The Verdict:
Bethel night three is one of those shows with two first sets. It retains a bit of the magic that made the first two nights of the Bethel run such good shows, but it's not quite enough to bump it up to the same level.
The first set doesn't go anywhere interesting like the first two Bethel S1s did, but it's really well-constructed and never lets up. The highlights are definitely the "46 Days" > "Twenty Years Later" which at least gestures toward a little jamming, and then the set-closing "Antelope," which is rife with "Curtis Loew" teasing early on.
The second set looks better on paper than it is. The only real improvisational highlight (and I use that term loosely here) is the "Simple" in the midst of the "Mike's Groove," which starts the typical way but then heads to a gorgeous melodic outro not unlike the ones offered up at the ends of the two Bethel "Waves"s. Everything else is well played but never gets weird, and the tasty-looking combo of "2001" > "Light" > "Slave" seems especially pedestrian, particularly when you consider how that combo plays out in my imagination.
In all, though the band plays with the same verve they've brought to every show so far this year, this one falls flat on pretty much every other front and is a weird blemish on what began as a fantastic three-show run.
The Live Review:
5/29/11: Bag opener for N3.
5/29/11: Is there much better than a well-played AC/DC Bag opener? Probably not.
5/29/11: > Sample.
5/29/11: It's way more fun to dance to Phish in your office when you know you've got at least some tickets sewn up for summer.
5/29/11: Rift!
5/29/11: Great, first-setty action so far.
5/29/11: I do not know why I dislike Ocelot. But I do.
5/29/11: Okay, clearly it's been too long since I've seen Phish because I'm even dancing to Ocelot.
5/29/11: In my defense, this is an especially slanky version.
5/29/11: Lots of great not-Trey playing in this version. Though Trey's no slouch either.
5/29/11: Ya Mar next. Solo coming from 'Leo's house!'
5/29/11: Timber!
5/29/11: 2015 Phish should have taken some setlist-writing tips from 2011 Phish.
5/29/11: Oh Kee Pa > Suzy. Love it!
5/29/11: Really rocking little mini-jam in Suzy, > 46 Days.
5/29/11: 46 Days jam getting a little spacey post-vocal-refrain. Page on organ, Mike driving.
5/29/11: Jam doesn't really go anywhere and Trey resolves it into Twenty Years Later.
5/29/11: Have I mentioned less than 100 times how much I love the outro to Twenty Years Later?
5/29/11: Curtis Loew!!!
5/29/11: I love that Page sings this song because I love what Trey does in the background the entire time.
5/29/11: Okay, back to Curtis Loew now that I'm breathing normally again.
5/29/11: Antelope with some serious Curtis Loew teasing by Trey.
5/29/11: This is definitely not a bad first Antelope of the year.
5/29/11: End set.
5/29/11: S2 starts with Mike's Song.
5/29/11: Troy is laying down a serious solo here.
5/29/11: Old school butt-slam into Simple!
5/29/11: The Simple jam is wonderfully twine-y.
5/29/11: Judicious application of the whale pedal now propelling the jam.
5/29/11: They are really loving this gentle, slowly-developing melodic outros this year. Melodic outros are the new ambient washout!
5/29/11: Just breaking into the Groove jam, Trey yells 'Speed it up!' to Fish.
5/29/11: M00tst0ck
5/29/11: FLUFFHEAD FLUFFHEAD FLUFFHEAD FLUFFHEAD
5/29/11: Joy after Fluffhead always seems like a great combo to me.
5/29/11: Weird drumming/bass ambient introduction, and then > 2001.
5/29/11: Relatively funky 2001 segues into Light.
5/29/11: This is full-on Treypeggio city.
5/29/11: Ah, the old ambient fade after a plain Type I jam.
5/29/11: > Slave.
5/29/11: Excellent, patient Slave to close set 2. Loving Cup encore.
5/29/11: Ooh! The missing Tweeprise from night one!
5/29/11: Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.
5/29/11: End show.
5/29/11: Well, that show didn't really stand up to the first two, though it was still quite good.
5/29/11: High energy, but very first-setty S1, missing any of the surprises of the first two nights' opening sets.
5/29/11: S2 was well-played, too, but the weirdest things ever got was a bit of noodling in Simple. More like a 5/27 or 5/28 S1. Oh well.
5/29/11: Still a fun listen. Looking forward to more.
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