It was almost inevitable that the second night of Dick's would fall short of the spectacular first night. But it falls even a little further than you might have expected.
Things start off wonderfully, with a "Simple" that goes the route of the previous night's "Blaze On," exploring fifteen minutes of compelling jam space before coming to an end.
The "Martian Monster" that follows is short, but is one of the more interesting versions I've heard, with Trey deploying a great improvised rock riff and Page piling on the samples. "Reba" is gorgeous, and is in contention for my favorite version I've seen live (7/24/15 is the only competition).
A great first set continues with a "Sand" that fades in out of a ex nihilo ambient drone, a "Crazy Sometimes" that's just begging to get taken deep, and a "Limb By Limb" that teases, of all things, "Yellow Brick Road."
This middle section doesn't have much in the way of exploration, but it keeps the ball rolling until we get to the set-ending one-two punch of a Type II "Wolfman's" and a flaming hot "Walls."
Maybe if this show switched sets it would make more sense, because for a first set, this is fantastic, almost better than the previous night's.
From there, though, things go downhill. The second set starts with "Everything's Right," of all songs, and while it does depart for Type II shores briefly, it's a pretty rote jam, which rolls into an equally straightforward take on "Fuego," with a standard "Steam" following.
"Chalkdust" goes the tension-rock route and does it well, but it's followed by a "Mike's" that signals, as it often does in 3.0, the end of improv for the night. Had this version proceeded into a second jam, I might feel differently about this set. Instead, it segues into "Winterqueen." "What's the Use?" is nice to hear next, but honestly by this point the set has lost all its steam.
If you're a connoisseur of "Slave," you'll want to check out this version: it features a really patient build-up and a lot of group listening from the band without really departing from the tune's usual structure.
It's also notable that the encore is "The Lizards" > "Antelope," which is nice, but after that lackluster and weird second set, the extended encore feels less like a gift and more like an apology.
The Live Review:
9/2/17: Well, if 9/1 was one of my favorite shows of the year, 9/2 was one of my least favorite (live, at least).
9/2/17: Curious see how it stands up to a second listen.
9/2/17: Simple opener.
9/2/17: Some standout work from Page and Mike during the beginning of this Simple jam.
9/2/17: I think the mix is different on these Dick's SBDs compared to the BD SBDs. Is that possible?
9/2/17: Thought it was my headphones during 9/1, but on the usual speakers today and Page and Mike are both clearer… https://t.co/rHaogeeBAS
9/2/17: Shifting out of the usual Simple jam now into a bluesier space.
9/2/17: Jam getting weirder now. Page on electric piano, then synth.
9/2/17: Fish driving now. Mike back to the Floyd-bass from 9/1.
9/2/17: Great little synth-funk jam now.
9/2/17: Really digging this jam. Didn't remember it being so good.
9/2/17: Jam winds down with some funk chording > Martian Monster.
9/2/17: Super-sample-heavy middle section in this version.
9/2/17: Neat rock riff from Trey now that the full band is jamming on.
9/2/17: Somewhat exploratory but short Martian Monster > Reba.
9/2/17: Reba w/ whistling ending.
9/2/17: Some great Trey/Page interplay in the middle, and more intentional, melodic playing from Trey than is typical in Reba these days.
9/2/17: Maybe my favorite Reba I've seen live, with the Shoreline '15 version being the only real competition.
9/2/17: Weird ambient pulse after Reba. After about thirty seconds of that, Fish starts up the beat for Sand.
9/2/17: Crazy Sometimes! I love this tune.
9/2/17: Sand was a pretty typical (good) Sand.
9/2/17: Great synth playing from Page on the outro to Crazy Sometimes.
9/2/17: Short outro to Crazy Sometimes this time. > Limb By Limb.
9/2/17: Follow the Yellow Brick Road tease from Trey in LxL.
9/2/17: That was neat. Otherwise, a pretty straightforward, compact version.
9/2/17: Wolfman's is next.
9/2/17: Echo-funk jamming in Wolfman's almost immediately. Great bassline from Mike.
9/2/17: Echo jamming getting more insistent as Fish switches to a more frenetic beat.
9/2/17: Smooth move out of the echo jamming back into the Wolfman's progression. Trey is going for a set-ending peak now.
9/2/17: Walls set closer!
9/2/17: I remember I was friggin dying of thirst during this song, but was there alone and didn't want to give up my spot until setbreak.
9/2/17: Trey using some loops to make the peak even LOUDER than usual.
9/2/17: End set.
9/2/17: Second set opens, oddly, with Everything's Right.
9/2/17: I actually really like Everything's Right, though. Does that make me a bad person?
9/2/17: Or am I just bad at Phish?
9/2/17: I'm really enjoying Trey's recent 'The world is fucked, but it's okay' songwriting theme because it's prett… https://t.co/4nep9N1D5o
9/2/17: I mean, I like when Phish sings about taking care of your shoes and Uncle Ebeneezer, but I also like when T… https://t.co/9P3sI4EGed
9/2/17: Page to the Rhodes (I think?) as Trey continues the outro lyrics.
9/2/17: Heavy distortion from Trey leading some dark funk jamming.
9/2/17: Neat contrast between Trey's tone and Page's.
9/2/17: Almost a Wolfman's-style jam now.
9/2/17: Pretty straightforward few minutes of jamming, but it's neat to hear Everything's Right get extended. Piano… https://t.co/qsg7kewiIG
9/2/17: Fuego starts off with a typical Type I jam. Trey throwing a little flanger in there for a minute. That was odd.
9/2/17: Jam stretches a few times, but never really breaks out of it the typical structure. Little bit of quiet int… https://t.co/QbHaLnNuWq
9/2/17: > Steam
9/2/17: Both of those first two tunes sounded like the band trying to break into something bigger, but not quite being able to get there.
9/2/17: Standard take on Steam. Quiets down at the end, but peters out and segues into Chalkdust.
9/2/17: Odd setlist choice there.
9/2/17: Nice little tension section in Chalkdust. They're rocking this out pretty successfully, eschewing any sort… https://t.co/QrFr7cro6b
9/2/17: > Mike's
9/2/17: With a relatively improv-less S2 like this one, Mike's starting up always makes me groan. You just know at… https://t.co/T8cQnDF9N9
9/2/17: I wish it wasn't that way, but second Mike's jams continue to be rare and Groove hasn't seen a serious outi… https://t.co/uPIMQTUmZU
9/2/17: Maybe NYE 2014?
9/2/17: > Winterqueen
9/2/17: I think I was being especially pissy at this show because I had high hopes of hearing my first-ever second… https://t.co/Thx1tCkig8
9/2/17: Instead, friggin' Winterqueen.
9/2/17: My griping aside, this is a nice, jazzy Winterqueen jam.
9/2/17: The nice choice of a dynamic take on WTU? follows Winterqueen.
9/2/17: Groove next.
9/2/17: Slave To the Traffic Light
9/2/17: Slower build than usual from the band here, and a neat riff from Trey.
9/2/17: It's hard for me to have a favorite version of Slave, since they're all generally the same thing, but that… https://t.co/dCc8ZVpWDq
9/2/17: Extended encore kicks off with The Lizards.
9/2/17: This was my first The Lizards in person, I believe.
9/2/17: > Antelope
9/2/17: Neat encore, though it's always sort of weird when the encore feels like an apology for the second set.
9/2/17: The problem with this show is that N1 sets really high expectations, N2S1 keeps the energy going, and then… https://t.co/YkubZZgJzV
9/2/17: Reminds me of BGCA '16, when there were five successive sets of amazing music, and the sixth was a surprisingly below-average set.
9/2/17: For what it's worth, the first set here is amazing. Simple is a legit Type II jam, Reba is great, and there… https://t.co/tbCD4qeGz6
9/2/17: Everything's Right is a fairly interesting jam to start the second set, but the rest is just weirdly built… https://t.co/mM1bDJSNHp
9/2/17: Oh well. Wrapping up '17 (thus far) on Tuesday!
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