07/31 - Red Rocks - Morrison, CO - Post-Show Discussion and Review

[mistercharlie]

I still can't stomach TTE, no matter how hard I try. What is the over/under on when Trey wakes the fuck up. If he would only remove certain obvious sections (melody ooooh shelter in the darkness) and change a few lyrics here and there, I might be able to digest it for there are a couple parts that have grown on me. I am however overjoyed to see that it has been relegated to first set status. Take that TTE. Now lets see it get wiped off the map a la save the date. C'mon now, save this for your philharmonic forays.

I think this is the only redemeable section Instrumentaly. Lyricly the worst section. I say make it a solo instrumental ala The Landlady.

[HammondOrganism]

Does anyone hear Trey play Mind Left Body type parts in this tweezer? Tipetoo pointed it out to me, and while I dont think it is note for note, Trey might have done it on purpose since Jerry's Bday was the next night.

[Superfreakie]

I still can't stomach TTE, no matter how hard I try. What is the over/under on when Trey wakes the fuck up. If he would only remove certain obvious sections (melody ooooh shelter in the darkness) and change a few lyrics here and there, I might be able to digest it for there are a couple parts that have grown on me. I am however overjoyed to see that it has been relegated to first set status. Take that TTE. Now lets see it get wiped off the map a la save the date. C'mon now, save this for your philharmonic forays.

I think this is the only redemeable section Instrumentaly. Lyricly the worst section. I say make it a solo instrumental ala The Landlady.

Oops, I meant to drop that ( ) in reference to the lyrics (w.o.r.s.t. e.v.e.r.).

[messengerbird]

SICK SHOW!!!!!  :crazy:  :crazy:  :crazy:

Just when you think it can't get any better.
Can't wait to post all the pics we took when we get back. :-D

Hopefully Cali has a faster internet connection.

[mistercharlie]

Does anyone hear Trey play Mind Left Body type parts in this tweezer? Tipetoo pointed it out to me, and while I dont think it is note for note, Trey might have done it on purpose since Jerry's Bday was the next night.

I was calling it a 'Reba-chill-like' jam, but I'll give it another listen, could be possible.

[GBL]

just got chills from the -> between Drowned and C&P..

[WhatstheUse?]

Upon second listen, this Tweezer still kicks ass.  The best tweezer 3.0 has seen yet!

[thechad]

just got chills from the -> between Drowned and C&P..

Just listened up to the Tweezer, but this transition is def. the smoothest they've played in a long time.

[Lifeboy]

Does anyone hear Trey play Mind Left Body type parts in this tweezer? Tipetoo pointed it out to me, and while I dont think it is note for note, Trey might have done it on purpose since Jerry's Bday was the next night.

well since no one else has anything to say about it, i must say trey definately hits some mlb-esque licks. Does anybody else remotely agree with this?  :|

Upon second listen, this Tweezer still kicks ass.  The best tweezer 3.0 has seen yet!

Without a doubt.

[Superfreakie]

  C & P

[flow00]

I love the Drowned>Crosseyed homage to Darien 2000.

But the Drowned>Crosseyed was much better in Darien. 

[blatboom]

I love the Drowned>Crosseyed homage to Darien 2000.

But the Drowned>Crosseyed was much better in Darien. 

agree

[susep]

31July2009 - Morrison, CO


Source: Schoeps mk22> KCY> Schoeps VMS02IB> Apogee Mini-Me> SD 722 (@24bit/96kHz)
Location: Split 10', FOH Rail, Pointed at outside of stacks, 5-1/2' Stands

Transfer: SD 722> Samplitude SE 9.1.1(resample/dither)> CDWave> flac(16/44.1)
Taped, Transferred & Seeded by: taylorc (08/01/2009)



I

Jim - I like Jim in both its exploratory fashion as well as its straight up type I style ala this opener, Mike letting his presence be known early, not a bad version, avg.

Chalk Dust - solid jam opening, high energy jam, again nothing too crazy but solid.

Gin - nice call Ikki!, estatic Page, "Autumn bell is ringing but they'll just have to wait..." jam opens aroun 4:40, nice thump by Mike, preety cool jam in the early stages, very active Mike, skip in recording? possibly second one Ive heard, there goes another?, weak engineering, jam has stayed mostly linear w/ Gin theme but still a rocking, consistent improv., Trey tries a trill series, Mike really holding everything along well, pleasant version, no real "x" factor but consistent.

Time Turns Elastic - slight Leslie sounding effect early before song proper, I'm in the "I like this song" camp, now in its second tour, reflections of a Vermont Autumn, probably written on Trey's 10 acres of trails, 8:00 in and still not much of any repeats in terms of the songs composition which is why I like it, its constantly changing(much like the title implies), lets see how the jam plays out, I really like the section near 10:20 onward, brief but solid outro energy.

Lawn Boy - lounge lizard style, perfect time to blaze, nice Mike solo, much more improvised, thank you Page.

Water In The Sky - nice summer tune, always a Cypress nod and response w/ "Everglades", glad to hear Page higher in the mix this time around, nice version.

Stealing Time - "memories of being free...", muddy Trey, similar to his PH tone, comes out of it, nice Page on his organ, good version.

Melt - so far this year I haven't been blown away by this tune/jam, lets see how this one evolves: solid opening jam, band quickly into it, definitely more atonal then most recent versions, everyone is going off but w/ out the Melt theme underneath, finally Page sounds off, jam goes back to the Melt theme but still continues to deviate heavily, Trey wanting to jump off and does, another cool jam evolves around 7:20, nice type II here, yes we have lift off!, I will say if there is one characterization of 2009 Phish jam style it is this kind of "the aliens are awake and lifting off" ala the most recent Indiana Jones movie, chanting, very improvised, jam is very different for a Melt which makes it interesting, its crazy to hear Phish play like this, they quickly segue back into the main Melt theme, strong ending, holy fucking shit!!!


II

Drowned - gulp after the 1st set ender, jam opens near 4:26 strong, Mike laying down some preety dope stuff like he's taking bass in general somewhere new and different, solid jam, Trey playing w/ gusto, great to hear, a more evolved Phish here, definite high energy presence, active Fish, nothing too crazy but very excellent jamming, solid chordal jam near end, Page on point, again great overall sound and improvisation, into

Crosseyed and Painless - preety sick segue, nice '95 into '96 Halloween cover duet, "still awake...", you can definitely hear the TH influence on Phish even before Fall '96, Trey opens jam near 4:05, Frippian tone, jam goes to funk, patient Trey, Mike and Fish creating a great launchpad, Trey adding tasty leads around 5:50 then chunks out a nice rythym, Mike adding his usual brilliance but keeping things more on the low end for the most part, more Leslie effect by Page, non-forced improvisation, patient build, cool jam near 8:00, Page dancing on the ivories, Trey chords solidly, jam acclerates, improvised chording by Trey, Mike responds, Trey now on the high end, great dynamics by all, nice high energy Gin like crescendo, again much like the Phish of old, nice high energy jamming, type I but very good, into hovering outro, nice, overall very good version into

Joy - after 3 excellent jams this isn't nearly as offensive in terms of flow, and yes after those jams I'm sure everyone is very happy, nice placement.

Tweezer - focused opening jam, again Trey on rythym right out of the jam, Mike and Page right there, Page w/ Tower Jam-esque playing/trippyness, Mike very much in front, interesting chromatic runs by Trey, definitely a different sounding Tweezer jam, hearing empirical jams/ideas, jam drops at 9:26, nice stop, re-up back into jam proper, 10:13 begins strong outro jam, mellow jam, into

BDTNL - nice choice after preety mellow space, solid jam, has potential and really is strecthed out nicely, very fast pace but nice, quick interplay between Mike and Trey, almost w/ Birds type pace, back into theme, nice h/e outro section, probably the best version played thus far.

Fluffhead - solid, unfinished nicely, ser DEG like jam into

Piper - Trey leads out around 2:52, looks short on paper but like the Jones Beach version don't be decieved by timings, not a great opening jam, Trey eager to back into firing mode, everyone playing well w/ h/e but jam isn't ascending necessarily, again tremendous efforts by all, kind of muddy jam ala Woodstock Hendrix, Trey tries picking up the pieces rthymically but jam continues until 7:22, more collective sounding here, aggressive Trey, nice Page piano outro, into

ADITL - nice segue, interesting set ender.


E

Suzy - one more throw down, good jam.

Tweeprize - perfect ending.


Overall a very good Phish show, high energy throughout w/ some nice surprises in improvisation the Melt being the first ex.  I liked the overall flow of both sets although the ending of set 2 didn't end w/ a bang per se, it was a unique sequence.  Most of everything was played w/ great energy and enthusiasm, this show rivaling 19June for best of '09, so far.  My highlights are the TTE, Melt, Drowned > Crosseyed.  I also liked the BDTNL and the Gin but the Tweezer was just ok imo, definitely a lot of variation but nothing that grabbed my ear particularly.  The recording is slightly meh, I'm sure other sources are circulating already.  Grade: A-/B+

[flow00]

The first set was disappointing. A 17-minute TTE? Nothing redemptive in it. Why a band with stellar judgment on song selection in the past could choose this to play AT ALL blows my mind. Unlike most buzz kill songs, this one stretches on a mind-blowing 17 minutes. We're lucky to get a 15-minute song in a second set anymore, though that looks to be changing.

With that said, the set ended with a very nice Split Open. It plunged into rarely explored, psychedelic territories for 3.0. By far my favorite Split Open of the year.

The second set was an entirely different story than the first set. It gets my vote for the best second set of 3.0. Best versions of Drowned, C&P and Tweezer of the year.  

Drowned: While this is my favorite this year, it doesn't rank high on the all-time Drowned list: 12/11/97, 12/12/99 & 9/14/00 -- All in New York or New England.
C&P: The segue from Drowned was perfect. The song kicks off with some swingy funk and very involved interaction among everyone. Trey and Page eventually slow it down with great interplay and a strong presence from Mike. A little redundancy slips in while Trey noodles around the 9-minute mark. For me, the jam really ended there.  It was no 11/2/96 but not much can be. Then comes the sweet segue into Joy.
Joy: This could be a buzz kill, but not in this placement, following some heavy jamming. Say what you will, I love this song. You can tell Trey is really sincere when he sings. How can he not be? I choked back a tear while listening to this as I watered my garden.
Tweezer: I'm going to go out on a limb here and say this version lands in the top 15 ever. And it gets my vote for the first true top-shelf jam of 3.0. The effects at 5 minutes coupled with Mike's chunky bass are glorious to my ears. This is important: After the effects are sprinkled throughout, never once did it feel like anyone was headed into different directions. They were locked in. This was tight and exploratory at the same time. It was Phish really connecting for the first time for me in a long time. And you can tell this is new Phish. They're not recycling some December1995 jam; this has a very distinct sound. The song constantly changes and evolves so seamlessly. The jam, with the effects, remind me of a few minutes of the Twist Around from Hampton and Hood from Jones Beach this year. I really hope that is the direction Phish heads this year.
Backwards: Ugh. This is among my least favorite songs. For me, it interrupted a great set with "Happy, happy, oh my friends." It's cheesy and riddle with so many tiring cliches. I don't even like the jam. This and TTE are very unfortunate.
Fluffhead: Fluffheads, to me, are just the same compositions played over and over again and are often distinguished only by how tightly or loosely they are played. I love the composition but can only listen to it so many time. I did like the segue into Piper because it broke up the expected.
Piper: Timing of lyrics were flubbed. It was a decent version. I can't wait to hear the first really good Piper in 3.0.
Suzie: Mike funks this out with some nice syrupy bass effects for a little, but this is by no way exploratory. I like Trey setting up the segue with a little ambiance to bring it down. Average Suzie with the few anomalies.
Tweezer Rep.:  Spirited and energetic as always.

Despite some of the negative feelings, I really liked this show. Still waiting for the consistently good Phish to return. But this is a nice start.

[rowjimmy]

Is it just me or are there hints at DEG during the "Arrival" of Fluffhead right before the segue into Piper???

and btw, Happy Jerry Day!

do you just copy a cdirksen tweet?

actually i was unaware of what cdirksen said, did he agree?  thank you for hating on me & my apologies for posting... i thought "paugers" were decent

A simple 'no' would have sufficed.
To suggest that one shares the opinion of Charlie Dirksen with respect to Phish analysis is not hate.

No one was hating and you haven't begun to see indecent (in this thread.)

Here's the hate:
Perhaps you should go work out your thin-skin issues with your therapist before you venture onto the internets.