The Verdict:
The third night of the Dick's run takes pretty much everything that was great about the first two nights and packs it in even more dramatically, including one of those "all killer, no filler" second sets the band has become adept at putting together once in awhile over the last two years. The result is a strong finish to a great run of shows.
The first quarter doesn't go anywhere remotely as interesting as the first two nights, with a by-the-book "Moma" opener, and no early jam, but the song choices early on are strong, greatest-hits ones, and there's a "Mike's Groove" in there (albeit one with "Wingsuit" for the meat). Fortunately, things begin to open up with a very '15-style Type II "Gin" late in the set that's followed by an absolutely evil and gnarly "Split." This three-jam sequence ends with a "Tube" that's about the same length as the Chula Vista version, but heads to a much murkier funk place.
You should probably just listen to the entire second set, if you haven't already. "Crosseyed" is the opener and the tentpole jam, bringing eighteen minutes of pitch-shifted soloing, space jamming, and an anthemic, improvised melody solo from Trey that sounds composed. "Steam" is short but Gets There quickly, with yet more gorgeous and inventive soloing from Trey. "Piper" follows and runs for nearly twenty minutes, but a big chunk of that is a four-man percussion jam. Again, your patience for this depends on how you feel about instrument switching. In this case, it's a pretty good jam leading up to the segue into the drum jam, and then when the band picks their instruments back up, there's another full-band improvisation that's not really "Piper" but is great nonetheless. As one commentator mentioned, it's probably more appropriate to title this sequence "Piper" -> "Drums" -> "Jam."
Not to be outdone, "Light" makes a final summer appearance next. While it's no Mann version, this take works in some "Crosseyed" teasing before presenting us with an extended, drone-y outro that's a pretty unique soundscape for the band. This haunting space segues nicely into "The Lizards," and high-energy takes on it, "First Tube," and a "Walls" encore take us home.
It's a pretty amazing show, and an exclamation point to a run that I honestly wasn't expecting to be that great. I'm happy to be wrong, and looking forward to reviewing fall tour.
The Live Review:
9/4/16: Moma Dance opener.
9/4/16: Seems like a slightly different, heavier intro to Moma before the lyrics come in.
9/4/16: > CDT
9/4/16: Early Mike's Song. Echoplex jam. Tasty.
9/4/16: Developing into a great, spacey solo now.
9/4/16: Nice Mike's followed up by a Wingsuit cool-down.
9/4/16: Groove.
9/4/16: Party Time is next. Weird song choice. Trey seems to agree, as he's completely forgotten the riff and is just chording.
9/4/16: Echoplex chording from Trey on Party Time, too.
9/4/16: We've got a '15-style Gin jam brewing here after that Party Time fiasco.
9/4/16: Pure '15-style bliss buildup.
9/4/16: Almost sounds like a really happy Rock and Roll jam.
9/4/16: Great Gin jam followed by a positively evil-sounding Split. Nice old-school pairing. Page really going to town on Split.
9/4/16: TUBE
9/4/16: Really interesting tone from Trey. Super murky funk.
9/4/16: Great jammed-out version of Tube. Comparable to the Chula version.
9/4/16: > Zero, probably to end the set.
9/4/16: Was that an extra-long set? Because I feel like the show just ended instead of the ste.
9/4/16: *set
9/4/16: Solid first set. Weird calls momentum-wise with Wingsuit and Party Time, but made up for by the awesome Gin, Melt > Tube sequence.
9/4/16: Mike's is worth a listen, too.
9/4/16: Crosseyed kicks off the second set.
9/4/16: Huge momentum heading into a jam.
9/4/16: Fantastic pitch-shifted soloing from Trey.
9/4/16: Great melodic riff coming from Trey now.
9/4/16: Slowing down now. Some dueling between Trey and Mike.
9/4/16: Big, anthemic rock-solo bit that was just awesome. Fading again now.
9/4/16: Bass bombs from Mike as we wind back up again.
9/4/16: > Steam.
9/4/16: That jam was a little bit all over the place, but still easily one of the deepest and most interesting of the year.
9/4/16: Some Crosseyed teasing from Trey during Steam jam.
9/4/16: Really cool second solo from Trey in Steam.
9/4/16: -> Piper.
9/4/16: Piper jam coming to a rock and roll boil with Crosseyed teasing.
9/4/16: I like where this is going.
9/4/16: Really fast-paced, kinetic jam now.
9/4/16: Think we're entering the percussion jam zone now.
9/4/16: Sounds like multiple band members on percussion.
9/4/16: Someone has he guitar. Not sure if it's Trey. Someone on bass, too.
9/4/16: Okay, everyone's back on their instruments now and picking up the jam where they left off. Crosseyed teases and vocals.
9/4/16: Every wonder what it would have been like if Gorge I S2 had actual jamming? Listen to this set.
9/4/16: Jam > Light.
9/4/16: Quiet Mike/Trey duel as the Light jam gets broken down.
9/4/16: Type I Light jam heading to its usual Manteca-style place.
9/4/16: Big rock peak, replete with 'Still waiting!' vocal teases.
9/4/16: Crazy, droning outro > The Lizards.
9/4/16: Great transition, awesome setlist call.
9/4/16: Sometimes I forget how much I love the outro of The Lizards.
9/4/16: First Tube to close the set.
9/4/16: One last round of 'Still waiting' vocals and teases during the First Tube outro.
9/4/16: Crowd chanting 'Still waiting!' during encore break.
9/4/16: Walls of the Cave encore.
9/4/16: I've probably said it before, but this has become one of my favorite Phish songs since 3.0.
9/4/16: Always great to hear.
9/4/16: And I know Phish isn't generally known for their lyrics, but I like 'em more than most do. And these are some of my favorites.
9/4/16: More 'Stil waiting!' vocals and teases during the Walls outro jam.
9/4/16: End show. A great end to a great run. Fun to listen to a few legitimately great shows in a row, but...
9/4/16: ...also bummed now that I passed on Dick's last year for the west coast run. I got more shows, but these were so good...
9/4/16: ...I almost wish I'd seen these three instead of the seven I did see. Is that weird?
9/4/16: Oh well. Fall tour next!
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