4 21 23 Los Angeles
Set 1
Mega hot energy tonight!!
Excellent soupy Moma followed by A+ Type 1 readings of Sigma, Party Time and SL23
Then a 20 min Everythings Right! ER is must hear. A wonderful Type 2 jam
without several sections concluding in pretty good peak. Not an all
timer, but absolutely highlight worthy!
A nice Shade followed by a hotter-than-expected Funky B (this one was
noteworthy, imo) lead us to the shining crown jewel of the set - A Wave
of Hope
14 minutes, this one goes Type 2 quickly and DESTROYS! As strong or
stronger than my famed Seattle rendition, this is the definition of must
hear and a top 10 jam of the year so far for sure. Absolutely must hear!!!!
All in all, this was a terrific first set!!!! Two deep, must hear jams,
everything loaded with FIERY ENERGY FROM HELL and more enthusiasm than
you can shake a stick at. WOW! FREAKING AWESOME SET!
Set 2
A fine Sample opens before a ridiculous 21 minute Disease.
This Disease is a hot friggin mess!
It almost dies before it begins - a total brainfart moment from Gordo
leads to an impassioned yet ramshackle reading of the song itself.
The jam begins and it takes FOREVER for them to pull it together. It is the definition of spinning their wheels all the way to the 14 minute mark. Then, something magical happens - the beat slows down and the jam
reprises the ridiculous, psychedelic, 2003-Phish kaiju monster stomp of 4
19's Set Your Soul Free The next 7 minutes are up thre with the Viking Darkness section from the 4 17 Greezer.
Epic. Ridiculous. Psychedelic. MONSTROUS.
NO SALVATION FOR THE INNOCENT - PHISH HAS COME TO SLAUGHTER THE WEAK!!!
And just like that, the magic comes to a close and we go into a nice but perfunctory Mercury.
Huh.
Mercury is good but gets aborted for Blaze On (rolls eyes).
Thankfully, BO brings the goods. 18 minutes, varies Type 2 that is very patient and totally awesome. They strike X Factor gold again and this ends up being a must hear version. SUPER PEAK ALERT!
Then comes YEM!!! AKA , Hot Mess 2: Electric Boogaloo
A strange duck, the composed portion is among the worst ever played this
side of 2004. Its atrocious and nearly falls apart several times. But
then they pull it together in a big way and deliver inspired jamming
(for a modern YEM). In other words, it starts awful and gets awesome.
Cavern ends the set and Drift is the encore.
All in all, definitely a very strong show with classic potential
hampered by sloppy playing and questionable segues. Several jams, albeit
excellent, smack of "we have heard this before", while others go into
the X Factor stratosphere (Disease, Blaze On).
Hard to rate this show! I enjoyed the HELL out of it but there were a
lot of problems at the same time. Definitely a better overall show than
Seattle #2 and Berkeley #1, that is for sure.
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