The Verdict:
The second Gorge show is also a weird one, but not necessarily in a good way.
The first set gets the band back to the kind of opening frame the band has been playing for most of the summer. They don't leave the box much, but there's a great mix of songs that keeps momentum going, are all played well, and the set goes out with a huge bang in the form of an extended, peak-y "Bathtub Gin."
I might be biased, but I also really enjoy hearing the band play "Sleep Again" and "Driver," but your mileage may vary.
After the second set from 7/15, it seems natural to expect that the band will take at least one song deep this time around, right? Well...that doesn't happen. There are a lot of great performances during this set, but style-wise it's more like a really good first set than anything else. "Blaze On" through "Birds" are a Trey soloing-and-tone clinic, and though the energy drops off a bit from there, I enjoyed hearing "Shade" again, and the "Mike's" > "Farmhouse" > "Groove" sequence is stronger than it looks on paper.
Throw in a "Hood" encore featuring a lights-out ambient jam in the middle, and you've got a show that has everything else going for it except a Type II jam.
The Live Review:
7/16/16: Buried Alive opener is nice to start, though.
7/16/16: > Bag.
7/16/16: Standard Bag lands nicely in Moma.
7/16/16: So far the first set is a first set.
7/16/16: Great version of Uncle Pen is next. Probably my favorite bluegrass tune of theirs.
7/16/16: Well, it's a cover, but you know what I mean.
7/16/16: 555.
7/16/16: Trey using the echoplex on the 555 outro.
7/16/16: Ominous lead guitar now.
7/16/16: End song. Man, 555 is *begging* to go deep and dirty one of these days.
7/16/16: Long pause, then Sleep Again. I actually really like this song.
7/16/16: Seems like Phish 3.0 often plays Sleep Again, Driver at the Gorge. I wonder why.
7/16/16: Pretty outro jam with Page leading on piano.
7/16/16: It's Ice, which also seems to be a Gorge favorite.
7/16/16: As per usual lately, there's a nasty little funk jam in the middle of It's Ice.
7/16/16: Driver. I really dig this song and will never take a bathroom break during it. Neither should you.
7/16/16: Sand begun from a dead stop is next.
7/16/16: Like what Fish is doing in this version a lot.
7/16/16: Trey using a distorted tone to keep the funk alive while building speed.
7/16/16: Trey is shredding the hell out of this Sand. Top-shelf Type I version.
7/16/16: Horn next, then Halfway.
7/16/16: Sometimes Halfway To The Moon is a monster live, and sometimes it just sounds really hollow, like not everyone's playing.
7/16/16: So far, this version falls into the latter category.
7/16/16: I assume this Gin is going to close the set. Slow, patient beginning. Trey kicking around at the edges of the box.
7/16/16: Fish shifting into a higher gear.
7/16/16: Huge peak from Trey now.
7/16/16: End Set 1.
7/16/16: Blaze On kicks off the second set.
7/16/16: Huge chord from Trey to signal the end of the Type I jam.
7/16/16: Spacey, echoing chords now as Fish switches up the beat. Synth washes from Page.
7/16/16: Jam fades out. Short, but really interesting. Trey, of course, dives for Number Line.
7/16/16: Like in Sand, Trey is killing with the melody soloing here.
7/16/16: Badass descending riff now.
7/16/16: Great Type I Number Line. Lands in Carini.
7/16/16: Monster tone from Trey on this Carini solo.
7/16/16: More great guitar fireworks in Birds. Even a Bowie-like tension bit in the middle.
7/16/16: Set staying Type I so far, but Trey is bringing it anyway.
7/16/16: Wingsuit.
7/16/16: Wingsuit got extended to contain more noodling, but was a pretty standard version.
7/16/16: Now I have to admit I have a soft spot in my heart for Shade.
7/16/16: It's my wife's favorite @phish song, and they debuted it at the 'hometown' show we saw together in Bend last year.
7/16/16: > Shade.
7/16/16: Whoops. I meant > Mike's.
7/16/16: Sorry, I'm in a Zoom seminar and reviewing the show at the same time, so I'm getting confused. But hey, priorities, right?
7/16/16: As boring as Mike's has typically been in 3.0, I still always love the part where the lyrics end and Mike drops into the jam riff.
7/16/16: Great tone from Trey. Despite my snark, I'm loving this version so far.
7/16/16: Hot-as-hell Mike's just landed in Farmhouse. Go figure.
7/16/16: A little extra purty slapped onto that Farmhouse solo. > Groove.
7/16/16: 'I'm sharing in the Weekapaug Groove,' or, as my wife sings it 'Sharon, there's something about youuuuu!'
7/16/16: Which, of course, actually makes 1000% more sense as a lyric.
7/16/16: Echoplex/loop jamming right away! Boom!
7/16/16: That was a pretty crazy Groove. > Shine a Light.
7/16/16: End set.
7/16/16: HYHU kicks off the encore.
7/16/16: Fish says that Mike plays the drums, not the bass, then introduces Trey as Jesus Christ. That seems about right.
7/16/16: The Electrolux being blown into the Gorge is a wonderful thing.
7/16/16: HYHU > Love You > HYHU, Hood.
7/16/16: One of my favorite moments from the Gorge '13 show was when they turned the lights off during Zero and we howled at the moon.
7/16/16: Having them turn off the lights during Hood, of all songs, during this show, was a fantastic moment.
7/16/16: Jam changes to something more ambient to reflect the lighting change.
7/16/16: Almost sounds like the pause in Divided Sky.
7/16/16: Build rising pretty naturally out of the ambient mini-jam.
7/16/16: I love when audiences freak out about Tweeprise. It's not like you don't know it's coming.
7/16/16: Also, Mike's bass bombs on Tweeprise echoing in the Gorge is something I'll never forget about seeing @phish there.
7/16/16: That second set was better the second time around.
7/16/16: No jams, but the playing was strong enough to almost get it to that 'No jams, but...' great-show tier.
7/16/16: A little lag in the fourth quarter, though, with all of the ballad songs.
7/16/16: That said, tons of really well-played and interesting bits of music in that set.
7/16/16: I'm glad I relistened. Now I'll remember that show more fondly.
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