The Verdict:
Noblesville is a weird-ass show.
Nearly every song in the first set is played at a noticeably slower-than-usual tempo. I don't know why this is, but it's clearly intentional. It seems like a "shake things up" thing rather than a "something's horribly wrong" thing, but it still makes for an uneven set. In some cases, the slow tempo actually allows the band to play around with the song arrangements in unique ways ("Camel Walk," "Tube," "Halley's") while in other cases, the glacial pace just makes the song boring ("MFMF," "ASIHTOS"). Starting with "Maze," the second half of the set generally resumes a more normal tempo, but becomes a jumble of interesting song choices strung together with no consideration whatsoever for flow. In the end, it's a first set that I can unabashedly say is more interesting than the other first sets this year...whether it's actually good or not? Well, the jury's still out on that.
The second set starts with a weird "PYITE" > "BOTT" combo. Why is it weird? Well, just because after it's over, it seems like the band starts the "real" second set, laying down a phenomenally driving-but-dark jam out of "Light" that seeps into "Golden Age." Like 6/24's "Steam," this "Golden Age" never really loses the feel of the preceding "Light" jam, and in fact carries that dark tone over into "Boogie On" as well, after a fantastic Mike-led segue. This entire sequence is pretty bonkers, provided you can put aside your jam-length bias and enjoy it. It feels like the guys are on a roll of experimenting with altering the feel of the composed parts of songs when they come out of jams, and it's really fun to listen to.
"Possum" is a weird S2 closer, and "Rock and Roll" is a pretty weird encore choice, but it turns out that "Wingsuit" > "Shade" make a great pair.
The Live Review:
6/26/16: My Friend, My Friend opener...and at a super-slow tempo. Weird choice.
6/26/16: Trey having some serious trouble here.
6/26/16: There's a slow version of MFMF that's cool b/c it's slow. But this isn't that version.
6/26/16: KDF next.
6/26/16: Band sounds decent so far, Trey sounds really slow and off. Camel Walk next. Maybe it'll get him in the mood...
6/26/16: Slow Camel Walk, too. Weird.
6/26/16: All complaints aside, though, Fish is tearing it up.
6/26/16: Yeah, okay. Ridiculous little breakdown in Camel Walk. Sounding better already.
6/26/16: Slow ASIHTOS.
6/26/16: Nice Type I jam in ASIHTOS, actually. Poor Heart next, NOT slow.
6/26/16: Slow Tube, now.
6/26/16: Neat echo-funk jamming, though.
6/26/16: Slow Tube is okay if it's going to result in super-murk-funk like this.
6/26/16: Halley's Comet: Also slow.
6/26/16: Show had a late start, apparently. Maybe this is a sort of joke (to play every song slow)?
6/26/16: Trey soloing a bit during the chorus instead of just chording.
6/26/16: Mixing up the outro vocals a bit now.
6/26/16: Tension-filled (but sort of sloppy) version of Maze, then Lawn Boy with a Mike solo featuring some hilarious filter effect.
6/26/16: Trey is so impressed with Page on Lawn Boy that he plays Breath and Burning next.
6/26/16: After announcing this, you can hear him say 'Is that alright, guys?' off-mic to the band before they start.
6/26/16: Crowd roars at the 'Rage with Page' line.
6/26/16: I hate to say it, but I like this song sans horns waaaay better.
6/26/16: It sounds more like Phish and less like TAB.
6/26/16: Stand-alone I Saw It Again.
6/26/16: > Theme.
6/26/16: Sort of rough Theme. Ends on a loop, > First Tube.
6/26/16: End set. Weird S1. Started off really shaky. Got better. Ended a bit shaky.
6/26/16: Lots of songs purposely played at slow tempos. Made a few more interesting than usual (Tube, Halley's, Camel Walk).
6/26/16: S2 starts with PYITE.
6/26/16: PYITE is slow, too. Nice version, though.
6/26/16: > BOTT
6/26/16: Light next.
6/26/16: Getting away from the arpeggio jam a little bit earlier, driven by a great Mike bassline.
6/26/16: Trey and Mike changing to grungier tones.
6/26/16: Really neat, spacey jam emerging now.
6/26/16: Great riff from Trey for awhile. Now Trey and Page playing off of each other. Jam building. This is great.
6/26/16: Trey laying back a bit more than usual during this kind of build, but Page is really filling in nicely.
6/26/16: Maybe phasing into a more ambient space now. Loops.
6/26/16: This is the rare jam that stays spacey for a LONG time, but never really loses momentum.
6/26/16: Loving Mike in this. And in the second set in general. Maybe he snorted some black tea during setbreak.
6/26/16: Clav breakdown over space jam now.
6/26/16: Trey starts Golden Age out of the murk...and with a slightly different arrangement than usual.
6/26/16: This is neat, if they can keep it going. Like it better than the usual arrangement. More shuffle on the drums, and space tones.
6/26/16: I've said it before and I'll say it again: dropping this tune a half-step or step would really benefit Trey's vocals.
6/26/16: I think the last time he hit the falsetto note on the chorus was 2010.
6/26/16: Echo-funk jam coming down the pipe.
6/26/16: Monster bass tone from Mike now.
6/26/16: Fantastic -> Boogie On.
6/26/16: I'm pretty sure that was the first Mike-initiated segue in @phish's thirty-three year history. And it was awesome.
6/26/16: Boogie On keeping that spacey/meatball-y feel that Golden Age had. Neat.
6/26/16: Bass-heavy jam out of Boogie On is awesome.
6/26/16: Fade out. Guys, that was awesome.
6/26/16: Wingsuit.
6/26/16: Nice Wingsuit > Shade pairing. A little weird this late in the show, but, hey, it seems like that kind of year.
6/26/16: Possum seems to be about to close the second set, which also seems weird.
6/26/16: Yup. End set.
6/26/16: RnR encore.
6/26/16: Another show in what appears to be the 'early 2016' mold. No super-expansive jamming, an (overly?) concise S1...
6/26/16: ...and a second set split between really interesting but short improv excursions and total jukebox weirdness.
6/26/16: Love the Light, Golden Age -> Boogie On sequence, though.
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