The Verdict:
Note: No PhishTracks links for this show; sorry about that!
The band themselves must have realized that they'd managed to capture a particular kind of fire during 1/13's show, because 1/14 follows pretty much the same blueprint, with one notable improvement and a few...whatever the opposite of improvements are.
The first set is another relatively standard one, albeit with Waking Up Dead, Tube > FEFY being a standout sequence. On the other hand, the Breath and Burning, Poor Heart, Halfway To the Moon, The Line mid-set sequence that comes before that is probably the most yawn-worthy thing the band has done since mid-summer tour. All of this would likely balance out in the end were it not for the set-closing "Chalkdust," which goes Type II in a much more organic and ultimately satisfying fashion than even most of those excellent '14 "Chalkdust" versions. This jam recalls the "Fuego" jam from the night before in its The Who-ness before moving into the loop-filled rock peak space that the band's best jams are increasingly landing in lately. It's fantastic, and a great way to give the show some verve after a mostly lackluster set.
The second set follows 1/13 II's blueprint to a T. First, there are two energetic but unremarkable Type I tunes. The third tune kicks off a four-song sequence of interesting jams, and then we get brought home from there.
In this case, things start to get interesting during "Meatstick," a song that's shown up increasingly often in the band's sets lately, but typically doesn't do much musically. This version doesn't get extended much, but nonetheless covers a lot of ground, using loops and odd beats from Fish to deconstruct the song's rhythm and melody before dropping us off into a beautiful "Winterqueen" just before the bottom falls out completely. "Winterqueen" has the potential to be a huge second-set-buster, but my experience has been that when they drop it in the second set, it's because they want to give it room to breathe. And this is a great example of that. The tune stretches to a few minutes more than its usual runtime, and its entirety is filled with a gorgeous, patient, jazz-inflected jam that isn't going to launch you out of your chair, but deserves a listen from a melodic standpoint. From there, "Mercury" balloons to fifteen minutes by continuing to explore its potential as a jam vehicle (things don't go too far off the map, but the jam we do get never lets up for a few minutes of driving rock) and "Light" comes in with what seems like a vastly underappreciated jam, starting off with what I called below "aggressive jazz" before revisiting the popular echoplex-and-clav territory for one of my favorite excursions in that mode the band has put together thus far.
As it stands, this second set isn't quite as cohesive or as thrilling as 1/13's, but it certainly works as a parallel piece to it. The guys don't get quite as far out there as consistently this time around, but "Chalkdust," "Meatstick," and "Light" are all top-tier improvisations, and the rest of the set's middle ain't bad, either.
Two great shows in a row leading to a massive throwdown during night three. Good stuff!
The Live Review:
1/14/17: The Curtain opener. Always a great choice.
1/14/17: FYI, I'm not reviewing night 3 of the run because I already did back when I couch toured it in January: https://t.co/A6cp0LJv5O
1/14/17: Okay, rarely do I mind tempo changes with Phish songs, but this Curtain sounds positively turgid.
1/14/17: Maybe that's not a big deal, though. I guess we'll see.
1/14/17: With! Crowd going nuts.
1/14/17: Tempo aside, a solid take on The Curtain With. Band jumping into AC/DC Bag next.
1/14/17: > Breath and Burning.
1/14/17: Not my favorite song, but neat knowing that it was written about the '16 Mexico run and now here we are again.
1/14/17: Does anyone else occasionally hear 'Breath and Bernie' when Trey sings the lyrics?
1/14/17: Phish fandom in a nutshell: internet phans eye-roll at 'rage with Page' line, 6 months later thousands of fans screaming the lyric.
1/14/17: You can have fun at a Phish show, or you can be an internet Phish fan.
1/14/17: Pretty low-key, new-tune-heavy set so far in this show. Breath and Burning, Poor Heart, Halfway, The Line followed the opening pair
1/14/17: Waking Up Dead continues a string of new tunes. This is still probably my favorite live song from Big Boat.
1/14/17: Tube next. First older song in a bit and maybe some jam potential. Doesn't feel like a real loose set, though.
1/14/17: Echo funk happening early. Nice work from Fish.
1/14/16: Fast Enough For You! Great bustout!
1/14/17: Ocelot. I can already tell I'm going to miss the NYE horns on this one.
1/14/17: That was about as expected. Typical blues vamp. Set keeps going with Chalkdust, though.
1/14/17: CDT fades nicely into a spacier...umm...space.
1/14/17: This is a really engaging, propulsive, almost Who-like jam. Loving it.
1/14/17: Looping madness happening now. Great stuff.
1/14/17: That was a great way to end what was shaping up to be the first lackluster opening set in a long while.
1/14/17: Be back in a bit for set two!
1/14/17: Set two Crosseyed opener!
1/14/17: Spirited Type I jam starting things off.
1/14/17: Quieting down now, settling in.
1/14/17: Coming back out of the murk just to reprise the Crosseyed riff...surprised to say that one didn't go deep.
1/14/17: > Blaze On.
Just read 'breathtaking' as 'breathfucking.' 'The view from that point in the trail is absolutely breathfucking'...could be accurate!
1/14/17: Blaze On stayed Type I, but was a really ferocious version. Meatstick next.
1/14/17: Guys have really loved Meatstick since MGM.
1/14/17: I love it too, but at this point in the second set with no jams I am FILLED WITH DESPAIR
1/14/17: Meatschtick getting surprisingly dissonant with the echoplex and some synth.
1/14/17: Crosseyed teases from Trey now as Meatstick continues to break down.
1/14/17: I think it's safe to say that MeatSTack has gone Type II into a grungy loop jam.
1/14/17: Awesome, compact jam that lands in Winterqueen, of all things.
1/14/17: Nice, jazzy jam coming out of Winterqueen. I'm liking this.
1/14/17: I know you don't go see Phish these days to catch a mellow jazz jam in the middle of the second set, but that was still great.
1/14/17: Mercury next. AWWW YAAAAAS
1/14/17: This definitely sounds like a song they don't play very often. I'm still happy to hear it, though.
1/14/17: Rough on the composed part, but now a great little rolling jam forming afterward.
1/14/17: Crosseyed teasing.
1/14/17: Another solid jam in an unexpected place. Light next.
1/14/17: Butter-smooth shift into Type II during Light.
1/14/17: Aggressive jazz? That might be how I'd describe what's happening right now.
1/14/17: Angry plinko now. This is rad.
1/14/17: Great patience in continuing to develop this space.
1/14/17: This is like the mother of all of those echoplex-and-clav jams.
1/14/17: Shades of 6/12/10 Number Line now...
1/14/17: Great wind-down > Velvet Sea.
1/14/17: Extra-energetic take on Velvet Sea. Trey actually trilling.
1/14/17: Drowned encore. Crosseyed teasing and quotes during the outro.
1/14/17: Rocky Top and then one final Crosseyed tease to close.
1/14/17: Aside from the closing CDT, the first set was uncharacteristically unremarkable, but the second set was great.
1/14/17: It took a little while for the jams to surface, but like 1/13, there was a great string of improv in the middle of the set.
1/14/17: Meatstick > Winterqueen > Mercury > Light was all great, with Light as a particular highlight.
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