2009-06-10 Thompson-Boling Arena

If 6/9 was characterized by strange song choices and setlist flow that were eventually overpowered by the band's sheer enthusaism, 6/10 is its opposite: a pretty much perfect setlist (by my standards, at least) that's dampened a bit by workmanlike-only playing throughout. I say "a bit" because this is still a decent show, but definitely 6/7 > 6/9 > 6/10.

We get a great set of opening songs right off in the first set, though none of them deviate much beyond what you'd expect, except for "Foam," which features a surprisingly minimalist middle section to its jam before spiraling back up into madness for the conclusion. Next is "Train Song," which is one of my favorite short, sweet Phish songs, and the version of "Undermind" that follows is clever, with a really funky jam that features some strange Trey chording. The buns of the Mike's Groove sandwich aren't really anything to write home about, but the sloooooooowed down "Hydrogen" smushed in-between works really well. I don't know if the band was really going for something different here or Trey was just worried about playing the song too fast and missing notes; either way, though, this take is worth a listen if you like "Hydrogen."

Like the first set, the second looks magical on paper, but doesn't translate quite as well on tape. "Back on the Train" is a truncated version that features a full stop before the first "Waves" of 3.0. Most of "Waves" is straightforward, but the last few minutes feature a minimal outro jam with some harmonizing on the song's ending refrain. This turns into a neat segue into "ASIHTOS," which is probably the best moment of the show.

Unfortunately, "ASIHTOS" doesn't really follow through on the segue's promise, devolving into another generic guitar jam.

The setlist never ceases to be amazing, as there's a "Bowie," "Army Of One," "Reba," and "Hood" to come still, among others, but still, there's something missing here. The "Bowie" is solid and the "Army of One" is a nice surprise. The majority of the show remaining after these is a series of quiet, slowly building jams, each of which (throughout "Reba," "Julius," and "Hood") are primarily led with Trey noodling. If you're a big fan of the "patient"-style "Hood" jam, you'll probably love this part of the set. To me, the playing wasn't engaging enough to make the builds worthwhile (minus, maybe the "Hood," which is pretty awesome).

Overall, this show is pretty fun for the setlist (if you like all the same songs that i like), but you're not going to get a lot of mileage out of it beyond that.

On to Bonnaroo!