The Verdict:
The Clarkston show returns us to early Bethel territory: that is, it's freaking awesome. The first set doesn't have any real improv to speak of, actually, but the energy (Trey's especially) and the song choices make this the rare set where the enthusiasm overcomes the fact that the band never really ventures out of the box. It's great to hear "Tela," and "Chalkdust" goes Type 1.5 in a way that's worth a listen.
The second set is a six-song affair, with the "Disease" -> "Fluffhead" -> "Bowie" sequence taking up around 50 minutes (!). The "Disease" is the tentpole jam of the show, and maybe of the summer so far (discounting the "Waves" soundcheck in Bethel). Rather than describing it again, I'll just put the band-released video below, but it's a great study in maintaining flow and momentum in improvisation over 25 minutes. "Fluffhead" is its usual self, but "Bowie" also gets extended a bit, and while it's not a 90s "Bowie" by any means, by the song's 3.0 standards, it gets way out there.
Phish - 6/3/11 "Down With Disease" from Phish on Vimeo.
The rest of the set is more or less a victory lap, but that's excusable when you get that much fire in an opening set and an S2 that kicks off with this sort of trifecta.
The Live Review:
6/3/11: Wolfman's opener.
6/3/11: I keep forgetting you can do this now. https://t.co/P2lhwi5Evu
6/3/11: Mike leading right off the bat.
6/3/11: Trey follows that up with a pretty perfect show-opening rock solo.
6/3/11: Trey keeps the guitar madness rolling through an excellent take on Funky Bitch.
6/3/11: Crazy version of Sample > NICU.
6/3/11: Happy birthday at the end of NICU.
6/3/11: Err...Happy Birthday tease, I mean. Then a hard-rock ending reminiscent of Carini.
6/3/11: Mike's Song!
6/3/11: I will never, ever get sick of that Mike bass riff and then Trey coming in over it to start the jam in Mike's.
6/3/11: Trey certainly doesn't make as much room for the rest of the band in 2011 as he did in 2015, but he sure plays more notes.
6/3/11: As a result, this Mike's is fantastic, despite staying Type I.
6/3/11: > Hydrogen! I definitely miss hearing this one. Second Mike's jam > Hydrogen would be great this summer.
6/3/11: Hydrogen is a little sloppy, but purty nonetheless. > Groove.
6/3/11: Everyone catching their breath after Groove. It's been nonstop so far.
6/3/11: TELA!
6/3/11: Love Tela, in case you couldn't tell. Chalkdust is next.
6/3/11: Ooh, Chalkdust getting a little Type II-y.
6/3/11: This is not a 2014-2015 Chalkdust by any means, but there's a broken-down, alt-scale jam in the middle that's great.
6/3/11: Okay, that was a crazy Chalkdust. The Wedge is next.
6/3/11: Trey shredding THE HELL out of The Wedge to end the first set. Second set should be really fun.
6/3/11: Disease opens S2.
6/3/11: Lots of shredding and playing around with scales early in the Disease jam, a la the earlier Chalkdust.
6/3/11: Getting a bit plinko-y now.
6/3/11: Trey riff sounding a bit Ghost-intro-like.
6/3/11: Ambient-drone section now. Page banging out piano chords over it.
6/3/11: Fuzz building.
6/3/11: I get the whole 'Love Supreme Jam' thing now. Fuzz jam and follow up based on two chord chant bit from the song.
6/3/11: Of course, by that logic it's also a jam 'based on' Heavy Things.
6/3/11: Mike sticking with the bassline and Trey and Page laying down some gorgeous melody playing over it.
6/3/11: So that was fun. Amazing 25 minute jam with a perfect -> Fluffhead.
6/3/11: Great Fluffhead outro solo descends into noise, which translates in turn to an arguable -> Bowie.
6/3/11: Playing around with the intro like it's 1996.
6/3/11: Great intro, confident composed bit...now for the jam.
6/3/11: Tela tease.
6/3/11: Great, slowly building rock jam so far.
6/3/11: I didn't know that they played Bowies like this in 3.0.
6/3/11: So, these days my enthusiasm has dimmed a bit for the longer composed pieces, but... 6/3/11: That set just opened with a 58-minute long Disease -> Fluffhead -> Bowie sequence. That's no joke, guys.
6/3/11: That is some serious 2015-level shit.
6/3/11: Waste is next, because presumably thousands of people on the lawn blew out their quads over the previous hour and need to sit.
6/3/11: Spacey little reprise of the Waste outro leads directly into 2001.
6/3/11: Lest you thought they'd phone it in after that first hour.
6/3/11: Great little funk riff happening now.
6/3/11: Short, punchy little 2001 -B Cavern.
6/3/11: Cavern ends the second set.
6/3/11: Yes! GTBT encore!
6/3/11: In some ways, I think 5/27 and 5/28 were more interesting, but this is the best full show of the year so far. Love it.
6/3/11: THUNDEROUS Good Times Bad Times to close. Wow.
6/3/11: You're welcome. https://t.co/Qo7qAW9mNM
6/3/11: There's also this: https://t.co/IVMYnSxNmO
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