2014-10-24 The Forum

The Verdict:
So the short version of the Forum show: it's another outstanding late '14 first set, and a second set that seems like another great first set except for an astounding "Disease" and a great "Hood" encore.

I'm almost always conflicted about shows like this. Are they great, high-energy shows that eventually ramp up even higher for a few transcendent minutes? Or do the highs underline how much better the rest could have been? I could go either way, really, but here I'm leaning toward the former interpretation over the latter.

I mean, just look at that first set. "It's Ice" and "Tube" both get the funk treatment, "Train Song" and "Divided Sky" are in there, the "Gin" is a perfectly-played teasefest, and the "Ghost" is actually pretty decent for the first set, or any set.

The second set is less cohesive, but the "Bowie" is nothing to sneeze at, the "Hood" upholds a great '14 tradition of expansive versions while staying a bit more in the box than many versions since Hollywood, and the "Disease" really is transcendent.




The Live Review:
10/24/14: Finally get to hear this Forum show I've been hearing so much about. 46 Days opener.
10/24/14: 46 Days > Tube is a great start. Tube's getting a great clav interlude right now.
10/24/14: I love the little funk jams coming out of Tube lately. Of course, I wish that they were big funk jams.
10/24/14: Fuckin' TRAIN SONG! Would love to hear this live someday.
10/24/14: Oh. According to @phishnet I have. BGCA '13. Well, that's nice.
10/24/14: Obviously it made a huge impression at the time :)
10/24/14: First set...Ghost? Okay, I'm paying attention, if I wasn't already.
10/24/14: Love Ghost in the first set because it's not a song like Gin that they can just solo over for 4-5 minutes. Forces some real improv
10/24/14: Jam goes back around to the Ghost ending. When was the last time they actually played the ending? Pretty cool.
10/24/14: Even the Sparkle > Sample is cracking with energy. This is a great set so far.
10/24/14: Holy crap, Divided Sky! Weird how that's become a rarity again.
10/24/14: Great Divided Sky. Next up is The Line.
10/24/14: The Line was actually a bit rough. But now...It's Ice. One of my favorite parts of the 7/16 show this summer.
10/24/14: And just like 7/16, it gets the funk interlude. Nice!
10/24/14: Sort of sounded like they were somehow going to do a -> 20 Years there. But KDF instead.
10/24/14: That was a better-than-average KDF. Now, Gin!
10/24/14: Fucking *Low Rider* tease from Page and Trey in Gin. What the hell? Hilarious.
10/24/14: Pretty thorough Long Tall Glasses tease too. It's like the 90s up in here at the moment.
10/24/14: This is a great, cleverly building Type I Gin. Fish is driving. And that's never a bad thing.
10/24/14: Set break (i.e., I'm biking back up to my office for the next 20 minutes).
10/24/14: Another great S1. Mini-Ghost jam, great Gin w/ teases, song selection is top notch, high energy, a few funk interludes.
10/24/14: S2 starts off with 555. Which reminds of the greatest question in #phish fandom today: Why are there no 20 minute 555s yet?
10/24/14: Number Line next. Weird opening to S2, unless this goes deep.
10/24/14: Standard, chordy '14 Number Line.
10/24/14: > DWD, though!
10/24/14: Page is over to the electric piano right quick.
10/24/14: Trey actually leading with some interesting melodic noodling instead of chording.
10/24/14: He's been getting better at that in fall, as compared to summer when the chording was sometimes a little crutch-y sounding.
10/24/14: STILL BETTER THAN THE WHALE IN '10 THOUGH
10/24/14: Slow, patient build to a circular, tension-y space that reminds me a little of a Stash jam. Dissonant, now.
10/24/14: Getting evil now.
10/24/14: Mike is totally killing it right now. Bliss jam with some really interesting tones from everyone.
10/24/14: Total bliss-rock conclusion. Trey just hit one of those Tahoe Tweezer peak notes that just blows your fucking mind apart.
10/24/14: This is a serious jam, folks. Not just great, but like, 'best of '14' conversation material.
10/24/14: Fantastically cool u-turn into Fuego at the peak of the jam...but then they can't all get on the same page and Page restarts 'em.
10/24/14: That could have been much cooler. But hell, that Disease!
10/24/14: Weird, fuzzy, spacey jam (with loops!) to end Fuego. Then sounded like they were trying to set up a segue again, but sudden Twist.
10/24/14: Oh well. I like Twist.
10/24/14: Standard, swanky '14 Twist. A little short. Bouncin' is next. Great playing here, but could use a bit more legit improv.
10/24/14: Not on the Bouncin', just in general :)
10/24/14: Bowie helps :) A slightly extended intro and come really intentional noodling from Trey helps even more.
10/24/14: Zero'd. Weird second set. Disease was amazing and Bowie was better than most recent takes, but mostly by-the-book otherwise.
10/24/14: Hood encore! Guys playing a LOT with the intro...for 3.0, at least :)
10/24/14: Starts off really noodly and delicate. Fish is picking up the beat now. He's really been more of a motivating force in this show.
10/24/14: Great build to the outro, long held note from Trey to kick it off.
10/24/14: Before '14, this would have been an exemplary version. Now it's just one of many :)
10/24/14: Grind to close. Great show, though a bit less improv-full than other recent offerings.
10/24/14: Lots of band chatter over the a capella mics beforehand. Nothing incriminating, though.

2014-10-22 Santa Barbara II

The Verdict: 
Where Santa Barbara I was a disappointment with one shining moment in the middle, the second night was a great show with one disappointment at the end. I guess that's in improvement.

Well, actually, it really is. The first set is the epitome of the warm-up set, but in the best way. The song selection is great, the energy is high throughout, everything gels for ninety or so minutes and all signs of unease from the night before are gone. "Split" is the only slight improvisational highlight here: it goes minimalist right at the start of the jam and stays that way for the song's entire running time, aided near the end by Trey's echoplex and some fantastically atmospheric drumming by Fish. Check it out. Overall, this is one of my favorite first sets in awhile.

The second set starts off strong, with a "Drowned" that I honestly have a hard time describing, but that goes through a few satisfactory jam spaces without landing in any of the tried-and-true (or, for the more cynical, "boring") places the band usually goes, at least to get their footing before pushing off again. This is a really unique jam, and I really like it for that. It's followed by a "Theme" that gets a funk outro jam, of all things, before things sort of settle down.

I say "sort of" because while most of the rest of the show is the band in jukebox mode, they're still playing with a lot of spirit, which makes the last two thirds of the second set really fun when it might have otherwise been disappointing. I'd be lying if I wasn't a little disappointed at not seeing any late-set improvisation after such a strong opening frame and the great "Drowned" > "Theme," but overall this is still a much stronger show than last night and for that I'm grateful.

The Live Review:
10/22/14: Hopefully tonight will be a little more consistent than last night.
10/22/14: Though I wouldn't totally hate another uneven show with a gem like that CDT -> Ghost.
10/22/14: Soul Shakedown opener!
10/22/14: Solid The Wedge as a followup, and now a slanky Undermind. Sounding much more confident and energetic tonight.
10/22/14: Horn! Loving this song selection.
10/22/14: Ya Mar! Now THIS is a great, first-setty first set.
10/22/14: Jesus Just Left Chicago! It's like they're consulting with me on this setlist...
10/22/14: ASIHTOS! Seriously, this is ridiculous.
10/22/14: I should clarify that all these songs are being played competently by 2013-2014 S1 standards and not doing anything interesting.
10/22/14: But they all just fit together SO WELL.
10/22/14: Trey putting in some spooky-sounding minimalist playing here. Page filling in the blanks.
10/22/14: Winterqueen is the first hiccup so far.
10/22/14: Actually, they've come up with a few gorgeous little jams out of this song so far this year. But sometimes not.
10/22/14: I really love the beat Fish comes in with after the drop in Winterqueen. Reminds me of the best parts of Round Room.
10/22/14: This one falls in the middle. Neat jam, but not gorgeous, necessarily.
10/22/14: My Friend! This is still an awesome set, even if they continue to play it straight.
10/22/14: Split next. This is first time the band has sounded a little rough all night.
10/22/14: Jam starts out really minimal. Trey and Page droning a bit. Fish is up front.
10/22/14: Sounds like Trey's combining some spooky feedback and his echoplex. Neat effect, though if you like shredding Splits...
10/22/14: ...not gonna be your favorite.
10/22/14: This is going to stay spooky and abstract throughout. I like it.
10/22/14: Set's not over! Walls!
10/22/14: This has become one of my favorite S1 songs over the last two years.
10/22/14: Heard it for the first time live in 2011 at Tahoe. Blew my face off.
10/22/14: Trey is shredding this version to pieces.
10/22/14: S2 opens with Drowned! Mike having a little trouble with the vocals.
10/22/14: Trey looping early in the jam.
10/22/14: Fading out and moving into a mellow zone now. Page on electric piano.
10/22/14: Really weird space now, not sure how to describe it, but really interesting.
10/22/14: Mike anchoring the weirdness with a great bassline.
10/22/14: Wow. Trey hitting a dark tone now, and shredding over the soundscape. This is great.
10/22/14: Trey going loop-crazy HOOOLY SHIT.
10/22/14: That one was seriously a keeper. What a jam.
10/22/14: Theme is next.
10/22/14: Okay, so the Theme jam just transitioned seamlessly into a funk jam. Yeah, that happened.
10/22/14: Seemed like there was going to be a perfect -> Manteca there for a minute, but there was a near-perfect -> Steam instead.
10/22/14: Band is killing it. Great show.
10/22/14: That was weird. Short Steam jam, Trey suddenly going all Pink Floyd tone-wise and then ten seconds later > Waves.
10/22/14: Lots of neat Trey-trilling here in the Waves jam.
10/22/14: Really slow, spacey fade to close Waves, vocal refrain only. > 20 years.
10/22/14: Late-show Scent! That's gotta be a good sign.
10/22/14: Marimba Lumina coming your way. Spooky vocals contributed by some band members, too.
10/22/14: 2001 next. Band settling into a sort-of jukebox thing here, but playing is still super-tight.
10/22/14: Standard take on 2001. Late Mike's is next.
10/22/14: Standard 3.0 Mike's, but Trey's hitting all the right notes. Like, literally, it's a good solo.
10/22/14: Tentative noodling to open the Jim jam.
10/22/14: Weekapaug starts up with Jim teases from Mike and then the whole band.
10/22/14: Trey just did a chorded Jim tease into a 2001 tease into another Jim tease.
10/22/14: The Horse > Silent is back again!
10/22/14: With the new piano Horse, I'd love to hear The Horse -> Wading > Silent sometime. Mellow as hell encore, though.
10/22/14: Antelope encore! Cool.
10/22/14: Trey with Soul Shakedown lyrics in Antelope. Whole band into reggae mode now, then back out.

10/22/14: Great first set, fantastic opening pair in S2, the rest is just solid jukeboxy fare. Overall, great show, but almost fantastic.

2014-10-21 Santa Barbara I

The Verdict:
This show was a weird one. The S1 setlist was as bland as they come, and while a few of the songs in the middle of the set were at least high-energy rote versions, the flubs throughout the rest of the set were more frequent and more obvious than usual. Where a rough S1 will usually occasion the feeling of "Huh, seems like the guys are having a rough start," this set screams "Hey, these guys are really obviously failing to get on the same page." It's weird and a little uncomfortable.

Then, all of a sudden, the second set opens with a majestic "CDT" -> "Ghost" that's basically thirty minutes of mellow, melodic jamming beauty. If you're looking for a rager here, you're going to be disappointed, but this is one of the prettiest bits of music the guys have put together in a long time. After that, we shift gears into the boys' recent-default mode: lots of neat little jamlets at the ends of songs, connected by some clever segues. Peppered with yet more awkward and obvious stumbles. "Birds" and "Suzy" are bumbling, but "Tweezer" packs a lot of mileage into its short length, and the same can be said for "Piper" and "Wombat." "Boogie On" gets surprisingly weird for an encore, and I wish it could have gotten extended some more.

In all, this ends up being a show that is "good enough," cringe-inducing, and utterly brilliant all by turns. I can't say I recommend anything other than the "Tweezer" and this, in the end:

The Live Review:
10/21/14: Stash opener. That's promising.
10/21/14: Uninteresting-but-competent Stash to open. Nice setlist choice, but hardly a burn-burner.
10/21/14: Possum in the two-slot. Page seems to be taking the majority of spotlight so far. Trey laying back. That's cool.
10/21/14: Maybe it's because I stepped away for a second, but the timing in this Ocelot seemed way off for a minute. That was weird.
10/21/14: I expect flubs, sure, but the whole band sounded off from one another. OH MY GOD THEY'RE BREAKING UP
10/21/14: Aside from the weird part, Ocelot is satisfactorily shreddy. And Ocelot is probably my least favorite Phish song.
10/21/14: NICU > BOTT. Sounding really tight, but not branching out yet.
10/21/14: Solid Trey and Mike interplay here.
10/21/14: NICU > BOTT > LxL is a high energy run of songs. LxL jam puts Trey's chording and looping skills on display.
10/21/14: Waiting All Night and Yarmouth both shaky versions. Maybe the few days off threw them off a bit? Harmonies are really rough.
10/21/14: Nice rendition of When the Circus Comes.
10/21/14: Heavy Things! Not like it's going to make this set more memorable, but I love this song.
10/21/14: Page laying into a great solo.
10/21/14: Really rough start to Stealing Time. Everyone once in awhile the guys nail a song, but most of tonight is really sloppy.
10/21/14: ...and that's it for the set. One of my least favorite sets of Phish in a long time. Hopefully S2 is better.
10/21/14: Starting off with the safest choice possible: CDT. Maybe it'll help 'em get back on track?
10/21/14: Starting off the jam mellow. Nice repeating melody line from Trey, electric piano from Page.
10/21/14: Trey is doing some of that amazing melodic playing that I've missed for a lot of 3.0. This is great.
10/21/14: Really natural build occurring over the last few minutes, too.
10/21/14: Heading into some serious mechanical-sounding space now. Sounds like the weirdest parts of Dick's.
10/21/14: CHALKDUST -> FUCK YES -> GHOST #phish
10/21/14: Another blissful, melodic jam space here after a pretty great build.
10/21/14: Fish has a weird jazz beat going now. This is really cool.
10/21/14: Really sustained, melodic, mellow jamming over the course of two huge songs.
10/21/14: Seriously, where the fuck did that come from? Terrible S1 and then BAM! CDT -> Ghost!
10/21/14: BOAF is awkward and flubby, and Trey actually acknowledges it after the song. Huh.
10/21/14: Fortunately, the following Wombat is a total funkfest. Short version, but it's more interesting than the track length suggests.
10/21/14: TWEEZE TIME
10/21/14: Trey immediately goes to blues-chord-land here. It's pretty awesome.
10/21/14: Most of this jam is just Trey modulating the opening blues riff while everyone else plays around him. I'm loving it.
10/21/14: Impressively lean and mean Tweezer, there.
10/21/14: Another slow segue from Trey, -> Julius. He's doing that a LOT more lately, and it's great.
10/21/14: Extremely short-but-sweet Piper to follow Julius. Nice Page segue into Wading.
10/21/14: Most of this S2 after the opener is taking that short-jams-with-clever-segues format again. But they're getting better at it.
10/21/14: Flub start to Suzy, Fish yells 'I wish you'd look at me before you count off the song!' for his usual bit. Hilarious.
10/21/14: Funk-loop madness in the middle of a Boogie On encore. Reminds me a little of the Dick's Mike's.
10/21/14: This Boogie On doesn't deserve to be an encore. It deserves to be second-slot S2, right after a 15-minute Sand opener. Sheeit.
10/21/14: Tweeprise was gonna feel just obligatory until Mike dropped the bass bomb and I was all like OH FUCK HERE WE GO AGAIN
10/21/14: Always, always, always the best 3 minutes in rock and roll.

2014-10-18 Seattle

The Verdict:
Maybe it's because it was a little underwhelming as my last show of the year in a year that included a fantastic Dick's run and the previous night's outstanding Eugene show, but the Seattle show was underwhelming for me live. I've come to appreciate it a little more after a relisten, but it falls pretty hard into that category that I put 7/16 and 7/25 in. Basically, it's a perfectly well-played show where the band seems to focus more on clever segues, interesting one-off songs, and weird, short jam spaces. Really, if you have no stake in hearing the band play huge, wide-ranging explorations, this should be a pretty great show, much like 7/16 or 7/25. Unfortunately, the playing here is uneven enough that it really accentuates the lack of a showcase jam to eclipse the rough parts. That's not to say there aren't some neat bits, because there are, but definitely not a triumphant end to my 2014 touring.

The "Cavern" opener is neat. "Wilson" is a bit a letdown, considering the history behind the song, Phish, and Seattle at this point. I wasn't really expecting a 20 minute version or anything, but some banter from Trey or something would have been nice.

The rest of the set is really straightforward and predictable, and, frankly, sloppier than you'd expect with all of these rotation songs getting played and none of them really stretching into anything interesting. "Sugar Shack" is an interesting exception, and in this version Trey even nails his parts. The closing "Gin" stays Type I, but bounces around in its cage in some interesting ways. A little of Dick's-style funk in the "Wolfman's" gives the set just enough bite to entice you back for more in the second set.

I like the "Disease" jam, honestly. It's short, but pokes out in a few interesting directions. Then Trey swings the jam into "Golden Age" and proceeds to butcher it. From here, the guys spend most of the rest of the set bouncing from idea to idea with little to show for it. "Fuego," "Light," "46 Days," and "Sand" all have fun little mini-jams, but none of them get space to develop. If that's enough for you, then this will likely be a hot set. None of the improv here is bad, but it's hard for me to avoid having that "What if?" response when I hear something like the "Sand" outro jam.

The obvious highlight here is the segue from "Light" -> "Cities," and the ensuing weird version of "Cities." But even that is a bit of a bummer, as the band obviously tries to finish the "Light" -> "Cities" -> "Light" sandwich at the end of the song, but Trey rides right over them to start "46 Days." It's sort of painful to hear and again raises that "What if?" question. That pretty much sums up this show for me, honestly.

The Live Review:
10/18/14: Here we (finally) go with a Cavern opener!
10/18/14: Think I might have actually just heard a Mike's Drill opener before Cavern.
10/18/14: Cavern is sort of weird as an opener. Everytime I hear it, I hear a set or show closing.
10/18/14: Trey struggling a bit with Wilson.
10/18/14: Kind of an anticlimactic take on Wilson, considering it's Seattle and all.
10/18/14: Rift!
10/18/14: Trey's struggling with Rift, too. Everyone sounds really tired. Maybe it's just the mix?
10/18/14: I do remember this show getting off to a slow start, fwiw. So maybe it just sucks.
10/18/14: Maybe Moma will get Trey back on track. It usually does.
10/18/14: Standard Moma with Trey dragging out a loop a bit at the end. Next up, The Line.
10/18/14: Eugene 1st quarter was standard but interesting song choices. This is just kinda boring.
10/18/14: Little bit o' heat in that outro jam. Maybe things'll pick up a bit now?
10/18/14: SUGAR SHACK. Seems like a big risk considering Trey's playing so far. We'll see.
10/18/14: They're...actually...doing...it! A nearly perfect live version of Sugar Shack!
10/18/14: Monster Lawn Boy solo from Cactus.
10/18/14: Kill Devil Falls. This first set isn't really worthy of 2014 so far. More like 2009 or 2011.
10/18/14: The years of first set purgatory. 2010, I'm learning, was the year of second set purgatory :)
10/18/14: Okay, after having said that, I have to admit that the KDF has a little extra oomph to it this time around.
10/18/14: Non-jam standout of the summer is next: Wolfman's.
10/18/14: Rhythm section leading in this Wolfman's jam. Trey's echoplex in play.
10/18/14: Sounds like Dick's funk in here all of a sudden.
10/18/14: Typical rock peak to end the jam. Good version, though.
10/18/14: Sparkle: the other song (with Rift and Wolfman's) that's been played during 4,000 first sets this year.
10/18/14: Gin.
10/18/14: Jam off to a mellow start.
10/18/14: Really neat almost Simple-like section starting at 8:00. Doesn't last long, though.
10/18/14: Smooth build into a great rock peak. Nothing revolutionary, but a solid somewhat-jammed-out version.
10/18/14: The last few songs of this set are more up to 2014 S1 standards, thankfully.
10/18/14: End set.
10/18/14: Disease opener for S2.
10/18/14: Trey ripping into the jam with some great melody lines. Mike backing up. Band sounds totally different from S1.
10/18/14: Trey just snuck a bit of the Fuego riff into the jam, maybe totally by accident. Going minimalist now.
10/18/14: Some solid loop/chord action in this jam.
10/18/14: Now Fish is driving. Trey adding some space-age licks.
10/18/14: Trey just sort of hit part of the riff for Golden Age and then suddenly >'d that fucker like it was gonna get away.
10/18/14: Neat Disease jam, though.
10/18/14: Trey's guitar isn't really featuring at all on this Golden Age. And when it does, it's a bum note. Now he forgot the lyrics.
10/18/14: Maybe not the best segue decision.
10/18/14: Really neat, very short jam space with some Page piano, Mike bass driving, and Trey sending out weirder echoes than usual.
10/18/14: Page-led > Fuego.
10/18/14: Type I jam only out of Fuego, but it's a good one.
10/18/14: Heavy loop-based outro. Some drill, too. Spooky.
10/18/14: Here comes Light!
10/18/14: Trey stringing together some great little rhythm runs here in this Light.
10/18/14: End of the Light almost sounds like Mike is trying to start a -> Cars Trucks Buses.
10/18/14: Instead it's a great -> Light.
10/18/14: Shit! On relisten, just realized the rest of the band was going -> Light after Cities. Trey derailed with a stupid > 46 Days.
10/18/14: It shouldn't piss me off in retrospect, but it does. Light -> Cities -> Light would have been fantastic.
10/18/14: 46 Days is the S1 version, or the version they play near the end of the show when they're resting on their laurels.
10/18/14: Unfortunately, not a lot of laurels for this show.
10/18/14: Mellow move from 46 Days to Sand.
10/18/14: Sand is in full-on funkland mode.
10/18/14: Funk moves smoothly into a blissed-out type space.
10/18/14: This is gonna shock you, but premature > Number Line.
10/18/14: Pretty weird, rhythm-y Number Line jam instead of the usual noodle-fest.

10/18/14: Bold As Love closer is location-appropriate.
10/18/14: Encore is Meatstick (yay!) > Zero (boo!).
10/18/14: Of course since I've been ragging on Zero all year, they'd close with it at the last show I attended for the year.

2014-10-17 Eugene

The Verdict:
At the time, I'd said that this Eugene show might be my favorite Phish show that I've seen. After a relisten, I stand by that assessment. I've seen a lot of huge shows (at least post-2009), so why this one? Well, a lot of shows I've seen had much higher highs (especially one particular one that took place in Tahoe a year or so ago), but I haven't seen another show that was as frighteningly consistently high-quality as this one before. Plus there's a huge encore, plus there are shenanigans, plus there are great setlist choices, plus there are some great little jams and a pristine segue into a Phish debut, plus there's a jam that stands up against any of the summer's best. For my money, this show is vastly underrated, even within the context of a mostly-fantastic fall tour.

The first half of the first set is pretty standard, honestly, but it's played with energy and swagger, and then all of a sudden the second set starts early (so to speak) with "Reba" and continues on for the rest of the set. "Roggae" and "Simple" are brief but complex, "Maze" is an explosion, and "Coil" is the perfect exclamation point.

The best part of the second set "Carini" is that it sets up a perfect -> "Plasma," but the jam itself is no slouch, despite being a bit short. "Farmhouse" goes a sort of jazzy route, which makes it more than just setlist filler, and "Halfway To the Moon" is still new enough that it's always fun to hear. "Twist" is another serious, if short jam, and then "Crosseyed" explodes into the (funk) stratosphere. The "Hood" is another weird version that deviates in interesting ways from the usual plan, and the three-song encore is just perfect, including Trey dedicating "Sleeping Monkey" to Page and the band having the audience sing a turn on the chorus.

There's not really anything to dislike here. Listen to the whole thing, at least from "Reba" on, if nothing else.

The Live Review:
10/17/14: Okay, gotta admit: I loved the WAN tour opener. Unexpected call, but they pulled it off well.
10/17/14: Trey taking a back seat to Mike in this version. Mike is nailing this song to the wall.
10/17/14: Trey never quite finds his footing in this version, but the rest of the band rocks it.
10/17/14: Free next. Band apparently really wants to put the harmonies to the test tonight.
10/17/14: Mike is driving here, too. Trey's playing is very minimal.
10/17/14: Harmonies sound decent.
10/17/14: Seem to remember that the show started pretty late. Reason for the Waiting All Night opener, maybe?
10/17/14: Pretty standard Free, there. Poor Heart kicks up the energy quite a bit, though.
10/17/14: Page destroys his solo. So good.
10/17/14: Trey does a number on Sample. Maybe he'll shred a bit in this show after all.
10/17/14: Oddly, just after finally building some energy with that Poor Heart, Sample combo we jump to Strange Design.
10/17/14: Love the song, just seems like weird placement.
10/17/14: 555 next. It's almost as if each band member is getting a spotlight here. If you count Poor Heart as a Fish spotlight song.
10/17/14: Which I totally do, because YOU'RE GOIN' TO JAIL
10/17/14: This is such a great song. But dear god it needs a good jamming.
10/17/14: Everyone sounds a lot more in step now, finally.
10/17/14: Great little outro jam in 555, > Bouncin'.
10/17/14: I remembered this first quarter as being exactly like this. Really *weird* setlist choices, but somehow it all hangs together.
10/17/14: It's not really *interesting* at all, per se, but it's a weirdly effective intro to a great show.
10/17/14: As I remember, things start to get REALLY interesting really soon.
10/17/14: rEbA
10/17/14: The Chase section of Reba is remarkably well done in this version.
10/17/14: This is definitely an above-average version of Reba if you like your Rebas melodic and Trey-centric.
10/17/14: This Roggae jam is beautiful. But aren't they all? Mike is king, still.
10/17/14: Standalone Simple!
10/17/14: Awesome loopy mini-jam in this Simple. Wow.
10/17/14: Mike bombs. Great -> Maze.
10/17/14: Page/Trey interplay in this Maze is just crazy.
10/17/14: Coil is a great closer for a first set that's been half great first set and half second set. Everything from Reba on = fire.
10/17/14: Back with that Coil set closer this morning.
10/17/14: Super-high vocals at the end of Coil. Yes!
10/17/14: Great Page outro in a set that Page has just owned (Poor Heart, Strange Design, Maze, Coil, etc.).
10/17/14: CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII. Commence cranking volume.
10/17/14: Don't remember this jam at all. Looking forward to hearing it again.
10/17/14: Trey with some interesting leads early on.
10/17/14: Trey seems to have a very particular idea of what he wants to play here, but his fingers aren't keeping up with his brain.
10/17/14: Really purposeful, melodic soloing though, not just shredding to get to the 'real jam' part like sometimes happens.
10/17/14: Decisive break out of the melodic-solo mode, now.
10/17/14: Okay, this is badass.
10/17/14: Loops and Trey chording gives a great background for Page to play with. Electronic piano goo.
10/17/14: Moving naturally into some loop-inflected funk now. Setting up for the awesome -> Plasma.
10/1714: I sort of wish I hadn't read that they'd soundchecked Plasma before the show when I was there.
10/17/14: If I hadn't suspected it was coming already, this segue would have blown my brain off.
10/17/14: Anyway, friggin' -> Plasma. One of my favorite live moments of the year. Love Phish's take on this song.
10/17/14: The only way this could have been better was if they'd played a 20 minute monster jam in it. If wishes were Phishes...
10/17/14: Whoa! Trey sung the right lyrics and everyone else sung the wrong ones. I don't that's EVER happened before!
*think
10/17/14: Jam never really breaks from the song's structure, but it's a short-but-great little rocked-out jam nonetheless.
10/17/14: Overall, Carini -> Plasma pairing even better than I remembered, not just a novelty.
10/17/14: Cool, kinda unique Farmhouse jam. Got a jazzy feel to it.
10/17/14: I *like* the Farmhouse, Halfway breather here. Like the first half of S1, it's just a setup for the awesome to come.
10/17/14: Really languid, bluesy intro to this Twist. Loving it.
10/17/14: Mike is even more up-front than usual here. Sounding great.
10/17/14: Really mellow, Type 1.5-style jam in this Twist. Trey taking over with an almost Reba-like melody line.
10/17/14: Crosseyed! Easily my favorite Phish cover. Was so happy when they started it up.
10/17/14: My only other version was the weirdly chunky version at Gorge '13.
10/17/14: Fucking funk machine kicks on at 6:30. Yes.
10/17/14: Yes yes yes yes...Mike driving the jam under a bunch of loops from Trey. Moving into rock mode now. So goddamn good.
10/17/14: I clearly didn't appreciate this jam enough in person.
10/17/14: Sinister now.
10/17/14: Little bit of a jam based on what sounds like the back half of the Fuego main riff.
10/17/14: Someone (Fish?) making weird vocal noises. Now the loops are coming. And suddenly we're back at Dick's.
10/17/14: I'm biased, because I was there, but this just became jam of the year for me. Better than Dick's Simple. Which I also saw, ftr.
10/17/14: 'Still waiting' vocal reprise over the loops.
10/17/14: Why not more talk about this Crosseyed?! One of the #phish jams of the year, for my money. So driven, and varied, and brilliant.
10/17/14: Nice > Hood.
10/17/14: So happy that the crowd noise from the glowstick war made it on the SBD. One of my favorites to have been a part of.
10/17/14: Hood off to a solid, driving start.
10/17/14: Trey has stuck with the same riff-thing for like 3-4 minutes now. Very old school. Like it a lot.
10/17/14: Hell, this Hood is fantastic.
10/17/14: Really patiently developed but powerful peak. Page starts the outro chords a few measures before Trey, while Trey still rocks.
10/17/14: Great effect.
10/17/14: Rocky Top to close. We're officially having fun, now.
10/17/14: End set.
10/17/14: Love Wingsuit in the encore slot.
10/17/14: Trey: Sleeping Monkey is Page's favorite song! Fish: I didn't know that!
10/17/14: Trey dedicates Monkey to Page.
10/17/14: YES! THE AUDIENCE VERSE IS AUDIBLE ON THE SBD!
10/17/14: I'm a little happy about that :)
10/17/14: Mighty Quinn is not a cover that I usually relish, but this version is just wonderfully energetic and fun.
10/17/14: After the Eugene show, I'd said that it might be my favorite single Phish show I've attended. After a relisten, I stand by that.
10/17/14: I've been to a lot of shows that have way higher highs before, but few shows that are this great front-to-back.

10/17/14: Only real lull is in the first quarter, and the song choices there make up for it.