The Verdict:
The Starlight show, surprisingly, sees us back yet again in one-jam land. Despite the reputation of this tour, I'm finding a lot of these less consistent shows as I listen through. 8/5 is definitely more reminiscent of 8/2, 7/29, 7/28, or 7/21 than one of the stronger entries thus far this year.
I guess if you like the composed classics, you get "Divided Sky" and "YEM" here. Otherwise you get a first set that has a 2010-era half and a 2015-era half, each bolstered by even-better-than-usual-for-2015 Trey solos, but also never interested in making any moves out of the usual first set box. Unless you count the Phish debut of Mike's "The Last Step," which was oddly placed in the set but really well played and suited to the band, I thought.
The second set is extra weird. It starts with Type I takes on "Jibboo" and "Twist" (huh?) before dropping "The Wedge" to ensure jamming blue balls. Then, out of nowhere, there's a monster "Disease" that's long and patiently developed and doesn't predictably freak out into a peak at the last second. It's definitely worth a listen. The "Sand" that follows is short, but is in the mold of last year's "Mike's" from Dick's. I really love this kind of jamming, but it leans entirely on the echo effect for the length of the jam, so your mileage will vary. The second set ends with a particularly-unearned-seeming "YEM," and though of course it's a strong version, it doesn't exactly bring anything new to the table.
Starlight isn't a bad show by any means, and I'd be happy to have it in 2014 or any previous year. But it seems a bit out of character for 2015, where none of the qualities that have characterized the many great moments of the tour so far (improvisation in strange places, clever segues, unexpected setlist choices, unexpected jam vehicles, multiple deep jams per show) are on display. You should listen to the "Disease" and the "Sand," though. Here they are:
The Live Review:
8/5/15: After a somewhat uneven 8/4 (albeit with an awesome finish), it's time for 8/5!
8/5/15: Trey noodling something at the opening. Sounded sort of like The Horse but in a major key.
8/5/15: 'They Attack!' sample from Page.
8/5/15: Really slow Gumbo to start.
8/5/15: Really liking the slow-down, actually.
8/5/15: Clav solo outro with some interesting drumming from Fish.
8/5/15: KDF next.
8/5/15: Trey is destroying this KDF.
8/5/15: In a good way, I mean.
8/5/15: Back on the Train. What is it about this song that makes it seem like the most predictable of predictable songs?
8/5/15: It's actually really catchy, but every time it pops up, I immediately think 'Oh, this shit again.'
8/5/15: Except this time: https://t.co/rErltddPIU
8/5/15: I love that the only real jammed-out BOTT is a fucking ten-minute-long ambient jam.
8/5/15: Makes no sense, and that's why it's great.
8/5/15: Okay, despite my bitching, that was an excellent Trey-heavy BOTT.
8/5/15: Bouncin', Divided Sky.
8/5/15: I feel like this first set, so far at least, is a sort of 2009-2010 set, in terms of song choices.
8/5/15: It reminds me of reviewing a 2010 show, though with MUCH stronger playing from everyone.
8/5/15: Here's a fun fact: DSky has been playing once every four shows on average. I've seen 29 shows and heard it once. #phish #cursed
8/5/15: *played
8/5/15: Holy crap! The Last Step!
8/5/15: The Phish version of the song seems more sinister for some reason.
8/5/15: That was surprisingly well-played.
8/5/15: Blaze On!
8/5/15: Nice in-the-box Blaze On.
8/5/15: Seems like a weird placement for WAN.
8/5/15: Rock-heavy 46 Days to close the set. Trey is losing his mind.
8/5/15: That first set was pretty weird. First half = 2010, second half = 2015. Both halves were clearly assembled using a dart board.
8/5/15: Some great Trey solos in BOTT, Blaze On, and 46 Days, though.
8/5/15: Now the second set opens with Jibboo. Even weirder.
8/5/15: One thing that I do always love about Jibboo is Mike's bass.
8/5/15: Jibboo > Twist.
8/5/15: Trey just shredded Twist into the ground. Sure, it's another Type I solo in the usual jam slot, but it's a good 'un.
8/5/15: The Wedge: the surprise S2 blue-baller of 2015.
8/5/15: Standard The Wedge > Pop Goes The Weasel tease from Mike > DWD.
8/5/15: Maybe 2015 Phish (not just Trey) will finally make an appearance here tonight.
8/5/15: Disease jam getting interesting around 8 mins. Loops coming in and Trey playing melody around them.
8/5/15: Really mesmerizing, loopy bassline from Mike. Now Page over to electric piano.
8/5/15: Trey and Mike playing off of each other.
8/5/15: Trey has a nice riff going now.
8/5/15: Droning synth from Page.
8/5/15: This is staying pretty mellow. At 14 mins. now. Trey chording. Page back on piano.
8/5/15: Turning darker now.
8/5/15: How Trey is containing himself from doing a > Rift is beyond me.
8/5/15: Trey's got a rising chord pattern going now. Fish is picking up steam. Should be a strong ending to the jam.
8/5/15: Pure guitar rage now.
8/5/15: Trey over to the loops AND the pitch-shifter now.
8/5/15: Sand!
8/5/15: Echo-funk chording a la the Dick's Mike's in 2014.
8/5/15: This is great.
8/5/15: Joy. The Disease > Sand pair was the 1st part of the show that really
seemed to have a lot of momentum, so that's sort of a bummer.
8/5/15: YEM, out of friggin' nowhere.
8/5/15: I mean, I love YEM, obviously, but it seems like one of those coup de grace songs.
8/5/15: It's weird to hear it at the end of a show that has been pretty underwhelming (at least by 2015 standards).
8/5/15: Though two old school, composed monsters in one show is nice, I suppose.
8/5/15: Maybe I'm just experiencing Magnaball > Dick's syndrome since listening to the Atlanta run, though.
8/5/15: Maybe I'm shitting on (most of) 8/4 and (all of) 8/5 not because they're bad but because Atlanta was so good.
8/5/15: Pretty badass YEM jam going on here.
8/5/15: One thing's for sure: YEM might be a rarity lately, and might show up in weird places, but the YEM jams have been great.
8/5/15: Bug encore.
8/5/15: Woo! Eight more shows till Magnaball!
Oct 21, 2015
2015-08-04 Nashville
The Verdict:
I have to say that, generally speaking, I was a little underwhelmed by this show after reading a lot of the rave reviews it received before listening to it. Maybe my expectations were too high?
Anyway, the first half certainly has a pretty-well-put-together setlist, but other than that, I didn't think it was anything to write home about. The two potential standouts, "Stash" and "Walls," were both actually below-average versions by 2015 standards. Everything else stayed firmly in the box, and aside from a nice few minutes of minimalist, almost-plinko-style funk in the "Wolfman's" jam, there's really nothing you haven't heard before.
The "Golden Age" that opens the second set is an interesting version, though I'd have to go with the Dick's take for "Golden Age" of the year. This version moves into a spacey, pitch-shifted area right away, but then makes a smooth transition back into a Type I jam that heads to Bliss Central before landing in "Light." Had "Light" been a standout take, my review might have been a bit different, but really this version is the least interesting one in a long time, leaving a bit of a hole in the middle of the set.
Fortunately, the second-jammed "Mike's" gets things going again. The F jam is appropriately dark and funky, and the "Piper" that follow is compact, but also one of the weirder and more interesting readings I've heard in awhile. "Crosseyed" is short but a nice bit of meat on the Groove sandwich, and then "Weekapaug" hits.
Yeah, yeah, second jam in "Mike's" and all that, but it's really the "Weekapaug" that's the easy highlight of this show. From the double-time segue in from "Crosseyed" to the super-slowdown section to the "No Men" jam to the evil blues and then back to a funk space with "Still waiting!" quotes, this is one of my favorite pieces of music from the year so far. Totally overshadows the "Mike's" jam save for sentimental reasons.
So, on one hand, unless you're a "Golden Age" collector, the only thing really on display in this show is the Mike's Groove. On the other hand, it takes up most of the second set and is pretty much completely awesome. A few standout moments in S1 and a stronger S2 opener and this show might be deserving of its reputation. But I'm also pretty happy with it as it is.
The Live Review:
8/4/15: Go time on the Nashville show. The only thing I know about this show already is that Mike's second jam returns.
8/4/15: You know, just a small, insignificant detail.
8/4/15: Free opener.
8/4/15: Totally standard Free. At this point in my #phish life, I literally cannot think of a single thing to say about it.
8/4/15: No Men!
8/4/15: GOD I LOVE THIS SONG
8/4/15: Every time they play it, I end up doing the Trey Shuffle back and forth in front of my desk instead of working.
8/4/15: That was probably the shortest No Men yet, but it was still great. > Wolfman's.
8/4/15: Super clav-y, funky jam immediately coming your way here.
8/4/15: A little more minimal than the usual Wolfman's jam. Mike is more up front. I like it.
8/4/15: Great concluding solo from Trey after the funk.
8/4/15: Sort of rough version of 555 to follow that great No Men > Wolfman's pairing.
8/4/15: Birds with 'They Attack!' opening sample.
8/4/15: Funky Bitch. Interesting choice.
8/4/15: When the Circus Comes. This set makes no sense, but there are some fun songs.
8/4/15: Nice solo from Trey in Stash, but structurally a standard version.
8/4/15: Lawn Boy after Stash, just to slow things way the hell down for no reason, and now Walls to presumably close.
8/4/15: I've been surprised to find that (so far at least) 2015 S1s aren't really that great.
8/4/15: I mean, the playing is awesome, but there are way less surprises and interesting moments than reviews/comments suggested to me.
8/4/15: This is a well-played, sort-of-jumbled collection of first-setty songs, and that's it. And that's how most S1s have been so far.
8/4/15: Second set kicks off with Golden Age.
8/4/15: Trey hasn't butchered the lyrics this time, but the guitar lines are pretty damn messy.
8/4/15: I seem to recall this song being easy-peasy back in 2011.
8/4/15: Page over to electric piano, Trey on the octave-shifter.
8/4/15: Spacey jam moving toward a bliss-type jam based on the typical Golden Age progression.
8/4/15: Neat transition.
8/4/15: Strong build based on Golden Age chords > Light.
8/4/15: Fish sings 'Tom Marshall is our stepping stone' during Light.
8/4/15: So far, the jam is the usual Trey-peggio fest, albeit with a bit more distortion than usual.
8/4/15: Mike bass bomb puts an end to the typical section. Now heading into darker space.
8/4/15: Extended fade-out (nothing happened beyond the normal solo), but a nice landing in Shade.
8/4/15: Mike's Song. Here we goooooooo
8/4/15: Early in the jam, Trey is riding a neat riff. Let's see how long it lasts.
8/4/15: Not long!
8/4/15: Awkward but AWESOME move into the second jam. Crowd cheering as it slowly occurs to them that we're still going.
8/4/15: Funk chords over top of the F jam.
8/4/15: Moving away from Trey-driven soloing into space. Page on piano still. Trey chording.
8/4/15: Really ominous, awesome riff from Trey now.
8/4/15: Winding down now.
8/4/15: Fuzz resolves into Piper.
8/4/15: Some tasty waves of feedback pouring off of Trey's guitar. Now a super-octave-shifted solo. Sounds pretty weird, guys.
8/4/15: This Piper is short, but incredibly weird and awesome.
8/4/15: > Crosseyed! Fish is having extra fun with the verse vocals.
8/4/15: This version is swingin'.
8/4/15: AWESOME -> Groove. Great segue.
8/4/15: Groove starts way fast because of the segue. After 2 mins., it slows down to a super-slow pace. Trey cracking up.
8/4/15: Funk jam now. I think this counts as an extended No Men's jam. Trey playing the same riff.
8/4/15: Breakdown.
8/4/15: Holy crap evil blues jam guys
8/4/15: Groove riff coming up out of the blues muck. Holy balls. 'Still waiting' vocal quotes.
8/4/15: Slave closer.
8/4/15: By which I mean encore.
8/4/15: Standard Slave for the encore.
8/4/15: Which is code for 'I hope Slave gets the Hood treatment in 2016.'
8/4/15: Surprisingly, the awesomest part of that show was definitely the Groove, not Mike's.
8/4/15: Mike's was good, too, but definitely felt like two different jams. Without the surprise factor it was like 20% less cool.
8/4/15: There were some flashes of brilliance in the Golden Age jam, but really, nothing much to mention outside the Mike's Groove.
8/4/15: But damn, Mike's, Piper, and the Groove were all fantastic.
I have to say that, generally speaking, I was a little underwhelmed by this show after reading a lot of the rave reviews it received before listening to it. Maybe my expectations were too high?
Anyway, the first half certainly has a pretty-well-put-together setlist, but other than that, I didn't think it was anything to write home about. The two potential standouts, "Stash" and "Walls," were both actually below-average versions by 2015 standards. Everything else stayed firmly in the box, and aside from a nice few minutes of minimalist, almost-plinko-style funk in the "Wolfman's" jam, there's really nothing you haven't heard before.
The "Golden Age" that opens the second set is an interesting version, though I'd have to go with the Dick's take for "Golden Age" of the year. This version moves into a spacey, pitch-shifted area right away, but then makes a smooth transition back into a Type I jam that heads to Bliss Central before landing in "Light." Had "Light" been a standout take, my review might have been a bit different, but really this version is the least interesting one in a long time, leaving a bit of a hole in the middle of the set.
Fortunately, the second-jammed "Mike's" gets things going again. The F jam is appropriately dark and funky, and the "Piper" that follow is compact, but also one of the weirder and more interesting readings I've heard in awhile. "Crosseyed" is short but a nice bit of meat on the Groove sandwich, and then "Weekapaug" hits.
Yeah, yeah, second jam in "Mike's" and all that, but it's really the "Weekapaug" that's the easy highlight of this show. From the double-time segue in from "Crosseyed" to the super-slowdown section to the "No Men" jam to the evil blues and then back to a funk space with "Still waiting!" quotes, this is one of my favorite pieces of music from the year so far. Totally overshadows the "Mike's" jam save for sentimental reasons.
So, on one hand, unless you're a "Golden Age" collector, the only thing really on display in this show is the Mike's Groove. On the other hand, it takes up most of the second set and is pretty much completely awesome. A few standout moments in S1 and a stronger S2 opener and this show might be deserving of its reputation. But I'm also pretty happy with it as it is.
The Live Review:
8/4/15: Go time on the Nashville show. The only thing I know about this show already is that Mike's second jam returns.
8/4/15: You know, just a small, insignificant detail.
8/4/15: Free opener.
8/4/15: Totally standard Free. At this point in my #phish life, I literally cannot think of a single thing to say about it.
8/4/15: No Men!
8/4/15: GOD I LOVE THIS SONG
8/4/15: Every time they play it, I end up doing the Trey Shuffle back and forth in front of my desk instead of working.
8/4/15: That was probably the shortest No Men yet, but it was still great. > Wolfman's.
8/4/15: Super clav-y, funky jam immediately coming your way here.
8/4/15: A little more minimal than the usual Wolfman's jam. Mike is more up front. I like it.
8/4/15: Great concluding solo from Trey after the funk.
8/4/15: Sort of rough version of 555 to follow that great No Men > Wolfman's pairing.
8/4/15: Birds with 'They Attack!' opening sample.
8/4/15: Funky Bitch. Interesting choice.
8/4/15: When the Circus Comes. This set makes no sense, but there are some fun songs.
8/4/15: Nice solo from Trey in Stash, but structurally a standard version.
8/4/15: Lawn Boy after Stash, just to slow things way the hell down for no reason, and now Walls to presumably close.
8/4/15: I've been surprised to find that (so far at least) 2015 S1s aren't really that great.
8/4/15: I mean, the playing is awesome, but there are way less surprises and interesting moments than reviews/comments suggested to me.
8/4/15: This is a well-played, sort-of-jumbled collection of first-setty songs, and that's it. And that's how most S1s have been so far.
8/4/15: Second set kicks off with Golden Age.
8/4/15: Trey hasn't butchered the lyrics this time, but the guitar lines are pretty damn messy.
8/4/15: I seem to recall this song being easy-peasy back in 2011.
8/4/15: Page over to electric piano, Trey on the octave-shifter.
8/4/15: Spacey jam moving toward a bliss-type jam based on the typical Golden Age progression.
8/4/15: Neat transition.
8/4/15: Strong build based on Golden Age chords > Light.
8/4/15: Fish sings 'Tom Marshall is our stepping stone' during Light.
8/4/15: So far, the jam is the usual Trey-peggio fest, albeit with a bit more distortion than usual.
8/4/15: Mike bass bomb puts an end to the typical section. Now heading into darker space.
8/4/15: Extended fade-out (nothing happened beyond the normal solo), but a nice landing in Shade.
8/4/15: Mike's Song. Here we goooooooo
8/4/15: Early in the jam, Trey is riding a neat riff. Let's see how long it lasts.
8/4/15: Not long!
8/4/15: Awkward but AWESOME move into the second jam. Crowd cheering as it slowly occurs to them that we're still going.
8/4/15: Funk chords over top of the F jam.
8/4/15: Moving away from Trey-driven soloing into space. Page on piano still. Trey chording.
8/4/15: Really ominous, awesome riff from Trey now.
8/4/15: Winding down now.
8/4/15: Fuzz resolves into Piper.
8/4/15: Some tasty waves of feedback pouring off of Trey's guitar. Now a super-octave-shifted solo. Sounds pretty weird, guys.
8/4/15: This Piper is short, but incredibly weird and awesome.
8/4/15: > Crosseyed! Fish is having extra fun with the verse vocals.
8/4/15: This version is swingin'.
8/4/15: AWESOME -> Groove. Great segue.
8/4/15: Groove starts way fast because of the segue. After 2 mins., it slows down to a super-slow pace. Trey cracking up.
8/4/15: Funk jam now. I think this counts as an extended No Men's jam. Trey playing the same riff.
8/4/15: Breakdown.
8/4/15: Holy crap evil blues jam guys
8/4/15: Groove riff coming up out of the blues muck. Holy balls. 'Still waiting' vocal quotes.
8/4/15: Slave closer.
8/4/15: By which I mean encore.
8/4/15: Standard Slave for the encore.
8/4/15: Which is code for 'I hope Slave gets the Hood treatment in 2016.'
8/4/15: Surprisingly, the awesomest part of that show was definitely the Groove, not Mike's.
8/4/15: Mike's was good, too, but definitely felt like two different jams. Without the surprise factor it was like 20% less cool.
8/4/15: There were some flashes of brilliance in the Golden Age jam, but really, nothing much to mention outside the Mike's Groove.
8/4/15: But damn, Mike's, Piper, and the Groove were all fantastic.
Oct 10, 2015
2015-08-02 Tuscaloosa
The Verdict:
At first, after the Atlanta shows, I was disappointed with this show. Trying to look at it a bit more objectively, though, I've noticed it's pretty similar in a lot of ways to 8/1.
The first set has consistent energy and some interesting song choices, but nothing terribly interesting, which, in the context of this tour, makes it a slight disappointment. As is becoming typical, the opening two songs shoot the energy through the roof. I love "Train Song," "Devotion," and "Meat," but here they also contribute to a weird setlist flow that jumps back up for "Maze" only to get The Line'd right after. "Roggae" and "46 Days" are their usual excellent selves, and Page teases "Very Short Fuse" during the "fuse" lyric in "My Friend, My Friend," but that's the first set in a nutshell.
The second set opens with "Disease," and I think I described it the best I can below when I said that the jam resolves into a bliss-rock jam that resembles what The Who would sound like if they weren't so angry all the time. I'm not patting myself on the back for my wordplay, there, I just don't know how else to describe the jam.
The rest of the set plays out pretty much like it looks on paper, though the "2001" is stronger and funkier than you might expect, and the "Hood" is briefer and more perfunctory than you might expect. Oh, and the "Seven Below" is either a totally brilliant ten minutes of jamming or some basic noodling. I've listened to it three times now and I can't decide.
Frankly, this show is one of those big-third-quarter-jam, one-trick-pony sort of shows, but it's a really strong show in that mold. Unlike the Texas shows, the first set hangs together, even if it isn't going to blow anyone away, and some of the later jams in the second set attempt to Go There, even if they aren't achieving Shoreline or Atlanta levels.
The Live Review:
8/2/15: Sample opener.
8/2/15: CDT next. Is this a mid-90s show?
8/2/15: I guess if it was, the tempo would be twice as fast and you wouldn't be able to hear the band over Trey :)
8/2/15: Whoa! Train Song! It really *is* the 90s!
8/2/15: Devotion puts us firmly in 2015.
8/2/15: Meat! So far, I'm way more excited about this first set than I feel like I should be.
8/2/15: The Sample > CDT combo was neat, and I love all three of the other songs. Taken more 'objectively' though, I suppose this is boring.
8/2/15: Maze next. Maze is definitely not one of my favorite #phish songs, but it's been hot at least since the Eugene version last year.
8/2/15: I didn't notice this much live this summer, but on the recordings, Trey's melody playing/jamming is much more precise/assertive...
8/2/15: ...but his composed playing, even on songs like Maze, is a lot sloppier than usual.
8/2/15: Maybe the tradeoff of his learning all of those FTW songs is that he's got too many damn songs in his head at once.
8/2/15: I mean, I'd certainly prefer better jamming and shittier composed playing than the opposite.
8/2/15: But it seemed like he was on an upward curve in terms of improved composed playing from '09 to '14 in a lot of ways. Then, *thump*.
8/2/15: Umm...yes, that was a really good Maze, btw.
8/2/15: The Line. Nothing sucks the air out of a room faster these days.
8/2/15: The thing is, it's a great song. Occasionally, #phish writes a catchy, meaningful song like this, and it's great that they do.
8/2/15: But nobody on tour wants to hear it every other night, except the band themselves.
8/2/15: So, yeah, I cringe out on the lawn whenever they start it up...
8/2/15: ...but I also remember when it came on the shuffle while I was driving south to solo Mt. Shasta and captured my feeling perfectly.
8/2/15: A lot of times, #phish is even better at creating that magical lyrical moment than the 'great' songwriters I love.
8/2/15: But also, damn, stop playing The Line every other night Trey :)
8/2/15: You try to see your future from the line / clinging to the notion you'll be fine / but #phish keeps playing The Line all the time
8/2/15: Roggae! Been really happy to see this one get so much play the last two years.
8/2/15: It's a perfect S1 song OR jam landing pad. Like Reba, it doesn't really Go There, but the little variations make each version great.
8/2/15: Great Roggae. Peaky at the end, like a lot of recent versions. MFMF is next.
8/2/15: MFMF is one of those songs that I just can't like in concert for some reason.
8/2/15: Except the time I was really high and thought it was Guyute for the first two minutes. I really liked it that time.
8/2/15: Yeah!!! After MFMF 'Fuse' line, Page plays 'Very Short Fuse' samples!
8/2/15: Literally nobody in the audience reacted at all.
8/2/15: Is it possible that the Tuscaloosa crowd just sucks?
8/2/15: 46 Days!
8/2/15: Some great pitch-shifted soloing from Trey here.
8/2/15: All aboard the train to Shredtown. Trey is your engineer.
8/2/15: Cavern. For the last song of the set?
8/2/15: Yep. End set.
8/2/15: A weird set. Started strong, continue with some mellow semi-rarities. No sagging, really, though, except for The Line.
8/2/15: I guess a good way to think of it is 'Consistently good/strong, but never great.'
8/2/15: I really enjoyed listening to it, but will probably never listen to any of it ever again.
8/2/15: Alright, long setbreak of desk reorganization and moving a few hundred books around in my office.
8/2/15: S2 opener is Disease.
8/2/15: Disease jam opening with some excellent melodic work from Trey.
8/2/15: Some ambient fuzz. Fish pushing them through a transitional space.
8/2/15: Trey reeling out some more octave-shifted stuff now.
8/2/15: Ooh, nice landing in a hilariously jaunty chord progression.
8/2/15: This is what The Who would have sounded like if they hadn't been so angry all the time.
8/2/15: They jammed on that riff for a surprisingly long time by 201x standards. Now a totally weird alien feedback/echo edifice.
8/2/15: During any other tour, this would be a huge highlight. Here, it's just another notch in the 2015 belt. But yeah, it's real good :)
8/2/15: > Camel Walk? Weird.
8/2/15: Interesting solo from Trey in Camel Walk, then a snap-quick transition into Seven Below.
8/2/15: Really nice little jam space here. Fish keeps the Seven Below beat going, Page on electric piano.
8/2/15: Nice build in the solo, then a return to the Seven Below riff.
8/2/15: Fuego next.
8/2/15: Pretty standard Fuego.
8/2/15: > 2001!
8/2/15: 2001 excitement aside, this set is starting to feel a bit disjointed like most of the first one did.
8/2/15: Definitely more Texas going on in this show than Atlanta.
8/2/15: Great 2001, with some weird tones and echoes from Trey.
8/2/15: In a weird way, this reminds me of the Mike's from Dick's last year.
8/2/15: 2001 > Hood.
8/2/15: That was the leanest Hood I've heard in a long time. Not necessarily a bad thing, but would have liked to have heard more.
8/2/15: Possum now, of all things.
8/2/15: That was a surprisingly excellent version of Possum, but it still feels weird having it close the second set.
8/2/15: Gotta love a Day In the Life encore, though.
8/2/15: So that was a very Texas show, after all.
8/2/15: High-energy S1, but oddly plotted and no actually interesting highlights (which is more of a gimme this year, usually).
8/2/15: Second set was really just the Disease, though there were bits of Seven Below and 2001 that were interesting.
8/2/15: In short, it's sort of the 2015 equivalent of a 2009 or 2010 One Jam In The Second Set-style show.
At first, after the Atlanta shows, I was disappointed with this show. Trying to look at it a bit more objectively, though, I've noticed it's pretty similar in a lot of ways to 8/1.
The first set has consistent energy and some interesting song choices, but nothing terribly interesting, which, in the context of this tour, makes it a slight disappointment. As is becoming typical, the opening two songs shoot the energy through the roof. I love "Train Song," "Devotion," and "Meat," but here they also contribute to a weird setlist flow that jumps back up for "Maze" only to get The Line'd right after. "Roggae" and "46 Days" are their usual excellent selves, and Page teases "Very Short Fuse" during the "fuse" lyric in "My Friend, My Friend," but that's the first set in a nutshell.
The second set opens with "Disease," and I think I described it the best I can below when I said that the jam resolves into a bliss-rock jam that resembles what The Who would sound like if they weren't so angry all the time. I'm not patting myself on the back for my wordplay, there, I just don't know how else to describe the jam.
The rest of the set plays out pretty much like it looks on paper, though the "2001" is stronger and funkier than you might expect, and the "Hood" is briefer and more perfunctory than you might expect. Oh, and the "Seven Below" is either a totally brilliant ten minutes of jamming or some basic noodling. I've listened to it three times now and I can't decide.
Frankly, this show is one of those big-third-quarter-jam, one-trick-pony sort of shows, but it's a really strong show in that mold. Unlike the Texas shows, the first set hangs together, even if it isn't going to blow anyone away, and some of the later jams in the second set attempt to Go There, even if they aren't achieving Shoreline or Atlanta levels.
The Live Review:
8/2/15: Sample opener.
8/2/15: CDT next. Is this a mid-90s show?
8/2/15: I guess if it was, the tempo would be twice as fast and you wouldn't be able to hear the band over Trey :)
8/2/15: Whoa! Train Song! It really *is* the 90s!
8/2/15: Devotion puts us firmly in 2015.
8/2/15: Meat! So far, I'm way more excited about this first set than I feel like I should be.
8/2/15: The Sample > CDT combo was neat, and I love all three of the other songs. Taken more 'objectively' though, I suppose this is boring.
8/2/15: Maze next. Maze is definitely not one of my favorite #phish songs, but it's been hot at least since the Eugene version last year.
8/2/15: I didn't notice this much live this summer, but on the recordings, Trey's melody playing/jamming is much more precise/assertive...
8/2/15: ...but his composed playing, even on songs like Maze, is a lot sloppier than usual.
8/2/15: Maybe the tradeoff of his learning all of those FTW songs is that he's got too many damn songs in his head at once.
8/2/15: I mean, I'd certainly prefer better jamming and shittier composed playing than the opposite.
8/2/15: But it seemed like he was on an upward curve in terms of improved composed playing from '09 to '14 in a lot of ways. Then, *thump*.
8/2/15: Umm...yes, that was a really good Maze, btw.
8/2/15: The Line. Nothing sucks the air out of a room faster these days.
8/2/15: The thing is, it's a great song. Occasionally, #phish writes a catchy, meaningful song like this, and it's great that they do.
8/2/15: But nobody on tour wants to hear it every other night, except the band themselves.
8/2/15: So, yeah, I cringe out on the lawn whenever they start it up...
8/2/15: ...but I also remember when it came on the shuffle while I was driving south to solo Mt. Shasta and captured my feeling perfectly.
8/2/15: A lot of times, #phish is even better at creating that magical lyrical moment than the 'great' songwriters I love.
8/2/15: But also, damn, stop playing The Line every other night Trey :)
8/2/15: You try to see your future from the line / clinging to the notion you'll be fine / but #phish keeps playing The Line all the time
8/2/15: Roggae! Been really happy to see this one get so much play the last two years.
8/2/15: It's a perfect S1 song OR jam landing pad. Like Reba, it doesn't really Go There, but the little variations make each version great.
8/2/15: Great Roggae. Peaky at the end, like a lot of recent versions. MFMF is next.
8/2/15: MFMF is one of those songs that I just can't like in concert for some reason.
8/2/15: Except the time I was really high and thought it was Guyute for the first two minutes. I really liked it that time.
8/2/15: Yeah!!! After MFMF 'Fuse' line, Page plays 'Very Short Fuse' samples!
8/2/15: Literally nobody in the audience reacted at all.
8/2/15: Is it possible that the Tuscaloosa crowd just sucks?
8/2/15: 46 Days!
8/2/15: Some great pitch-shifted soloing from Trey here.
8/2/15: All aboard the train to Shredtown. Trey is your engineer.
8/2/15: Cavern. For the last song of the set?
8/2/15: Yep. End set.
8/2/15: A weird set. Started strong, continue with some mellow semi-rarities. No sagging, really, though, except for The Line.
8/2/15: I guess a good way to think of it is 'Consistently good/strong, but never great.'
8/2/15: I really enjoyed listening to it, but will probably never listen to any of it ever again.
8/2/15: Alright, long setbreak of desk reorganization and moving a few hundred books around in my office.
8/2/15: S2 opener is Disease.
8/2/15: Disease jam opening with some excellent melodic work from Trey.
8/2/15: Some ambient fuzz. Fish pushing them through a transitional space.
8/2/15: Trey reeling out some more octave-shifted stuff now.
8/2/15: Ooh, nice landing in a hilariously jaunty chord progression.
8/2/15: This is what The Who would have sounded like if they hadn't been so angry all the time.
8/2/15: They jammed on that riff for a surprisingly long time by 201x standards. Now a totally weird alien feedback/echo edifice.
8/2/15: During any other tour, this would be a huge highlight. Here, it's just another notch in the 2015 belt. But yeah, it's real good :)
8/2/15: > Camel Walk? Weird.
8/2/15: Interesting solo from Trey in Camel Walk, then a snap-quick transition into Seven Below.
8/2/15: Really nice little jam space here. Fish keeps the Seven Below beat going, Page on electric piano.
8/2/15: Nice build in the solo, then a return to the Seven Below riff.
8/2/15: Fuego next.
8/2/15: Pretty standard Fuego.
8/2/15: > 2001!
8/2/15: 2001 excitement aside, this set is starting to feel a bit disjointed like most of the first one did.
8/2/15: Definitely more Texas going on in this show than Atlanta.
8/2/15: Great 2001, with some weird tones and echoes from Trey.
8/2/15: In a weird way, this reminds me of the Mike's from Dick's last year.
8/2/15: 2001 > Hood.
8/2/15: That was the leanest Hood I've heard in a long time. Not necessarily a bad thing, but would have liked to have heard more.
8/2/15: Possum now, of all things.
8/2/15: That was a surprisingly excellent version of Possum, but it still feels weird having it close the second set.
8/2/15: Gotta love a Day In the Life encore, though.
8/2/15: So that was a very Texas show, after all.
8/2/15: High-energy S1, but oddly plotted and no actually interesting highlights (which is more of a gimme this year, usually).
8/2/15: Second set was really just the Disease, though there were bits of Seven Below and 2001 that were interesting.
8/2/15: In short, it's sort of the 2015 equivalent of a 2009 or 2010 One Jam In The Second Set-style show.
2015-08-01 Atlanta II
The Verdict:
There's more awesome Atlanta Phish to dig into on the second night of this run, though it's a bit more concentrated.
The first set has a lot fewer must-hear moments than the previous night, though there's a strong opening pair in "Runaway Jim" and "Undermind." the "Halfway," "Ocelot" pair smack-dab in the middle of the set might scream "Bathroom break!" but they're at the very least unique versions: Trey builds slowly to a crescendo from scratch in an interesting way in "Halfway" rather than just soloing and waiting out Page as he usually does, and "Ocelot" has another interesting build, that stays away from the song's usual blues-rock approach for some straight, harder rock instead. So, yeah, maybe check those out, but overall the set doesn't have the punch of the first night's opening frame.
The second set is pretty much all about the "Tweezer." The first half of this jam is some of the weirdest and yet most satisfying jamming I've heard in a long time from the band, and that's no small praise considering how they've been playing the last few years. I don't know that I'd call it the "best" anything, necessarily, but where even most of the band's top-shelf jams lately are really just particularly well-done variations on a particular theme or musical style, these 6-7 minutes are something I've never heard before at all. The second part of the jam settles into some more familiar territory, but is still solid for all that. Here, just watch it:
The rest of the set is strong 2015 playing, especially by Trey, but could easily be transported to a first set without anyone being the wiser...except for the Carini, which goes dark fast...and I mean dark:
So...yeah. Another great show, with some incredible highlights. Technically, it's a second-tier show for 2015, but that's just a backhanded compliment for how great 2015 has been in general.
The Live Review:
8/1/15: Second night of Atlanta coming your way. Slow-tempo Jim to open.
8/1/15: That was a very opener-y Jim. Very pleasant.
8/1/15: Curious to see if S1 of the second night can be as good as S1 of the first night.
8/1/15: Undermind next. Things are looking up.
8/1/15: Also slow tempo. Wouldn't mind a slow-tempo, ooey-gooey show, really.
8/1/15: Undermind floats along in a predictable way, though Mike is just blasting away in the background as if he's in a different song.
8/1/15: Some dude on the SBD is screaming for Skin It Back. #phish #crowdbanter
8/1/15: Nellie Kane instead.
8/1/15: Blaze On!
8/1/15: Short Blaze On. Now Halfway. Strong version, but I'm leery of setlist sag after the Texas shows. We'll see.
8/1/15: Unique Trey solo for this Halfway. Rather than just noodling along for a few minutes, he slowly builds from a small harmonics jam.
8/1/15: By the song's conclusion, he was shredding pretty seriously. I like that approach to the Halfway 'jam' better than the usual.
8/1/15: Fucking Ocelot.
8/1/15: Looking to make me eat my words, Trey and Fish are generating an interesting build here.
8/1/15: Trey's going to Melody Town. Gorgeous melody, but still building energy at the same time.
8/1/15: Well, that only slightly deviated from the usual Ocelot solo, but it's probably the most interesting take on the song I've heard.
8/1/15: Heavy Things, after an interlude of Fish drinking water and Trey exhorting the crowd to be more like Fish.
8/1/15: Messy Happy Birthday tease from Trey in Heavy Things. Not sure who for.
8/1/15: Theme!
8/1/15: Strong Theme, though no deviation from the usual...theme. Sorry.
8/1/15: Antelope to close the set. Hopefully it has some more balls than the Texas version.
8/1/15: Unless something magical happens in this Antelope, definitely S1N1 > S2N1.
8/1/15: We started off strong tonight with the first two songs, but everything else has been pretty typical.
8/1/15: Halfway and Ocelot were unique Type I versions, but that's about it.
8/1/15: End set. Gotta watch a video for work. brb.
8/1/15: Alright, S2 time.
8/1/15: Tweezer opener. The crowd loves it an appreciable amount.
8/1/15: Strong move into the jam, crowd loving it.
8/1/15: Distorted chords, beautiful keys from Page.
8/1/15: Trey laying down a great solo using the octave-shifter.
8/1/15: Slower, more melodic section now. Fish has a really interesting beat going.
8/1/15: This is wonderful. Holy shit.
8/1/15: I know I tend to be biased toward shows I've actually attended, but the KDF/Tweeze pair at Atlanta are better jams...
8/1/15: ...than anything I saw this summer.
8/1/15: Just fucking phenomenal. Dick's Disease is the only thing that's even close, but it's comparatively one-dimensional.
8/1/15: Where the hell are they even going with this thing? Making sounds I've never heard at a #phish show.
8/1/15: Just a little over halfway through, too!
8/1/15: Slow, buttery transition into rockland.
8/1/15: Trey going to town now.
8/1/15: Coming out of dark rock now, Page over to the clav.
8/1/15: Evil funk now. Mike with a great bassline.
8/1/15: Heavy drums now. Loops. Jam finally winding down. So good.
8/1/15: Trey ended on a gnarly loop that was begging to just have a Fee-style or '12 Roses-style jam tagged onto it.
8/1/15: Not like I'm complaining, though.
8/1/15: Jam lands in WAN. Perfect.
8/1/15: Number Line is next. I hope the rest of the at least contains some little gems, like 7/31 did. Even if not, though, DAT TWEEZER
8/1/15: Fantastically noodly Number Line gets BUTT-SLAMMED into CARINI
8/1/15: YOU TOLD ME OF A SECRET PLACE I SAW IT WHEN I MET YOU THE WALRUS ON YOUR FACE
8/1/15: This: https://t.co/RQuCdVTpqM
8/1/15: Lots of fucking screaming going into the jam. Fish is a champion screamer.
8/1/15: This is getting positively EVIL.
8/1/15: In the vein of the Bend Simple and Dick's Split.
8/1/15: Typing 'Dick's Split' admittedly made me wince a little.
8/1/15: This is nuts.
8/1/15: Oh. Waste. Interesting juxtaposition, but that felt like one of those 'strike while the iron is hot' moments. Oh well.
8/1/15: Guitar haze at the end of Waste > Sand.
8/1/15: Heavy funk time. Page -> clav.
8/1/15: That was an above-average typical version of Sand. If that makes any sense.
8/1/15: In other words: so good, but it didn't Go There.
8/1/15: Sand > Tweeprise.
8/1/15: End set. Rock and Roll encore!
8/1/15: Basically, both of these shows were just awesome. Slightly more pedestrian S1 tonight, and less on offer in S2 than N1.
8/1/15: That said, the Tweezer is even better than 7/31's KDF and probably the jam of the year so far for me.
8/1/15: Still prefer the Blaze On > Twist > Light, but I don't think that counts as one jam :)
8/1/15: Actually, I forgot the CDT from Texas was pretty damn good, too.
There's more awesome Atlanta Phish to dig into on the second night of this run, though it's a bit more concentrated.
The first set has a lot fewer must-hear moments than the previous night, though there's a strong opening pair in "Runaway Jim" and "Undermind." the "Halfway," "Ocelot" pair smack-dab in the middle of the set might scream "Bathroom break!" but they're at the very least unique versions: Trey builds slowly to a crescendo from scratch in an interesting way in "Halfway" rather than just soloing and waiting out Page as he usually does, and "Ocelot" has another interesting build, that stays away from the song's usual blues-rock approach for some straight, harder rock instead. So, yeah, maybe check those out, but overall the set doesn't have the punch of the first night's opening frame.
The second set is pretty much all about the "Tweezer." The first half of this jam is some of the weirdest and yet most satisfying jamming I've heard in a long time from the band, and that's no small praise considering how they've been playing the last few years. I don't know that I'd call it the "best" anything, necessarily, but where even most of the band's top-shelf jams lately are really just particularly well-done variations on a particular theme or musical style, these 6-7 minutes are something I've never heard before at all. The second part of the jam settles into some more familiar territory, but is still solid for all that. Here, just watch it:
The rest of the set is strong 2015 playing, especially by Trey, but could easily be transported to a first set without anyone being the wiser...except for the Carini, which goes dark fast...and I mean dark:
So...yeah. Another great show, with some incredible highlights. Technically, it's a second-tier show for 2015, but that's just a backhanded compliment for how great 2015 has been in general.
The Live Review:
8/1/15: Second night of Atlanta coming your way. Slow-tempo Jim to open.
8/1/15: That was a very opener-y Jim. Very pleasant.
8/1/15: Curious to see if S1 of the second night can be as good as S1 of the first night.
8/1/15: Undermind next. Things are looking up.
8/1/15: Also slow tempo. Wouldn't mind a slow-tempo, ooey-gooey show, really.
8/1/15: Undermind floats along in a predictable way, though Mike is just blasting away in the background as if he's in a different song.
8/1/15: Some dude on the SBD is screaming for Skin It Back. #phish #crowdbanter
8/1/15: Nellie Kane instead.
8/1/15: Blaze On!
8/1/15: Short Blaze On. Now Halfway. Strong version, but I'm leery of setlist sag after the Texas shows. We'll see.
8/1/15: Unique Trey solo for this Halfway. Rather than just noodling along for a few minutes, he slowly builds from a small harmonics jam.
8/1/15: By the song's conclusion, he was shredding pretty seriously. I like that approach to the Halfway 'jam' better than the usual.
8/1/15: Fucking Ocelot.
8/1/15: Looking to make me eat my words, Trey and Fish are generating an interesting build here.
8/1/15: Trey's going to Melody Town. Gorgeous melody, but still building energy at the same time.
8/1/15: Well, that only slightly deviated from the usual Ocelot solo, but it's probably the most interesting take on the song I've heard.
8/1/15: Heavy Things, after an interlude of Fish drinking water and Trey exhorting the crowd to be more like Fish.
8/1/15: Messy Happy Birthday tease from Trey in Heavy Things. Not sure who for.
8/1/15: Theme!
8/1/15: Strong Theme, though no deviation from the usual...theme. Sorry.
8/1/15: Antelope to close the set. Hopefully it has some more balls than the Texas version.
8/1/15: Unless something magical happens in this Antelope, definitely S1N1 > S2N1.
8/1/15: We started off strong tonight with the first two songs, but everything else has been pretty typical.
8/1/15: Halfway and Ocelot were unique Type I versions, but that's about it.
8/1/15: End set. Gotta watch a video for work. brb.
8/1/15: Alright, S2 time.
8/1/15: Tweezer opener. The crowd loves it an appreciable amount.
8/1/15: Strong move into the jam, crowd loving it.
8/1/15: Distorted chords, beautiful keys from Page.
8/1/15: Trey laying down a great solo using the octave-shifter.
8/1/15: Slower, more melodic section now. Fish has a really interesting beat going.
8/1/15: This is wonderful. Holy shit.
8/1/15: I know I tend to be biased toward shows I've actually attended, but the KDF/Tweeze pair at Atlanta are better jams...
8/1/15: ...than anything I saw this summer.
8/1/15: Just fucking phenomenal. Dick's Disease is the only thing that's even close, but it's comparatively one-dimensional.
8/1/15: Where the hell are they even going with this thing? Making sounds I've never heard at a #phish show.
8/1/15: Just a little over halfway through, too!
8/1/15: Slow, buttery transition into rockland.
8/1/15: Trey going to town now.
8/1/15: Coming out of dark rock now, Page over to the clav.
8/1/15: Evil funk now. Mike with a great bassline.
8/1/15: Heavy drums now. Loops. Jam finally winding down. So good.
8/1/15: Trey ended on a gnarly loop that was begging to just have a Fee-style or '12 Roses-style jam tagged onto it.
8/1/15: Not like I'm complaining, though.
8/1/15: Jam lands in WAN. Perfect.
8/1/15: Number Line is next. I hope the rest of the at least contains some little gems, like 7/31 did. Even if not, though, DAT TWEEZER
8/1/15: Fantastically noodly Number Line gets BUTT-SLAMMED into CARINI
8/1/15: YOU TOLD ME OF A SECRET PLACE I SAW IT WHEN I MET YOU THE WALRUS ON YOUR FACE
8/1/15: This: https://t.co/RQuCdVTpqM
8/1/15: Lots of fucking screaming going into the jam. Fish is a champion screamer.
8/1/15: This is getting positively EVIL.
8/1/15: In the vein of the Bend Simple and Dick's Split.
8/1/15: Typing 'Dick's Split' admittedly made me wince a little.
8/1/15: This is nuts.
8/1/15: Oh. Waste. Interesting juxtaposition, but that felt like one of those 'strike while the iron is hot' moments. Oh well.
8/1/15: Guitar haze at the end of Waste > Sand.
8/1/15: Heavy funk time. Page -> clav.
8/1/15: That was an above-average typical version of Sand. If that makes any sense.
8/1/15: In other words: so good, but it didn't Go There.
8/1/15: Sand > Tweeprise.
8/1/15: End set. Rock and Roll encore!
8/1/15: Basically, both of these shows were just awesome. Slightly more pedestrian S1 tonight, and less on offer in S2 than N1.
8/1/15: That said, the Tweezer is even better than 7/31's KDF and probably the jam of the year so far for me.
8/1/15: Still prefer the Blaze On > Twist > Light, but I don't think that counts as one jam :)
8/1/15: Actually, I forgot the CDT from Texas was pretty damn good, too.
2015-07-31 Atlanta I
The Verdict:
Though both shows in this run are fantastic, 7/31 stands above 8/1 as real best-of-tour material (at least so far). I still slightly prefer 7/24 because the second set had a longer and more interesting run of pure, free-form jamming, but I have to admit that the "KDF" jam here is just flat-out better than any of the three Shoreline jams, and the first set of 7/31 blows the first set of Shoreline away.
In the first set, I love the "Caspian" opener, unironically. It's a standard version but a great choice that makes a good one-two punch with the "No Men" that follows. The "Ghost" is absolutely a second-set jam, three songs into the show. The rest of the set is pretty standard, but the energy and playing stays exceptionally strong throughout, and there are lots of little touches that make it one of the best first frames of the tour so far. "Moma Dance" doesn't get "jammed out," technically, but the band plays a bit with tones and gives the staple a different feel than usual. "How Many People?" gets extended a little on its second outing, and a comment by Trey about "picking up the tempo" after "Rift" leads to a "Mike's" intro where the tempo is played around with liberally. The "Groove" ends the set with a bang, and you know something excellent has to be coming during S2.
And it does. The "KDF" is a masterful, long jam, covering loopy textures, near-ambient territory, metallic, creaking robot-rock, a huge octave-shifted solo from Trey, and ultimately a fade-out that leads into "Martian Monster." The "Martian Monster" is the most interesting take yet, for my money, with lots of chording by Trey, a sample jam from Page, and a fantastic bassline from Mike holding the whole thing down. Like "Martian Monster," "Twist" is a bit short, but it also covers a lot of ground, heading smoothly out of the composed bit a soaring, melodic space. "BOTT" is a slight hiccup, but then they're back at it with a top-shelf "Reba" and then a "Gin" that gets way out there by the standards of the song. The encore brings the whole thing home with "Farmhouse" > "Zero," which I have to assume is a sick joke.
Again, the obvious comparison to make here is to Shoreline, and while I felt that the first three songs in that S2 went deeper and weirder, none of them reached the depths of "KDF," and the "Martian Monster" > "Twist" section is no slouch, and neither is the "Gin." I guess what I'm trying to say is that there's more volume here, but maybe slightly less quality. But hell, it doesn't matter does it? This is real-deal 2015 Phish, so you need to hear it.
The Live Review:
7/31/15: Prince Caspian opener! There's a way to piss people who aren't me off!
7/31/15: Pretty standard Caspian, ends with a little loop section.
7/31/15: Nice landing in No Men!
7/31/15: No Type 2, but a lot of ground covered in 7 minutes. Great chording from Trey, Page taking the lead near the end.
7/31/15: Mike MVPing it the entire time.
7/31/15: Ghost!
7/31/15: Nailed the drop, and Mike is singing the high harmony. Sounds like 1998 in here all of a sudden.
7/31/15: Switching off between great leads from Trey and Mike.
7/31/15: Guys, this is a serious Ghost jam. Third song of the show.
7/31/15: Three songs in, two jams already. Wow.
7/31/15: And this Ghost is serious second-set shit. No messing around. Trey laying down a perfect, composed-sounding solo.
7/31/15: 2015 Fish being 2015 Fish. Driving that shit.
7/31/15: Perfect drop back into Ghost riff. Crowd goes nuts. Slow-down ending?
7/31/15: Trey definitely played the Roggae riff at the end of Ghost. But then they stopped. Maybe just a coincidence.
7/31/15: The Wedge.
7/31/15: The Wedge was pretty standard. > Moma. On the upside, Trey's tone on this Moma is dirty as hell.
7/31/15: Whoa. Almost plinko jam during Fish's vocals. Continuing during Trey's. This might be the weirdest 3.0 Moma.
7/31/15: Admittedly, that ain't sayin' much, but this is cool.
7/31/15: How Many People Are You? Nice!
7/31/15: Definitely laid the foundation for an awesome jam at the end of the song. Would LOVE to see that happen in 2016.
7/31/15: Rift next.
7/31/15: Trey, after a too-fast, sort-of-flubby Rift: 'We'd like to pick up the tempo now!'
7/31/15: Hoping WAN is next :)
7/31/15: Ooh, Mike's!
7/31/15: Fish playing double-time on drums...Trey responds by slowing the song waaaaaay down. This show is goddamn awesome.
7/31/15: Now a reggae version of the intro, complete with Trey reggae screaming.
7/31/15: Super-dirty tone from Trey during the Mike's solo.
7/31/15: Hydrogen!
7/31/15: GROOOOOOOVE
7/31/15: Great '15-style soloing from Trey.
7/31/15: Trey is making this into a monster Groove.
7/31/15: S2 KDF opener.
7/31/15: Mass of chording and loops overtaking the jam now.
7/31/15: Dark, reverb-y chords now.
7/31/15: Serious rock and roll machinery creaking along here.
7/31/15: Trey is laying down a great octave-shifted solo. Page on electric. Mike drone.
7/31/15: This sounds like Shoreline/Forum jamming on steroids.
7/31/15: Seamless move into a great Trey rock solo.
7/31/15: Heading back into Manteca-y territory again. Fishman is a monster.
7/31/15: Trey playing a building riff now.
7/31/15: Great rock peak, now backing down again.
7/31/15: Extended, loopy fade-out...MARTIAN MONSTER SAMPLE
7/31/15: Page is jamming on the vocal samples after a bassy breakdown.
7/31/15: Just put on my headphones, hit play, heard 'BECAUSE OF THE INCREDIBLE SPEED OF YOUR ROCKET' and then a student walked in.
7/31/15: This is my favorite Martian Monster, I think.
7/31/15: Great Mike bass, Trey deconstructing the song with chording, loops, Page solo, shit.
7/31/15: Twist next. Early bluesy noodling in the jam from Trey.
7/31/15: Smooth transition into a gorgeous, melodic space. Page on electric piano.
7/31/15: This is almost like a Simple jam, now.
7/31/15: Trey is just ripping it up melodically here. Small build, but Trey takes over with another solo. So good.
7/31/15: Nice landing in a -> BOTT.
7/31/15: Standard BOTT with a sort-of -> Reba.
7/31/15: Fantastic melody playing from Trey in this Reba. Notes fucking flying everywhere.
7/31/15: Trey whistling tease and then Page tease of Reba during the beginning of Gin.
7/31/15: Oh, and the Reba was amazing.
7/31/15: Trey soloing and scatting along with the solo now.
7/31/15: Entering 70s rock territory.
7/31/15: Trey entering rock-dragon mode now.
7/31/15: Oh man. Super-bliss-rocktown jam, still nosing around the Gin progression.
7/31/15: Trey whistling the Reba outro, Mike singing 'Don't go back to Kill Devil Falls' and Fish screaming over the Gin ending.
7/31/15: Encore is Farmhouse, Character Zero. Every show this summer has a clever encore except the ones with excellent S2s.
7/31/15: It's like they're trolling us. 'Five-song second set? Show of Life encore!'
7/31/15: Awful purty solo from Trey in the Farmhouse, tho
7/31/15: So, that was a pretty amazing second set. Not as jammy as Shoreline, but almost as good. KDF and Twist were the highlights.
7/31/15: On the other hand, this first set is by far the best one of the year so far.
Though both shows in this run are fantastic, 7/31 stands above 8/1 as real best-of-tour material (at least so far). I still slightly prefer 7/24 because the second set had a longer and more interesting run of pure, free-form jamming, but I have to admit that the "KDF" jam here is just flat-out better than any of the three Shoreline jams, and the first set of 7/31 blows the first set of Shoreline away.
In the first set, I love the "Caspian" opener, unironically. It's a standard version but a great choice that makes a good one-two punch with the "No Men" that follows. The "Ghost" is absolutely a second-set jam, three songs into the show. The rest of the set is pretty standard, but the energy and playing stays exceptionally strong throughout, and there are lots of little touches that make it one of the best first frames of the tour so far. "Moma Dance" doesn't get "jammed out," technically, but the band plays a bit with tones and gives the staple a different feel than usual. "How Many People?" gets extended a little on its second outing, and a comment by Trey about "picking up the tempo" after "Rift" leads to a "Mike's" intro where the tempo is played around with liberally. The "Groove" ends the set with a bang, and you know something excellent has to be coming during S2.
And it does. The "KDF" is a masterful, long jam, covering loopy textures, near-ambient territory, metallic, creaking robot-rock, a huge octave-shifted solo from Trey, and ultimately a fade-out that leads into "Martian Monster." The "Martian Monster" is the most interesting take yet, for my money, with lots of chording by Trey, a sample jam from Page, and a fantastic bassline from Mike holding the whole thing down. Like "Martian Monster," "Twist" is a bit short, but it also covers a lot of ground, heading smoothly out of the composed bit a soaring, melodic space. "BOTT" is a slight hiccup, but then they're back at it with a top-shelf "Reba" and then a "Gin" that gets way out there by the standards of the song. The encore brings the whole thing home with "Farmhouse" > "Zero," which I have to assume is a sick joke.
Again, the obvious comparison to make here is to Shoreline, and while I felt that the first three songs in that S2 went deeper and weirder, none of them reached the depths of "KDF," and the "Martian Monster" > "Twist" section is no slouch, and neither is the "Gin." I guess what I'm trying to say is that there's more volume here, but maybe slightly less quality. But hell, it doesn't matter does it? This is real-deal 2015 Phish, so you need to hear it.
The Live Review:
7/31/15: Prince Caspian opener! There's a way to piss people who aren't me off!
7/31/15: Pretty standard Caspian, ends with a little loop section.
7/31/15: Nice landing in No Men!
7/31/15: No Type 2, but a lot of ground covered in 7 minutes. Great chording from Trey, Page taking the lead near the end.
7/31/15: Mike MVPing it the entire time.
7/31/15: Ghost!
7/31/15: Nailed the drop, and Mike is singing the high harmony. Sounds like 1998 in here all of a sudden.
7/31/15: Switching off between great leads from Trey and Mike.
7/31/15: Guys, this is a serious Ghost jam. Third song of the show.
7/31/15: Three songs in, two jams already. Wow.
7/31/15: And this Ghost is serious second-set shit. No messing around. Trey laying down a perfect, composed-sounding solo.
7/31/15: 2015 Fish being 2015 Fish. Driving that shit.
7/31/15: Perfect drop back into Ghost riff. Crowd goes nuts. Slow-down ending?
7/31/15: Trey definitely played the Roggae riff at the end of Ghost. But then they stopped. Maybe just a coincidence.
7/31/15: The Wedge.
7/31/15: The Wedge was pretty standard. > Moma. On the upside, Trey's tone on this Moma is dirty as hell.
7/31/15: Whoa. Almost plinko jam during Fish's vocals. Continuing during Trey's. This might be the weirdest 3.0 Moma.
7/31/15: Admittedly, that ain't sayin' much, but this is cool.
7/31/15: How Many People Are You? Nice!
7/31/15: Definitely laid the foundation for an awesome jam at the end of the song. Would LOVE to see that happen in 2016.
7/31/15: Rift next.
7/31/15: Trey, after a too-fast, sort-of-flubby Rift: 'We'd like to pick up the tempo now!'
7/31/15: Hoping WAN is next :)
7/31/15: Ooh, Mike's!
7/31/15: Fish playing double-time on drums...Trey responds by slowing the song waaaaaay down. This show is goddamn awesome.
7/31/15: Now a reggae version of the intro, complete with Trey reggae screaming.
7/31/15: Super-dirty tone from Trey during the Mike's solo.
7/31/15: Hydrogen!
7/31/15: GROOOOOOOVE
7/31/15: Great '15-style soloing from Trey.
7/31/15: Trey is making this into a monster Groove.
7/31/15: S2 KDF opener.
7/31/15: Mass of chording and loops overtaking the jam now.
7/31/15: Dark, reverb-y chords now.
7/31/15: Serious rock and roll machinery creaking along here.
7/31/15: Trey is laying down a great octave-shifted solo. Page on electric. Mike drone.
7/31/15: This sounds like Shoreline/Forum jamming on steroids.
7/31/15: Seamless move into a great Trey rock solo.
7/31/15: Heading back into Manteca-y territory again. Fishman is a monster.
7/31/15: Trey playing a building riff now.
7/31/15: Great rock peak, now backing down again.
7/31/15: Extended, loopy fade-out...MARTIAN MONSTER SAMPLE
7/31/15: Page is jamming on the vocal samples after a bassy breakdown.
7/31/15: Just put on my headphones, hit play, heard 'BECAUSE OF THE INCREDIBLE SPEED OF YOUR ROCKET' and then a student walked in.
7/31/15: This is my favorite Martian Monster, I think.
7/31/15: Great Mike bass, Trey deconstructing the song with chording, loops, Page solo, shit.
7/31/15: Twist next. Early bluesy noodling in the jam from Trey.
7/31/15: Smooth transition into a gorgeous, melodic space. Page on electric piano.
7/31/15: This is almost like a Simple jam, now.
7/31/15: Trey is just ripping it up melodically here. Small build, but Trey takes over with another solo. So good.
7/31/15: Nice landing in a -> BOTT.
7/31/15: Standard BOTT with a sort-of -> Reba.
7/31/15: Fantastic melody playing from Trey in this Reba. Notes fucking flying everywhere.
7/31/15: Trey whistling tease and then Page tease of Reba during the beginning of Gin.
7/31/15: Oh, and the Reba was amazing.
7/31/15: Trey soloing and scatting along with the solo now.
7/31/15: Entering 70s rock territory.
7/31/15: Trey entering rock-dragon mode now.
7/31/15: Oh man. Super-bliss-rocktown jam, still nosing around the Gin progression.
7/31/15: Trey whistling the Reba outro, Mike singing 'Don't go back to Kill Devil Falls' and Fish screaming over the Gin ending.
7/31/15: Encore is Farmhouse, Character Zero. Every show this summer has a clever encore except the ones with excellent S2s.
7/31/15: It's like they're trolling us. 'Five-song second set? Show of Life encore!'
7/31/15: Awful purty solo from Trey in the Farmhouse, tho
7/31/15: So, that was a pretty amazing second set. Not as jammy as Shoreline, but almost as good. KDF and Twist were the highlights.
7/31/15: On the other hand, this first set is by far the best one of the year so far.
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