The Verdict: Night three at Northerly is definitely my least favorite show of the run; however, there's a particularly inspired bit of improv in the third quarter and an overall energy that still makes it a solid show and bodes well for things to come.
The first set deserves brief mention for an opening "Possum" that recalls the early 90s in swagger (if not necessarily in dexterity or tempo) and a what-might-have-been version of "Tube" that pokes its head into a few interesting places briefly before getting wrangled back into the tune's blues outro. Then there's a lot of predictable songs played predictably, a weird most-of-a-set consider the tenor of the previous two nights.
Anyway, what really matters here is the "Carini" that opens the second set. While not as varied as the "Simple" from the night before, it makes for a great companion piece. Where the "Simple" was audaciously wide-ranging, this "Carini" latches on to a theme (first suggested by Mike and then taken up by Trey) and develops that theme for something like thirteen minutes, riding to a peak and then a fantastically pretty wind-down section. And though it tends a bit that way, this ain't your 2015 bliss jam; instead, it's something that uses the same template to develop and explore much more nuanced ideas, and I love it. More of this, please. Especially when it lands in a gorgeous "Twenty Years Later" that gets its own deconstruction-style outro jam.
The "Piper" that follows is pretty standard, but it leads to the debut of the interesting-but-maybe-too-weird "Thread." More on "Thread" later, hopefully.
YMMV on the last few tunes here. On one hand, "Gin" goes Type II to a great, hose-y place, "2001" features some fun "Sex Machine" and "No Men" teases, and "Cavern" ties it all together with explosive energy. On the other hand, the "Gin" sounds like every other "Gin" that's been played over the last two years, "2001" is more gimmicky than interesting, and "Cavern" is "Cavern." I'm not sure how I feel about this section of the set, yet.
But hey, it's not that important. I'll just listen to "Carini" again instead.
The Live Review:
7/16/17: Possum opener!
7/16/17: Neat little early-90s-ish riff from Trey during the intro.
7/16/17: Only lasted about fifteen seconds, but still cool.
7/16/17: Fiery Possum followed up by a 555 featuring an extra-evil-sounding solo from Trey. Tube next.
7/16/17: Tube jam almost going jazzy.
7/16/17: Just modulating into something new when it's cut off. Interesting but short Tube jam.
7/16/17: Ocelot. BLRRRRRRRRR
7/16/17: Ocelot was Ocelot. Now Lawn Boy.
7/16/17: Maybe Stash will open things up a bit.
7/16/17: The Line'd.
7/16/17: Birds next.
7/16/17: Not much to comment on in this first set so far. Pretty rote. Liked the Possum and the Tube okay.
7/16/17: > Funky Bitch
7/16/17: Antelope ends the set.
7/16/17: 'Average-great' opening set there. Not bad by any means, but every S1 this year so far has something to get excited about. Not here
7/16/17: Carini opens the second set, though, so that's cool.
7/16/17: This just in: Carini had a lumpy head.
7/16/17: Starts off angry, but pretty quickly moves into a mellower space. Tremolo and Page to electric piano.
7/16/17: Mike and Trey playing off each other now.
7/16/17: Almost funky now. Like if the Taxi theme had sex with The Darkness Inside All of Us.
7/16/17: Page on (I think) synth now along with the piano. Trey chording.
7/16/17: Super mellow jam so far. Really digging this.
7/16/17: Neat riff from Trey now. Dynamic. Band jamming on it.
7/16/17: This jam is definitely not as varied as 7/15's Simple, but I'm a huge sucker for these extended-jamming-on-a-riff jams.
7/16/17: Especially when the 'riff' isn't just a three-chord progression repeated ad nauseum.
7/16/17: Within those particular parameters, then, this jam is $$ :)
7/16/17: That was a pretty consistent, coherent build for about 14 or so minutes, based on the same idea. Real good.
7/16/17: Wind-down now, but still sticking with the same theme.
7/16/17: Great, slow -> Twenty Years Later.
7/16/17: Trey deconstructing the outro of Twenty Years a bit. MuTron (?) might be involved.
7/16/17: Loops and synth now reprising the tune's outro.
7/16/17: Not a *long* jam there, but a unique treatment of Twenty Years nonetheless.
7/16/17: > Piper
7/16/17: Do you think it's possible that one of the remaining Baker's Dozen flavors could be Long Piper Introduction?
7/16/17: Piper jam starts off pretty standard, but gets interesting at about the 8 minute mark.
7/16/17: Then, at the 9 minute mark, it gets abandoned for Thread.
7/16/17: Need to listen to Thread a few more times before I can (hah) untangle it. Gin next.
7/16/17: Serious '15-style Gin build coming right now.
7/16/17: Good, high-energy, peaky Gin jam, but you've heard the exact same version a bunch of times in the last two years.
7/16/17: > 2001
7/16/17: Trey with a very No Men's riff early on in 2001.
7/16/17: Now Trey playing what sounds like the Martian Monster riff into a 'Woo' jam.
7/16/17: 'Get on up!' vocals from band.
7/16/17: Fishman screaming 'I'm a sex machine!' is just terrifying.
7/16/17: Back to No Men teasing, then > Cavern. Short but busy 2001.
7/16/17: Cavern ends the set amid what sounds like some Carini teases.
7/16/17: Encore kicks off with Wilson.
7/16/17: Wilson > Zero.
7/16/17: Show was a bit third-quarter-heavy, but MAN the Carini -> Twenty Years was great.
7/16/17: Liked hearing Thread, strong 2001, and high-energy finish, just doesn't stack up to the previous night. That's okay.
The Verdict: Night two at Northerly Island gets off to a bit of a slow start compared to night one, but then the band turns in one of my favorite second sets in a long time.
Things take a little while to pick up even during the first set, as a really rough two-slot "Moma" sort of kills the momentum. An extended take on "Martian Monster" gets us back on track, though, and the rest of the set continues in strong (if not particularly memorable) fashion.
The second set starts off with the show's first real surprise: the Phish debut of "Corona." I really like this tune on Traveler and the way that TAB plays it, so while the band turns in a workmanlike version here, without the full TAB sound, it feels like it's missing something. It wouldn't be a bad arrow for Phish to keep in their quiver, though.
The real second set begins with the enormous version of "Simple" that follows. It clocks in at around twenty-seven minutes, and does a little bit of everything. Of particular note are a nasty "Timber"-like jam, and a moment when the entire band winds to a stop, pauses, does not ripcord into another song, but then picks back up with a completely new, melodic jam instead. You should just watch and listen below:
Not content to rest on their laurels, though, the guys immediately continue on into "Winterqueen," sinister backing loops and all. "Winterqueen" gets a brief but fantastic Type II jazz jam before segueing perfectly into "Light." While this might seem to have set the table for a huge "Light" blowout, this time we go the compact-but-effective route before a beautifully-done transition into "Scents." "Scents" then employs Page's synth to great effect, building up into yet another distinct Type II space (that's four in a row for those keeping score at home) before another perfect segue into "Cities."
"Cities" only serves as a breather (only!) before the set ends with "Slave."
And it just doesn't get much better than that, folks. It really doesn't.
The Live Review:
7/15/17: Night two of Northerly Island starts with my least-favorite opener: Stealing Time. 7/15/17: Reviewing this show from ten days ago while tonight's show is being tweeted about is going to be confusing. 7/15/17: Rough take on Moma in slot two, but a nice transition into The Wedge at the end. 7/15/17: Long pause after The Wedge. Halfway To the Moon next. 7/15/17: Fish playing a different beat than usual, I think. 7/15/17: Ya Mar keeps a pretty song-based set going. No more big-time hiccups like with Moma, though. 7/15/17: Trey calls for a Mike solo in Ya Mar after the usual 'Leo' solo. 7/15/17: Extra clav-heavy Martian Monster up next. 7/15/17: Neat little wind-down bit in the middle of MM, now a huge blues guitar peak out of nowhere at the end. Neat version! 7/15/17: Party Time is next. Page is destroying the organ during the composed section. 7/15/17: Wingsuit is Wingsuit. 7/15/17: Bouncing Around the Room > More ends up the first set. 7/15/17: Compared to 7/14 and 7/18, a pretty songy, straightforward first set. On the upside, they're getting better at rocking out More. 7/15/17: I would recommend a listen to the Martian Monster, though. Even though it's only 5 1/2 minutes, it's pretty interesting. 7/15/17: Set two opens with Corona. That's exciting. Love this as a TAB song. 7/15/17: Pretty straightforward rock reading of Corona > Simple. Delicate interplay typical of Simple gets going right away. 7/15/17: Fades away after a few minutes. Page to synth. Everyone else playing underneath him. 7/15/17: Trey putting down some bluesy licks now. 7/15/17: Trey trying some funk chording over a mellow electric piano riff now. 7/15/17: Really contemplative space that's starting to lean a little sinister. 7/15/17: Loving this. Hard to imagine the band playing this before fall '16 without a ripcord or three-chord bliss jam emerging by now. 7/15/17: Darker rock riff from Trey now from what sounded like the seeming end of the jam. More of this kind of creativity, please. 7/15/17: -> Timber? 7/15/17: Crowd reacting as if it's a segue into Timber, but the jam just continuing w/o lyrics. Echoplex coming out now. 7/15/17: Man, if we get a few jams like this and the Dayton Disease at Dick's, I'll be a (literal) happy camper. 7/15/17: This is magic. 7/15/17: Still sounding like Timber, but winding down now. 7/15/17: Some neat droning from Mike now. 7/15/17: SEAMLESS transition into an uplifting, melodic space led by Trey. 7/15/17: Really like what Mike and Fish are doing rhythm-wise here. 7/15/17: Trey repeating a neat descending riff now. Rest of the band building around it. 7/15/17: The Dick's Disease riff would go really nicely here. 7/15/17: I don't think that would be cheating to reuse a riff...mostly because I'd literally die of a heart attack if it happened. 7/15/17: Rock build-up winds down again into a The Who-sounding jam. -> Friends would probably be appropriate. But I hope not. 7/15/17: Last big guitar fade-out and that's that. Amazing Simple jam. Wow. Followed up, appropriately, by Winterqueen. 7/15/17: ALMOST sounded like Mike was winding up for Disease instead. That was interesting. 7/15/17: Spooky loops to start off the Winterqueen outro, instead of the usual Trey noodling. 7/15/17: 7/15 probably can't really compete with a jammed-out Sample and Lawn Boy but I'm going to keep going :0 7/15/17: Jazzy, Victor-Sessions-style jam now. 7/15/17: So, Type II Winterqueen Jam -> Light. Just to make sure we're staying on top of this jamfest. 7/15/17: Trey skipping the arpeggios and going straight into a chording funk jam here in Light. 7/15/17: They are packing a lot of serious jamming into this Light in a short space, helped Page's circus organ. 7/15/17: HOLY SHIT on-a-dime -> Scents 7/15/17: WHO. IS. THIS. BAND. 7/15/17: If I had been at this show in person, I would have joy-cried at least three times by now. 7/15/17: Meanwhile, in real life, Phish is apparently currently playing a 40 minute Lawn Boy. 7/15/17: I'm not sure why, but there's just something special about Scents to me. Ever since hearing it at BGCA, at least. 7/15/17: Trey leading the jam with harmonics. Now a Rift-sounding...uhh...riff. 7/15/17: Oh, by the way, this Scents jam continues to be amazing. 7/15/17: It's not just that they're jamming so much, it's that there's a distinct character to each jam. Not just rehashing ideas. 7/15/17: ALL HAIL THE SYNTH 7/15/17: Everyone's freaking out about Lawn Boy and I'm over here listening to 7/15/17 II like https://t.co/HktEU5WAUJ 7/15/17: -> Cities. /dead 7/15/17: Short but fun Cities. Breather before Slave to close the set. 7/15/17: No surprises with that Slave, but it was a version worthy of closing that ridiculous set. 7/15/17: Sending everyone home with a Loving Cup encore. 7/15/17: A slight drag of a first set there, but OH BOY that second set. One of my favorite 3.0 six-song sets, right there. Wow.
The Verdict:
In a way, this show reminds me of 7/21/15. It's got a unique, but (mostly) well-put-together setlist, the debuts of a lot of new songs, and a surprising amount of polish for a tour opener. Additionally, it has the one thing that 7/21/15 was missing: meaty improvisation. The only thing we're really lacking here is a standout tentpole jam. But relax. Those are coming.
"What's the Use?" as the tour opener sets the tone: expect the unexpected. And I'm more than willing to cut a show without a long jam some slack if it surprises me a few times. This surprise is the first of many for this show. The second is the weirdness that is following "What's the Use?" directly with "Breath and Burning." The third, though, is when the three-slot "Wolfman's" modulates into a bliss jam out of nowhere, and suddenly we've gone Type II three songs into the tour.
"In The Good Old Summertime" is an a capella debut of a traditional tune, and I can't think of a better cover for the first set of the summer.
If you were expecting things to settle down a bit in the second quarter, they don't. The debut of the Trey tune "Everything's Right" goes deep out of nowhere, employing loops, ambient noise, and all kinds of other tricks we'll see plenty more of this tour. It's arguably the improvisational highlight of the show.
The rest of the set is a bit more predictable, but is still played with a verve the band usually takes a few shows to work up to.
"No Men" gets taken for a long walk to open the second set, revisiting some of the territory probed by "Everything's Right" while also incorporating more funk elements. It's also a good listen and a sign of things to come.
The Live Review:
7/14/17: I've got to admit, What's the Use? would be pretty low on my list of Expected Tour Opening Songs. But I like it.
7/14/17: Going almost inaudible during the wind-down middle section here.
7/14/17: Tonal weirdness continues with Breath and Burning following WTU?
7/14/17: Still not sold on B+B minus the horns, but that was a neat little outro jam. Band sounds great for an opening show.
7/14/17: Wolfman's next.
7/14/17: Okay, after a brief rhythm-heavy section, Wolfman's just modulated into a Gin-style jam. That's pretty cool for three songs in.
7/14/17: Trey soloing his way back to the Wolfman's riff in an atypical scale.
7/14/17: In The Good Old Summertime a capella debut. Interesting call to have Fishman so up front in the arrangement.
7/14/17: Great choice for a tour-opening set, though.
7/14/17: Phish debut of TAB tune Everything's Right.
7/14/17: Everything's Right is a catchy Paper-Wheels-style tune, but this very takes a quick turn into spacey blues at the end.
7/14/17: Trey with some squealing licks over Page's electric piano now.
7/14/17: Noise loops cascading over the piano now.
7/14/17: Great building riff now. This is some serious second-set stuff.
7/14/17: Back to the 'main' part of the jam after a big peak.
7/14/17: Spooky, ambient jamming going on over Fish's consistent beat now.
7/14/17: > Limb By Limb.
7/14/17: Great Trey/Page bit in LxL. I know I always say that, but this one's more on than usual. Some tension-y drumming from Fish, too.
7/14/17: Nellie Kane next.
7/14/17: > Theme.
7/14/17: It might just be me, but it felt like that Theme was swankier than usual.
7/14/17: > Blaze On.
7/14/17: End first set. Weird mix of tunes and a somewhat rote ending, but lots to like, too.
7/14/17: Good energy, interesting playing, and the surprising song choices are great when they work.
7/14/17: Wolfman's and Everything's Right jams would be at home in any second set.
7/14/17: S2 starts off with No Men. Pitch-shifted Type I soloing from Trey early on, then back into a vocal refrain.
7/14/17: Eerie loops now. Mike leading the melody section.
7/14/17: Love when this tune gets jammed as something other than just straight-up funk.
7/14/17: Almost a WTU? soundscape now.
7/14/17: Nice building jam with the addition of some guitar loops and great organ work from Page.
7/14/17: This is a great funk/bliss rock mashup. Teetering on the edge of a '15 rehash, but not going there.
7/14/17: > Fuego
7/14/17: Pretty straightforward take on Fuego. Briefly interesting outro, but winds into MFMF. A -> could be argued, there.
7/14/17: Rough MFMF > Your Pet Cat.
7/14/17: Your Pet Cat getting extended a bit with a spacey funk jam. Page on synth.
7/14/17: Now more droning guitar jamming. Page on organ.
7/14/17: Fish playing a Golden Age-y beat.
7/14/17: -> Golden Age
7/14/17: Nice!
7/14/17: Dude, Trey, PLEASE just play this song a half or full step down from now on.
7/14/17: I know vocals don't matter as much with Phish, but Trey trying to sing this song just hurts me, every time.
7/14/17: I am not one of those O NO FLUBS people, but that was awful.
7/14/17: Right after the end of the composed bit of Golden Age, -> Your Pet Cat. Nice save!
7/14/17: I'm going to officially remember this sequence as Your Pet Cat -> [REDACTED] -> Your Pet Cat.
7/14/17: Fade-out segue into the debut of Leaves.
7/14/17: Liking the Trey/Page vocal trading. Very musical-y.
7/14/17: Very piano-heavy song. Digging it as much as one can dig a Phish ballad.
7/14/17: Could see that being a great jam-landing-pad tune in the future. Hood next!
7/14/17: Neat, arguably Type II stop-start section in the middle of Hood. Just slid it in there without ever losing momentum.
7/14/17: Sorry, that was grosser than I meant it to be.
7/14/17: But seriously, this is a neat take on Hood. WHICH JUST GOT NEATER BECAUSE -> WTU?
7/14/17: -> Hood peak
7/14/17: That was awesome. Followed, oddly, by Shine a Light > Julius to close the set.
7/14/17: That was a pretty swingin' Julius, tho.
7/14/17: Love Is What We Are debut for the encore. Nice little reggae tune.
7/14/17: Golgi now. I love the new/old juxtaposition there.
7/14/17: That show had more of all the Phish things than most Phish shows, even if they felt like they were put together in a weird order.
7/14/17: That it was the tour opener makes it even more impressive. Looking forward to more.
The Verdict:
In real life, tonight is the fourth night of the Baker's Dozen run. Everything I've read and heard from Phish tour 2017 so far reinforces what I wrote about Phish tour 2016: that the band was/is looking for new ways to improvise creatively after hitting a high-water mark of sorts at the end of 2015, and that they're getting better at better at it as time goes on. We're seven shows into the tour so far, and every show has featured surprise debuts, huge bust-outs, unexpected jam vehicles (often in the first set and not just the second), and all-around high-quality Phishiness. Sure, some of the composed playing has been rough, but considering that the band has already played 142 different songs in ten shows this year and you're just sitting here reading a blog post, maybe shut up about it?
Seriously, I'm gonna overlook a few roughly played songs in the name of the band, as usual, trying to do something incredible, and succeeding this time even more than usual. The Dayton show is great evidence of that success.
I watched this show via the free webcast, and it still ranks right up there with some of the most fun I've had at a Phish show (either at or "at"). "Tuesday" is a weird opener, but the boys are clearly enjoying themselves, and it's followed by a well-played "Peaches," which should make up for any TAB-related grumbling. "Free" fills in the three-spot with more energy than usual, not to mention a way-stretched-out funk jam in the middle of the song. I'm surprised this version hasn't been talked about more, because it's a good listen that goes beyond the song's normal boundaries.
The middle of the set is a great mix of high-energy tunes, setting us up nicely for the "Crazy Sometimes" > "46 Days" > "Jim" big finish. Both "Crazy Sometimes" (a Phish debut) and "46 Days" get sinister-sounding little outro jams, and though both are cut short of what would likely be considered a "real" Type II jam, the fact that the set ends with a well-played and explosive "Jim" makes up for those missed opportunities. As a sidenote, too, "Crazy Sometimes" is great as a Phish song, and I hope it keeps coming back.
If you've got any residual ripcord angst, the second set should cure you of it. It's a classic Phish 3.0 six-song second set, on par with any of the others the gang has laid down over the last few years, and, frankly, better than a lot of them. The opening "Disease" is a great example of new, non-bliss-centric style of jamming, moving through a number of sections fluidly during its twenty-two minute length and seeming longer than that without every letting up. That the jam eventually lands in "Mist," my favorite Phish rarity tune, is just icing on the cake for this listener.
In the middle of the set, "Waves" is a strong Type I take that doesn't wander too far afield; however, the "Ghost" that follows picks right up where "Disease" left off and then brews those ingredients into a more rock-peak jam that serves as the perfect foil for the set-opening exploration. Not content to rest for the rest of what's already been a fantastic set, the guys then trot out "Wombat" and take it for a Type II spin, mixing in elements of the previous two jams layered over the song's funk backbone. By the time we get to the set-ending "Chalkdust," it's almost appreciated that there's no jam, just so we have a few minutes to catch our collective breath. "Coil" as the encore is just more icing.
This is a fantastic slice of current-era Phish, and for the time being at least, you can actually watch the whole show on Phish's YouTube channel:
The Live Review:
7/18/17: Word on the street (Twitter) is that getting into the venue is taking forever. I assume that means super-late start.
7/18/17: I haven't listened to Chicago Carini yet. Should I risk it? Or will I get ripcorded by Dayton Trey?
7/18/17: I'll probably just sit here and read about dark ecology and the strange stranger until showtime. Cuz that's WAY cooler.
7/18/17: Crowd getting rowdy. No sign of band yet, though.
7/18/17: Lights!
7/18/17: Tuesday?
7/18/17: Yup.
7/18/17: Trey sounds way better singing this song now than he did in '06.
7/18/17: Take that as you will.
7/18/17: Piano break.
7/18/17: PEACHES AND REGALIA
7/18/17: Spot-on take, in case you were wondering. > Free
7/18/17: Light rig already looks rad. Band sounds great. Is is Labor Day yet?!
7/18/17: Rhythm jam in Free. Trey using the echo.
7/18/17: This is way slankier than typical Free. Cities-type jam.
7/18/17: Here's a present from @phish for everyone who groaned when Free started up :) https://t.co/KFNw54uKpi
7/18/17: Haven't heard any of the new songs yet. That'll be my homework for later tonight.
7/18/17: Great little funk excursion there. Brings it smoothly back to the ending of Free.
7/18/17: Roggae! Setlist is $$$ so far.
7/18/17: Wish I wasn't going on a run at setbreak because Roggae always makes me want to have taken a huge hit thirty minutes ago.
7/18/17: They need to play a boring song after this so I can go feed the dogs.
7/18/17: Maybe I'm behind on this, but does Trey have a new guitar strap and did they use a whole cow skin to make it?
7/18/17: Textbook Roggae. So, amazing.
7/18/17: Sugar Shack! Trey is outta control!
7/18/17: No line at my downstairs bathroom right now. #couchtourproblems
7/18/17: There have been worse Sugar Shacks than that one.
7/18/17: Maze.
7/18/17: Angled light rig during Maze. Wow.
7/18/17: Trey trying to end the build-up early, Page having none of it.
7/18/17: They should put this song on YouTube after the show just for the lights.
7/18/17: Horn.
7/18/17: I'm so sorry, I couldn't stop me. https://t.co/lzPplfxIGL
7/18/17: Mike tune Crazy Sometimes is next.
7/18/17: I totally dig recent TAB/Trey tunes, so I ask this with love, but is Mike the only one who writes real Phish songs anymore?
7/18/17: Little clav break there, then a great Mike-style key change.
7/18/17: The outro to this tune has serious space jam potential.
7/18/17: Really neat fadeout on that tune. Would have liked to have heard more but faded into 46 Days.
7/18/17: Spacey fade out of 46 Days...is it time?!
7/18/17: Brief little jam there. Normally, I'd complain about the ripcord, but hey, it's Runaway Jim time!
7/18/17: Great Type I Jim there.
7/18/17: End set. I'm going to try to run four miles before setbreak ends. Wish me luck!
7/18/17: Setbreak run: 3.25 miles in 29:17, 800 ft elevation exchange. Humbly request a second-set Mercury ;) @phish
7/18/17: Set two!
7/18/17: Calling Disease.
7/18/17: It's fun to be right, even when it's the most obvious call evar.
7/18/17: Must be behind on the webcast. Jam spoilers, guys! JEEZ
7/18/17: Smooth transition from Type I jam to slick lead from Trey.
7/18/17: LED rig moving around.
7/18/17: Trey soloing quick-like over the new progression.
7/18/17: Just went minor. I think.
7/18/17: Dick's '15 Disease action going on now.
7/18/17: Really love where this is going. Love the synth. Y'all that grumbled about Always Wanted It This Way can suck it.
7/18/17: Jam slowing down a bit now, but that was totally $$$.
7/18/17: Just as much non-stop momentum as a straight-up bliss jam, but a way more complicated and interesting listen.
7/18/17: Lights are ridiculous right now. Riding the spooky fade-out for all its worth.
7/18/17: I'd like to go ahead and request one jam like this at nighttime at Dick's, please.
7/18/17:PItch shifter and synth together with this crazy Mike bass line is the best thing ever.
7/18/17: This band is somehow putting '15 and '16 jamming in the rearview mirror and speeding away right now.
7/18/17: I hope my webcast is like 45 minutes behind the real show, because I want this to go on forever.
7/18/17: Big ol' major-key jam happening now. This thing has had a bunch of distinct sections, but smooth moves between each.
7/18/17: We are STILL GOING over here.
7/18/17: Can I mention one more time how great the lights are?
7/18/17: Fadeout, Trey picking over the rest of the band.
7/18/17: > MIST. My absolute favorite @phish rarity. Wow.
7/18/17: I hope the crowd is just low in the mix tonight, or else someone needs to kick Ohio into shape.
7/18/17: So happy to hear this song. Been wanting to catch it since 2009. I guess this sort of counts, right?
7/18/17: Roggae-like mellow jam out of the song.
7/18/17: > Waves
7/18/17: Lights have the weird, angled thing going on again. Dense Type I Waves jam.
7/18/17: Trey struggling a bit with the Waves riff, but otherwise a solid take.
7/18/17: Sanity-style vocals outro.
7/18/17: GHOST
7/18/17: Creepy Waves loop still playing in the background. Shit.
7/18/17: Just got creeped-out goosebumps from the sound and I'm totally sober. Super-eerie intro to Ghost.
7/18/17: You have told me the story of the ghost a great many times, but it never hurts to hear it again.
7/18/17: They have a Jumpin-Jack-Flash-Sorta thing going on here. Reminds me of the BGCA Sally.
7/18/17:This one's going to be real easy to jam into a huge explosion of rock and roll if they want to.
7/18/17:Aaaaaand they don't, surprisingly. Going the more dissonant, contemplative route. Trey trilling away.
7/18/17: Fish is not letting up on the drums, though.
7/18/17: Now would be the PERFECT time for some instrument switching.
7/18/17: I'm kidding.
7/18/17: Really like Page's piano fills here. Circular work from the rhythm department. Trey figuring out where to jump in.
7/18/17: Trey's solo clashing a little weirdly with his loops.
7/18/17: Maybe it's on purpose, though. I dunno. Only one of the two of us is a FUCKING GENIUS, after all.
7/18/17: Slowly building back up to a '15-style bliss/rock jam here. Maybe they'll take it all the way this time.
7/18/17: Every once in awhile tonight, Trey drags for a bit while he's looking for his moment.
7/18/17: But then he finds it 100% of the time, so it's okay.
7/18/17: This trill-rock-peak thing is getting ridiculous.
7/18/17: Great peak, and then a weird, stop-start thing back into the Ghost riff. Wow.
7/18/17: Waves vocals from Trey over the Ghost riff.
7/18/17: > Wombat!
7/18/17: Pretty good funk workout happening out of Wombat here.
7/18/17: Making a serious move toward jamming Wombat here. I'm going to laugh real hard if this goes Type II.
7/18/17: I wonder if the guys ever respond musically to the lights instead of the other way around. I feel like I always would if it was me.
7/18/17: Yep, Type II Wombat. This is happening.
7/18/17: Driving jam (again, Fish is the only member with minimal restraint in these jams tonight) with Page on electric piano.
7/18/17: I, for one, appreciate the seemingly intentional avoidance of MEGA THREE-CHORD BLISS MADNESS in all these jams.
7/18/17: I love me some '15/'16 Phish, but I could listen to this Wombat jam all day long. Everybody contributing ideas. No rush to the top.
7/18/17: If that's what Phish '17 is about, I hope someone's ripping the MSG webcasts :)
7/18/17: More eerie space jamming now. Page isn't even playing the synth, but it's nonetheless driving the band to be extra creepy.
7/18/17: Oh man, Trey couldn't hold back that Chalkdust riff any longer!
7/18/17: I absolutely CANNOT complain after this set, but that felt like someone giving you a wet willie while you're meditating. > CDT.
7/18/17: Some fun dissonant soloing from Trey during Chalkdust.
7/18/17: End set.
7/18/17: Thanks to the 'magic' of west coast internet, I already know the encore will be Squirming Coil. It will happen momentarily.
7/18/17: Trey struggling mightily with Coil riffage.
7/18/17: If you're gonna play a standard show and fumble your way through tunes, I'm gonna complain...
7/18/17: ...but I couldn't care less in a show like this one. Dexterity mistakes can be easily redeemed by engaged improv.
7/18/17: A lot of Phish twitter would disagree there, but aside from the maybe-jams in Crazy Sometimes and 46 Days, this show was A++.
7/18/17: Wish I could see more than Dick's this year, now.
7/18/17: Coil as the closer always makes me sad in person, as it feels like it leaves something unsaid ('See you tomorrow night...')
7/18/17: On #couchtour, tho, I'm just going upstairs to make dinner now, so it's all good. Incredible show. Thanks, @phish. See you soon.
The Verdict:
I tend to have lower expectations for Phish when they play festival sets. Because, for some reason, they still play festivals like they're trying to win over new fans. But, hey, this festival appearance is better than most.
The first set is mostly a hit parade, but it's played with exceptional energy, minus the kind of uncomfortable Kenny Rogers sit-in on "The Gambler." It's great to hear "Disease" as the show opener, "Number Line" just keeps getting better, and there's a legit highlight in the "Tweezer," which gets a space-funk jam that's more appropriate for a second set.
Unsurprisingly, there's no huge monster jam in the real second set, but there's enough interesting playing to please the already-Phish-fan. "Golden Age" is short, but its brief noise-rock jam fades nicely into "2001." "Carini" revists the pitch-shifted territory first explored earlier in "Tweezer" before segueing beautifully into "Shafty," of all songs. If you're a "Hood" purist, you might not appreciate the song getting cut in half during the "Hood" -> "Light" transition, but it's a pretty unique moment for the song and adds to the set's uniqueness.
In all, this show is a bit of a step back from the DCU Center run, but in the context of "usual" Phish festival shows, it stands out with a strong first set, and an interesting (if not exceptionally jammy) second.
The Live Review:
6/10/12: Alright, time for some festival Phish. 6/10/12: After a solid opening to 2012 tour at the DCU Center, I feel like this is likely to be...less interesting. 6/10/12: Disease opener, though. 6/10/12: Nice Type I romp through Disease. Funky Bitch next. 6/10/12: Page is losing his damn mind on the organ. 6/10/12: Moma continues the hit parade with an extended funk intro. 6/10/12: > Sample. 6/10/12: Back in the day, I could understand Phish playing rote sets for festivals. These days, though, it seems like half the... 6/10/12: ...bands that play at festivals are jambands. I'm pretty sure Phish could cut loose a few 20 minute jams without ruffling feathers. 6/10/12: Kenny Rogers out for The Gambler. I remember seeing this on the webcast and thinking Kenny was going to die at any moment. 6/10/12: Possum next. Some Gambler-style noodling during the intro. 6/10/12: Nice, energetic take on Possum. Wilson next. 6/10/12: > Tweezer! 6/10/12: Neat, minimal funk jam happening now. 6/10/12: Jam modulating for a moment into what would, in 2015, become a three-chord bliss jam. Transitioning back into Tweeze-funk instead. 6/10/12: This Tweezer, out of nowhere, is badass. 6/10/12: Trey soloing with the pitch-shifter over an I Am Hydrogen-style beat from Fish. > Free. 6/10/12: Take on Free is surprisingly weak after that monsta Tweezah 6/10/12: Number Line now. 6/10/12: Number Line goes quiet for a minute, like the Tweezer jam before it, then comes back for a standard ending. 6/10/12: Pretty sure I just heard a vuvuzela during setbreak. Those were the days. 6/10/12: Golden Age starts off the second set. 6/10/12: Droning, noise-rock ending to a short Golden Age. 6/10/12: > 2001 6/10/12: Chalkdust seems like an odd pick at this point in the set, but Trey is leading the band through a crazy rock and roll take. 6/10/12: THE WALRUS ON YER FACE 6/10/12: Carini jam goes dark at first, then transitions into a pitch-shifted melody over the rumbling. 6/10/12: Some great Trey/Mike interplay right now. 6/10/12: Carini -> Shafty. That was decidedly unfestival-like. 6/10/12: Neat little jam in Shafty. Sudden > Rock and Roll. 6/10/12: Troy giving this RnR and serious workout. 6/10/12: Extended vocal...jam? Screaming? Yelling? Bellowing? Alaska is next. 6/10/12: Someday, when Phish is like 70, they're going to play Alaska -> Ocelot -> Alaska or vice versa. And I will fall asleep. 6/10/12: Hood! 6/10/12: Great full-band improv to start off the Hood jam. 6/10/12: As the Hood jam builds, -> Light. You know I love me some Hood peak, but that was a neat transition. 6/10/12: Pretty standard take on Light after that great transition. No finish to Hood. Zero next instead. 6/10/12: End set with Rocky Top. 6/20/12: Well, the good news is that there was a three-song encore. The bad news is that two of those songs are Show of Life and Julius. 6/10/12: Basically, five show-ending tunes in a row there for the band. Better show overall than I expected, though. 6/10/12: Lots of energy in the first set and great Possum and Tweezer, taboot. Love Golden Age > 2001, Carini -> Shafty, and Hood -> Light.
