2009-03-08 Hampton Coliseum

Holy shit, night three. How I ever thought night two was the highlight of this run is beyond me. Upon relistening, I actually think I prefer this show to a few (though not many) '11 or '12 shows.

While the first set doesn't have the near-perfect song choice and setlist flow that night two's opening frame did, every single song is played with an energy and certainty that was a bit lacking in the more tenative 3/6 and 3/7 shows. Trey and Fishman are especially hot here. This is the first Trey Show of 3.0.

"Sanity" > "Wilson" is a great way to open the show and a solid "Foam" in the third does little to cool things down. An especially Trey-y "Gin" follows, and this is the Trey that can play a ten-minute "Gin" without wandering out of the song structure at all and still be throwing compelling licks around at the ten minute mark. Much of the rest of the set, especially the "Bag" > "My Friend, My Friend," "Army of One," "Tube," "Cars Trucks Buses," and "Free" sees the band playing around in small ways with the songs' traditional structures (read: not screwing up and then covering their asses, but legitimately improvising in satisfying ways on a small scale), and to me, there aren't many things better about this band except for the big jams.

Well, the big jams show up right off the bat in set two, with a huge "Disease" that runs for twenty-two minutes, split evenly between Trey shredding and some more of the proto-plinko and abstract jamming we heard for a few minutes during night two. The segued "Seven Below" is a concise but excellent jam, and in fact much of the second set is what it is because of Trey's ability to improvise affective melodies (something that, despite the band's general jamming prowess these days, is sadly missing), which is what happens here as well as during "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Velvet Sea," and "Slave." "The Horse" > "Silent" pairing out of "Seven Below" is badly biffed by pretty much everyone at some point in the song(s), but (big jamming and great melody lines aside) the follow-up "Twist" > "2001" is maybe the highlight of the set. Again, here, we get something you don't hear nearly as much these days: the band experimenting with a lot of different tones and effects to create and ambient wall of sound that's maybe not as consistent as, but definitely more compelling than something like, say, the Tahoe "Light." The segue here is great, with Fishman making the change while the rest of the band stick with the ambient "Twist" jam for another minute or so. Great, great stuff that moves quickly into a fiery version of one the more consistent mid-length songs of 3.0, "Moma Dance."

On to Fenway! And "Time Turns Elastic"! Err...