The Verdict:
I could see the first set of the second Tahoe show being a fun one to the right person. I'm not that person, though. It has a weird energy to it in that it feels like the boys move from rote playing to peaky energy and back again from song to song, and as such it doesn't really hang together as a whole. That said, Page and Mike shine on "Poor Heart," Trey lays down a particularly soulful solo during "Circus," "Stash" is short but weird, and everyone finally gels in a serious way on "Funky Bitch." Like the previous night's "Rocket Man" cover, "Instant Karma!" seems made for the band, and for Page in particular, but it comes off as sounding half-practiced and maybe played a key or so too high for non-cringe-inducing vocals.
The second set is weird. All the songs from "Disease" through "2001" stay short, and no particular song engages in any deep exploration. However, they all touch on some small aspect of the space/Storage Jam sound that's been popular lately, and, if you're feeling generous, the effect is a bunch of typical Phish songs transformed into a spacey, plinko-infused suite of sorts. If you're not feeling generous, you're just going to say "Where's the jam, brah?" and move on. I guess. But hey, this is fun and you should listen to the whole thing.
After the sequence, the set winds up pretty nicely with "Guyute" and a hot "YEM." A weird show all around, for sure, but probably worth more attention than it gets.
The Live Review:
8/10/11: Opening with Dogs Stole Things.
8/10/11: Trey going for KDF after, but then stops and starts Stealing Time instead.
8/10/11: That might have been the shortest Stealing Time ever, which I'm cool with. Poor Heart next.
8/10/11: Trey's a little extra sloppy so far today.
8/10/11: Fortunately, Mike and Page are picking up the slack on Poor Heart. Goddamn.
8/10/11: Oh, good.* Alaska.
8/10/11: *Not good
8/10/11: Solid Alaska, if you're into that sort of thing. Halley's is next!
8/10/11: Super-short Halley's into It's Ice. Trey struggling a bit with It's Ice.
8/10/11: When the Circus Comes slows things down a bit.
8/10/11: Ya Mar!
8/10/11: Page with a great little solo in Ya Mar. Crowd loving it.
8/10/11: A little plinko action creeping in behind Trey's Ya Mar solo.
8/10/11: Stash next. First real opportunity to put some meat on this set's bones.
8/10/11: Kind of minimalist, bass-driven Stash jam so far.
8/10/11: Interesting Stash. Quick segue into Funky Bitch after.
8/10/11: Page ripping up Funky Bitch on the organ. Trey joining in with some chording.
8/10/11: Trey is now ripping Funky Bitch apart.
8/10/11: Instant Karma! seems like a great Page-centric cover, but like Rocket Man the night before, sounds unpracticed and a step too high.
8/10/11: Antelope to close the set.
8/10/11: Disease kicks off the second set.
8/10/11: First set was a little 2011-average, especially at first with Trey's slow start.
8/10/11: A little more interesting from Circus on. Good Ya Mar, weird-but-good Stash, and a great Funky Bitch.
8/10/11: Trey's going to trill-town early on this Disease jam.
8/10/11: Leaning a bit in the space funk direction now.
8/10/11: Space time! Echo-y bass, Page on electric piano.
8/10/11: Arguable -> to Jim.
8/10/11: Middle Jim jam going plinko immediately.
8/10/11: Almost a Gorge Rock and Roll style jam emerging now. Angry.
8/10/11: Neat, almost Dire Straits-esque jam now. Sounds like Liquid Time, a little.
8/10/11: Weird truncation of that jam, but it's for Ghost, so I guess that's okay.
8/10/11: Trey is straight-up shredding this Ghost.
8/10/11: Now a dark sort of ambient space.
8/10/11: Ambient space > Golden Age.
8/10/11: Very brief but tight Golden Age. Fade out > 2001
8/10/11: Little Golden Age teasing early on in 2001.
8/10/11: Loops end 2001 > Sally.
8/10/11: Fireworks kicking in during Sally. I remember those from the show!
8/10/11: Vocal jam. All instruments dropping out one by one.
8/10/11: Late-set Guyute.
8/10/11: Velvet Sea is the landing pad song. Great little solo from Trey. Now YEM to end set.
8/10/11: Trey going to town at about the 12:00 mark.
8/10/11: The always-confusing Show of Life > GTBT encore to round out the show...
8/10/11: Pretty much how I remember the second set from being there: great run of songs from Disease thru 2001, set closed by Guyute + YEM.
8/10/11: None of the Q3 songs really get deep at all, but they all touch on some aspect of the spacey, echo-y, ambient sound from SBIX.
8/10/11: So it makes the run a little more coherent than just 'Oh, a bunch of cool songs in a row!'
8/10/11: Really, about as good as it gets for a S2 with no actual big jam.
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