The Verdict:
The first Gorge show is easily my favorite show of the summer so far. After the break, the band has immediately come back with a new purpose, it seems, where long-form improv is a thing again, and it isn't all about feel-good renditions of well-known tunes tempered by the occasional bust-out.
I guess the guys played a few shows like this, very early during Leg 1, but really you haven't heard Phish music like this since maybe 6/4. Not to mention the fact that the show's centerpiece jam, the "Rock and Roll" goes off in an "evil Storage Jam" direction that seems completely new for the time and, to my knowledge, hasn't really been revisited since.
The first set is mostly a typical 2011-strong opening set. Sprinkled in there, though, are some hints at what's to come. "Gin" gets a little "Type 1.5," as does "Taste." "Roggae" spends a few minutes in a legitimately murky, weird jam space, and "Bowie" is a little more on-rails, but still probably the best version so far this year.
Phish - 8/5/11 "Roggae" from Phish on Vimeo.
Then the "Rock and Roll" hits. You really should just listen to how effortlessly it switches from a great rock peak, to some flowing spacey interplay, to a really, really dark Storage Jam-style space, and finally into an eerie, theremin-driven mode. Oh, and then it segues perfectly into "Meatstick," which segues perfectly into "Boogie On." That's all.
If there's one thing that's a bummer about this show (and there is), it's that the fourth quarter is pretty much a complete cop-out. "Farmhouse" works well as a landing pad for the previous forty minutes of mastery, but to follow it with "Show of Life," > "Julius" > "Zero" just seems unfair.
That said, it's still the best show of the year so far for my money. And things are finally looking up!
The Live Review:
8/5/11: Kill Devil Falls. Such a screechy opener for such a great show.
8/5/11: Also, that was my 9,000th tweet.
8/5/11: Trey is unleashing some serious 2011 shredding on this KDF.
8/5/11: Trey starts The Wedge in the wrong key and Page HAMMERS the chords in response until Trey catches on. That was hilarious.
8/5/11: Sort of a weird take on The Wedge. Never really recovered from that awkward start. But that's okay, because Gin is next.
8/5/11: Page and Trey sharing licks during the jam. Page on electric piano, interestingly.
8/5/11: Building now. Fish picking up steam.
8/5/11: Weirdly, Trey is the only one *not* in a hurry to rush to a dramatic peak.
8/5/11: Never really reached Full-On Peak Mode there, but a great Gin nonetheless.
8/5/11: Nellie Kane!
8/5/11: > MFMF
8/5/11: Sort of a rough version of MFMF, there. Certainly loud, though.
8/5/11: Cavern.
8/5/11: Taste next. Sort of a weird series of songs, though they're all good songs individually.
8/5/11: Page taking the lead in the Taste jam. Trey chording like he does in Maze.
8/5/11: Trey getting a little more creative than usual in his Taste jam.
8/5/11: *solo
8/5/11: Great, old-school peak at the end.
8/5/11: Peak slides nicely into Roggae.
8/5/11: Mike going super-spacey in the middle of this.
8/5/11: Uh-oh. Here comes the whale pedal. Haven't heard that guy in awhile!
8/5/11: Working really well with what Mike is laying down, though.
8/5/11: Well, we're halfway through S1 and we've already got two legit jams. Welcome to the Gorge :)
8/5/11: Nice return to the Roggae outro.
8/5/11: Walk Away!
8/5/11: Superpowered Walk Away > Funky Bitch.
8/5/11: Roses is next.
8/5/11: Raucous ending to Roses > Bowie.
8/5/11: Pretty high-tempo Bowie, but so far so good.
8/5/11: Trey starts off the jam with a really interesting little riff.
8/5/11: But since it's not the 90s, he plays with it for a few beats instead of for fifteen minutes.
8/5/11: Fish is all over the place during this jam. In a good way.
8/5/11: That was about as serious a Type I Bowie as you're going to get in 3.0. Nice version.
8/5/11: End set.
8/5/11: S2 kicks off with Number Line.
8/5/11: Short Number Line with the newer fast-chording outro at the end.
8/5/11: And here we go with The Rock and Roll.
8/5/11: This was my fourth Phish show, but the first time I was exposed to IT in all its face-melting glory.
8/5/11: That's not to downplay the 6/12/10 Number Line or the 8/7/09 Sally or Gin > Hood.
8/5/11: I'm really just typing random shit to pass the time before we get to the jam.
8/5/11: Nutso rock soloing from Trey up until the 7:00 mark. He fades back a little here and Page's piano and Mike take over.
8/5/11: Trey deploying a dirtier tone now.
8/5/11: Super-murky space already. Mike leading the way still. Page on the No Quarter Organ.
8/5/11: Trey flirting with the whale pedal.
8/5/11: Trey taking a pitch-shifted solo now.
8/5/11: Major pitch-shifting happening now at 11:00.
8/5/11: Cosmic screams are starting. Chanting from Fish.
8/5/11: 'It's aaaaaaalllllll riiiiiiiiight.' Never noticed that before, but it's fucking terrifying.
8/5/11: I think the theremin is officially in play.
8/5/11: Oddly, if you take the theremin out, this section would sound a bit like the 6/12/10 Number Line.
8/5/11: Definitely some Floyd-like bass coming from Mike.
8/5/11: Swells of loops and theremin from Page and Trey.
8/5/11: Fish picks up the beat and the jam heads in a more purposeful (though still evil) direction.
8/5/11: And there's that *perfect* -> Meatstick.
8/5/11: Some weird syncopation action going on at the end of the Meatstick jam.
8/5/11: Even if this hadn't come after an enormous Rock and Roll jam, this would be a standout version of Meatstick.
8/5/11: Now Trey is adding some ethereal loops.
8/5/11: -> Boogie On.
8/5/11: I can say with authority now that Rock and Roll -> Meatstick -> Boogie On is the best Phish of 2011 so far, without a doubt.
8/5/11: Mike is taking the lead to bring the sequence to an end. Page contributing some plinko action.
8/5/11: The crazy sequence winds up landing in Farmhouse, a great choice for a cooldown song.
8/5/11: Okay, Farmhouse is a nice landing pad song, but Farmhouse > Show of Life > Julius > Zero is about the exact opposite of...
8/5/11: ...the first half of the set.
8/5/11: I remember thinking even at the time that this would have been a basically perfect show had they played a stronger Q4.
8/5/11: I still feel that way. Weird S1 pacing aside, Q1-Q3 are just about perfect.
8/5/11: Okay, to be fair, this version of Julius is pretty rippin'.
8/5/11: But Zero at the Gorge no longer counts unless they turn the lights off and we all howl at the moon :)
8/5/11: Loving Cup encore. Always a great choice!
8/5/11: Aside from the epic Rock and Roll in this show, it's great to feel like RealPhish is back after the mid-summer break.
8/5/11: Hopefully this isn't a temporary boost in quality a la 5/28-6/4.
No comments:
Post a Comment