The Verdict:
During the first of three days at Watkins Glen for Super Ball IX, the band throws down the epitome of a fun 2010-2011 opening set. Great song choices, high energy, and Trey absolutely brings the guitar in a way that should please all but the most jaded of fans of the earlier, one-man-band era(s) of Phish. "Gin" and "Wolfman's" are particularly great examples of Trey blowing things through the roof.
The problem, at least for me, is that the band continues to take this tack throughout the entire show before leaving us with a "Joy," "Zero," "Show of Life" trifecta to close. After a first set like that, I definitely went into the second set with the feeling that something big was about to happen. Especially when S2 opens with a murky, lyricless, improvised jam from nowhere that slams effortlessly into "Crosseyed" after a few minutes. Unfortunately, the rest of the set really settles into yet another content, Type I groove, with not much on either side of "Simple" worth recommending minus maybe a low-tempo "Sand" that starts off interesting but nonetheless coalesces into the tenth or twelfth rock and roll peak of the show.
The "Simple" is flat-out weird. And yet, in a desert of improv like this tour has been, I still appreciate it. Surrounded as it is by three or so hours of Trey steamrolling through song after song in full-on rock god style, it's especially jarring when the jam suddenly drops off into a very 1999-esque ambient jam, propelled along after a few minutes by some heavy "Third Stone From The Sun" teasing. It's really cool, despite seeming out of place, and hopefully points to some more interesting moments during the rest of the fest.
Phish - 7/1/11 "Simple" > "Bug" from Phish on Vimeo.
The Live Review:
7/1/11: Alright, time to finally (hopefully) switch into a higher gear, guys.
7/1/11: Though even if Super Ball isn't great, I know the Gorge run is, because I was there :)
7/1/11: Possum opener.
7/1/11: Quality Possum to start things up.
7/1/11: > Peaches!!!
7/1/11: Great, high-tempo run-through. Moma is next.
7/1/11: Trey pushing at the edges of the usual Moma solo a little bit.
7/1/11: Okay, ended up being pretty standard in the end.
7/1/11: Torn and Frayed! Love it.
7/1/11: Trey playing Keith Richards leads just makes me happy.
7/1/11: Sort of rough take. NICU next.
7/1/11: NICU > Gin. This could get interesting.
7/1/11: Trey is RIPPING INTO this Gin. Holy shit.
7/1/11: I'll have what he's having.
7/1/11: So that didn't go anywhere terribly interesting, but man, it was a heater.
7/1/11: Long break after Gin, but then Life On Mars. So cool.
7/1/11: One of those covers that I forget how much I love until I hear it again (because it's so rare these days).
7/1/11: Speaking of rare, standalone MFMF is next.
7/1/11: Wolfman's. Maybe another chance to go deep early?
7/1/11: Wolfman's jam is headed in a seriously old-school funk direction.
7/1/11: Wolfman's ultimately goes the Gin-shredding route. Nice version, though. Roses is next.
7/1/11: High-energy Roses > Funky Bitch.
7/1/11: Trey is on fire again. I really hope he can turn this energy into something fun in the second half.
7/1/11: Slow-tempo take on Quinn, probably to close the set.
7/1/11: Trey taking the Quinn solo a little bit deep.
7/1/11: End set.
7/1/11: Second set starting with some Mike noodling.
7/1/11: Fish joining in now.
7/1/11: Dark, weird, arrhythmic-type jam. Band laughing.
7/1/11: We are trapped inside a circus of evil.
7/1/11: Weird circus jam suddenly explodes into Crosseyed. Huh.
7/1/11: Just like Gin and Wolfman's in the first set, Trey is unleashing on this Crosseyed.
7/1/11: Back into a vocal refrain, and my audio visualization is doing some weird shit on monitor two.
7/1/11: Outro jam is ambient...maybe a callback to the set-opening jam?
7/1/11: Mike leading again.
7/1/11: CDT slowly fades in in a nice transition.
7/1/11: Trey playing with scales a bit now like he did with Moma in the first set.
7/1/11: Suuuuuper slow version of Sand coming up.
7/1/11: Sand builds up to a rolling boil, too. Lots of great rock guitar in this show. The Wedge is ne
7/1/11: Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike's
7/1/11: Mike's -B Simple. Haven't gotten to use the 'buttslam segue' icon in awhile.
7/1/11: Breakdown into Simple jam. My visualizer is doing some pretty trippy shit.
7/1/11: Trey is unleashing some serious melodic beauty here. Now Mike and Page's electric piano taking over.
7/1/11: Super-swampy ambient zone, now. Whoa.
7/1/11: Page on synth.
7/1/11: This is like serious 1999-2000 ambient jamming. No immediate ripcord.
7/1/11: Trey playing some heavily distorted lead over the top now. Almost sounds like WTU? but not quite.
7/1/11: Oh, shit, he's playing Third Stone From the Sun, that's what it is.
7/1/11: Total fade-out at the end. Then, Bug.
7/1/11: Heavy ending to Bug goes directly into The Horse.
7/1/11: > Silent.
7/1/11: > Groove.
7/1/11: Short but fiery version of Groove to close out the Mike's sandwich.
7/1/11: Joy, Zero, Show of Life.
7/1/11: Weird show. Lots of huge Trey shredding moments. Lots of good tunes. A free-form jam opens the second set.
7/1/11: And yet nothing particularly interesting happens except for the 1999-style jam out of nowhere in Simple.
7/1/11: It definitely feels like an 'Almost there' show. Maybe this bodes well for 7/2.
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