Before I get to the review, I wanted to apologize for the
lack of posts. Without going into all the details, it’s been a rough month or
so, including losing a longtime beloved pet just as I was starting to work on
this review again. I know I don’t have to explain to anyone who has experienced
these times in your life, that you simply can’t focus on endeavors like this,
that don’t really matter and are read by like negative one people. Anyway.
[Prologue]
Without giving too much away ahead of time, I have to say
that this show is the earliest example of the worst and best that 2.0 Phish has
to offer. As the third in a series of four ‘reunion’ shows, you can deduce from
the setlist and song lengths that the band were continuing to reignite their
jamming skills. Hell, it’s a five song first set, and the encore is the only
one this run of shows that is two songs instead of just one! But a setlist
doesn’t tell the tale of the tape, and all is clearly not well in Phish…
[Set One]
Tweezer- OK, yeah, I’ll take a ‘Tweezer’ show opener! I
mean, 11/17/97 has a five song first set that opens with ‘Tweezer’, I’m on
board! There’s something a bit sluggish and slightly off about the composed
section of this song. Trey does that weird riff-variance thing he does a lot
during 2.0 where he kind of plays the main ‘Tweezer’ riff but he kind of plays
a different riff at the same time. Anyway, jam starts off like a ‘99/’00 era
version minus the Trey loops, with Mike taking commanding lead while Trey and
Page comp in the background. Around 7:00 Trey starts some patient, restrained
soloing. I don’t know about you, but I don’t always need my ‘Tweezer’ to be
type II so I’m pretty happy with this one so far. Around 8:00 Trey lays down a
loop but it gets a bit swallowed up in the rest of the sound going on. They
start putting the pedal to the metal around 8:30, increasing the tempo from a
crawl to….err, an amble. Big peaking jam feeling starting at 9:45, are we
heading for a peak and cool-off? Heading out into type II? Trey and Page play
responsive lines around each other for a minute or two, by 11:00 Trey has fully
woken up and started cooking. Page stays on the organ to play chordal
accompaniment as Trey hits an enjoyable but pretty standard peak and steps back
with sustained notes. By 12:35 we’re cooling off, quieting down and possibly
heading to an ending. Nope. Trey starts playing high register spacey guitar
noodling and they feel stuck in place, unsure where to go next. Loops from Trey
at 13:45ish but they’re quickly overwhelmed by Mike’s deep space bass sounds.
Soon Trey starts a sluggish -> segue into the next song. All in all not a
BAD ‘Tweezer’ but a very forgettable one. Another jam that feels like throwing
things against the wall and waiting to strike gold that is never found.
Theme From The Bottom- Just as a jam being long doesn’t mean
it’s good, a segue being a full -> doesn’t mean it’s a good -> segue.
This one is both too drawn out and too clumsy. Not for the first and certainly
not for the last time tonight it sounds like Trey is playing in the completely
wrong key and his fingers are fumbling all over the place. To be fair, the jam
portion is high energy and around 6:30 and forward Page is really saving the
day with his playing. But I have to address this: there’s a big difference
between ‘being rusty’ and just straight up fucking up, and this first set
should be a key example of that difference. Look, I’m not here to judge anyone;
I’ve had my own substance abuse issues and I don’t want to come off like I’m so
much better than Trey. But I’m also not charging people money to listen to my
band live. I’m glad he’s sober now and that we got the happy ending of the
story, but it doesn’t excuse how embarrassing the flubs are during 2.0.
Foam- Oh boy…Was Fishman trolling Trey by starting this
song? If you can’t hear that Trey is fucked up beyond control, you have no
business calling yourself a fan of this band. I can excuse a mistake here or
there but Jesus this first set is cringe inducing. As a hardcore fan I can and
do try to look past these things to see the good parts of 2.0 but I would never
play a show like this for my wife or around friends who are more casual fans. It’s
no exaggeration to say it honestly sounds like the couple of times that I put
on Phish or The Grateful Dead and tried to play along on guitar, just halting
and off-time and hitting sour notes and so on. At least the rest of the band
are on their game tonight, Page treats us to some lovely soloing like he always
does. When it comes to Trey’s solo he seems eager to redeem himself, a thread
that will run throughout this show and 2.0 as a whole. This ‘Foam’ nevertheless
instilled a faint sadness and permeated the rest of the show the first time I
listened to it, just like “oh, a song they used to play with effortlessness in
’94 is now a struggle to get through for the band and me”, such that
when complicated songs came up later in the show I was bracing for impact. Oof
the ending of this ‘Foam’ though…
Pebbles and Marbles- Sound of Trey tuning a string before
this song. Despite this being a new song and its debut, so you’d assume it was
practiced a lot recently, there’s still a roughness to Trey’s playing that
cannot be put down to “well it’s been two years, they’re rusty.” No, Trey is
just incapable of getting it together though I will say he does ok with the
vocals. Maybe it’s just me but I can feel the rest of the band stepping up to
help carry him through this song until he gets to the easier parts like the big
rock jam breakdown at the end of the studio version. Sounds like we’re taking
this one out for a spin. Around 7:45 still a standard jam on the song’s main
theme. Page continues to carry the jam on his back by 8:30, trying to spur Trey
on it feels like, who is starting to realize he can play guitar after all. At
9:15 Mike tries to introduce a bouncy bassline but Trey ignores it and starts
doing his chorus pedal bliss jam peaking thing. Gotta say despite all the jams
that look long and interesting on paper, this NYE run has been underwhelming.
Like, a 15 minute ‘Pebbles and Marbles’ sounds amazing and intriguing in
theory, but not when you realize it’s longer than the album version and is the
same exact kind of jam yet I’d argue is less effective. My headcanon is that
Trey keeps wanting to prove he isn’t fucked up on drugs so instead of doing
dark/dissonant or spacey/ambient type II jams he wants to be like “look I can
still do Machine Gun Trey and play fiery rock solos!” OK, great, good to know,
but can we get something else? So far this first set is cringe inducing
composed sections and ho-hum paint-by-numbers jams.
After the song ends on the official release I think it’s
either the band or some audience members talking loud about it being
“psychedelic” and “Xan’ing out on that drone” (as in Xanax I assume). A portent
of things to immediately come. You can definitely hear someone saying Trey’s
name.
You Enjoy Myself- This is like “school recital” levels of
fucking up. Even though Trey stops the band and admits how ashamed he is, this
is still one of the lowest of low points in all of Phish history. Look, at this
point we all know he was in the depths of his addictions during 2.0, so his
playing it off like “we” are “rusty after two years off” is a lie not even
worth calling out. He continues to not play the best once they do restart the
song and I’m remembering now why when I was listening to 2.0 in the past, I’d
always skip past the composed sections of songs. I mean, the ambient section is
cool I guess, but that’s the easiest part to play! Around 6:15 it’s
particularly obvious Trey is lost and forgets what to play. Can we please get
to the jam already? Mike and Page solo sections are decent enough. As Trey
starts his solo Fishman introduces a funkier beat and Mike starts to drop bass
bombs. At 12:25 though we’re back to a standard issue ‘You Enjoy Myself’ jam. At
about 14:15 Trey starts a fun guitar line and the band picks up a bit. Twirl
and release playing at 15:00 that is the most interesting thing he’s played all
night. As with the running theme of 2.0, Trey really pushes himself to redeem
the flubbed composed section with high octane soloing. I guess if you’re going
to end a pretty wretched set like this one has been so far, this is the way to
do it. I mean, sheesh, did somebody give Trey a bump at some point during the
jam because he’s finally playing with drive and purpose! Around 18:13 I can
hardly hear Mike or Page because Trey has overwhelmed the audio mix. Mike bass
solo at 18:45 with this cool new gooey space bass effects. Someone starts the
vocals back up before I think he was really done but eh, oh well. Vocal jam is
the usual take-it-or-leave-it strangeness: a George Takei theme combined with a
melody that vaguely sounds like ‘Tweezer’ or something, and an ending including
groaning and moaning.
It's no hyperbole to say that this is the worst set I’ve
ever heard Phish play. I’ve heard sets that were worse than this one in terms
of being boring and forgettable, but they’re inoffensive. Despite being
familiar with at least a dozen shows from the 2.0 era, I was shocked at how
obviously fucked up Trey was during this set and how many mistakes there were.
On paper this set looks like jam heaven but literally nothing about the improv
in this set is noteworthy. Even for type I jams they aren’t notable or enjoyable.
I understand this is all just my opinion but I’m concerned about anyone who can
defend this set. Even with the 2.0 considerations, it doesn’t have any jams or
playing that redeems the sloppy composed sections and off-feeling. It’s truly
the worst of everything that 2.0 has to offer in one set, and I can only
imagine how they felt backstage during set break.
[Setbreak]
I’ve been having the kind of weekend where you listen to
seemingly random music as your mood changes. For some reason yesterday
afternoon I was in a Lana mood and saw that my wife and I had never listened to
Blue Bannisters on vinyl despite owning it for over a year. It was the
right idea because I was reminded of how I admire this album’s musical
consistency and blue/blues theme running throughout its lyrics. I can see some
people not liking it as much as her other albums for this musical consistency
though for me that’s part of the appeal. It’s kind of a long album and only had
a couple songs I think really caught fire online, but trust me and give it a
chance when you’re ready for its introspective, contemplative mood.
[Set Two]
Birds Of A Feather- Ok, Trey was still kind of off with his
playing, but it’s nowhere near as egregious as the first set. Pretty decent but
standard ‘Birds’ jam you’ve come to expect. You can just feel Trey
willing this set to be better than the first by a Texas mile. Whatever he did
during setbreak, it’s not my concern or place to judge, but it sure worked.
Wolfman’s Brother- If ever there’s a case of a band or a
sports team coming back strong after half-time and salvaging the day, this show
has to be it. I simply can’t in good conscience dismiss the first set just
because they delivered a decent second set—because make no mistake, as strong
and fun as this Wolfman’s turns out to be, this set would otherwise only enter
the discussion in terms of best sets of the NYE reunion run. Everyone knows
that the Winter tour is where 2.0 started to cook, but it’s fun revisiting this
run to see the sparks starting to relight in the band. But I digress. The Wolfman’s
jam has some fun sparse playing between all members around the 7:00 mark. Mike feels
like he’s leading the jam, and throughout this set it feels like he’s also
determined to step up and salvage the show after set one’s shit sandwich. Some “oooh,
ooo” vocals around 7:45, I think from Trey and Page? It’s blink and you miss
it. 9:00 has Trey using some raw, growly effects and a pitch shifter to make his
guitar tone lower, which I feel is one of those hallmarks of this era and certain
jam styles in general. 10:00 Page goes back to piano and the jam suddenly comes
alive and sounds brighter, as if you opened the drapes and let the full sunshine
in. Mike is still dropping bass goodness all over the place as Trey takes fire
and treats us to a rocking, peaking Wolfman’s. I don’t know for sure if this is
the first time a 10 minute plus Wolfman’s had this kind of bright rock jam and
wasn’t a funky and/or spacey type II jam. I seem to recall really loving the
first Wolfman’s they played at Hampton during the ’09 reunion NYE shows, and it
following a similar funky to rocky jam journey. Am I crazy? Anyway. 13:00 is Trey
remembering who he is, Lion King style. Locked in, hosing us all down with
patient yet energetic Trey soloing his ass off. Almost before you realize it,
though, he kills his guitar and starts doing funky rhythmic accents as Mike
hits his kick ass cyber bass. Or is that Page on a synth? Maybe. Anyway, before
you know it, a very abrupt and not at all -> full segue like some setlists
say into…
Makisupa Policeman- Man was it good to hear them laughing
again. I do wonder if anything Trey references was real. Again, knowing by this
point he’s said in interviews he was already a full-blown addict, I
unfortunately am the kind of person who is like “hmmm, was it a fatty joint, or…pills…?”
Anyway, that’s shitty of me and let’s move on. This is a fun Makisupa! I love
versions that take their time and get dubby with loops and stop/start dynamics,
had me flashing back to some ’97 or ’00 versions I vaguely recall. As it should
be, Mike is the force driving this Makisupa jam until Trey’s loops start to
divide like cells and overwhelm the mix around 4:15 onward. Man this really
sounds like a ’97 or ’00 version but I can’t remember which, maybe 11/19/97..which
also followed a Wolfman’s (albeit a BEEFier version). Page gets NASTAY on the
clav around 5:30, and this reminds me that while the other members were never
slouches during 1.0, I really think 2.0 brought especially Page and Mike to the
forefront. Sometimes to rescue Trey, mostly to add their own ideas and be more
assertive more often. Things just kind of come to a stop and after a few
seconds someone counts off…
Axilla I- I was a bit concerned about this one but I’m
already sort of grading on a curve for the show at this point even after the mostly
great preceding three songs, so let’s go! Actually Trey seems to have nailed
the lyrics and I don’t think I noticed him screw up on guitar once. Not like
this song is a super composed complex one but it requires a certain energy and
focus, y’know? Sadly no Part II ending though they tease it. Overall, gotta
give it to Trey. This was also really great song placement for the flow of the
set, bit of a pick-me-up.
Twist- The opening of this, oof, not great but they pull it together
before the lyrics. Speaking of, I wonder why they went back to the “substituting
every sound” lyric from the pre-Farmhouse album version? Some lovely piano
playing from Page at 3:35ish at the start of the jam. Really feels like he and
Trey are locked in and Mike is right there with them. Twist has always been one
of my favorite Phish songs, in terms of the song itself as well as how it can
be used live. They can either keep a tight, blues-rocky jam like the Vegas ’00 version
or have long type II odysseys or serve as a segue point/energy shifter between
other songs in a set. This is another song in terms of this writing project I
had heard very recently, during the 10/7/00 show. That version, while longer,
also had a similar jam vibe and ended with a short spacey/ambient section
before segueing into the next song. Hmmmm. Well, I don’t want to accuse a band
of copying itself too much too close together so I’ll close this song by saying,
I fucking LOVE the keyboard sound Page uses around 8:20. Well, I’ll also say, this
is another part of a jam during the NYE run that I feel doesn’t quite get there
but hints at the jam style that most people associate with 2.0 Phish.
Free- Why did it feel like Trey was laboring even more
through this than he remotely was during Axila I? I’ve always had a so-so,
mood-dependent opinion of this song. Not for nothing, but has there ever been a
type II version? It’s like Undermind where it feels like such an obvious song
for jam fodder but I don’t think they ever did, and they hardly even play
Undermind (and when they do it doesn’t sound like the album version). So, yeah,
it’s Free but played a little slower than usual and Trey sounds exhausted
throughout it like he’s singing after running a mile in gym class.
All Of These Dreams- It’s not a perfect album but I really
love Round Room and I was excited to see it towards the end of this set. Trey actually
holds it together pretty well on vocals, too. Somebody—Page?!—accidentally starts
to sing the chorus again around 2:14. Well I guess it’s not just Trey who can
be off his game. Yeah? Yeah. Anywho, it’s a decent first version of this
ballad, big pop from the crowd for Page’s piano solo! Browsing the LivePhish
app it looks like this song became a bit of a rarity, that’s too bad!
Possum- I was never big into this song until it was part of
the encore of my first show and everybody, even people who weren’t dancing
before, seemed to suddenly be grooving and jamming to this song. As such, I now
understand its power and what a fantastic choice to end the set. As so often
happens with this song, it’s basically the same jam every single time, but like
Antelope, Trey is able to just pop off and do his Jedi mind tricks. Since it’s
just a bunch of wall of sound end rock song live vamp stuff, it was honestly
kind of hard for me to tell but toward the end of this version of Possum, they
do some instrument switching shenanigans. They seem to randomly bust out this
gimmick like a sort of carny trick to pop the crowd. I guess live, seeing it in
person or even visually, it would work, but on tape it’s just like…ok yeah,
they do this at the end of most sets? I would never have known they were
swapping instruments.
Contact- So we start the encore with a silly celebrity guest
joke from Trey? Alright, I’m listening. This song is so dumb but so great, it’s
pure Phish. We get a decently long, fun stop/start funk jam in the middle like
it’s 1997 all over again. Ok, yeah, this second set and encore still don’t come
close to offsetting the dumpster dive of set one, but I’ll give it to them,
they’re sure fucking trying. For a hot minute this jam was starting to
give me Dayton ’97 Tube/Dayton Jam vibes. This performance alone makes this the
best encore of the batch of shows I’ve reviewed so far. Where was this in set
one, lads?
Tweezer Reprise- Yeah, they’re probably always going to play
this song during a show with Tweezer. But given the sad showing of set one, did
they really earn this one? I guess that’s up to you to decide for yourself, but
to me it feels a bit like a victory lap that was only earned at the very end,
like sniping someone with a red shell just before the finish line in Mario
Kart. In pro wrestling terms, this song can be cheap heat. Sure people will
always react well to hearing it but it always feels the most appropriate if the
show had a truly type II beast Tweezer (or even a Tweezerfest).
So, this set was more normal, right? I mean, it’s got some
decent jam moments sprinkled in, and it’s actually competently played (mostly),
so nothing to either greatly praise or criticize. The encore was a big
highlight even if I didn’t personally feel they earned that Tweeprise.
[Final Verdict]
I was going to say that this was a tough call for me—set one
is absolutely a 1 out of 5, no question, and set two is a 3 out of 5 because I
was grading on a curve, so do I split the difference or…?—and spend multiple sentences
hemming and hawing and possibly some mulling over for good measure. But re-reading
my original description of what a 2 out of 5 show is, I feel like it’s all
spelled out there and this show is that to a T. If they had rebounded with a second
set that existed in the top tier of the best ’03 sets that were yet to come, I
could maybe, maybe talk myself into considering a 3 out of 5. If the
wind was in its favor and I had had an especially good nap that day. But damn
if this isn’t one of the weakest shows I’ve heard from this band. After hearing
the first set I literally—and I mean that word truly—couldn’t bring myself to
listen to the second set for at least a week. It bummed me out so much it made
me feel like I had seen a close friend get sloppy drunk and piss his pants
while crying and apologizing to everyone. The second set at least reaffirmed
that this writing project was worth continuing, not because it’s any great
shakes but because they could pull it together and deliver a pretty good second
set and excellent encore.
So, yeah, 2 out of 5.
[Highlights]
Set One: Nothing (no, not the song Nothing, literally
nothing was remotely good)
Set Two: Trey was still alive, Wolfman’s > Makisupa,
Possum was fire as always
Special Commendation: Contact! This song had one of the best
jams of the night.
