The Verdict:
The first of three SPAC shows this year falls firmly into the Mann mold: strong but uninteresting first set paired with a huge third quarter of improv and then a bummer of a fourth quarter. I'm beginning to understand why "the fourth quarter" became such a big thing on phish.net this summer.
As I said, this is another strong opening frame. It's a great selection of songs, even if the band never really breaks anything open. The closest they come is with a smooth, short take on "Cities" that's worth a listen. It's followed by a decently-played and interestingly-placed "Bowie." Also worth mentioning is the live debut of Mike's "Let's Go," which is just about the Phishiest song I've ever heard.
The set ends on yet another great Type 1.5 "Gin"...until Trey launches into "Golgi," then tries to end the set for real before starting up "Coil" and letting Page actually end it.
The second set starts with a solid Trey-shreds-style take on "Sand," but then "Carini" goes deep quick, entering a beautifully eerie space led by Trey's pitch shifter and some ominous drones. The riff that Trey builds out of the muck slightly resembles the opening to "Chalkdust" and then, true to form, about two minutes later the band finally transitions into "Chalkdust" proper.
In case the "Carini" wasn't cool enough by itself, this enormous "Chalkdust" moves through another "Carini"-like jam, a plinko jam, a '15-style bliss jam, and then a percussion jam with Trey on marimba (and yes, it's actually good).
From there, Trey leads a segue into "Caspian," and pretty much everything else from the set is straight from the jukebox minus a strong (if short) "2001."
That said, it's hard to complain much after that excellent "Carini" -> "CDT" pair. Woo!
The Live Review:
7/1/16: Using the AUD from https://t.co/1gGM7wzn0C to review the show today.
7/1/16: Stealing Time opener.
7/1/16: The Birds!
7/1/16: NICU next.
7/1/16: Cities!
7/1/16: It's the slow, syrupy kind, too.
7/1/16: Nice solo from Trey coming out of some MuTron nastiness.
7/1/16: Great compact version of Cities.
7/1/16: That was maybe the fastest intro > Bowie transition ever.
7/1/16: Nice, patient build with some thoughtful soloing from Trey. Slow-paced, but neat version.
7/1/16: Free.
7/1/16: Uncle Pen!
7/1/16: Well put-together set so far, but missing any real points of interest, unless you count the 2-3 middle minutes of Cities.
7/1/16: Halfway to the Moon. I actually really, really like this song, but it seems to suck the air out of the room every time it's played.
7/1/16: Let's Go debut.
7/1/16: I've never actually heard this before. It's good.
7/1/16: WAN is next.
7/1/16: > Gin.
7/1/16: Gin jam starts out as usual, but now it's building up speed.
7/1/16: Trey machine-gunning. Fish has a really interesting beat going.
7/1/16: Great, fiery ending.
7/1/16: > Golgi.
7/1/16: After Golgi, Trey says 'Thanks, don't go away!' then comes back sheepishly for another song.
7/1/16: Coil.
7/1/16: Trey struggling a bit with the chords on Coil.
7/1/16: Otherwise, a solid Coil. End set.
7/1/16: Sand opens S2!
7/1/16: Nice, loose Type I jamming so far.
7/1/16: Solid Sand, quick transition into Carini.
7/1/16: Super-dark echo chords from Trey.
7/1/16: Pitch shifter now.
7/1/16: Really digging this low-key but dark jam.
7/1/16: Funk now.
7/1/16: Amid the loops and such, Trey seems to be teasing CDT a little.
7/1/16: Yep! Made a bit of mincemeat out of the transition, but still. -> CDT.
7/1/16: Trey busting out the pitch shifter again, this time early in CDT.
7/1/16: Lots of great, echo-y, loopy space jamming here. Sounds a lot like the Carini jam before it.
7/1/16: Plinko sounding jam now. Nice '11 throwback :0
7/1/16: Build out of the plinko into something more '15 bliss-like.
7/1/16: Keeps going after the build-up!
7/1/16: I think Trey's on the marimba now. Great percussion jam going.
7/1/16: Trey back on guitar now...transition into Caspian.
7/1/16: Short, breezy take on Caspian.
7/1/16: You should watch this immediately. https://t.co/r1EKhhBzap
7/1/16: > Bug.
7/1/16: Well, that was an amazing Carini -> CDT sequence. But then Caspian, Bug, Shine a Light, My Sweet One, Sleeping Monkey.
7/1/16: Fourth quarter bluuuuuuues
7/1/16: Chunky 2001 with echoplex though. So that's cool.
7/1/16: Fire, Zero to close.
7/1/16: Rather, Fire to end the second set, and Zero to encore.
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