2009-08-01 Red Rocks III

Ah, it's good to be back in the saddle again. I've gotten behind on reviews on account of real-life things happening, but instead of blogging about those stupid Major Life Changes Things, I'm going to start posting more Phish reviews, because priorities. I'll probably write more about Things later, though. For now I have to post these reviews because if I don't, then I'm not allowed to listen ahead any further, and based on how incredible Leg Two has been so far, that's just a sacrifice I'm not willing to make.

By the way, I listened to Red Rocks III and IV a few weeks ago and took notes, but never typed up reviews. So, these reviews are slightly removed from the actual listening experience. Sorry.

First up is Red Rocks III. After the complete and utter mindfuck of night 2, night 3 opens with a fiery "Bag," which moves into a "Curtain With" about which I just wrote "great everything." The great setlist choices roll on with an excellent "Mound" and a standard-but-fun "Jibboo." "Guyute" is a bit sloppy, but played at a tempo more suited for '89 than '09, and the following "PYITE" had me writing "best first set song list ever?!" There's some extra rock-fiire infused in this "PYITE," and then Page funks your eardrums to death on "Tube," and there's a '09 standard-excellent "Antelope." Basically, if you look at the first set song choices on paper and like what you see, you're not going to be disappointed by much of the boys' work during this frame.

The "Rock and Roll" > "Disease" pairing to start the second set is about as monstrous as it sounds. The jamming never really reaches the heights of the first two nights, but there's a lot to like here, anyway: some type 1 fire on "RnR," some stop/start jamming on both songs, a nice, murky segue in-between, and a classic move into a "Free" that ain't so bad (my hatred for the song live aside). I suspect that if I'd reviewed this show right after listening, I'd have more to say about how this is a great pairing...but alas, my memory is dead.

The rest of the set is pretty straightforward: "Esther" is a nice surprise, but a standard version, and I could say the same thing about "Dirt." "Hood" is always a welcome closer, but there've been much better "Hood"s so far this year. The "First Tube" encore, though, is excellent, and continues this run's tradition of converting me to a believer in songs that I typically don't like that much.

All in all, it's a solid show, though not on par with the first two nights. Better-than-average first set, but plainer-than-average second set. All that said, situated in the Leg 1, it would easily be one of the better shows of the whole leg. So there you go.