The Verdict:
It's almost as if, in a weird way, the last few shows have been the band working toward 7/3: the epitome of a third-quarter-only show. This show has twenty-two songs, but if you've ever heard Phish before, there's really no reason to listen to twenty-one of them. Luckily, the exception is a big exception.
There's literally nothing I care to say about the first set. With the exception of "Sugar Shack," it's well-played, but otherwise there's nothing interesting here. There's nothing about the song choices, the flow, the arrangements, or anything else that you haven't heard before. "Tube" gets into an interesting plinko/echoplex melange for literally thirty seconds, long enough for you to say "Oh shit, awesome!" before Trey pulls the plug into the blues portion of the song. And, frankly, that's it.
Don't let the "Twist" and the "Hood" on the setlist fool you: the second set is just another first set, and not a particularly well-arranged or energetic one at that. Except for a "Moma Dance" that, somehow, amazingly, goes deep out of nowhere and amounts to a gorgeous, multi-stage jam that stands easily with the "Chalkdust" or "Light" from this run, along with having the surprise factor working in its favor.
I would have sworn that the official Phish channel had a video of this up for awhile, but I can't seem to find it anymore. Here's the next best thing:
The Live Review:
7/3/16: The Wedge opener.
7/3/16: Heavy Things, Tube. Sounding good so far.
7/3/16: Super echoplex chording during Tube.
7/3/16: Echoplex/plinko jamming. Super cool, but way too short.
7/3/16: Hahahaha...Trey just dive-bombed on Sugar Shack again. Even in Trump's America, it's comforting that some things never change.
7/3/16: Messy Sugar Shack, Lawn Boy, Sparkle, Sample. They're really 'pulling out' 'all the stops' tonight.
7/3/16: It's Ice (w/ funk breadown) > Guelah at least made things interesting for a minute. Now, Ocelot.
7/3/16: SOAM is after Ocelot. Great piano solo from Page. Then what sounds like a marimba lumina effects jam.
7/3/16: Possum to close set one.
7/3/16: Welp, that was pretty boring.
7/3/16: Neat bits in Tube, It's Ice, and Scent, but the rest of the set was as first-setty as it gets.
7/3/16: S2 opens with Soul Shakedown, though, which is pretty rad.
7/3/16: If I didn't already know that this was a monster Moma Dance, I'd say this was super-weird placement.
7/3/16: Excited to hear this. The Brooklyn '04 Moma is one of my favorite Phish angry-space jams.
7/3/16: Fast tempo.
7/3/16: It occurs to me that sometimes I fail to appreciate just how great Fishman is on this song.
7/3/16: Echoplex and clav showing up already during the lyric section.
7/3/16: Post-vocal outro, Trey abandons the usual riff immediately and starts soloing over a loop.
7/3/16: Mike with the darkness bass leading the way now.
7/3/16: This absolutely filthy-sounding solo Trey is laying down is fantastic.
7/3/16: Jam taking off in a happier direction now.
7/3/16: Pitch shifter coming out now. Space jam time.
7/3/16: Page leading now on electric piano. This jam is seamless and really beautiful. Top-tier 2016 action here, folks.
7/3/16: Awesome. Semi-ripcord into Twist, but whatever.
7/3/16: After a typical Twist Type I jam, Trey breaks out the Moma Dance jam tone again and goes to town.
7/3/16: Solo sort of peters out this time, though. Back to vocals.
7/3/16: > Joy. And the way the recent shows have been, I suspect that that's the signal for Jukebox Mode.
7/3/16: This show seems like it's aiming for the title of Most 2016 Show Evar.
7/3/16: Absolutely no surprises in either set, EXCEPT FOR one monstrous and gorgeous jam in Moma Dance.
7/3/16: Are we being trolled?
7/3/16: Breath and Burning.
7/3/16: Axila I, Theme
7/3/16: > Hood.
7/3/16: Compact but solid version of Hood > Show of Life.
7/3/16: Rock and Roll encore again.
7/3/16: Well, fwiw, that was a pretty insane Type I version of Rock and Roll.
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