2021-10-31 Las Vegas, NV - SciFi Soldiers!!!!

 Finishing the week with The Big One

10/31/21 Las Vegas - SCI FI SOLDIERS!!!

Set 1

Buried Alive - Not amazing. Just ok.

Roses are Free - Very nice. Sounds like its going to jam but then they pull the plug on it

Ghost - 27 minute super jam in slot 3!!! All the way to the 14 minute mark they power rock to oblivion. Then, just as you think the jam is ending they push on and dive into a dark and spooky robo area for a long while. Fantastic. They slowly build back out and rage the bliss rock. A quick detour into roboville before reprising the Ghost theme to close...X FACTOR MAGIC YO!!! All that being said, for as great as it was, It feels a little underwhelming on the whole. That is definitely a "me" issue and Im sure further listens will change my opinion.

Wolfmans Brother - Standard excellence but holy crap Trey goes OFF!!! Great version!

Kill Devil Falls - Absolutely spectacular!! X Factor Magic!! This ends up being my favorite music of the set. A+++++ version. Must hear!!!

Free - standard. Good but inessential.

David Bowie - YUCK!!!! Add another version to the list of worst versions ever. The jam is actually great but all of the composed playing is horrifically bad!! The dang intro section will make you go "Is this August 2004?!" .. Yea. Nasty in a very bad way.


All in all, quite a mixed bag set quality wise. Ghost and KDF are the essential must hear music and the rest you can safely go without ever hearing ever again......  

Set 2 - SCI FI SOLDIERS!!

Intro - a cool and strange intro piece of music welcoming the Sci Fi Soldiers to the arena stage....

Knuckle Bone Broth Avenue - Right from the first play this has been a favorite of mine. Friggin 15 minutes on this sucker! This feels right out of the Kasvot Vaxt playbook. Im honestly shocked this was basically ignored in setlists following the debut. It only has, what, 2 other versions?!? I thought this would be THE breakout jam monster for 2022, but alas for some reason they just shelved it!!

KBBA DESERVES MORE LOVE!!!

Get More Down - Another underrated tune. Absolutely love the proggy "what the hell is this" rhythm pattern. All anxiety-ridden and what not. Not surprised this was never played again but it'd be a great bust out! "GET MORE DOWN!" "We are Sci Fi Soldiers! This is our album!" As with KBBA, this is surprisingly jammed out, reaching 9 minutes. "Only we can stop it - stop the Howling!"

GREAT STUFF, YO!


Egg In a Hole - Holy mother of nucleae bomb explosion, I remember being astounded by this the first time I heard it. Immediate dark and evil Phish to the nth degree. There is zero reason for there not to be a massive jammed out version of this. Also, imagine a Carini jam morphing into this....PHISH WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN US!!!!
The solo section is ridiculous on this. Trey delivers one of the tastiest, nastiest, FX-laden solos ever.....

Thanksgiving - Another super funky number in line with KV....This sucker is loaded with "spoken" vocals. Basically its a "nothing" song existing just to show them absolutely tearing the roof off with some of the hottest, sickest jamming of the year....Maybe not essential in the grand scheme but it sure is fun!

"We are SciFi Soldier from the year 4680. We are very happy to be with you humanoids tonight."

Clear Your Mind - Not as much play as it deserves, but at last this one has been played 5 or 6 times since. More laid back kinda Dead vibe on this one. Golly, I love the stupid lyrics on this one. Really nice feel good, upbeat playing on this. The outro jam section is cash money....

The 9th Cube - I absolutely adore this tune and its a shame it has only played once since its debut. Its a terrific instrumental, jazzy-yet-proggy, that almost recalls the composed stylings of early Phish. Really, really love it!


The Inner Reaches of Outer - Another "weird rhythm pattern" song. Its a very pleasant upbeat kind of pop ditty with some nice melodic ideas thoughout. This deserves another look from people.

Don't Doubt Me - Another song that I adore. This one is so much stupid fun! Love the chord progression and dark vibe. "He does handstands in grand fashion, but hes a GEN-YOU-WINE A$$HOLE!" "HOLY BLANKENSTEIN!! UNHEAD THE KNEE!!!"

Like, what the hell does that even mean?!?? Lololol. Ugh, just fantastically fun.... And this debut version has serious legs already - THIS ROCKS! Absolutely amazing, haha


The Unwinding - Now THIS is one im shocked has never been played again. A wonderful little ballad. The music/vibe is to die for. Love it to bits. Absolutely fantastic!!!!!

Something Living Here - Another excellent upbeat kind of funk song. Only played what, 1 more time after this? Major live potential. No reason this should be on the shelf!! The music is terrific....THIS IS SICK!!! The dueling Page and Trey solos are great. This sucker jams!! PLAY THIS AGAIN, PHISH! PLEASE!!! THIS DESERVES LOVE!!!!

The Howling - We know it and we love it. This definitely has earned its spot in the rotation, and thank god for that!!!


I Am In Miami - Nice little acapella tune to send us out


All in all, I loved this way more than I expected. Individually the songs can be threadbare at times, but it really felt like it all fit together thematically and they all probably work best heard as one. Still, some fantastic music and tunes that does not deserve the hate!!!

Really, Thanksgiving was pretty much the only song that didnt really do much (and even that has great playing!).

Somethings Living Here, 9th Cube, KNBA, Get More Down, Dont Doubt Me, The Unwinding, The Howling, Clear Your Mind, Egg in a Hole - all great pieces!!!

  

Set 3

"We are the Phish, from the year 1-9-8-3...."

Carini - 13 minute Carini to open was a great choice! MUST HEAR!!! Absolutely kickass jim. They start to drift out into type 2, but then it morphs into an insane POWER ROCK section. This in turn slowly morphs into deep space ambience to finish. Total X Factor on this sucker! Holy crap...

>Lonely Trip - poor placement imo, but I still love it either way. Great version as always.

Soul Planet - 14 minutes on this one. Rocks good then dives into a wonderfully laid back "ocean chill" kinda zone about halfway through. Quickly they begin to raise the intensity back up. This morphs into some high energy robofunk fun. The uptempo robo rock somehow then morphs into a very dark and heavy "Egg In a Hole" type jam. Outta nowhere. Extreme FX usage and evil funk follows, carrying us tonthe finish line.....X factor friggin magic.....Yo, this jam is SICK!!! Deep and multisectional, its a compact adventure! Give this a revisit!!!!! ITS FRIGGIN AMAZING!!! Actually, this might be THE jam of the night! Yea, Im serious!!!!!!

>Death Dont Hurt Very Long - Basically the fun conclusion of the Soul Planet jam

Twist - is Twist. Good stuff

Drift While Youre Sleeping - excellent choice that really hits the emotional mark. Love it.

Harry Hood - Excellent Hood to close the show and tour. Could it be any other song in this spot?


All in all, set 3 was a raging success!! Carini was fantastic, but that Soul Planet is easily up there with the finest jams 2021 has to offer. An excellent post-gag set!!!!! I ended up enjoying this show much more than anticipated. I actually was always kinda "anxious" going into it because of the size and the rather negative reception to the SFS material, but screw that. This show was a PARTY!!

Must hear music:
Soul Planet
Ghost
Carini
Kill Devil Falls
Dont Doubt Me
Clear Your Mind
Somethings Living Here
The Unwinding
Knuckle Bone Broth Avenue
Get More Down

And with that, Fall 2021 is finally - PROPERLY - complete

Extended thoughts to come later....

2021-10-30 Las Vegas, NV - The Animals Show

 Onward to 10/30/21, Vegas #3 - the animals show

Set 1

The Dogs - an extended, nearly 10 minute reading. Never fully ignites, but it was a good pick to open and gets the job done.

Ocelot - solid. Nothing special.

Turtle In the Clouds - solid. Nothing special.

Run Like An Antelope - The show begins to finally gather some steam with this one. The finaly explosive peak section has extra sauce all over it. Give this a listen!

Camel Walk - Only 5 minutes but absolutely terrific!!! A+ reading of the song and the funky jamming is superb.

Wombat - 11 minute, full blown, type 2 Wombat! Hold onto your x factor magic, cuz here it comes!!!! The song itself is a bit too loose sounding, but the jam is SPECTACULAR!!!!!! Right up there with the best jams of the year. They tear this sucker down going far into the outer reaches of late-night space funk or something. GOAT WOMBAT?! (now that would be a silly animal!! )


>Guyuute - Im calling that a segue, even if it was an odd one. Surprisingly well played, Trey sounds downright enthused. Not perfect, but definitely excellent by 2021 standards. Call me surprised! Again, its not perfect, but its also played, overall, much better than I'm sure most of us will expect. Definitely a keeper!!

Big Black Furry Creature From Mars - "Hello! How are you! I hope you have a good time....ONETWOTHREEFOUR!!!!!!" *shreds*

Shaggy Dog - Only the 4th version played since 1988 and first version since 2012!! Played perfectly with extra pizazz. Surprise highlight!

Dog Faced Boy - Is DFB. Great stuff.

The Sloth - Sloppy out of the gate but better as it goes along. Solid but inessential.

Llama - Rages hard and fast. Fast Llama is always an auto highlight. Fantastic!!!! Demented Trey on this one!

I Am the Walrus - no comment. Its awesome




All in all, this set started slowly but got better as it went along. Starting with Antelope they kick it up several notches. Camel Walk and Wombat and Llama are all must hear and Guyuute and Antelope are worthy of praise. BBFCFM+Little Squirrel is downright hysterical. Llama shreds and Walrus is the icing on the cake. Honestly, this set was way more enjoyable than I expected it to be!!!   

Set 2

Dogs Stole Things - Good, get it over with quick! Joking aside, this is an excellent version with good heat all around. But Dogs will never be a highlight for me

Your Pet Cat - Apparently the only thing people seem to remember from this show. 15 minutes, this is the longest to date, no? As with Wombat, this is a type 2 tour de force, stretching long and deep, taking us on some kind of atmospheric space funk odyssey (or something like that) before peaking out into more blissful waters. X Factor Magic abound, this is essential listening!!! That slow build into that final peak section is * chefs kiss * !!!!! Hot damn this is ROCKIN!!!!!!

Runaway Jim - 10 minutes and sufficiently jammed out. Terrific little Jim worth a mention. Really great jamming on this! Goes out into synthy robo bliss land! The jam feels 20 minutes long!!

>Piper - FRIGGIN ROCKET TO THE SUN!!! Then a wonderful shift downward into an excellent and lengthy chill down that leads into....

>Birds of a Feather - HOLY CRAP THAT PEAK!!!!!! FIRE FIRE FIRE FIR!!!!

Harpua - Having heard every 3.0/4.0 Harpua, I think its safe to say this is probably the best one. Absolutely crazy and hilarious, Trey tells the story of Jimmy hallucinating about sacred geometry, mathematics, rhombuses.....then, Trey acknowledges that they always troll the S outta their fans and implores everyone to visit a new instagram page supposedly giving away the Halloween secret. This is essential listening. Its unexpctedly captivating and hilarious and will have you laughing and grinning throughout. A+ Harpua!!!!

Bug - Absolutely soaring version!!! Must hear!!! So much energy!!!!

The Lizards - See Mexico 2020. An absolutely spectacular reading that feels like the perfect emotional finale the set deserves. A++++

Farmhouse - See Lizards. Wonderful!

Vultures/Sleeping Monkey/Possum - nit much to say. Goods delivered


All in all, holy smokes what a set!!! YPC>Farmhouse is one giant must hear sequence!!! Harpua is an all timer for real - surely this goes up against many 1.0 Harpuas? Its great! I had "low" expectations for this show (how good could an animals set honestly be?!) and thankfully this show delivers where it counts. No it aint Chula Vista or 10/28, but neither is it some kind of barren wasteland either. Definitely worth a listen and good enough to replay!! Maybe the 4.3 rating on .NET is a bit high - this feels like a 3.8-4.0 kinda show overall, but thats just me. Sick.

ON TO SCIFI SOLDIERS!

2021-10-29 Las Vegas, NV

 Onward to the final "brand new" show listens of 2021 for me. I came SO close to finishing it last year but never made it past 10/28

Rectifying that as promised right now, lol.

10/29/21 Las Vegas

Set 1

Olivia's Pool - Fantastic version and surprise song choice. Very hot and full of energy. Terrific opener!

Axilla II - Only the 2nd version since friggin 1995 and, even better, this sucker is almost 22 minutes long! The jam is amazing, very slowly building organically out of the outro, minute by minute, into a massive rock and roll climax. One of those jams that just keeps building and building and building! X Factor MAGIC!


Mike's Song - HOLY CRAP!!!!! Only 13 minutes, but this has to be among the most exploratory versions post-reunion. It feels like a 20 minute odyssey or something!!! The initial inspired funk jamming gives way to looper-led jamming. The loop jamming gets more and more ethereal, Page on the church organ. From there, they build it up slowly to the sky like some heavenly church music or something!!! Absolutely inspired!!!! And then, like its 1994 again, they seamlessly drop straight back into the Mike's riffing proper and close it out. X FACTOR MAGIC STRIKES AGAIN!!!! THAT WAS FRIGGIN INCREDIBLE!!!!

>I Am Hydrogen - Is Hydro, but sounds so fantastic tonight and works ridiculously well if you think of it as the next part of that Mike's jam instead of a separate song.

>Weekapaug Groove - And the hits just keep coming!!!! 12 minutes on this one, we get ANOTHER jammed out rendition! I for one welcome the re-introduction of our Paug-based jam gods..... The jamming sees them move the initial Paug into a darker, more late-night and fiery kind of zone. Like an up tempo Mikes jam or something. Trey's soloing begins to go....askew. He and Page wrestle for direction - go deep or stay Paug?! Trey hits a massive sustained note and sets a damn loop of it and we are off!! Into full blown heavenly type 2 mother effers!!! LETS GO!! BRING ON THE PEAKAGE! And bring it on they do!!! SUPER PEAK EXPLOSION!! I HAVE GOOSE BUMPS!!! Eventually the massive and lengthy peak subsides and we rage the Paug theme back to a conclusion. "Hello! How are you? We hope you have a good time!!!"

Yes, Trey, a GREAT time was had by all.

Ok guys. That HAS to be the finest Mike's Groove of 3.0 to this point, no?! That was like listening to some late 90s insanity or something. 1.0 vibes all over... X FACTOR MAGIC STRIKES THRICE!!!!!!


Shade - Beautiful version is the perfect cooldown. Great set placement as well. A+!!!

I Always Wanted It This Way - 14 minutes....oh boy, here we go! Immediately, its apparent the X Factor is cont brightly. Everyone is loading this with their best fills galore. Gordo and Trey both crushing with their sickest robo funk FX. Page joins the game with tons of wacky digital and synth FX. This suck is going off the damn rails! Eventually, they begin to work towards brighter, more blissful areas, Trey soaring ever skyward, using some sick delay/volume pedal effect!!! You can probably call this a type 2 version by this point! And then...holy s#itballz.....the song just EXPLODES!!!!! GREATEST PEAK EXPLOSION SINCE THE PELHAM CARINI!!!!!! HOLY MOTHER OF NUCLEAR BOMB FIRE FROM THE SKY!!!!! FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And with that, set 1 comes to a close.....



All in all.... HOLY MOTHER OF CRAP ON A CRACKER!!!!! People told me this was one of the finest modern shows ever and so far it is living up to the hype! The whole damn set is just spectacular. The Mike's Groove should be considered a true hall of famer and that Axilla didnt just break the mold, it friggin shattered it, pumped 20 rounds into its skull and torched it down to smoldering ashes....IAWITW is not to be missed either, turning in what was likely the best version to this point (maybe better than Mexico 2019 even).

AND THERE IS STILL ANOTHER SET?!


Glad to be back folks. Im here all week. Thank you, thank you very much. Christ it felt good to finally word vomit a review again....

  

Set 2

Ass Handed - A six minute, jammed out Ass Handed to open the 2nd set. What a time to be alive!!!! They keep the riff going, and then Trey kicks on the robo fx and its off to the races with one of the hardest, funkiest jams this side of 1997. Then the funk subsides and it morphs into a sparkly, late night chill groove. Like a Sea of Stars jam gone robo or something .....FULL BLOWN TYPE 2 ASS HANDED!!!! X FACTOR MAGIC: THE QUADRILOGY!!!!!


>Tweezer - .....and into a 20 minute Tweezer! The initial funk jamming gives way to a section of bliss rock before they give it a kind of classic rock "edge". This jam is very "in the box" and the changes are often subtle.
------Its all about the energy and the way the band are LOCKED IN to one another - listen to Fishman flawlessly react to Trey's motifs with reactionary drumwork instantaneously. Things like that. Somewhere around the 14 minute mark this rocking Tweezer develops a further head of steam. They are just rocking this one the F out.
-----FINALLY, with barely 5 minutes to go, they break out of the "extended type 1 2023 style" jamming when things suddenly shift darker and Trey begins playing with robo fx and delay. Page responds like Fishman with his own synth playing while Trey keeps robo rhythm with the delay. Cyberfunk?? Something like that?? All I know is that this final portion of the jam is sick, yo.
---Eventually the guys stumble into a repeating, ascending motif. They work in and out of it for a bit. You think it is going to lead to a giant peak, but instead they take it the opposite route, slowly shifting downwards and concluding the jam.....

Great Tweezer. Not the most exploratory or the finest of the year (see Shoreline and Atlantic City for those), but a strong version nonetheless.

>Funky B - Hot fire as ever. And yes that is a true segue! Planned or unplanned, the end of the Tweezer jam saw Trey playing with the opening notes of FB. Sounds like he saw his chance and jumped straight in. Great stuff. Not much else to say. Its Funky B. It rages. Nuff said!

Reba - A very rare 2nd set Reba is next. The composed section is far from perfect but there are worse versions out there. Its played ok but not great, ya dig. The solo portion though...TYPE 2 REBA!!!! They lock into this down-low and dark kinda funky rhythm. Unfortunately its very brief though (30 seconds or so) and then its back to business as usual. The back half sees the band just explode - peak peak peak peak peak peak! Lets go! Fantastic!!!! Holy crap Trey!!!!!!!!!
Throw in Ass Handed and Little Squirrel reprises and thats a wrap.


Sand - Nearly 17 minutes on this bad boy!!!! Insane version. Goes proper type 2 and into a Tweezer jam.

>Sigma Oasis - PEAK EXPLOSION!!!!

Walk Away - FIRE!!!

Julius - See Funky B

Tweeprize - perfect conclusion.....

All in all, this show is CLASSIC!!! An absolutely ridiculous listen, nearly everything is jammed and the show plays like a crazy rollercoaster ride....