The Verdict:
When I saw it in person, the first night of the BGCA run was my fourth favorite show of the west coast run. Sure, it might have been an uneven run of shows (Gorge 2, Forum, I'm looking at you), but there were some legit highlights in there when you consider that this show isn't even close to the best.
That said, it's certainly not a bad show; in fact, it's a great show, and right in line structure-wise with many 3.0-era classics. That is to say, there's a strong-though-first-setty opening set, a second set with a few songs that paddle tentatively out into the deep end of the pool, and then one major tentpole jam to send everyone home happy.
The first set features a nice selection of songs, and pretty much everything (even "Sugar Shack"!) gets a solid reading. That said, you're not going to hear much that you haven't heard before. "Roggae" is worth a listen if you like that tune in particular, and "Ya Mar" features a brief percussion jam, which is neat.
There is one legitimate highlight in S1, though, and that's the set-closing "Possum," which hits on a tension jam partway through and takes us all the way back to '93 before resolving in spectacular fashion. This is how "Possum" should be played, folks.
The second set starts off with an impressive foray into "Golden Age." It isn't going to win any "Jam of the Year" awards, but it goes to a chunky, spacey place and builds momentum there for awhile before slamming into "Twist." Take a listen.
The middle of the set is pretty standard business, and while the "Simple" begins to work its way toward what sounds like a potential bliss jam, it's cut short in favor of "Sally." But that's okay, because "Sally" is the jam of the show, and possibly the run. There's a high-energy vocal jam almost immediately after the lyrics finish, followed by a slow build from Trey to a monster rock peak...but we're not done yet, because at the conclusion of the peak the band switches on a dime to what's basically a "Jumpin' Jack Flash" jam followed by another massive peak. Check it out.
If that wasn't enough, Trey uses the pitch shifter on "Limb By Limb" to revisit the "Possum"'s tension-and-release territory, and the set ends with a patient "Slave." Oh, and there's a an "Antelope" encore, if you're into that kind of thing.
The Live Review:
7/18/16: SF run kicks off with Martian Monster.
7/18/16: Very clav-y, short Martian Monster. Halley's next.
7/18/16: HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE YOUR THICK STRAWBERRY GOO
7/18/16: Standard Halley's into a short-but explosive 46 Days. Solid Type I version.
7/18/16: Long pause, then Sugar Shack. Presumably Trey was trying to quickly relearn the guitar part :)
7/18/16: Good version of Sugar Shack, honestly. Now, Roggae is featuring a really patient jam with some good Trey/Page interplay.
7/18/16: Nice walk through Roggae. Daniel Saw the Stone is next.
7/18/16: Great tune. DSky is next.
7/18/16: I've seen 36 shows, and somehow only heard DSky twice. Both times were in BGCA.
7/18/16: I love that, but also I've seen 8 shows at the Gorge and how the fuck do they not play Divided Sky at THE GORGE?
7/18/16: Nice slow build in the follow-up Ocelot.
7/18/16: Now Ya Mar, featuring a Mike solo 'for [his] grandpa,' and then a Fish drum solo 'for [his] grandpa.'
7/18/16: Drum solo evolving into a percussion jam. Maybe Mike on guitar?
7/18/16: Return to the song proper now.
7/18/16: Possum, possibly to close the set.
7/18/16: Really rad tension part here.
7/18/16: Seriously, is it 1993 in here?
7/18/16: Holy shit!
7/18/16: That was my favorite Possum in a long time. End set.
7/18/16: Setlist choices didn't really hang together in That Way (little 'flow'), but great playing throughout anyway.
7/18/16: Legit rock-outs in 46 Days and Possum. Ya Mar and Roggae jams A+.
7/18/16: S2 starts with Golden Age. Minimal introduction. Fish laying off the drums at first, cymbals only.
7/18/16: Trey laying into this Golden Age early on.
7/18/16: Huge dissonant chord breaks up the Type I jam. Page on piano.
7/18/16: Space-funk now with a driving beat from Phish.
7/18/16: Hahahaha..well, yeah, that too, but I meant 'Fish.'
7/18/16: Now Phish is playing a song. It is a long song. Performed by Phish. Phish is a muscular drum players.
7/18/16: TOO MUCH CAFFEINE TODAY FOLKS
7/18/16: Sparse echoplex chording from Trey (who is also Phish).
7/18/16: Jam staying chunky but also picking up speed. Like a cake lover running downhill...I guess?
7/18/16: Frankly, I don't remember this jam being this awesome in person.
7/18/16: Digging it a lot.
7/18/16: Another Trey lead fades out into Twist.
7/18/16: Twist jam starting minimally, like most versions lately.
7/18/16: Hot-but-short Twist > My Sweet One. Then, Line'd.
7/18/16: I like The Line as a song on Fuego, but there should be a permanent ban of The Line in second sets.
7/18/16: > Simple.
7/18/16: Simple fading out a bit after the typical opening to the jam.
7/18/16: Building three-chord jam forming. This is promising.
7/18/16: Trey jumps on the echoplex, and the chord jam loses its momentum. > Sally. Seemed like an attempt at a ->, but it didn't work.
7/18/16: Nice swing to this Sally. Immediately into a vocal jam out of the lyrics.
7/18/16: Some more soaring-type guitar from Trey now.
7/18/16: Mega Type I peak here.
7/18/16: Switching out of Type I mode now. Driving beat from Fish, repeating riff from Trey.
7/18/16: Basically a Jumping Jack Flash jam there for a second. Now another Trey solo.
7/18/16: Jam exploding into high-energy peak.
7/18/16: Big-time energy in that jam. > Limb By Limb.
7/18/16: Pitch-shifting bit in Limb jam, followed by more tension-jamming a la the first set's Possum. Great!
7/18/16: Now a huge build from Trey. This is pretty out there for Limb By Limb.
7/18/16: > Slave.
7/18/16: Slave closes the set.
7/18/16: When the Circus Comes encore. Now *this* is a slow song that kicks ass as an encore.
7/18/16: Antelope to wrap the show. Maybe we'll get some more of that tension jamming?
7/18/16: No real tension jamming, but a strong version nonetheless. End show.
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