2021-08-07 Noblesville, IN

 8/7/21 Noblesville

After literally 3 months off (don't shame me - I had every reason, haha), we resume 2021 finally with night 2. On paper, this first set is terrible-looking as far as song selection goes (for my personal taste!). I'm sure it'll be fine though.

Aside: I'm so hyped and in a Phish "mood" right now, being excited to follow the current tour, saving money for the eventual New Years run announcement, playing shows while driving, etc

I guess I did get burnt out a few months ago (as we all do from time to time!) and it's back with a vengeance now.

I keep flip-flopping on whether to keep reviewing shows or not. I love it and do it for myself (but posted here for s#its and giggles ) so that I can remember what the hell I thought. But then it becomes this albatross over my head keeping me from playing more damn shows because "I want to listen but don't feel like reviewing tonight", etc etc

Plus I need DEDICATED listening time to listen to new shows without feeling like a schmuck. I could blitz through new shows in the dump truck all week, but it wouldn't be a proper listen to things. Too much noise, having to constantly pause the show for things, etc etc etc, ya dig? I have next to no time at all during the week (2 hours before bed once I get home, IF I'm lucky).

Thoughts in progress and all that jazz. My OCD would make my head explode to just stop reviewing in the middle of a tour/year, but I said 6 months ago this is the year of change for me so who knows?!

I'm leaning towards ending the "full review" thing for a while after getting through Summer 2021 so that I'm free to listen more causally and maybe just make broader assessments rather than detailed run-downs. Can you guys tell I've over-thought all of this into the ground?

Anyways, on to the friggin' show:

8/7/21 Noblesville
Set 1

Crowd Control - A great little version to open! I like the song but it's not always my preferred opener choice. If it's played too slow it can drag and, I swear, it's almost always played at shows that end up being on the "less than" side of things. Can anyone point me to an AMAZING show with Crowd Control? Good version, nothing special!

Poor Heart - Feel like we haven't heard this in a hot minute. Great little 1-2 punch.

The Moma Dance - Super chill vibe on this one. I mean, particularly chill, even for Moma. When all is said and done it is a very tasty little Moma, and the chillness continues right throughout.

Back On the Train - A boring set-call on paper, but it works perfectly tonight coming out of that Moma. Great call!! The chill continues. It takes it's time to build and slowly the chillness is replaced by a pretty good head of steam (pun totally intended!). I'd almost dare to call this one hot by it's conclusion. Great little BOTT with tons of tasty playing all around! The crowd roars their approval and Trey even gives a thank you!

Army Of One - Pretty powerful reading tonight! Everyone sounds great, it sounds neither sloppy nor unrehearsed. A Page tune is always a nice diversion and I'd say this one delivers. Sure it's a slow tune, but it feels like the energy found in the back half of BOTT continues and gets this one a little fired up. Really, really great reading! Maybe not-quite list-worthy, but definitely worth a listen.

Bouncing Around the Room - Ok, the hint of "heat" in the last two songs is dashed by the set choices, so I guess I just gotta accept this will be a chill set/show, kinda like Toronto 2019 (if you recall that underrated gig - the 2.8 rating on .NET is complete BS). Good version of Bouncing. Nuff said.

Ya Mar - I love Ya Mar usually, but c'mon man, this set is just a snooze fest! That aside, this is a really, really NICE Ya Mar!!! For the mood of the set, it's actually a perfect fit. Total good vibes and smiles all around! Page's soloing is just goosebump-inducing. Then Trey comes out with a stupendous little solo - perfectly restrained, playing all the perfect notes at the perfect times, even tossing in a hint of delay for some cool sounds!!! All in all, maybe this isn't the IT version, but this is absolutely A+ in every other way. BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO!!!! I'm grinning ear to ear and haven't even taken my Adderall yet! How about that?!

Roggae - And the chill continues onwards....An aboslutely lovely reading as usual. Perfect set placement following Ya Mar, I swear. Not much to say - you need to just listen. It's Roggae. It does it's Roggae thang! It starts quiet and chill, slowly gets noisy and heavy, smashes us into the ground, then takes us home and tucks us into bed with milk and cookies, a bedtime story, and a kiss on the cheek.

A Wave of Hope - DEBUT! Holy crap, let's go! Sure they made good on the chill mood so far, but let's be honest, it's freaking great to get some energy going again!!! Although I'm aware of the song and have heard several versions over the last few years, I haven't heard it more than 4 or 5 times total, so count this, basically, as my listening debut again, if you will. Awesome little Type I rager. This is what Soul Planet wanted to be. Only good things to come for this little ditty!!!! Sure they haven't busted out the big guns yet, but this was an excellent debut reading. Great stuff!

Stash - Dark right off the bat, after a flub-free reading of the composed section, the Type II begins almost immediately from the word "go". Right at 7 minutes Trey begins his "honky wah" thing, quacking it up. But at 8 minutes something weird happens - somehow the guys "accidentally" move into a major key area! Can anyone into music theory listen to this and explain better how they transitioned so seamlessly? I didn't hear any "wrong" notes that opened the door for said change. The just "flowed" perfectly into it! The blissful jamming continues until right at 11 minutes - the band take a fast left turn into a heavier, more rocking direction!!! They quickly move into more exploratory areas, keeping it rocking but strange at the same time. Check out Trey doing SICK delay work around the 12:45-14 minute period. 13:45, Page turns to his watery keyboards and the jam returns to more steady, Type I-style footing. Fishman playing with his patterns, almost doing a Ya Mar-esque pattern with lots of fancy cymbal work. But then, at 14:33, again, ON A FRIGGIN' DIME, they return to Stash proper!! Back to the darkness for the smoothest mother effing jam transition I have maybe EVER heard. HOLY CRAP ON A FREAKING CRACKER HOW DID THEY DO THAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?

>Cavern - And like it's 1.0 again, we launch directly into Cavern to end the set. Cavern is Cavern, it is great. Nothing special



All in all...a slightly odd set. The songs were all played excellently, but it was soooooooo "sleepy" until about 2/3 of the way through. Ya Mar and Roggae, in addition to the must-hear Stash are the real takeaways here. Not a bad set, but damn, drink your coffee and get outta bed you guys!!!! I mean, at least the set eventually wound up getting better and better until that damn Stash came and wiped the floors with our faces, so...   

Set 2

In other news, set 2 looks absolute bonkers on paper.....

Everything's Right - Everyone's favorite song to hate ( * rolls eyes * ). Surely a damn 23-minute version oughta satify most of us in this day and age. The song itself ends exactly at 6 minutes and the band drop quickly into a chilled out groove, Trey scatting along "it's gonna be alright", etc. They take their time rocking out until around 11 minutes we shift into Electric Robot Space Jam land. This goes for a while, everyone using their synthesizers, delays, wacky FX, etc. Not worth describing it as it's just a glorious "throw it all at the wall and see what sticks" kinda jam. But then around 14:45 Page jumps to the piano and he and Trey (still on Robot Delay!) team up on a new motif. The band is being led by Page's rock and roll piano, but Trey is deep into outerspace, keeping us from landing. This is freaking awesome - it's like two styles of jam competing against each other in the best way. Check out the section right at 16 minutes - it's like the soundtrack to hurtling through outer space or something! This is friggin' outstanding stuff, yo. Then at 16:40 Trey introduces a guitar riff and the guys latch on and we move to another section. Trey lays off the crazy Space Delays and the jam gets slightly more grounded for a moment.....until darkness creeps in out of nowhere and gives you chills down your arms! But it leaves just as quickly as it came, like a tease of darkness!!! By 18 minutes this is basically a "Type I"-style rock jam again. Then at 19 minutes Trey steps onto the wah pedal and we go into a funk jam. This is the jam Moma was missing - but wait! They quickly start playing around with it, "dissolving" into Zappa-esque rhythm randomonium! Don't you just love a good stop/start jam? THEN AT 21 MINUTES THEY FRIGGIN RETURN TO EVERYTHINGS RIGHT LIKE THE DAMN SONG NEVER LEFT US IN THE FIRST PLACE. THIS BAND, I SWEAR!


Ooh wee....that jam makes up for the entire first set. Not gonna say it's better than the 8/6 highlights, but it's as good as any of the other mega jams of the tour so far. The insane synchronicity between the guys ins ridiculous. How they just shift on a dime without a hint of derailment or "hold up, where are we going next?". Incredible.

What's The Use - Hmm, I'll allow it! After that jam, this fits pretty good. Not anything must-hear, but it works good and sounds great. 8 minutes of bliss.

Crosseyed and Painless - Exactly like in Charleston 2019, they launch into this and it's an immediate shot in the arm!!! Perfect call to keep us from sliding downwards! LETS FREAKING GO!!! Love Trey immediately honking it the hell up like he's a damn goose or something, then switching to those ascending delay patterns. This sucker is only 11 minutes and "basically" stays Type I, but holy mother of christ this is the hottest thing this side of a 1.0 Mike's Song, I swear. Holy crap on a crapper, they are ejaculating straight fire into our earholes. I'm not gonna say this is classic, but if you like Crosseyed, this is mandatory listening. Jesus christ....LISTEN TO FISHMAN WANTING BIRDS OF A FEATHER AT THE END! JUST GIVE IT TO HIM! PLEASE! STOP TEASING!

>What's the Use - Huh, how about that, eh? Crosseyed somehow died an ambient death, ala 2012, and the guys just LAUNCH back into WTU like they took your head and SMASHED you into a brick wall!!! Just.....BAAAAMMMM!!!!! And then it's IMMEDIATELY over again, lol. Hell, this wasn't so much a WTU reprise as just as a crazy way to conclude Crosseyed

>Down With Disease - Perfect set placement for the win!!! WTU concludes and Cactus immediately goes into the DWD lick without delay. PERFECT. Also, props to the band, because the song itself sounds terrific for once!!! I'm used to latter-day Diseases sounding....castrated or tired (case in point, the terrible reading of Rogers 2021). In other words, the guys don't sound asleep playing the song, ok? It's not a 1995 more-energy-than-20-Red Bulls- version of the song, but it sounds tight, Trey hits all the licks....it just sounds GOOD! When all is said and done, this feels like some kind of 2019-style Disease where it chugs along brilliantly for 12 minutes, content to keep things "in the box" and just do what it can with what it has instead of launching into some crazy space epic. Must-hear final minute or so - Trey hits THE sustained note of all time and it is LIFTOFF!!! No joke, this is mandatory listening! It's the aural equivalent of the space shuttle lifting off!!!!!! He holds this effing note for 2 minutes straight, eventually tossing in every crazy delay under his belt, and we aren't just hurtling through space, we are being sucked into the black hole!!!! But wait!! Not so fast!!!! Things somehow die down and we return to serenity, getting the jam jettisoned in favor of.....

>Wading In the Velvet Sea - I'm sure everyone in the building had a collective "GROAN!" at this placement, especially after the buildup of that Disease!!! In reality, jesus christ, that WAS the payoff! Even the crowd realizes this and roars their approval. For everyone cursing about the jam being abandoned, come on man, give that a listen - a transition/perfect set placement THIS GOOD doesn't happen every day. That final few minutes of Disease leading into Velvet sea is MUST HEAR MUST HEAR MUST HEAR MUST HEAR! That was some X Factor "we didn't plan this but we're rolling with it anyways" type stuff that we all love. Incredible. And as for Velvet Sea? Yea, it's pretty damn nice too.


No, seriously, stop what you are doing right now - go put on this Disease and listen through the final few minutes, say, after 10 minutes or so, and on through into Velvet Sea.

WOW.

Possum - For the sake of not highlighting everything, Possum is just Possum. It rips as always and was the perfect upper out of Velvet Sea. Great stuff as always!!!

Drift While You Are Sleeping - I adore this song. I don't get the hate at all. Yes, love is all we are is cheesy or whatever, but who gives a rat's ass, ya know? Bring on the good vibes. I genuinely love the music of the track, that up-and-down guitar motif, etc. A perfect show closer in my book - send us home with good vibes and thoughts in your hearts. Am I a chomper? Probably? But I don't care. Come at me. Great version on the whole.


All in all, a very mixed-bag of a show. Nothing was poorly performed, but the first set had major "lacking oomph" problems for the most part despite Stash being must-hear and Roggae and Ya Mar absolutely delivering.

Set 2 was basically must-hear. Everything's Right was the marquee jam, but this was a set more about flow and construction than length of jams, ya know what I mean? The entire Crosseyed>WTU Reprise>Disease>Velvet Sea portion is my main takeaway with Everything's Right as the tasty bonus cut.

If you like your sets to flow like melted movie theater popcorn butter, this is the set for you!!! The songs were shorter (but not even, really!) and it was all about "set construction" tonight, if you will. Even in the low-key first set, they seemed to acknowledge that it was a lower-energy set and purposefully played to the strengths of that with appropriate song choices to keep the chill vibe going.

This show won't be the King of Summer 2021, but I think it will get "underdog" status over time by those in the know. Great listening experience overall. If you go in trying to "fight" with the vibe of the show you are just gonna have a bad time. Accept it for what it is and not what it is not, ya dig?

Great show on the whole!!!! A far cry from the slop of Arkansas!