2014-08-03 Alpharetta

The Verdict:

I saw this show "live" on the free webcast when it happened and a relisten just reinforced my original opinion: it's a great tour-closing show in that it showcases a lot of different sides of what makes Phish such a great band and leaves off with an incredibly strong finish.

The first set features strong playing throughout and a better-than-average setlist. "Gin," "555," "The Line," "Vultures," and "BOTT," all stay within their usual confines, but are definitely notable versions despite that. "Gumbo" gets a neat little funk mini-jam, and hearing "FEFY" at all is just fantastic.

Compared to other "CDT"s this year, this one is noticeably short, but arguably gets further in less time than its forebears. It's really dark at first, and features some great melodic work from Page on electric piano before building momentum in a really satisfying way and becoming of my favorite "CDT"s in a year full of great ones. The segue into "Scents" is a bit abrupt, but the short jam that comes out of it is just breathtakingly delicate and great. "Twist" continues the tradition of minimalist, bluesy "Twist"s that's run for most of this year, and "Light" > "Harry Hood" is fantastic, first for the top-notch space jam in "Light" and second for the interplay between Trey and each other band member in "Hood," a version that also takes a unique path to the conclusion while finishing strong.

Then of course, just in case this show wasn't already a near-perfect balance of hits, technical prowess, serious jams, and awesome camaraderie, "Fluffhead" is in the encore slot. I couldn't help but think of Hampton '09 as they played and how far the music has come since then. Great stuff.

The Live Review:

8/3/14: Alright, last #phish show of summer tour '14 proper. Let's do this!

8/3/14: I remember watching this show on the free webcast and loving it. Let's hope the impression sticks through a relisten.

8/3/14: My Soul opener is a good start.

8/3/14: Trey and Page on fire during the opener.

8/3/14: Pretty satisfying Type I jam from Gin in the two-spot so far. Trey sounds a bit tentative.

8/3/14: Trey and Gin finish strong. Hot version of 555, now. Trey adding some interesting touches.

8/3/14: PEBLES AND MERBLES

8/3/14: Pebbles gets a few good licks from Trey based on the melody line.

8/3/14: The Line is next.

8/3/14: Particularly strong outro jam out of The Line, driven by Fishman.

8/3/14: Vultures!!!

8/3/14: Great outro jam here, too. Fish tearing it up.

8/3/14: Woo jam combined with Fish drum solo-ish. Pretty awesome.

8/3/14: FEFY. God damn, I love this song. Such great song selection here.

8/3/14: BOTT is next.

8/3/14: Trey and Page have some nice early interplay and then Trey shreds the shit out of the end of the jam. Solid version.

8/3/14: Taste is cool. I feel like this hasn't been as major of a player this year as it usually is. This version is just standard.

8/3/14: Gumbo is getting a nice little funk jam tagged on to the end.

8/3/14: Great jam, weird ending.

8/3/14: Solid take on Halfway To the Moon > Stealing Time. Starting to get a little jukeboxy, but still an above-average S1.

8/3/14: Trey just tossed some Stealing Time lyrics into Suzy.

8/3/14: What else would the last S2 of summer open with but CDT?

8/3/14: CDT jam starts heading off into the deep at 5:00.

8/3/14: Really gorgeous electric piano-led section starting around 7:30.

8/3/14: Really dark, building section at 10:00. Super cool. Mike is jumping on board.

8/3/14: Now building some excellent momentum out of the darkness. This is better than some of the longer CDTs from this year.

8/3/14: Trey sort of ripcorded that, but it's into Scents, so we'll call it even.

8/3/14: Really short but gorgeous Scents jam.

8/3/14: Twist!

8/3/14: Another one of those lazy, bluesy Twist jams. Love it.

8/3/14: Trey with some awesome rhythm work > great solo. Short but sweet version.

8/3/14: Perfect drop into a flubby Fuego intro.

8/3/14: Standard, sort-of-rough Fuego > The Wedge.

8/3/14: No giant Wedge jam, unfortunately. Nice version nonetheless with seamless > Light.

8/3/14: Light jam is benefiting from Trey's spooky chording. Now Mike it taking the wheel.

8/3/14: Darkness funk laden with Mike bombs. Perfect.

8/3/14: Got to admit I'm biased in already loving the shit out of this Hood. Relistening won't change anything.

8/3/14: Watching the band members trade solos during the webcast is my biggest #phish goosebumps moment so far while not at a live show.

8/3/14: My biggest while *at* a show was something like 11:00-36:00 of the Tahoe Tweezer :)

8/3/14: After the solo-trading, this becomes the most 'normal' Hood jam they've played in awhile. I don't mean that in a bad way.

8/3/14: Great peak, too.

8/3/14: First Tube is an excellent closer.

8/3/14: Gotta love the tour-closing Fluffhead.

8/3/14: Show was about how I remembered it. Above-average S1, S2 could have been jammed more, but ultimately satisfying.

8/3/14: CDT is quality, Scents and Twist are short but go some interesting places. Light is an average-great space jam, and the Hood is A+.

8/3/14: Okay, so maybe there's enough jamming and it's just a great show :)

8/3/14: The lack of focus on one HUGE jam as opposed to small moments of improv presages what's worked (and not) in fall tour, it seems.

2014-06-24 Live On Letterman

The Verdict:
I wanted to review this "show" despite it not being a full two-set performance because it turned out that Phish didn't just show up and play Fuego tunes for an hour like I expected them to. Sure, it's still mostly Phish-lite, but there are some neat tidbits here that deserve acknowledgment.

Listening at the end of October, it's amazing how much tighter the Fuego songs have gotten live since this performance. "The Line" is well done, but the others all have their shares of wince-inducing moments that are mostly worked out now, a few months down the road.

The highlights here, though, are the "Undermind" (for its usually weird mini-jam), "Carini" (for its energy and surprise placement during this kind of performance), and "Twist" (which actually unfolds into a legit jam and signals the coming of the minimalist, blues-inflected "Twist"s that would show up again and again throughout the summer.

You can see the whole thing here, if you want.

The Live Review:
6/24/14: Gonna take on the Live on Letterman performance real quick, because why not?
6/26/14: We start with that stripped-down-sounding approach to 46 Days.
6/24/14: There clearly hasn't been enough Undermind this year, now that I think about it.
6/24/14: Undermind is one of those songs that works really well in the 'mini-jam' format.
6/24/14: Halfway To the Moon sounds SO MUCH BETTER NOW than it did in June.
6/24/14: Yeah, that was awful. Carini next was a great surprise, though.
6/24/14: Fish just switched beats in this jam in a really jarring way.
6/24/14: Page has some great fills, though, and now Mike is driving toward the conclusion.
6/24/14: Nice trilly outro jam to Devotion.
6/24/14: Surprisingly hot mini-jam out of 555, there.
6/24/14: Twist starts off in a minimalist mode much like 46 Days did.
6/24/14: This is the version that convinced me that they were gonna take Twist deep this summer. I was wrong, but I'm still a believer.
6/24/14: Zero'd.
6/24/14: Zero is Zero and The Line is The Line. The end.
6/24/14: Solid versions of The Line, 46 Days, and 555. Surprise Carini was decent. Undermind was better than usual in its short form.
6/24/14: Love that Twist, though. Worth the free price of admission itself. Rewatching on YouTube: https://t.co/FdPC7ChNwX #phish

2014-08-02 Oak Mountain

The Verdict:
The Oak Mountain show falls into the same category as many of these late-tour shows: basically, the first set is pretty rote and boring, the first half of the second set has some extra-high highlights, and then the fourth quarter settles into jukebox mode. It hearkens back to the standard show layout in earlier 3.0 shows, but with higher highs and just about similar lows. There's a much looser feel to the improvisation in these shows though, which almost makes it more frustrating when they yield such lackluster results, especially compared to pretty much all of the rest of '13 and '14.

The S1 Reba is better than average, and really the song selection and flow (I hate that word) throughout both sets is really consistent, the band is playing confidently and well throughout...but if you're listening to the whole tour, the only thing here to really note is the Carini > Ghost. But it's really damn good, so note the hell out of it.

The Live Review:

8/2/14: Bag opener in Pelham!
8/2/14: Solid but short Bag, with a weirdly awkward segue into Poor Heart. Would have been cool if it'd worked :)
8/2/14: Cities! It's the second song in a row that Trey has started in the wrong key, but hey, it's Cities.
8/2/14: Trey mentions waiting to play Cities in/near Birmingham.
8/2/14: Trey is super excited. Maybe this will translate into something interesting in the first set?
8/2/14: Reba will do :)
8/2/14: Rote Possum > Sample. The guys have a strange way of showing excitement. Only notable bit so far is first few minutes of Reba jam.
8/2/14: Maze! Still walking the straight and narrow here, but Maze should give us a jolt of energy.
8/2/14: There was a pretty standard Funky Bitch in there, too.
8/2/14: Maze is one of those songs that just keeps getting better somehow.
8/2/14: And then there's Ocelot.
8/2/14: Ocelot doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it's a better version than most. If you're into that sort of thing.
8/2/14: Sparkle and Poor Heart are the new S1 staples, apparently.
8/2/14: Cavern.
8/2/14: Major duh moment in Cavern. Alas, no 'took our my cock' alternate lyrics.
8/2/14: *out
8/2/14: Wingsuit closer? Nice!
8/2/14: Am listening with ProjectM visualizations running in my second monitor. If I stop tweeting, it's because I had an epileptic seizure.
8/2/14: First time I heard Wingsuit, I was driving up into the Trinity Mountains to climb Mt. Eddy. Always think of that moment now.
8/2/14: Love Wingsuit, but S1 was flat-out boring. Carini opener in S2. Cranking volume to unacceptable levels, hoping for jamz.
8/2/14: Page injects a sick electric piano part into the jam just as ProjectM oozes black ink onto the screen. Neat!
8/2/14: This jam is oozing all over the place in the best way. Why do they even play first sets anymore when they can do this at will?
8/2/14: Nice > Ghost. Not quite a ->, but almost.
8/2/14: Oh shit this Ghost jam
8/2/14: Holy mother of Ghost, this is good.
8/2/14: Amazing Ghost jam gets butt-slammed by a Simple tease, but then goes into Mike's. Huh.
8/2/14: Shades of the Dick's Mike's jam here. Iiiiiinteresting.
8/2/14: THERE'S the Simple!
8/2/14: Simple jam is like almost all Simple jams, but I love this style so much it's okay. Mike is dominating this set.
8/2/14: Nice segue into Joy, even though it's Joy.
8/2/14: Short Groove, now Julius. It's going to be another one of those fourth quarters, isn't it?
8/2/14: Why does nobody ever cheer when Sand starts? That bassline alone deserves a scream or two.
8/2/14: Trey is leading the way here with some inventive soloing. Oh, now Page is adding some synth tones.
8/2/14: Pretty standard Sand, though, all told.
8/2/14: Neat little Page-segue into Wading.
8/2/14: Part of Trey's Velvet Sea solo was remarkably similar to one of my solos on a song I recorded a few years ago. That was weird.
8/2/14: Yay for YEM
8/2/14: Fantastic third quarter in this show, but I don't think this YEM is going to redeem the show at large, or even all of S2.
8/2/14: Weirdly, the YEM is pretty flat, but the vocal jam is amazing.
8/2/14: Quinn closer! Well, I loved about 30% of this show, then :)

8/2/14: 'Page, you're my hero!' on SBD at the end of Quinn. #crowdbanter #phish

2014-08-01 Orange Beach

The Verdict:
A bit like 7/30, the Orange Beach show is a show that starts off with a lackluster S1, but is redeemed in the end by an excellent second set.

That said, where the 7/30 S1 at least has a few novel songs to recommend from it, this S1 is pretty much full-on jukebox mode. There's another one of those recent and weird mini-explorations in "Tube," "Wolfman's" features some clever use of Trey's guitar loops, and "Curtis Loew" makes an appearance, but otherwise, there's nothing you haven't heard before.

S2 opens with a "Disease" that's just all energy. The band moves through a few distinct spaces in this jam, but Fish keeps the momentum rolling throughout, and they manage to create a 20 minute rock monster that, amazingly, doesn't really flag in energy for a second of its running time. Highly recommended.

There's a short but amazingly sweet "Tweezer" that's built mostly around a great improvised Trey riff but fades in the last few minutes into a really melodic coda. It's also a great version, and when we come back from a brief cool-down break, "Fuego" picks up the same riff and runs with it! It's pretty amazing. It ends with a great segue into "Slave," and the "Slave" > "2001" pair does a great job of setting up what eventually turns into a "Boogielope" mashup that just needs to be heard instead of described. Give this show a better first set and it's a contender for best of the year.

The Live Review:
8/1/14: CDT opener. I know they won't but how funny would it be if they jammed this for twenty minutes?

8/1/14: Moma Dance is S1, song two in the #phish show that plays eternally in heaven, I'm sure.

8/1/14: 555. Goddamn I love this song.

8/1/14: Oh, there was a Heavy Things in there, too, with some decent organ stuff.

8/1/14: Another solid-ish version of Rift here. Playing it all summer has obviously made them a bit better at hitting all the notes.

8/1/14: Page's fills have started to remind me more and more of '93 instead of '03.

8/1/14: Of course, just as I write that, Trey totally bombs out for 10-15 seconds :)

8/1/14: 46 Days next. So far, very jukebox-y setlist, but songs are being played with a little extra energy than usual.

8/1/14: I'm loving the little funk departures in Tube lately.

8/1/14: Devotion, Wolfman's. Still a fun S1, but weird to see such a plain setlist after some great song distribution in the last few shows.

8/1/14: Neat little echo bit from Trey in this Wolfman's.

8/1/14: Curtis Loew! That's better.

8/1/14: Curtis Loew aside, I'm pretty sure that closing with Free > Character Zero makes this a Normal First Set.

8/1/14: The whole thing is played with a consistent energy, but there's nothing here you haven't heard twenty times before.

8/1/14: S2 starts with Disease. Even the jam slot is a jukebox song :)

8/1/14: First few minutes of Disease jam is Type I, but awesomely kinetic. If they keep this momentum up, this jam is going to be fantastic.

8/1/14: Descending into some really spacey Mike-based territory, but Fish is keeping the beat rolling.

8/1/14: Great switch to all-out rock mania now. Awesome, awesome.

8/1/14: Wow, they really did just stick with that all the way through. Great jam.

8/1/14: I think Trey tried to pull a clever > Theme and it didn't work that well.

8/1/14: Tweezer! Is there such a thing as a jukebox S2? :)

8/1/14: Okay, this Tweezer is no joke. Building on a great Trey riff.

8/1/14: Really, really cool melodic coda tagged on to the end of this Tweezer jam. Back into another build...

8/1/14: Okay, I've been forgiving with the ripcords this year, but that > Caspian was fucking murder. Tweezer jam was going places still.

8/1/14: Waiting All Night. Love this song, too.

8/1/14: FuEGo! Can a show be a jukebox show and have awesome jams simultaneously? My worldview trembles in the shadow of Orange Beach!

8/1/14: Fuego jam reprises the riff Trey made up for Tweezer. Yes!

8/1/14: EXCELLENT segue into Slave immediately after.

8/1/14: Smooth Slave > 2001 transition.

8/1/14: Boogie!

8/1/14: Strange Boogie/Antelope hybrid rearing its head.

8/1/14: I'm going to insist that this goes on the setlist as Boogie On -> Antelope -> Boogie On -> Antelope -> Boogie On -> Antelope.

8/1/14: Way extended tease of something I didn't recognize.

8/1/14: For some reason, I find Bouncin' encores charming instead of annoying. All that time spent listening to 90s tapes, maybe?

8/1/14: Someone singing something during Tweeprise. Fish? Can't tell what he's saying.


8/1/14: So...that second set was better than it looked on paper. Wow.

2014-07-30 Portsmouth II

The Verdict:
On the second night in Portsmouth, the song selection partially saves the first set. There's a exceptionally well-played "Gin" opener, and the rest is pretty by-the-book. If you love "It's Ice,"  "Mountains in the Mist," "Meat," "Yarmouth Road," and "Guelah Papyrus" like I do, you'll enjoy it. If not, it's just another first set.

The second set starts off with another monster "Fuego." This one goes the darkness-funk route, sounding almost like an old-school TAB trio jam for awhile before making a break for rock-bliss-woo territory. It's a great addition to the jammed-out "Fuego" collection. "Meatstick" gets extended into a funk jam which segues nicely into a "Piper" funk jam. Sort of like the through-theme of the 7/18 show or the 8/31 show, all these songs hang on the funk and it's a great run of songs for it. "Piper" eventually gets loopy and weird, and then lands in "Billy Breathes," which just makes my goddamn day. The rest of the set is jamless, but there are still some gems: "Seven Below," "First Tube," and a "Lizards" encore. All in all, some excellent jams and continued song selection make this an excellent set and more than makes up for the lackluster first half.

The Live Review:
7/30/14: Second night in Portsmouth. Gin opener.

7/30/14: Pretty swanky Type I jam emerging here.

7/30/14: Devotion gets nicely extended with a Dead-esque jam.

7/30/14: One of the better live Yarmouth Roads by Phish there.

7/30/14: Early Guelah Papyrus is a nice setlist surprise.

7/30/14: Alaska is Alaska. Another cool funk breakdown in It's Ice.

7/30/14: MOUNTAINS IN THE MIST

7/30/14: I sort of like this song in case that wasn't obvious.

7/30/14: Mellow Mountains jam > Meat. Loving the setlist here.

7/30/14: They threw a Stealing Time at me just because I said that.

7/30/14: David Bowie, presumably to close the set.

7/30/14: Nothing really interesting or weird in this Bowie, but Trey leading the way in a solid Type I version.

7/30/14: Bowie has been a bit of a slacker this summer; this is one of the better versions. Still trouble getting to the peak, though.

7/30/14: If they'd nailed the Bowie, this could have been an exceptional S1. As it is, still quite good. Nice song selection, solid playing.

7/30/14: S2 kicks off with Fuego. I'm still not sick of this song.

7/30/14: Early on, Trey is playing with the Fuego riff to great effect.

7/30/14: Turn to evil darkness funk on a dime at 9:00.

7/30/14: Fish playing a big role here. Like where this is going.

7/30/14: Page on clav now.

7/30/14: This is almost like a TAB jam. But with Fish on drums.

7/30/14: Late in the jam, Trey pulls a happy little riff out of the air and suddenly everyone's in almost-woo mode.

7/30/14: That last bit didn't get developed much. Fade out now, > Jibboo.

7/30/14: Don't think I've heard a crowd cheer that much for Jibboo since the early 2000s.

7/30/14: MEetStACk

7/30/14: Meetstack takes an immediate left turn into a filthy funk jam. Nice!

7/30/14: Mike teases Fuego riff in the funk jam.

7/30/14: Big build now.

7/30/14: Sort of weird segue into Piper. Jam was fading out, though.

7/30/14: Piper goes straight back into the funk. This set is reminding me of 8/31.

7/30/14: This jam sounds like a Maze jam now.

7/30/14: Trey's doing some seriously wild and cool stuff with loops in this jam.

7/30/14: Another late-jam turn into bliss space, thanks this time to Page's organ.

7/30/14: Fadeout lands in Billy Breathes! One of my absolute favorite #phish rarities.

7/30/14: Seven Below! It's like they're reading my personal greatest hits list.

7/30/14: Staying Type I, but great work from Trey. Might also just be the EQ, but Mike is dominating on the last few songs.

7/30/14: Right into Waste, which is nice.

7/30/14: Number Line. We're getting an excess of lyrical schmaltz here at the end of the set. Not that I mind, really.

7/30/14: Trey is powering the Number Line jam with that high-powered strumming he's been using in this song lately.

7/30/14: First Tube is getting more play lately. Good to see.
Gonna take another review vacation soon. Gotta relisten to the Island Tour. it's been too long.

7/30/14: A Lizards encore is the best encore.

7/30/14: Probably sacrilege, I know, but I might like this second set better than 7/27's.

7/30/14: Great centerpiece jam, consistent funk theme throughout the first half, great song choices, solid finish, no slacking on any song.