The Verdict:
There's a sort of circularity to Phish 2011. It began with the Bethel soundcheck jam and a few great shows that featured jamming that went above and beyond just about everything from '09 and '10. Then, we spent most of the heart of the summer revisiting the doldrums of the least interesting portions of those two years. Once the band headed west, they seemed to start to evolve again, an evolution that culminated in fantastic runs at UIC Pavilion and Dick's. Now, rounding out the year at MSG, they've laid down a run that recalls the less inspiring parts of 2011 instead of building on momentum from late summer.
That said, I'm only partway through 12/31 right now, but at this point, 12/28 is the best of the bunch. The opening set is a typically well-built 2011 S1, and on top of just its sheer momentum and flow it features strong takes on "Possum," "Cities" (w/ plinko jam) and "KDF," as well as a barn-burner of a "Gin" closer.
Opening the second set with "Birds" is usually a head-scratcher, but here Trey and Co. bring the heat, revving things up for a great "Carini" -> "Tweezer" pair. The "Carini" goes against type, hitting on a jam space that's best describes as "bouncy" or "lilting," while "Tweezer" splits its time between plinko jamming and funk jamming...at the same time.
For sheer jamming value, this sequence is definitely the highlight of set. That said, "Rock and Roll" moves nicely from standard Trey Rock to a blues section that sets up a precise start-and-stop transition -> "NICU." The segue is worth a listen, at least. And, as a "Hood" aficionado, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that this "Hood" is pretty special it doesn't deviate much from the blueprint, but it has both melodic beauty and a huge rock peak to a degree that most typical versions could only wish for.
In all, this isn't a UIC or Dick's show by any means, but it's a strong showing when put in the company of late-summer 2011. I wish I could say the same of the rest of the run.
The Live Review:
12/28/11: Free opener.
12/28/11: Trey with some extra whammy between lyrics.
12/28/11: Glide!
12/28/11: High-tempo, too.
12/28/11: Hot version of Possum. Cities now.
12/28/11: Slow tempo, languidly funky.
12/28/11: Huzzah! Page to clav.
12/28/11: Really neat, bass-y plinko space now.
12/28/11: Fading to an angry drone now.
12/28/11: > Curtis Loew.
12/28/11: Standard-but-energetic take on Stash.
12/28/11: Contact. Loving the setlist so far.
12/28/11: Sample, compact-but-rocking KDF.
12/28/11: Looks like the set will end with Gin.
12/28/11: Nice slow-building rock jam/peak to this Gin. Trey going nuts at the 9 minute mark.
12/28/11: Now that's how you end a first set with Bathtub Gin.
12/28/11: Here you go: https://t.co/rPd5CLhpZ9
12/28/11: S2 starts with the almost-always disappointing opener Birds of a Feather.
12/28/11: Good thing I said 'almost-always,' because that version was HOT.
12/28/11: Carini seems like a logical follow-up.
12/28/11: Layered 'lumpy head' lyrics coming out of the song proper.
12/28/11: Move into a surprisingly calm space, led by Page's organ.
12/28/11: Awesome, bouncy little jam here in Carini. Quite a surprise.
12/28/11: Excellent -> Tweezer.
12/28/11: Cooking up some plinko-funk stew early in Tweezer, here.
12/28/11: Really cool plinko and funk synthesis continuing here.
12/28/11: Now busting out into a Trey-rock direction.
12/28/11: Neat fadeout at the end of the Tweezer jam > MFMF > RnR.
12/28/11: JENNY SAID WHEN SHE WAS JUST FIVE YEARS OLD THERE'S NOTHING HAPPENING AT ALL
12/28/11: Straight-ahead rock mania in this RnR.
12/28/11: Once again, Page on organ drives the jam in a different direction. Slowing down a bit now.
12/28/11: Nice little two-chord, almost-blues breakdown now.
12/28/11: Whoa! Stop-start jam makes a -> NICU. Very cool.
12/28/11: Oddly placed Bouncin', but Hood has us back on track now.
12/28/11: Will there ever be a point in my life where Harry Hood isn't my favorite song? I hope not.
12/28/11: Gorge and Chula Vista Hoods were thirty or so of the best moments of this year for me.
12/28/11: There's pretty much nothing in the world like a Gorge Hood, except maybe a Gorge Tweeprise.
12/28/11: Some fantastic percussion from Fish on this version. Making the usual opening to the jam more dynamic.
12/28/11: Fantastic build!
12/28/11: The string of notes Trey is putting together right now is absolutely gorgeous.
12/28/11: HOLY HELL, I did not expect to find such a good Hood just lurking around during a show like this.
12/28/11: If they nail the transition into the outro I'm going to flip out.
12/28/11: YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES
12/28/11: Hood: https://t.co/wMl7SwWjik
12/28/11: Could have ended there, but continues into Bug. Which means Trey must be happy.
12/28/11: Call me crazy, but I actually really like Bug as a S2 ender in the right circumstances.
12/28/11: End set.
12/28/11: Tube encore. That's interesting.
12/28/11: Rocky Top!
12/28/11: > Tweeprise
12/28/11: Possum, Cities, Stash, Sample, Gin, Carini, Tweezer, RnR, Hood, Tweeprise...they do realize there are three shows left, right?!
Oct 13, 2016
Jun 23, 2016
2011-09-14 Essex Junction
The Verdict:
Essex Junction falls easily into the category of the "bonus show." You know, that show that pops up on the schedule unexpectedly, builds a tremendous amount of expectation because it's a "special" show, and then proceeds to just be pretty good and mostly normal? This seems to happen pretty frequently with Phish, and I'm not sure where the expectation that these off-schedule shows are going to be barn-burners even comes from? I mean, when was the last time Phish played a one-off show like this and blew the roof off? Oh well.
Anyway, 9/14 isn't the disaster a lot of reviews would have you believe it is. It falls in well with the shows from the 2011 west coast swing, actually: not on the level of the recent UIC and Dick's shows, but tremendously better than the majority of summer 2011. Here's why.
The first set is, again, the epitome of the 2011 first set (can there be more than one epitome?). Just look at that setlist. I can hear your eyes rolling in their sockets. But as is often the case this year, the band plays a setlist like this with such swagger, you're willing to forgive at least a bit of the uninventiveness. In this case, "Sample" and "Julius" get extended a bit to good effect. "Wolfman's" jams for a bit on a different set of chords, and "Gin" does its usual (as of late) "Type 1.5" thing.
The second set is much the same. One glance at that setlist and you can imagine how it goes...and you'd be partly right, but not entirely. The meat, such as it is, comes at the beginning. "Carini" is dedicated to Pete Carini, and veers off into angry distortion almost immediately upon entering the jam. Then, Trey turns on the pitch-shifter and things get really serene and melodic for a few minutes. It's a quick stylistic one-eighty, but it's really cool and easily the best part of the show. "Disease" rises out of the murk, and while it doesn't proceed to do anything particularly special, it moves through a chordy, heavy-rock space and then a fast-tempo funk space before seguing nicely into a strong "Slave."
After that sequence, though, the band seems to enter victory-lap mode. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how strong the takes on "Number Line," "Suzy," and even "Zero" are here, but unless you're digging for new, better-rocked-out versions of those songs, you won't find anything in this show post-"Slave" that's worth a listen.
There's maybe more to this show than there might seem to be at first, but I'll still prefer to pretend that summer ended at Dick's.
The Live Review:
9/14/11: CDT opener.
9/14/11: Incidentally, this was the first webcast that I watched.
9/14/11: Moma Dance in the two-slot.
9/14/11: NICU third. Great, though normal, version of Moma.
9/14/11: Funky Bitch. Crowd loving it.
9/14/11: Sample, Cavern continuing the hit parade.
9/14/11: Sample with a little extra fire at the end.
9/14/11: Bathtub Gin. Might open the first set up a bit.
9/14/11: Deviating a bit from the typical Type I jam here and heading into bliss territory.
9/14/11: Fish really driving this build.
9/14/11: Neat little jam there in Gin. Alaska, now.
9/14/11: I can't believe I'm saying this, but Trey just rocked Alaska.
9/14/11: Possum.
9/14/11: Possum was pretty normal, but Wolfman's is featuring a really grungy, distorted funk jam.
9/14/11: Something that I think would technically be a Type II jam forming here. Trey soloing over different chords than usual.
9/14/11: Whale pedal making an appearance.
9/14/11: Nice peak after an interesting Wolfman's jam.
9/14/11: Extended Julius to end the first set.
9/14/11: Remembered this as a straight-up hit parade, and it mostly is...
9/14/11: ...however, strong version of Sample, extended Julius and nice '1.5' versions of Gin and Wolfman's give it a bit of staying power.
9/14/11: Trey opening second set by thanking everyone for participating in the benefit.
9/14/11: Dedicates Carini...to Carini.
9/14/11: Breakdown in Carini jam getting a psychedelic.
9/14/11: Winding down now. Trey laying down a pitch-shifted solo.
9/14/11: Neat, serene little outro jam there. Everyone contributing. Wash turns into Disease intro.
9/14/11: Heavy rock chording from Trey early on in the Disease jam.
9/14/11: Now returning to the usual soloing, but Fish has switched up the beat a little bit.
9/14/11: Page over to organ. Trey mellowing a little.
9/14/11: Fast-paced funk now. Page on clav.
9/14/11: After the funk runs its course, a slow -> Slave.
9/14/11: Maybe it's just me, but it seems like a prettier, more patient build than usual in this Slave.
9/14/11: Rock and Roll next.
9/14/11: Just as Rock and Roll starts turning a bit, sudden > Twist.
9/14/11: Standard Rock and Roll. Number Line next.
9/14/11: Should have been 'standard Twist' before Number Line.
9/14/11: A little extra heat on the Number Line, there.
9/14/11: Seems like an odd placement for Theme.
9/14/11: Slightly extended ending on Theme. Then Suzy.
9/14/11: Character Zero.
9/14/11: This Q4 is totally in greatest-hits mode, but I do have to say that Number Line, Suzy, and Zero have all been crazy versions.
9/14/11: Trey throwing some weird effects at the wall during an extended Zero solo.
9/14/11: Loving Cup encore.
Essex Junction falls easily into the category of the "bonus show." You know, that show that pops up on the schedule unexpectedly, builds a tremendous amount of expectation because it's a "special" show, and then proceeds to just be pretty good and mostly normal? This seems to happen pretty frequently with Phish, and I'm not sure where the expectation that these off-schedule shows are going to be barn-burners even comes from? I mean, when was the last time Phish played a one-off show like this and blew the roof off? Oh well.
Anyway, 9/14 isn't the disaster a lot of reviews would have you believe it is. It falls in well with the shows from the 2011 west coast swing, actually: not on the level of the recent UIC and Dick's shows, but tremendously better than the majority of summer 2011. Here's why.
The first set is, again, the epitome of the 2011 first set (can there be more than one epitome?). Just look at that setlist. I can hear your eyes rolling in their sockets. But as is often the case this year, the band plays a setlist like this with such swagger, you're willing to forgive at least a bit of the uninventiveness. In this case, "Sample" and "Julius" get extended a bit to good effect. "Wolfman's" jams for a bit on a different set of chords, and "Gin" does its usual (as of late) "Type 1.5" thing.
The second set is much the same. One glance at that setlist and you can imagine how it goes...and you'd be partly right, but not entirely. The meat, such as it is, comes at the beginning. "Carini" is dedicated to Pete Carini, and veers off into angry distortion almost immediately upon entering the jam. Then, Trey turns on the pitch-shifter and things get really serene and melodic for a few minutes. It's a quick stylistic one-eighty, but it's really cool and easily the best part of the show. "Disease" rises out of the murk, and while it doesn't proceed to do anything particularly special, it moves through a chordy, heavy-rock space and then a fast-tempo funk space before seguing nicely into a strong "Slave."
After that sequence, though, the band seems to enter victory-lap mode. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how strong the takes on "Number Line," "Suzy," and even "Zero" are here, but unless you're digging for new, better-rocked-out versions of those songs, you won't find anything in this show post-"Slave" that's worth a listen.
There's maybe more to this show than there might seem to be at first, but I'll still prefer to pretend that summer ended at Dick's.
The Live Review:
9/14/11: CDT opener.
9/14/11: Incidentally, this was the first webcast that I watched.
9/14/11: Moma Dance in the two-slot.
9/14/11: NICU third. Great, though normal, version of Moma.
9/14/11: Funky Bitch. Crowd loving it.
9/14/11: Sample, Cavern continuing the hit parade.
9/14/11: Sample with a little extra fire at the end.
9/14/11: Bathtub Gin. Might open the first set up a bit.
9/14/11: Deviating a bit from the typical Type I jam here and heading into bliss territory.
9/14/11: Fish really driving this build.
9/14/11: Neat little jam there in Gin. Alaska, now.
9/14/11: I can't believe I'm saying this, but Trey just rocked Alaska.
9/14/11: Possum.
9/14/11: Possum was pretty normal, but Wolfman's is featuring a really grungy, distorted funk jam.
9/14/11: Something that I think would technically be a Type II jam forming here. Trey soloing over different chords than usual.
9/14/11: Whale pedal making an appearance.
9/14/11: Nice peak after an interesting Wolfman's jam.
9/14/11: Extended Julius to end the first set.
9/14/11: Remembered this as a straight-up hit parade, and it mostly is...
9/14/11: ...however, strong version of Sample, extended Julius and nice '1.5' versions of Gin and Wolfman's give it a bit of staying power.
9/14/11: Trey opening second set by thanking everyone for participating in the benefit.
9/14/11: Dedicates Carini...to Carini.
9/14/11: Breakdown in Carini jam getting a psychedelic.
9/14/11: Winding down now. Trey laying down a pitch-shifted solo.
9/14/11: Neat, serene little outro jam there. Everyone contributing. Wash turns into Disease intro.
9/14/11: Heavy rock chording from Trey early on in the Disease jam.
9/14/11: Now returning to the usual soloing, but Fish has switched up the beat a little bit.
9/14/11: Page over to organ. Trey mellowing a little.
9/14/11: Fast-paced funk now. Page on clav.
9/14/11: After the funk runs its course, a slow -> Slave.
9/14/11: Maybe it's just me, but it seems like a prettier, more patient build than usual in this Slave.
9/14/11: Rock and Roll next.
9/14/11: Just as Rock and Roll starts turning a bit, sudden > Twist.
9/14/11: Standard Rock and Roll. Number Line next.
9/14/11: Should have been 'standard Twist' before Number Line.
9/14/11: A little extra heat on the Number Line, there.
9/14/11: Seems like an odd placement for Theme.
9/14/11: Slightly extended ending on Theme. Then Suzy.
9/14/11: Character Zero.
9/14/11: This Q4 is totally in greatest-hits mode, but I do have to say that Number Line, Suzy, and Zero have all been crazy versions.
9/14/11: Trey throwing some weird effects at the wall during an extended Zero solo.
9/14/11: Loving Cup encore.
Jun 22, 2016
2011-09-04 Dick's III
The Verdict:
If UIC was two mind-boggling shows followed up by a mediocre show, Dick's is an incredibly solid three-show run that never really lets up despite not quite reaching the ridiculous heights of 8/15. I think we can forgive it that, though.
The first set goes back to the "typically" weird mold established at the start of the UIC run. There's a "Maze" opener, and a very strong 1.5-style "Gin" jam (that seems to be becoming a thing lately). Then there's a run of rarities including the Phish debut of "The Way It Goes," a pre-Fuego "Halfway To The Moon," and a great "Halley's" that's aborted too early for, ironically, "Tube," its twin from The Land Of Never-Jammed. Snark aside, it's a well put-together set, and sets up another extremely strong second set.
The second set might be another one of those that's better to just listen to in its entirety. "Rock and Roll" kicks things off, and jams quickly to a massive peak before making a perfect (planned?) transition to "Come Together." "Come Together" segues into "Twist," which jams on "Low Rider" as part of a great bit before another great segue into "Piper." Were it not for that pitch-perfect 9/3 "Tweezer," this would be the jam of the run. Page breaks out the theremin, and we get an extended jam of what can only be described as "ghost plinko." This excellent jam is followed by a fantastic take on "Hood," and whoever decided to follow the "Hood" with "Roggae" is a setlist wizard.
Lest you think the band is done, they're not. To the tune of a late-set "Ghost" -> "Guy Forget" -> "Ghost" sequence and a set-ending (and ear-destroying) rockfest in "Walls." This set never lets up for a minute, unless you consider "Roggae" to be "letting up," which you shouldn't. God damn. What a way to close an amazing run. No wonder they decided to keep coming back every year after this.
The Live Review:
9/4/11: Maze opener, of all things.
9/4/11: Really like Maze as an opener, actually. BOTT is next.
9/4/11: BOTT has had some extra fire since the beginning of leg two. It's probably the only time I've been excited to see it in setlists.
9/4/11: Rift!
9/4/11: Page has been crazy lately. Laying down some great piano licks in this Rift.
9/4/11: Solid Rift > Gin.
9/4/11: Neat repeating riff from Trey early. Speed building. Page adding flourishes.
9/4/11: S1 Gin megajam would not disappoint me.
9/4/11: After that building section, the band returns to a jam on the main Gin riff.
9/4/11: Still building energy, though.
9/4/11: That was the epitome of 1.5 jamming right there. Never *really* deviated from Gin proper, but lots of good playing/listening.
9/4/11: High energy, massive build, solid momentum throughout.
9/4/11: The Way It Goes! I goddamn love this song.
9/4/11: I don't think I knew that Phish every played it, just MGB.
9/4/11: MGB is definitely better at the harmonies.
9/4/11: Halfway To The Moon! We're getting some non-Trey songs here. And I always love hearing this tune pre-Fuego.
9/4/11: That was actually pretty similar to the Fuego version, though with a better outro jam :)
9/4/11: Gumbo, Halley's. Looks like interesting S1s are back on the menu.
9/4/11: Miscue from Trey during Halley's outro leads, unfortunately, not to a Halley's jam, but short Halley's -> short Tube.
9/4/11: If that ain't a cosmic joke, I don't know what is.
9/4/11: Nice transition, though.
9/4/11: Timber! The hits just keep coming.
9/4/11: Timber > Roses.
9/4/11: Set keeps rolling with CDT.
9/4/11: Beginning S2. Someone in the crowd just yelled a request for 'Scissors!'
9/4/11: They play Rock and Roll instead.
9/4/11: Machine gun Trey taking this Rock and Roll jam to town.
9/4/11: Almost a Llama-sounding jam happening off and on here. Peak stretching out forever.
9/4/11: End of the jam segues perfectly -> Come Together. Holy shit.
9/4/11: -> Twist. Another great segue.
9/4/11: A lot of nice Trey/Page interplay during a mellow Twist jam.
9/4/11: Extended Low Rider teasing in Twist.
9/4/11: Amazingly good segue into Piper from that Twist.
9/4/11: Neat repeating riff developing early in the Piper jam.
9/4/11: Got a little fuzz behind it.
9/4/11: Trey adding some vocals now.
9/4/11: Super plinko happening now.
9/4/11: Theremin.
9/4/11: Plinko ghosts are trying to eat me.
9/4/11: Descending chord jam now over the screaming of the theremin.
9/4/11: After a fantastic (and fantastically weird) jam, > Hood.
9/4/11: Great, slow-building Hood jam with some excellent melodic playing from Trey early on.
9/4/11: Especially exciting b/c this is probably the last Hood I'll hear before attempting to summit Mount Hood this weekend.
9/4/11: Definitely planning to take the 8/7/09 Hood up there with me in case I make the summit. It will be at least a 15 minute summit stay.
9/4/11: This is a really good Hood so far, by the way.
9/4/11: Huge peak. Perfect landing. 10/10 Hood.
9/4/11: If you're going to place Hood mid-set, I can't imagine a much better follow-up than Roggae.
9/4/11: Really mellow Roggae jam really suddenly builds up to a great peak, then falls back down.
9/4/11: Yeah, usually what Roggae does, sure, but this time they pulled it off in about 3-4 less minutes.
9/4/11: Someone forgot to remind these guys that 2011 Phish doesn't jam in the fourth quarter.
9/4/11: They're playing Ghost now and building toward a rock-and-roll-style jam space.
9/4/11: As the jam peaks, more vocals from the band. It's unclear what they're saying.
9/4/11: Nevermind, it's the lyrics to Guy Forget. -> Guy Forget.
9/4/11: -> Ghost outro w/ Guy Forget lyrics.
9/4/11: 'Now you all know who the ghost really is, the ghost is...Guy Forget!' lyrics at end of Ghost.
9/4/11: Walls seems like a good choice for a set-closer.
9/4/11: Big rock outro to Walls, with some Rock and Roll vocal quotes to boot.
9/4/11: GUITAR CHAOS is really the only way to explain this.
9/4/11: End set. Number Line encore.
9/4/11: Typically great 2011 Number Line to end the show, and Dick's. Hot damn, what a second set.
If UIC was two mind-boggling shows followed up by a mediocre show, Dick's is an incredibly solid three-show run that never really lets up despite not quite reaching the ridiculous heights of 8/15. I think we can forgive it that, though.
The first set goes back to the "typically" weird mold established at the start of the UIC run. There's a "Maze" opener, and a very strong 1.5-style "Gin" jam (that seems to be becoming a thing lately). Then there's a run of rarities including the Phish debut of "The Way It Goes," a pre-Fuego "Halfway To The Moon," and a great "Halley's" that's aborted too early for, ironically, "Tube," its twin from The Land Of Never-Jammed. Snark aside, it's a well put-together set, and sets up another extremely strong second set.
The second set might be another one of those that's better to just listen to in its entirety. "Rock and Roll" kicks things off, and jams quickly to a massive peak before making a perfect (planned?) transition to "Come Together." "Come Together" segues into "Twist," which jams on "Low Rider" as part of a great bit before another great segue into "Piper." Were it not for that pitch-perfect 9/3 "Tweezer," this would be the jam of the run. Page breaks out the theremin, and we get an extended jam of what can only be described as "ghost plinko." This excellent jam is followed by a fantastic take on "Hood," and whoever decided to follow the "Hood" with "Roggae" is a setlist wizard.
Lest you think the band is done, they're not. To the tune of a late-set "Ghost" -> "Guy Forget" -> "Ghost" sequence and a set-ending (and ear-destroying) rockfest in "Walls." This set never lets up for a minute, unless you consider "Roggae" to be "letting up," which you shouldn't. God damn. What a way to close an amazing run. No wonder they decided to keep coming back every year after this.
The Live Review:
9/4/11: Maze opener, of all things.
9/4/11: Really like Maze as an opener, actually. BOTT is next.
9/4/11: BOTT has had some extra fire since the beginning of leg two. It's probably the only time I've been excited to see it in setlists.
9/4/11: Rift!
9/4/11: Page has been crazy lately. Laying down some great piano licks in this Rift.
9/4/11: Solid Rift > Gin.
9/4/11: Neat repeating riff from Trey early. Speed building. Page adding flourishes.
9/4/11: S1 Gin megajam would not disappoint me.
9/4/11: After that building section, the band returns to a jam on the main Gin riff.
9/4/11: Still building energy, though.
9/4/11: That was the epitome of 1.5 jamming right there. Never *really* deviated from Gin proper, but lots of good playing/listening.
9/4/11: High energy, massive build, solid momentum throughout.
9/4/11: The Way It Goes! I goddamn love this song.
9/4/11: I don't think I knew that Phish every played it, just MGB.
9/4/11: MGB is definitely better at the harmonies.
9/4/11: Halfway To The Moon! We're getting some non-Trey songs here. And I always love hearing this tune pre-Fuego.
9/4/11: That was actually pretty similar to the Fuego version, though with a better outro jam :)
9/4/11: Gumbo, Halley's. Looks like interesting S1s are back on the menu.
9/4/11: Miscue from Trey during Halley's outro leads, unfortunately, not to a Halley's jam, but short Halley's -> short Tube.
9/4/11: If that ain't a cosmic joke, I don't know what is.
9/4/11: Nice transition, though.
9/4/11: Timber! The hits just keep coming.
9/4/11: Timber > Roses.
9/4/11: Set keeps rolling with CDT.
9/4/11: Beginning S2. Someone in the crowd just yelled a request for 'Scissors!'
9/4/11: They play Rock and Roll instead.
9/4/11: Machine gun Trey taking this Rock and Roll jam to town.
9/4/11: Almost a Llama-sounding jam happening off and on here. Peak stretching out forever.
9/4/11: End of the jam segues perfectly -> Come Together. Holy shit.
9/4/11: -> Twist. Another great segue.
9/4/11: A lot of nice Trey/Page interplay during a mellow Twist jam.
9/4/11: Extended Low Rider teasing in Twist.
9/4/11: Amazingly good segue into Piper from that Twist.
9/4/11: Neat repeating riff developing early in the Piper jam.
9/4/11: Got a little fuzz behind it.
9/4/11: Trey adding some vocals now.
9/4/11: Super plinko happening now.
9/4/11: Theremin.
9/4/11: Plinko ghosts are trying to eat me.
9/4/11: Descending chord jam now over the screaming of the theremin.
9/4/11: After a fantastic (and fantastically weird) jam, > Hood.
9/4/11: Great, slow-building Hood jam with some excellent melodic playing from Trey early on.
9/4/11: Especially exciting b/c this is probably the last Hood I'll hear before attempting to summit Mount Hood this weekend.
9/4/11: Definitely planning to take the 8/7/09 Hood up there with me in case I make the summit. It will be at least a 15 minute summit stay.
9/4/11: This is a really good Hood so far, by the way.
9/4/11: Huge peak. Perfect landing. 10/10 Hood.
9/4/11: If you're going to place Hood mid-set, I can't imagine a much better follow-up than Roggae.
9/4/11: Really mellow Roggae jam really suddenly builds up to a great peak, then falls back down.
9/4/11: Yeah, usually what Roggae does, sure, but this time they pulled it off in about 3-4 less minutes.
9/4/11: Someone forgot to remind these guys that 2011 Phish doesn't jam in the fourth quarter.
9/4/11: They're playing Ghost now and building toward a rock-and-roll-style jam space.
9/4/11: As the jam peaks, more vocals from the band. It's unclear what they're saying.
9/4/11: Nevermind, it's the lyrics to Guy Forget. -> Guy Forget.
9/4/11: -> Ghost outro w/ Guy Forget lyrics.
9/4/11: 'Now you all know who the ghost really is, the ghost is...Guy Forget!' lyrics at end of Ghost.
9/4/11: Walls seems like a good choice for a set-closer.
9/4/11: Big rock outro to Walls, with some Rock and Roll vocal quotes to boot.
9/4/11: GUITAR CHAOS is really the only way to explain this.
9/4/11: End set. Number Line encore.
9/4/11: Typically great 2011 Number Line to end the show, and Dick's. Hot damn, what a second set.
2011-09-03 Dick's II
The Verdict:
After four shows in a row that distinguished themselves at least partially by their unique and fun opening sets, it's strange that the first quarter of 9/3 is so by-the-book. There's a little nod toward plinko action in "Moma," but that's about it until the near-end of the set when we get hit with a "Llama" > "FEFY" combo. Neither of these versions knock it out of the park, but I love both tunes and like the ramp-up/comedown of them being directly paired even more. This seems to push the band out of the box a bit and so the set-closing "Wolfman's" embarks on a deep-space plinko journey in which the band folds the plinko sound over onto itself in a crazy way before wrapping up the song with a triumphant rock ending. Definitely worth a listen.
The second set is just nuts. "Disease" opens and goes straight rock-and-roll right away. It's about to move into funk jamming before Trey ripcords it...into the best "Tweezer" of the year, hands down. This jam is my favorite of the weekend, and stands up there with the 8/5 "RnR," 8/15 "Undermind," and 8/16 "Disease" as one of the best of the year. The guys could have just mailed it in from there, but instead they string together a jazzy "Golden Age," a loop-filled "Limb," a "KDF" with a second jam, a solid "2001," and a driving "Light" that wraps up with a "Disease" reprise! Like I said, nuts. The victory lap finally kicks in from there, but no big deal. You really should just hear the entire set. It's that good.
The Live Review:
9/3/11: Second night at Dick's opens with Possum, Moma, The Wedge, and Ocelot.
9/3/11: Weird after four shows in a row of off-the-wall S1 setlists.
9/3/11: Okay, so there was a tiny bit of plinko jamming at the end of Moma. Felt compelled to mention that.
9/3/11: Hit parade continues with (an admittedly well-played) Divided Sky.
9/3/11: Funky Bitch is next. Page owns so routinely on this song that sometimes I take it for granted.
9/3/11: Okay, Trey is now taking a turn at beating Funky Bitch into submission.
9/3/11: Okay, sure, Axila I. But then...LLAMA. Not nearly enough Llama these days.
9/3/11: Llama > FEFY. Love that pairing.
9/3/11: Really low-tempo, mellow FEFY.
9/3/11: Wolfman's, presumably to end the first set.
9/3/11: Page immediately to clav as the jam starts. Trey soloing over.
9/3/11: Heavily distorted soloing from Trey now.
9/3/11: Crazy overlapping plinko breakdown in the middle of the jam.
9/3/11: Big, rock ending. Interesting version. Worth a listen, for sure. End set.
9/3/11: S2 opens with Disease. Maybe they'll just play the 8/16 Disease again?
9/3/11: This is just a mega-balls-out rock take on Disease.
9/3/11: A little funk chording now.
9/3/11: Trey using the ASIHTOS tone.
9/3/11: Ohhhh shit, Trey is playing a slow version of the Tweezer riff. Nobody's realized it yet.
9/3/11: THERE IT IS
9/3/11: Might have been a neat Disease jam, but worth the semi-ripcord for a Disease -> Tweezer. That can't happy very often.
9/3/11: Tweezer jam is, surprisingly, off to a 2015-bliss-sounding start.
9/3/11: Band jamming along, Trey just adding nice flourishes here and there. Allowing Fish and Page to push it.
9/3/11: This is fucking gorgeous.
9/3/11: Page is raining down piano fills all over the place. Just do this for ten more minutes, please.
9/3/11: I think I'm starting to see where awesome 3.0 Phish was born. Somewhere between 8/5/11 and MSG 2011.
9/3/11: Pitch-shifting magic.
9/3/11: I need to put 8/5 RnR, 8/15 Undermind, 8/16 Disease, and 9/3 Tweezer on loop forever.
9/3/11: Hearing Golden Age in Fish's beat. Fade out into ambient bliss instead.
9/3/11: Purposeful ambient sound. Gorgeous stuff.
9/3/11: Hmm...Trey pulls a > Golden Age. Could've been a -> Golden Age a few minutes earlier, but would have missed that ambient outro.
9/3/11: Feels a bit like the age of miracles these last few shows.
9/3/11: Almost jazzy breakdown at the end of Golden Age. Page on organ.
9/3/11: Neat, short little jam. > Limb By Limb.
9/3/11: Lot of crazy looping guitars en route to the Limb By Limb peak.
9/3/11: Trey turns the 'ending' chords of KDF into a second jam of sorts here.
9/3/11: Jamming over a guitar loop now.
9/3/11: Fish starts up the 2001 beat. Loop keeps going.
9/3/11: Nice, loopy take on 2001. > Light.
9/3/11: Sort of If-Light-Jam-Was-Simple-Jam noodling going on now. Really dig it.
9/3/11: Hooooly shit. During the Light outro, Trey starts slowly playing the Disease riff.
9/3/11: Speeding up a bit now. Disease Reprise!!!
9/3/11: Reprise winds down. > Julius.
9/3/11: Really nice exclamation point for a pretty cohesive sequence of jamming that ran most of the second set.
9/3/11: Julius > Cavern signals the cool-off portion of your show.
9/3/11: Antelope, probably as the set closer.
9/3/11: Extended Antelope. I don't like it to close S2s, but that was a strong version.
9/3/11: Sleeping Monkey encore. Somehow, they've got another S song left.
9/3/11: Tweeprise to close.
After four shows in a row that distinguished themselves at least partially by their unique and fun opening sets, it's strange that the first quarter of 9/3 is so by-the-book. There's a little nod toward plinko action in "Moma," but that's about it until the near-end of the set when we get hit with a "Llama" > "FEFY" combo. Neither of these versions knock it out of the park, but I love both tunes and like the ramp-up/comedown of them being directly paired even more. This seems to push the band out of the box a bit and so the set-closing "Wolfman's" embarks on a deep-space plinko journey in which the band folds the plinko sound over onto itself in a crazy way before wrapping up the song with a triumphant rock ending. Definitely worth a listen.
The second set is just nuts. "Disease" opens and goes straight rock-and-roll right away. It's about to move into funk jamming before Trey ripcords it...into the best "Tweezer" of the year, hands down. This jam is my favorite of the weekend, and stands up there with the 8/5 "RnR," 8/15 "Undermind," and 8/16 "Disease" as one of the best of the year. The guys could have just mailed it in from there, but instead they string together a jazzy "Golden Age," a loop-filled "Limb," a "KDF" with a second jam, a solid "2001," and a driving "Light" that wraps up with a "Disease" reprise! Like I said, nuts. The victory lap finally kicks in from there, but no big deal. You really should just hear the entire set. It's that good.
The Live Review:
9/3/11: Second night at Dick's opens with Possum, Moma, The Wedge, and Ocelot.
9/3/11: Weird after four shows in a row of off-the-wall S1 setlists.
9/3/11: Okay, so there was a tiny bit of plinko jamming at the end of Moma. Felt compelled to mention that.
9/3/11: Hit parade continues with (an admittedly well-played) Divided Sky.
9/3/11: Funky Bitch is next. Page owns so routinely on this song that sometimes I take it for granted.
9/3/11: Okay, Trey is now taking a turn at beating Funky Bitch into submission.
9/3/11: Okay, sure, Axila I. But then...LLAMA. Not nearly enough Llama these days.
9/3/11: Llama > FEFY. Love that pairing.
9/3/11: Really low-tempo, mellow FEFY.
9/3/11: Wolfman's, presumably to end the first set.
9/3/11: Page immediately to clav as the jam starts. Trey soloing over.
9/3/11: Heavily distorted soloing from Trey now.
9/3/11: Crazy overlapping plinko breakdown in the middle of the jam.
9/3/11: Big, rock ending. Interesting version. Worth a listen, for sure. End set.
9/3/11: S2 opens with Disease. Maybe they'll just play the 8/16 Disease again?
9/3/11: This is just a mega-balls-out rock take on Disease.
9/3/11: A little funk chording now.
9/3/11: Trey using the ASIHTOS tone.
9/3/11: Ohhhh shit, Trey is playing a slow version of the Tweezer riff. Nobody's realized it yet.
9/3/11: THERE IT IS
9/3/11: Might have been a neat Disease jam, but worth the semi-ripcord for a Disease -> Tweezer. That can't happy very often.
9/3/11: Tweezer jam is, surprisingly, off to a 2015-bliss-sounding start.
9/3/11: Band jamming along, Trey just adding nice flourishes here and there. Allowing Fish and Page to push it.
9/3/11: This is fucking gorgeous.
9/3/11: Page is raining down piano fills all over the place. Just do this for ten more minutes, please.
9/3/11: I think I'm starting to see where awesome 3.0 Phish was born. Somewhere between 8/5/11 and MSG 2011.
9/3/11: Pitch-shifting magic.
9/3/11: I need to put 8/5 RnR, 8/15 Undermind, 8/16 Disease, and 9/3 Tweezer on loop forever.
9/3/11: Hearing Golden Age in Fish's beat. Fade out into ambient bliss instead.
9/3/11: Purposeful ambient sound. Gorgeous stuff.
9/3/11: Hmm...Trey pulls a > Golden Age. Could've been a -> Golden Age a few minutes earlier, but would have missed that ambient outro.
9/3/11: Feels a bit like the age of miracles these last few shows.
9/3/11: Almost jazzy breakdown at the end of Golden Age. Page on organ.
9/3/11: Neat, short little jam. > Limb By Limb.
9/3/11: Lot of crazy looping guitars en route to the Limb By Limb peak.
9/3/11: Trey turns the 'ending' chords of KDF into a second jam of sorts here.
9/3/11: Jamming over a guitar loop now.
9/3/11: Fish starts up the 2001 beat. Loop keeps going.
9/3/11: Nice, loopy take on 2001. > Light.
9/3/11: Sort of If-Light-Jam-Was-Simple-Jam noodling going on now. Really dig it.
9/3/11: Hooooly shit. During the Light outro, Trey starts slowly playing the Disease riff.
9/3/11: Speeding up a bit now. Disease Reprise!!!
9/3/11: Reprise winds down. > Julius.
9/3/11: Really nice exclamation point for a pretty cohesive sequence of jamming that ran most of the second set.
9/3/11: Julius > Cavern signals the cool-off portion of your show.
9/3/11: Antelope, probably as the set closer.
9/3/11: Extended Antelope. I don't like it to close S2s, but that was a strong version.
9/3/11: Sleeping Monkey encore. Somehow, they've got another S song left.
9/3/11: Tweeprise to close.
2011-09-02 Dick's I
The Verdict:
I'm always interested to see with these setlist-gimmick-type shows how much the gimmick helps and how much it hinders the band in playing a good show. Sometimes, the gimmick can push the band out of its comfort zone, to excellent results. Sometimes, having to stick to the gimmick keeps the band from getting as far out there as they might otherwise. In this case, "The S Show" causes a bit of both reactions.
The novelty of the setlist leads to a great first set, with a lot of the great 2011-style first set playing that we're used to at this point mixed with just enough bustouts to keep things interesting. A slowed-down "Susskind Hotel" is awesome, and the "Sally" -> "Sparks" combo is worth a listen, as "Sally" head-fakes toward a plinko jam and then heads in a different direction for a few minutes before setting up a great segue into the bustout "Sparks." The other legit highlight of the first set is "Split," which gets a bit more abstract than usual.
The second set suffers a bit from the gimmick: there's little jamming to be had here as the band still has twelve more "S" songs to get through, dammit! That said, the opening "Sand" is a strong Type I version, and "Simple" gets weird for a few minutes before transitioning to a solid "Steam."
"Seven Below" briefly but beautifully visits the Storage Unit, and that's about it for highlights.
Near the end of the second set, "Scents" shows up, and is nice as a bustout, but the jam doesn't do much but serve as a prelude for the similar but more peaky "Slave" jam that follows a song later.
Overall, there's a lot to like about this show, but it's spread out a bit as opposed to being focused on one or two particular highlights. It might not reach the heights of the first two UIC shows, but it's still a great show for 2011, and not just because of the gimmick.
The Live Review:
9/2/11: Dick's run starts off with Sample.
9/2/11: Will the S Show's playing transcend its gimmick? Find out in 3 or so hours!
9/2/11: Sparkle, The Sloth.
9/2/11: Weird start to it, but they're playing Sweet Virginia.
9/2/11: Uptempo version of Suskind Hotel next. Nice, piano-heavy version of Sweet Virginia.
9/2/11: Strange Design! If nothing else, this show should bring out some fun rarities.
9/2/11: Stash
9/2/11: Great version of Stash. Sally is next.
9/2/11: Sally jam started going plinko but then changed direction. Mike taking over now.
9/2/11: Natural little wind-down after a great jam. Aaaaaand -> Sparks!
9/2/11: Scent of a Mule next.
9/2/11: Trey just worked over Stealing Time Hendrix-style.
9/2/11: Split, presumably to end the set.
9/2/11: Guitar loops and tension coming up in this Split jam.
9/2/11: Pitch-shifter in action now. Droning.
9/2/11: Sudden transition back to the Split theme, and then end song. Coil will in fact end the set.
9/2/11: Bit more driving outro to Coil than usual this time around.
9/2/11: In generally, that was impressively good first set, gimmick and all.
9/2/11: A few fun rarities broke up the jukebox feel, as did an interesting take on Stash and legit jams in Sally and Split.
9/2/11: Set two starts with Sand.
9/2/11: Nice Type I Sand. Simple is next.
9/2/11: Type I jam into a synth drone with almost no percussion/rhythm.
9/2/11: Fish coming back in now.
9/2/11: Nice segue out of the drone into Steam.
9/2/11: Solid Steam, next is Soul Shakedown Party.
9/2/11: Seven Below! I guess it was inevitable, but I still love this song.
9/2/11: Page to the clav for some space-funk action.
9/2/11: Really neat plinko-by-way-of-Storage-Jam bit in the middle of Seven Below. Now outro-ing with some evil ambient space.
9/2/11: Suzy!
9/2/11: Suzy ends with a huge guitar peak -> Scents!
9/2/11: Piano-heavy, Slave-type jam in Scents.
9/2/11: After the vocal refrain, Trey just takes off with a huge guitar outro.
9/2/11: Interestingly, > Slave.
9/2/11: Trey holding a single note forever in this Slave build-up, while everyone else plays around him.
9/2/11: Slave had an especially crazy peak there. Set keeps rolling, though, with Silent (no Horse).
9/2/11: Silent > Sanity.
9/2/11: Trey singing the lyrics to Sanity by stressing all the 'Ssss's.
9/2/11: Lots of hissing from the band, post-song.
9/2/11: Sweet Adeline to close S2.
9/2/11: Aaaaaaand Sabotage encore. What else?!
I'm always interested to see with these setlist-gimmick-type shows how much the gimmick helps and how much it hinders the band in playing a good show. Sometimes, the gimmick can push the band out of its comfort zone, to excellent results. Sometimes, having to stick to the gimmick keeps the band from getting as far out there as they might otherwise. In this case, "The S Show" causes a bit of both reactions.
The novelty of the setlist leads to a great first set, with a lot of the great 2011-style first set playing that we're used to at this point mixed with just enough bustouts to keep things interesting. A slowed-down "Susskind Hotel" is awesome, and the "Sally" -> "Sparks" combo is worth a listen, as "Sally" head-fakes toward a plinko jam and then heads in a different direction for a few minutes before setting up a great segue into the bustout "Sparks." The other legit highlight of the first set is "Split," which gets a bit more abstract than usual.
The second set suffers a bit from the gimmick: there's little jamming to be had here as the band still has twelve more "S" songs to get through, dammit! That said, the opening "Sand" is a strong Type I version, and "Simple" gets weird for a few minutes before transitioning to a solid "Steam."
"Seven Below" briefly but beautifully visits the Storage Unit, and that's about it for highlights.
Near the end of the second set, "Scents" shows up, and is nice as a bustout, but the jam doesn't do much but serve as a prelude for the similar but more peaky "Slave" jam that follows a song later.
Overall, there's a lot to like about this show, but it's spread out a bit as opposed to being focused on one or two particular highlights. It might not reach the heights of the first two UIC shows, but it's still a great show for 2011, and not just because of the gimmick.
The Live Review:
9/2/11: Dick's run starts off with Sample.
9/2/11: Will the S Show's playing transcend its gimmick? Find out in 3 or so hours!
9/2/11: Sparkle, The Sloth.
9/2/11: Weird start to it, but they're playing Sweet Virginia.
9/2/11: Uptempo version of Suskind Hotel next. Nice, piano-heavy version of Sweet Virginia.
9/2/11: Strange Design! If nothing else, this show should bring out some fun rarities.
9/2/11: Stash
9/2/11: Great version of Stash. Sally is next.
9/2/11: Sally jam started going plinko but then changed direction. Mike taking over now.
9/2/11: Natural little wind-down after a great jam. Aaaaaand -> Sparks!
9/2/11: Scent of a Mule next.
9/2/11: Trey just worked over Stealing Time Hendrix-style.
9/2/11: Split, presumably to end the set.
9/2/11: Guitar loops and tension coming up in this Split jam.
9/2/11: Pitch-shifter in action now. Droning.
9/2/11: Sudden transition back to the Split theme, and then end song. Coil will in fact end the set.
9/2/11: Bit more driving outro to Coil than usual this time around.
9/2/11: In generally, that was impressively good first set, gimmick and all.
9/2/11: A few fun rarities broke up the jukebox feel, as did an interesting take on Stash and legit jams in Sally and Split.
9/2/11: Set two starts with Sand.
9/2/11: Nice Type I Sand. Simple is next.
9/2/11: Type I jam into a synth drone with almost no percussion/rhythm.
9/2/11: Fish coming back in now.
9/2/11: Nice segue out of the drone into Steam.
9/2/11: Solid Steam, next is Soul Shakedown Party.
9/2/11: Seven Below! I guess it was inevitable, but I still love this song.
9/2/11: Page to the clav for some space-funk action.
9/2/11: Really neat plinko-by-way-of-Storage-Jam bit in the middle of Seven Below. Now outro-ing with some evil ambient space.
9/2/11: Suzy!
9/2/11: Suzy ends with a huge guitar peak -> Scents!
9/2/11: Piano-heavy, Slave-type jam in Scents.
9/2/11: After the vocal refrain, Trey just takes off with a huge guitar outro.
9/2/11: Interestingly, > Slave.
9/2/11: Trey holding a single note forever in this Slave build-up, while everyone else plays around him.
9/2/11: Slave had an especially crazy peak there. Set keeps rolling, though, with Silent (no Horse).
9/2/11: Silent > Sanity.
9/2/11: Trey singing the lyrics to Sanity by stressing all the 'Ssss's.
9/2/11: Lots of hissing from the band, post-song.
9/2/11: Sweet Adeline to close S2.
9/2/11: Aaaaaaand Sabotage encore. What else?!
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