2019-09-01 Commerce City, CO

 Dick's 2019 #3

Set 1

Stray Dog ("Plague Dog") - Unexpected opener. I remember following this tour in real time and wondering which KV songs would be axxed permanently. Up to this point this appeared to be on the chopping block as its prior appearance was, I believe, New Years 2018. As for this one, I will give them points for trying it once as an opener. It's not the best opener but it rocks and Page rips it up and it gets the job done nicely A for effort!

Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan - Thank Icculus this was not the opener. Opening with ST is like the Dead opening a set with Victim Or the Crime. Enough of my babbling, how is this one you ask? Slightly dark-jazz vibe to this one. It grooves pretty well! Page and Trey mesh pretty good on the jam, playing off each other. This is like a late-night Stealing Time or something. Pretty good stuff!

Turtle In the Clouds - My favorite KV song (yes, I must remind y'all each time!). HOUSE PARTY! In the end, this one is pretty strong but in no way memorable. Just a very good Turtle with some hot soloing in the back end.

Wolfman's Brother - Sounds sluggish to start but gets cooking quick. Great scat-vocal jam before sinking into the deep, dank abyss of wah-infused funk. After a while a hint of "bliss" creeps in and we go full Type II on this sucker. From dark to light and soaring peaks. This thing freaking rocks and goes for the STARS! THIS SUCKER IS A BEAST!!!! ALL HAIL WOLFMAN! ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC JAM!!!! PEAK UPON PEAK UPON PEAK!!!!!!!

Birds Of a Feather - THEY ATTACK! It's a pretty-hot-as-usual BOAF. Again, nothing noteworthy and it doesn't even last that long. Just a quick little headsmasher.

We Are Come to Outlive Our Brains - A THIRD KV song in the first set! How about that?! This is maybe my second favorite of the lot. This one is quite lovely and the more delicate mood is perfect after the ragers preceeding it. The only problem is that it's short! If this was jammed out for at least a minute or 2 more this would be fantastic. As it is, it's nice enough to make my list. It's just REALLY good!

Taste - Holy crap when is the last time Taste was played? Feels like I havent heard it in ages....Strong version imo. Must-hear for Page's soloing. Terrific solo peak from Trey!!!

My Friend My Friend - The song portion isn't exceptionally strong BUT HOLY MOLY THAT DARK MELTDOWN! Look, this is far from list-worthy, but that back end was pretty sick.

>Twenty Years Later - Pretty epic set placement here, coming perfectly out of that Myfe. Pretty dark and epic! Tons of backwards-guitar-shredding from Trey. Pretty psychedelic. This one stays firmly in the Type I box, but what's here is fantastic. Grab this!

>Sparkle - Is Sparkle. Is fun. What do you want?

Crazy Sometimes - Freaking love this. Always jams. C'mon, who doesn't love this?! This one isn't anything special but it's always great to hear!

Bathtub Gin - X FACTOR MAGIC ON THIS SUCKER!!!! GRAB THIS NOW!!!!!!!! 16 minutes of Type II MAGIC!!! GONG HITS AND ALL!!!! OUTSTANDING!!! AN ALL-TIMER GIN!!!!!


On the whole, while this set definitely had it's notable high points, it held together with a great flow and energy. If you must, grab Wolfman's and Gin. SERIOUSLY GET THIS GIN!!!!!!!!!!

 

Set 2

Sightless Escape - Ooh!!! Glad they finally played it! Also, why was this the only version ever?! This was pretty good and I could see this in the rotation with jam potential. I wonder how many people this threw for a loop opening the set!

>Fuego - Absolutely perfect set placement!!!! Felt like it was born to follow SE!!! And holy crap this one is just steaming with extra heat!! THIS FUEGO IS FREAKING FANTASTIC! JUST HEAT UPON HEAT UPON HEAT!!!! HOLY CRAP!!! Eventually the upbeat jam devolves into some slightly Type II dark-ambient-funk areas. It gets very dark without ever going off the cliff. Extremely cool and high quality jamming!!! This is one of those jams where everybody is playing the exact right thing at the exact right time and it is morphing into a perfect soup.....

>Piper - THANK YOU FOR NOT RIPCORDING US TREY!!!! YOU ACTUALLY SLOWLY TRANSITIONED US FOR ONCE! HOLY CRAP THANK YOU!!!! Yea, as I just said, lol, the Fuego jam was dissolving slowly into sludgy ambience and Trey worked in the Piper theme perfectly. The band obviously latches on and we get fantastic slow-build Piper like the good old days! AWESOME!! Interestingly, they don't jump into it at 500mph like in 1999 or 2000 - instead they really, truly do let it slow build for a while. Page has his jazzy keys going, Fishman is riding those cymbals, and Trey is picking his spots to weave in and out quietly. And beautifully, I might add! From here we move to a more floaty section with lots of sustained notes and widdle-widdle's from Trey, with Page on his synths in the background. The dynamics of this jam are insane - things are heating up but the overall "volume" is still low. They are slow-roasting this sucker. Around the 7 minute mark now, the tempo starts to increase significantly to the more "expected" Piper vibe. Trey lays back for a minute and lets Page take center stage, only occasionally interjecting. Is Page using a theremin?!?! What is he doing!! He's really going wacky on this sucker Things proceed in this manner to the end, but Trey comes back and does some great abstract lines here and there. Page introduces the droning synth and slowly the jam builds to a magnificent peak of epic proportions. The peak doesn't last though and morphs again into more mid-rangey ambient textures that segue us perfectly into..... (THIS JAM IS X FACTOR MAGIC! THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST JAMS OF THE YEAR, EASILY. MY MIND IS BLOWN. THIS IS SPECTACULAR. 1.0 AINT GOT NOTHIN ON THIS!)

>Tweezer - AND INTO TWEEZER WE FRIGGIN GO!!!! This Tweezer is very early-90's sounding. They hit upon a certain groove and just ride it out forever, slowly adding something new here and there. It's blissful and upbeat and gorgeous. An really terrific Tweezer. I don't feel like doing the play-by-play right now but it's on the same level as Fuego and Piper for sure. A gorgeous, blissful gathering of the vibes. A+ stuff!!!

>Fuego Reprise - And Tweezer goes into a full on, "rollin! rollin!" Fuego reprise. Ok. maybe its just a line or two, but it joins the whole thing together for Conceptual Continuity and brings us back to the headsmashing, Machine Gun Trey guitar rock arena with aplomb before QUICKLY descending headfirst into 1999 DARK SPACE. Out. Of. Nowhere. What. This is like that Charleston '19 Split Open and Melt that I still can't comprehend. HOW THE HELL DID WE GET HERE?!?!?!?? Long, sustained synth blares from Page and Trey giving us some blissful little runs up and down the fretboard, lingering on those sustained notes when appropriate. Let me put it like this - Mike could start doing that Down With Disease intro right now and the world would explode

>2001 - We are in full-on late night OUTER SPACE AMBIENCE and then Fishman straight up just kicks into the 2001 groove we all know and love. OUT. FREAKING. STANDING. HO LEE HELL. No it's not The Great Went, but it definitely gives those vibes!!! WOW!!!! It's short and sweet and does the job of getting us over the hump to the next part of the show

>Chalkdust Torture - Another perfect segue and set placement! The guys are nailing that this summer!!! This sucker rages and snarls, it goes super funky and hard, and then goes to ambient bliss. What. It's all over the place in the best way possible. Fantastic section where they bring the volume down low and you almost expect a return to Piper. A+++

>Waste - Oh my goodness. This is literally giving me goosebumps like the studio version. Played this late in the set on the last day of the run, it feels like a massive "thank you" to everybody and a farewell for the end of a terrific summer. Just stunning and beautiful. A really, really great version. Better than usual.

>Cavern - Is Cavern, but this is loaded with extra hot sauce. Yes, its list worthy.

>First Tube - RAGES. It's hotter than the sun. It is exactly what you want and expect. It is jaw dropping.

The Horse/SITM - Is The Horse/SITM. Same as always, never different. Nothing bad, but nothing noteworthy. Talk about a comedown, lmao.

A Life Beyond the Dream - Absolutely 10/10 outstanding and a perfect way to finish the show. I remember in Charleston I didn't know the song yet but it still sticks in my mind as a terrific moment. This is like that, just perfectly placed to say "thank you" again like that Waste. Just gorgeous and beautiful and as perfectly placed as the star in the sky. Couldn't ask for a better closer to this run and summer. Fantastic.

Tweeprise - But we can't leave it on a ballad, can we? Gotta rock it out! AWESOME STUFF.


All in all, this show was face-melting. Set 1 was good but the Wolfman and Bathtub Gin were next- level. Set 2 was like Chicago 2011 or something - just magic and X Factor and perfect flow....Your jaw is on the ground going "how the hell do they do this?!" Absolutely outstanding, outstanding, OUTSTANDING 2nd set. One of the best 2nd sets ever performed. Fight me. Please.

Peace and love. Happy turkey day everybody. 

 

2019-08-31 Commerce City, CO

 2019-08-31 Commerce City, CO

Night 2 in Plagueville

Set 1:

The Moma Dance - Unexpected as an opener and not my preferred choice (though I always love it). Great groove and heavy vibes on this one. Strong Moma but nothing special. This wasn't really anything notable, but it was REALLY FRIGGIN GOOD, so it goes on the list!

The Final Hurrah - FACEPLANT INTO ROKK!!! Absolutely fantastic Type I rager. They killed it!!! So much energy!!!

Gumbo - Heavy and FUNKY! Moma on steroids! This is OUTSTANDING. And that piano solo from Page to close...oi vey this was MAGICAL!!! GET THIS NOW!!!!

Access Me - One of my favorite rarities. Great version of a great rarity worth checking out!

Funky B - MACHINE GUN TREY! FREAKING GET IT! SMOKESHOW CITY!!!

Ghost - Absolutely raging 16 minute Ghost!!! And in the first set?! Right away the jam immediately goes Type II with the boys dropping straight into a CHILL and slightly ambient kind of jam. And this is right out of the gates!!! Trey is doing some beautiful Wingsuit-y stuff with Page echoing him on the keys. Interesting rhythms and fills from Fishman throughout with Mike running across the fretboard in the mean time. All 4 guys are playing interesting things and you could easily pick out one of them to focus on. X FACTOR MAGIC!!! Where did this come from?! One second we were in a funky Ghost, the next we are in Blissville!!!! And we still have 10 minutes to go!!! The guys keeps moving back and forth from major to minor seamlessly, almost bar-by-bar!! Is this dark? Is this light? What's it gonna be in 10 seconds from now?! Who knows! Who cares!! Around 7 minutes in and a proper dark groove takes hold with Page turning to his disco synths and Mike still running for it down his fretboard. Quickly a very cool and groovy "Doors" kinda jam takes hold with a steady, upbeat and driving rhythm. This whole time Trey has been carefully soloing, never quite going Machine Gun, but never bowing out either. Just a steady stream of interesting playing from him to glue this together. This really feels like a proper group improv and not just a Trey And The Boys solo excursion. Absolutely outstanding stuff. Still 7 minutes to go!!! This classic-rock kinda vibe starts growing dark and menacing. Dark and evil synths, minor key playing all over the place, Mike and Trey really nailing down the "Evil" factor. This is the most schizophrenic jam ever - there has been 5 mood changes in the last 5 minutes. And it has all sounded natural and organic and wonderfully well done. They are a friggin' segue machine right now!!! Trey and the Boys keep the mood going and allow Page to just go nuts on the keys, coloring everything purple (in my mind...) letting the funky evil to envelop us all. Fishman has a more frantic rhythm going on and Trey and Page start to lock back in sync with Cactus laying down that PHAT groove with Fishman. I don't know what this is but its freaking awesome. And we still have 4 minutes to go!!! Trey slowly regains his perch as the focal point and with Fishman smashing those cymbals, he turns on the funky wah and absolutely strangles us to death with his gnarly axe handling. Meanwhile Page is totally doing the whole "Demented Halloween Nightmare" excursion over on the keys. Mike is still just running laps around his bass, and Fishman is just hammering those drums to death. What is this - this is spectacular!!!! This is definitely spin-in-spot headbanging music. AND THEN ON A DIME THEY SOMEHOW SLOWLY BRING THE TEMPO BACK DOWN AND PERFECTLY RETURN TO GHOST-PROPER. WHAT IN THE EVER LIVING HELL WAS THAT! IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!! DO NOT SKIP THIS SUCKER!!! THAT WAS BEYOND WELL DONE!

>Tube - Talk about perfect set placement again!! And again they just destroy the jam on this! At the 1:30 mark they launch head first into the dank murk! Still shifting moods on a dime, Trey and Page seem to have latched onto one another, playing off of each other. Bliss arrives around 3 min in and then you realize there are Ramones songs longer than this!! Great Piano from Page and funky volume-pedal playing from Trey (that's what that sound is, right?) Into the sky we go...And from there that is how it goes!! Major key ripping Trey shredding it up for like 4 minutes of fantastic awesomeness before returning to Tube with the bluesy bridge section. Again, outstanding stuff!!!!

Mountains In the Mist - Wonderful set placement and song choice. Just beautiful. THAT SOLO FROM TREY IS BEAUTIFUL BEYOND WORDS! THAT IS SOME WINGSUIT CHIT, MAYNE!!! Measured and dynamic, quiet and lovely, just jaw droppingly tender and expressive. Like the world's chillest Reba/Zappa solo or something. Holy freaking crap. And then those vocal harmonies out of it...SPINE TINGLINGLY MAGICAL! Someone call the ambulance - I'm about to faint....

Drift While You're Sleeping - So glad this seems to have replaced More as the de-facto set closer. I get the "cheese" complaints on this, BUT, of course I really love it. It's musically interesting (at least in the beginning) and the "love" refrains at the end are perfect to send us out on an uplifting note. This one sound unusually impassioned and its great to hear it coming into its own at this point. Terrific closing to an A+ first set.



Unless it's 1990's Phish or something, first sets really don't get much better than this. This was pure top of the heap quality. This put 8/30's first set to SHAME.

10/10 first set, imo. A few rarities, inspired playing, several lengthy Type II excursions that were imaginative and exciting...what more do you want?!

 Set 2

Mike's Song - The song itself sounds pretty tired and lackluster, like they spent all their rocket sauce in set 1. As soon as the jam begins though, the crowd goes nuts cheering for something - does anyone know what happenned? Anyways, the jam gets pretty hot, but on the whole there is nothing special or memorable about this MS. It's not even that long. Some nice ripping from Trey towards the end, but that's about it. Expected more!!!

>I Am Hydrogen - Is Hydrogen

>Weekapaug Groove - Instead of raging in as expected, the guys limp into the song and give us the quietest, chillest, most-defeated sounding Weekapaug these ears have ever heard. I will give it this though - for being ultra-chill, the playing is still terrific and inspired sounding. What an odd Weekapaug! In the end I'd say this is noteworthy for giving a different approach to the song than what was probably expected. Eventually the song goes full Type II for several glorious minutes that feature middle eastern sounds explored and deep space pure ambience (including gong hits!!!!) WEEKAPAUG SPACE MELTDOWN!!!!!!!!!!! Wow, I can honestly say I've never heard one like this! Slowly they rise out of the murk into 46 Days. Talk about a segue! (how many times have I said that?!)

>46 Days - WOW! WHERE DID THIS COME FROM?!?! TASTE THE FEAR FOR THE PLAGUE IS NEAR!!! This rips with the white hot intensity of 1,000 burning suns. Don't skip out on this!!

>Set Your Soul Free - Hot version that descends into Type II dark space funk around 6 minutes in. This eventually turns into some beautiful upbeat blissness. Some disco synths see a move towards deeper waters, but the guys pull the cord on it and return to the song proper with a fiery reprisal to finish. Awesome SYSF!!!

>Down With Disease - Trey totally butchers the song (Seeing a pattern here?) but at least we get an 18 minute long Type II beast out of this sucker! Too tired right now to narrate the whole thing, but to get that Ghost in set 1 and then get THIS?! TALK ABOUT A SHOW, MAN!!!!

>NICU - And another "who the heck saw that coming?!" segue for the record books! NICU is NICU but coming out of DWD, this one is loaded with extra pizzazz and is a total party beast! AWESOME.

Bug - Bug is Bug but this perfect out of NICU. Total mood, as the kids say. Seemed extra powerful with those crashing chords. Great stuff. Freaking awesome soloing by Trey.

The Wedge - Again, sick. C'mon man, is everything going to be a highlight or what?!

Slave to the Traffic Light - Again, Slave is Slave. It rips and it peaks and it destroys.

Brian and Robert - Always great to get this!

Character Zero - Is CZero, but it brings this incredible show to a perfectly rocking close. A+




All in all, this show took the momentum started with set 2 of the show prior and just expanded upon it in the best way. Set 1 was ridiculously strong (as close to a flawless 1st set as you can get!) and set 2 had a rough start with Mike's but quickly righted itself to deliver just as much epic punch as the 2nd set the night before. Absolutely terrific show. A strong 4.5 if I was to rate this sucker.

2019-08-30 Commerce City, CO

 Moving onward with Dick's 2019.

2019-08-30 Commerce City, CO

Can't Always Listen - Does anyone know the deal with the Can't Always Listen opener?! Its the 2nd time ever played and probably a song most people thought would never show up ever again. I am a BIG fan of the original debut performance from, what, 2015? A great kinda "stonesy" classic rock sounding track. Would welcome it to the rotation! Great stuff and it makes the highlights list for the playing as much as the rarity. It starts a little hesitantly but winds up raging to a hot conclusion.

Free - Trey has some trouble with the opening lick (as a player myself, I can confirm that it can be tricky at times), but I forgive him. Sounds like he's using a the neck pickup for a thicker/muddier tone overall and I'm not a fan of it. Sounds in that 2003/2004 tonal range. That's ok though - just something I noticed! Not sure what happened but he also totally flubbed the lyrics. This is a pretty awful Free so far. BUT, it sounds like he's laughing about something so can anyone enlighten me here? Am I being too harsh? The jam gets pretty gosh darn funky and fun. Absolutely a dance-fest. But the song itself SUCKED. Too little too late for me. This is fun but nothing special.

No Men In No Man's Land - Much better!! Absolutely RIPPING Type I DESTRUCTION!!! Everyone is playing like they sat on a campfire, lol. Hot and tight and RAGING. What is this, 2010?! Spectacularly good Type I NMINML!!! DONT MISS THIS!!!

555 - Decent enough but the vocals sound very hesitant and the track has a hint of lethargy to it. It does eventually get pretty dark and heavy towards the end so it's not a waste or anything, but it's not good enough to merit a recommendation.

>Back On the Train - I'd say this is pretty excellent. Trey's playing is stupendously smooth and buttery, leading us into a chilled-out kinda zone. A wonderful BOTT that even has some effects going on and some awesome Leo throughout. Fantastic!!! Eventually they slide out of the chill zone and into hotter waters, Trey leading us to the sun and a raging peak. Awesome. ABSOLUTELY FRIGGIN OUTSTANDING BOTT!!!!

Rift - Very pretty and not totally butchered. A pretty strong outing, actually, at this point in time. But nothing memorable about it whatsoever. A tad on the "quiet" side when it should be ripping hot. Great playing from Page!

Steam - MUST HEAR!!! HEAT!!! AWESOME TREY!!! Fantastic late-night groove to this. Trey is demolishing and this thing is just fnatastic. A+

Poor Heart - HOLY MOTHER EFFING CRAP CHECK OUT LEO ABSOLUTELY DESTROY THIS TUNE! HOLY MOLY!!!

Undermind - Leo is MVP of this set! He continues to tear it up. Yessssss!!! Also, let it rip, Trey!!! All in all not a classic but damn fine Undermind. If not exactly overtly memorable, it's at least of high quality.

Train Song - Is Train Song. Great to hear and good set placement as a cool down after that raging trio.

Wingsuit - Again, perfect set placement. As always, just magical. I haven't heard a poor one yet. It's like Reba - it's pretty much always gonna deliver the goods. This Wingsuit gives you exactly what you expect and its terrific.

Blaze On - Anticlimactically, they decide to end the set with my most-loathed song. Sails deflated....Once again though, get it Page! Pretty hot soloing from Trey but you pretty get exactly as expected. Nice set closer.


All in all, this set was a chore to get through - As you can see, it was up and down from song to song and the stuff that was good was usually only "just pretty hot" in the most basic way.

I would Steam and Back On The Train are both absolutely top-tier must hear, but the rest of the set you can refer to the notes for  

Set 2

Everything's Right - Excellent Type II excursion. Mostly stays in a positive, upbeat mood throughout. A strong 18 minutes of feel-good, dance party grooving. The song comes to a hot peak and then morphs into a funky jam that actually segues perfectly into...

Mercury - THAT SEGUE WAS MAGNIFICENT!!! THAT WAS LEGIT!!! FANTASTIC!!! For what it's worth, the song portion of this is pretty hot and angsty, nary a flub in sight. This is what it sounds like when Mercury is done justice! Quickly the expected jam ensues. Dark-ish funk with lots of watery keys. Magic to my ears. Somehow this eventually melts into a more uplifting area, with much more positive vibes. This has some of that X Factor magic to it. Just absolutely wonderful playing from all. Check out Mike tearing it up on bass as well! Somehow we manage to shift gears YET AGAIN into a more mid-tempo and slightly jazzy vibe with some occasional middle-eastern overtones going on. Still upbeat, but there is a new rhythm and a great sense of "how did we get HERE?!" . Very awesome. This is the stuff we hope for in a great jam, no? Slight darkness returns with Page turning up the disco synths and Trey ripping it up. Cactus is on a bombing run and we are in Funk Space!!! THIS IS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE STUFF!!!!! THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST NATURAL AND EXPLORATORY JAMS OF THE YEAR!!!! Guys, this is true MANDATORY listening!!!! PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND CHECK THIS OUT YESTERDAY!!! OUTSTANDING!!!!

Shade - Holy mother freaking crap. After that mind-exploding Mercury, this is exactly what the doctor ordered. A+++ on that set placement, yo!!!

>Light - And what do you follow Shade with?....How about LIGHT! The quiet intro to this version works wonderfully coming out of the quiet of Shade. They don't bang into this one, they eaaaassseeee on into it. And it works. Just great!!!! When the jam starts, Trey makes a wrong note and the rest of the band immediately jump off that wrong note to change from major to minor key. Extremely cool and the kind of thing most probably wouldn't notice, but its a perfect example of the guys listening to each other and building on eachother's playing. This Light is short but incredibly sweet. The jam kills and they just slay it. A+ All hail Micro Jams!!! The jam again veers off into Type II and the boys segue - again, perfectly! - into a Party Time that absolutely noone saw coming!!

>Party Time - Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!!!!!!!! The magic is flowing! X Factor abound!!! Incredible....

Sand - After bringing Light/PT to a proper close, Gordo kicks off Sand, thick and nasty like, with that heavy bass groove (even throwing in a fill or two!!!). THIS SAND IS OUTSTANDING!!!! THE GUYS REACH FOR THE FREAKING SKY LIKE A FUNKY BIRD SONG ON STEROIDS! THERE IS NOTHING TO SAY - WHY HAVE YOU NOT LISTENED TO THIS MAJESTIC MAGICAL BEAST OF AWESOMENESS YET?!?!??!

>What's The Use - Trey kind of ripcorded us out of Sand, but its ok in this instance and the guys follow his lead, SMASHING into WTU with the force of a thousand comet impacts. BAM!!!! WTU goes into 100 percent pure ambient silence with only Page and his "THX LOGO" synth making any sound. Holy hell this is scary! Slowly the rest of the guys rejoin Page and bring us to maximum ambient bliss orgasm.

OUTSTANDING

Harry Hood - The song portion is pretty weak, but the jam, again, is just loaded with that extra mustard sauce! Extremely hot and blissful and raging and magical Hood! A+++++

SANTOS - Raging end to an outstanding set.

GUYS THIS SET WAS INSANE! THIS MIGHT POSSIBLY BE THE BEST SET OF 2019 TO THIS POINT! SCREW SET 1 BUT SET 2 is ENTIRELY MANDATORY LISTENING!!!!!!

2011-09-04 Commerce City, CO

Been a real hard week. Listening has been on my mind but I've been so exhausted that I haven't had a chance to do any more.

Tonight I'm seeing how far I get into 9/4/11, Dick's Number 3

A Maze opener!!!!! Holy hell, I can honestly say I've never heard that before!!

Setlist looks great, hopefully this show slays the very disappointing 9/3/11  

-------------------------------------------

OH YEA! This show has IT!!!!

9/4/11 Commerce City

Maze
>Back On the Train (OUTSTANDING!!!!)
>Rift

Talk about an opening trio for the books! There is that palpable extra X Factor in the feel of the music tonight. The guys mean BIZNESS.

The setlist for this night is excellent so I hope they keep it up 

-----------------------------------------

Yup. X Factor Night confirmed.

Song 4 of the set we get a terrific 15-minute Bathtub Gin that is just all kinds of slam-dunk. Even if it basically stays Type I, the playing and jamming is soooo gooodddd......




The Way It Goes was an awesome Gillian Welch cover. Gonna check her out after that!

Halfway to the Moon was excellent. Page came in early on the vocals but he hit it on beat so it worked perfectly. Inspired playing. Best version yet, probably.

Into Gumbo we go!  

-------------------------------------------

This might honestly be the best, most cohesive, most action-packed first set I've ever heard.

The set is almost over and EVERY track has been a major highlight.

Gumbo - perfection
Halley's Comet - perfection, vol 2

Halley's gets into a raging guitar solo from Trey - BUT, DEAD NUTS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SOLO -

segue into Tube

OUT OF FRICKIN NOWHERE.

AND IT WORKS! AND ITS AWESOME!

HOLY CRAP!

---------------------------------------------------

Halley>
Tube>
Roses>
Chalkdust Torture

What a friggin' quartet this was.

BUT, the ENTIRE set was nearly flawless. One of the best 90 minutes of continuous music these ears have ever had the pleasure to listen to.

Out-friggin'-standing.

The best first set of 2011 - easily - or in the top 5 for sure.

Oh my god. 

----------------------------------------------

Finishing set 2 of 9/4/11 Commerce City

Dick's 2011 started great with 9/2, 9/3 was a horrible dream I'm trying to forget, but 9/4 finishes the trio almost as good as 8/15 began the Chicago run.

Spectacular show.  

----------------------------------------------

9/4 Commerce City ************* (Absolutely INCREDIBLE First set! A PERFECT first set! Set 2 follows suit. Incredible show!!!)
Maze (OPENER!!!!!)
>Back On the Train (OUTSTANDING AND RAGING!)
>Rift (HOLY CRAP!)
>Bathtub Gin (15 minutes of the greatest Type I jamming ever heard)
The Way It Goes (Gillian Welch)
Halfway to the Moon (BEST VERSION YET!)
Gumbo (PERFECTION)
Halley's Comet (PERFECTION)
>Tube (WTF SEGUE FROM HALLEYS!)
>Timber (SHREDFEST)
>Roses are Free
>Chalkdust Torture (Wacky and Raging)
Rock and Roll (FIRE UPON FIRE UPON FIRE)
>Come Together (BEATLES! Unplanned!)
>Twist (Terrific full-band jamming. Low Rider jam!)
>Piper (TYPE II THERAMIN INSANITY!!!!! OUTER SPACE!)
>Harry Hood
Roggae (GORGEOUS peak!)
Ghost
>GUY FORGET
>Ghost Reprise
Walls of the Cave
Number Line

2011-09-03 Commerce City, CO

 Trudging my way through 9/3/11 this afternoon.

Golly, when the first set features Possum, Moma, Divided Sky, Ocelot, Funky B and Wolfman, I feel like going *YAWN*

Love those songs but I swear there have been 10 other first sets this year with the same songs. Switch it up guys, its getting stale!

Ok, gripes aside:

Possum - not necessarily memorable, but worth hearing once for Trey ripping it up going nuts with sustained notes ala Divided Sky
Moma - A really solid, really good version. I can't put my finger on it but this one felt like it had a bit more extra sauce than usual.
The Wedge - great, perfectly performed version. Very nice but nothing memorable at all.
Ocelot - AWESOME jam in this one! I thought the song portion was on the weaker side but the jam is must-hear.

Divided Sky - not a great one, imo. Nothing majorly wrong but it felt kind of stiff and stilted. I hate to say it, but I was going "is it done yet?".

Funky B
Axilla
Llama - all three were great but what you see is what you get. That's not bad to say, but you know they rock, you know they are gonna be HOT. Ya dig?

Fast Enough For You - at this point I was kinda clocking out of the set trying to keep my eyes open. This perked me up. Why is this such a rarity?! It was terrific!

Wolfman's Brother - Definitely THE set highlight next to probably Ocelot. Spectacular DARK and FUNKY jamming. Mandatory listening.

Ok, on to set 2. Does it get better from here? Set 1 was ok....but Idk, it was like Phish on autopilot or something. Just a boring set (which pains me to say!)

 ---------------------------------------------------

 

So after that sleeper set 1, I hear good things about set 2.

It begins promisingly enough with a good-but-regular Down With Disease.

Disease doesn't really do anything unfortunately and just acts as a vehicle to get to Tweezer

And the award for Most Disappointing Segue goes to tonight's one into Tweezer

They are jamming Disease and Trey slyly throws in the Tweezer riff. Instead of following on and adjusting tempo, FISHMAN ripcords us and stops dead in his tracks!

Gah! That was infuriating! They had a perfect segue lined up and Fishman just totally screwed it...

Thankfully Tweezer gets to the goods QUICKLY, after a measly 3 and a half minutes.

Tweezer is awesome. Very grandiose and cinematic tonight. It slowly morphs from a straight on rager into a more uplifting and slightly ambient type of thing. Great pounding rhythms but with lots of church organ from Leo and Big Red giving us those lengthy sustained notes we all love

DIS IS SUM GOODE CHIT, YO

Getting a 1999 vibe here

For several minutes they milk this vibe and just slowly let it build. I've noticed in 2011 so far they have had a trend to just "jump to the goods" while kind of skipping the JOURNEY to said goods, if that makes sense.

Part of what I love about a good jam is the road it takes you on - the slow evolution from one musical idea to the next. Slowly things build and morph. They haven't done that too much in 2011. It's been like really, really good Fast Food Jams a lot of the time. Great and all but lacking that slow journey

This has that journey

By the 11 minute mark you'd swear this was a 1999 jam or something from 2000. That is a very good thing, lol

Slowly things get softer and more gentle. The rhythms continue but we are heading for "Big Cypress Sand" territory.

Wow, see what 2011 Phish can do in just 11 minutes of jam time if they put their mind to it?!

Yo this Tweezer was insane. This goes on the pedestal with the Gorge Rock and Roll or some of the Chicago jams.

Great stuff!

 

----------------------------------------------------

 

Ok, final thoughts on 9/3/11 (Is it over yet?)

I did not really care for this show

On paper it looks great, but really just grab Ocelot and Wolfman and you can skip the rest of set 1

Set 2 has lots of things going on. The theme for this show was "Short but sweet". Lots of good, short jams. Lots of good segues.

Nowhere near classic and not extensively memorable, but set 2 is definitely worth at least 1 listen

I mean, there really isn't too much to rave about - and you guys know I like to rave

I don't see myself returning to this show ever outside of the highlights. I mean, it's all good, but its just...I don't know. Very hard to describe.

  ---------------------------------------------------

 

9/3 Commerce City (Extremely uneven show. Set 1 is a snooze...Set 2 is pretty good. TWEEZER IS SPECTACULAR. Short but sweet is tonight's theme. Lots of goods in tiny packages. Get set 2)
Ocelot (terrific lengthy jamming)
FAST ENOUGH FOR YOU
Wolfman's Brother (NASTY, DARK, FUNKY! MANDATORY! TREY STRANGLES HIS GUITAR!)
Tweezer (ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE FLAWLESS 1999-type JAM! TOP 10 JAM OF 2011. AS GOOD AS ANYTHING FROM THE GORGE OR CHICAGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
>Golden Age (Short but SOARING! Starts to jam but Trey ripcords into LxL...)
>Limb By Limb (Again, short but SWEET! MAGICAL PEAK!!!)
Kill Devil Falls (11 minutes! Whale siren meltdown!)
>2001
>Light (INCREDIBLE SLOW SEGUE INTO DISEASE REPRISAL!!!!!!!!!!)
>Disease Reprise
Run Like an Antelope

 

2011-09-02 Commerce City, CO - Brought to You by the Letter "S"

9/2/11 Dick's

BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE LETTER "S"!!!!!!

Ok, set 1 - wow, 94 minutes!

Other than song-selection wow factor, the first four tunes (Sample, Sparkle, Sloth, Sweet VA) were nothing more than just-pretty-good versions. Nothing memorable to make you stand up and take notice.

At that point, 20 minutes in, I was thinking this was going to be an "off" night, BUT, my favorite new-song-soon-to-never-return, Suskind Hotel, came and STOLE THE FRIGGIN SHOW!

From here on out the rest of set 1 was terrific. Suskind flipped some switch for them tonight! Basically, pretend the show begins with Suskind and you are all good

Suskind had a great energetic and spastic jam similar to the other recent versions. Extremely hectic and bombastic in a good way.
Strange Design was a perfect interlude for the beast to follow...

STASH! GET THIS STASH! STASH OF THE YEAR! THIS STASH IS INCREDIBLE! FRIGGIN AWESOME!

A lengthy jam that stays firmly Type I, but there is so much energy. The playing is perfect with nary a flub to be found and the guys make wonderful use of dynamics in this. Absolutely spectacular Stash. For real.

Sneakin Sally - this one kept the momentum up. It was absolutely as good as Stash. Had a nice Type II funk jam that is mandatory listening before segueing into the first Sparks since 1996!!!

They play Sparks flawlessly (surely rehearsed, no?) and segue out into a ripping Scent of a Mule.

Mule is never my favorite song to hear, but this one felt noteworthy. Just an excellent performance of it.

After a RED HOT Stealing Time and a Shine a Light laced with gorgeous playing from all, we head for a dark and disjointed Split Open and Melt.

We get a couple minutes of dark and nasty quasi-ambiant Type II, ala Charleston 2019. Grindy and gritty malevolence at its finest.

Jeez, this set just wont let up!

And of course after Melt, we have the perfect set closer - Squirming Coil

Wow, I don't feel like that was a hands-down best-of-year set, but that was surely in the top 10 of 2011, DEFINITELY.
Lots to love - just make sure to start with Suskind Hotel!

Set 2 to come....  

-------------------------------------------------

Set 2

Beast of a set. Top 8 or so of this great year, easily. Nothing was too lengthy but the quality was there in spades.

Outstanding show overall. Good work, Phish 

It was great show. It wasn't out there like the Chicago shows were, but this was totally in the top heap of 2011 even still. Set 2 had mad flow and was just loaded with awesomeness. A great example that jams don't need to be 20 minutes to be fully loaded and worth hearing. Set 2 really, really cooked!  

-----------------------------------------------------

9/2 Commerce City** - (Begin straight at Susskind. SET 2 I ONE OF THE BEST OF THE YEAR! BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE LETTER "S"!)
SUSKIND HOTEL (SPECTACULAR!)
Stash (DANG! EXCEPTIONAL and dynamic jam! STASH OF THE YEAR!!!!!!)
Sneakin' Sally (FREAKIN SICK. SUPER FUNKY TYPE II.)
>SPARKS (!!!!!!FIRST SINCE 1996!!!!!!!!!)
>Scent of a Mule
Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan (HOLY HELL!)
Shine a Light
The Squirming Coil
Sand (Terrific Type I. HOLY FREAKING CRAP THAT PEAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
>Simple (Gorgeous bliss, deep space Type II ambiance)
>Steam (OUTSTANDING HOLY FREAKING FIRE FROM THE SUN THIS IS SPECTACULAR!)
Soul Shakedown Party
Seven Below (Magical Jam!)
>Suzy Greenberg
>Scents and Subtle Sounds (EXPLOSION.PEAKS UPON PEAKS UPON PEAKS!!!!)
Slave to the Traffic Light (LONGEST SUSTAIN NOTE EVER PLAYED BY HUMANS)
Sanity
Sabotage

 

2018-09-02 Commerce City, CO

Soul Planet was fun to open and get everyone dancing, but the jam didnt really do anything. However, the segue into Possum was AWESOME!!
 

Possum destroyed worlds.
 

Mellow Mood was surprisingly well executed- I don't think I heard a single Trey flub the entire time!
 

Now with Tube things are REALLY shifting into high gear - this jam is totally awesome. Lots of cool effects usage from Trey.

Good stuff so far.  

Funky B murdered
 

Ocelot had a wonderfully cool jam
 

Keeping It Real was great for a change (since Im the only person that digs it )
 

MYFE>Horn>Maze was an awesome Rift triplet
 

Miss You is perfectly placed tonight - absolutely the perfect comedown. Perfectly performed. A totally wonderful version!!!
 

But then a nice Antelope to close.

Highly enjoyable!  

46 Days began set 2 and had a pretty good jam.

That was nothing to prepares us for the glorious majesty of this Tweezer!!!

Its only 15 minutes but feels a lot longer. This Tweezer is extremely feel good and uplifting throughout - it sounds like you are riding through the sky on a cloud or something. Absolutely wonderful Tweezer! Lots of patiences and slow building to natural climaxes.

GLORIOUS!

And that segue into Golden Age!

WOW!!!! 

Ok, so set 1 was great, but set 2 is outta this friggin' world. Seriously. One of the top 4 or 5 sets of the entire summer (which was loaded with amazing shows!)

Seek out set 2 pronto! 

 

2018-09-01 Commerce City, CO

  I continue 2018 with night 2 of Dick's, 9/1/18

A great little Sand to kick the show wide open.... 

Sand was a nice opener. Took a while to get going but had some nice jamming. Nothing special though.

Down With Disease was ROUGH. Ouch. Skip the song portion and head just for the jam. Be advised though, despite it's length it never leaves type 1 "shred till you die" mode. Kinda a disappointment

Shade was an excellent rarity but talk about bad set placement! Ok, maybe not after the raging openers, but song THREE of the show?! C'mon!

Home was not terrific. I actually really love this song and hearing it is always welcome, but good lord the guys are rushing and sounding like they didn't practice it. Lots of flubs from Trey throughout.

Does it get better, guys?! 

Thankfully it does - The last few minutes of Home are headbanging glory! Energy out the WAZOO!!! HOLY HELL!!! 

Ok, so the first few songs were rough, but after Home, the show achieved liftoff.

As a whole it wasn't the greatest, but the entire 2nd set was balls to the wall incredible

Nothing mega out there - some great Type II in Fuego and SYSF - but everything had more energy than every 1991 Grateful Dead concert combined!

If you want to rock and headbang and tap your feet til there are holes in your shoes, this is a show for you.

Great stuff! 

2018-08-31 Commerce City, CO

 Moving on with 2018, I venture onwards to Dick's

Free begins 8/31/18 with a bang. It's not the greatest of all time, but the energy is definitely there and Trey is at least trying to be creative in his squawky/squirrely, start-stop soloing.

On paper, this setlist is immense!

9 of the show's 15 songs are more than 10 minutes in length with 3 more at least 8 minutes long. And of those that exceed 10 minutes, 6 of those are more than 13 minutes in length!

Wowzers - I know numbers ain't everything but, c'mon, this is Phish - we usually want some length 

Harry Hood - Harry Hood is always the greatest feel-good jam of all, and this one is yet another great one!

If you want to put a stupid grin on your face and turn your bad day upside down, devote 15 minutes to this - thank me later 

Blaze On - This is HOT! It takes a little while for the real meat of the jamming to take off, but once it does....WHOOSH! INTO THE SUN!!!

Ultra hot Type I  

Ghost - It never goes deep space, but it RAGES ultra funkily for its 15 minute duration - I mean, they are getting down! Clavinet, wah pedal, guitar loops....the whole 9
  And then we segue perfectly into Crosseyed and Painless - boy oh boy these were made to be played back to back with jamming like this!!!
  Oh man, if I was at thsi show I would've danced so hard that I would've achieved vertical lift and then shot myself into outer space!!!!

   

Carini -

Add this sucker to the ALL-TIME-GREATEST LIST PRONTO

Sure, it ain't Fukuoka 2000 Twist>Jam sequence, but for a 20 minute 3.0 jam, this covers a HELL of a lot of terrain. By the end of it Carini is a mere twinkle in the distant past. It's GONE. We are to the next dimension   

Light - In the middle of this monster, I can firmly say now that this - imo - has been the best show (or at least the most out there) of 2018 SO FAR.

This show is essential latter-day 3.0 listening