The Verdict
Note: This show isn't up on Phishtracks yet for some reason, so there are no links to particular songs. Sorry!
While the first two nights of the MSG run were great shows in the tradition of many of the great shows of the last two years, they were missing that "all killer, no filler" aspect to their second sets that lately seems to separate the great shows from the truly memorable ones. Night three brings that aspect, though, in spades.
The opening set is one of those that tips you off right away to the fact that the second set is going to be special. The guys are on fire right out of the gate, and it's four songs in, after an especially loose and funky "Moma" that "Gumbo" gets taken for a walk for the second time in a row. Here, there's a solo clav breakdown from Page before the song zags into "Cities," which in turn features an excellent echo-funk jam led by Trey. Really, funk is about the groove, and the one that Mike and Fish lay down here is just perfect listening. After a bluegrass breather, another "typical" (aka pure fire) take on "Gin" gets trotted out, and though things take a turn for the songy after that, the guys pull out a surprise "YEM" to wrap up the set, so no hard feelings there.
The funk was strong with the first set, so it shouldn't be a surprise that the second set opens with "Tweezer." What follows is nearly an hour of insanely high-quality improvisation. The "Tweezer" starts out as dirty-toned funk, but quickly moves to a more mellow space, which slowly and patiently modulates toward bliss-jamming but never quite gets there in favor of developing a riff that Trey cooks up partway through. It's a great version that lands, amazingly, in "Sparks."
This sequence gets a lot of props, and it should, but for my money, the "Ghost" that follows is the real highlight of the set (and perhaps the run, though it's hard to pick from such a deep bag of riches). It actually follows a reasonably similar path to the "Tweezer," but here the funk lead-in is complicated, tension-filled, and deconstructive, while the build to the eventual peak is more '15-typical, built on a riff that's not unlike the Dick's "Disease" jam.
Then there's the "Light," which also starts as a funk jam, but changes quickly to include loops, echoes, and all kinds of other less-comforting sounds. This darker jam maintains patience and momentum for a long time before eventually just becoming a chord progression that's close enough to the "Party Time" progression that the whole band just plays all of "Party Time" without leaving the jam. So that happens.
And, if you haven't shit your pants after all of that, things are rounded out by a legitimately beautiful "Wading" and a raucous "Rocky Top." Of all the great, busy second sets we've gotten in the last two years, this is one of the most rewarding, as far as I'm concerned. Even the cooldown and wrap-up songs are worth a listen. Just play this whole thing, and realize it's 2016 and Phish is still making music like this.
Then, definitely shit your pants.
The Live Review
12/30/16: Night three also kicks off with an a capella tune. In this case, it's Carolina.
12/30/16: Blaze On.
12/30/16: Pretty standard outro jam, except for Fish, who is on fire.
12/30/16: Moma is next, and is already sounding a bit saucy. Hoping this bodes well for the second set.
12/30/16: Fish continues to be the anthropomorphization of fire.
12/30/16: Gumbo keeps the funk train going.
12/30/16: Awesome clav breakdown in Gumbo.
12/30/16: Solo clav outro > Cities.
12/30/16: Awesome echo-driven jamming off the back of this Cities.
12/30/16: Really low-key but brilliant funk jam now. Wish this would go on for about ten more minutes.
12/30/16: Genre switch-up now with The Old Home Place.
12/30/16: Gin! The way things have been going, this is poised to blast off.
12/30/16: Band playing around with the structure of the jam early.
12/30/16: Yet another great Type 1.5-style Gin there. Things People Do next.
12/30/16: This version is less bluegrassy and more circus-organ-y. If that makes sense.
12/30/16: MFMF following.
12/30/16: MFMF gets sort of glitchy for a second and then Trey pulls the 'cord into Wilson.
12/30/16: Sugar Shack next. Set becoming a little disorganized at this point.
12/30/16: Trey actually jamming meaningfully along with Sugar Shack. I predict a three-song second set.
12/30/16: First-set YEM! Well, that mixes things up a bit.
12/30/16: I guess that Sugar Shack loosened up Trey's fingers.
12/30/16: Extra-spicy funk-jam section there. End set.
12/30/16: Great start to that set, and just as the energy was flagging (post-Gin), they pull out YEM.
12/30/16: S2 opens with Tweezer. I guess we're doing this.
12/30/16: Late afternoon forecast update: It's gonna be cold.
12/30/16: Crowd is fucking losing it for this Tweezer and we're not even to the jam yet.
12/30/16: Trey leading the early jam with an especially filthy tone.
12/30/16: Bit of a breather after Trey's solo. Now leading into a loop-filled, mellow jam space.
12/30/16: Really pretty jam continuing. Page owning the piano. Mike filling out the edges nicely.
12/30/16: Great build now around a Trey riff.
12/30/16: Really gorgeous Tweezer jam that doesn't just ride the 'usual' path to a bliss peak.
12/30/16: Excellent bomb deployment from Mike en route to the peak.
12/30/16: > Sparks!
12/30/16: That was fun. Ghost next.
12/30/16: Trey doing some serious pitch-altered jamming alongside Page on the clav. Chunky funk.
12/30/16: Really wild deconstructed funk starting to resolve into something more coherent on the back of another Trey riff.
12/30/16: Fantastic melodic jamming that's still nodding back a bit to the main Ghost riff.
12/30/16: Tweezer > Sparks was great, but this jam is $$$.
12/30/16: Page on piano playing Trey's riff while he jams over it.
12/30/16: Awesome build now. I don't mind the bliss jam now and again if we get there through a jam like the one the guys just played.
12/30/16: Great jam. > Light.
12/30/16: Light easing slowly into a stop/start funk jam.
12/30/16: Some absolutely legit funk going down here. Oh man.
12/30/16: The last forty or so minutes of Phish has been improv that puts even a lot of '13-'15 to shame.
12/30/16: Not that it's a competition, but if it was THIS JAMMING WOULD BE THE WINNING JAMMING.
12/30/16: They are being patient and drawn-out about this jam like it's 1997.
12/30/16: Echoing madness continuing, slowly mellowing out.
12/30/16: Almost sounds like Meatstick now.
12/30/16: Oh, shit! It's a -> Party Time!
12/30/16: Very cleverly done.
12/30/16: They are rocking the shit out of Party Time.
12/30/16: Wow. That was quite a sequence of Phish music.
12/30/16: Wading seems like a great landing pad after that.
12/30/16: Troy's not sleeping on this Wading. Great soloing from him and Page.
12/30/16: Strong take on Wading > Rocky Top.
12/30/16: End holy shit set.
12/30/16: Extra mustard on that Rock and Roll, for sure.
12/30/16: Tweeprise. Trey starts off with a 'Trip is short!' lyric (reference to N1), then Page follows with samples.
12/30/16: WON'T YOU STEP INTO THE MARS-FREEZER?
12/30/16: Welp. Typically good late '16 first set. Second set was my favorite set of the year, most likely.
12/30/16: I don't see 12/31 beating this, but I guess I'll listen to it on Tuesday anyway :)
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