So, if you've read any of my reviews of the shows from this leg, you know how I feel about it. It's easily the least interesting Phish tour since they came back. It's the low point of an overall tendency toward precision-over-improv playing. They're playing too well and with too much energy for this to qualify as "nostalgia act" status, but most of these shows are only worth a listen if you haven't heard Phish before or if a particular setlist contains a lot of your favorite songs.
So far, the height of improv and jamming for 3.0 has been summer '09. Since then, the band seems to have backed off with an interest toward streamlining and perfecting their performances of individual songs, and only occasionally does an interesting idea float to the top. With this tour specifically, the problem seems to me to be Trey's dominance of pretty much every song. This might very well be the best, most fiery, and most consistent Trey's playing has been across 3.0 (including '13-'14), but the unfortunate side to this is that the shows have increasingly taken on the worst aspect of the less interesting early-90s shows: Trey plays over every one, and buried underneath his Curtain of Shred, nobody else seems inclined to contribute ideas. If you like the Phish where Trey plays all the notes over top of what is essentially a backing band, this might be your favorite tour since '93...but for me, it's just boring. Mostly. Except for the Greek run.
8/5: The beginning of what's easily the best three-night run so far in 3.0. The first set is just absolutely shredded. S2 contains a great "Disease" > "Free" segment, and a great late-set "Tweezer".
8/6: Things get really interesting during N2, with the two big jam staples out of the way already. The S1 list is unpredictable in a good way, and the highlight is "Cities" getting to go for a second-set-style walk. In addition to a transcendent "Simple" jam, the second set features great takes on "Rock and Roll," "Ghost," and a great "Seven Below" -> "Groove" sandwich.
8/7: Third time pays for all, and this third show is the best of the bunch. Like N2, the first set is a collection of weird songs that hangs together perfectly. "Gotta Jibboo" gets extended. And, as I said in my review: "S2 is an absolute monster. A fiery "Wilson" leads right into an absolutely transcendent "Light," the easy highlight jam of the run, and for my money, of summer '10 so far. It lands in a dark "Twenty Years," which drops right into a fifteen-minute, slow-burning "Hood." A few clever song choices late in the set yield, among others, a patient "2001," a "Suzy" with a second jam (yeah), and a set closing "Slave" that is one of the most slowly-developing versions I've heard since the 90s." The run closes with an encore of "The Lizards" > "First Tube."
8/9: There's a huge drop-off in quality here after 8/7. Both sets are guitar-led fire, but the improv just isn't there. There's a nice segue in the "Tweezer" -> "Boogie On" sequence, and a furious "Piper" into "Mountains in the Mist" makes for a nice late-set pairing.
8/10: The first set is mostly by-the-book, while the second set is like a high-quality first set. Nothing really gets stretched out, except for a few interesting minutes of "Carini." Nothing else here that you haven't heard before.
8/12: Another really straightforward show. The "Drowned" jam deserves a mention for the primordial "Waiting All Night" jam that emerges from it. The late-show "Split" is a setlist surprise and is vicious. Probably worth a listen.
8/13: Features an oddly perfect, Type I version of "Number Line." Like the 8/10 "Carini," "Light" gets almost accidentally interesting for a few minutes before Trey strangles it with a ripcord. The "Meatstick" -> "Mango Song" segue is excellent. And that's all.
8/14: At this point in the tour, I was grateful to find a show that follows the "usual" blueprint of a fun first set, and a second set that is basically One Big Jam -> Jukebox Mode. At least there's One Big Jam. The first set is first-setty: both pure fire and boring. The second set is "Disease" -> "WTU?" and then some filler. But damn, that jam is solid.
8/15: The show opens with "Tweezer," getting your hopes up, and then continues on to be possibly the most rote show of the tour.
8/17: If there's one thing that S1s and shreddy-Trey have been good for on this tour, it's excellent "Reba"s. There's another here. There are some excellent song choices, too, and Trey takes his "Wilson" solo on a toy guitar. And, as I said about S2 in my review: "The entirety of the Mike's Groove is probably the best and most interesting bit of playing that the guys have put together since the Greek. There have been a few one-off jams that have been better, but the middle of this set is weird, and in a good way. "Mike's" > "Simple" > "Number Line" > "Caspian" > "Rock and Roll" > "Groove" is a great sequence...for this tour at least." So there's that, at least.
8/18: A pretty lackluster tour closer. "Destiny Unbound" gets a nice little funk jam, which is cool. Like 8/13's version, "Light" has a great few final minutes, and there's another solid "Hood" late in the second set. The last set of the tour ends with yet another "YEM," a victory lap song without an obvious victory.
I feel shitty being this snarky about my favorite band, so I should note that I enjoyed listening to at least parts of lots of these shows very much, and probably more than I would have enjoyed listening to most other music. It's just well below what these guys can do, and well below what they were doing for most of '09. I'm not sure what's happened since, say, Toyota Park and/or Blossom in June, but it's getting hard to be excited about. Hopefully fall is a little more interesting.
Showing posts with label 2010 Summer II. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2010 Summer II. Show all posts
Apr 13, 2015
Apr 9, 2015
2010-08-18 Jones Beach II
The Verdict:
On the second night at Jones Beach and the tour closer, the first set is mostly business as usual. Of note, though, are "Guelah Papyrus" and "Destiny Unbound." I just like "Guelah," and it's pretty rare, though this is a pretty standard reading. "Destiny" gets a neat little funk jam reminiscent of "Boogie On," though. The guys play with "Chalkdust" a very little bit and "Tube" gets an extra helping of funk, but that's about it for S1.
S2 relies mostly on weird song choices for its novelty (big surprise); for example, there's the "Axila I > "Timber" opener, which is probably the strangest S2 opener I've heard in a long time. Not in terms of the playing, though, just the songs. The last few minutes of "Light" are really interesting, there's a good segue to "46 Days," and that song proper features a neat vocal breakdown instead of the usual guitar peak, so that's a fun little sequence. The mid-set "Hood" is another great version and continues to be one of the few songs (along with "Reba") that are actually doing something this tour. The "Tweezer" that follows, though, is about as paint-by-numbers as you can get, and the set stumbles to a halt from there. There's another set-closing "YEM," but this song is feeling increasingly like a "victory lap" that the show it's attached to hasn't really earned.
The Live Review:
8/18/10: Disease opener!
8/18/10: On one hand, opening with DWD seems like a waste of a potential jam, but on the other hand I'm partial to it b/c...
8/18/10: ...it was the opener for 8/7/09, my first show.
8/18/10: Smile every time I hear the riff right before the jam. That was when I realized, after nine years of waiting...
8/18/10: ...that I was finally at a #phish show. And it turned out to be a GREAT show, too!
8/18/10: Sample follows Disease.
8/18/10: Guelah Papyrus! This is one of those songs that should totally pop up in first sets more often.
8/18/10: I'm not being sarcastic. This is one of my favorite songs on Picture of Nectar.
8/18/10: Extra fast Poor Heart! Yeeee-haw!!
8/18/10: Extra slow Ocelot. And thus, the balance of the universe is preserved.
8/18/10: A little mode-shifting from Trey and some interesting tension in the middle space of this Chalkdust. Good version.
8/18/10: Next up is an extended Gin that stays Type I the whole time but has a nice, slow build in the middle.
8/18/10: In case you couldn't tell from the lack of details, this set (so far) is falling straight into the usual summer '10 mode.
8/18/10: SUPER funky Tube follows. This is great, if short.
8/18/10: Destiny Unbound! I feel about this song like I do about Guelah. More S1 appearances, please.
8/18/10: Mike mega bass and Trey chording over it. Boogie On-style tone.
8/18/10: Joy.
8/18/10: As much as I sometimes moan about this song, there are some great bass lines in there.
8/18/10: Now Antelope to close yet another S1 of the 'high energy, but paint-by-numbers' variety.
8/18/10: I KNEW I shouldn't have listened to '14 tour before trying to review this tour :)
8/18/10: Lack of improv aside, though, Trey and co. are taking this Antelope to TOWN.
8/18/10: Axila I S2 opener? Checking to make sure VLC is listing the tracks in the correct
order...yep.
8/18/10: Timber! I just finished listening to Colorado 88 again, and the Timber is probably the best part. Looking forward to this.
8/18/10: Short but intense Timber -B Light. First buttslam in a little while.
8/18/10: Lots of summer '10 guitar pyrotechnics in the first few minutes of this jam.
8/18/10: Trey changing to that weird high-octave tone, but the jam is staying firmly Type I so far. Lots of tension, though.
8/18/10: Back to the rock.
8/18/10: The problem for most of the summer isn't just that Trey is dominating the jam spaces
(because he's playing well)...
8/18/10: ...it's that nobody is stepping up to push him in any interesting directions.
8/18/10: Or when someone occasionally offers up an original idea, they're swatted aside by the wave of guitar squeals.
8/18/10: Now that I said that, though, in this particular jam Mike is coming forward a bit and driving Trey back to an effects role.
8/18/10: Needless to say, it's pretty much more interesting than anything that's happened in the last week or so of shows.
8/18/10: Betcha it'll last two minutes more, tops.
8/18/10: Jam crashes to an end (in a sort-of controlled way), and Trey works in a nice -> 46 Days.
8/18/10: Rather than the usual peak in the song, Trey leads the guys in a quick vocal-scat-type jam like the one they often due during RnR.
8/18/10: MFMF is next...interesting choice?
8/18/10: Lots of playing around with the Hood intro here.
8/18/10: Fantastic interplay between Page and Trey to start this jam.
8/18/10: So, completely out of nowhere, that was a FANTASTIC Hood.
8/18/10: Tweezer next. Its start apparently caused synchronized ululations in the crowd.
8/18/10: Short(ish) Tweezer starts with a slow swagger, develops into a funk-rock jaunt.
8/18/10: That Tweezer just ended really suddenly. Bottom drops out into The Horse.
8/18/10: Horse > Silent, YEM
8/18/10: A lot of YEMs lately, and good ones.
8/18/10: Solid version of YEM to close S2. Will have to listen to encore later tonight.
8/18/10: Alright, I am officially about to declare the summer-ending encore of Suzy > Tweeprise is exactly what you would expect.
8/18/10: I sort of feel like they just played that plain-Jane Tweezer so they could close the tour with Tweeprise.
8/18/10: I totally understand that. Just making an observation.
8/18/10: Aaaaand thus comes to an end possibly the most boring part of Phish 3.0 so far. Except the Greek run. That was amazing.
On the second night at Jones Beach and the tour closer, the first set is mostly business as usual. Of note, though, are "Guelah Papyrus" and "Destiny Unbound." I just like "Guelah," and it's pretty rare, though this is a pretty standard reading. "Destiny" gets a neat little funk jam reminiscent of "Boogie On," though. The guys play with "Chalkdust" a very little bit and "Tube" gets an extra helping of funk, but that's about it for S1.
S2 relies mostly on weird song choices for its novelty (big surprise); for example, there's the "Axila I > "Timber" opener, which is probably the strangest S2 opener I've heard in a long time. Not in terms of the playing, though, just the songs. The last few minutes of "Light" are really interesting, there's a good segue to "46 Days," and that song proper features a neat vocal breakdown instead of the usual guitar peak, so that's a fun little sequence. The mid-set "Hood" is another great version and continues to be one of the few songs (along with "Reba") that are actually doing something this tour. The "Tweezer" that follows, though, is about as paint-by-numbers as you can get, and the set stumbles to a halt from there. There's another set-closing "YEM," but this song is feeling increasingly like a "victory lap" that the show it's attached to hasn't really earned.
The Live Review:
8/18/10: Disease opener!
8/18/10: On one hand, opening with DWD seems like a waste of a potential jam, but on the other hand I'm partial to it b/c...
8/18/10: ...it was the opener for 8/7/09, my first show.
8/18/10: Smile every time I hear the riff right before the jam. That was when I realized, after nine years of waiting...
8/18/10: ...that I was finally at a #phish show. And it turned out to be a GREAT show, too!
8/18/10: Sample follows Disease.
8/18/10: Guelah Papyrus! This is one of those songs that should totally pop up in first sets more often.
8/18/10: I'm not being sarcastic. This is one of my favorite songs on Picture of Nectar.
8/18/10: Extra fast Poor Heart! Yeeee-haw!!
8/18/10: Extra slow Ocelot. And thus, the balance of the universe is preserved.
8/18/10: A little mode-shifting from Trey and some interesting tension in the middle space of this Chalkdust. Good version.
8/18/10: Next up is an extended Gin that stays Type I the whole time but has a nice, slow build in the middle.
8/18/10: In case you couldn't tell from the lack of details, this set (so far) is falling straight into the usual summer '10 mode.
8/18/10: SUPER funky Tube follows. This is great, if short.
8/18/10: Destiny Unbound! I feel about this song like I do about Guelah. More S1 appearances, please.
8/18/10: Mike mega bass and Trey chording over it. Boogie On-style tone.
8/18/10: Joy.
8/18/10: As much as I sometimes moan about this song, there are some great bass lines in there.
8/18/10: Now Antelope to close yet another S1 of the 'high energy, but paint-by-numbers' variety.
8/18/10: I KNEW I shouldn't have listened to '14 tour before trying to review this tour :)
8/18/10: Lack of improv aside, though, Trey and co. are taking this Antelope to TOWN.
8/18/10: Axila I S2 opener? Checking to make sure VLC is listing the tracks in the correct
order...yep.
8/18/10: Timber! I just finished listening to Colorado 88 again, and the Timber is probably the best part. Looking forward to this.
8/18/10: Short but intense Timber -B Light. First buttslam in a little while.
8/18/10: Lots of summer '10 guitar pyrotechnics in the first few minutes of this jam.
8/18/10: Trey changing to that weird high-octave tone, but the jam is staying firmly Type I so far. Lots of tension, though.
8/18/10: Back to the rock.
8/18/10: The problem for most of the summer isn't just that Trey is dominating the jam spaces
(because he's playing well)...
8/18/10: ...it's that nobody is stepping up to push him in any interesting directions.
8/18/10: Or when someone occasionally offers up an original idea, they're swatted aside by the wave of guitar squeals.
8/18/10: Now that I said that, though, in this particular jam Mike is coming forward a bit and driving Trey back to an effects role.
8/18/10: Needless to say, it's pretty much more interesting than anything that's happened in the last week or so of shows.
8/18/10: Betcha it'll last two minutes more, tops.
8/18/10: Jam crashes to an end (in a sort-of controlled way), and Trey works in a nice -> 46 Days.
8/18/10: Rather than the usual peak in the song, Trey leads the guys in a quick vocal-scat-type jam like the one they often due during RnR.
8/18/10: MFMF is next...interesting choice?
8/18/10: Lots of playing around with the Hood intro here.
8/18/10: Fantastic interplay between Page and Trey to start this jam.
8/18/10: So, completely out of nowhere, that was a FANTASTIC Hood.
8/18/10: Tweezer next. Its start apparently caused synchronized ululations in the crowd.
8/18/10: Short(ish) Tweezer starts with a slow swagger, develops into a funk-rock jaunt.
8/18/10: That Tweezer just ended really suddenly. Bottom drops out into The Horse.
8/18/10: Horse > Silent, YEM
8/18/10: A lot of YEMs lately, and good ones.
8/18/10: Solid version of YEM to close S2. Will have to listen to encore later tonight.
8/18/10: Alright, I am officially about to declare the summer-ending encore of Suzy > Tweeprise is exactly what you would expect.
8/18/10: I sort of feel like they just played that plain-Jane Tweezer so they could close the tour with Tweeprise.
8/18/10: I totally understand that. Just making an observation.
8/18/10: Aaaaand thus comes to an end possibly the most boring part of Phish 3.0 so far. Except the Greek run. That was amazing.
2010-08-17 Jones Beach I
The Verdict:
I don't have a whole lot to say about the first night of Jones Beach that I haven't said already about most of this leg of tour. There are a few bright spots, so let's focus on those.
The first set has a lot going for it in the song choice department: "Fluffhead" opener, "Walk Away," "Funky Bitch," "Cities"...but the only real playing of note comes during a goofy "Wilson" that features Trey soloing on a plastic toy guitar and then reprising part of the solo on his Languedoc, and yet another fantastic Trey-driven "Reba."
The "Lengthwise" -> "Maze" opener is a nice bit to open S2, though by taking up the typical "jam slot" of the set it telegraphs that this is going to be yet another second set without a cornerstone jam. That said, The entirety of the Mike's Groove is probably the best and most interesting bit of playing that the guys have put together since the Greek. There have been a few one-off jams that have been better, but the middle of this set is weird, and in a good way. "Mike's" > "Simple" > "Number Line" > "Caspian" > "Rock and Roll" > "Groove" is a great sequence...for this tour at least. And I don't say that to bitchy, but just to indicate that it doesn't stand up to a lot of the better sustained jamming from more recent years (or earlier years), but in the context of summer 2010, it's definitely worth a listen.
The Live Review:
8/17/10: Going for at least part of Jones Beach I today.
8/17/10: Fluffhead opener is always a feel-good choice :)
8/17/10: 'Fluff came to New York' lyric.
8/17/10: Well, that was fun. KDF in the two-slot.
8/17/10: Cities!
8/17/10: I like how frequently Funky Bitch is popping up lately.
8/17/10: I think that Trey might have just played his Wilson solo on a plastic guitar.
8/17/10: I have no idea how they mic'd that, but it's hilarious.
8/17/10: Now Trey playing the toy guitar riff on his real guitar.
8/17/10: The upside of all of these Trey-driven shows is that the Rebas are fantastic. Walk Away is next.
8/17/10: Part of me loves hearing Trey just slay these songs, while part of me thinks it must be part of what's keeping the...
8/17/10: ...rest of the band from bothering to join in for legit jams.
8/17/10: There has honestly been basically zero serious interplay since 8/7.
8/17/10: Short Wolfman's offers up a nice, but brief, plinko-y section before switching over to more guitar shrieking.
8/17/10: Lest you think I'm oddly down on '10 here, I tend to dislike any Phish where Trey drives the bus a little too much.
8/17/10: Part of the reason I don't bother much with anything pre-'94.
8/17/10: It's really, really good, it's just not interesting.
8/17/10: Even '94 and '95 are Trey heavy, but there he's at least using his powers to drag everyone else into Weirdland.
8/17/10: Possum set closer?
8/17/10: Lengthwise -> Maze to start S2.
8/17/10: Extra-quality tension-building in this Maze.
8/17/10: Short Halley's is next, and it gets -B Mike's. That seemed like a premeditated butt-slam segue, but it was still weird.
8/17/10: That Mike's was interesting...a little more Van Halen than usual.
8/17/10: Old school segue into Simple from Mike's.
8/17/10: Lots of great interplay in the Simple, actually. Trey heads off an ambient fade out with the opening chords of Number Line.
8/17/10: Number Line might actually be heading Type II here. 6:00 in, Trey's over to funk chords and Page is on the electric piano.
8/17/10: Almost an ASIHTOS-like space before a mellow breakdown.
8/17/10: Trey has latched on to a pretty anthemic riff now.
8/17/10: Sort-of segue into Caspian.
8/17/10: First time I've said this in almost two weeks, but that was a great jam.
8/17/10: Little mellow breakdown in Caspian, reminiscent of a Simple jam. Really liking this Mike's Groove all the way around.
8/17/10: Trey tried to pull off a -> Rock and Roll there and sort of biffed it. Anyways, Rock and Roll!
8/17/10: After mega-mellow-jam time, Trey is 'finally' busting out the big guns here again on Rock and Roll.
8/17/10: Weird build happening now.
8/17/10: Rock and Roll crashes to a stop...weird, spacey vocal reprise ('It's aaaaaall riiiiiiiight') > Groove.
8/17/10: Really high-register soloing from Trey, clav work from Page.
8/17/10: This Mike's Groove contains almost entirely music from a different and far superior version of the band. I am happy.
8/17/10: Far superior to everything since 8/7, that is. And, like, 12/30/09 before that.
8/17/10: Loving Cup set closer? Great choice.
8/17/10: Show of Life'd.
8/17/10: I wish Trey would release 3 different versions of this on various solo albums so he's stop playing it with Phish. But I suck.
8/17/10: Golgi closes out the show.
I don't have a whole lot to say about the first night of Jones Beach that I haven't said already about most of this leg of tour. There are a few bright spots, so let's focus on those.
The first set has a lot going for it in the song choice department: "Fluffhead" opener, "Walk Away," "Funky Bitch," "Cities"...but the only real playing of note comes during a goofy "Wilson" that features Trey soloing on a plastic toy guitar and then reprising part of the solo on his Languedoc, and yet another fantastic Trey-driven "Reba."
The "Lengthwise" -> "Maze" opener is a nice bit to open S2, though by taking up the typical "jam slot" of the set it telegraphs that this is going to be yet another second set without a cornerstone jam. That said, The entirety of the Mike's Groove is probably the best and most interesting bit of playing that the guys have put together since the Greek. There have been a few one-off jams that have been better, but the middle of this set is weird, and in a good way. "Mike's" > "Simple" > "Number Line" > "Caspian" > "Rock and Roll" > "Groove" is a great sequence...for this tour at least. And I don't say that to bitchy, but just to indicate that it doesn't stand up to a lot of the better sustained jamming from more recent years (or earlier years), but in the context of summer 2010, it's definitely worth a listen.
The Live Review:
8/17/10: Going for at least part of Jones Beach I today.
8/17/10: Fluffhead opener is always a feel-good choice :)
8/17/10: 'Fluff came to New York' lyric.
8/17/10: Well, that was fun. KDF in the two-slot.
8/17/10: Cities!
8/17/10: I like how frequently Funky Bitch is popping up lately.
8/17/10: I think that Trey might have just played his Wilson solo on a plastic guitar.
8/17/10: I have no idea how they mic'd that, but it's hilarious.
8/17/10: Now Trey playing the toy guitar riff on his real guitar.
8/17/10: The upside of all of these Trey-driven shows is that the Rebas are fantastic. Walk Away is next.
8/17/10: Part of me loves hearing Trey just slay these songs, while part of me thinks it must be part of what's keeping the...
8/17/10: ...rest of the band from bothering to join in for legit jams.
8/17/10: There has honestly been basically zero serious interplay since 8/7.
8/17/10: Short Wolfman's offers up a nice, but brief, plinko-y section before switching over to more guitar shrieking.
8/17/10: Lest you think I'm oddly down on '10 here, I tend to dislike any Phish where Trey drives the bus a little too much.
8/17/10: Part of the reason I don't bother much with anything pre-'94.
8/17/10: It's really, really good, it's just not interesting.
8/17/10: Even '94 and '95 are Trey heavy, but there he's at least using his powers to drag everyone else into Weirdland.
8/17/10: Possum set closer?
8/17/10: Lengthwise -> Maze to start S2.
8/17/10: Extra-quality tension-building in this Maze.
8/17/10: Short Halley's is next, and it gets -B Mike's. That seemed like a premeditated butt-slam segue, but it was still weird.
8/17/10: That Mike's was interesting...a little more Van Halen than usual.
8/17/10: Old school segue into Simple from Mike's.
8/17/10: Lots of great interplay in the Simple, actually. Trey heads off an ambient fade out with the opening chords of Number Line.
8/17/10: Number Line might actually be heading Type II here. 6:00 in, Trey's over to funk chords and Page is on the electric piano.
8/17/10: Almost an ASIHTOS-like space before a mellow breakdown.
8/17/10: Trey has latched on to a pretty anthemic riff now.
8/17/10: Sort-of segue into Caspian.
8/17/10: First time I've said this in almost two weeks, but that was a great jam.
8/17/10: Little mellow breakdown in Caspian, reminiscent of a Simple jam. Really liking this Mike's Groove all the way around.
8/17/10: Trey tried to pull off a -> Rock and Roll there and sort of biffed it. Anyways, Rock and Roll!
8/17/10: After mega-mellow-jam time, Trey is 'finally' busting out the big guns here again on Rock and Roll.
8/17/10: Weird build happening now.
8/17/10: Rock and Roll crashes to a stop...weird, spacey vocal reprise ('It's aaaaaall riiiiiiiight') > Groove.
8/17/10: Really high-register soloing from Trey, clav work from Page.
8/17/10: This Mike's Groove contains almost entirely music from a different and far superior version of the band. I am happy.
8/17/10: Far superior to everything since 8/7, that is. And, like, 12/30/09 before that.
8/17/10: Loving Cup set closer? Great choice.
8/17/10: Show of Life'd.
8/17/10: I wish Trey would release 3 different versions of this on various solo albums so he's stop playing it with Phish. But I suck.
8/17/10: Golgi closes out the show.
Mar 30, 2015
2010-08-15 Alpine II
The Verdict:
Well, my review of the 8/14 show was meant to be the positive one...so I guess you already know what I'm going to say about this one. Really, it's hard to tell at this point whether Alpine II is particular bad, or if I'm just so sick of listening to same-y shows that it's just average and my frustration is just boiling over. Either way, I didn't like it that much.
First off, any time there's no ">"s or "->"s in any of my review tweets, that's a bad sign.
Second, this show made me mad because it opens with "Tweezer," giving the indication that something interesting might be coming, and then follows that opener up with the same old, same old rote S1 we've been getting all tour. This time, there's an "On Your Way Down" in the mix, which I loved, but otherwise we've seen all this before. Recently. The version of "David Bowie" that closes the set is technically well-played, but would work well on a greatest hits album of Phish songs for people who had never heard Phish before.
The second set opens with "Ghost," and it's a version that is subjected to all kinds of Trey-guitar histrionics but still manages to stay firmly in the box, depositing us politely in "Theme" at the end. Once again, Trey dominates the second set, seemingly burying everyone else in the process. This "YEM" seemed like the most perfunctory version I've heard in a long time, and "Piper" can only muster up a weak ambient fade for its final few minutes to do anything outside of the guitar-soloing box. The final seven songs could all be encore songs, but only the last four really are.
The Live Review:
8/15/10: Well...spring break is over. Time to review Alpine II to 'celebrate.'
8/15/10: Slow-tempo Tweezer to open the show. Interesting.
8/15/10: Mike's leading the way into the jam section.
8/15/10: Trey builds in Mike's foundation for a great little rock jam. Song ends with a wind-down and a return to the main riff.
8/15/10: A really hot Bag (that sounds gross, I guess) follows Tweezer. Then...On Your Way Down!!!
8/15/10: I really like this song, in case you couldn't tell.
8/15/10: Ooh, another early Divided Sky is next.
8/15/10: Stealing Time makes sure this set is staying firmly in the usual summer 2010 S1 mold, despite that Tweezer opener.
8/15/10: Moma just confirmed that opinion for me :)
8/15/10: Farmhouse. Audible groans from the crowd. That made me laugh.
8/15/10: Crowd-groaning aside, that was a pretty rock and roll solo from Trey. Interesting version of Farmhouse.
8/15/10: Well, if you have to drop a Farmhouse in there, it's probably best to follow with a Bowie.
8/15/10: That was an excellent S1-ending Bowie. Take that as you will.
8/15/10: Ghost opens S2!
8/15/10: Trey building up another huge rock jam here in this Ghost.
8/15/10: The Ghost stays rock and roll Type I the entire time, makes a fuzz-induced segue to Theme.
8/15/10: Trey is shredding the hell out of this Theme. That's sort of a surprise.
8/15/10: Theme >
8/15/10: Mid-S2 seems like a weird place for a YEM.
8/15/10: Maybe it's just because I'm in a bad mood today, but this show seems to be all over the place and boring both at once.
8/15/10: Trey is playing well, but playing over everyone else, no real jams, setlist flow is funky...
8/15/10: I mean, how do you open S1 with Tweezer and S2 with Ghost and I'm still bored? Yet, they've managed it.
8/15/10: Neat segue from the vocal jam >
8/15/10: Trey is at the helm now for a seriously crazy Type I Piper.
8/15/10: Fadeout around 9:00.
8/15/10: Three minutes of sort of aimless, weird noises dissolves into 2001.
8/15/10: As pissy as I'm being about this show right now, I'll point out again that 2010 2001s have way more swagger to them than today's.
8/15/10: Still My Guitar Gently Weeps. Still Trey Cannot Hit The High Note In The Chorus.
8/15/10: Okay, I got so bored by this show I fell asleep. But now I'm back.
8/15/10: Character Zero is next, after WMGGW.
8/15/10: Oh! Sweet Nuthin'...if there was a cover song to cheer me up about what's essentially a S2 full of encore songs, it's this one.
8/15/10: Cavern just ended with what sounded like Fish starting up the drumbeat for Hood when Trey cut him off with Joy.
8/15/10: That pretty much sums up my reaction to this show.
8/15/10: Band just launched in Tweeprise like they'd been playing an amazing show for the last 2.5 hours.
8/15/10: *into
Well, my review of the 8/14 show was meant to be the positive one...so I guess you already know what I'm going to say about this one. Really, it's hard to tell at this point whether Alpine II is particular bad, or if I'm just so sick of listening to same-y shows that it's just average and my frustration is just boiling over. Either way, I didn't like it that much.
First off, any time there's no ">"s or "->"s in any of my review tweets, that's a bad sign.
Second, this show made me mad because it opens with "Tweezer," giving the indication that something interesting might be coming, and then follows that opener up with the same old, same old rote S1 we've been getting all tour. This time, there's an "On Your Way Down" in the mix, which I loved, but otherwise we've seen all this before. Recently. The version of "David Bowie" that closes the set is technically well-played, but would work well on a greatest hits album of Phish songs for people who had never heard Phish before.
The second set opens with "Ghost," and it's a version that is subjected to all kinds of Trey-guitar histrionics but still manages to stay firmly in the box, depositing us politely in "Theme" at the end. Once again, Trey dominates the second set, seemingly burying everyone else in the process. This "YEM" seemed like the most perfunctory version I've heard in a long time, and "Piper" can only muster up a weak ambient fade for its final few minutes to do anything outside of the guitar-soloing box. The final seven songs could all be encore songs, but only the last four really are.
The Live Review:
8/15/10: Well...spring break is over. Time to review Alpine II to 'celebrate.'
8/15/10: Slow-tempo Tweezer to open the show. Interesting.
8/15/10: Mike's leading the way into the jam section.
8/15/10: Trey builds in Mike's foundation for a great little rock jam. Song ends with a wind-down and a return to the main riff.
8/15/10: A really hot Bag (that sounds gross, I guess) follows Tweezer. Then...On Your Way Down!!!
8/15/10: I really like this song, in case you couldn't tell.
8/15/10: Ooh, another early Divided Sky is next.
8/15/10: Stealing Time makes sure this set is staying firmly in the usual summer 2010 S1 mold, despite that Tweezer opener.
8/15/10: Moma just confirmed that opinion for me :)
8/15/10: Farmhouse. Audible groans from the crowd. That made me laugh.
8/15/10: Crowd-groaning aside, that was a pretty rock and roll solo from Trey. Interesting version of Farmhouse.
8/15/10: Well, if you have to drop a Farmhouse in there, it's probably best to follow with a Bowie.
8/15/10: That was an excellent S1-ending Bowie. Take that as you will.
8/15/10: Ghost opens S2!
8/15/10: Trey building up another huge rock jam here in this Ghost.
8/15/10: The Ghost stays rock and roll Type I the entire time, makes a fuzz-induced segue to Theme.
8/15/10: Trey is shredding the hell out of this Theme. That's sort of a surprise.
8/15/10: Theme >
8/15/10: Mid-S2 seems like a weird place for a YEM.
8/15/10: Maybe it's just because I'm in a bad mood today, but this show seems to be all over the place and boring both at once.
8/15/10: Trey is playing well, but playing over everyone else, no real jams, setlist flow is funky...
8/15/10: I mean, how do you open S1 with Tweezer and S2 with Ghost and I'm still bored? Yet, they've managed it.
8/15/10: Neat segue from the vocal jam >
8/15/10: Trey is at the helm now for a seriously crazy Type I Piper.
8/15/10: Fadeout around 9:00.
8/15/10: Three minutes of sort of aimless, weird noises dissolves into 2001.
8/15/10: As pissy as I'm being about this show right now, I'll point out again that 2010 2001s have way more swagger to them than today's.
8/15/10: Still My Guitar Gently Weeps. Still Trey Cannot Hit The High Note In The Chorus.
8/15/10: Okay, I got so bored by this show I fell asleep. But now I'm back.
8/15/10: Character Zero is next, after WMGGW.
8/15/10: Oh! Sweet Nuthin'...if there was a cover song to cheer me up about what's essentially a S2 full of encore songs, it's this one.
8/15/10: Cavern just ended with what sounded like Fish starting up the drumbeat for Hood when Trey cut him off with Joy.
8/15/10: That pretty much sums up my reaction to this show.
8/15/10: Band just launched in Tweeprise like they'd been playing an amazing show for the last 2.5 hours.
8/15/10: *into
2010-08-14 Alpine I
The Verdict:
I think I've already summed up my feelings on this show pretty well in my last two tweets below: by "normal" Phish standards, Alpine I isn't anything special: solidly-played, uninteresting S1 followed by one major jam in S2 and then a bunch of jukebox-type song choices. It's sort of the band's "default" mode on off nights. But here, in the context of the really dry shows that are making up Summer II 2010 (minus the Greek run), this is a standout.
Make no mistake, in a summer that keeps raising the bar for the high-energy, by-the-book first set, this is another bar-raiser. There's a great variety of songs on display, and even a surprisingly great "Reba" that hints at the band's ability to improvise in the first set (someday, far in the future, maybe).
The second set is, like many recent second sets, to a large degree just another first set, with Trey driving every "jam." He's playing guitar during these shows in a way that I wish he would/could still play these days, but it seems to discourage the rest of the band from stepping up to the plate with anything interesting. The one highlight, though, is the "Disease" -> "WTU?" sequence: the segue is great, and "What's The Use?" actually gets stretched out a bit beyond its usual boundaries.
I suppose the "Mike's Groove" deserves a mention for having "Dirt" > "Sally" as the middle of its sandwich, but I'm scrambling for praise at this point.
The Live Review:
8/14/10: So this is weird. I'm reviewing a show that I've already seen on DVD.
8/14/10: But that was a long time ago, I suppose. I remember it being pretty good.
8/14/10: Tube opener. Mike doesn't need to warm up, clearly.
8/14/10: Oh Kee Pah -B Suzy.
8/14/10: Mike is crazy on this Suzy, too. Wonder if the mix is different or if Mike is just having a great night.
8/14/10: Funky Bitch!
8/14/10: Great version of Funky Bitch. Great playing from everyone. Reba is next.
8/14/10: Really jazzy, assertive start to the Reba jam from Trey.
8/14/10: This is a great version of Reba. Trey putting together some excellent melodic lines, Page adding piano accents.
8/14/10: Fuck Your Face might be my favorite possible follow-up to Reba.
8/14/10: Alaska might be my least favorite possible follow-up to Fuck Your Face.
8/14/10: That Alaska was better than most, thanks to a totally filthy Trey solo.
8/14/10: BOTT at what sounds like a much faster tempo than usual.
8/14/10: Fantastic, sustained soloing from Trey during BOTT, too. Taste next.
8/14/10: Taste is a bit shaky but certainly not lacking in the energy department.
8/14/10: Taste is followed by a good version of When the Circus Comes. Outro is a little extended, with some great organ touches by Page.
8/14/10: Lawn Boy, Sparkle. Weird song choices in the back half of this set.
8/14/10: Gumbo! Is it just me, or is this the longest first set ever?
8/14/10: Antelope might finally close this set!
8/14/10: I can see why this S1 works well for a DVD release, though. Tons of varied songs, super high energy typical of summer 2010...
8/14/10: ...and a few songs that, while not jammed, get great extended, improvised passages (Reba, BOTT).
8/14/10: If I was trying to turn someone on to #phish, that wouldn't have been a bad set to start with.
8/14/10: Crazy Antelope, featuring 'Marco Benevento' and some snake hissing before 'spike.'
8/14/10: The Sloth opener for S2.
8/14/10: Awesomely rock The Sloth. Lots of feedback squeals from Trey. Disease is next.
8/14/10: The first few minutes of the Disease jam is pure guitar fire.
8/14/10: Fish switching up the beat around 8:00. Things getting a little tangly.
8/14/10: Full-ahead go rock and roll coming out of the tension-y section.
8/14/10: Circular jam space coming up.
8/14/10: Lightspeed funk now.
8/14/10: Things slowing down a bit, becoming more sparse...then speeding back up.
8/14/10: Neat jam, though the only thing really consistent about it is the FRIGGIN' ENERGY.
8/14/10: Developing into a droning, noise-rock sort of segment now.
8/14/10: Trey playing around with the What's the Use? riff at the end of the noise-rock barrage. Great transition by everyone else.
8/14/10: That -> was some serious telepathy.
8/14/10: After the initial blast into WTU, now things are mellowing out. It's nice to hear them play with the song a little.
8/14/10: Nice sort-of -> Scent, there.
8/14/10: Really evil build in the duel section of SOAM.
8/14/10: Mike's song is next.
8/14/10: Weird transition out of a hot Mike's into Dirt, but it's great to hear the song, especially in the middle of a Groove.
8/14/10: Sally's next? Okay, this Groove is getting weird.
8/14/10: More great Trey soloing, with a nice vocal breakdown sandwiched in their for good measure.
8/14/10: The band doesn't really have any right to be playing like this 2+ hours into the show.
8/14/10: HUGE Weekapaug to close off that sequence.
8/14/10: This show isn't much different, really, than the last few shows I poo-poo'd. But the small differences really make it work.
8/14/10: Namely, a few songs that actually go somewhere slightly interesting in S1, a big jam in S2, and an interesting Groove.
8/14/10: Rock and roll Bug to close S2. Quinn encore.
8/14/10: By 'normal' standards, this show is a bit of a flash in the pan...
8/14/10: But by the standards of summer 2010 (minus the Greek run), it's fantastic.
I think I've already summed up my feelings on this show pretty well in my last two tweets below: by "normal" Phish standards, Alpine I isn't anything special: solidly-played, uninteresting S1 followed by one major jam in S2 and then a bunch of jukebox-type song choices. It's sort of the band's "default" mode on off nights. But here, in the context of the really dry shows that are making up Summer II 2010 (minus the Greek run), this is a standout.
Make no mistake, in a summer that keeps raising the bar for the high-energy, by-the-book first set, this is another bar-raiser. There's a great variety of songs on display, and even a surprisingly great "Reba" that hints at the band's ability to improvise in the first set (someday, far in the future, maybe).
The second set is, like many recent second sets, to a large degree just another first set, with Trey driving every "jam." He's playing guitar during these shows in a way that I wish he would/could still play these days, but it seems to discourage the rest of the band from stepping up to the plate with anything interesting. The one highlight, though, is the "Disease" -> "WTU?" sequence: the segue is great, and "What's The Use?" actually gets stretched out a bit beyond its usual boundaries.
I suppose the "Mike's Groove" deserves a mention for having "Dirt" > "Sally" as the middle of its sandwich, but I'm scrambling for praise at this point.
The Live Review:
8/14/10: So this is weird. I'm reviewing a show that I've already seen on DVD.
8/14/10: But that was a long time ago, I suppose. I remember it being pretty good.
8/14/10: Tube opener. Mike doesn't need to warm up, clearly.
8/14/10: Oh Kee Pah -B Suzy.
8/14/10: Mike is crazy on this Suzy, too. Wonder if the mix is different or if Mike is just having a great night.
8/14/10: Funky Bitch!
8/14/10: Great version of Funky Bitch. Great playing from everyone. Reba is next.
8/14/10: Really jazzy, assertive start to the Reba jam from Trey.
8/14/10: This is a great version of Reba. Trey putting together some excellent melodic lines, Page adding piano accents.
8/14/10: Fuck Your Face might be my favorite possible follow-up to Reba.
8/14/10: Alaska might be my least favorite possible follow-up to Fuck Your Face.
8/14/10: That Alaska was better than most, thanks to a totally filthy Trey solo.
8/14/10: BOTT at what sounds like a much faster tempo than usual.
8/14/10: Fantastic, sustained soloing from Trey during BOTT, too. Taste next.
8/14/10: Taste is a bit shaky but certainly not lacking in the energy department.
8/14/10: Taste is followed by a good version of When the Circus Comes. Outro is a little extended, with some great organ touches by Page.
8/14/10: Lawn Boy, Sparkle. Weird song choices in the back half of this set.
8/14/10: Gumbo! Is it just me, or is this the longest first set ever?
8/14/10: Antelope might finally close this set!
8/14/10: I can see why this S1 works well for a DVD release, though. Tons of varied songs, super high energy typical of summer 2010...
8/14/10: ...and a few songs that, while not jammed, get great extended, improvised passages (Reba, BOTT).
8/14/10: If I was trying to turn someone on to #phish, that wouldn't have been a bad set to start with.
8/14/10: Crazy Antelope, featuring 'Marco Benevento' and some snake hissing before 'spike.'
8/14/10: The Sloth opener for S2.
8/14/10: Awesomely rock The Sloth. Lots of feedback squeals from Trey. Disease is next.
8/14/10: The first few minutes of the Disease jam is pure guitar fire.
8/14/10: Fish switching up the beat around 8:00. Things getting a little tangly.
8/14/10: Full-ahead go rock and roll coming out of the tension-y section.
8/14/10: Circular jam space coming up.
8/14/10: Lightspeed funk now.
8/14/10: Things slowing down a bit, becoming more sparse...then speeding back up.
8/14/10: Neat jam, though the only thing really consistent about it is the FRIGGIN' ENERGY.
8/14/10: Developing into a droning, noise-rock sort of segment now.
8/14/10: Trey playing around with the What's the Use? riff at the end of the noise-rock barrage. Great transition by everyone else.
8/14/10: That -> was some serious telepathy.
8/14/10: After the initial blast into WTU, now things are mellowing out. It's nice to hear them play with the song a little.
8/14/10: Nice sort-of -> Scent, there.
8/14/10: Really evil build in the duel section of SOAM.
8/14/10: Mike's song is next.
8/14/10: Weird transition out of a hot Mike's into Dirt, but it's great to hear the song, especially in the middle of a Groove.
8/14/10: Sally's next? Okay, this Groove is getting weird.
8/14/10: More great Trey soloing, with a nice vocal breakdown sandwiched in their for good measure.
8/14/10: The band doesn't really have any right to be playing like this 2+ hours into the show.
8/14/10: HUGE Weekapaug to close off that sequence.
8/14/10: This show isn't much different, really, than the last few shows I poo-poo'd. But the small differences really make it work.
8/14/10: Namely, a few songs that actually go somewhere slightly interesting in S1, a big jam in S2, and an interesting Groove.
8/14/10: Rock and roll Bug to close S2. Quinn encore.
8/14/10: By 'normal' standards, this show is a bit of a flash in the pan...
8/14/10: But by the standards of summer 2010 (minus the Greek run), it's fantastic.
Mar 19, 2015
2010-08-13 Noblesville II
The Verdict:
The Live Review:
8/13/10: Noblesville II kicks off with CDT. Please god let it be more interesting than Noblesville I.
8/13/10: Guelah Papyrus is next. As per summer 2010 part deux, CDT was pure guitar fire.
8/13/10: My Sweet One getting slightly extended.
8/13/10: Axila I, followed by I Didn't Know. Old school feel to the set so far.
8/13/10: Trey ordering Fish to 'Suck that thing!'
8/13/10: Nowadays, Walls seems like a weird choice for the middle of the first set.
8/13/10: Maybe Stash will allow them to stretch a little bit.
8/13/10: Neat, if perfunctory bit of tension-and-release in Stash. Train Song next.
8/13/10: This Number Line would have worked just as well for the studio version. It's short(ish) and
basically note perfect. Great solo.
8/13/10: Ocelot next. It would be just about right if Ocelot was playing when tour was announced...
8/13/10: There is nothing about this Ocelot that makes it different from any other Ocelot ever played.
8/13/10: On the other hand, they followed it up with Curtis Loew.
8/13/10: Great little piano solo from Page in the middle of the song. Don't remember that usually being there.
8/13/10: Hilarious Van Halen guitar from Trey during the Wilson breakdown.
8/13/10: Oh, sorry. Wilson was after Curtis Loew.
8/13/10: Possum set closer? Unless this goes Type II, this is officially the 2010 First Set-iest of all 2010 First Sets.
8/13/10: That's to say while I'm sure this was fun to hear live, it's boring as hell to listen to on tape.
8/13/10: In a way, I guess it's the perfect #phish show to grade final exams to, though.
8/13/10: Halley's is opening S2.
8/13/10: Great, high-octane -B Light.
8/13/10: First few minutes of the jam are the requisite arpeggios, but then things depart for a somewhat darker space.
8/13/10: Page on organ, with a No Quarter-y tone.
8/13/10: Trey drops back, Mike and Page take over.
8/13/10: Tempo slows waaaaay down.
8/13/10: Really interesting space now. What circus music would sound like in hell.
8/13/10: Trey bringing back the main riff. Too bad, that was neat.
8/13/10: After the 'outro' vocals, back into a weird, rhythmless space.
8/13/10: Fade into 46 Days next. I think that 2-3 minutes of weirdness in Light is our helping of improv for the night, folks.
8/13/10: 46 Days winding to a weird, organ-based end, actually. Another 45 seconds of jamming!
Waiting until 12 to see if dates go up, then I'm back off to work.
8/13/10: Fuzzy ending lands nicely in Maze.
8/13/10: Maze, Meatstick.
8/13/10: Noblesville has almost had two complete shows in a row without a second set...
8/13/10: Trey starts up Mango, and there's some interplay between Meatstick and Mango.
Mangostick?!
8/13/10: Fluffhead next, as our no-jam consolation prize.
8/13/10: Julius rounds out a very well-played but very uneventful S2.
8/13/10: Slave encore!
8/13/10: Oops, there was a Contact in there first.
8/13/10: No offense to anyone, but my final verdict on Noblesville is that it's the most boring run of shows I've heard in a long time.
8/13/10: All the more baffling considering it was less than a week after the Greek run...
8/13/10: ...which could go toe-to-toe with a lot of the great shows of the last two years.
I could probably start my review of the second night in Noblesville by just pasting in the first few paragraphs from the review of last night's show. But I won't, because HYPERLINK TECHNOLOGY.
Anyway, this is mostly more of more of the same. Except where 8/12 had at least a solid "Drowned" jam and a wacky last third of S2 and encore, 8/13 is lacking even that.
As I keep saying every night, this first set, from the standpoint of technical playing alone, is pure fire. They could have substituted this version of "Number Line" for the one on Joy and nobody would have known the difference; it's that tight. But no one ever so much as places one toe outside the box here.
The second set is about as close as they come to a second first set, except for the final few minutes in "Light" (which are quickly truncated by Trey, buttslamming the band into "46 Days"), and a suddenly brilliant segue from "Meatstick" -> "The Mango Song." It's one of those out-of-nowhere moments of excellence that is, in a weird way, reassuring: even if they aren't playing anything interesting right now, they're obviously still able to. They just don't seem to want to. For some reason.
Anyway, this is mostly more of more of the same. Except where 8/12 had at least a solid "Drowned" jam and a wacky last third of S2 and encore, 8/13 is lacking even that.
As I keep saying every night, this first set, from the standpoint of technical playing alone, is pure fire. They could have substituted this version of "Number Line" for the one on Joy and nobody would have known the difference; it's that tight. But no one ever so much as places one toe outside the box here.
The second set is about as close as they come to a second first set, except for the final few minutes in "Light" (which are quickly truncated by Trey, buttslamming the band into "46 Days"), and a suddenly brilliant segue from "Meatstick" -> "The Mango Song." It's one of those out-of-nowhere moments of excellence that is, in a weird way, reassuring: even if they aren't playing anything interesting right now, they're obviously still able to. They just don't seem to want to. For some reason.
The Live Review:
8/13/10: Noblesville II kicks off with CDT. Please god let it be more interesting than Noblesville I.
8/13/10: Guelah Papyrus is next. As per summer 2010 part deux, CDT was pure guitar fire.
8/13/10: My Sweet One getting slightly extended.
8/13/10: Axila I, followed by I Didn't Know. Old school feel to the set so far.
8/13/10: Trey ordering Fish to 'Suck that thing!'
8/13/10: Nowadays, Walls seems like a weird choice for the middle of the first set.
8/13/10: Maybe Stash will allow them to stretch a little bit.
8/13/10: Neat, if perfunctory bit of tension-and-release in Stash. Train Song next.
8/13/10: This Number Line would have worked just as well for the studio version. It's short(ish) and
basically note perfect. Great solo.
8/13/10: Ocelot next. It would be just about right if Ocelot was playing when tour was announced...
8/13/10: There is nothing about this Ocelot that makes it different from any other Ocelot ever played.
8/13/10: On the other hand, they followed it up with Curtis Loew.
8/13/10: Great little piano solo from Page in the middle of the song. Don't remember that usually being there.
8/13/10: Hilarious Van Halen guitar from Trey during the Wilson breakdown.
8/13/10: Oh, sorry. Wilson was after Curtis Loew.
8/13/10: Possum set closer? Unless this goes Type II, this is officially the 2010 First Set-iest of all 2010 First Sets.
8/13/10: That's to say while I'm sure this was fun to hear live, it's boring as hell to listen to on tape.
8/13/10: In a way, I guess it's the perfect #phish show to grade final exams to, though.
8/13/10: Halley's is opening S2.
8/13/10: Great, high-octane -B Light.
8/13/10: First few minutes of the jam are the requisite arpeggios, but then things depart for a somewhat darker space.
8/13/10: Page on organ, with a No Quarter-y tone.
8/13/10: Trey drops back, Mike and Page take over.
8/13/10: Tempo slows waaaaay down.
8/13/10: Really interesting space now. What circus music would sound like in hell.
8/13/10: Trey bringing back the main riff. Too bad, that was neat.
8/13/10: After the 'outro' vocals, back into a weird, rhythmless space.
8/13/10: Fade into 46 Days next. I think that 2-3 minutes of weirdness in Light is our helping of improv for the night, folks.
8/13/10: 46 Days winding to a weird, organ-based end, actually. Another 45 seconds of jamming!
Waiting until 12 to see if dates go up, then I'm back off to work.
8/13/10: Fuzzy ending lands nicely in Maze.
8/13/10: Maze, Meatstick.
8/13/10: Noblesville has almost had two complete shows in a row without a second set...
8/13/10: Trey starts up Mango, and there's some interplay between Meatstick and Mango.
Mangostick?!
8/13/10: Fluffhead next, as our no-jam consolation prize.
8/13/10: Julius rounds out a very well-played but very uneventful S2.
8/13/10: Slave encore!
8/13/10: Oops, there was a Contact in there first.
8/13/10: No offense to anyone, but my final verdict on Noblesville is that it's the most boring run of shows I've heard in a long time.
8/13/10: All the more baffling considering it was less than a week after the Greek run...
8/13/10: ...which could go toe-to-toe with a lot of the great shows of the last two years.
2010-08-12 Noblesville I
The Verdict:
Same old, same old is the verdict here. The epic Greek run is starting to look more and more like a weird anomaly in a summer that's skewed almost entirely toward shows that feature consistently sky-high energy and great setlists, but have second sets that are almost indistinguishable from first sets. In other words, if Phish was a rock and roll bar band, summer 2010 would be a banner year. If you care about improv at all, though, pickings have been pretty slim.
I don't know if there's anything particularly bad about the Noblesville run in this regard, or if I'm just getting frustrated and this was a convenient peak, but...blargh. Night one's first set is par for the course: "Cars Trucks Buses" gets extended slightly past its usual running time, and "Roggae" goes more rock and less melody in its jam, but aside from those changes, you've heard all this before.
The second set makes it through a "Drowned" that recalls "Waiting All Night" in the tail end of its jam, but the first two-thirds of the set is otherwise flat unless you count a clever segue out of "Jibboo" into "Gin." There's no real improv to speak of in the last third of the set, still, but the "Split" is an especially intense version and is the easy highlight of the show, while the "Hood" is nice and languid.
The encore is weird but fun, as Trey strings together the end of "Fee," then "NO2," and then "Kung" with his megaphone's siren before the full band ricochets through a rough version of "Fire" to end the show.
The Live Review:
8/12/10: Jim opener.
8/12/10: Really hot start from Trey in particular on the Jim jam.
8/12/10: PYITE is second.
8/12/10: Man! I totally HATE that 'Hey!' jam with the crowd in PYITE. Totally takes me out of the
moment, man.
8/12/10: /sarcasm
8/12/10: Trey repeats a verse of PYITE then mutters 'Sorry!' quickly in-between lines. That was really hilarious to me, for some reason.
8/12/10: Shit, serious issues all the way around with this PYITE.
8/12/10: Roggae third. Trey is laying down some soaring licks rather than staying in the background.
8/12/10: Not a complaint, just different than how this jam seems to unfold more recently.
8/12/10: 'Intense' is not normally a word that I'd associate with Roggae, but there you go.
8/12/10: Cars Trucks Buses!!
8/12/10: CTB getting extended a little bit with band members trading solos. Trey is putting down a particularly weird one.
8/12/10: Even Sample featured a mistimed drop from Trey. The guys sound surprisingly shaky tonight.
8/12/10: Especially considering how they've been NAILING S1s lately.
8/12/10: Horn is next. Playing might be a little weird, but the guys are at least working their S1 setlist magic as per usual.
8/12/10: Setlist fun continues with Sugar Shack. This one is about a 5.0 on the Trey-Falls-Apart Scale.
8/12/10: Wolfman's Brother is next. Page to the clav right after vocals.
8/12/10: Kind of a plinko feel, now.
8/12/10: At least from everyone but Trey.
8/12/10: Plinko call was a little premature. Standard Wolfman's > TTE.
8/12/10: *Looking askance across table in a dark room* It's been awhile for you and me, TTE.
8/12/10: Everybody sound rusty tonight, for some reason. Must have been a hell of a trip from CO to IN. It usually is, I guess.
8/12/10: Riding home for 'setbreak.' There better be some damn #phish dates by the time I get there :)
8/12/10: Well, there are worse ways to start a second set than with Drowned.
8/12/10: Trey shredding for all he's worth in the first few minutes of this jam.
8/12/10: Sudden tone shift. Page to organ, then electric piano.
8/12/10: Lots of synth now from Page. Shuffling beat from Fish.
8/12/10: Sort of a logical extension of Ye Olde Ambient Fade-Out.
8/12/10: Kind of neat, but no particular direction emerging.
8/12/10: Odd part that sounded weirdly like Waiting All Night there for a minute.
8/12/10: Actually this sounds a hell of a lot like Waiting All Night.
8/12/10: Sudden move into Jibboo. Not sure if I'd call it a ripcord, though, because the jam wasn't really going anywhere.
8/12/10: Page and Trey playing off of each other well in this Jibboo. It's not doing anything beyond Type I, but worth a listen anyway.
8/12/10: Really neat -> Gin. Just as it was starting to sound like Type 2 Jibboo was coming...
8/12/10: ...but I think that might have just been the setup for the Gin.
8/12/10: I call no ripcord.
8/12/10: GREAT rock peak in the Gin jam.
8/12/10: MFMF is next.
8/12/10: Okay, so they not only played Buffalo Bill, they played it in a second set.
8/12/10: Twist is next, and the jam goes mellow almost immediately.
8/12/10: Trey shreds (Twist) again...the template for 'jamming' since the Greek seems to just be starting off Type I mellow...
8/12/10: ...and having Trey just play more and more notes until his guitar ejaculates, > next song.
8/12/10: In this case, the post-coital choice is The Horse.
8/12/10: Sloppy-but-fast Silent > Split.
8/12/10: Especially abstract and weird Split jam. This is the first really interesting thing that's happened since the 8/10 Carini.
8/12/10: Really atypical Type 2 segment now.
8/12/10: Abstract, no sustained rhythm, though Fish is playing.
8/12/10: So weird. Aborted really quickly, though, for a decent -> Dog Faced Boy.
8/12/10: HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD
8/12/10: Really mellow, slow building Hood. More so than usual, I mean.
8/12/10: Peak sort of comes out of nowhere. Solid version, though, in the usual pre-'14 mold.
8/12/10: Or, rather, the pre-Hollywood Hood mold.
8/12/10: Golgi set closer?
8/12/10: Fee for the encore.
8/12/10: Really rough Fee.
8/12/10: So Trey just used the megaphone siren to pull off a -> NO2.
8/12/10: First and only siren-driven segue in #phish history?
8/12/10: Siren still going, end of Fee -> NO2 -> Kung.
8/12/10: So that's fun :)
8/12/10: Fire!
8/12/10: Well, that encore belonged to be paired to a much better show...
8/12/10: *with
8/12/10: Siren again at the end of Fire.
Same old, same old is the verdict here. The epic Greek run is starting to look more and more like a weird anomaly in a summer that's skewed almost entirely toward shows that feature consistently sky-high energy and great setlists, but have second sets that are almost indistinguishable from first sets. In other words, if Phish was a rock and roll bar band, summer 2010 would be a banner year. If you care about improv at all, though, pickings have been pretty slim.
I don't know if there's anything particularly bad about the Noblesville run in this regard, or if I'm just getting frustrated and this was a convenient peak, but...blargh. Night one's first set is par for the course: "Cars Trucks Buses" gets extended slightly past its usual running time, and "Roggae" goes more rock and less melody in its jam, but aside from those changes, you've heard all this before.
The second set makes it through a "Drowned" that recalls "Waiting All Night" in the tail end of its jam, but the first two-thirds of the set is otherwise flat unless you count a clever segue out of "Jibboo" into "Gin." There's no real improv to speak of in the last third of the set, still, but the "Split" is an especially intense version and is the easy highlight of the show, while the "Hood" is nice and languid.
The encore is weird but fun, as Trey strings together the end of "Fee," then "NO2," and then "Kung" with his megaphone's siren before the full band ricochets through a rough version of "Fire" to end the show.
The Live Review:
8/12/10: Jim opener.
8/12/10: Really hot start from Trey in particular on the Jim jam.
8/12/10: PYITE is second.
8/12/10: Man! I totally HATE that 'Hey!' jam with the crowd in PYITE. Totally takes me out of the
moment, man.
8/12/10: /sarcasm
8/12/10: Trey repeats a verse of PYITE then mutters 'Sorry!' quickly in-between lines. That was really hilarious to me, for some reason.
8/12/10: Shit, serious issues all the way around with this PYITE.
8/12/10: Roggae third. Trey is laying down some soaring licks rather than staying in the background.
8/12/10: Not a complaint, just different than how this jam seems to unfold more recently.
8/12/10: 'Intense' is not normally a word that I'd associate with Roggae, but there you go.
8/12/10: Cars Trucks Buses!!
8/12/10: CTB getting extended a little bit with band members trading solos. Trey is putting down a particularly weird one.
8/12/10: Even Sample featured a mistimed drop from Trey. The guys sound surprisingly shaky tonight.
8/12/10: Especially considering how they've been NAILING S1s lately.
8/12/10: Horn is next. Playing might be a little weird, but the guys are at least working their S1 setlist magic as per usual.
8/12/10: Setlist fun continues with Sugar Shack. This one is about a 5.0 on the Trey-Falls-Apart Scale.
8/12/10: Wolfman's Brother is next. Page to the clav right after vocals.
8/12/10: Kind of a plinko feel, now.
8/12/10: At least from everyone but Trey.
8/12/10: Plinko call was a little premature. Standard Wolfman's > TTE.
8/12/10: *Looking askance across table in a dark room* It's been awhile for you and me, TTE.
8/12/10: Everybody sound rusty tonight, for some reason. Must have been a hell of a trip from CO to IN. It usually is, I guess.
8/12/10: Riding home for 'setbreak.' There better be some damn #phish dates by the time I get there :)
8/12/10: Well, there are worse ways to start a second set than with Drowned.
8/12/10: Trey shredding for all he's worth in the first few minutes of this jam.
8/12/10: Sudden tone shift. Page to organ, then electric piano.
8/12/10: Lots of synth now from Page. Shuffling beat from Fish.
8/12/10: Sort of a logical extension of Ye Olde Ambient Fade-Out.
8/12/10: Kind of neat, but no particular direction emerging.
8/12/10: Odd part that sounded weirdly like Waiting All Night there for a minute.
8/12/10: Actually this sounds a hell of a lot like Waiting All Night.
8/12/10: Sudden move into Jibboo. Not sure if I'd call it a ripcord, though, because the jam wasn't really going anywhere.
8/12/10: Page and Trey playing off of each other well in this Jibboo. It's not doing anything beyond Type I, but worth a listen anyway.
8/12/10: Really neat -> Gin. Just as it was starting to sound like Type 2 Jibboo was coming...
8/12/10: ...but I think that might have just been the setup for the Gin.
8/12/10: I call no ripcord.
8/12/10: GREAT rock peak in the Gin jam.
8/12/10: MFMF is next.
8/12/10: Okay, so they not only played Buffalo Bill, they played it in a second set.
8/12/10: Twist is next, and the jam goes mellow almost immediately.
8/12/10: Trey shreds (Twist) again...the template for 'jamming' since the Greek seems to just be starting off Type I mellow...
8/12/10: ...and having Trey just play more and more notes until his guitar ejaculates, > next song.
8/12/10: In this case, the post-coital choice is The Horse.
8/12/10: Sloppy-but-fast Silent > Split.
8/12/10: Especially abstract and weird Split jam. This is the first really interesting thing that's happened since the 8/10 Carini.
8/12/10: Really atypical Type 2 segment now.
8/12/10: Abstract, no sustained rhythm, though Fish is playing.
8/12/10: So weird. Aborted really quickly, though, for a decent -> Dog Faced Boy.
8/12/10: HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD
8/12/10: Really mellow, slow building Hood. More so than usual, I mean.
8/12/10: Peak sort of comes out of nowhere. Solid version, though, in the usual pre-'14 mold.
8/12/10: Or, rather, the pre-Hollywood Hood mold.
8/12/10: Golgi set closer?
8/12/10: Fee for the encore.
8/12/10: Really rough Fee.
8/12/10: So Trey just used the megaphone siren to pull off a -> NO2.
8/12/10: First and only siren-driven segue in #phish history?
8/12/10: Siren still going, end of Fee -> NO2 -> Kung.
8/12/10: So that's fun :)
8/12/10: Fire!
8/12/10: Well, that encore belonged to be paired to a much better show...
8/12/10: *with
8/12/10: Siren again at the end of Fire.
Mar 17, 2015
2010-08-10 Telluride II
The Verdict:
When the band plays as technically well as they have been for most of the first sets in 2010 but never attempt any real improv, the only way to tell sets apart is through song choice. All these first sets are "high energy," and they're all lacking in improvisation. So that only leaves one question "Did they play good songs?" Obviously, this makes reviewing said sets pretty fucking objective. For my money, most (though not all) of Telluride N1S1 was boring because the song choices were predictable. The second night's S1 is way more interesting in terms of song choice. That's the good news. The bad news is that for the second set, Phish decided to play a second first set. So...it's a draw?
S1 features some excellent song "flow," some rarities, a minimalist reading of "Let Me Lie" that I actually thought was awesome, "Divided Sky," and a few minutes of absolute destruction in the "Antelope" closer...but besides it all being put together very well, it's also nothing you've never heard before, except maybe the "Let Me Lie."
S2, as I said, is basically a second S1. The band never really lifts off in the way you expect them to do in a second frame. "Crosseyed" is great...for a version that stays Type I for its entire running time. "Destiny Unbound" is nice to hear, but just confirms the feeling that the band is in jukebox mode for this whole set. "Carini" gets weird for a few minutes...like, really weird...but then we're just back on the rails for the rest of the show. "YEM" deserves a mention for featuring a bit more legitimate jamming than usual and an extra-weird vocal jam, but this set does nothing to change my mind from thinking Telluride is an entirely tepid outing.
The Live Review:
8/10/10: Coil opener!
8/10/10: imo, Coil always sort of loses something when they don't all leave stage except for Page.
8/10/10: As usual, fantastic interplay between Trey and Page on the outro. Mike picking it up now, too.
8/10/10: End of Coil to Stealing Time = very quiet
8/10/10: Ya Mar!!!
8/10/10: Stealing Time was very short, very high-energy, and featured a surprising amount of Mike.
8/10/10: Typically great Ya Mar > Timber.
8/10/10: This Timber gets hot and twisted almost right away.
8/10/10: That comment made me want to buy and eat a hot pretzel.
8/10/10: One of the many arrangements of Let Me Lie is next.
8/10/10: Piano and drums only, Page and Trey harmonizing (maybe Mike, too?).
8/10/10: Almost no guitar on this version. It's actually quite good.
8/10/10: Last verse is just Page on piano.
8/10/10: This is how this song should always be played.
8/10/10: Trey comes in at the end for a brief solo.
8/10/10: Divided Sky!
8/10/10: Great set so far. Really well-constructed, and even the 'flop' song turned out to be a really great version.
8/10/10: When I woke up this morning, I did not expect to be live-tweeting my conversion to the Church of Let Me Lie today. #phish
8/10/10: Standalone Walk Away!
8/10/10: Page comes in early on vocals! That never happens!
8/10/10: ROSES
8/10/10: I'm hoping this set isn't designed to distract me from a boring S2.
8/10/10: BECAUSE IT'S WORKING
8/10/10: Distortion at the end of Roses gives way to LxL.
8/10/10: LxL gets ripped apart by Trey as well. > Bouncin'.
8/10/10: I'm gonna go off the deep end here: 2010 Trey is flat-out better at Phish noodle-solo-rock than 2014 Trey.
8/10/10: Now these shows aren't as impressive in terms of improv (usually) than more recent shows.
8/10/10: But the shreddy-jukebox parts of the shows are WAY more interesting, simply because Trey blasts fucking fire from his fingers.
8/10/10: A frenzied Antelope closes another fireball of a first set. Party Time kicks off S2.
8/10/10: Standard reading of Party Time > Mike's.
8/10/10: Super distorted, crazy Mike's. Still staying in the box, but slaying while they're at it.
8/10/10: Really rough start to what I think is going to be Crosseyed.
8/10/10: Yup.
8/10/10: Crosseyed stays Type I for a 9-minute shredfest, but a neat transition into the Groove-appropriate I Am Hydrogen.
8/10/10: Really languid Hydrogen. Suited for sunset behind a summer shed.
8/10/10: This is going to shock you, but Trey is annihilating this Weekapaug.
8/10/10: Destiny Unbound!
8/10/10: This show is basically two first sets. But they're both great first sets. There's yer silver lining.
8/10/10: Okay, so there's like 2-3 minutes of really abstract noise shit at the end of this Carini that
counts as 'jamming.'
8/10/10: It's actually really dark and scary.
8/10/10: Bass-led version, as per 3.0 usual, but Page gets a little bit of a spotlight in the midst of the bass breakdown.
8/10/10: Some weird LP file tracking shit happening with Carini and Free, but it doesn't seem like I missed much of either song. Oh well.
8/10/10: Heavy Things is next, keeping up the second set one vibe.
8/10/10: YEM. This is the second recent YEM that's come, oddly, at the end of a somewhat lackluster show.
8/10/10: It's sort of losing its 'victory lap' status.
8/10/10: 97 funk style interlude in this YEM. That's pretty cool.
8/10/10: Serious solo throwdown from Trey now.
8/10/10: MASSIVE Mike bass solo next.
8/10/10: YEM was a pretty exceptionally great version.
8/10/10: Neat story about '88 CO 'tour' from Trey before Shine a Light encore.
When the band plays as technically well as they have been for most of the first sets in 2010 but never attempt any real improv, the only way to tell sets apart is through song choice. All these first sets are "high energy," and they're all lacking in improvisation. So that only leaves one question "Did they play good songs?" Obviously, this makes reviewing said sets pretty fucking objective. For my money, most (though not all) of Telluride N1S1 was boring because the song choices were predictable. The second night's S1 is way more interesting in terms of song choice. That's the good news. The bad news is that for the second set, Phish decided to play a second first set. So...it's a draw?
S1 features some excellent song "flow," some rarities, a minimalist reading of "Let Me Lie" that I actually thought was awesome, "Divided Sky," and a few minutes of absolute destruction in the "Antelope" closer...but besides it all being put together very well, it's also nothing you've never heard before, except maybe the "Let Me Lie."
S2, as I said, is basically a second S1. The band never really lifts off in the way you expect them to do in a second frame. "Crosseyed" is great...for a version that stays Type I for its entire running time. "Destiny Unbound" is nice to hear, but just confirms the feeling that the band is in jukebox mode for this whole set. "Carini" gets weird for a few minutes...like, really weird...but then we're just back on the rails for the rest of the show. "YEM" deserves a mention for featuring a bit more legitimate jamming than usual and an extra-weird vocal jam, but this set does nothing to change my mind from thinking Telluride is an entirely tepid outing.
The Live Review:
8/10/10: Coil opener!
8/10/10: imo, Coil always sort of loses something when they don't all leave stage except for Page.
8/10/10: As usual, fantastic interplay between Trey and Page on the outro. Mike picking it up now, too.
8/10/10: End of Coil to Stealing Time = very quiet
8/10/10: Ya Mar!!!
8/10/10: Stealing Time was very short, very high-energy, and featured a surprising amount of Mike.
8/10/10: Typically great Ya Mar > Timber.
8/10/10: This Timber gets hot and twisted almost right away.
8/10/10: That comment made me want to buy and eat a hot pretzel.
8/10/10: One of the many arrangements of Let Me Lie is next.
8/10/10: Piano and drums only, Page and Trey harmonizing (maybe Mike, too?).
8/10/10: Almost no guitar on this version. It's actually quite good.
8/10/10: Last verse is just Page on piano.
8/10/10: This is how this song should always be played.
8/10/10: Trey comes in at the end for a brief solo.
8/10/10: Divided Sky!
8/10/10: Great set so far. Really well-constructed, and even the 'flop' song turned out to be a really great version.
8/10/10: When I woke up this morning, I did not expect to be live-tweeting my conversion to the Church of Let Me Lie today. #phish
8/10/10: Standalone Walk Away!
8/10/10: Page comes in early on vocals! That never happens!
8/10/10: ROSES
8/10/10: I'm hoping this set isn't designed to distract me from a boring S2.
8/10/10: BECAUSE IT'S WORKING
8/10/10: Distortion at the end of Roses gives way to LxL.
8/10/10: LxL gets ripped apart by Trey as well. > Bouncin'.
8/10/10: I'm gonna go off the deep end here: 2010 Trey is flat-out better at Phish noodle-solo-rock than 2014 Trey.
8/10/10: Now these shows aren't as impressive in terms of improv (usually) than more recent shows.
8/10/10: But the shreddy-jukebox parts of the shows are WAY more interesting, simply because Trey blasts fucking fire from his fingers.
8/10/10: A frenzied Antelope closes another fireball of a first set. Party Time kicks off S2.
8/10/10: Standard reading of Party Time > Mike's.
8/10/10: Super distorted, crazy Mike's. Still staying in the box, but slaying while they're at it.
8/10/10: Really rough start to what I think is going to be Crosseyed.
8/10/10: Yup.
8/10/10: Crosseyed stays Type I for a 9-minute shredfest, but a neat transition into the Groove-appropriate I Am Hydrogen.
8/10/10: Really languid Hydrogen. Suited for sunset behind a summer shed.
8/10/10: This is going to shock you, but Trey is annihilating this Weekapaug.
8/10/10: Destiny Unbound!
8/10/10: This show is basically two first sets. But they're both great first sets. There's yer silver lining.
8/10/10: Okay, so there's like 2-3 minutes of really abstract noise shit at the end of this Carini that
counts as 'jamming.'
8/10/10: It's actually really dark and scary.
8/10/10: Bass-led version, as per 3.0 usual, but Page gets a little bit of a spotlight in the midst of the bass breakdown.
8/10/10: Some weird LP file tracking shit happening with Carini and Free, but it doesn't seem like I missed much of either song. Oh well.
8/10/10: Heavy Things is next, keeping up the second set one vibe.
8/10/10: YEM. This is the second recent YEM that's come, oddly, at the end of a somewhat lackluster show.
8/10/10: It's sort of losing its 'victory lap' status.
8/10/10: 97 funk style interlude in this YEM. That's pretty cool.
8/10/10: Serious solo throwdown from Trey now.
8/10/10: MASSIVE Mike bass solo next.
8/10/10: YEM was a pretty exceptionally great version.
8/10/10: Neat story about '88 CO 'tour' from Trey before Shine a Light encore.
2010-08-09 Telluride I
The Verdict:
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Telluride shows fail to match the highs of the Greek run, but it's surprising how dramatically they fail at it. There are a few bright spots here, but for the most part, we're back to the technically precise but uninteresting playing of much of late '09 and early '10.
The first half of the first night's first set features some interesting song choices, but even that novelty disappears in the back half of the set. The playing is precise and fiery throughout, and it's worth noting the number of high-energy S1s the band has managed to string together in a row...but that's all that's worth noting.
Much of the second set continues in the same vein. There's an extended "Sand," but it's all Type I funk-rock (albeit great Type I funk-rock). "Number Line" and "Caspian" get shredded to pieces, and the "Tweezer" is solid, though the highlight of it is the slow segue into "Boogie On." The marquee jam, such as it is, is the "Piper," and though it leans a bit toward the tried-and-now-boring early '09 jamming style, it's a decent excursion, buoyed by the perfectly-placed "Mountains in the Mist" follow-up.
And that's about it for Telluride I. Really.
The Live Review:
8/9/10: First Telluride show kicks off with DwD.
8/9/10: Fast tempo. Fish is a monster.
8/9/10: Camel Walk in the two-slot. Guys having a bit of fun with the vocals.
8/9/10: Ocelot next. Seems sort of like a natural extension of the end of Camel Walk, actually.
8/9/10: Trey combining trilling and the whale during this solo. The efficacy of the results are debatale.
8/9/10: Debatable, even.
8/9/10: Light Up or Leave Me Alone!
8/9/10: Don't think the crowd knows it.
8/9/10: Aww, Summer of '89. What a nice song. I wouldn't mind hearing this live someday. Just
once, though.
8/9/10: Mix seems weird on this SBD. Can hardly hear harmonies. Mike is quiet. Crowd is near-nonexistent.
8/9/10: Sounds like a different mix than the Greek tapes.
8/9/10: Regardless, Stash is next.
8/9/10: Page building some serious tension with pairs of alternating chords on the piano.
8/9/10: Pretty standard-but-intense tension-and-release Stash.
8/9/10: Nothing really breaking the mold early in the show here, but like 8/6 and 8/7 some great
energy and weird-good setlist choices.
8/9/10: Cavern, complete with Trey lyrical gaffes!
8/9/10: Lyrically, Cavern is Trey's great white whale. In terms of guitar lines, it's definitely Sugar Shack.
8/9/10: Don't know why
8/9/10: MUD RAT DETECTORS AND RIBBON REFLECTORS
8/9/10: The Wedge -B Possum.
8/9/10: Setlist is maybe getting a little less interesting, but they're still ripping through the songs like there's no tomorrow.
8/9/10: A really ripping Possum leads into Julius, which (I think) will be the set closer.
8/9/10: S2 starts with what sounded like Trey beginning the Ghost riff, and then Sand drops. That was a little weird.
8/9/10: Nonetheless, friggin' Sand!
8/9/10: Mellow jam space early on, except for Trey playing overtop with a heavily distorted guitar tone.
8/9/10: So many of these songs that just go mega-funky right away now are neat to hear from a few years ago, when that wasn't an assumption.
8/9/10: Rock and roll Sand, with some Mike space-bass.
8/9/10: Extended Sand staying Type I throughout, but damn is it a hot version anyway.
8/9/10: Nothing comes of a little navel-gazing at the end of the song, so instead Trey counts off Number Line.
8/9/10: Troy just absolutely dominated that Number Line. Seriously.
8/9/10: Feedback haze coalesces into Caspian.
8/9/10: Trey is just soloing the song's main melody over and over. Now that's interesting.
8/9/10: I wasn't being sarcastic. He doesn't usually do that.
8/9/10: Neat drone-y section now.
8/9/10: Fish with a sinister, marching beat.
8/9/10: I think Trey was trying for a -> Tweezer there, but got the > instead.
8/9/10: Tweezer jam takes a turn for the funky...Mike takes the lead...and a -> Boogie On!
8/9/10: That was a really patient, premeditated segue. A little rough in execution, but clever.
8/9/10: The Boogie, as usual, is really Mike-centric.
8/9/10: There wasn't really anything developing there with the Boogie On jam, but Trey's > Piper
was still a little jarring.
8/9/10: First few minutes of Piper just straightforward shredding.
8/9/10: Page to the organ at 5:30.
8/9/10: It's a woo jam without woos! So 2010.
8/9/10: Chaotic guitar-loops-and-piano segment.
8/9/10: Ah, ye olde ambient fade-out. So 2009.
8/9/10: Neat last few minutes of that jam, though.
8/9/10: Difference between '10 and '14, though? It took 6-7 minutes of rock noodling to get there.
8/9/10: Ooh! Mountains in the Mist emerging from the mist (of feedback)!
8/9/10: Bowie emerges from the end of Mist.
8/9/10: There is no plan, here, in this setlist for the second set, but the playing is solid across the board.
8/9/10: It sort of reminds me of the feeling I had after 7/16/14.
8/9/10: Page's piano is playing a surprisingly prominent role in this Bowie jam.
8/9/10: A blistering Bowie. A Day in the Life seems like an appropriate follow-up.
8/9/10: Encore'd with Quinn and Tweeprise. Quinn's such a great cover. Glad to hear it.
8/9/10: Overall, the show's all over the map. Incredible energy and great set construction for the first 75% or so.
8/9/10: No improv to really grab onto for more than a minute or two at a time, but plenty of valiant attempts.
8/9/10: Basically, this was an 'average-great' show, but not for lack of effort.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Telluride shows fail to match the highs of the Greek run, but it's surprising how dramatically they fail at it. There are a few bright spots here, but for the most part, we're back to the technically precise but uninteresting playing of much of late '09 and early '10.
The first half of the first night's first set features some interesting song choices, but even that novelty disappears in the back half of the set. The playing is precise and fiery throughout, and it's worth noting the number of high-energy S1s the band has managed to string together in a row...but that's all that's worth noting.
Much of the second set continues in the same vein. There's an extended "Sand," but it's all Type I funk-rock (albeit great Type I funk-rock). "Number Line" and "Caspian" get shredded to pieces, and the "Tweezer" is solid, though the highlight of it is the slow segue into "Boogie On." The marquee jam, such as it is, is the "Piper," and though it leans a bit toward the tried-and-now-boring early '09 jamming style, it's a decent excursion, buoyed by the perfectly-placed "Mountains in the Mist" follow-up.
And that's about it for Telluride I. Really.
The Live Review:
8/9/10: First Telluride show kicks off with DwD.
8/9/10: Fast tempo. Fish is a monster.
8/9/10: Camel Walk in the two-slot. Guys having a bit of fun with the vocals.
8/9/10: Ocelot next. Seems sort of like a natural extension of the end of Camel Walk, actually.
8/9/10: Trey combining trilling and the whale during this solo. The efficacy of the results are debatale.
8/9/10: Debatable, even.
8/9/10: Light Up or Leave Me Alone!
8/9/10: Don't think the crowd knows it.
8/9/10: Aww, Summer of '89. What a nice song. I wouldn't mind hearing this live someday. Just
once, though.
8/9/10: Mix seems weird on this SBD. Can hardly hear harmonies. Mike is quiet. Crowd is near-nonexistent.
8/9/10: Sounds like a different mix than the Greek tapes.
8/9/10: Regardless, Stash is next.
8/9/10: Page building some serious tension with pairs of alternating chords on the piano.
8/9/10: Pretty standard-but-intense tension-and-release Stash.
8/9/10: Nothing really breaking the mold early in the show here, but like 8/6 and 8/7 some great
energy and weird-good setlist choices.
8/9/10: Cavern, complete with Trey lyrical gaffes!
8/9/10: Lyrically, Cavern is Trey's great white whale. In terms of guitar lines, it's definitely Sugar Shack.
8/9/10: Don't know why
8/9/10: MUD RAT DETECTORS AND RIBBON REFLECTORS
8/9/10: The Wedge -B Possum.
8/9/10: Setlist is maybe getting a little less interesting, but they're still ripping through the songs like there's no tomorrow.
8/9/10: A really ripping Possum leads into Julius, which (I think) will be the set closer.
8/9/10: S2 starts with what sounded like Trey beginning the Ghost riff, and then Sand drops. That was a little weird.
8/9/10: Nonetheless, friggin' Sand!
8/9/10: Mellow jam space early on, except for Trey playing overtop with a heavily distorted guitar tone.
8/9/10: So many of these songs that just go mega-funky right away now are neat to hear from a few years ago, when that wasn't an assumption.
8/9/10: Rock and roll Sand, with some Mike space-bass.
8/9/10: Extended Sand staying Type I throughout, but damn is it a hot version anyway.
8/9/10: Nothing comes of a little navel-gazing at the end of the song, so instead Trey counts off Number Line.
8/9/10: Troy just absolutely dominated that Number Line. Seriously.
8/9/10: Feedback haze coalesces into Caspian.
8/9/10: Trey is just soloing the song's main melody over and over. Now that's interesting.
8/9/10: I wasn't being sarcastic. He doesn't usually do that.
8/9/10: Neat drone-y section now.
8/9/10: Fish with a sinister, marching beat.
8/9/10: I think Trey was trying for a -> Tweezer there, but got the > instead.
8/9/10: Tweezer jam takes a turn for the funky...Mike takes the lead...and a -> Boogie On!
8/9/10: That was a really patient, premeditated segue. A little rough in execution, but clever.
8/9/10: The Boogie, as usual, is really Mike-centric.
8/9/10: There wasn't really anything developing there with the Boogie On jam, but Trey's > Piper
was still a little jarring.
8/9/10: First few minutes of Piper just straightforward shredding.
8/9/10: Page to the organ at 5:30.
8/9/10: It's a woo jam without woos! So 2010.
8/9/10: Chaotic guitar-loops-and-piano segment.
8/9/10: Ah, ye olde ambient fade-out. So 2009.
8/9/10: Neat last few minutes of that jam, though.
8/9/10: Difference between '10 and '14, though? It took 6-7 minutes of rock noodling to get there.
8/9/10: Ooh! Mountains in the Mist emerging from the mist (of feedback)!
8/9/10: Bowie emerges from the end of Mist.
8/9/10: There is no plan, here, in this setlist for the second set, but the playing is solid across the board.
8/9/10: It sort of reminds me of the feeling I had after 7/16/14.
8/9/10: Page's piano is playing a surprisingly prominent role in this Bowie jam.
8/9/10: A blistering Bowie. A Day in the Life seems like an appropriate follow-up.
8/9/10: Encore'd with Quinn and Tweeprise. Quinn's such a great cover. Glad to hear it.
8/9/10: Overall, the show's all over the map. Incredible energy and great set construction for the first 75% or so.
8/9/10: No improv to really grab onto for more than a minute or two at a time, but plenty of valiant attempts.
8/9/10: Basically, this was an 'average-great' show, but not for lack of effort.
Mar 11, 2015
2010-08-07 Greek Theater III
The Verdict:
Amazingly, I think any of these three Greek shows would be received pretty positively by our spoiled asses here in 2015. Sure, some people would have some complaints, and those might not be unfounded, but this is one of those timeless runs that's just so good it doesn't really deserve any qualifiers like "for '10" or "for 3.0." And the third show is the best of the bunch.
S1, much like 8/6's first frame, is a great assortment of weird song choices that somehow hangs together. It doesn't hurt that the band plays every song like it's the last time they ever will, and Trey retains (mostly) the technical precision and creative fire he's shown for the whole run. The opening "Bag" is bonkers, and there's a legit -> into "Foam." "Gotta Jibboo" gets extended, and though it stays Type I, it gets developed slowly and patiently - a theme for the whole show. "Sleep Again" gets a fantastic Phish treatment, and "Army of One" pokes its head up. The rest of the set is more straightforward, but that spark never leaves.
S2 is an absolute monster. A fiery "Wilson" leads right into an absolutely transcendent "Light," the easy highlight jam of the run, and for my money, of summer '10 so far. It lands in a dark "Twenty Years," which drops right into a fifteen-minute, slow-burning "Hood." A few clever song choices late in the set yield, among others, a patient "2001," a "Suzy" with a second jam (yeah), and a set closing "Slave" that is one of the most slowly-developing versions I've heard since the 90s.
If that wasn't enough, the run closes with a "Lizards" > "First Tube" encore.
I've been throwing a lot of superlatives around in the last two reviews, but I think this run deserves it. For as down on the band as I've been through most of the late '09 shows and early '10 shows, this run deserves mention with any of the greats, and even more so for how out-of-nowhere it seems. Right now I'm just going to enjoy it a bit before moving on to Telluride. I love finding gems like this.
The Live Review:
8/7/10: Bag opener. Trey is extremely bluesy during the mini-jam.
8/7/10: That was a legitimate Bag -> Foam segue. Fish started up Foam drums while Trey was finishing Bag. Cool.
8/7/10: Trey having a little trouble with Foam, but otherwise it sounds great.
8/7/10: Great opening pair. Jibboo now. Jam starts with some squealing loops, then drops into a typical melody solo from Trey.
8/7/10: Jibboo was an old-school version: all Trey, slow build, lots of melodic noodling. Now Reba.
8/7/10: That composed section seemed especially tight.
8/7/10: Not a transcendent version by any means, but way better than it probably deserves to be as the fourth song of the night.
8/7/10: Sleep Again! Mike's bass sounds great on this tune.
8/7/10: Page taking the lead with some brilliant piano during the Sleep Again outro.
8/7/10: Army of One! I miss this song.
8/7/10: Poor Heart is next. Particularly tight version.
8/7/10: -B 46 Days!
8/7/10: The 46 Days is of the short, shreddy variety. But good.
8/7/10: Brief sort of slowed-down, drone-y segment, > Tube.
8/7/10: Zero set closer featuring a particularly distorted guitar tone from Trey.
8/7/10: Super-punch Wilson to start S2. Nice landing into Light. Argument could be made for a ->, prolly not though.
8/7/10: First few minutes of jam are the typical early-version-of-Light arpeggios, but Trey is now building some interesting tension.
8/7/10: Band's in serious lockstep.
8/7/10: Slowdown/move to a more muted space at 8:15.
8/7/10: Trey lays down one of my favorite improvised melodies every starting at 9:20. Mike backing him up. I love this version of Light.
8/7/10: Suppose I should have mentioned that before. I've heard this at least fifteen or so times already.
8/7/10: The song, not the whole show.
8/7/10: Moving on to the darkness-funk section.
8/7/10: Decent landing in Twenty Years, too.
8/7/10: I love this song.
8/7/10: Slightly extended, if by-the-book jam at the end > Hood.
8/7/10: Neat bit in this Hood jam that recalls the Simple jam from 8/6. Hearing bits of the earlier Light jam, too.
8/7/10: That was a really extended, spacey Hood in an era when I don't really remember them being so experimental. Very cool.
8/7/10: Theme! Did not see that coming.
8/7/10: I think that was the first time I've heard Theme just flat-out end in awhile. No segue. 2001 next.
8/7/10: Really uptempo 2001. Funky as hell.
8/7/10: Really loving this 2001. All three of these shows have featured a lot of tremendously patient playing. It's awesome.
8/7/10: Fish is having tons of fun with this Suzy.
8/7/10: Okay, Suzy's getting an extended jam. After the vocals. What the fuck.
8/7/10: I'm just going to call this the best show of the summer and not review any more of them.
8/7/10: I always sort of expect Suzy outros to go into Jumpin' Jack Flash, but this one more so than usual.
8/7/10: Insane tension segment at the end > Slave!
8/7/10: MY GOD.
8/7/10: Really slow, patient build here, like the earlier Hood.
8/7/10: Mind blown. The Lizards encore.
8/7/10: So, that show was ridiculous...and then they added a Lizards > First Tube encore.
Amazingly, I think any of these three Greek shows would be received pretty positively by our spoiled asses here in 2015. Sure, some people would have some complaints, and those might not be unfounded, but this is one of those timeless runs that's just so good it doesn't really deserve any qualifiers like "for '10" or "for 3.0." And the third show is the best of the bunch.
S1, much like 8/6's first frame, is a great assortment of weird song choices that somehow hangs together. It doesn't hurt that the band plays every song like it's the last time they ever will, and Trey retains (mostly) the technical precision and creative fire he's shown for the whole run. The opening "Bag" is bonkers, and there's a legit -> into "Foam." "Gotta Jibboo" gets extended, and though it stays Type I, it gets developed slowly and patiently - a theme for the whole show. "Sleep Again" gets a fantastic Phish treatment, and "Army of One" pokes its head up. The rest of the set is more straightforward, but that spark never leaves.
S2 is an absolute monster. A fiery "Wilson" leads right into an absolutely transcendent "Light," the easy highlight jam of the run, and for my money, of summer '10 so far. It lands in a dark "Twenty Years," which drops right into a fifteen-minute, slow-burning "Hood." A few clever song choices late in the set yield, among others, a patient "2001," a "Suzy" with a second jam (yeah), and a set closing "Slave" that is one of the most slowly-developing versions I've heard since the 90s.
If that wasn't enough, the run closes with a "Lizards" > "First Tube" encore.
I've been throwing a lot of superlatives around in the last two reviews, but I think this run deserves it. For as down on the band as I've been through most of the late '09 shows and early '10 shows, this run deserves mention with any of the greats, and even more so for how out-of-nowhere it seems. Right now I'm just going to enjoy it a bit before moving on to Telluride. I love finding gems like this.
The Live Review:
8/7/10: Bag opener. Trey is extremely bluesy during the mini-jam.
8/7/10: That was a legitimate Bag -> Foam segue. Fish started up Foam drums while Trey was finishing Bag. Cool.
8/7/10: Trey having a little trouble with Foam, but otherwise it sounds great.
8/7/10: Great opening pair. Jibboo now. Jam starts with some squealing loops, then drops into a typical melody solo from Trey.
8/7/10: Jibboo was an old-school version: all Trey, slow build, lots of melodic noodling. Now Reba.
8/7/10: That composed section seemed especially tight.
8/7/10: Not a transcendent version by any means, but way better than it probably deserves to be as the fourth song of the night.
8/7/10: Sleep Again! Mike's bass sounds great on this tune.
8/7/10: Page taking the lead with some brilliant piano during the Sleep Again outro.
8/7/10: Army of One! I miss this song.
8/7/10: Poor Heart is next. Particularly tight version.
8/7/10: -B 46 Days!
8/7/10: The 46 Days is of the short, shreddy variety. But good.
8/7/10: Brief sort of slowed-down, drone-y segment, > Tube.
8/7/10: Zero set closer featuring a particularly distorted guitar tone from Trey.
8/7/10: Super-punch Wilson to start S2. Nice landing into Light. Argument could be made for a ->, prolly not though.
8/7/10: First few minutes of jam are the typical early-version-of-Light arpeggios, but Trey is now building some interesting tension.
8/7/10: Band's in serious lockstep.
8/7/10: Slowdown/move to a more muted space at 8:15.
8/7/10: Trey lays down one of my favorite improvised melodies every starting at 9:20. Mike backing him up. I love this version of Light.
8/7/10: Suppose I should have mentioned that before. I've heard this at least fifteen or so times already.
8/7/10: The song, not the whole show.
8/7/10: Moving on to the darkness-funk section.
8/7/10: Decent landing in Twenty Years, too.
8/7/10: I love this song.
8/7/10: Slightly extended, if by-the-book jam at the end > Hood.
8/7/10: Neat bit in this Hood jam that recalls the Simple jam from 8/6. Hearing bits of the earlier Light jam, too.
8/7/10: That was a really extended, spacey Hood in an era when I don't really remember them being so experimental. Very cool.
8/7/10: Theme! Did not see that coming.
8/7/10: I think that was the first time I've heard Theme just flat-out end in awhile. No segue. 2001 next.
8/7/10: Really uptempo 2001. Funky as hell.
8/7/10: Really loving this 2001. All three of these shows have featured a lot of tremendously patient playing. It's awesome.
8/7/10: Fish is having tons of fun with this Suzy.
8/7/10: Okay, Suzy's getting an extended jam. After the vocals. What the fuck.
8/7/10: I'm just going to call this the best show of the summer and not review any more of them.
8/7/10: I always sort of expect Suzy outros to go into Jumpin' Jack Flash, but this one more so than usual.
8/7/10: Insane tension segment at the end > Slave!
8/7/10: MY GOD.
8/7/10: Really slow, patient build here, like the earlier Hood.
8/7/10: Mind blown. The Lizards encore.
8/7/10: So, that show was ridiculous...and then they added a Lizards > First Tube encore.
2010-08-06 Greek Theater II
The Verdict:
After diverting from 2010 tour to review all of 2014, I returned to '10 the other day, starting with the band's second night at the Greek. I was pretty partial to the first night, and this night is of a similar caliber, if not better. After being admittedly bored by a lot of fall '09 and most of early summer '10, the first Greek show was music to my ears (literally and figuratively), but how would the run stack up after listening to a lot of the band's work in '13 and '14?
Well, there are definite differences, the primary one being that Trey sounds like he's in the driver's seat approximately 95% of the time in the '10 jams, while things are quite a bit more democratic-sounding nowadays. But I could spend all day talking about differences. What's really important is that Greek '10 Phish still sounds good.
S1 features a lot of fantastic song choices, including an early "Guyute" and "It's Ice." "Cities" gets a first-set jam treatment, as it gets legitimately extended into a chill funk jam, one of many instances in this run where the band as a whole shows a lot more patience than they're usually apt to show these days. Whether or not this is a good thing is up to you, but this jam doesn't go on long enough that the lack of variation really shows.
The same might not be said of S2's centerpiece jam, the "Simple." This version goes deep and abstract, and then...just stays there. For a really long time. It's really an experiment in minimalism, not in the sense that there's minimal notes being played, but there are only slight variations within the jam for minutes at a time. To me, this is great, and this jam is more interesting than pretty much everything the band has done since early fall '09. But it's also possible, I'm sure, to find it boring and repetitive.
The second set also features an extended "Rock and Roll" that can't really find a place to land, but hits a few interesting high points during its search, a "Ghost" that's very near rock and roll transcendent before Trey ripcords it into "Mike's," and a fantastic "Seven Below" -> "Groove" segue.
There's a lot to like here in both sets, and there's more jamming and more interesting moments than in most 3-4 show stretches between November '09 and July '10. And night three is even better!
The Live Review:
8/6/10: Chalkdust Torture opener.
8/6/10: I'm surprised to find that Trey actually sounds a bit more dexterous in his soloing here than in much of '14.
8/6/10: Lots of little tension-and-release bits and trilling in the CDT that you just wouldn't hear these days.
8/6/10: Anyway, great opener.
8/6/10: Second song Guyute! I also forgot how weird setlists could be in early 3.0. What happened to that?
8/6/10: Solid Guyute leads into a languid Ocelot.
8/6/10: Ocelot was a pretty standard take, but featured some precise shredding from Trey.
8/6/10: It's Ice!
8/6/10: Minus Ocelot, loving the song selection here.
8/6/10: Love that bridge section It's Ice. Creepy Page piano.
8/6/10: Cities! We all know the Berkeley Cities, but I'm excited to hear it again.
8/6/10: Page on electric piano, rest of the band going into minimalist-funk mode.
8/6/10: Trey doing some looping (I think). Mike driving a bit more.
8/6/10: While I love that jam, it wasn't really going anywhere beyond where it started. Good call on
the drop into Moma.
8/6/10: Gin is next.
8/6/10: Eleven-or-so minute Gin, but it's primarily a guitar vamp, all Type I.
8/6/10: I say that like it's a bad thing :) But I'm spoiled since '14.
8/6/10: Stealing Time rounds out a set that featured a solid song selection throughout and an excellent Cities jam.
8/6/10: S2 opens with a classic early-3.0 opener in Rock and Roll.
8/6/10: A few minutes of rock shredding from Trey takes a really quick left turn as Fishman shifts up the beat. Page to the organ.
8/6/10: Funk-style chords from Trey, but Page is laying down a nice piano melody overtop. Interesting juxtaposition.
8/6/10: Piano steers Trey into a more introspective mode.
8/6/10: Ricocheting around different tones/spaces now.
8/6/10: This is pretty cool, but it makes me really appreciate how intentional so many later 3.0 jams sound by comparison.
8/6/10: Spacey Rock and Roll just head-on crashed into Ghost. But hey, Ghost!
8/6/10: This Ghost has some legs. Mike is laying down a really distorted bass...base that Page and Trey are trading riffs over.
8/6/10: Very rock-and-roll style outro to the jam.
8/6/10: Building a bit...still building...
8/6/10: Disco beat from Fish.
8/6/10: And oh shit, Trey just DERAILED that jam. Audible boos from the crowd.
8/6/10: That was the opposite of a buttslam segue. That was the feeling of someone slamming a door
shut on your balls.
8/6/10: Old school drop into Simple out of the end of a very loud Mike's.
8/6/10: Lyrical gaffe in the composed section, but the move to the jam is smooth and a bit more energetic than usual.
8/6/10: So far, a typical Simple jam with much better melodic interplay than usual and more notes per usual.
8/6/10: Sounds crowded, but in a good way.
8/6/10: Almost a Who-sounding space now.
8/6/10: They're drawing this jam space out a lot further than they (Trey) usually have the patience for.
8/6/10: Trey and Fish coming in a bit harder now.
8/6/10: Jam builds nicely over a few minutes and then -> Number Line. Incredibly patient bit. Loved it.
8/6/10: One thing '10 Phish can do that '14 can't: jam in the same space for 5-6 minutes with little variation.
8/6/10: Breaking the Number Line jam down a bit. Mike-heavy. Fish switching up the usual beat.
8/6/10: Trey using a fair bit of whale, but it's not making me want to instantly die...yet.
8/6/10: Show of Life keeps the Mike's Groove going. Seven Below is next. Shaky start, but interesting song choice.
8/6/10: Incomplete Seven Below jam because of an AWESOME -> Weekapaug.
8/6/10: Great old school shredfest from Trey here.
8/6/10: YEM set closer to top it all off.
8/6/10: Trey stringing some serious runs together during this YEM jam. Now on to the Mike's Bass Destroys Everything portion of the show.
8/6/10: Gonna Take You Higher quotes in the vocal jam.
8/6/10: GTBT encore.
8/6/10: Trey is wringing every last ounce of shreddage out of this version. It's great!
8/6/10: Honestly hard to think about reviewing this alongside '14, but there's a lot of interesting jamming in the second frame. More later.
After diverting from 2010 tour to review all of 2014, I returned to '10 the other day, starting with the band's second night at the Greek. I was pretty partial to the first night, and this night is of a similar caliber, if not better. After being admittedly bored by a lot of fall '09 and most of early summer '10, the first Greek show was music to my ears (literally and figuratively), but how would the run stack up after listening to a lot of the band's work in '13 and '14?
Well, there are definite differences, the primary one being that Trey sounds like he's in the driver's seat approximately 95% of the time in the '10 jams, while things are quite a bit more democratic-sounding nowadays. But I could spend all day talking about differences. What's really important is that Greek '10 Phish still sounds good.
S1 features a lot of fantastic song choices, including an early "Guyute" and "It's Ice." "Cities" gets a first-set jam treatment, as it gets legitimately extended into a chill funk jam, one of many instances in this run where the band as a whole shows a lot more patience than they're usually apt to show these days. Whether or not this is a good thing is up to you, but this jam doesn't go on long enough that the lack of variation really shows.
The same might not be said of S2's centerpiece jam, the "Simple." This version goes deep and abstract, and then...just stays there. For a really long time. It's really an experiment in minimalism, not in the sense that there's minimal notes being played, but there are only slight variations within the jam for minutes at a time. To me, this is great, and this jam is more interesting than pretty much everything the band has done since early fall '09. But it's also possible, I'm sure, to find it boring and repetitive.
The second set also features an extended "Rock and Roll" that can't really find a place to land, but hits a few interesting high points during its search, a "Ghost" that's very near rock and roll transcendent before Trey ripcords it into "Mike's," and a fantastic "Seven Below" -> "Groove" segue.
There's a lot to like here in both sets, and there's more jamming and more interesting moments than in most 3-4 show stretches between November '09 and July '10. And night three is even better!
The Live Review:
8/6/10: Chalkdust Torture opener.
8/6/10: I'm surprised to find that Trey actually sounds a bit more dexterous in his soloing here than in much of '14.
8/6/10: Lots of little tension-and-release bits and trilling in the CDT that you just wouldn't hear these days.
8/6/10: Anyway, great opener.
8/6/10: Second song Guyute! I also forgot how weird setlists could be in early 3.0. What happened to that?
8/6/10: Solid Guyute leads into a languid Ocelot.
8/6/10: Ocelot was a pretty standard take, but featured some precise shredding from Trey.
8/6/10: It's Ice!
8/6/10: Minus Ocelot, loving the song selection here.
8/6/10: Love that bridge section It's Ice. Creepy Page piano.
8/6/10: Cities! We all know the Berkeley Cities, but I'm excited to hear it again.
8/6/10: Page on electric piano, rest of the band going into minimalist-funk mode.
8/6/10: Trey doing some looping (I think). Mike driving a bit more.
8/6/10: While I love that jam, it wasn't really going anywhere beyond where it started. Good call on
the drop into Moma.
8/6/10: Gin is next.
8/6/10: Eleven-or-so minute Gin, but it's primarily a guitar vamp, all Type I.
8/6/10: I say that like it's a bad thing :) But I'm spoiled since '14.
8/6/10: Stealing Time rounds out a set that featured a solid song selection throughout and an excellent Cities jam.
8/6/10: S2 opens with a classic early-3.0 opener in Rock and Roll.
8/6/10: A few minutes of rock shredding from Trey takes a really quick left turn as Fishman shifts up the beat. Page to the organ.
8/6/10: Funk-style chords from Trey, but Page is laying down a nice piano melody overtop. Interesting juxtaposition.
8/6/10: Piano steers Trey into a more introspective mode.
8/6/10: Ricocheting around different tones/spaces now.
8/6/10: This is pretty cool, but it makes me really appreciate how intentional so many later 3.0 jams sound by comparison.
8/6/10: Spacey Rock and Roll just head-on crashed into Ghost. But hey, Ghost!
8/6/10: This Ghost has some legs. Mike is laying down a really distorted bass...base that Page and Trey are trading riffs over.
8/6/10: Very rock-and-roll style outro to the jam.
8/6/10: Building a bit...still building...
8/6/10: Disco beat from Fish.
8/6/10: And oh shit, Trey just DERAILED that jam. Audible boos from the crowd.
8/6/10: That was the opposite of a buttslam segue. That was the feeling of someone slamming a door
shut on your balls.
8/6/10: Old school drop into Simple out of the end of a very loud Mike's.
8/6/10: Lyrical gaffe in the composed section, but the move to the jam is smooth and a bit more energetic than usual.
8/6/10: So far, a typical Simple jam with much better melodic interplay than usual and more notes per usual.
8/6/10: Sounds crowded, but in a good way.
8/6/10: Almost a Who-sounding space now.
8/6/10: They're drawing this jam space out a lot further than they (Trey) usually have the patience for.
8/6/10: Trey and Fish coming in a bit harder now.
8/6/10: Jam builds nicely over a few minutes and then -> Number Line. Incredibly patient bit. Loved it.
8/6/10: One thing '10 Phish can do that '14 can't: jam in the same space for 5-6 minutes with little variation.
8/6/10: Breaking the Number Line jam down a bit. Mike-heavy. Fish switching up the usual beat.
8/6/10: Trey using a fair bit of whale, but it's not making me want to instantly die...yet.
8/6/10: Show of Life keeps the Mike's Groove going. Seven Below is next. Shaky start, but interesting song choice.
8/6/10: Incomplete Seven Below jam because of an AWESOME -> Weekapaug.
8/6/10: Great old school shredfest from Trey here.
8/6/10: YEM set closer to top it all off.
8/6/10: Trey stringing some serious runs together during this YEM jam. Now on to the Mike's Bass Destroys Everything portion of the show.
8/6/10: Gonna Take You Higher quotes in the vocal jam.
8/6/10: GTBT encore.
8/6/10: Trey is wringing every last ounce of shreddage out of this version. It's great!
8/6/10: Honestly hard to think about reviewing this alongside '14, but there's a lot of interesting jamming in the second frame. More later.
Jun 8, 2014
2010-08-05 Greek Theater I
The Verdict:
I don't know what it is about west coast shows, but this is probably my favorite show of the year so far. I've had some trouble finding things to like in many of the Fall '09 and Summer I '10 shows, but this sounds more like the Summer II '09 and Miami NYE Phish that was so fun to listen to last year.
S1 is absolutely pure energy, especially from Trey. This is one of those Trey-dominated shows where he's so on fire that it actually makes the show better that he's running everyone else off the stage. The whole first set is good, but the easy highlights are Wolfman's and KDF.
S2 continues the uninterrupted shredding (even Joy has a bit of a serious outro, that's how intense the energy is here). But there are a few legit jams here in case just having your face melted off isn't enough for you. The "Disease" > "Free" segment that starts the set is one of the best pieces of Phish music of the year so far (which might not sound like I'm saying much, but I am, because this is awesome). Then the "Tweezer" follows up on the early 3.0s tradition of great late-set "Tweezers."
So, yes. Check this show out at all costs. Can't wait for the rest of the run.
Live Review:
8/5/10: Well, Summer II just got kicked off with a pitch-perfect Possum.
8/5/10: Funky as all get-out Wolfman's in the two spot. Clav action, vocal-scat harmonies, and now a slinky Type I solo.
8/5/10: This Wolfman's is going on the highlight reel for Summer II. First entry. Just filthy.
8/5/10: And we roll right into DSky from there...I love where this is going so far.
8/5/10: Great solo after DSky, too. The guys really sound reinvigorated. Whether that leads to actual jams remains to be seen.
8/5/10: Right after DSky on the SBD, someone (Page?) says 'Bitch?' in this really weird tone of voice. Then, Funky Bitch.
8/5/10: I like to imagine he was trying to start a fight with Fish.
8/5/10: And we just didn't hear the 'You really wanna step to this' part of the sentence.
8/5/10: Funky Bitch keeps the energy-ball rolling. Trey is really playing way better than his was during leg 1, at least tonight.
8/5/10: Very intentionally melodic solo in KDF, too. High energy, but with direction at the same time. Looking good.
8/5/10: Long pause after KDF. Maybe they're refueling MegaTrey with jet fuel?
8/5/10: Nah, they were just firing up Mike's 'Boo-bop' Machine. Halley's!
8/5/10: Trey just slam-banged the shortest, most concise-yet-effective Halley's solo ever into Sample. Pretty cool, actually.
8/5/10: The rest of the band just fucking flying past him when he slammed the brakes on was funny, too.
8/5/10: This would be your usual well-constructed, by-the-numbers Summer '10 S1, but Trey is a goddamn hurricane. It is amazing.
8/5/10: NICU, Bouncin' is a nice breather BUT I DON'T NEED A BREATHER I'M SITTING IN AN OFFICE CHAIR
8/5/10: Antelope polishes off the set in style. That's, what, the trillionth Antelope S1 closer since Hampton?
8/5/10: Trey noodling around Call To the Post to start the second set, Mike kicks up DWD feedback during.
8/5/10: We're about halfway through the DWD opener here and it's all just gorgeous, intentional Type I jamming so far.
8/5/10: Heading in an almost blues-rock direction now.
8/5/10: Sort-of Talking Heads section following. This is the real deal, here.
8/5/10: Great outro jamlet, with some syncopation from Fish and space-piano from Page. Space Everything!
8/5/10: Top it all off with a GREAT segue into Free. Why is west coast tour always so much better than east coast/midwest?
8/5/10: This sounds like a totally different band from Summer I.
8/5/10: As Trey starts up Alaska, I'm pretty sure you can hear a fan on SBD yell 'Oh, GODDAMMIT!' If so, it's hilarious.
8/5/10: Though I pick on Alaska, this version is better than most, thanks to yet more precise Trey shredding.
8/5/10: Trey is killing this BOTT, too. Wowzers.
8/5/10: Late-set Maze is a surprise choice.
8/5/10: Well, that Maze definitely didn't suffer energy-wise for being late in the show. The intensity of this show is ridiculous.
8/5/10: And right after I tweet that: Joy. INTENSITY
8/5/10: Oh dear. Trey is even trying to shred Joy. And it's sort of working. CAN HE BE STOPPED NO RUN
8/5/10: Oh boy. Late S2 Tweezers have been pretty much all amazing so far in 3.0. High hopes for this maybe-monster.
8/5/10: Mike taking the early lead in the jam. Trey staying back. Page adding flavor.
8/5/10: Trey building a nice riff now. The whole thing is really minimalist so far. Very cool.
8/5/10: This is seriously good. Trey's solo is one of those that sounds composed, sort of like 12/31/95 Reba.
8/5/10: Not saying it's AS GOOD AS the Reba, just reminds me of it in that way.
8/5/10: Now Trey closing the jam with a weird mutation of the Tweezer riff. One of my favorite all-Type I jams in a long time.
8/5/10: Page shifting over to the No Quarter organ. Brief space section -> Fluffhead.
8/5/10: Fluffhead is a pretty great S2 closer, I must say.
8/5/10: Trey explaining the origins of the Ocedoc. This is apparently the first show with it. Explains Trey's shredding possession tonight.
8/5/10: Finishes up with a fiery Loving Cup, Tweeprise. Great show.
I don't know what it is about west coast shows, but this is probably my favorite show of the year so far. I've had some trouble finding things to like in many of the Fall '09 and Summer I '10 shows, but this sounds more like the Summer II '09 and Miami NYE Phish that was so fun to listen to last year.
S1 is absolutely pure energy, especially from Trey. This is one of those Trey-dominated shows where he's so on fire that it actually makes the show better that he's running everyone else off the stage. The whole first set is good, but the easy highlights are Wolfman's and KDF.
S2 continues the uninterrupted shredding (even Joy has a bit of a serious outro, that's how intense the energy is here). But there are a few legit jams here in case just having your face melted off isn't enough for you. The "Disease" > "Free" segment that starts the set is one of the best pieces of Phish music of the year so far (which might not sound like I'm saying much, but I am, because this is awesome). Then the "Tweezer" follows up on the early 3.0s tradition of great late-set "Tweezers."
Live Review:
8/5/10: Well, Summer II just got kicked off with a pitch-perfect Possum.
8/5/10: Funky as all get-out Wolfman's in the two spot. Clav action, vocal-scat harmonies, and now a slinky Type I solo.
8/5/10: This Wolfman's is going on the highlight reel for Summer II. First entry. Just filthy.
8/5/10: And we roll right into DSky from there...I love where this is going so far.
8/5/10: Great solo after DSky, too. The guys really sound reinvigorated. Whether that leads to actual jams remains to be seen.
8/5/10: Right after DSky on the SBD, someone (Page?) says 'Bitch?' in this really weird tone of voice. Then, Funky Bitch.
8/5/10: I like to imagine he was trying to start a fight with Fish.
8/5/10: And we just didn't hear the 'You really wanna step to this' part of the sentence.
8/5/10: Funky Bitch keeps the energy-ball rolling. Trey is really playing way better than his was during leg 1, at least tonight.
8/5/10: Very intentionally melodic solo in KDF, too. High energy, but with direction at the same time. Looking good.
8/5/10: Long pause after KDF. Maybe they're refueling MegaTrey with jet fuel?
8/5/10: Nah, they were just firing up Mike's 'Boo-bop' Machine. Halley's!
8/5/10: Trey just slam-banged the shortest, most concise-yet-effective Halley's solo ever into Sample. Pretty cool, actually.
8/5/10: The rest of the band just fucking flying past him when he slammed the brakes on was funny, too.
8/5/10: This would be your usual well-constructed, by-the-numbers Summer '10 S1, but Trey is a goddamn hurricane. It is amazing.
8/5/10: NICU, Bouncin' is a nice breather BUT I DON'T NEED A BREATHER I'M SITTING IN AN OFFICE CHAIR
8/5/10: Antelope polishes off the set in style. That's, what, the trillionth Antelope S1 closer since Hampton?
8/5/10: Trey noodling around Call To the Post to start the second set, Mike kicks up DWD feedback during.
8/5/10: We're about halfway through the DWD opener here and it's all just gorgeous, intentional Type I jamming so far.
8/5/10: Heading in an almost blues-rock direction now.
8/5/10: Sort-of Talking Heads section following. This is the real deal, here.
8/5/10: Great outro jamlet, with some syncopation from Fish and space-piano from Page. Space Everything!
8/5/10: Top it all off with a GREAT segue into Free. Why is west coast tour always so much better than east coast/midwest?
8/5/10: This sounds like a totally different band from Summer I.
8/5/10: As Trey starts up Alaska, I'm pretty sure you can hear a fan on SBD yell 'Oh, GODDAMMIT!' If so, it's hilarious.
8/5/10: Though I pick on Alaska, this version is better than most, thanks to yet more precise Trey shredding.
8/5/10: Trey is killing this BOTT, too. Wowzers.
8/5/10: Late-set Maze is a surprise choice.
8/5/10: Well, that Maze definitely didn't suffer energy-wise for being late in the show. The intensity of this show is ridiculous.
8/5/10: And right after I tweet that: Joy. INTENSITY
8/5/10: Oh dear. Trey is even trying to shred Joy. And it's sort of working. CAN HE BE STOPPED NO RUN
8/5/10: Oh boy. Late S2 Tweezers have been pretty much all amazing so far in 3.0. High hopes for this maybe-monster.
8/5/10: Mike taking the early lead in the jam. Trey staying back. Page adding flavor.
8/5/10: Trey building a nice riff now. The whole thing is really minimalist so far. Very cool.
8/5/10: This is seriously good. Trey's solo is one of those that sounds composed, sort of like 12/31/95 Reba.
8/5/10: Not saying it's AS GOOD AS the Reba, just reminds me of it in that way.
8/5/10: Now Trey closing the jam with a weird mutation of the Tweezer riff. One of my favorite all-Type I jams in a long time.
8/5/10: Page shifting over to the No Quarter organ. Brief space section -> Fluffhead.
8/5/10: Fluffhead is a pretty great S2 closer, I must say.
8/5/10: Trey explaining the origins of the Ocedoc. This is apparently the first show with it. Explains Trey's shredding possession tonight.
8/5/10: Finishes up with a fiery Loving Cup, Tweeprise. Great show.
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