The Verdict:
Very similar to the 6/5 show, 6/7 presents an excellently constructed first set played with a lot of verve, and then a second set that doesn't live up to the promise, offering a tiny bit of interesting improv and otherwise a bunch of head-scratcher song choices and blown segues.
Other than the odd "Stealing Time" closer, set one is coherent and fun. "Llama" and "Moma" are a great one-two punch to open the set. "Cities" and "David Bowie" both get extended a bit, and "Instant Karma!" makes for a great, brief cover break between them. One-off cover "Rhymes" (taken from Mike's band's repertoire) fits the band surprisingly well and should have totally been played more than once during this tour. And "Divided Sky" is, well, "Divided Sky."
Set two opens, confusingly, with "BOTT," but then moves via a pretty disastrous segue to a 16-minute "Rock and Roll," which itself is clearly the highpoint of the show. After a few minutes of quality Trey soloing, the jam moves into a more rhythm-driven zone and stays there before blasting into a dark, bluesy section that brings Trey to the fore again. There's a few interesting spaces here and it's definitely worth a listen. The landing in "The Mango Song" is pretty great, too. From there, though, things get a bit weird. Following "Mango" with "Bug" does the set no favors, and though "Pebbles and Marbles" is one of the rare well-played live versions, it still feels a bit like we're in wind-down mode during the song. Rounding out the set are a short "Halley's" and a short "Meatstick," and while the set-closing "Antelope" features some fun teases, it doesn't do much to keep the back half of this set from feeling a bit empty.
Rarely do I talk much about the encore, but this "Suzy" is super fun, includes some "Page's house!" antics and some more Mike-led jamming. Worth a listen.
The Live Review:
6/7/11: Llama opener. That's awesome.
6/7/11: Tempo is somewhere between the studio version and the slow Llama of '15.
6/7/11: Page taking a nice pass on an organ solo to start.
6/7/11: A particularly chunky-sounding Moma Dance is next.
6/7/11: Trey going to town on the Moma outro solo.
6/7/11: Possum!
6/7/11: I hate to say it, but '11 Phish definitely makes the first-setty first set more fun than '15 Phish.
6/7/11: This isn't interesting, but it sure is fun to listen to. A lot more bounce and energy to the tunes than there tends to be nowadays.
6/7/11: Seriously, this Possum is crazy and more energy than they've brought to the song in the last three years.
6/7/11: Cities! Loving the song choices so far.
6/7/11: Cities funk jam getting extended a little bit.
6/7/11: Instant Karma! is next. Thought for some reason that the version they played in August '11 was the debut. Guess not.
6/7/11: Mid-set Bowie. Odd choice, but here we go!
6/7/11: Long, but standard and well-played version of Bowie. A cover of Al Green's 'Rhymes' is next. Looks like it was a MGB song.
6/7/11: Before Phish covered it, I mean.
6/7/11: Divided Sky. Also seems like weird placement.
6/7/11: Oddly enough, set continues with Stealing Time.
6/7/11: Okay, end set.
6/7/11: Weirdness continues as set 2 starts with BOTT.
6/7/11: Ending of BOTT sort of awkwardly wrangled into the opening of Rock and Roll. Takes Trey 90 seconds to find the right rhythm.
6/7/11: There should be a separate symbol for segues that are a good idea in theory but then fall flat. Maybe "!>?"?
6/7/11: Or maybe just >...?
6/7/11: Trey solo transitions nicely into a burbling, Mike-led jam.
6/7/11: Trey adding what I will unironically call 'accent guitar.'
6/7/11: Angry, bluesy space opening up now. Pretty cool.
6/7/11: Rock builds to a noise crescendo. Pretty interesting jam, actually.
6/7/11: Great landing in The Mango Song.
6/7/11: Bug is next. Another odd choice.
6/7/11: A fast-paced and surprisingly competent live take on Pebbles and Marbles is next.
6/7/11: Doesn't really do much to alleviate the feeling that the song choices in this show are pretty random and haphazard...
6/7/11: ...but it's a great take on the song.
6/7/11: Halley's Comet, weirdly at the near-end of the show.
6/7/11: Entering the Halley's jam, Trey tried something that...didn't work. Really quick key change, lost everybody, then > Meatstick.
6/7/11: I wonder what was supposed to happen there.
6/7/11: Short Meatstick lands in Antelope. Probably to close the set.
6/7/11: Meatstick and Bug teases in Antelope intro.
6/7/11: I *think* that was a Divided Sky tease.
6/7/11: Great, straight-laced take on Antelope. Fish was just introduced as being 'on cymbal.'
6/7/11: Suzy encore.
6/7/11: Trey teases Meatstick during the solo. Now Page does it.
6/7/11: Trey going nuts with the MOASETACK teases.
6/7/11: Trey exhorts Page to 'take us to your house!' and Fish jumps on the woodblock.
6/7/11: Mike laying down a really grungy bassline now. Page playing piano over it.
6/7/11: That was a fun encore.
6/7/11: We've had non-jammy shows where the energy/song selection is enough to elevate that show anyway...
6/7/11: ...and shows where despite monster jams, the rest of the show is so lackluster it drags everything down...
6/7/11: ...this is the rare show with almost no jamming, but high-energy playing that nonetheless has so little flow that it sort of sucks.
6/7/11: I liked the Rock and Roll jam, and the Rhymes cover. You could do worse than the Cities, Bowie, and Suzy.
6/7/11: There was a rare decent-played-live Pebbles...and that's about it.
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