2019-12-29 New York City, NY

 12/29/19 New York City, NY

Really great looking setlist tonight for my taste - The first set is pretty much all favorites of mine from start to finish. Set 2 is loaded with classics as well!

Set 1

Turtle In the Clouds - Great opener!! Not the tightest ever but very good overall. On the whole this one is fine and a good opener. Not an all-timer version like Providence was though.

The Moma Dance - Great chill vibe on this. At first I wasn't too impressed at all and was about to write it off as "just ok". But about halfway through they bring the dynamics way down, enter a good jam mode and slowly bring things to a relaxed simmer. I hesitate to immediately call this list-worthy, but it's worth a listen!

Kill Devil Falls - The relaxed vibe continues - I guess it's gonna be a "chill" night! That's ok. Chill is fine - sleepy is not, lol. This is one relaxed sucker, like if the Dead decided to have a crack at playing the song. I mean that in a good way! Sugar Magnolia vibes on this one for me. But eventually it cooks up some major heat and by the end Trey is wrangling his guitar like it owes him money. Killer KDF!!!

Yarmouth Road - Some really funky Gordo on this, but this feels lacking in energy (even given the vibe of the set). Feel like I'm falling asleep here (and I enjoy the song!). Not the best version, imo....

The Wedge - Still exceptionally chill. Fine version, though rather undercooked (seeing the theme of the set yet?), but at least Trey gets some very nice leads in throughout. It builds a decent enough amount of heat to come close to KDF. This is actually a very fine Wedge at the end of the day, but not anything special.

Beauty of a Broken Heart - Oh yes, I absolutely love this song. Great version. The hottest thing since KDF and very well performed. Sometimes this one is lackluster sounding (due to rarity, I guess) but it really sounds well rehearsed. Awesome to hear! Great version!

Fuego - Awesome. Get it Trey!!! So, they get into some nice chill grooving with the jam. Trey is just letting it rip, but he's picking and choosing rather than spraying the hose everywhere. He's doing lots of little Zappa-esque "bursts" of notes. Starts playing with some delays and things. Very, very nice Fuego!!! For a Type I version, this is pretty darn strong, imo.

>My Friend My Friend - Great segue! Trey tees it up and the guys knock it down the fairway. It's all about the meltdown and good lord does Trey summon those hell demons on this sucker! I need church! AWESOME.

Birds of a Feather - Absolutely melting heat. Wonderful version that makes use of the chill vibe as well as the raging heat seen in MyFe and KDF. Killer

While My Guitar Gently Weeps - What?! Where did this come from?! Mega bustout - first since 2013. Your mileage may vary but not my favorite Beatles song and not my favorite Phish cover. Very good performance though with Trey trying hard. Not on MY highlights list, but I'm probably in the big minority.

Walls of The Cave - Is WOTC. It's hot. It rocks. But it's nothing special. I love the song but am so bored with it by this point - literally every version is the same! Would flip if they opened a set or something with it. As it is, just a fine, typical Walls to finish the set with a bang.


All in all, this was a fine set. It was a massive step down from the night before. The playing was not the problem - other than Yarmouth Road sounding drastically tired, the rest of the night had a "let's take it easy" vibe that sometimes worked and sometimes didn't, but there weren't any definite "ouch" moments. A fine set that does the trick, but not one anyone will likely be raving about years from now. 

 

Set 2

Carini - Yes! Energy! Not the song, lol. EVERYONE WAS SCREAMING WHEN THEY SAW THE LUMP!!! This thing is disgustingly nasty. In the GOOD way! Trey is just using his 'Doc like it's some cheap street hooker, abusing it every which way. Downright gross. Around 7 minutes in we switch to a blissful kind of ambient jam. Trey is quietly laying it down while Page layers in the synth washes and stabs. Steady march kind of beat from Fishman. This is some proper Type II right here, boys. Everything stays from here, though getting slowly more funky. Trey is going off the deep end with his delay pedals and backwards effects and this and that. The synths then change up, as does Fishman's playing. We are in outer space now. How did this happen. Trey starts some blissful kind of patterns with the synth washes still happenning and Fishman riding the cymbals. From the ugly depths of guitar-strangulation-hell to the upper peaks of the clear blue skies. WOW!!!! Magical jam!!! Things slowly "devolve" from here into pure ambience pretty much. The jam slowly, slowly recedes back into the murky depths of the cave it came out of, leading us into BOTT.

Real talk - where the hell did that Carini come from. That was definitely among the best music of the year so far. I wouldn't hesitated to put that in the top 8 or so jams of 2019 so far. WTF!!!!

Back On the Train - For as over the top as that Carini was, this BOTT is perfect in it's laid-back nature. It sounds exactly as your typical BOTT sounds (this is not 6/14/00, lol) but when the playing is this damn good you can't ignore it. This BOTT has so much energy and it's wonderful listening to it rage. Trey and Page even solo "together" for a lengthy chunk of it. Incredibly cool. One of the best BOTT's you will ever hear, I assure you. DONT SKIP THIS BEAST!!!!

Bathtub Gin - Oh god, what is gonna happen now?! A 16 minute Gin after all of that?! This thin is absolutely ON FIRE. This is not some mid-tempo funk jam. The guys must've downed 10 Red Bulls at set break or seomthing. For the first 11 minutes it is high velocity guitar shredding 1996 arena rocking Phish of the A+ variety. Is this Gin?! Sounds like it came out of Rock and Roll!!! But then at 12:45 we abandon the speed rock and dive headfirst into complete rhythmless ambience of the 1999 variety! WHAT EVEN IS THIS?! Trey whips out the THX Intro synths with Trey slowly reintroducing the Gin theme. Fishman picks up on it and the band slowly ends gin - PROPERLY.

X FACTOR EVERYWHERE. WHAT EVEN IS THIS SET SO FAR?!

Golden Age - Pales in comparison the the epic grandeur of the Carini and the Gin, but if this is just an interlude in the set, it's one of the best dang interludes you could want. Straight up funky rage. As with BOTT, it's exactly what you expect out of GA, played with such energy and enthusiasm that it just rides at that next level. Fantastic little version. The last few minutes go into Type II Space Funk of the best variety - laser beam and outerspace sound effects aplenty. This absolutely sets up 2001 for a perfect tee off!

>2001 - Spoiled segue aside (dang it, Fishman!), this is nothing more than the absolute perfect choice coming out of GA. 8 minute dance party extreme. Really great stop-start "woo!" jam on this, lol. They go full on off the deep end with this, Type II heavy stoner jam raging and then back into the main theme one last time. Absolutely incredibly little 2001. Skip at your own peril!

>Sneaking Sally - Nothing special. Just an absolutely wonderfully performed Type I Sally (and that makes it list worthy!)

>Chalkdust Torture - MACHINE GUN TREY POURING LAVA IN YOUR EARS. 'NUFF SAID.

>Harry Hood - I'm not a Hood guy, but a 19 minute Hood?! Yes please! They really go deep on this - not your typical 3.0 Bliss Rager. Thank goodness! Very delicate playing from all, kinda jumping in and out of the shadows, kinda jazzy and dark in a good way. Terrific. By about the 10 minute mark they have slowly begun to bring the intensity and tempo back up, increasing the heat one bar at a time. This goes on until a good rave-up "woo!" section at about 12 minutes in. From there we transition into the lengthy "you can feel good about Hood" part of the song. Smooth sailing from there. Also, this features the single longest held note I have ever heard in my life - Trey holds one damn note for SEVERAL minutes non stop like it's competing with a Divided Sky pause section. Oh my god. Fantastic 3.0 Hood. Speaking as someone who is usually waiting for it to be over, this one will have relistens from me!!!

Show Of Life - My favorite rarity that nobody else likes. SOL is SOL. It's great. On the list it goes

Run Like an Antelope - Red hot Antelope to kick this flawless set to the curb.


All in all, I was absolutely blindsided by this set. For how chill set 1 was, this was the complete opposite. This was X Factor city - they were just up on that next level for this set. Both the Carini and the Gin are MUST HEAR renditions easily going in the top of 2019 pile. The entire set was just A+ from start to finish though. If I was rating just this set, I would give it like a 4.5 or something. As a whole I'll give this show about a 4.2 as the first set was fine but rather sleepy at times, but the second set was a MONSTER. This was absolutely one of the best single sets of the year. I don't know what the hell they did at set break but they need to do it more often. Damn...