          
8/6/17: Page with a clever use of the Very Long Fuse samples during Sanity.        
8/6/17: > Bouncing      
8/6/17: Most Events Aren't Planned. Really enjoyed this at Dick's. Hope it stays in Heavy Rotation (heh).           
8/6/17: First set Bug following that expansive Most Events Aren't Planned.            8/6/17: Extra-solid solo from Trey on the back end of that Bug. Now, I Been Around!          
8/6/17: This song should probably end most first sets.          
8/6/17: Okay, I *guess* it's fine that Izabella ends this set instead.          
8/6/17: Ha ha ha.          
8/6/17: Nothing else sounds like a Hendrix song. I could have told you this was a Hendrix cover even if I'd never heard it before.          
8/6/17: Izabella has temporarily revived 90s shredding Trey. Wow.          
8/6/17: End set.          
8/6/17: Simple kicking off the second set!          
8/6/17: Band breaking away from the usual Simple jam structure almost immediately in favor of something more chordy.          
8/6/17: Funk chording from Trey but Fish drumming something a bit more complex than usual at this juncture.          
8/6/17: Really great use of synths and loops now to build up a really complex jam.          
8/6/17: Nice move out of the fuzziness into something a bit more jaunty.          
8/6/17: Fish has an almost Golden Age style beat going. Feels like he's driving the jam here.          
8/6/17: Patient development of this second movement. Fish continues stringing together some impressive beats.          
8/6/17: This is developing into pure 3.0 bliss jamming. Nothing new here, but seems appropriate for the last 20+ minute jam of the run.          
8/6/17: Going out on a triumphant note.          
8/6/17: Trey noodling softly over the synth drone as an outro.          
8/6/17: Drone fades nicely into Rise/Come Together.          
8/6/17: Band has been excellent at placing this song thus far.          
8/6/17: Starman!!          
8/6/17: Nice extended outro to Starman with some vocal stylings from Mike.       
8/6/17: Ah, and now the long-anticipated YEM.          
8/6/17: Slow build during the YEM jam, but Trey is on FIRE now.          
8/6/17: > Loving Cup      
8/6/17: End set two.          
8/6/17: Encore starts with On the Road Again. Band trading verses.          
8/6/17: On the Road Again segues into a weird Trey riff.          
8/6/17: Page says this is still Lawn Boy.          
8/6/17: Band reprising Lawn Boy lyrics over a mellow version of what sounds like Tweezer Reprise.          
8/6/17: That weird little bit segues into a brief rehash of the intro to Groove. Huh.          
8/6/17: Then Trey blasts into Tweeprise, of course referencing the first night's Tweezer.          
8/6/17: And that, my friends, is that.          
8/6/17: For my money, the last 8 shows of the run never really reached the heights of the first five, but in the context of...          
8/6/17: ...3.0, and really Phish overall, there hasn't been anything else like that.          
8/6/17: Almost every show since Northerly could stand up to any other Great Show of 3.0, and a few are easily all-timers.          
8/6/17: I was at Dick's and that's true of at least night one and maybe night three as well.          
8/6/17: When was the last time, if ever, the band did an entire summer tour (albeit a short one) without any real clunkers?            

2017-08-05 Baker's Dozen XII (Boston Creme)

The Verdict:
The Boston Creme show continues to follow the latter-run template of the most recent BD shows, resulting in some amazing music without scaling the heights of the shows from the early legs of the run.

The first set is one of the better mixes of first-setty tunes from the back half of the BD's very first-setty sets, and the frankly amazing "Sunshine of Your Feeling" medley elevates things, for sure. You might dig rarities like "Soul Shakedown," "Uncle Pen," "The Sloth," "FYF," and "Fire." You might want to hear the jazz-to-rock transition in an extended Type I "Jibboo." And you might, like me, really like the synthed-out take on "Mule" and the funkified "Plasma" jam. You might also enjoy these things very little, and find this to be a surprisingly normal set for the second-to-last BD night, all things considered.

Regardless of all that, though, you need to listen to "Sunshine of Your Feeling." Afterward, Fish says the band has been waiting twenty years to play it, and I believe him. It's fantastic in the Phishiest way.

A monster "Ghost" kicks off the second set, and contains most of the show's improv. But that's okay because it's a great take. We travel through funk and then a head-fake toward bliss jamming before departing on a more cerebral loops-and-synth-based exploration. Eventually, this transitions into a space that recalls the "circus jam" from 8/4's "Scents" and then peaks in a predictable but fun way in the end anyway because why the hell not?

"Petrichor" follows, beautiful as always, and then there's "Light." As "Light" is arguably the flagship jam vehicle for 3.0, it seems odd that it doesn't get much of a treatment here, but it doesn't. It noodles around in its usual pretty-much-Type I zone for a few minutes, then fades into an ambient jam that's interesting but is cut way too short for "The Lizards." And I really like "The Lizards."

The rest of the set is an energetic, joyous victory lap of predictable tunes, and "Joy" sends us home on an emotional high note if not necessarily a musical one.

Bring on the final night!

The Live Review:
8/5/17: Heading into the last two BD shows. Today, it's Boston Creme time.          
8/5/17: Or, I guess 'Boston, Cream' would be more appropriate in this case.       
8/5/17: Soul Shakedown Party opener.          
8/5/17: Uncle Pen!!!!          
8/5/17: The Sloth! Seems weird that there hasn't been a gimmick song yet, but I'm loving these setlist calls.          
8/5/17: Extra mellow jazzy Type I jam here in Jibboo. Page on electric piano.       
8/5/17: Extended Type I take on Jibboo that reaches a huge peak before subsiding into FYF.          
8/5/17: Sunshine of Your Love          
8/5/17: -> Hooked On a Feeling      
8/5/17: -> Sunshine      
8/5/17: -> Long Time -> White Room -> Long Time/White Room mashup
8/5/17: This is fucking ridiculous.          
8/5/17: -> Sunshine -> Hooked On a Feeling.  
8/5/17: Fish says they've been saving that joke for 20 years. Trey: 'This whole thing was just so we could do that.'          
8/5/17: After a brief pause, Frost.          
8/5/17: I love me some Frost. It's more a TAB song than a Phish song, i think, but it's still a great song. Mule next.          
8/5/17: Neat synth bit from Page. Now echoplex from Trey. Adding a new dimension to the Mule duel, for sure.          
8/5/17: Some marimba now.          
8/5/17: > Fire!      
8/5/17: Alaska. Or, as I like to think of it, Ocelot II.          
8/5/17: Plasma!          
8/5/17: I've loved Phish's take on this tune since the 10/17/14 Carini -> Plasma.  
8/5/17: Like Jibboo, Plasma gets extended and rocked-out, but never really gets out of the box. Set ends w/ Sunshine tease.          
8/5/17: S2 opens with GHOST. I've been waiting for this for 11.5 shows.          
8/5/17: Temporarily shutting door during office hours so I can crank it.          
8/5/17: On whiteboard: 'Be back in 21 minutes.'          
8/5/17: After a few minutes of funk jamming, the band modulates into a brighter sounding space.          
8/5/17: At this point, the rest of the band is pretty clearly just waiting for Trey to come up with a bliss jam riff.          
8/5/17: A more loop-based direction segues into a funk-chord jam with Page on synth.          
8/5/17: Heading into something that sounds like the 'circus jam' bit of Scents from 8/4. Crowd cheers.          
8/5/17: Band finds a much more organic way around to launching and all-out bliss assault on this Ghost jam.          
8/5/17: Big ol' happy Phish throwdown happening now.          
8/5/17: Whoever decided to follow that joyful Ghost jam with Petrichor is a genius.          
8/5/17: Been playing that SBD orchestra Petrichor from Trey on loop lately. So good.          
8/5/17: Another great take on Petrichor. That song has been super-solid lately. Light next.          
8/5/17: Reverb-y jazz jam happening now. Pretty standard territory for Light jams so far.          
8/5/17: Light definitely goes Type II, but stays in a pretty standard Light-jam place for most of its running time.          
8/5/17: Page goes to the organ for the last little bit, which is interesting.          
8/5/17: Ambient fade-out after that.          
8/5/17: > The Lizards      
8/5/17: After a spirited take on The Lizards, The Horse > Silent.          
8/5/17: Quinn next. Trey throws in a Sunshine tease, to boot.          
8/5/17: Rocky Top is gonna round out a high-energy fourth quarter.          
8/5/17: Encore, fittingly after that rock-fest, is Joy.          
8/5/17: All in all, another great BD show. No jamming in the first set, but a strong set anyway, anchored by 'Sunshine of Your Feeling.'          
8/5/17: Aside from the monster bliss-Ghost, the second set actually also had a relative shortage of jamming, but was high-energy and fun.          
8/5/17: I'd love for the run to close out with another show like those first five batshit crazy shows...