The Verdict:
So, the second night of the Riviera Maya run is even more poorly reviewed than the first. It probably deserves a bit of this because it's definitely a slight step back in quality, but it doesn't deserve most of it because, like the first night, it's quite a good show.
Like the first night, the opening set is an improvement over pretty much every S1 from MSG, Dick's, and even probably Magnaball. It starts off in swanky style with the gooiest version of "Camel Walk" I've ever heard (and consequently now my new favorite version), follows it with an equally languid "555," and then kicks up the energy a bit with a well-performed "Rift."
The next bit is one for the ages, with a jam emerging from the mid-set "Cities" that gets there quick, and explores a number of spaces over thirteen minutes with a confidence and thoroughness that puts some of the best jams of the year to shame. That it shows up where it does in the show makes it even more jaw-dropping. Trey tries to orchestrate a -> "Light" from the conclusion of the jam, but the rest of the band sort of drops the ball. Nonetheless, the first S1 "Light" since 2010 gets to some interesting places, and suddenly, in the middle of the first set, we have a ball game.
The fire continues to come with a great "Simple" and an echo-funk take on "Timber," of all songs. Page pulls off the now-routine solo piano -> "Wading" at the end of the "Timber" jam, and then, refusing to coast to the end of the set, the guys lay down a solid 2015-style "Reba" and a non-jammed "Chalkdust" that features some of my favorite straight-up Trey shredding in awhile. And that's just the first set.
I say that as if the second set gets better...honestly, it really doesn't. But that's okay, because it doesn't get any worse, either. "Golden Age" follows in the footsteps of the deep-sea Dick's version, minus the gigantic gaffes in the composed section, and it lands in a "Caspian" that ends up somewhere between the typical version and the "Tweezerpants" version from Magnaball: the jam here isn't quite as ecstatic, but there is a serious jam, and it does get pretty abstract and almost ambient in the way that a lot of the bigger Mexico jams have so far.
The middle of the set sags a bit, but picks right back up with a strong "46 Days" that legitimately does go to a dark, ambient place and then continues that vibe into a surprise "Twenty Years Later" that's even more foreboding and pulsing than usual. Lest the "Julius" make you think that's all she wrote, don't worry because there's a fifteen-minute 2014-style "Hood" to close the set. I'm left with the same question I ended the previous review with. Sure, neither Mexico show thus far reaches up there to the highest echelon of 2015 Phish, but these two shows certainly are 2015-quality Phish. I'm looking forward to the third show, which supposedly is "better."
Second set starts at 2:02:00:
The Live Review:
1/16/16: Slow-burn Camel Walk opener. Nice choice.
1/16/16: Really neat, broken-down version of Camel Walk.
1/16/16: Languid 555 is next. I imagine playing at night on the beach lends itself to low-tempo sets.
1/16/16: Mike going to town on 555 outro jam.
1/16/16: Well, Rift ought to pick up the tempo, eh?
1/16/16: Rift is one of those many songs that's super fun to just listen to Fish on and ignore everyone else.
1/16/16: Now a slower, shuffly Cities. I'm liking this laid-back vibe so far.
1/16/16: Clav-and-space-funk jam is building.
1/16/16: Rather than ending the song after the funk jam, Trey hits the mutron. We're entering the Type II zone four songs in, folks!
1/16/16: Surprisingly moody jamming for the first set, here.
1/16/16: Building toward Bliss Land now.
1/16/16: Definitely a tease of the lick from the Dick's Disease/MSG Tweezer jams in there.
1/16/16: Aww, Trey actually built a good -> Light up there, but the rest of the band missed it and had to reset before going into the song.
1/16/16: Fantastic Cities jam tho
1/16/16: Long time since Light was played in the first set, I bet.
1/16/16: Austin 2010, according to @phishnet
1/16/16: Light jam gets away from arpeggios early. Page to electric piano.
1/16/16: Awesome solo bit from Page now.
1/16/16: Trey is playing a riff that actually sounds a bit like Cities now. I wonder if that's on purpose. Probably.
1/16/16: Trey pushes a quick transition into Simple.
1/16/16: One of the great things about 1/15 was the frequency with which the band turned on a dime together to start new songs.
1/16/16: Seems like Trey is trying to do that again tonight but the rest of the band isn't picking up on it.
1/16/16: Pretty typical Simple jam ends in an angry drone. Timber!
1/16/16: Echo-funk jamming in Timber. Interesting.
1/16/16: Echo-funk -> Loop Drone -> Piano outro -> Wading. Nice.
1/16/16: Would have been wild getting to hear this song while IN the ocean.
1/16/16: That's the most pumped I've heard a Phish crowd about hearing Wading in a long time.
1/16/16: Reba!
1/16/16: Typically strong 2015-type version of Reba here.
1/16/16: Chalkdust is next. Trey whistles the Reba outro over the beginning of Chalkdust.
1/16/16: Great 90s-style peak in Chalkdust.
1/16/16: Holy cow.
1/16/16: No jam at the end dere. End set.
1/16/16: S2 starts with a low-tempo Golden Age.
1/16/16: I sort of wish they'd play this song a half-step or a step lower. Trey's voice always sounds strained trying to sing the verse.
1/16/16: Typical Golden Age solo comes to an end with a sudden, crashing chord. Page adding piano accents to a dark space now.
1/16/16: Super ominous jam now. Loving the rhythm section here.
1/16/16: Almost like an Evil Plinko jam going on now.
1/16/16: Really cool, noise-rock sort of build at the end of the jam. > Caspian.
1/16/16: Halfway into Caspian, we've left the usual solo and transitioned into a droning sort of rock-haze area.
1/16/16: That wasn't really a Magnaball Caspian, but it was still pretty interesting.
1/16/16: Halfway To the Moon is next.
1/16/16: Halfway > Joy is sort of underwhelming setlist call.
1/16/16: 46 Days might make up for it, though.
1/16/16: Weird, pulsating ambient jam to end 46 Days.
1/16/16: Fish keeps up a weird woodblock (?) beat through. Nice transition into Twenty Years Later.
1/16/16: Extra angry, rolling synth boil for the outro jam.
1/16/16: I really like this song a lot. Not necessarily this version in particular, but just in general.
1/16/16: Wind-down ending.
1/16/16: Julius. How's that for a complete tonal 180?
1/16/16: Harry Hood!
1/16/16: Trey sounding a little tentative in the early composed section.
1/16/16: Nice, patient delivery in the jam so far.
1/16/16: Oh damn, this is good.
1/16/16: Mike doing more steering than usual so far.
1/16/16: Whenever I think of summer 2016 tour, I first imagine being in the dark on a lawn somewhere listening to a Hood jam.
1/16/16: In short, Hood = Phish.
1/16/16: Huge peak at the end. The hugest.
1/16/16: Trey: 'Can we do this next year, please?'
1/16/16: Zero encore.
1/16/16: Compact and punchy version of Zero. Even more so than usual.
1/16/16: Once again, a little confused as to how this is a 'bad' show.
1/16/16: Great Cities -> Light in the first set, swanky Camel Walk, Simple > Timber -> Wading, solid Reba, HUGE Chalkdust.
1/16/16: Second set had a great Golden Age > Caspian jam, sagged a bit in the middle, but 46 Days -> 20 Years and Hood were fantastic.
1/16/16: Sure, the 'best' jam came in the first set, but should that be exciting instead of an occasion to bitch?
1/16/16: *shouldn't
1/16/16: Anyway, back Tuesday for the last new show before I roll things back to summer 2011!
Feb 11, 2016
2016-01-15 Riviera Maya I
The Verdict:
So, the reviews and comments about the Riviera Maya run that I've seen online have generally been...pretty...bad. Fortunately for me, the first two shows at least have turned out to be far better than I was led to believe. I have yet to listen to the third one, so maybe it sucks, but so far, the only real problem with the run seems to be the age-old "This show sucks because there wasn't a twenty minute jam or three!" complaint. For more on why that doesn't really matter that much in this case, keep reading.
It's true that there aren't any real highlights in the opening set on night one, I'll admit that. However, it's the first opening set that the band has played with serious verve since...Magnaball? Since before Magnaball? There are a few on-a-dime song transitions, the energy never really lets up beginning with "Ya Mar," and there's a first-set "Fuego" with a few minutes of tasty space jamming.
Set two doesn't follow with a redemption jam monster a la MSG, but what's here is pretty friggin' awesome. "Drowned" kicks off the set, awesomely, and the evil jam that results segues effortlessly into another "WTU?" This version follows in the footsteps of the dynamically varied MSG version, and it's great. Immediately after, "Sand" goes deep, visits some familiar (funk) and some unfamiliar (stop/start) territory before a long, patient "Ghost" segue. "Ghost" goes in a rare, eerie, minimalist direction, led by loops and synths before yet another perfect segue into "2001."
The set ends on a strong note, too, with "Wolfman's" making a rare second set appearance, "Possum"'s new organ-led style in the penultimate slot, and "Shine A Light" closing.
This second set has a "Drowned" -> "What's the Use?" and a "Sand" -> "Ghost" -> "2001," both of which are even better than they look on paper, and somehow it's still one of the lowest-rated 2015-2016 shows on phish.net. What the hell do you people want?!
Second set starts at 1:53:00:
The Live Review:
1/15/16: Okay, this is going to fucking shock you, but they open the Riviera Maya run with ASIHTOS.
1/15/16: Trey gets in a few good bends, and just like that, the shortest version of ASIHTOS in the universe is over.
1/15/16: That last tweet was #7,500. I'm 3/4ths of the way to 10,000 tweets about @phish. Huh.
1/15/16: My Soul is the second song of the night! Love this one. Doesn't get played enough.
1/15/16: BECAUSE OF THE INCREDIBLE SPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED
1/15/16: YOUR TRAP IS SHUT
1/15/16: (Martian Monster is song #3)
1/15/16: Martian Monster is also super-short.
1/15/16: Ya Mar is next, to much crowd appreciation.
1/15/16: Ya Mar gets extended a little. Now Halley's.
1/15/16: I think Halley's might be the most fun @phish song.
1/15/16: Halley's jam starts and instantaneously drops into Fuego. Impressive transition, actually. On a dime.
1/15/16: Neat little jamlet gets tacked on to Fuego, which is nice in the middle of an otherwise rote first set. The Wedge is next.
1/15/16: Nice Trey-and-Page peak to The Wedge.
1/15/16: After The Wedge, Trey: 'Well, this doesn't suck.'
1/15/16: A little banter about swimmers in the ocean, and then Trey dedicates Theme to them.
1/15/16: I think he wants them to die. That's Trey for you, always playing the dangerously insane, murderous psychopath.
1/15/16: Immediate segue from Theme > Free. Energy really seemed to pick up around Ya Mar/Halley's.
1/15/16: Free is similar to most 3.0 versions, but Trey's loop-backed, mega-solo near the end gives a bit of that ol' guitar oomph, too.
1/15/16: The hits just keep coming. No break between Free and Bowie.
1/15/16: Decent, 3.0-standard take on Bowie to close the first set.
1/15/16: I'll be back in 15 minutes :)
Okay, so that was a bit longer than 15 minutes. I blame Trey for my skewed sense of time.
1/15/16: I'm going to be working all goddamn night, so here's S2 while I'm at it.
1/15/16: DROWNED
1/15/16: So far, they're ripping up Drowned like they play it every other night.
1/15/16: Bass bomb from Mike and loops from Trey are sending us in a darker direction now.
1/15/16: A grinding mess of looping, angry sounds now (in a good way).
1/15/16: And the jam just sort of fell apart. Fish isn't ready to give up yet, though!
1/15/16: Whoa! Fish's save just turned into -> What's The Use?
1/15/16: Really mellow middle section, like the MSG version.
1/15/16: Seamless drop into Sand. Say what you will about the lack of jams in this show (so far), but the flow is spot-on.
1/15/16: Great Type I take on Sand. Excellent solo. Clav outro jam, now.
1/15/16: Stop/start jamming now out of the clav section.
1/15/16: Mostly rhythm jam now. Sounds a bit like the intro to Wilson.
1/15/16: Oh shit. It's morphing into a great -> Ghost.
1/15/16: If Trey misses this transition, I'm personally firing him.
1/15/16: There it is!
1/15/16: Song starts off a bit tepid, but picks up momentum after the drop.
1/15/16: Alright, we're all going to school and Trey is driving the bus.
1/15/16: Awesome, spacey loop action now. Fish is a monster. Looks like the band is getting soaked by rain.
1/15/16: Great spacey, synthy jam winds down into > 2001.
1/15/16: Some serious old-school funk in this version.
1/15/16: This is how you play a REAL 2001.
1/15/16: Wolfman's is next. It's all wet and stuff.
1/15/16: Heard so much negative crap about this show. Drowned -> WTU? and Sand -> Ghost > 2001 were both fantastic.
1/15/16: Nice little vocal jam, Sally-style, forming now.
1/15/16: Trey is wailing away in bluesland now.
1/15/16: Trey leads a nice > Possum out of the rock peak.
1/15/16: Organ solo from Page again in Possum. I hope this becomes a thing.
1/15/16: Shine A Light!
1/15/16: End set, Rock and Roll encore.
1/15/16: Some Phish shows are 'interesting,' and some are 'fun.' Most are a balance of both.
1/15/16: This one was both, but I can see why a lot of people would see it falling more toward 'fun' than 'interesting' and write it off.
1/15/16: But you shouldn't! Even Phish 2015 has rarely played that hard during the not-'interesting' parts of a show.
1/15/16: And damn, lots to like, *still* in the 'interesting' category during that second set.
So, the reviews and comments about the Riviera Maya run that I've seen online have generally been...pretty...bad. Fortunately for me, the first two shows at least have turned out to be far better than I was led to believe. I have yet to listen to the third one, so maybe it sucks, but so far, the only real problem with the run seems to be the age-old "This show sucks because there wasn't a twenty minute jam or three!" complaint. For more on why that doesn't really matter that much in this case, keep reading.
It's true that there aren't any real highlights in the opening set on night one, I'll admit that. However, it's the first opening set that the band has played with serious verve since...Magnaball? Since before Magnaball? There are a few on-a-dime song transitions, the energy never really lets up beginning with "Ya Mar," and there's a first-set "Fuego" with a few minutes of tasty space jamming.
Set two doesn't follow with a redemption jam monster a la MSG, but what's here is pretty friggin' awesome. "Drowned" kicks off the set, awesomely, and the evil jam that results segues effortlessly into another "WTU?" This version follows in the footsteps of the dynamically varied MSG version, and it's great. Immediately after, "Sand" goes deep, visits some familiar (funk) and some unfamiliar (stop/start) territory before a long, patient "Ghost" segue. "Ghost" goes in a rare, eerie, minimalist direction, led by loops and synths before yet another perfect segue into "2001."
The set ends on a strong note, too, with "Wolfman's" making a rare second set appearance, "Possum"'s new organ-led style in the penultimate slot, and "Shine A Light" closing.
This second set has a "Drowned" -> "What's the Use?" and a "Sand" -> "Ghost" -> "2001," both of which are even better than they look on paper, and somehow it's still one of the lowest-rated 2015-2016 shows on phish.net. What the hell do you people want?!
Second set starts at 1:53:00:
The Live Review:
1/15/16: Okay, this is going to fucking shock you, but they open the Riviera Maya run with ASIHTOS.
1/15/16: Trey gets in a few good bends, and just like that, the shortest version of ASIHTOS in the universe is over.
1/15/16: That last tweet was #7,500. I'm 3/4ths of the way to 10,000 tweets about @phish. Huh.
1/15/16: My Soul is the second song of the night! Love this one. Doesn't get played enough.
1/15/16: BECAUSE OF THE INCREDIBLE SPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED
1/15/16: YOUR TRAP IS SHUT
1/15/16: (Martian Monster is song #3)
1/15/16: Martian Monster is also super-short.
1/15/16: Ya Mar is next, to much crowd appreciation.
1/15/16: Ya Mar gets extended a little. Now Halley's.
1/15/16: I think Halley's might be the most fun @phish song.
1/15/16: Halley's jam starts and instantaneously drops into Fuego. Impressive transition, actually. On a dime.
1/15/16: Neat little jamlet gets tacked on to Fuego, which is nice in the middle of an otherwise rote first set. The Wedge is next.
1/15/16: Nice Trey-and-Page peak to The Wedge.
1/15/16: After The Wedge, Trey: 'Well, this doesn't suck.'
1/15/16: A little banter about swimmers in the ocean, and then Trey dedicates Theme to them.
1/15/16: I think he wants them to die. That's Trey for you, always playing the dangerously insane, murderous psychopath.
1/15/16: Immediate segue from Theme > Free. Energy really seemed to pick up around Ya Mar/Halley's.
1/15/16: Free is similar to most 3.0 versions, but Trey's loop-backed, mega-solo near the end gives a bit of that ol' guitar oomph, too.
1/15/16: The hits just keep coming. No break between Free and Bowie.
1/15/16: Decent, 3.0-standard take on Bowie to close the first set.
1/15/16: I'll be back in 15 minutes :)
Okay, so that was a bit longer than 15 minutes. I blame Trey for my skewed sense of time.
1/15/16: I'm going to be working all goddamn night, so here's S2 while I'm at it.
1/15/16: DROWNED
1/15/16: So far, they're ripping up Drowned like they play it every other night.
1/15/16: Bass bomb from Mike and loops from Trey are sending us in a darker direction now.
1/15/16: A grinding mess of looping, angry sounds now (in a good way).
1/15/16: And the jam just sort of fell apart. Fish isn't ready to give up yet, though!
1/15/16: Whoa! Fish's save just turned into -> What's The Use?
1/15/16: Really mellow middle section, like the MSG version.
1/15/16: Seamless drop into Sand. Say what you will about the lack of jams in this show (so far), but the flow is spot-on.
1/15/16: Great Type I take on Sand. Excellent solo. Clav outro jam, now.
1/15/16: Stop/start jamming now out of the clav section.
1/15/16: Mostly rhythm jam now. Sounds a bit like the intro to Wilson.
1/15/16: Oh shit. It's morphing into a great -> Ghost.
1/15/16: If Trey misses this transition, I'm personally firing him.
1/15/16: There it is!
1/15/16: Song starts off a bit tepid, but picks up momentum after the drop.
1/15/16: Alright, we're all going to school and Trey is driving the bus.
1/15/16: Awesome, spacey loop action now. Fish is a monster. Looks like the band is getting soaked by rain.
1/15/16: Great spacey, synthy jam winds down into > 2001.
1/15/16: Some serious old-school funk in this version.
1/15/16: This is how you play a REAL 2001.
1/15/16: Wolfman's is next. It's all wet and stuff.
1/15/16: Heard so much negative crap about this show. Drowned -> WTU? and Sand -> Ghost > 2001 were both fantastic.
1/15/16: Nice little vocal jam, Sally-style, forming now.
1/15/16: Trey is wailing away in bluesland now.
1/15/16: Trey leads a nice > Possum out of the rock peak.
1/15/16: Organ solo from Page again in Possum. I hope this becomes a thing.
1/15/16: Shine A Light!
1/15/16: End set, Rock and Roll encore.
1/15/16: Some Phish shows are 'interesting,' and some are 'fun.' Most are a balance of both.
1/15/16: This one was both, but I can see why a lot of people would see it falling more toward 'fun' than 'interesting' and write it off.
1/15/16: But you shouldn't! Even Phish 2015 has rarely played that hard during the not-'interesting' parts of a show.
1/15/16: And damn, lots to like, *still* in the 'interesting' category during that second set.
2016-01-02 MSG IV
The Verdict:
Alright, so the fourth and final MSG show reprises the pattern of the first three nights in that there's a pretty unremarkable first set, and some less-than-ideal moments in the second set, but all of this is potentially redeemed by some of the best (if not the best) jamming of the year.
This night it's the "Tweezer" that bails out a performance that otherwise lags a bit, but I'm getting ahead of myself. The first set is well-played but doesn't really contain anything notable, except for the fact that the entire set with the exception of the "Your Pet Cat" opener could have come straight out of the mid-90s. If you're into that sort of thing (and I am, at least a little bit), then you might get more mileage out of this set than others will. I'll confess that it was neat to feel like I was listening to an old Phish show, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the set was arranged that way on purpose.
Structurally, the second set is remarkably like a certain second set that took place in Tahoe last time the band was there, but frankly is a bit more effective as a whole than that set. The "Tweezer" here isn't quite as stupefying as the Tahoe version, but the difference isn't as pronounced as you might think. After one listen, I'm ready in an admittedly kneejerk way to call this "Tweezer" my favorite jam of the year. It's extremely good. And then, unlike the rest of the Tahoe "Tweezer" set, which sort of fades into the background of the massive jam, this set offers up some more (smaller) gems: a "Sand" that deconstructs itself impressively after some catchy funk, a "Hood" that is compact but moves effortlessly from blues-rock Type II jamming to a raucous peak, and the obligatory "YEM" that sounds anything but obligatory.
It's a great closing set for a run that, for my money, has offered up the highest highs of the year, albeit while otherwise being less consistent than, say, your Magnaballs.
On to Mexico and glory!
The Live Review:
1/2/16: Your Pet Cat opener. Trey's sounding mighty limber for night four.
1/2/16: ACDC Bag. I feel like I haven't heard this one for a long time.
1/2/16: Fish is playing a harder beat, I think, than usual. Less shuffle, more rock.
1/2/16: Laid-back soloing from Trey regardless. Typical build ends on a loop that segues into NICU.
1/2/16: It's Ice!
1/2/16: And...yes. Funk-breakdown time.
1/2/16: Solid version of It's Ice, followed by Horn.
1/2/16: In keeping with the other three opening sets at MSG this year, this is a pretty pedestrian outing so far.
1/2/16: Lots of jukebox songs, though I guess it's worth mentioning that they're slightly rarer jukebox songs.
1/2/16: It's also worth mentioning that TWEEZER IS LOOMING
1/2/16: Divided Sky! I did *not* see that coming. Have they even played DSky at all this year yet?!
1/2/16: Nope, they've played it a few times this year.
1/2/16; Nice version. Ending jam was a little all over the place at first, but Trey eventually brings it up to a boil.
1/2/16: Axila I, now. Minus YPC, this almost seems like a mid-90s setlist. It's weird. I'm not complaining...I don't think?
1/2/16: Butt-slammed into Maze.
1/2/16: Fantastic Trey/Page tension build in Maze. I mean, I know they do that every time, but this time was extra hot.
1/2/16: Train Song! This is seriously a mid-90s set.
1/2/16: Page actually biffed a part there. That's a new one!
1/2/16: Julius closer. Yep. After this I'm going to listen to my Collective Soul and Pearl Jam cassette tapes.
1/2/16: But which will I listen to first? I HAVEN'T DECIDED
1/2/16: I SEE WHAT I DID THERE
1/2/16: Julius is Julius, albeit with some excellent 90sish fills thrown in there.
1/2/16: End set. Was that 2016, or 1996?
1/2/16: HERE'S DAT TWEEZ
1/2/16: Trey abandoning the Tweezer riff early to jam between verses. That's got to be a good sign.
1/2/16: Blast back into the riff after the bridge. Crowd is LOSING IT ALREADY
1/2/16: I have a good feeling about this one.
1/2/16: Trey is laying down a solid melody, but it doesn't matter because Mike is absolutely lifting off.
1/2/16: Mike and Fish are giving this thing a totally insane momentum.
1/2/16: Now Trey is just exploding.
1/2/16: Natural move toward Evil Loop Land.
1/2/16: Page and Trey trading quick arpeggios now. Clav and pitch-shifter.
1/2/16: Now the rest of the band has a sort of proggy-sounding background going and Trey's laying down a melody over it.
1/2/16: THIS SOLO
1/2/16: Trey has seriously been playing 3-4 minutes straight of something that sounds completely composed. Now moving to funk chords.
1/2/16: Build now, sort of reminiscent of the Dick's Disease.
1/2/16: Trey starts up Sand somewhat suddenly after the build.
1/2/16: Does it matter if it's a ripcord if he's ripcording what was already the best jam of the year?
1/2/16: 'That could have gone on for ten more minutes, Trey! But I also might have died from a brain aneurysm...so...thanks?'
1/2/16: Great Sand jam here. Sounds absolutely effortless after that Tweezer.
1/2/16: There are an above-average amount of guitar notes in this song.
1/2/16: A drop into...plinko? Sort of?
1/2/16: Sand is wrapping up with a sort-of 2001 jam and then a transition back into the Sand riff.
1/2/16: LxL.
1/2/16: Weird placement for LxL. Strong version, though, > Suzy.
1/2/16: Hood!
1/2/16: Really interesting blues jam forming in the middle of Hood.
1/2/16: This jam officially does not resemble Hood at all, now.
1/2/16: Really quick build and peak. That was interesting.
1/2/16: Weird loop drawn out for thirty seconds or so, then > YEM.
1/2/16: Groove-heavy, Mike-and-Fish led jam early on in YEM.
1/2/16: Page on what I think is a synth jamming with Mike now.
1/2/16: The Lizards encore!
1/2/16: Tweeprise to close.
Alright, so the fourth and final MSG show reprises the pattern of the first three nights in that there's a pretty unremarkable first set, and some less-than-ideal moments in the second set, but all of this is potentially redeemed by some of the best (if not the best) jamming of the year.
This night it's the "Tweezer" that bails out a performance that otherwise lags a bit, but I'm getting ahead of myself. The first set is well-played but doesn't really contain anything notable, except for the fact that the entire set with the exception of the "Your Pet Cat" opener could have come straight out of the mid-90s. If you're into that sort of thing (and I am, at least a little bit), then you might get more mileage out of this set than others will. I'll confess that it was neat to feel like I was listening to an old Phish show, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the set was arranged that way on purpose.
Structurally, the second set is remarkably like a certain second set that took place in Tahoe last time the band was there, but frankly is a bit more effective as a whole than that set. The "Tweezer" here isn't quite as stupefying as the Tahoe version, but the difference isn't as pronounced as you might think. After one listen, I'm ready in an admittedly kneejerk way to call this "Tweezer" my favorite jam of the year. It's extremely good. And then, unlike the rest of the Tahoe "Tweezer" set, which sort of fades into the background of the massive jam, this set offers up some more (smaller) gems: a "Sand" that deconstructs itself impressively after some catchy funk, a "Hood" that is compact but moves effortlessly from blues-rock Type II jamming to a raucous peak, and the obligatory "YEM" that sounds anything but obligatory.
It's a great closing set for a run that, for my money, has offered up the highest highs of the year, albeit while otherwise being less consistent than, say, your Magnaballs.
On to Mexico and glory!
The Live Review:
1/2/16: Your Pet Cat opener. Trey's sounding mighty limber for night four.
1/2/16: ACDC Bag. I feel like I haven't heard this one for a long time.
1/2/16: Fish is playing a harder beat, I think, than usual. Less shuffle, more rock.
1/2/16: Laid-back soloing from Trey regardless. Typical build ends on a loop that segues into NICU.
1/2/16: It's Ice!
1/2/16: And...yes. Funk-breakdown time.
1/2/16: Solid version of It's Ice, followed by Horn.
1/2/16: In keeping with the other three opening sets at MSG this year, this is a pretty pedestrian outing so far.
1/2/16: Lots of jukebox songs, though I guess it's worth mentioning that they're slightly rarer jukebox songs.
1/2/16: It's also worth mentioning that TWEEZER IS LOOMING
1/2/16: Divided Sky! I did *not* see that coming. Have they even played DSky at all this year yet?!
1/2/16: Nope, they've played it a few times this year.
1/2/16; Nice version. Ending jam was a little all over the place at first, but Trey eventually brings it up to a boil.
1/2/16: Axila I, now. Minus YPC, this almost seems like a mid-90s setlist. It's weird. I'm not complaining...I don't think?
1/2/16: Butt-slammed into Maze.
1/2/16: Fantastic Trey/Page tension build in Maze. I mean, I know they do that every time, but this time was extra hot.
1/2/16: Train Song! This is seriously a mid-90s set.
1/2/16: Page actually biffed a part there. That's a new one!
1/2/16: Julius closer. Yep. After this I'm going to listen to my Collective Soul and Pearl Jam cassette tapes.
1/2/16: But which will I listen to first? I HAVEN'T DECIDED
1/2/16: I SEE WHAT I DID THERE
1/2/16: Julius is Julius, albeit with some excellent 90sish fills thrown in there.
1/2/16: End set. Was that 2016, or 1996?
1/2/16: HERE'S DAT TWEEZ
1/2/16: Trey abandoning the Tweezer riff early to jam between verses. That's got to be a good sign.
1/2/16: Blast back into the riff after the bridge. Crowd is LOSING IT ALREADY
1/2/16: I have a good feeling about this one.
1/2/16: Trey is laying down a solid melody, but it doesn't matter because Mike is absolutely lifting off.
1/2/16: Mike and Fish are giving this thing a totally insane momentum.
1/2/16: Now Trey is just exploding.
1/2/16: Natural move toward Evil Loop Land.
1/2/16: Page and Trey trading quick arpeggios now. Clav and pitch-shifter.
1/2/16: Now the rest of the band has a sort of proggy-sounding background going and Trey's laying down a melody over it.
1/2/16: THIS SOLO
1/2/16: Trey has seriously been playing 3-4 minutes straight of something that sounds completely composed. Now moving to funk chords.
1/2/16: Build now, sort of reminiscent of the Dick's Disease.
1/2/16: Trey starts up Sand somewhat suddenly after the build.
1/2/16: Does it matter if it's a ripcord if he's ripcording what was already the best jam of the year?
1/2/16: 'That could have gone on for ten more minutes, Trey! But I also might have died from a brain aneurysm...so...thanks?'
1/2/16: Great Sand jam here. Sounds absolutely effortless after that Tweezer.
1/2/16: There are an above-average amount of guitar notes in this song.
1/2/16: A drop into...plinko? Sort of?
1/2/16: Sand is wrapping up with a sort-of 2001 jam and then a transition back into the Sand riff.
1/2/16: LxL.
1/2/16: Weird placement for LxL. Strong version, though, > Suzy.
1/2/16: Hood!
1/2/16: Really interesting blues jam forming in the middle of Hood.
1/2/16: This jam officially does not resemble Hood at all, now.
1/2/16: Really quick build and peak. That was interesting.
1/2/16: Weird loop drawn out for thirty seconds or so, then > YEM.
1/2/16: Groove-heavy, Mike-and-Fish led jam early on in YEM.
1/2/16: Page on what I think is a synth jamming with Mike now.
1/2/16: The Lizards encore!
1/2/16: Tweeprise to close.
Feb 4, 2016
2016-01-01 MSG III
The Verdict:
The third night of MSG is definitely a step down from the first two nights, but it's still a solid show in the pattern of this run. That is to say that there are a few serious highlights sprinkled around in a show that's otherwise pretty average-great straightforward.
The difference in quality between the first two nights and this show, then, is really down how average the average-great parts are. Where the first two nights' jukebox-y sections get by somewhat with great song selection, consistent flow, and strong playing, this night's first set (and much of the second) is lacking the first two of those three qualities. There are a lot of mood-killing setlist calls, making this show overall a skip-everything-but-the-highlights affair.
All that said, the sole highlight of S1 is "Undermind," which might actually be my favorite part of the show. The middle of the jam gets extra weird, and a strong solo from Trey follows, before he proceeds to tease almost every other song played during the first set to that point.
The second set is pretty much completely a head-scratcher except for "Disease" and "Light," both of which are the epitome of 2015-style jamming. Neither is anything you haven't heard before if you've been listening to this tour, but it almost feels as if the guys have successfully and perfectly distilled the year's work into these two "greatest hits"-style jams. They're both legitimately great. It's also worth a mention that Trey thoroughly deconstructs the usual "Fuego" jam to extend the tune a little before wrapping up the set with a completely by-the-book "Slave."
The Live Review:
1/1/16: Early start today! Stealing Time opener. Probably my least favorite opener after KDF.
1/1/16: Pretty sure Trey just called for a Leo solo using his bedroom voice.
1/1/16: Oh, this is Heavy Things, by the way. Organ solo.
1/1/16: Okay, organ solo and some old-school Trey soloing makes that a better-than-average Heavy Things.
1/1/16: Happy to see How Many People staying in the rotation. Would love to see this song open a S2 next summer.
1/1/16: Mid-set Stash.
1/1/16: Nicely done Stash. Stays within the normal boundaries, but features some great melody playing by Trey.
1/1/16: Undermind starts up, and Trey is immediately on the echo. This is probably going to be a good version.
1/1/16: Really bizarro loop-based solo from Trey. Very cool.
1/1/16: Undermind 'second jam' after the vocal outro.
1/1/16: Extended Stash tease, then Stealing Time, then How Many People? How cool is that? Back into Undermind outro. Crowd goes nuts.
1/1/16: > Rift.
1/1/16: That was an old-school Rift. Especially for Page, who absolutely caught fire and blew up.
1/1/16: TIME to PUT your WINGSUIT on
1/1/16: Ocelot is next.
1/1/16: Wingsuit had a pretty great build at the end, but still. Wingsuit > Ocelot is less a one-two punch than a one-two light tap.
1/1/16: Lawn Boy is nice, but doesn't do a lot to jack up the energy level.
1/1/16: Antelope set closer.
1/1/16: If there's one thing that this run can't get right, it's S1s. Decent song choices, but really all throwaways except for Undermind.
1/1/16: Pretty awesome tension-y bit mid-jam by Page and Trey.
1/1/16: Huge peak in Antelope. Crowd explodes. Now echo-chord jamming.
1/1/16: Stealing Time, Stash teases.
1/1/16: End set.
1/1/16: Disease starts the second frame.
1/1/16: Trey is lighting it up early on in the jam.
1/1/16: We're in freaking serious office-air-guitar territory right now.
1/1/16: Good thing I wore my 'Real Outcasty' hoodie to work today.
1/1/16: Mellowing now, but maintaining momentum.
1/1/16: Mike taking over on the robot bass.
1/1/16: He and Page trading bluesy licks.
1/1/16: Loving the Mike-centrism of the back half of this jam.
1/1/16: Quasi ripcord into Dirt. Admittedly, the jam had been in a holding pattern for a bit.
1/1/16: And Dirt is a neat choice for a segue song.
1/1/16: Buuuut...Mike threw down a monster riff right before Trey yanked the cord, which makes it a little harder to swallow.
1/1/16: Awesome build in Dirt. Yeah, you read that right.
1/1/16: Really weird choice in putting Halfway next.
1/1/16: Theme now. Such a weird setlist so far.
1/1/16: Well, the band seems to have suddenly remembered how to play Theme with some freaking verve.
1/1/16: Light! The perennial S2 'What the Hell Do We Do Next?' song!
1/1/16: I actually really like Light when they just dive right into it. I just hate the usually-obligatory few minutes of arpeggios after.
1/1/16: This version is a bit heavier on Page and Mike early on, so maybe we'll skip that part.
1/1/16: Things getting murkier and funkier now.
1/1/16: Mike's driving toward a build now.
1/1/16: Moving toward a Manteca-sounding rock peak now. Crowd roaring.
1/1/16: Winding down now. Great beat from Fish.
1/1/16: Ambient drone...
1/1/16: Nice Page-only landing in Fuego.
1/1/16: Neither DWD or Light jams will change the way you feel about Phish jams, but...
1/1/16: ...they are both quintessential 2015-era improv, with absolutely no letup, for 15 and 17 minutes, respectively.
1/1/16: Really grungy, loopy outro solo.
1/1/16: Trey reprising the Fuego riff using the pitch-shifter. Very cool.
1/1/16: > Slave.
1/1/16: Pretty standard Slave. End set.
1/1/16: I'd love to see them work over Slave this coming year like they did Hood in '14.
1/1/16: Welp, Farmhouse encore is in keeping with how weird this show has been.
1/1/16: The first two shows had their fair share of low-tempo and jukebox tunes, but balanced them with monster jams.
1/1/16: The balance felt a bit off to me in N3. Undermind, Disease, and Light were all excellent, though.
1/1/16: Also, the Fuego is worth a mention, for sure.
The third night of MSG is definitely a step down from the first two nights, but it's still a solid show in the pattern of this run. That is to say that there are a few serious highlights sprinkled around in a show that's otherwise pretty average-great straightforward.
The difference in quality between the first two nights and this show, then, is really down how average the average-great parts are. Where the first two nights' jukebox-y sections get by somewhat with great song selection, consistent flow, and strong playing, this night's first set (and much of the second) is lacking the first two of those three qualities. There are a lot of mood-killing setlist calls, making this show overall a skip-everything-but-the-highlights affair.
All that said, the sole highlight of S1 is "Undermind," which might actually be my favorite part of the show. The middle of the jam gets extra weird, and a strong solo from Trey follows, before he proceeds to tease almost every other song played during the first set to that point.
The second set is pretty much completely a head-scratcher except for "Disease" and "Light," both of which are the epitome of 2015-style jamming. Neither is anything you haven't heard before if you've been listening to this tour, but it almost feels as if the guys have successfully and perfectly distilled the year's work into these two "greatest hits"-style jams. They're both legitimately great. It's also worth a mention that Trey thoroughly deconstructs the usual "Fuego" jam to extend the tune a little before wrapping up the set with a completely by-the-book "Slave."
The Live Review:
1/1/16: Early start today! Stealing Time opener. Probably my least favorite opener after KDF.
1/1/16: Pretty sure Trey just called for a Leo solo using his bedroom voice.
1/1/16: Oh, this is Heavy Things, by the way. Organ solo.
1/1/16: Okay, organ solo and some old-school Trey soloing makes that a better-than-average Heavy Things.
1/1/16: Happy to see How Many People staying in the rotation. Would love to see this song open a S2 next summer.
1/1/16: Mid-set Stash.
1/1/16: Nicely done Stash. Stays within the normal boundaries, but features some great melody playing by Trey.
1/1/16: Undermind starts up, and Trey is immediately on the echo. This is probably going to be a good version.
1/1/16: Really bizarro loop-based solo from Trey. Very cool.
1/1/16: Undermind 'second jam' after the vocal outro.
1/1/16: Extended Stash tease, then Stealing Time, then How Many People? How cool is that? Back into Undermind outro. Crowd goes nuts.
1/1/16: > Rift.
1/1/16: That was an old-school Rift. Especially for Page, who absolutely caught fire and blew up.
1/1/16: TIME to PUT your WINGSUIT on
1/1/16: Ocelot is next.
1/1/16: Wingsuit had a pretty great build at the end, but still. Wingsuit > Ocelot is less a one-two punch than a one-two light tap.
1/1/16: Lawn Boy is nice, but doesn't do a lot to jack up the energy level.
1/1/16: Antelope set closer.
1/1/16: If there's one thing that this run can't get right, it's S1s. Decent song choices, but really all throwaways except for Undermind.
1/1/16: Pretty awesome tension-y bit mid-jam by Page and Trey.
1/1/16: Huge peak in Antelope. Crowd explodes. Now echo-chord jamming.
1/1/16: Stealing Time, Stash teases.
1/1/16: End set.
1/1/16: Disease starts the second frame.
1/1/16: Trey is lighting it up early on in the jam.
1/1/16: We're in freaking serious office-air-guitar territory right now.
1/1/16: Good thing I wore my 'Real Outcasty' hoodie to work today.
1/1/16: Mellowing now, but maintaining momentum.
1/1/16: Mike taking over on the robot bass.
1/1/16: He and Page trading bluesy licks.
1/1/16: Loving the Mike-centrism of the back half of this jam.
1/1/16: Quasi ripcord into Dirt. Admittedly, the jam had been in a holding pattern for a bit.
1/1/16: And Dirt is a neat choice for a segue song.
1/1/16: Buuuut...Mike threw down a monster riff right before Trey yanked the cord, which makes it a little harder to swallow.
1/1/16: Awesome build in Dirt. Yeah, you read that right.
1/1/16: Really weird choice in putting Halfway next.
1/1/16: Theme now. Such a weird setlist so far.
1/1/16: Well, the band seems to have suddenly remembered how to play Theme with some freaking verve.
1/1/16: Light! The perennial S2 'What the Hell Do We Do Next?' song!
1/1/16: I actually really like Light when they just dive right into it. I just hate the usually-obligatory few minutes of arpeggios after.
1/1/16: This version is a bit heavier on Page and Mike early on, so maybe we'll skip that part.
1/1/16: Things getting murkier and funkier now.
1/1/16: Mike's driving toward a build now.
1/1/16: Moving toward a Manteca-sounding rock peak now. Crowd roaring.
1/1/16: Winding down now. Great beat from Fish.
1/1/16: Ambient drone...
1/1/16: Nice Page-only landing in Fuego.
1/1/16: Neither DWD or Light jams will change the way you feel about Phish jams, but...
1/1/16: ...they are both quintessential 2015-era improv, with absolutely no letup, for 15 and 17 minutes, respectively.
1/1/16: Really grungy, loopy outro solo.
1/1/16: Trey reprising the Fuego riff using the pitch-shifter. Very cool.
1/1/16: > Slave.
1/1/16: Pretty standard Slave. End set.
1/1/16: I'd love to see them work over Slave this coming year like they did Hood in '14.
1/1/16: Welp, Farmhouse encore is in keeping with how weird this show has been.
1/1/16: The first two shows had their fair share of low-tempo and jukebox tunes, but balanced them with monster jams.
1/1/16: The balance felt a bit off to me in N3. Undermind, Disease, and Light were all excellent, though.
1/1/16: Also, the Fuego is worth a mention, for sure.
2015-12-31 MSG II
The Verdict:
The three-set NYE show proper magnifies all the good and the bad about 12/30. Again, the first set is rote, though it's rote while also being played with an intense amount of energy. There are some neat moments, like the crowd sing-along on "I Didn't Know" and the "Reba," but in general there's not much to write home about. Don't get me wrong, it's about as great as average-great gets, but there's not a lot of relisten potential.
For the first half of the second set, oddly, this trend continues. Essentially, we've got 1.5 opening sets here. But then "KDF" heads into murky, ambient territory and all hell breaks loose. The "KDF" jam is one of the weirdest in quite some time, as it swerves into Drive-In territory and then departs for parts unknown. It's sewn to "Twist" by a short-but-wacky "Piper," and then "Twist" goes on to move through mutron-powered funk and a "The Dogs"-like peak that's on a level with the previous night's "Gin." It's that good. And this is just the second set.
The third set's meat is near the front, as it opens with a twenty-one-minute "No Men's" that goes totally off the Drive-In end and stays there for a long, long, satisfying time. A brief interlude for the year to end and then there's also a fifteen-minute "Blaze On" jam that gets all clavvy and such (as is typical) before moving into an atypical space where Trey takes over lead and lays down a gorgeous melody solo to close out the song.
Everything after that is back in the greatest-average-great territory, but it's nice to hear a "Bowie" with some teeth and a "Horse" where Trey actually plays his guitar. And, man, this show has four contenders for top-tier-2015 jams...even if the rest of the show was just "Jennifer Dances" over and over again, it would be a tour highlight.
The Live Review:
12/31/15: Probably will not get through this entire show today, but I'll at least get started.
12/31/15: Moma Dance opens. Fish getting flashy with the beat already. Good sign.
12/31/15: A FROTHING CAP
12/31/15: Early Possum, and Trey be sprayin' notes all over the place.
12/31/15: Mike sounds great on this mix. Pumped. It's a good @phish day. Summer tour dates now, please?
12/31/15: Page takes an awesome organ solo in Possum.
12/31/15: Super-hot Possum > Wolfman's.
12/31/15: Another massive Type I jam here. These guys are serious tonight.
12/31/15: Birds is next.
12/31/15: Short take there, but way more interesting than the usual 3.0-filler style.
12/31/15: I Didn't Know!
12/31/15: AWESOME. Crowd singing in place of band. Singing all the parts.
12/31/15: Fish wants to sing one more song with the audience.
12/31/15: Fish and crowd singing Happy Birthday to his daughter.
12/31/15: Martian Monster!
12/31/15: More crowd participation w/ a MM stop-start woo jam.
12/31/15: Reba is an interesting call, here.
12/31/15: Rebas have been really good this year and this one's no exception. Fantastic solo.
12/31/15: Walls, presumably to close S1.
12/31/15: No serious jam in the first set, but the first four songs were all super-hot. Sing-a-long shenanigans after. Strong Reba + Walls.
12/31/15: Second set opens with The Wedge, weirdly enough.
12/31/15: The Wedge gets butt-slammed into Wilson.
12/31/15: Wilson sounding a little more heavy-metal than usual.
12/31/15: ASIHTOS is next. Standard Type I action so far.
12/31/15: Like many of the S1 songs, ASIHTOS doesn't go deep, but definitely brings the heat.
12/31/15: Yarmouth Road at high tempo.
12/31/15: This is starting to seem like the second part of a really solid, but straightforward first set.
12/31/15: Your mileage might vary according to your appreciation for that sort of thing.
12/31/15: Trey hangs back a bit and lets Mike lead the Yarmouth jam.
12/31/15: Now KDF.
12/31/15: Weird S2 so far.
12/31/15: Early on in the solo, Trey is getting a little atonal. Might be headed somewhere interesting.
12/31/15: Really spacey, Birds-like jam taking shape now.
12/31/15: Just drone, piano, and drums now.
12/31/15: Super minimalist yet groovy jam.
12/31/15: I really dig this. Different than pretty much all the big jams so far this year.
12/31/15: Maybe a little Drive-In Jam flavor in there, though.
12/31/15: That was one of the coolest jams I've heard from Phish in a long time. Weirdly minimal and spooky, but still melodic.
12/31/15: Slow segue into Piper.
12/31/15: Piper is really just an interlude, but it's about as good as you could ask for in a six-minute version.
12/31/15: Slow, grungy segue into Twist.
12/31/15: Awesome latin-infused vibe to the beginning of the Twist jam.
12/31/15: Return to the typical Twist riff now, but continuing past it into a second jam.
12/31/15: Mutron and funk action now.
12/31/15: Sounds a hell of a lot like a low-tempo The Dogs now.
12/31/15: Huge build, fantastic Trey solo, and then a return to the Twist riff. That was amazing.
12/31/15: Two of my easy-favorite jams of 2015 (and that's saying something) now on 12/30 and 12/31.
12/31/15: Super-short S2, but the back end was AWESOME.
12/31/15: Low-tempo, funky No Men's to start S3.
12/31/15: Solo gets weird early on, segues into a No Quarter/ASIHTOS-type jam.
12/31/15: Piano accents in the darkness.
12/31/15: Organic turn toward a more blissful, though still low-key space now. Trey putting down a melody.
12/31/15: Great beat from Fish is the foundation for synth and all sort of weird stuff for the next few minutes. This is amazing.
12/31/15: Ambient wash suddenly at about 11:00.
12/31/15: Sort of back to where we left off before the ambient bit now.
12/31/15: Extremely patient jam is going into deeeeep space here.
12/31/15: So glad I'm not high right now because I'd be shitting myself.
12/31/15: The Carinval of the Damned Jamming.
12/31/15: Now '99-era anthemic space rock.
12/31/15: This is absolutely nuts. How is this not everyone's favorite jam of ever?
12/31/15: Perfect > countdown > Auld Lang Syne
12/31/15: > Blaze On, crowd loses it.
12/31/15: Great straightforward solo to start the Blaze On jam.
12/31/15: Loops and clav now.
12/31/15: Neat, mellow chording now, over a bass drone.
12/31/15: Another fantastic solo from Trey now. Wow.
12/31/15: This is just beautiful.
12/31/15: Wrap back to Blaze On vocal outro. Then butt-slammed into Carini!
12/31/15: Holy hell, brilliant Trey solo AGAIN in Carini. Slinky as all hell.
12/31/15: Mike taking over now as the jam mellows out.
12/31/15: Great -> Bowie from Fish.
12/31/15: Bowie doesn't deviate massively from the typical mode, but Trey's suddenly astonishing soloing skills kick in here again.
12/31/15: Brief break after Bowie before The Horse.
12/31/15: Trey playing this time instead of Page.
12/31/15: I'm disappointed with the crowd's lack of reaction to the 'I think this exact thing happened to me...' line.
12/31/15: Number Line is next.
12/31/15: Somehow, that was the ugliest version of Number Line in pretty much forever.
12/31/15: Tube encore? Ooookay.
12/31/15: Tube > Cavern. Weird encore.
12/31/15: That said, everything from KDF to Bowie was absolutely brilliant.
12/31/15: There's arguably a lot of (well-played) filler in this show, but when you get a chunk of Phish music like that in the middle...
12/31/15: ...who cares?
The three-set NYE show proper magnifies all the good and the bad about 12/30. Again, the first set is rote, though it's rote while also being played with an intense amount of energy. There are some neat moments, like the crowd sing-along on "I Didn't Know" and the "Reba," but in general there's not much to write home about. Don't get me wrong, it's about as great as average-great gets, but there's not a lot of relisten potential.
For the first half of the second set, oddly, this trend continues. Essentially, we've got 1.5 opening sets here. But then "KDF" heads into murky, ambient territory and all hell breaks loose. The "KDF" jam is one of the weirdest in quite some time, as it swerves into Drive-In territory and then departs for parts unknown. It's sewn to "Twist" by a short-but-wacky "Piper," and then "Twist" goes on to move through mutron-powered funk and a "The Dogs"-like peak that's on a level with the previous night's "Gin." It's that good. And this is just the second set.
The third set's meat is near the front, as it opens with a twenty-one-minute "No Men's" that goes totally off the Drive-In end and stays there for a long, long, satisfying time. A brief interlude for the year to end and then there's also a fifteen-minute "Blaze On" jam that gets all clavvy and such (as is typical) before moving into an atypical space where Trey takes over lead and lays down a gorgeous melody solo to close out the song.
Everything after that is back in the greatest-average-great territory, but it's nice to hear a "Bowie" with some teeth and a "Horse" where Trey actually plays his guitar. And, man, this show has four contenders for top-tier-2015 jams...even if the rest of the show was just "Jennifer Dances" over and over again, it would be a tour highlight.
The Live Review:
12/31/15: Probably will not get through this entire show today, but I'll at least get started.
12/31/15: Moma Dance opens. Fish getting flashy with the beat already. Good sign.
12/31/15: A FROTHING CAP
12/31/15: Early Possum, and Trey be sprayin' notes all over the place.
12/31/15: Mike sounds great on this mix. Pumped. It's a good @phish day. Summer tour dates now, please?
12/31/15: Page takes an awesome organ solo in Possum.
12/31/15: Super-hot Possum > Wolfman's.
12/31/15: Another massive Type I jam here. These guys are serious tonight.
12/31/15: Birds is next.
12/31/15: Short take there, but way more interesting than the usual 3.0-filler style.
12/31/15: I Didn't Know!
12/31/15: AWESOME. Crowd singing in place of band. Singing all the parts.
12/31/15: Fish wants to sing one more song with the audience.
12/31/15: Fish and crowd singing Happy Birthday to his daughter.
12/31/15: Martian Monster!
12/31/15: More crowd participation w/ a MM stop-start woo jam.
12/31/15: Reba is an interesting call, here.
12/31/15: Rebas have been really good this year and this one's no exception. Fantastic solo.
12/31/15: Walls, presumably to close S1.
12/31/15: No serious jam in the first set, but the first four songs were all super-hot. Sing-a-long shenanigans after. Strong Reba + Walls.
12/31/15: Second set opens with The Wedge, weirdly enough.
12/31/15: The Wedge gets butt-slammed into Wilson.
12/31/15: Wilson sounding a little more heavy-metal than usual.
12/31/15: ASIHTOS is next. Standard Type I action so far.
12/31/15: Like many of the S1 songs, ASIHTOS doesn't go deep, but definitely brings the heat.
12/31/15: Yarmouth Road at high tempo.
12/31/15: This is starting to seem like the second part of a really solid, but straightforward first set.
12/31/15: Your mileage might vary according to your appreciation for that sort of thing.
12/31/15: Trey hangs back a bit and lets Mike lead the Yarmouth jam.
12/31/15: Now KDF.
12/31/15: Weird S2 so far.
12/31/15: Early on in the solo, Trey is getting a little atonal. Might be headed somewhere interesting.
12/31/15: Really spacey, Birds-like jam taking shape now.
12/31/15: Just drone, piano, and drums now.
12/31/15: Super minimalist yet groovy jam.
12/31/15: I really dig this. Different than pretty much all the big jams so far this year.
12/31/15: Maybe a little Drive-In Jam flavor in there, though.
12/31/15: That was one of the coolest jams I've heard from Phish in a long time. Weirdly minimal and spooky, but still melodic.
12/31/15: Slow segue into Piper.
12/31/15: Piper is really just an interlude, but it's about as good as you could ask for in a six-minute version.
12/31/15: Slow, grungy segue into Twist.
12/31/15: Awesome latin-infused vibe to the beginning of the Twist jam.
12/31/15: Return to the typical Twist riff now, but continuing past it into a second jam.
12/31/15: Mutron and funk action now.
12/31/15: Sounds a hell of a lot like a low-tempo The Dogs now.
12/31/15: Huge build, fantastic Trey solo, and then a return to the Twist riff. That was amazing.
12/31/15: Two of my easy-favorite jams of 2015 (and that's saying something) now on 12/30 and 12/31.
12/31/15: Super-short S2, but the back end was AWESOME.
12/31/15: Low-tempo, funky No Men's to start S3.
12/31/15: Solo gets weird early on, segues into a No Quarter/ASIHTOS-type jam.
12/31/15: Piano accents in the darkness.
12/31/15: Organic turn toward a more blissful, though still low-key space now. Trey putting down a melody.
12/31/15: Great beat from Fish is the foundation for synth and all sort of weird stuff for the next few minutes. This is amazing.
12/31/15: Ambient wash suddenly at about 11:00.
12/31/15: Sort of back to where we left off before the ambient bit now.
12/31/15: Extremely patient jam is going into deeeeep space here.
12/31/15: So glad I'm not high right now because I'd be shitting myself.
12/31/15: The Carinval of the Damned Jamming.
12/31/15: Now '99-era anthemic space rock.
12/31/15: This is absolutely nuts. How is this not everyone's favorite jam of ever?
12/31/15: Perfect > countdown > Auld Lang Syne
12/31/15: > Blaze On, crowd loses it.
12/31/15: Great straightforward solo to start the Blaze On jam.
12/31/15: Loops and clav now.
12/31/15: Neat, mellow chording now, over a bass drone.
12/31/15: Another fantastic solo from Trey now. Wow.
12/31/15: This is just beautiful.
12/31/15: Wrap back to Blaze On vocal outro. Then butt-slammed into Carini!
12/31/15: Holy hell, brilliant Trey solo AGAIN in Carini. Slinky as all hell.
12/31/15: Mike taking over now as the jam mellows out.
12/31/15: Great -> Bowie from Fish.
12/31/15: Bowie doesn't deviate massively from the typical mode, but Trey's suddenly astonishing soloing skills kick in here again.
12/31/15: Brief break after Bowie before The Horse.
12/31/15: Trey playing this time instead of Page.
12/31/15: I'm disappointed with the crowd's lack of reaction to the 'I think this exact thing happened to me...' line.
12/31/15: Number Line is next.
12/31/15: Somehow, that was the ugliest version of Number Line in pretty much forever.
12/31/15: Tube encore? Ooookay.
12/31/15: Tube > Cavern. Weird encore.
12/31/15: That said, everything from KDF to Bowie was absolutely brilliant.
12/31/15: There's arguably a lot of (well-played) filler in this show, but when you get a chunk of Phish music like that in the middle...
12/31/15: ...who cares?
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