2021-10-17 San Francisco, CA

 On to night two of San Fran 2021

10/17/21 San Francisco, CA

Set 1

Bug - Very rare Bug show opener! Not my pick, but I guess it sets the mood. Great version but not worth a highlight. Bug is Bug.

My Soul - Gets us up and moving after the slow-burn Bug to open. Not really worth a highlight either, but it's kickass as ever. Page wails for a while and then Trey comes up the back and tears our heads off as expected. Great stuff.

Back On the Train - Now I know there were complaints with the setlist by this point, lol. Absolutely stellar A+ version as usual, but this one is definitely worth a highlight. Terrific jam interplay between EVERYONE. It's super cool to hear Page and Trey playing off of each other and Fishman reacting directly to what they are doing. BOTT's don't get much better. Great stuff! Also, this sucker is nearly 10 minutes long and basically goes Robot Type II around the 7 minute mark. Absolutely must-hear!!! Grimy and dark and gritty! Super cool!

Maze - Maze is up next and is unnaturally chill, as is the way of 2021 Phish. Overall, it's an excellent Maze and nothing to sneeze at, but neither is it anything all that impressive. Not really up to the highlight standard, if you will. Maze needs more FIRE, dang it!

Steam - Steam is terrific tonight. 13 MINUTES ON THIS SUCKER!!! Wow, when is the last time they took Steam for a ride like this?!?!?!??! DUDE, THIS SUCKER GOES FULL BLOWN TYPE 2!!!!! OUTER SPACE BLIP BLOOP ROBOT STEAM!!! WHAT THE HELL!!! THIS IS SICK!!!! MUST HEAR!!!
After a while, the robo space subsides and Trey peaks us out. Dude, this was a damn space adventure!!!!

Destiny Unbound - I guess nothing special overall but pretty good nonetheless. See Bug and My Soul.

Beauty of a Broken Heart - My favorite Page song!!! Killer version that rocks pretty good.

Reba - Very strong version tonight. Trey basically hits all his spots, he's just playing too quietly. Excellent solo. Don't sleep on this little Reba, it's a winner!!!

I Never Needed You Like This Before - HOLY FRIGGIN CRAP WHERE HAS THIS FIRE BEEN ALL SET?!?!?! THIS IS FANTASTICAL!!! 2023-WORTHY!!!! HOLY CRAP BURN DOWN THE FRIGGIN HOUSE!!!!!!


All in all, a very enjoyable set, but one that seemed to have a hard time building any head of steam (no pun intended) for most of its duration. Nothing wrong with that, but the Bug opener definitely sets the tone. Still, BOTT, Steam and definitely INNYLTB all turned in absolutely MUST HEAR renditions that you need to hear. Reba and Beauty were excellent as well, if not quite to the same level. A strong B+ set, imo.

 

Set 2 - FOUR SONG 2nd SET?!?!?!?!

Evolve - Only the 2nd version of it ever played at this point. Very nice but about as good as the stuff in set 1. Great to hear!

Set Your Soul Free - Holy hell, a 26 minute version?! This better be good! Around 3:45 the jam begins real nice and chill. Some sparing use of delay, but Trey is just being patient and picking his spots to jump in and out. Laaaaiiiiddddd baaaacccckkkkk. Unfortunately, soon Trey is laying back too much, stuck in that "not sure what to do" zone for a minute or 2.
---By the 9 minute mark, we are still languishing in this uber-chill blissful area, not really making any forward momentum. FINALLY, around the 10 minute mark, Page turns up the piano pounding and begins to lead the jam into a more reflective but powerful kind of area. A really nice descending piano motif exists for a bit before we start going into "type 1 rock and roll".
---At 12:21, the synthesizers make their appearance and the jam is firmly into Type II. Blissful Synth Heaven. Trey is on the robo wah while Page moves in and out with the synths, doing great "wash" work. Then, out of nowhere, setting a squealing looper around the 14:45 mark, the jam takes a turn towards darkness! Things get pretty "growly" on the guitar front for a couple unimpressive minutes.
---At 18:45, the jam takes yet another turn. Trey sets a robo loop and we move into weirdo Bliss Heaven once more. All strange blip-bloop and robot effects. Trey is still doing nothing of note, listen to this for Page. He must use every friggin' preset he has on his synths during this!!! By 21 minutes the jam has completely broken down. We are now in the scariest, blip-bloopiest robot hellscape you will ever hear. Basically, this now sounds like some avant garde Zappa insanity!!! Holy hell! CARNIVAL ROBOT HELL!
---Finally at the 23 minute mark, Fishman gets tired of the noise and re-introduces the drums giving some kind of structure back to this insane quagmire of insanity!!! Somehow, magically, around the 24 minute point, we make a grand return to the SYSF chorus and end this monster...

Um....that was definitely not my favorite jam, but I'll be damned if that wasn't the epitome of the 2021 Type 2 style in a massive nutshell. Honestly, Trey sounded downright bored for the most part and this jam was kinda "running on fumes" until it got dark around the 18 minute mark. I definitely think this is probably overrated for the insanity that follows because the first 2/3 of this just did not cut the mustard. But the final 6 or 7 minutes were damn ridiculous. The most robotic synthesizer meltdown I've ever heard this side of a 2023 Split Open and Melt.....

Wingsuit - HOLY FRIGGIN CRAP THIS IS ONE OF THE GREATEST THINGS IVE EVER HEARD!!! THIS IS FANTASTIC!!! No joke, one of the most incredible Wingsuits ever played. EVERYONE is just BRINGING it!!! Page is murdering his piano in the most gorgeous of ways and Trey is peaking it harder than a burst water valve!!! Holy crap on a cracker!!! AND IT ENDS WITH THE POWER DRILL!

>Chalkdust Torture - And into a nearly 24 minute Chalkdust! They rage it pretty good in the chill-rock tradition of the evening until around the 8 minute mark when they shift into Type II. Page on synths and chill keys while Trey plays with the robo wah. Very cool stuff. Around the 10 minute mark a new rhythmic pattern emerges. Trey honking it up with the RoboWah going nuts. Eventually by about 14 minutes they move back into a "type 1" bliss rock feel, as if Chalkdust never ended. Absolutely monolithic peakage occurs around 15:30!!!!! Look out!!! Thankfully they keep it going and hit ANOTHER absolutely MASSIVE peak around 17:45!!!!!!! Holy crap, hold on to your hats!!! AND AGAIN AT 19:30!!!! PEAK AFTER PEAK AFTER PEAK AFTER MOTHER EFFING PEAK!!! HOLY CRAP THIS IS FACE MELTING!!!! YES!! GET IT!!!! LETS GO!!!!! And from there they just rage it to a conclusion. They barely went type II in this, but who cares when you're getting your face ripped off like that for 20+ minutes!!!

Lawn Boy - First encore. Is Lawn Boy.

Wolfman's Brother - 14 minutes on this. Wolfman is great. It funks along as usual until about the 6:30 mark. The song fades out but Page keeps going. Slowly everyone else comes back and the beat starts to build the song back from the ground up!!! Super friggin cool!!! From here the song rages to a climactic conclusion. A++++ stellar Wolfy!!!


All in all, I gotta say I'm not sold on Set Your Soul Free, but it's absolutely must hear for the sheer sonic ridiculousness of it. Wingsuit and Chalkdust were the true winners, imo. Wingsuit was a GOAT contender and Chalkdust was everything you want out of a great one, amplified by 100. They turned the knob to "11" and ripped it off. And the Lawn Boy/Wolfman encore is the icing on the cake.

Not my favorite show at all, but you can't deny the strength of the highlights!!!