An intro to this review archive!

PLEASE READ!! - Welcome to Warewolf95's "Idiot Review" archive!!

 Howdy folks! As the title says, welcome to my archive of live show reviews as I have posted on the Steve Hoffman Music Forums website! I pr...

Showing posts with label New York. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York. Show all posts

Saturday, November 20, 2021

1972-03-21 New York City, NY

 

3/21/72 - Academy Of Music, NYC

Exceptionally wicked Greatest Story. Holy shit, JERRY IS ON PEDAL STEEL FOR LOOKS LIKE RAIN! Good Lovin smokes. Truckin>TOO>Wharf Rat is pretty hot as always. Sugar Magnolia kicks ass.A rare Two Souls. Overall, a good show. Worth hearing the highlights. The show is long and DRAGS a bit.

1971-10-26 Rochester, NY - Download Series Vol. 3

 

10/26/71 - Rochester, NY - Download Series, Vol. 3

An overall excellent gig. Keith is HIGH in the mix. Jed is, for once, uptempo. There is an air of chill throughout, but it does not hamper the energy displayed. Great gig.

1971-02-18 through 1971-02-24 Port Chester, NY

 

2/18/71 - Port Chester, NY

VERY FIRST BERTHA, GREATEST STORY, LOSER, PITB and WHARF.The first night of the famous 6 night run. Rollicking opening Bertha. Good first set. Bertha is rollicking and ragged. GSET sounds yet to gel fully. DS>Wharf>DS and Hard to Handle are the set highlights. PITB is odd and stutters out without a jam. Very odd. Bobby McGee is simply gorgeous. Sugar Mag KICKS ASS! Fantastic closing UJB. Overall, the show has it's highs and lows, but there is substantial amount of highlights. Pretty good. :)

 

2/19/71 - Port Chester, NY - Three From the Vault

Kickass Truckin' opener. VERY FIRST DEAL AND BIRD SONG. First show without Mickey until 1975. Bertha is good but rushed. China>Rider is excellent. This debut Bird Song IS FUCKING STUPENDOUS AND WONDERFUL. Easy Wind fucking kicks ass. WHOAH! This TOO is amazingly powerful! It's like a steam train!


2/20/71 - Port Chester, NYAn ok show. It has it's numerous highlights, but it is mostly the sound of a band in rehearsal on stage. There is almost no energy aside from a blistering Johnny B Goode and a grooving Hard to Handle. Oh, and the rare-as-shit Ripple!


2/21/71 - Port Chester, NY

A CR/S opener is always a good omen. Best Easy Wind ever. China Rider IS PERFECT. Not much to say other than that this is an excellent show with perfect renditions and a lot of energy. Great stuff! BIRD SHOW IS STUNNING!


2/23/71 - Port Chester, NY

Great show start to finish. Everything is played PERFECT. The last hour or so of the show is where the real goods are at though. The Truckin'>TOO>Wharf>GSET>Good Lovin' sounds right out of 1972! Awesome stuff. :)


2/24/71 - Port Chester, NY

This show is easily the weakest of the run. It sounds like a rehearsal more than a show. Missed cues, lower energy, etc. Get the highlughts: Bertha, Hard to Handlewood, Minglewood,

1970-05-02 Binghamton, NY - Dick's Picks Vol. 8

 

05/02/70 - Harpur's College - DP #8 **

Do I really need to say anything about this all-time legendary gig? Acoustic set? Check. St. Stephen sandwich? Check. Get this gig. Listen to it front to back.The second set is EXPLOSIVELY ROCKING. Seriously, heaviest rocking Dead I've ever heard.

1970-02-11 through 1970-02-14 New York City, NY - Dicks' Picks Vol. 4

 

02/11/70 - Fillmore East -

Excellent and compact second set.

 


02/13/70 - Fillmore East -

LONG LONG LONG show. Three set. EPIC 90 minute Dark Star>The Other One>Lovelight.


02/14/70 - Fillmore East - Late Show DP#4

Excellent acoustic set. Killer Alligator>Not Fade Away>Mason's Children>Caution jam.

 

1969-02-11 New York City, NY - "February 11, 1969, Fillmore East"

02/11/69 - February 11, 1969, Fillmore East

PRIME 69 Dead. EVERY THING IS A HIGHLIGHT. EPIC 17 minute Lovelight. Two sets opening for Janis Joplin.


 

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

2019-07-03 Saratoga, NY

Been about a 2 week break or so to dive into some Yes. Finally feel ready to continue 2019 with 7/3, Saratoga #2

Very interesting looking setlist with some rarities/lesser-played tunes throughout AND a Fluffhead>Guyuute to OPEN!!

Fluffhead - I can actually say I know what its like to get a Fluff opener (12/7/19) and it was something everyone needs to experience. Fantastic. The guys stretch the intro and jam on some themes before launching into the song proper - apparently Mike had some bass problems. It's a pretty decent Fluffhead, but Trey does struggle quite a bit in several spots.

Guyuute - Unfortunately, our favorite little piggy suffers the same fate as Fluffhead. It's not bad or horrible, but it's the very definition of a "JUST OK" version. Trey struggles in spots and the whole kinda feels lacking in spark. Actually, it's downright rusty in spots, almost falling apart a time or two!


Martian Monster - Got pretty funky, but as usual, MM is just MM


Llama - Good ole fashioned old-school fast Llama! Always a treat! AND THANK CHRIST IT DELIVERS!!! Trey goes bat-dookie insane playing with effects and ripping his fretboard to pieces. GET YOUR BULLETPROOF VEST ON! MACHINE GUN TREY IS IN THE HOUSE! Oh man, freaking AWESOME.


Steam - I guess Llama flipped the switch for them tonight! THIS IS A FANTASTIC STEAM!!! Trey is ON!!!! The whole band is FREAKING ON FIRE AND JAMMING LIKE THEIR LIVES DEPEND ON IT. SPECTACULAR!!!!! HOLY FREAKING HELL!


Poor Heart - Is Poor Heart. Nice Cactus solo!


Crazy Sometimes -
Excellent album-ready rendition. Unfortunately it's doesnt smash your face like Llama and Steam did, but its still good enough to warrant inclusion on the highlights reel (especially after that opening trio of mediocrity...)


The Horse/Silent In the Morning - Timing issues and nothing special. Can anyone point me to a version of this song that does anything? It is ALWAYS the same, no matter the year or version. I like the song enough, but it just repeats and repeats and repeats...Enough already! :p


Sleep - Nothing special, but points for bustout. First version since 2011!!!


Drift While You're Sleeping - I love this song. But this is not its finest hour. As with the first few songs of the night, it is just lacking in any energy and feels about to nod off at any second. Pretty lackluster ending to a very lackluster set.


For set 1, grab the insane Llama and Steam and throw the rest in the garbage!!! 

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

After that mostly forgettable first set, let's hope the second is better.


No Men In No Man's Land - 13 minutes of primo super funk. Type II ambience at times, but never losing the beat. Extremely good - best thing this show by a long shot so far.

>Dirt - I love Dirt, but 2nd song of the set? What? Nothing special, but oddly Mike heavy which is nice. Dirt is ALWAYS welcome in my book :)

Plasma - Short but sweet. Some very nice dynamic playing, the guys bring it down and let it chill out like a late night cruise. It pretty much stays in this laid back groove fest for its duration before eventually morphing into WACTOOB. Very cool!!! Kinda like a giant segue piece than a proper song performance.

>We Are Come to Outlive Our Brains
- And boy what a fantabulous segue that was!!! THIS IS AWESOME!!! One second we are in Plasma Jam, the next we are in WACTOOB without ever realizing it. One song literally just morphed into the other. Absolutely wonderful! Great full-band stop-start jamming and a full on Plasma theme reprisal (short but I'm counting it!).

>TWEEPRISE - WHAT?! IS THIS REAL LIFE?! WONT YOU STEP INTO THE FREEZER?! YES PLEASE!!!!! WHERE DID THIS COME FROM?! NOWHERE! LITERALLY NOWHERE! AND IT IS AWESOME!!!!

The fun concludes all too soon when all is said and done, but this Plasma-WACTOOB-Tweeprise combo is not to be missed!

>The Wedge - Yup, that was a segue. And they nailed it. Jeez, what was all of that?! What is this? Who are you? Where are we?! When is now?! Who is what?! What is happenning!!!!??? Ok, ok, for real now - this is a downright excellent Wedge. Very Grateful Dead-ish tonight. Trey's playing is loaded with country twang that is all kinds of tasty. A wonderful, wonderful Wedge!!!


>Sneaking Sally Through the Alley - NICE! Great set choice! GET IT LEO! Clavinet Hell. Let's get FUNKY! This sucker is exceptional. Everyone digs in hard and soon you'll be checking to see if this is some 1997 nugget you missed all these years. Awesome.

>Run Like an Antelope - Instead of letting Sally stretch her legs, we get quasi-ripcorded into Antelope. It's nothing special. Antelope is Antelope. It's hot and all that but Trey seems totally lost for what to do, content to let Leo and The Boys vamp it out behind him. If you bother with this, at least listen for Page. He's just tearing it up back there!

More - Wow! Sleeper winner here!! Forget Antelope and grab this sucker! This is the peak we were clamoring for! Wonderful More! Probably among the best I've heard!!!!

Slave to the Traffic Light - The perfect cool down after More. And a beautiful version it is - all the positive energy congealing into one beautiful piece of majestic brilliance. Ok, not really, but its a darn fine Slave and nothing to laugh at :)

Rock and Roll - Yes! Best Phish cover closes the set in rocking fashion.


ALL IN ALL, SET ONE BLOWS, SET 2 RULES. CAPICHE? GO CHECK THIS 2nd SET NOW!!!!
I would give this show an overall rating of probably a 3.7 or 3.8. That first set was just SO ho-hum, but the second set was loaded with "where are we going now?" energy. Awesome stuff.

2019-07-02 Saratoga, NY

Been about a week off and I'm in the mood again to listen. Onwards with 2019.

7/2/19 Saratoga

Great looking setlist on this one.

Set 1 -

Cathy's Clown - Cool! Anyone know if there was a reason for the random Everly Bros cover to open the show? Awesome either way and actually good enough for another performance, imo!

Tweeprise - In the 2nd slot?! WHY THE HECK NOT! This is list worthy just for surprise WTF factor alone! :p

Carini - Great first set jam. It's Carini and you get what you expect but it is excellent. Great playing from all. Builds to a massive, awesome peak! Totally worth your time. Great little Carini!

>AC/DC Bag - Nothing list worthy, but a standard hot Bag :)

>Moma Dance - Great false vocal start from Fish that leads to some fun back and forth banter between the guys. Very, very funny! :) The crowd laps it up too and the guys keep the intro going forever, milking the humor. The jam on this is pretty short, but this Moma is hot and the fun vibes from that "intro" just spur the guys on to kick some Type I tail. Not list worthy, but still worth checking out for the humor factor!

>Theme From the Bottom - Great Type I jam that is pretty lengthy. Wonderful Theme. Just a terrific A+ Type I Theme From the Bottom!!!!! Loaded with extra mustard sauce!

Meat - SICK. The guys really dig deep in that groove and get FUNKY. Full on 1998 funky at that!! It stays Type I, but everyone does so much playing around the structure that it's like a Type II jam INSIDE a Type I jam - or something like that. :p Must hear :)

Home - Oh man, the first lowlight of the set. It's not horrible, but definitely sounds like the "only 7th time played" performance that it is. Just sounds not-played-enough, ya know? Really awesome dark jam on this one. Would love to see this get dragged out ala Down With Disease or something, cuz they could drive this to outer space. Easily. Awesome Home!!! Dark and jazzy and begging to be taken out there. Unfortunately ripcorded into Gin...

Bathtub Gin - It's Gin. You know what you are getting. Great Type I version that just seems to have a little more pizazz than other "normal" versions.

Walls of the Cave - It's Walls of the Cave. Nothing special. Just hotter than the sun. :)




All in all, this was a wonderful first set! Most of it was list-worthy, but even the stuff that wasn't was still strong and played great. Lots of fun vibes and you can tell they are having a blast. Terrific flow as well!! An A+ first set!!!!

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

Played the excellent (and very FUN!) first set the other night.
I have time to continue today, so here we go with set 2:


Cool Amber and Mercury - Not my favorite of the KV songs but it grows on me the more I hear it. Interesting choice to open the set! Dance party, I imagine. I know in Charleston everyone was grooving. :) This one is pretty great Type I fun to kick off the set. "FACEPLANT INTO ROCK!" - sample abuse from Page, lol In the end its too short and dies out just as it was starting to evolve, so it doesnt get on the highlights list. Great start to the set though. Pretty cool outro though - the guys drift into ambience and then Cactus fires up the DWD lick

>Down With Disease -
YES. A 2019 DWD that does not sound asleep at the wheel! There is fire here! Also, CHECK OUT GORDO'S NASTY TONE!!! Dude, this sucker is NASTY!! Lots of different sections, the guys dig deep and hard. Reminds me of that 2011 Clarkston Disease. Really amazing DWD. A definite tour highlight.
They go ALL OVER THE PLACE. A bit of this, a bit of that. Sometimes jams like this disorient me (I'm all about the journey, yo!) but they flowed pretty smoothly from one section to another avoiding whiplash for the most part. Really awesome. DWD.

>Scents and Subtle Sounds -
The DWD quickly concludes and the guys launch into a Scents with intro! Cool and different jam on this! Very jazzy and stuttery! This is not a quiet jam! This is a jam to run around the room to. :) You can hear Twist coming from a mile away and thank god they went into it because if not that would've been the ultimate blue-ball.... THIS JAM IS FREAKING AWESOME! DONT SKIP IT!!!

>Twist -
Short but fantastic. 'Nuff said.

Wilson - Is Wilson. Is awesome. But nothing special. :)

>Scent of a Mule - Talk about an unexpected segue! As with Wilson, Scent is Scent. Great to hear but nothing special.

F Your Face -
Oh yea, here we go. :D After that raging Scent, Gordo gets a 2nd vocal chance to, well, deliver sexual delights upon our oral orifices.....

>Halley's Comet - Great to hear. Always a favorite of mine. See Wilson and Scent though.

Harry Hood - Others might call this list-worthy, but I swear guys, every Hood sounds exactly the same to me and I have a hard time telling them apart. This sounded to me like just another bliss-peak, fun Hood.

Fee - This should be list worthy for rarity factor, but Trey butchers the lyrics so bad and it sounds like they are playing it just to play it. Wish it was better.

A Life Beyond the Dream - Freaking love this song. Honestly I think this might be the best Dad-rock song Trey has written since probably Wingsuit. Just a beautiful song. I remember not being familiar with it in Charleston but thinking it was a beautiful song. This one isn't that special, but it's always a welcome song by me. :)

First Tube - Since Harry Hood or so its like the guys kinda ran out of steam a little bit. A raging FTube to close is a raging FTube to close. :)

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

Overall, this show had some very strong highs, a lot of "that was very good but nothing special", one or two big flubs. I think .NET has this rated at a 4.1 and that's about what I would rate it too. A strong show, but not a 2019 classic. Worth your time to check out once.  

Monday, November 15, 2021

2011-07-03 Watkins Glen, NY

About an hour into set 1 of the night. First off, check out this old-school-ass setlist!!!!

So far:

Soul Shakedown Party
AC/DC Bag>
The Curtain (exceptional w/o version!)
Colonel Forbin>
Storage Unity Reality Narration>
Fly Famous Mockingbird
Destiny Unbound (Sick jamming!!!)>
Big Black Furry Creature From Mars
Wilson
Mound

I mean, dude. :p

Playing wise, it's been a mixed bag, but the setlist effort exceeds any complaints I have about "oh that was good but nothing special" :p

 -----------------------------------------
 
 Gettin' tasty jamming in unexpected places tonight! No, not type II yet, but definitely "ooh that's different" type I stuff :)

Check out the Destiny Unbound, Wilson and Mound for the goods in set I!!!

EDIT - more to come. Thought the set was nearing the end but I've still got a Reba AND a Bowie to get through :D
 
---------------------------------------
 
Set 1 continued:

Ok, so after Wilson and Mound, A Song I Heard The Ocean Sing brought the heavy heat. We got legit Type II for about 3 or 4 wonderful minutes. Really terrific micro jamming (or whatever you guys call it). There was even a totally unexpected switch up where Mike went to a major key and the whole jam flipped on its head.

Totally worth checking out. Very, very cool!

Time Loves a Hero was nice to hear. Excellent version.

Reba - ouch! Unfortunately this was maybe the biggest low point of this otherwise pretty cool set. The "tough" part was ok playing wise, but the jamming really didn't go anywhere. Ever wanted to hear a, dare I say, BORING Reba? No? Well too bad cuz here you go :p After the jam they did the whistle ending and Trey lost his marbles resulting in the whole thing grinding to a weird halt. I don't know if he just lost his place or had guitar problems or what but the song quite literally breaks down instead of ending, lol.

At least that weird conclusion leads us into a TERRIFIC David Bowie!!! I'm not usually impressed with 3.0 Bowie's besides "oh that was hot!" but this one actually has proper jamming and not just soloing :) Not the greatest ever but it is totally a top-tier version for 2011 and lays total waste to that pathetic Reba :)
 
------------------------------------------
 
Down With Disease>
No Quarter (CRUSHING)>
Party Time (HOSE. HOSE EVERYWHERE).


Party Time might just be the best thing played at this festival so far. Yes, you heard me right. That is both a compliment to this performance and a bash at this festival :p

EDIT:

Nevermind, Ghost>Jibboo is just as hot or hotter!  

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

LIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

----------------------------------
 
Just finished night 3 of Superball. That made up for any perceived deficiencies in the shows prior :p

Here's my Superball Super Mix, the best of the best of the 3 nights :)


7/1/11 Night 1

Possum
The Moma Dance
NICU
Bathtub Gin
Wolfman's Brother
Funky B.
Quinn the Eskim
Crosseyed and Painless
Chalkdust Torture
Mike's Song>
Simple>
Bug


7/2/11 Night 2

Tube
Kill Devil Falls
Ocelot
Divided Sky
Reggae Woman
46 Days
Suskind Hotel
Monkey Man
McGrupp
Axilla
Stash
Scents and Subtle Sounds
Golden Age
Prince Caspian>
Piper>
Tweezer
Twist


7/3/11
The Curtain w/o
Colonel Forbin>Narration>
Fly Famous Mockingbird
Destiny Unbound
Wilson
Mound
A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing
Time Loves a Hero
David Bowie
Big Balls
Down With Disease>
No Quarter>
Party Time>
Ghost>
Gotta Jibboo>
Light>
Waves>
What's the Use>
Meatstick
Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan
First Tube


:)
 
 

 

2011-07-02 Watkins Glen, NY + Ambient Set

An hour into night 2 of Superball - 7/2/11 and this show DEFINITELY has that Extra Mustard Sauce lacking from the first night.

I don't know what it is - it's just that intangible vibe. Some shows have "it" (no pun intended...) and other shows are just good shows.

That has "IT".  

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

Still in set 1!!!

MONKEY MAN!!!!!!!!! Friggin' NAILED!!!

Suskind Hotel was spectacular as well 

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

 Set 2

More uneven than the first set, but that's barely saying anything considering the length of this show and pure number of songs played.

Also, Scents has the intro :D 

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

Ok, so I never gave my proper final thoughts on night 2 of Superball. Here we go:

7/2/11 Watkins Glen - Superball, night 2
Officially the 2nd longest gig after Big Cypress

ON THE WHOLE:
I feel like I wasn't blown away as much as I would've like :p It was certainly awesome from start to finish, but really, it often just felt like a lot of songs and nothing more :p
That is ok, I'm the song guy - can't have a good jam without the launching pad! But for a "special" festival set it was definitely underwhelming.

Set 1 raged. Full stop fire from start to finish. It's set one so I'm not expecting much. Just great, stinking HOT rock and roll :)
Set 2 was easily the least fulfilling of the three. It just felt more uneven, really.
Set 3 was definitely the height of the jamming. There wasn't much Type II this show, but the short bits here and there, especially in set 3 were fantastic.

So, compared to the rest of 2011 I've heard so far, I'd rank this show very strong B+/A- . It WAS great but, c'mon, it shoulda been so much more. That's really the biggest complaint one can even really have with it. It definitely gets the ** rating from me (meaning one of the best of the year), but at the same time its at the bottom of that group so far.

It's hard to really judge it that well! It WAS extremely enjoyable for me, but for the length of the show, it felt way too shallow. Big Cypress is uber-length, but with all the jamming in that show to pad out the time it doesn't feel so long, lol, jah feel me broskee's?

Here's my notes of Superball night 2 :p

7/2 Watkins Glen** - SUPERBALL (Longest show besides Big Cypress. Not much Type II, but everything is played with EXTRA rocket sauce. The jamming, when it does happen, is GREAT. Set 3 is the BIZNESS)
Tube (RAGING!)
Kill Devil Falls (HOTTER THAN THE SUN!)
Ocelot (SPECTACULARLY HOT!)
Divided Sky (PERFECTION)
Reggae Woman (Hot jamming!)
Camel Walk
46 Days (FACE MELTING DESTRUCTION!)
Suskind Hotel (JAM OF THE SET FREAKING AWESOME!)
Timber>
Back on the Train
Suzy Greenberg
MONKEY MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Runaway Jim (5K Race awards!)
McGrupp!!!
Axilla
Birds of a Feather
Stash
It's Ice
Scents and Subtle Sounds (WITH INTRO!)
Run Like an Antelope
Golden Age (FINALLY SOME TYPE II!!)
Prince Caspian (Long Type I!!!)
>Piper (Type II rage)
>Tweezer (Murky Type II madness)
>Julius
Number Line (Chill but gets cooking)
Twist (Awesome Chill latin jamming!!! Dynamic!!)
>2001 (AMAZING SEGUE INTO!)
>Harry Hood
Loving Cup
>Tweeprize 

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

7/2/11 Watkins Glen - Superball

SECRET AMBIENT SET

Ok, so I'm 36 minutes in. Took them a while to get going, but firmly around the 30 minute mark there is a terrific slow jam going on. Sounds like it could've morphed out of a No Quarter performance.

But really, I'm not gonna try and commentate on this friggin' set. When they hit a stride it's excellent :)

 

2011-07-01 Watkins Glen, NY

I'm sinking into Dead world again right now, but I'm happily solidering on with 2011, so let's do this! :)

Currently deep into some FUNKY Wolfman's action on 7/1/11, Watkins Glen!

Set 1 of Superball is pretty unassuming - It never goes above and beyond, but - and it's a VERY BIG BUT - it hits the sweet spot throughout with terrifically tight playing (the norm for 2011 so far) with a couple nice rarities and absolutely stonkingly great Type 1 jamming when warranted.

If it's not exactly an ultra-memorable classic set, at least it knocks it out of the park while you are actually listening to it :)

Possum - opens the set and DESTROYS. Possum is always hot but this one has extra mustard on it. Terrific upbeat way to open the festival!
Peaches En Regalia - basically a segue, it begins immediately out of possum and the guys nail it. I kept thinking they could sub in for Dweezil sometime if needed :p
Moma Dance - FREAKING TIGHT AND GROOVY AND AWESOME.
Torn and Frayed - not played since Festival 8
NICU - Nothing special but very hot, Play it Leo!!!
Bathtub Gin - Moma really got us dancing, but this is probably the first real jam of the set. 15 incredibly good Type 1.5 minutes. NOT TO BE MISSED!
Life On Mars - Did NOT expect this! Crowd ate it up and Trey nailed it :)
My Friend My Friend - Hot, duh
Wolfman's Bro - JAM OF THE SET!!!! There have been a number of great jams so far but this one totally takes the cake. Spectacular funky explorations :)
Roses are Free - the absolute perfect song choice to come out of that.

Very good stuff so far!  

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

Set 1 of Superball ruled:

7/1 Watkins Glen - SUPERBALL
Possum - NUCLEAR BOMB EXPLOSTION
>Peaches En Regalia
Moma Dance - Best version ever?!
Torn and Frayed
NICU - PLAY IT LEO!!!
Bathtub Gin - OUT OF THIS WORLD SPECTACULAR TYPE 1
Life On Mars
My Friend My Friend
Wolfman's Brother - 12 EXPLOSIVE MINUTES OF FUNKY RAGING!
Roses are Free
>Funky B - EXTRA HOT MUSTARD
Quinn The Eskimo - MONSTER! 

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

 Set 2:
Ambient Jam intro>
Crosseyed and Painless>
short but sweet Type II excursion>
Chalkdust Torture

That segue into CDT was smoother than glass 

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

 Ok, so this show was excellent top to bottom, BUT, while it was great, it never reached ultra-memorable for me. It just didn't feel "special".
It was just a really hot show without much mystery - the setlist pretty much tells you exactly how its gonna go, ya know what I mean?

Another objectively great show that left me feeling lacking, for want of a better term.

An amazing Phish show takes you on an adventure - this was just a nice sunday drive on a really hot day :D

It definitely gets the 'ol "**" hot show recommendation from me, but on the whole it was kinda....bland??? Not the right word.

You know what I mean. Awesome show, but on the whole probably just a good warmup for things to come :)

Gotta say - that Mike's Song>Simple>Type II>Bug was actually maybe the awesomest stuff of set 2. Never thought I'd say Bug was a highlight but this one was PERFECTLY placed coming out of that smooth Simple. And then it just EXPLODES!!!! Totally worth hearing.

Peace and love :)

 ----------------------------------------
 
7/1 Watkins Glen - SUPERBALL (Great show with lots of highlights, but not really memorable.)
Possum - NUCLEAR BOMB EXPLOSTION
>Peaches En Regalia
Moma Dance - Best version ever?!
Torn and Frayed
NICU - PLAY IT LEO!!!
Bathtub Gin - OUT OF THIS WORLD SPECTACULAR TYPE 1
Life On Mars
My Friend My Friend
Wolfman's Brother - 12 EXPLOSIVE MINUTES OF FUNKY RAGING!
Roses are Free
>Funky B - EXTRA HOT MUSTARD
Quinn The Eskimo - 13 MINUTE MONSTER!
Ambient Jam>
Crosseyed and Painless - Jeezus...Short Type II
>Chalkdust Torture
Sand
MIKE's FRIGGIN SONG HOLY EFFING HELL
Simple - Type II
>Bug - MOST HARDCORE BUG EVER
Weekapaug Groove
Character Zero
Show of Life
 

2011-06-08 Darien, NY

2011 has been great so far. This looks like it might be the first sleeper or "dip" of the shows so far.

The only track over 10 minutes is Harry Hood. The setlist is oddball opening with bluegrass and reggae and loaded with covers.

This could be great or awful :D

We shall see :)

Nellie Kane gets things off to a speedy start.  

Very, very unusual first set!!! Playing wise its mostly nothing spectacular, but super bonus points for song choice and set placement creativity

Nellie Kane
Mellow Mood
Buffalo Bill

The opening unexpected trio kinda establish to be a laid-back, have fun kinda set. No one cares if there's gonna be some mega jam, everyone's just hangin' with the flow and the good vibes :)

Kill Devil Falls - the action's gotta start somewhere though! Not a standout version but hot as usual. It's KDF. That's all :)

Wolfman's Brother - AWESOME. Super terrific jamming for about 5 minutes. Definite highlight of maybe the whole set.

Rift and Undermind are nice to have, but beyond setlist novelty factor are nothing special.

Ride Captain Ride - set 1 highlight #2. Awesome and unexpected.

It's Ice - Oof!!! NOT A GOOD ONE. SKIP!!! That pains me big time - It's Ice is among my favorite ever songs....

Dog Faced Boy>Brian and Robert - I'm callin' it a segue. Not the songs I would've chosen but actually worked pretty darn good in the spot! Brian and Robert was gorgeous. Tied with Dirt and Waste as favorite ballad of mine :)

Into 46 Days - like Wolfman, it's just rips and snarls and unleashes shredding type 1 for several jaw busting minutes. SICK. :)

Limb By Limb - pretty terrific standard version. Absolutely soaring Type 1 goodness. Continues the energy of 46 Days.

Character Zero - closes the set as expected.


Very oddball first set. Easily the weirdest set of the entire tour so far!! Playing wise it was a mixed bag. A crap ton of rarities and great set FLOW burdened by sub par playing in spots, eventually coming out with several bangers at the end of the set. I won't be rushing to return to this set but it was fun while it lasted, let's put it like that 
 

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

Set 1 was up and down with crazy rarities off-centered by just-ok playing. Ending with several hot Type 1 beasts though.

Set 2 continues to setlist mania with Golden Age to kick things off.

Next is Mike's>FAST ENOUGH FOR YOU>Groove

And it was SICK!!!!!!!!! Hot as hell!!! And the FEFY actually worked in place of Hydrogen, if you can believe it. Awesome stuff. Golden Age teases throughout.

What's The Use>Theme From the Bottom were both textbook excellent but nothing worth laboring over.

2001 was sick. Tones of teases and quotes, the closes we get to Type II tonight.

Then into Harry Hood.

In hindsight this was a fine show, but it didn't quite feel as cohesive as some other ones. For every great point there was a "meh" counterpoint. And the peaks were great but nothing to absolutely shatter the ceiling. A very, very weird feeling show for me.

Also, set 2 totally felt like something that could've been played in 1993!!! :)

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6/8 Darien Lake (Hit or miss, but set 2 is MUST-HEAR.)
Mellow Mood
Wolfman's Brother (INSREDIBLE JAM!)
Ride Captain Ride
Brian and Robert
46 Days (HOLY SCHNIKE!)
Limb By Limb (Tasty Type 1)
Character Zero
Golden Age (PEAKS UPON PEAKS!)
Mike's Song> (NASTY!)
Fast Enough For You>
Weekapaug Groove (SPECTACULAR!)
Theme From the Bottom (TREY'S SOLO!)
Number Line (TREY AGAIN!)
2001/Golden Age/What's The Use (!!!!!!)
Harry Hood


2011-05-29 Bethel, NY

On to night 3 at Bethel, 5/29
Night 1 ruled.
Night 2 was AMAZING.
Night 3 can only be a comedown, no? :p

Well, the opening AC/DC>Sample combo SLAYED and straight into Rift we go so....

Been a horrible day here loaded with anxiety problems on my end so this is finally the relief I've been craving, lol 

JEEZ

This Rift was a SCORCHER!  

Either I'm just "in the mood" particularly or this Ocelot was absolutely outstanding. :p 

HOLY HELL THIS TIMBER!!!!!!!

Jeez, this first set has been 43 of the best minutes of "slam your face into the wall" ROCKING Phish i've heard.

DAAANNNGGGG

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SUZY GREENBERG

HOLY MOTHER OF STEAMED HAMS

:bigeek:

 
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Exceptional first set. Energy out the wazoo - everything was played with explosive power and fury!!!! If you want a great set for driving down the highway banging your head along, pick this one  

Wow, this was a sick show!

No it wasn't classic status, but if there were show tiers, it would be at the top of the "if you want to dig deeper than the common reccomendations" list for 2011.

The setlist is kinda "greatest hits", but the playing is tight as heck, the Type I jamming is SPECTACULAR, the guys are full of rocket sauce tonight!!!

5/28/11 was the clear winner of this trio of shows, but shows 1 and 3 were no slouch at all either.

This show may look disappointing on paper but everything has that extra X Factor in the energy and enthusiasm that elevates it, ya know? It's just a FUN show of the highest order, ya dig?

If I was at this show I'd've been headbanging and dancing my tail off from start to finish. Awesome trio of shows!!!!!!!
 
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5/29 Bethel** (INCREDIBLY TIGHT AND FUN AND ROCKING SHOW! VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD BUT SUPER FUN)
AC/DC Bag>
Sample In a Jar
Rift
Ocelot (HOLY CRAP!)
Timber (INSANE)
Suzy Greenberg (HOLY FREAKING CRAP!)
46 Days
Curtis Loew
Antelope (HOLY FREAKING CRAP PART 2)
Mike's Song>
Simple (Quasi Type II!!!)>
Weekapaug Groove
Fluffhead
Joy
2001>
Light
Slave