I tend to come into NYE shows like this one with relatively low expectations. Usually, Phish manages to pull of something really cool for the night's "gag," but it's clear that three sets don't necessarily equal 50% more improvisation and jamming than a typical two-set night. That remains the case with 12/31/17, but there's more here to sink your teeth into than you might expect.
The "Carini" opener is really fun, not just for the surprise setlist call factor, but also because it gets stretched out in a "Mercury"-style jam that wraps back around to the "Carini" riff at the end to start the show in grand fashion. The "Suzy" that follows is a surprise, and keeps the energy level high.
Unfortunately, the "MFMF," "Fluffhead," "Reba" sequence that follows is a bit of a trough. The band in general, and Trey in particular struggle mightily with the composed sections of all three songs (if you can't play "Fluffhead," why play "Reba" next, guys?) and they do so a bit beyond the usual "flub or two" level of struggling. It's awkward at times. Highlighting the dichotomy of 2017 Phish, though, the sloppily played composed section of "Reba" moves into a transcendent jam. This ambivalence continues with a plodding take on "46 Days" that nonetheless features a great, muddy solo from Trey, and a "Maze" that features Page crushing the keyboards and Trey just not playing guitar at all for a good portion of the song.
It's a weird set. I'm not sure how to feel about it.
A long-intro "Possum" kicks off the second set, and is followed by a "Fuego" that jams patiently on the song's main riff for a long time before dropping into a really interesting Floydian space that's quickly abandoned for "Jibboo." Normally, I'd gripe about this, but shockingly, "Jibboo" is perhaps the jam of the night, starting jazz (as usual) before somehow managing to weave the song's usual jazzy feel and more "Gin"-like bliss jamming together for a synthesis that's just really fun.
Not content to rest yet, the band then works their way through another delicate take on "WTU?" before dropping into a surprise "YEM." "YEM" fares a bit better than "Fluff" and "Reba," making it to ending understated funk jam/unhinged vocal jam relatively unscathed.
The third set is all about the gag, which is rad. That's good, because the near-fifteen minutes of "Soul Planet" really isn't. I even like this song, and like Phish's version of it. But they sound like they pretty clearly run out of ideas about halfway through the jam and just keep looping until we get to "Auld Lang Syne."
That said, the rest of the ocean-themed set is really fun. The main attraction is the "ASIHTOS" -> "Party Time" jam -> Ambient jam chunk, which I've affectionately dubbed "That Time I Heard The Ocean Party," but don't skip out on "Moma Dance," which dabbles very, very briefly in a Type II space.
All in all, this three-set show is pretty uneven, but the highs are particularly high, and are a good reprise of what's made 2017 Phish so great as we click over into 2018.
The Live Review
12/31/17: Carini opener. I can't argue with that logic.
12/31/17: Carini getting extended a bit. Trey adding some tasteful blues licks.
12/31/17: Mercury-ish jam now.
12/31/17: Mercury jam gets stoked to a blaze, then brought expertly back to the Carini riff. Now *that's* how you open a show.
12/31/17: Suzy
12/31/17: Particularly bouncy take on Suzy > MFMF
12/31/17: Fluffhead.
12/31/17: This is going to shock you, but Trey has definitely not practiced Fluffhead.
12/31/17: Rough take on Fluffhead, with a surprisingly tepid outro jam. Playing Reba next is...an interesting choice.
12/31/17: Some great guitar/electric piano interplay early on in this Reba jam.
12/31/17: This Reba is 2017 Phish in a nutshell: sloppy, unpracticed-sounding composed section, beautiful, understa… https://t.co/IlTqsPr7vB
12/31/17: BUT IS IT A GOOD VERSION OR NOT SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT TO THINK AND HOW TO RATE
12/31/17: Quick Poor Heart, then 46 Days.
12/31/17: Trey using his new distorted, low-end tone to solo during the jam.
12/31/17: Some great Mike action during this jam, too.
12/31/17: Page just destroying this Maze.
12/31/17: If you like your Maze with a fantastic Page solo and Trey not playing any chords at all, check that one out.
12/31/17: > Zero.
12/31/17: End set with Zero.
12/31/17: I'm actually trying to *not* be grumpy about flubs in these shows, so I hate saying this, but aside from… https://t.co/t45ONRVPiP
12/31/17: Fluff, Reba, and Maze were messy and tentative enough that I just sort of lost interest partway through.
12/31/17: Set two opens with Possum, though. So that's nice.
12/31/17: Solid take on Possum. Fuego next. I like Fuego a lot, and find I get excited about it now that it's not in heavy rotation.
12/31/17: Fuego going a bit deep into gauze-rock territory. Page still anchoring the jam with piano for now.
12/31/17: About thirteen minutes in, jam finally moves away from the main Fuego theme and gets a bit more abstract.
12/31/17: Very 2.0-sounding groove happening here. Sort of Floydish.
12/31/17: Groove is abandoned surprisingly early. Band abandons ambient noise for Jibboo, of all things.
12/31/17: Trey laying down a seriously jazzy solo in this Jibboo.
12/31/17: Okay, we just went through a quick echo-funk jam and seamlessly modulated into something I can best describe as 'bliss jazz.'
12/31/17: This is a really fun jam. Wow.
12/31/17: Return to the song proper at the end. Nicely done. Golgi next.
12/31/17: After that transcendent jam, everyone starts Golgi in a different key because 2017 Phish.
12/31/17: Nice landing in WTU? from the ending of Golgi.
12/31/17: I've really been enjoying the recent WTU?s that dial it down during the middle of the song. Works really… https://t.co/ysN21RMWSE
12/31/17: WTU? > YEM
12/31/17: Relatively unpainful run through the composed part of YEM. Understated funk jam coming next. Woos.
12/31/17: Great YEM jam and the vocal jam seemed a bit longer and weirder than usual.
12/31/17: End set 2.
12/31/17: Set three opens with Soul Planet. I like the Phish take on this more than I thought I would.
12/31/17: Didn't seem like it would translate that well from TAB.
12/31/17: Okay, I like this song, but this is about five more minutes of 'The ocean is love' than I really need.
12/31/17: Finally a little after the ten minute mark, the song changes direction a little bit. Trey using echoes.
12/31/17: Cannon fire (?!) leads into Auld Lang Syne...which Trey promptly flubs.
12/31/17: > Free
12/31/17: Nice echo-funk middle section in this Free.
12/31/17: Ocean-themed set continues with ASIHTOS.
12/31/17: Trey using the octave shifter. Things are getting weird.
12/31/17: I'm not sure if Trey realizes it or not, but he just modulated this space-funk jam into the exact chord p… https://t.co/o3PTD31PdN
12/31/17: SOMEONE PLEASE START SINGING THE LYRICS, THIS IS EXCRUCIATING.
12/31/17: FINE I'LL DO IT PARTY TIME PARTY TIME PARTY TIME PARTY TIME
12/31/17: That Time I Heard The Ocean Party
12/31/17: Shipwreck samples as the jam goes ambient.
12/31/17: > Moma
12/31/17: THE MOMADENS THE MOMADENS
12/31/17: Moma is *immediately* like 'Fuck the normal jam' and goes Type II bliss. Auld Lang Syne teases.
12/31/17: Moma jam slams into Caspian, and a short Caspian segues into Velvet Sea.
12/31/17: Rounding out the set with the decidedly not-ocean-themed First Tube.
12/31/17: End set.
12/31/17: Loving Cup to wrap things up.
No comments:
Post a Comment