4 18 25 Seattle
Set 1
Highly inspired choice of a 12+ minute Sand to open the show! An
excellent version, it has some "stiffness" (breaking in the tour/show I
guess) but is nicely energetic. The jam is initially patient and
introspective. At a certain point something "clicks" and they just shoot
for the sky! This version soars with an excellent peak
section. Really awesome and a tad unique sounding. They keep going and
so some textural Leslie jamming for a bit before reaching another,
slightly smaller peak and sending us out. That was an awesome
version that definitely had some character to it. Honestly, you could
almost say it slightly goes type 2 as well. Must hear!!
The following 12 minute KDF keeps the rocking going. Unfortunately this
isnt a great version. I dont know if Trey was having a hard time dialing
in his sound tonight or what. It just sounds kind of not smooth. Not
rough or sloppy, but not tight. The jam itself tries very hard and kind
of gets there but is hampered by this overall stiffness. To be fair it
is highly energetic and does peak really hard but Trey is having trouble
with his sound and it kinda ends up a disappointment overall. Basically
A+ for effort, B for execution.
Up next is Theme. Average strong type 1. Really good as always.
Then we get, outta nowhere, 18 minute BOTT!!! Is this the
longest ever?! I know the 2009 NYE version was 17 minutes.... The song
itself sounds slightly tighter than the rest of the set played so far.
Very good type 1 ensues. At the 8 minute mark things start to get
interesting when everyone syncs up on a little descending motif. Right
at the 9 minute point things go proper type to and dark synthesizers
appear out of freaking nowhere! Hold on to your x Factor hats here we go!! 
The jam dives into a dark and textural area, Trey doing patient melodic
lines while Page provides smooth synths. Eventually Trey begins an
ascending motif that they all latch onto and the energy starts to rise,
slowly rocking it up more by the second. Around 13 minutes they really
begin rocking again and the jam just explodes!!!! Massive, epic
hose explosion volcano eruption!!!! Lets go!!! Shame the LP recording
sounds so bad as this is AWESOME!!! This peak is AMAZING!!! It literally
goes on for MINUTES!!!! They are just melting faces with this
sucker....Then at 16:30 they PERFECTLY slide back into the song and bring us home.
Holy crap!! That was legit a MONSTER! WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?! Must hear of course!
Wonderful and perfect choice of If I Could to cool us down. Good version but nothing special - gotta say, Treys tone really sucks.
A 6 minute Tube is a great pick to lift us up and dang does this one
feel like its loaded with extra energy or something. Really SICK robo
wah jamming, the whole band totally synced up like one 8 armed beast.
This Tube is awesome. Im calling it must hear for sure!
Mull follows and delivers a super hot type one reading. Nothing must hear but its HOT and totally excellent! Awesome reading!!!
The first set of the tour comes to a close with a 12 minute Wolfman. And holy crap what a damn Wolf it is!!! X
Factor all over this BAD BOY!!!! Initial type 1 gives way to KILLER
Leslie jamming for a good while. Eventually it starts to build and, as
with BOTT, it just friggin EXPLODES for several incredible, glorious,
hose spewing minutes. Must hear at all costs!! THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!!! NO, REALLY, THIS IS A MONSTER!!!!
All in all, it took a bit to get "steady" but this was an awesome set
overall with strong energy and excellent jamming. Sand, BOTT and Wolf
are alm true, must hears.
Great start to the tour!!
Set 2
A 12 minute Blaze On kicks things off. An absolutely smashing type 1
reading. Just energy out the wazoo and never boring. The run time is
justified.
Pulling off one of the slickest segues Ive ever heard in my life, they go into a friggin 23 minute Golden Age. Golden Age is a Kaiju sized BEAST OF EPIC PROPORTIONS!! Ridiculously high energy, it spends most of its jam - all the way to the 19 minute mark (!!!) in the sickest, most ass kicking PARTY ROCK jam
Ive ever heard. This isnt boring or meandering - this is high caliber
full band interplay of the highest order. Around 19 minutes after an
unbelievable peak, it drops into 4 glorious minutes of "wtf is this"
weirdo type 2 to send us out. Holy mother of F. Now THAT was a true ALL TIME version. Pure MAGIC.
BUT WAIT!!!! THERES MORE!!!
An 18 minute WGTYM is next and delivers the effing jam of the century!!! THIS
IS A GOD DAMN 1.0 TIER JAM AS GOOD OR BETTER THAN MEXICO 2024 OR
ANYTHING IN THE MODERN AGE!! THIS IS, QUITE SIMPLY, THE GREATEST JAM IN
THE UNIVERSE FOR ALL TIME. FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST....
Initial type 1 gives way to excellent darker jamming. Around 13 minutes
it sounds like a natual ending but they push through. The next 5 minutes
are the stuff of legend. Have you heard the Camden 99 Chalkdust? This
is literally comparable. Im not joking. Absolutely SOARING higher than
the heavens, with the most MAGICAL peak finale of anything ive ever
heard in my life. Trey UNBELIEVABLE meltdown of a guitar solo is
up there with the greatest solos ever laid down in the history of rock.
Full stop.
Jam of the Year. Right here . Cancel the rest of the shows as it aint getting better than this.
No seriously, that was Mexico WOPE, 47 minute Soul Planet, Camden 99 Chalkdust black magic voodoo.
IAWITW keeps the party going. Definitely continues the special energy of
WGTYM. After some short jamming they change gear and execute another
flawless segue into Ghost.
Ghost continues the X Factor fun. Another unique version. Its 14 minutes
of awesomesauce. Initial rocking slowly mutates into this sick latin/Santana/whatever kind of feel. LATINO GHOST. Its
so dang awesome, dripping with X Factor. They spend a long time
exploring that to the fullest before the expected head ripping finale.
Obviously must hear.
Boring encore of Bug and Possum. Both are genuinely excellent if nothing
special versions, but ya know what? These "average" readings felt
needed after the universe destruction the set unleashed.
All in all - 5/5 star second set. Easy. Literally perfection from
start to finish. EVERY single song in the set was must hear. The Golden
Age and Ghost were both OUTSTANDING, but that Mind!!! Pretty much ever
version has been dang good to great so far, but this just left ALL of
them in the dust.
Sooooo hard. Its not even funny.
This show was so unexpectedly high quality I cant believe it. Overall Id
rate it a strong 4.3, maaayyybbbee a 4.4 if the first set was a little
less "rusty" or whatever (dont forget those sick set 1 highlights!!)
This 2nd set is sure to go down in the Halls of Phishtory as one of the finest ever played.
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