The Verdict:
If UIC was two mind-boggling shows followed up by a mediocre show, Dick's is an incredibly solid three-show run that never really lets up despite not quite reaching the ridiculous heights of 8/15. I think we can forgive it that, though.
The first set goes back to the "typically" weird mold established at the start of the UIC run. There's a "Maze" opener, and a very strong 1.5-style "Gin" jam (that seems to be becoming a thing lately). Then there's a run of rarities including the Phish debut of "The Way It Goes," a pre-Fuego "Halfway To The Moon," and a great "Halley's" that's aborted too early for, ironically, "Tube," its twin from The Land Of Never-Jammed. Snark aside, it's a well put-together set, and sets up another extremely strong second set.
The second set might be another one of those that's better to just listen to in its entirety. "Rock and Roll" kicks things off, and jams quickly to a massive peak before making a perfect (planned?) transition to "Come Together." "Come Together" segues into "Twist," which jams on "Low Rider" as part of a great bit before another great segue into "Piper." Were it not for that pitch-perfect 9/3 "Tweezer," this would be the jam of the run. Page breaks out the theremin, and we get an extended jam of what can only be described as "ghost plinko." This excellent jam is followed by a fantastic take on "Hood," and whoever decided to follow the "Hood" with "Roggae" is a setlist wizard.
Lest you think the band is done, they're not. To the tune of a late-set "Ghost" -> "Guy Forget" -> "Ghost" sequence and a set-ending (and ear-destroying) rockfest in "Walls." This set never lets up for a minute, unless you consider "Roggae" to be "letting up," which you shouldn't. God damn. What a way to close an amazing run. No wonder they decided to keep coming back every year after this.
The Live Review:
9/4/11: Maze opener, of all things.
9/4/11: Really like Maze as an opener, actually. BOTT is next.
9/4/11: BOTT has had some extra fire since the beginning of leg two. It's probably the only time I've been excited to see it in setlists.
9/4/11: Rift!
9/4/11: Page has been crazy lately. Laying down some great piano licks in this Rift.
9/4/11: Solid Rift > Gin.
9/4/11: Neat repeating riff from Trey early. Speed building. Page adding flourishes.
9/4/11: S1 Gin megajam would not disappoint me.
9/4/11: After that building section, the band returns to a jam on the main Gin riff.
9/4/11: Still building energy, though.
9/4/11: That was the epitome of 1.5 jamming right there. Never *really* deviated from Gin proper, but lots of good playing/listening.
9/4/11: High energy, massive build, solid momentum throughout.
9/4/11: The Way It Goes! I goddamn love this song.
9/4/11: I don't think I knew that Phish every played it, just MGB.
9/4/11: MGB is definitely better at the harmonies.
9/4/11: Halfway To The Moon! We're getting some non-Trey songs here. And I always love hearing this tune pre-Fuego.
9/4/11: That was actually pretty similar to the Fuego version, though with a better outro jam :)
9/4/11: Gumbo, Halley's. Looks like interesting S1s are back on the menu.
9/4/11: Miscue from Trey during Halley's outro leads, unfortunately, not to a Halley's jam, but short Halley's -> short Tube.
9/4/11: If that ain't a cosmic joke, I don't know what is.
9/4/11: Nice transition, though.
9/4/11: Timber! The hits just keep coming.
9/4/11: Timber > Roses.
9/4/11: Set keeps rolling with CDT.
9/4/11: Beginning S2. Someone in the crowd just yelled a request for 'Scissors!'
9/4/11: They play Rock and Roll instead.
9/4/11: Machine gun Trey taking this Rock and Roll jam to town.
9/4/11: Almost a Llama-sounding jam happening off and on here. Peak stretching out forever.
9/4/11: End of the jam segues perfectly -> Come Together. Holy shit.
9/4/11: -> Twist. Another great segue.
9/4/11: A lot of nice Trey/Page interplay during a mellow Twist jam.
9/4/11: Extended Low Rider teasing in Twist.
9/4/11: Amazingly good segue into Piper from that Twist.
9/4/11: Neat repeating riff developing early in the Piper jam.
9/4/11: Got a little fuzz behind it.
9/4/11: Trey adding some vocals now.
9/4/11: Super plinko happening now.
9/4/11: Theremin.
9/4/11: Plinko ghosts are trying to eat me.
9/4/11: Descending chord jam now over the screaming of the theremin.
9/4/11: After a fantastic (and fantastically weird) jam, > Hood.
9/4/11: Great, slow-building Hood jam with some excellent melodic playing from Trey early on.
9/4/11: Especially exciting b/c this is probably the last Hood I'll hear before attempting to summit Mount Hood this weekend.
9/4/11: Definitely planning to take the 8/7/09 Hood up there with me in case I make the summit. It will be at least a 15 minute summit stay.
9/4/11: This is a really good Hood so far, by the way.
9/4/11: Huge peak. Perfect landing. 10/10 Hood.
9/4/11: If you're going to place Hood mid-set, I can't imagine a much better follow-up than Roggae.
9/4/11: Really mellow Roggae jam really suddenly builds up to a great peak, then falls back down.
9/4/11: Yeah, usually what Roggae does, sure, but this time they pulled it off in about 3-4 less minutes.
9/4/11: Someone forgot to remind these guys that 2011 Phish doesn't jam in the fourth quarter.
9/4/11: They're playing Ghost now and building toward a rock-and-roll-style jam space.
9/4/11: As the jam peaks, more vocals from the band. It's unclear what they're saying.
9/4/11: Nevermind, it's the lyrics to Guy Forget. -> Guy Forget.
9/4/11: -> Ghost outro w/ Guy Forget lyrics.
9/4/11: 'Now you all know who the ghost really is, the ghost is...Guy Forget!' lyrics at end of Ghost.
9/4/11: Walls seems like a good choice for a set-closer.
9/4/11: Big rock outro to Walls, with some Rock and Roll vocal quotes to boot.
9/4/11: GUITAR CHAOS is really the only way to explain this.
9/4/11: End set. Number Line encore.
9/4/11: Typically great 2011 Number Line to end the show, and Dick's. Hot damn, what a second set.
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