The Verdict:
Though both shows in this run are fantastic, 7/31 stands above 8/1 as real best-of-tour material (at least so far). I still slightly prefer 7/24 because the second set had a longer and more interesting run of pure, free-form jamming, but I have to admit that the "KDF" jam here is just flat-out better than any of the three Shoreline jams, and the first set of 7/31 blows the first set of Shoreline away.
In the first set, I love the "Caspian" opener, unironically. It's a standard version but a great choice that makes a good one-two punch with the "No Men" that follows. The "Ghost" is absolutely a second-set jam, three songs into the show. The rest of the set is pretty standard, but the energy and playing stays
exceptionally strong throughout, and there are lots of little touches
that make it one of the best first frames of the tour so far. "Moma Dance" doesn't get "jammed out," technically, but the band plays a bit with tones and gives the staple a different feel than usual. "How Many People?" gets extended a little on its second outing, and a comment by Trey about "picking up the tempo" after "Rift" leads to a "Mike's" intro where the tempo is played around with liberally. The "Groove" ends the set with a bang, and you know something excellent has to be coming during S2.
And it does. The "KDF" is a masterful, long jam, covering loopy textures, near-ambient territory, metallic, creaking robot-rock, a huge octave-shifted solo from Trey, and ultimately a fade-out that leads into "Martian Monster." The "Martian Monster" is the most interesting take yet, for my money, with lots of chording by Trey, a sample jam from Page, and a fantastic bassline from Mike holding the whole thing down. Like "Martian Monster," "Twist" is a bit short, but it also covers a lot of ground, heading smoothly out of the composed bit a soaring, melodic space. "BOTT" is a slight hiccup, but then they're back at it with a top-shelf "Reba" and then a "Gin" that gets way out there by the standards of the song. The encore brings the whole thing home with "Farmhouse" > "Zero," which I have to assume is a sick joke.
Again, the obvious comparison to make here is to Shoreline, and while I felt that the first three songs in that S2 went deeper and weirder, none of them reached the depths of "KDF," and the "Martian Monster" > "Twist" section is no slouch, and neither is the "Gin." I guess what I'm trying to say is that there's more volume here, but maybe slightly less quality. But hell, it doesn't matter does it? This is real-deal 2015 Phish, so you need to hear it.
The Live Review:
7/31/15: Prince Caspian opener! There's a way to piss people who aren't me off!
7/31/15: Pretty standard Caspian, ends with a little loop section.
7/31/15: Nice landing in No Men!
7/31/15: No Type 2, but a lot of ground covered in 7 minutes. Great chording from Trey, Page taking the lead near the end.
7/31/15: Mike MVPing it the entire time.
7/31/15: Ghost!
7/31/15: Nailed the drop, and Mike is singing the high harmony. Sounds like 1998 in here all of a sudden.
7/31/15: Switching off between great leads from Trey and Mike.
7/31/15: Guys, this is a serious Ghost jam. Third song of the show.
7/31/15: Three songs in, two jams already. Wow.
7/31/15: And this Ghost is serious second-set shit. No messing around. Trey laying down a perfect, composed-sounding solo.
7/31/15: 2015 Fish being 2015 Fish. Driving that shit.
7/31/15: Perfect drop back into Ghost riff. Crowd goes nuts. Slow-down ending?
7/31/15: Trey definitely played the Roggae riff at the end of Ghost. But then they stopped. Maybe just a coincidence.
7/31/15: The Wedge.
7/31/15: The Wedge was pretty standard. > Moma. On the upside, Trey's tone on this Moma is dirty as hell.
7/31/15: Whoa. Almost plinko jam during Fish's vocals. Continuing during Trey's. This might be the weirdest 3.0 Moma.
7/31/15: Admittedly, that ain't sayin' much, but this is cool.
7/31/15: How Many People Are You? Nice!
7/31/15: Definitely laid the foundation for an awesome jam at the end of the song. Would LOVE to see that happen in 2016.
7/31/15: Rift next.
7/31/15: Trey, after a too-fast, sort-of-flubby Rift: 'We'd like to pick up the tempo now!'
7/31/15: Hoping WAN is next :)
7/31/15: Ooh, Mike's!
7/31/15: Fish playing double-time on drums...Trey responds by slowing the song waaaaaay down. This show is goddamn awesome.
7/31/15: Now a reggae version of the intro, complete with Trey reggae screaming.
7/31/15: Super-dirty tone from Trey during the Mike's solo.
7/31/15: Hydrogen!
7/31/15: GROOOOOOOVE
7/31/15: Great '15-style soloing from Trey.
7/31/15: Trey is making this into a monster Groove.
7/31/15: S2 KDF opener.
7/31/15: Mass of chording and loops overtaking the jam now.
7/31/15: Dark, reverb-y chords now.
7/31/15: Serious rock and roll machinery creaking along here.
7/31/15: Trey is laying down a great octave-shifted solo. Page on electric. Mike drone.
7/31/15: This sounds like Shoreline/Forum jamming on steroids.
7/31/15: Seamless move into a great Trey rock solo.
7/31/15: Heading back into Manteca-y territory again. Fishman is a monster.
7/31/15: Trey playing a building riff now.
7/31/15: Great rock peak, now backing down again.
7/31/15: Extended, loopy fade-out...MARTIAN MONSTER SAMPLE
7/31/15: Page is jamming on the vocal samples after a bassy breakdown.
7/31/15: Just put on my headphones, hit play, heard 'BECAUSE OF THE INCREDIBLE SPEED OF YOUR ROCKET' and then a student walked in.
7/31/15: This is my favorite Martian Monster, I think.
7/31/15: Great Mike bass, Trey deconstructing the song with chording, loops, Page solo, shit.
7/31/15: Twist next. Early bluesy noodling in the jam from Trey.
7/31/15: Smooth transition into a gorgeous, melodic space. Page on electric piano.
7/31/15: This is almost like a Simple jam, now.
7/31/15: Trey is just ripping it up melodically here. Small build, but Trey takes over with another solo. So good.
7/31/15: Nice landing in a -> BOTT.
7/31/15: Standard BOTT with a sort-of -> Reba.
7/31/15: Fantastic melody playing from Trey in this Reba. Notes fucking flying everywhere.
7/31/15: Trey whistling tease and then Page tease of Reba during the beginning of Gin.
7/31/15: Oh, and the Reba was amazing.
7/31/15: Trey soloing and scatting along with the solo now.
7/31/15: Entering 70s rock territory.
7/31/15: Trey entering rock-dragon mode now.
7/31/15: Oh man. Super-bliss-rocktown jam, still nosing around the Gin progression.
7/31/15: Trey whistling the Reba outro, Mike singing 'Don't go back to Kill Devil Falls' and Fish screaming over the Gin ending.
7/31/15: Encore is Farmhouse, Character Zero. Every show this summer has a clever encore except the ones with excellent S2s.
7/31/15: It's like they're trolling us. 'Five-song second set? Show of Life encore!'
7/31/15: Awful purty solo from Trey in the Farmhouse, tho
7/31/15: So, that was a pretty amazing second set. Not as jammy as Shoreline, but almost as good. KDF and Twist were the highlights.
7/31/15: On the other hand, this first set is by far the best one of the year so far.
Oct 10, 2015
Oct 1, 2015
2015-07-29 Grand Prairie, TX
The Verdict:
This show is perhaps a little stronger than the previous night's offering, but stays mostly mired in the funk (and not the good kind) that surrounds both of these weird Texas shows.
The first set starts out strong, and indeed I tweeted something to the effect that the band was coming out of the gates in a lot more cohesive a fashion than the previous night. The "Tube," "Guelah" > "PYITE" > "Steam" sequence is strong, and "Steam" even hints at a bit of a "real" jam, moving smoothly into funk (the good kind) territory. But instead of following through, the band comes to a full stop, and starts up "Poor Heart," which opens the rest of the set to jukebox tunes. I say that while acknowledging that I also love "Divided Sky," but this version is sort of creaky and painful to hear through the composed section, and the jam, while strong, isn't anything you haven't heard before.
The second set, like the previous night's, packs some flashes of brilliance in, but here they're more concentrated. After 2014, I sort of imagined I'd heard it all when it came to extended "Chalkdust"s, but this version is really unique. Your mileage might vary, but to me the minimalist, bass-led approach to the jam is something I haven't heard often in "Chalkdust" jams, and it's long: the guys stick with this space far longer than they typically would, before building to a more typical rock peak. It's sort of like the big brother to last year's underrated 7/25 "Chalkdust." The "Simple" that follows is pretty much par-for-the-course in terms of being a beautiful little "Simple" jam until, led by Trey, the guys build a long, slow segue into "Silent." Typically, this might be a momentum-killer at this point in the set, but the segue is so good by the time they transition, you just want to hear it.
Unfortunately, the rest of the set is totally rote in by-now-expected Texas fashion until the 15-minute "Hood" set closer. This guy also follows the '14 blueprint, departing from the typical structure for a "Manteca"-ish jam and then a much more frenetic and intense outro solo than Trey usually contributes. It's a great version, and gives us a second highlight from the show to enjoy. Encore-wise, "The Connection" is a cool choice, and the following "First Tube" is one of the more melodic versions that I've heard.
The second set starts here at 1:20:00:
The Live Review:
7/29/15: Second Texas show opens with a loose Tube.
7/29/15: Guelah Papyrus in the two-slot! Would love to see this in S1s more often.
7/29/15: PYITE. Loving the song selection so far in this set.
7/29/15: > Steam! Didn't see that coming!
7/29/15: The difference between this and 7/28 in terms of 'flow' (I hate that word, but you know what I mean) is night and day.
7/29/15: Trey throwing out a pretty swanky solo for a first set.
7/29/15: Nice, slow move from the solo > final vocals > half-tempo funk jam. Neat.
7/29/15: That seemed destined for a cool segue, but full stop > Poor Heart is good, too.
7/29/15: NICU is next. Falling a bit into jukebox territory here, but still strong energy.
7/29/15: I Didn't Know is fun.
7/29/15: Trey talks about being born just down the road before the vacuum solo, then introduces Fish as 'The Best Man.'
7/29/15: Now Stealing Time. Somebody definitely hit 'Shuffle' on the setlist sometime after Steam.
7/29/15: Divided Sky! Now that's nice.
7/29/15: Btw, I think that version of Stealing Time was one of the shortest ever. Maybe even shorter than the album version?
7/29/15: A few surprising and fairly cringeworthy flubs from Trey, but otherwise a great version.
7/29/15: Squirming Coil...probably as set closer?
7/29/15: Trey having some trouble here, too.
7/29/15: End set.
7/29/15: Second set kicks off with CDT. What is this, 2014?
7/29/15: Really smooth transition into a spacey-space here in Chalk Dust. Page on electric piano. Always a good thing.
7/29/15: Mike's grabbed the wheel and this is awesome. Really broken-down. Trey chording slightly. Page w/ ambient effects.
7/29/15: Quick build, now. Rock and roooooooll
7/29/15: Meditation: https://t.co/GhXu3EvCiT
7/29/15: Wind-down -B Simple.
7/29/15: -B stands for 'butt-slammed' for those of you keeping score at home.
7/29/15: Neat outro jam to Simple, which echoed the intro to Silent in the Morning.
7/29/15: Ah, good. Trey took a minute to get everyone else on board, but now -> Silent.
7/29/15: That was probably THE WORST placement of The Line I've ever heard, and I've heard every show since the debut.
7/29/15: Even on the soundboard, you could just hear the air hiss out of the crowd, almost literally.
7/29/15: After that sweet Simple -> Silent transition, you slam that shit into a Tweezer, or something. Geez, guys.
7/29/15: Birds is next. We're approach 7/28 levels of setlist weirdness at this point.
7/29/15: *approaching
7/29/15: Fuego has found its way into some weird spots this year. This is one of them.
7/29/15: 'Some days it's not worth pre-writing a setlist / Freak out and play songs / See what sticks'
7/29/15: Oh, what the hell. Julius now.
7/29/15: Ah, at least I can take refuge in Hood. Probably the set closer?
7/29/15: Neat, Manteca-ish jam in the midst of Hood. Long sustained note now by Trey.
7/29/15: Band buidling around it. So awesome.
7/29/15: *building
7/29/15: Still holding. Probably close to a minute.
7/29/15: Trey doesn't fall back into the usual outro jam, but plays a lot of high-neck machine-gun goodness. Wow.
7/29/15: This Hood and that CDT belong in another show.
7/29/15: The Connection for an encore. Whoa.
7/29/15: First Tuuuuuuube
7/29/15: More melodic solo than usual, slower tempo. I like the switch. Feels more anthemic than blow-your-ears-out.
This show is perhaps a little stronger than the previous night's offering, but stays mostly mired in the funk (and not the good kind) that surrounds both of these weird Texas shows.
The first set starts out strong, and indeed I tweeted something to the effect that the band was coming out of the gates in a lot more cohesive a fashion than the previous night. The "Tube," "Guelah" > "PYITE" > "Steam" sequence is strong, and "Steam" even hints at a bit of a "real" jam, moving smoothly into funk (the good kind) territory. But instead of following through, the band comes to a full stop, and starts up "Poor Heart," which opens the rest of the set to jukebox tunes. I say that while acknowledging that I also love "Divided Sky," but this version is sort of creaky and painful to hear through the composed section, and the jam, while strong, isn't anything you haven't heard before.
The second set, like the previous night's, packs some flashes of brilliance in, but here they're more concentrated. After 2014, I sort of imagined I'd heard it all when it came to extended "Chalkdust"s, but this version is really unique. Your mileage might vary, but to me the minimalist, bass-led approach to the jam is something I haven't heard often in "Chalkdust" jams, and it's long: the guys stick with this space far longer than they typically would, before building to a more typical rock peak. It's sort of like the big brother to last year's underrated 7/25 "Chalkdust." The "Simple" that follows is pretty much par-for-the-course in terms of being a beautiful little "Simple" jam until, led by Trey, the guys build a long, slow segue into "Silent." Typically, this might be a momentum-killer at this point in the set, but the segue is so good by the time they transition, you just want to hear it.
Unfortunately, the rest of the set is totally rote in by-now-expected Texas fashion until the 15-minute "Hood" set closer. This guy also follows the '14 blueprint, departing from the typical structure for a "Manteca"-ish jam and then a much more frenetic and intense outro solo than Trey usually contributes. It's a great version, and gives us a second highlight from the show to enjoy. Encore-wise, "The Connection" is a cool choice, and the following "First Tube" is one of the more melodic versions that I've heard.
The second set starts here at 1:20:00:
The Live Review:
7/29/15: Second Texas show opens with a loose Tube.
7/29/15: Guelah Papyrus in the two-slot! Would love to see this in S1s more often.
7/29/15: PYITE. Loving the song selection so far in this set.
7/29/15: > Steam! Didn't see that coming!
7/29/15: The difference between this and 7/28 in terms of 'flow' (I hate that word, but you know what I mean) is night and day.
7/29/15: Trey throwing out a pretty swanky solo for a first set.
7/29/15: Nice, slow move from the solo > final vocals > half-tempo funk jam. Neat.
7/29/15: That seemed destined for a cool segue, but full stop > Poor Heart is good, too.
7/29/15: NICU is next. Falling a bit into jukebox territory here, but still strong energy.
7/29/15: I Didn't Know is fun.
7/29/15: Trey talks about being born just down the road before the vacuum solo, then introduces Fish as 'The Best Man.'
7/29/15: Now Stealing Time. Somebody definitely hit 'Shuffle' on the setlist sometime after Steam.
7/29/15: Divided Sky! Now that's nice.
7/29/15: Btw, I think that version of Stealing Time was one of the shortest ever. Maybe even shorter than the album version?
7/29/15: A few surprising and fairly cringeworthy flubs from Trey, but otherwise a great version.
7/29/15: Squirming Coil...probably as set closer?
7/29/15: Trey having some trouble here, too.
7/29/15: End set.
7/29/15: Second set kicks off with CDT. What is this, 2014?
7/29/15: Really smooth transition into a spacey-space here in Chalk Dust. Page on electric piano. Always a good thing.
7/29/15: Mike's grabbed the wheel and this is awesome. Really broken-down. Trey chording slightly. Page w/ ambient effects.
7/29/15: Quick build, now. Rock and roooooooll
7/29/15: Meditation: https://t.co/GhXu3EvCiT
7/29/15: Wind-down -B Simple.
7/29/15: -B stands for 'butt-slammed' for those of you keeping score at home.
7/29/15: Neat outro jam to Simple, which echoed the intro to Silent in the Morning.
7/29/15: Ah, good. Trey took a minute to get everyone else on board, but now -> Silent.
7/29/15: That was probably THE WORST placement of The Line I've ever heard, and I've heard every show since the debut.
7/29/15: Even on the soundboard, you could just hear the air hiss out of the crowd, almost literally.
7/29/15: After that sweet Simple -> Silent transition, you slam that shit into a Tweezer, or something. Geez, guys.
7/29/15: Birds is next. We're approach 7/28 levels of setlist weirdness at this point.
7/29/15: *approaching
7/29/15: Fuego has found its way into some weird spots this year. This is one of them.
7/29/15: 'Some days it's not worth pre-writing a setlist / Freak out and play songs / See what sticks'
7/29/15: Oh, what the hell. Julius now.
7/29/15: Ah, at least I can take refuge in Hood. Probably the set closer?
7/29/15: Neat, Manteca-ish jam in the midst of Hood. Long sustained note now by Trey.
7/29/15: Band buidling around it. So awesome.
7/29/15: *building
7/29/15: Still holding. Probably close to a minute.
7/29/15: Trey doesn't fall back into the usual outro jam, but plays a lot of high-neck machine-gun goodness. Wow.
7/29/15: This Hood and that CDT belong in another show.
7/29/15: The Connection for an encore. Whoa.
7/29/15: First Tuuuuuuube
7/29/15: More melodic solo than usual, slower tempo. I like the switch. Feels more anthemic than blow-your-ears-out.
2015-07-28 Austin360 Amphitheater
The Verdict:
Both of these Texas shows are weird. And not entirely good-weird. Considered in the context of the tour as a whole, they get even weirder. The closest comparison to them is probably the Bend run, but even there, there's a verve to the band's (and especially Trey's) playing, the jams are there, they're just writ small, and the debuts and setlist surprises keep things interesting. I can't say the same for these two shows, unfortunately. But, hey, there are anomalies even in every excellent tour. And it's not as if these two shows don't have some highlights worth digging into at the expense of the rest.
The first night is mostly comprised of first-set-style songs played well, but not in any sort of discernible order. As a result, the energy is all over the place, depending on which song is currently playing. I like "Dirt" and "Sugar Shack" more than the next guy, but whoever thought to build the middle of the opening frame out of "Lawn Boy," "Bouncin'," "Water in the Sky" > "Dirt," "Devotion," "Sugar Shack" was high on some especially relaxing stuff. The set-closing "Antelope" is the most anaemic version I can remember hearing in a long time, so even that doesn't help. The back half of the second set is the same: song choices and playing that make it seem like the band has confused the fourth quarter with the first one.
All that said, though, I still don't think this show deserves the brutal sub-3 rating it currently has on phish.net. Why? Because the third quarter is fantastic. "The Dogs" gets sandwiched into a "46 Days" that comes back after the "Dogs" jam to float around in a beautiful, ethereal space for a few minutes before "Piper" begins a slow-for-3.0 build version. "Piper" heads into "Ghost" territory a few minutes before actually seguing into the song, and "Ghost" proper moves from a Bend "Simple"-style jam into something that almost sounds like "Runaway Jim" before moving perfectly into "Shade." That the rest of the set then ends up being a "cooldown song" doesn't necessarily detract from the brilliance of putting "Shade" at the end of this gorgeous sequence.
The rest of this show is, I hate to say, pure filler, but that sequence should be on everyone's summer highlight list.
No individual song videos on YouTube, but jump to 1:23:00 here to see the opening of the second set:
The Live Review:
7/28/15: Ahhh the dulcet tones of a Party Time opener.
7/28/15: Often seems to signal a subpar show. Hopefully that isn't the case here.
7/28/15: This is the first show of the summer I've reviewed that I didn't attend. Should be interesting.
7/28/15: Party Time sounds a little more languid and funky than usual.
7/28/15: Page takes an organ solo, now a Trey solo.
7/28/15: Free jam is equally sort of sparse and slow. Not necessarily a bad thing. Just sounds different.
7/28/15: Halley's. One of those #phish songs that I never enjoy because I'm always wondering 'WILL THIS BE THE ONE THAT THEY JAM ON???'
7/28/15: Fiery Halley's solo -B Wolfman's.
7/28/15: Trey is going full-on machine gun at the end of this Wolfman's. Short, and one of least interesting versions I've heard in awhile.
7/28/15: But, yeah, that guitar was TERRE HAUTE
7/28/15: Possum is led by a series organ solo from Page. Trey chording over.
7/28/15: Lawn Boy.
7/28/15: Lawn Boy > Bouncin' is probably not anyone's new favorite setlist call.
7/28/15: Fast version of Water In the Sky.
7/28/15: Holy Dirt!
7/28/15: Such a gorgeous song. And Trey is nailing the solo.
7/28/15: For a lot of people, set is probably coming apart at this point, but I love Devotion. First air guitar solo of the school year.
7/28/15: I took a little #phish hiatus after listening all the way to Dick's and back and then climbing Whitney. The silence was nice.
7/28/15: And now it's great to be back :)
7/28/15: I have these times when I think 'I love so much music, why spend so much time listening to one band?'
7/28/15: Then I get about a third of a way through a show and think 'Oh. Right.'
7/28/15: Sugar Shack! This is another of my favorite S1 songs, when Trey doesn't murder it.
7/28/15: This seems like a really long S1. Might just be because I'm trying to review w/o looking at the playlist during for the first time.
7/28/15: Antelope will presumably close the set.
7/28/15: Eww. Trey botches the chord that transitions from the intro to the jam.
7/28/15: Sure, everyone messes up from time to time, but that's some iconic shit, and stands out more.
7/28/15: I hate using this word in general, but that was the most milquetoast version of Antelope I've heard in a long time.
7/28/15: 46 Days opening the second set.
7/28/15: Wooooooo! 46 Days -> The Dogs!
7/28/15: Holy goddamn 46 Days -> The Dogs -> 46 Days!
7/28/15: Spacey, almost 2001 jam now.
7/28/15: This is such a great little jam.
7/28/15: 7/28/15: jam > Piper.
7/28/15: https://t.co/EqgMydCayk
7/28/15: Piper has a nice, slow wind up and moves seamlessly into a fast, chordy jam. I might submit Fish as early tour MVP.
7/28/15: Winding up in an ethereal jam. Fish hitting the blocks. Aaaaand...GHOST
7/28/15: This whole sequence has been fucking nuts. Love it.
7/28/15: Slow, slanky sort of Ghost jam. Sound like it could potentially go Bend Simple at any moment.
7/28/15: And now it sort of is.
7/28/15: Slow roll into a blissful, almost Runaway Jim-like progression/riff/thing.
7/28/15: Lots of moving around in that short jam. But it was great.
7/28/15: And lands in Shade, which is just perfect!
7/28/15: Gotta Jibboo might signal that the madness is over. That was a great run of songs, though, for what's probably most of S2.
7/28/15: A little call and response between Page and Trey.
7/28/15: WAN. What a weird fucking show.
7/28/15: Good Trey solo in this version.
7/28/15: Missing the bass bombs tho. C'mon Mike!
7/28/15: Blaze On. Love the song. Seems like weird placement. But that could sum up most of this show, technically speaking.
7/28/15: Short version. Nice, compact solo from Trey tho.
7/28/15: Wading now. What the serious fuck is going on with the setlist in this show?
7/28/15: Bowie next. Maybe the set closer? Who knows? Maybe they'll encore with NO2 -> FEFY > BBFCFM > Mock Song.
7/28/15: Almost delicate, noodly section of Bowie lasts quite a long time. Trey chording now over the build-up to the finale.
7/28/15: Suzy after Bowie.
7/28/15: Ah, and Austin did get our Tweeprise from The Forum. I'd been wondering about that.
7/28/15: Loving Cup, a pretty inappropriate-seeming choice, is the encore. Which seems appropriate. What a weird show.
Both of these Texas shows are weird. And not entirely good-weird. Considered in the context of the tour as a whole, they get even weirder. The closest comparison to them is probably the Bend run, but even there, there's a verve to the band's (and especially Trey's) playing, the jams are there, they're just writ small, and the debuts and setlist surprises keep things interesting. I can't say the same for these two shows, unfortunately. But, hey, there are anomalies even in every excellent tour. And it's not as if these two shows don't have some highlights worth digging into at the expense of the rest.
The first night is mostly comprised of first-set-style songs played well, but not in any sort of discernible order. As a result, the energy is all over the place, depending on which song is currently playing. I like "Dirt" and "Sugar Shack" more than the next guy, but whoever thought to build the middle of the opening frame out of "Lawn Boy," "Bouncin'," "Water in the Sky" > "Dirt," "Devotion," "Sugar Shack" was high on some especially relaxing stuff. The set-closing "Antelope" is the most anaemic version I can remember hearing in a long time, so even that doesn't help. The back half of the second set is the same: song choices and playing that make it seem like the band has confused the fourth quarter with the first one.
All that said, though, I still don't think this show deserves the brutal sub-3 rating it currently has on phish.net. Why? Because the third quarter is fantastic. "The Dogs" gets sandwiched into a "46 Days" that comes back after the "Dogs" jam to float around in a beautiful, ethereal space for a few minutes before "Piper" begins a slow-for-3.0 build version. "Piper" heads into "Ghost" territory a few minutes before actually seguing into the song, and "Ghost" proper moves from a Bend "Simple"-style jam into something that almost sounds like "Runaway Jim" before moving perfectly into "Shade." That the rest of the set then ends up being a "cooldown song" doesn't necessarily detract from the brilliance of putting "Shade" at the end of this gorgeous sequence.
The rest of this show is, I hate to say, pure filler, but that sequence should be on everyone's summer highlight list.
No individual song videos on YouTube, but jump to 1:23:00 here to see the opening of the second set:
The Live Review:
7/28/15: Ahhh the dulcet tones of a Party Time opener.
7/28/15: Often seems to signal a subpar show. Hopefully that isn't the case here.
7/28/15: This is the first show of the summer I've reviewed that I didn't attend. Should be interesting.
7/28/15: Party Time sounds a little more languid and funky than usual.
7/28/15: Page takes an organ solo, now a Trey solo.
7/28/15: Free jam is equally sort of sparse and slow. Not necessarily a bad thing. Just sounds different.
7/28/15: Halley's. One of those #phish songs that I never enjoy because I'm always wondering 'WILL THIS BE THE ONE THAT THEY JAM ON???'
7/28/15: Fiery Halley's solo -B Wolfman's.
7/28/15: Trey is going full-on machine gun at the end of this Wolfman's. Short, and one of least interesting versions I've heard in awhile.
7/28/15: But, yeah, that guitar was TERRE HAUTE
7/28/15: Possum is led by a series organ solo from Page. Trey chording over.
7/28/15: Lawn Boy.
7/28/15: Lawn Boy > Bouncin' is probably not anyone's new favorite setlist call.
7/28/15: Fast version of Water In the Sky.
7/28/15: Holy Dirt!
7/28/15: Such a gorgeous song. And Trey is nailing the solo.
7/28/15: For a lot of people, set is probably coming apart at this point, but I love Devotion. First air guitar solo of the school year.
7/28/15: I took a little #phish hiatus after listening all the way to Dick's and back and then climbing Whitney. The silence was nice.
7/28/15: And now it's great to be back :)
7/28/15: I have these times when I think 'I love so much music, why spend so much time listening to one band?'
7/28/15: Then I get about a third of a way through a show and think 'Oh. Right.'
7/28/15: Sugar Shack! This is another of my favorite S1 songs, when Trey doesn't murder it.
7/28/15: This seems like a really long S1. Might just be because I'm trying to review w/o looking at the playlist during for the first time.
7/28/15: Antelope will presumably close the set.
7/28/15: Eww. Trey botches the chord that transitions from the intro to the jam.
7/28/15: Sure, everyone messes up from time to time, but that's some iconic shit, and stands out more.
7/28/15: I hate using this word in general, but that was the most milquetoast version of Antelope I've heard in a long time.
7/28/15: 46 Days opening the second set.
7/28/15: Wooooooo! 46 Days -> The Dogs!
7/28/15: Holy goddamn 46 Days -> The Dogs -> 46 Days!
7/28/15: Spacey, almost 2001 jam now.
7/28/15: This is such a great little jam.
7/28/15: 7/28/15: jam > Piper.
7/28/15: https://t.co/EqgMydCayk
7/28/15: Piper has a nice, slow wind up and moves seamlessly into a fast, chordy jam. I might submit Fish as early tour MVP.
7/28/15: Winding up in an ethereal jam. Fish hitting the blocks. Aaaaand...GHOST
7/28/15: This whole sequence has been fucking nuts. Love it.
7/28/15: Slow, slanky sort of Ghost jam. Sound like it could potentially go Bend Simple at any moment.
7/28/15: And now it sort of is.
7/28/15: Slow roll into a blissful, almost Runaway Jim-like progression/riff/thing.
7/28/15: Lots of moving around in that short jam. But it was great.
7/28/15: And lands in Shade, which is just perfect!
7/28/15: Gotta Jibboo might signal that the madness is over. That was a great run of songs, though, for what's probably most of S2.
7/28/15: A little call and response between Page and Trey.
7/28/15: WAN. What a weird fucking show.
7/28/15: Good Trey solo in this version.
7/28/15: Missing the bass bombs tho. C'mon Mike!
7/28/15: Blaze On. Love the song. Seems like weird placement. But that could sum up most of this show, technically speaking.
7/28/15: Short version. Nice, compact solo from Trey tho.
7/28/15: Wading now. What the serious fuck is going on with the setlist in this show?
7/28/15: Bowie next. Maybe the set closer? Who knows? Maybe they'll encore with NO2 -> FEFY > BBFCFM > Mock Song.
7/28/15: Almost delicate, noodly section of Bowie lasts quite a long time. Trey chording now over the build-up to the finale.
7/28/15: Suzy after Bowie.
7/28/15: Ah, and Austin did get our Tweeprise from The Forum. I'd been wondering about that.
7/28/15: Loving Cup, a pretty inappropriate-seeming choice, is the encore. Which seems appropriate. What a weird show.
Sep 9, 2015
2015-07-25 The Forum
The Verdict:
This was the last show pre-Dick's that I caught this year, and though from a "just the music" standpoint, it's a little disappointing after the madness that was Shoreline S2, the energy in The Forum was incredible and it's an average-great show for 2015, which still means it's a pretty amazing listen.
Like many of the average-for-'15 S1s this year, this opening frame is strong on the ends and sags a bit in the middle. The first two songs are a shot of pure adrenaline and, for my money, Trey nails the "WAN" solo, making this one of my favorite versions of a song that I'm apparently in a small minority for really enjoying when it's placed correctly. "Heavy Things," "LxL," and "Ya Mar" are all strong versions, but let's face it, most people are going to see this part of the set as a downshift at this point in 3.0. The bar is just too high. The set ends nicely, though, with a great segue between "Fuego" and "Walls" and Trey absolutely taking "Walls" to town.
Like Shoreline, S2 starts with a new song going deep on its second-ever playthrough. This time it's "No Men," and though nothing really interesting happens until after the vocal refrain, there's a great loop-heavy funk jamlet to be had at that point. It almost seems like there's going to be a -> "Ghost," but instead the band drops into "Carini." "Carini" is interesting, but doesn't go long as Trey hits upon a slow transition to "Tweezer" that's just too good to pass up. The bummer in this show (if there is one) is that after a great start to a broken-down "Tweezer" jam that features Trey trading licks with Mike as the rest of the band drops out completely (a rarity), is that when they come back from the break down, Trey hits on a "MFMF"-like riff, which triggers another early segue.The most notable jam of the night might actually come from the "Roggae," which features a lot of the usual delicate interplay, but builds to a powerful peak, a bit unexpectedly.
The "YEM" encore features more Trey/Mike interplay, most notably Trey stacking his guitar on top of Mike's bass from behind and the two of them dancing around while playing like some weird two-headed guitar monster.
It's that kind of show. In 2015, it's a bit of a bummer to have a show that doesn't feature either a) a monster jam or b) a series of interesting smaller jams. On the other hand, the energy across this show is remarkable, the string of segues in the second set is smooth, and that encore is just hilarious.
The Live Review:
7/25/15: Love the Martian Monster opener.
7/25/15: Forum crowd lost it when Page started the sound sample.
7/25/15: DWD next.
7/25/15: Trey locked on a really cool riff @ 6 minutes.
7/25/15: Electric Type I jam in DWD, return to the outro.
7/25/15: Waiting All Night. Rough start w/ vocals.
7/25/15: Fantastic WAN solo from Trey.
7/25/15: Heavy Things w/ extended Page organ solo. Love it.
7/25/15: Short but great take on Heavy Things. Axila I next.
7/25/15: Rough take on 555 follows.
7/25/15: Some great Page/Trey interplay during this Limb By Limb.
7/25/15: Great guitar/piano peak to end the jam. Short but sweet.
7/25/15: S1 sags a bit in the middle, but LxL especially and Ya Mar are really strong takes. Fuego coming now.
7/25/15: Neat piano-only outro from Fuego leads to a great > Walls segue.
7/25/15: HUGE Walls from Trey to close S1. Holy crap.
7/25/15: S2 opens w/ No Men.
7/25/15: Really driving, rock Type I jam so far. Trey building tension.
7/25/15: Returning a bit to the funk feel now.
7/25/15: Vocal refrain now.
7/25/15: Like other versions, there's a second jam after the last refrain. Loops.
7/25/15: Didn't notice at the show, but it almost sounds like Trey is trying to -> Ghost at the end of this jam.
7/25/15: It doesn't really go anywhere, though, and the jam fizzles out. > Carini.
7/25/15: More great Trey/Page action during this Carini jam.
7/25/15: Great, interesting Carini jam, and too short by far...BUT. That slow segue into Tweezer was just fantastic.
7/25/15: Neat, broken-down Tweezer jam. Don't hear that very often. Getting softer and bluesier. -> Twist would have been great here.
7/25/15: Now moving to a more chordy, blissful build.
7/25/15: Trey makes a nice segue into MFMF from the Tweezer jam, but loses the rest of the band along the way.
7/25/15: Another neat piano outro for MFMF. > Roggae.
7/25/15: You know how sometimes your brain just decides on alternate lyrics for a song and then you can't stop thinking of it that way?
7/25/15: At some point, for me, the lyrics to Roggae became 'If life were easy and not so fast, I wouldn't have to kick your ass.'
7/25/15: I have no idea why.
7/25/15: I love Roggae.
7/25/15: This is a great version, too. Great build to a peak (which they've been doing more lately), and return to the outro.
7/25/15: Wish I could be happy just hearing great #phish songs at the show, instead of just thinking 'THIS HAD BETTER LAST FOR 20 MINUTES'
7/25/15: Here comes that Number Line you've been feeling looming over you all set.
7/25/15: That Number Line was above-average-rockin' tho.
7/25/15: Slave to close the set.
7/25/15: Massive peak at the end of a really nice build in Slave.
7/25/15: I realize that that can technically describe any Slave, but this one was especially good.
7/25/15: YEM encore is a great call.
7/25/15: Especially appreciated this call at the time to cap off my four-show run.
7/25/15: Trey struggling mightily with the opening arpeggios, though.
7/25/15: This was the YEM with the two-headed guitar/bass monster.
7/25/15: Even without the visual of the guitar monster, this YEM is badass on the SBD.
7/25/15: YEM ends show. Despite a great show, still a little sad that wasn't YEM > Tweeprise. Would've blown off the roof.
This was the last show pre-Dick's that I caught this year, and though from a "just the music" standpoint, it's a little disappointing after the madness that was Shoreline S2, the energy in The Forum was incredible and it's an average-great show for 2015, which still means it's a pretty amazing listen.
Like many of the average-for-'15 S1s this year, this opening frame is strong on the ends and sags a bit in the middle. The first two songs are a shot of pure adrenaline and, for my money, Trey nails the "WAN" solo, making this one of my favorite versions of a song that I'm apparently in a small minority for really enjoying when it's placed correctly. "Heavy Things," "LxL," and "Ya Mar" are all strong versions, but let's face it, most people are going to see this part of the set as a downshift at this point in 3.0. The bar is just too high. The set ends nicely, though, with a great segue between "Fuego" and "Walls" and Trey absolutely taking "Walls" to town.
Like Shoreline, S2 starts with a new song going deep on its second-ever playthrough. This time it's "No Men," and though nothing really interesting happens until after the vocal refrain, there's a great loop-heavy funk jamlet to be had at that point. It almost seems like there's going to be a -> "Ghost," but instead the band drops into "Carini." "Carini" is interesting, but doesn't go long as Trey hits upon a slow transition to "Tweezer" that's just too good to pass up. The bummer in this show (if there is one) is that after a great start to a broken-down "Tweezer" jam that features Trey trading licks with Mike as the rest of the band drops out completely (a rarity), is that when they come back from the break down, Trey hits on a "MFMF"-like riff, which triggers another early segue.The most notable jam of the night might actually come from the "Roggae," which features a lot of the usual delicate interplay, but builds to a powerful peak, a bit unexpectedly.
The "YEM" encore features more Trey/Mike interplay, most notably Trey stacking his guitar on top of Mike's bass from behind and the two of them dancing around while playing like some weird two-headed guitar monster.
It's that kind of show. In 2015, it's a bit of a bummer to have a show that doesn't feature either a) a monster jam or b) a series of interesting smaller jams. On the other hand, the energy across this show is remarkable, the string of segues in the second set is smooth, and that encore is just hilarious.
The Live Review:
7/25/15: Love the Martian Monster opener.
7/25/15: Forum crowd lost it when Page started the sound sample.
7/25/15: DWD next.
7/25/15: Trey locked on a really cool riff @ 6 minutes.
7/25/15: Electric Type I jam in DWD, return to the outro.
7/25/15: Waiting All Night. Rough start w/ vocals.
7/25/15: Fantastic WAN solo from Trey.
7/25/15: Heavy Things w/ extended Page organ solo. Love it.
7/25/15: Short but great take on Heavy Things. Axila I next.
7/25/15: Rough take on 555 follows.
7/25/15: Some great Page/Trey interplay during this Limb By Limb.
7/25/15: Great guitar/piano peak to end the jam. Short but sweet.
7/25/15: S1 sags a bit in the middle, but LxL especially and Ya Mar are really strong takes. Fuego coming now.
7/25/15: Neat piano-only outro from Fuego leads to a great > Walls segue.
7/25/15: HUGE Walls from Trey to close S1. Holy crap.
7/25/15: S2 opens w/ No Men.
7/25/15: Really driving, rock Type I jam so far. Trey building tension.
7/25/15: Returning a bit to the funk feel now.
7/25/15: Vocal refrain now.
7/25/15: Like other versions, there's a second jam after the last refrain. Loops.
7/25/15: Didn't notice at the show, but it almost sounds like Trey is trying to -> Ghost at the end of this jam.
7/25/15: It doesn't really go anywhere, though, and the jam fizzles out. > Carini.
7/25/15: More great Trey/Page action during this Carini jam.
7/25/15: Great, interesting Carini jam, and too short by far...BUT. That slow segue into Tweezer was just fantastic.
7/25/15: Neat, broken-down Tweezer jam. Don't hear that very often. Getting softer and bluesier. -> Twist would have been great here.
7/25/15: Now moving to a more chordy, blissful build.
7/25/15: Trey makes a nice segue into MFMF from the Tweezer jam, but loses the rest of the band along the way.
7/25/15: Another neat piano outro for MFMF. > Roggae.
7/25/15: You know how sometimes your brain just decides on alternate lyrics for a song and then you can't stop thinking of it that way?
7/25/15: At some point, for me, the lyrics to Roggae became 'If life were easy and not so fast, I wouldn't have to kick your ass.'
7/25/15: I have no idea why.
7/25/15: I love Roggae.
7/25/15: This is a great version, too. Great build to a peak (which they've been doing more lately), and return to the outro.
7/25/15: Wish I could be happy just hearing great #phish songs at the show, instead of just thinking 'THIS HAD BETTER LAST FOR 20 MINUTES'
7/25/15: Here comes that Number Line you've been feeling looming over you all set.
7/25/15: That Number Line was above-average-rockin' tho.
7/25/15: Slave to close the set.
7/25/15: Massive peak at the end of a really nice build in Slave.
7/25/15: I realize that that can technically describe any Slave, but this one was especially good.
7/25/15: YEM encore is a great call.
7/25/15: Especially appreciated this call at the time to cap off my four-show run.
7/25/15: Trey struggling mightily with the opening arpeggios, though.
7/25/15: This was the YEM with the two-headed guitar/bass monster.
7/25/15: Even without the visual of the guitar monster, this YEM is badass on the SBD.
7/25/15: YEM ends show. Despite a great show, still a little sad that wasn't YEM > Tweeprise. Would've blown off the roof.
2015-07-24 Shoreline Amphitheater
The Verdict:
This was my 25th show, and it unseated last year's Eugene show as my all-time favorite pretty much as I was walking back to the car through the gates of Shoreline. After seeing Dick's 3 last weekend, it's a toss-up as to whether this show or that one is the newest all-time best, but that's an argument for a later review. For now, suffice to say that this is a fantastic show, and one of the best in a long, long time. It's also the beginning of this summer's trend of lots of S2 jamming spread out over a number of sub-20-minute songs instead of a focus on creating one 20-25 minute opus and then stumbling to the finish line with standard playing for the remaining 50 minutes of the show as we've seen so frequently since 2009.
Not saying by any means that that latter approach is a bad thing (Tahoe Tweezer, Miami Disease, I'm looking at you), but obviously this new approach has really paid dividends during this tour. I don't think anybody's going to argue with me about that.
Anyway, the show. The first set is pretty standard, and honestly this is what probably keeps this show from being considered in the absolute upper echelon of '15 shows (including ones I didn't see). I really like the new, slower "Yarmouth" arrangement and think it allows Trey especially to do a better job on a great song. This was the first time I heard it played this way. Also, the "Reba" is incredible, showcasing '15 Trey's fantastic melodic chops.
The second set is just pure destruction. There's no other way to put it. The second-ever "Blaze On" immediately goes into loop-driven terrain and after a lyrical reprise there's a darkness jam that sets up "Twist." "Twist" starts off similar to the Bend "Simple" before moving seamlessly into bliss territory for its last few minutes. "Light" is the third jam of the trifecta and best of the three, returning to the "Blaze On" jam's territory and infusing a bit of "Manteca" into the mix before landing in perhaps the first-ever not-buzzkill "Joy." The "Hood" features an angry Type II blues jam of its own (as if the first 45 minutes of the set wasn't good enough) before exploding into its peak. "Cavern" technically ends the set, but who cares? This shit is perfect. I like to pretend that the "Zero" encore is just a joke being played on me personally. Sure, let's play the best show ever, but open with "The Line" and close with "Character Zero, lol."
Here, just watch the "Twist" > "Light" and thank Phish afterward:
The Live Review:
7/24/15: Cracks me up that a show this good starts with The Line.
7/24/15: Trey is pretty messy here with the outro solo. I like The Line, but this version is not the best.
7/24/15: Hooray for Moma, the quintessential 'reset button' song.
7/24/15: KDF in the three-spot, and after a few flubs, Trey is starting to sound like '15 Trey again.
7/24/15: Slow take on Yarmouth Road. Funkier. Good. Trey takes a longer solo than usual before the bridge lyrics.
7/24/15: I really like that version of Yarmouth. Tempo suits the song, and two actually solid solos from Trey, one in an unexpected spot.
7/24/15: Undermind next.
7/24/15: Undermind, Free, both pretty standard. I remember this Reba as being pretty great, though.
7/24/15: Yeah, this is great. Really intentionally melodic throughout.
7/24/15: Yeah, that was a keeper, though they pretty badly biffed the whistling ending. 46 Days to close the set.
7/24/15: 46 Days seems faster than usual.
7/24/15: Okay, here comes the good stuff.
7/24/15: Blaze On S2 opener.
7/24/15: This is a damn catchy song. Can't wait to hear a studio version.
7/24/15: Trey soloing starts off strong, starts turning into something resembling an Undermind jam.
7/24/15: Descending riff now from Trey. Loops on in background.
7/24/15: Lyrical refrain about 11 minutes in. Song keeps rolling afterward.
7/24/15: Immediately into space after the refrain. Loops and electric piano.
7/24/15: Love that it's the second-ever version of the song and it's already going into darkness jam territory.
7/24/15: Trey's solo here sort of reminds me of that Blossom Number Line jam I love so much.
7/24/15: I guess maybe not the solo so much as the tone.
7/24/15: > Twist.
7/24/15: Trey with the grungy tone from the Bend Simple already at the 4 minute mark.
7/24/15: So far (9 minutes), we haven't technically departed from Type I, but they've been banging at the edges of the box for awhile now.
7/24/15: And suddenly we're in a really beautiful bliss jam. How the fuck did that even happen?!
7/24/15: Bliss jam peaking in a big way.
7/24/15: Weird, evil piano from Page after the peak. > Light.
7/24/15: Transition out of the usual arpeggio-based jam at 730. Chords from Trey. Could almost be continuation of the Blaze On jam.
7/24/15: Funny how often Light jams end up circling Manteca.
7/24/15: Awesome transition to a new space at 930. Crowd cheers audible on the SBD.
7/24/15: Definitely Blaze On-esque progression and beat here.
7/24/15: This is even more awesome than I remember. I remembered like the Twist the best, but Light jam is incredible.
7/24/15: Really just the effect of the first 45 minutes of the set being jamming was jaw-dropping overall.
7/24/15: Not to mention getting a jammed-out Blaze On and the Twist jam I'd been expecting since summer '14.
7/24/15: Trey teases Twist quickly before moving into Joy.
7/24/15: Not ashamed to say I love this Joy. So cathartic in that crowd after the previous 45 minutes.
7/24/15: Sure, the Blaze On > Twist > Light was great, but what really cemented this set for me was
that Hood was the song they chose...
7/24/15: ...to wrap it all up. Probably my favorite song and a much better exclamation point in my situations, imho, than YEM or Fluff.
7/24/15: *most*
7/24/15: This one isn't a bad version, either. Lots of slow building, with some angry, almost bluesy leads at times from Trey.
7/24/15: Bass bombs from Mike. Almost a Floyd-like feeling to it at this point.
7/24/15: Everyone but Fish drops out after angry jam and then comes back in with the Hood outro build. Wow.
7/24/15: Trey jamming over the outro chords a bit instead of just going straight for the throat.
7/24/15: Gorgeous piano at this point from Page.
7/24/15: Lands in Cavern.
7/24/15: Long pause with some wood block shenanigans from Fish mid-Cavern.
7/24/15: Pretty ironic that my probably-new-favorite show ends with Zero, huh?
7/24/15: They do pretty much nail this Zero to the wall tho
This was my 25th show, and it unseated last year's Eugene show as my all-time favorite pretty much as I was walking back to the car through the gates of Shoreline. After seeing Dick's 3 last weekend, it's a toss-up as to whether this show or that one is the newest all-time best, but that's an argument for a later review. For now, suffice to say that this is a fantastic show, and one of the best in a long, long time. It's also the beginning of this summer's trend of lots of S2 jamming spread out over a number of sub-20-minute songs instead of a focus on creating one 20-25 minute opus and then stumbling to the finish line with standard playing for the remaining 50 minutes of the show as we've seen so frequently since 2009.
Not saying by any means that that latter approach is a bad thing (Tahoe Tweezer, Miami Disease, I'm looking at you), but obviously this new approach has really paid dividends during this tour. I don't think anybody's going to argue with me about that.
Anyway, the show. The first set is pretty standard, and honestly this is what probably keeps this show from being considered in the absolute upper echelon of '15 shows (including ones I didn't see). I really like the new, slower "Yarmouth" arrangement and think it allows Trey especially to do a better job on a great song. This was the first time I heard it played this way. Also, the "Reba" is incredible, showcasing '15 Trey's fantastic melodic chops.
The second set is just pure destruction. There's no other way to put it. The second-ever "Blaze On" immediately goes into loop-driven terrain and after a lyrical reprise there's a darkness jam that sets up "Twist." "Twist" starts off similar to the Bend "Simple" before moving seamlessly into bliss territory for its last few minutes. "Light" is the third jam of the trifecta and best of the three, returning to the "Blaze On" jam's territory and infusing a bit of "Manteca" into the mix before landing in perhaps the first-ever not-buzzkill "Joy." The "Hood" features an angry Type II blues jam of its own (as if the first 45 minutes of the set wasn't good enough) before exploding into its peak. "Cavern" technically ends the set, but who cares? This shit is perfect. I like to pretend that the "Zero" encore is just a joke being played on me personally. Sure, let's play the best show ever, but open with "The Line" and close with "Character Zero, lol."
Here, just watch the "Twist" > "Light" and thank Phish afterward:
The Live Review:
7/24/15: Cracks me up that a show this good starts with The Line.
7/24/15: Trey is pretty messy here with the outro solo. I like The Line, but this version is not the best.
7/24/15: Hooray for Moma, the quintessential 'reset button' song.
7/24/15: KDF in the three-spot, and after a few flubs, Trey is starting to sound like '15 Trey again.
7/24/15: Slow take on Yarmouth Road. Funkier. Good. Trey takes a longer solo than usual before the bridge lyrics.
7/24/15: I really like that version of Yarmouth. Tempo suits the song, and two actually solid solos from Trey, one in an unexpected spot.
7/24/15: Undermind next.
7/24/15: Undermind, Free, both pretty standard. I remember this Reba as being pretty great, though.
7/24/15: Yeah, this is great. Really intentionally melodic throughout.
7/24/15: Yeah, that was a keeper, though they pretty badly biffed the whistling ending. 46 Days to close the set.
7/24/15: 46 Days seems faster than usual.
7/24/15: Okay, here comes the good stuff.
7/24/15: Blaze On S2 opener.
7/24/15: This is a damn catchy song. Can't wait to hear a studio version.
7/24/15: Trey soloing starts off strong, starts turning into something resembling an Undermind jam.
7/24/15: Descending riff now from Trey. Loops on in background.
7/24/15: Lyrical refrain about 11 minutes in. Song keeps rolling afterward.
7/24/15: Immediately into space after the refrain. Loops and electric piano.
7/24/15: Love that it's the second-ever version of the song and it's already going into darkness jam territory.
7/24/15: Trey's solo here sort of reminds me of that Blossom Number Line jam I love so much.
7/24/15: I guess maybe not the solo so much as the tone.
7/24/15: > Twist.
7/24/15: Trey with the grungy tone from the Bend Simple already at the 4 minute mark.
7/24/15: So far (9 minutes), we haven't technically departed from Type I, but they've been banging at the edges of the box for awhile now.
7/24/15: And suddenly we're in a really beautiful bliss jam. How the fuck did that even happen?!
7/24/15: Bliss jam peaking in a big way.
7/24/15: Weird, evil piano from Page after the peak. > Light.
7/24/15: Transition out of the usual arpeggio-based jam at 730. Chords from Trey. Could almost be continuation of the Blaze On jam.
7/24/15: Funny how often Light jams end up circling Manteca.
7/24/15: Awesome transition to a new space at 930. Crowd cheers audible on the SBD.
7/24/15: Definitely Blaze On-esque progression and beat here.
7/24/15: This is even more awesome than I remember. I remembered like the Twist the best, but Light jam is incredible.
7/24/15: Really just the effect of the first 45 minutes of the set being jamming was jaw-dropping overall.
7/24/15: Not to mention getting a jammed-out Blaze On and the Twist jam I'd been expecting since summer '14.
7/24/15: Trey teases Twist quickly before moving into Joy.
7/24/15: Not ashamed to say I love this Joy. So cathartic in that crowd after the previous 45 minutes.
7/24/15: Sure, the Blaze On > Twist > Light was great, but what really cemented this set for me was
that Hood was the song they chose...
7/24/15: ...to wrap it all up. Probably my favorite song and a much better exclamation point in my situations, imho, than YEM or Fluff.
7/24/15: *most*
7/24/15: This one isn't a bad version, either. Lots of slow building, with some angry, almost bluesy leads at times from Trey.
7/24/15: Bass bombs from Mike. Almost a Floyd-like feeling to it at this point.
7/24/15: Everyone but Fish drops out after angry jam and then comes back in with the Hood outro build. Wow.
7/24/15: Trey jamming over the outro chords a bit instead of just going straight for the throat.
7/24/15: Gorgeous piano at this point from Page.
7/24/15: Lands in Cavern.
7/24/15: Long pause with some wood block shenanigans from Fish mid-Cavern.
7/24/15: Pretty ironic that my probably-new-favorite show ends with Zero, huh?
7/24/15: They do pretty much nail this Zero to the wall tho
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