06/04 - Blossom Music Ctr - Cuyahoga Falls, OH - Post-Show Discussion and Review

[fauxpaxfauxreal]

dirge?

I don't think that word means what bacchist thinks it means.

http://www.google.com/dictionary?langpair=en|en&q=dirge&hl=en&aq=f

dirge Noun   /dərj/
dirges plural
A lament for the dead, esp. one forming part of a funeral rite
A mournful song, piece of music, or poem
singers chanted dirges
the wind howled dirges around the chimney

we escaped the dreadful night
and as long a soaring flight
blissful weeks turned into seasons
but one day without a reason
oh good bye you flew below
back to animals you know
now you forever sing your song
where the wolves where u belong
and quite alone i often dream
i hear you singing
through the steam

While the lyrics qualify, musically, the song does not qualify.  A dirge is mournful, slow and epic sounding, like a chant.  This song doesn't qualify imo.

[fauxpaxfauxreal]

I'm just getting around to spinning this show, and I've got to say I'm pretty sure this is my least favorite Antelope ever. Just a total shit-take.

And that's the highlight of the first set!

[bacchist]

While the lyrics qualify, musically, the song does not qualify.  A dirge is mournful, slow and epic sounding, like a chant.  This song doesn't qualify imo.

It is slow, depressing, and it is definitely intended to be epic sounding. Come on...

[fauxpaxfauxreal]

While the lyrics qualify, musically, the song does not qualify.  A dirge is mournful, slow and epic sounding, like a chant.  This song doesn't qualify imo.

It is slow, depressing, and it is definitely intended to be epic sounding. Come on...

I don't think it is depressing or dirge like at all.  I think it's slightly humorous, actually.

[bacchist]

I don't think it is depressing or dirge like at all.  I think it's slightly humorous, actually.

It would be funny that this is what passes for a Phish song these days, if it weren't so damn sad.

[gah]

While the lyrics qualify, musically, the song does not qualify.  A dirge is mournful, slow and epic sounding, like a chant.  This song doesn't qualify imo.

It is slow, depressing, and it is definitely intended to be epic sounding. Come on...

I don't think it is depressing or dirge like at all.  I think it's slightly humorous, actually.

I don't know what's humorous about it. But I don't think it's a dirge either. Count me in on the "like" side for this one. I dig it, esp mike's bassline. I think someone mentioned it earlier that it could develop into their 3.0 ghost...if fish didn't play it so straight, and added some syncopation into his high hat, it could get funky as hell...in any case, I'm really looking forward to seeing this one develop.

also liked Lizards, and Sally > Hood > Have Mercy >Hood

[UncleEbinezer]

Did everyone miss the snow pissed laden lyrics? 

[gah]

Did everyone miss the snow pissed laden lyrics?

yeah, what are you talking about?

[UncleEbinezer]

Did everyone miss the snow pissed laden lyrics?

yeah, what are you talking about?

Freddie, you are dumber than Sandra Bullock.

[gah]

Did everyone miss the snow pissed laden lyrics?

yeah, what are you talking about?

Freddie, you are dumber than Sandra Bullock.

The steam from when you pee in snow?

[mistercharlie]

Did everyone miss the snow pissed laden lyrics?

I think the 'Hissing liquid in the snow' line refers to the blood that 'begins to boil' and the bones that 'melt to oil'.

[UncleEbinezer]

Did everyone miss the snow pissed laden lyrics?

I think the 'Hissing liquid in the snow' line refers to the blood that 'begins to boil' and the bones that 'melt to oil'.

I heard "pissing liquid in the snow."  I am using monitor speakers.

Thanks for clarifying.  The song is now slightly better.   :-D

[gah]

Did everyone miss the snow pissed laden lyrics?

I think the 'Hissing liquid in the snow' line refers to the blood that 'begins to boil' and the bones that 'melt to oil'.

I heard "pissing liquid in the snow."  I am using monitor speakers.

Thanks for clarifying.  The song is now slightly better.   :-D

:hereitisyousentimentalbastard :hereitisyousentimentalbastard :hereitisyousentimentalbastard

[mistercharlie]

Did everyone miss the snow pissed laden lyrics?

I think the 'Hissing liquid in the snow' line refers to the blood that 'begins to boil' and the bones that 'melt to oil'.

I heard "pissing liquid in the snow."  I am using monitor speakers.

Thanks for clarifying.  The song is now slightly better.   :-D

HA! I can see how you could hear that.

[Gumbo72203]

Wow, well I'll be damned.  We have a band called Phish back. 


I'm listening to set 2 right now, and so far I've only gotten through the end of Possum, about to trail into the new song....  but my word, we have some developments.


Birds of a Feather - pretty lame that they cut this so short, but the main thing that is important about this song is Trey's note choice and melodic sensibility.  He was pulling stuff out and melodicising in a way I haven't heard since the last time I listened to a pH show.  He had licks in there, modulationalary thought executions, and melodic interplay that warrants a legitimate acknowledgement.  Page, especially, was going great on his piano, but I mean, do we even need to acknowledge that?

Possum - Okay, kinda bummed at the song choice, but it keeps the energy going, and boy oh boy did this demonstrate some fucking incredible band fun-having.  The jam in this was absolutely wonderful in its unexpected what-the-fuck-ness.  First off, Page and Trey were hooking up on some truly enjoyable melodic and rythmic themes, totally cool and different for a Possum jam.  I have to go back and relisten, because this first half of the jam was great, but became overshadowed in my view by the structured madness of the 2nd half, when Trey (TREY!) instigated a dissolution of the jam structure's normal boundary limits, and took the band and myself on a crazed thumb-on-a-tape-reel wind-down thing that was just a pleasure to hear.  And then it even informed the rest of the song, with Mike carrying on the pitch-bending shit with his voice!  Totally awesome, really inspiring to hear them do that. 

Steam - WOW!!!!!!!!!  This rules!!!!  It sounds so familiar, I don't know why, but it fucking rules.  I love this.  The whammy loops, Page's steam effect, the laid back jam groove, Page playing single note organ licks.  This song's ending has the potential to be the perfect pairing for Bowie.  The Piper segue was great, and could work well too, if Trey would just CHILL the fuck on the intro a little bit. 

Piper - PAGE!!!!!!! during the intro!!!!  Page is all over this with a couple cool things, first a warbly noise and then some neat piano licks as Fish brings the song's ascent to a start.  I miss the vocal fade in, but thankfully Trey's intro wasn't bone-jarringly mis-placed.  Kinda strange how Page has turned the middle jam break into the intro again, with his intro piano lick.  Its also a little annoying that the vocal refrain repeats have become absolutely predictable and regular, same with Trey's jam-start.  Although, actually this one had a surprisingly different and interesting beginning to the jam, courtesy of a Trey lick.  I'm actually enjoying Trey's playing in this one.  Fish seems to be having somewhat of a difficult time with it; I'm not sure why, thats just the feeling I'm getting from his playing.  I like Trey's aborting of the R@WKKK part early on, that bodes well, and the start of this segment is actually fucking AWESOME, thanks to Page.  HOly shit this is great!!!!  Please dont fuck it up Trey, please don't.  I beg you.  And he actually isn't.......  This is actually really fucking good!  If Trey would knock off with the bridge pickup and go to his neck pickup, this would be PURE butter.  Around 5:40, the jam has serious potential to go into a really cool place, but its not to be; Trey inserts tension notes, which....ehhh, i guess it could work if they were going to go into Frankie Says, but....mmm, I'm not sure.  They all hook up pretty well past the 6 minute mark though, and get back to a sort of group structure similar to what happened in Possum.  At 7 minutes the jam hits a modulation into a truly great space, but of course its about to jump into Lizards.  Thankfully Trey lets it slide for a fewww seconds before gluttoning into his horce.  And the segue is actually pretty smooth, too....hmmm. 

Lizards - This is cool, first Lizards in a long time, I think?  Page is ruling this intro.  This one is surprisingly together.  Trey is choosing not to play in a bunch of places, which is working in the grand scheme of things, but I'd rather him do that than fumble through the crowd of chords with a giant boner and poke everyone of them in the ass because he can't keep it together.  They seem to have adjusted the arrangement a little bit, with the backing vocal stuff, and Fish is playing into the ebb and flow of the song more, with his drum beat, letting it come and go a bit.  This is actually pretty together; I gotta give it to them.  I'm not to the coda jam yet, but....  the Page jam is pretty good, Trey sounds weird under Page at the end of it....  its a strange sound, he's struggling with the Bowie-ending-esque lines a bit, and he seems like he's laughing when they come in for the final ohh-woah's.  And now here we are....... NO BUM NOTES YET.  Onto the 2nd repeat of the phrase, and still no bum notes yet.......   wow.  HE PRACTICED.  HOLY SHIT!!!!  He's taking his time, and he's getting it RIGHT.  Wow.  This is remarkable.  This version seems really well-done; its kind of like they were relaxed with it, and just had fun and went with it.  Nothing outrageous or transcendental, but a well-played version of a tougher song.  That was good, I liked it.  A little cringe was always there throughout, wondering if Trey was going to get it, and I think the other guys were sensing it too, but it never fell apart whatsoever. 

Sally - Okay, so Trey saves the flub for the Sally intro?  LOL.  Okay.  Sure, I guess.... I mean its kind of funny, almost as if they did like a flawless Dinner a Movie>Bowie->Foam>Fluffhead->Bowie bit and then Trey absolutely trainwrecks on the intro to Jibboo.  The song is okay, kinda cool how it goes to the vocal jam early; seemed planned though because they all jumped on it.  Fish seems to be enjoying himself on this one, once the jam starts around 5:20.  I like Page's playing on the clav, because he's chilling and doing some shorter theme-based patterns, which he usually doesn't do.  This is getting deep!  I wish Page kept what he was doing instead of moving up into a higher register.  I like what Trey is doing too, short staccato-y notes way up the neck.  Something is seriously popping and reverberating against the arena though, it sounds weird. 

Blossom Jam - thankfully they pulled Trey out of his weird backwards delay abortion thing he started doing.  Manteca teases are neat, the jam is kinda aimless though at 1:10.  Trey seems too stuck in his stupid effect thingy he's doing, and the others can't figure out what to do.  The weird reverb thingy is back.  Oh god damnit Trey, can you fucking NOT do that for ONE show???  His shit at 2:00.... that stupid out-of-sync pong bullshit.  It gets really annoying, thats his new cop-out I guess.  Okay maybe he's coming back.....  interesting.  Hmmm, not sure how I feel about this; its kinda strange.  Could be cool.... we'll see I guess?  Yeah nah....  pretty weak.  I don't get why he does this, when he'd been pulling great melodic stuff out of his guitar up to that point.  Page's effects at 4:10 are kinda neat, but.... this is just kinda lame.  Sounds like Trey really wants to play 2001 now.  Page with some weird sizzly thing and then a neener-neener nitrous thing.  This wouldve been a great place to drop Whats The Use? or cruise into a My Left Toe.

Hood - weird start, Trey plays some stuff over the changes thats a bit interesting.  Mike diddlying about with some neat bass boingee-doings.  Woahh wtf is this!!  Gnarly Mike envelope madness.  Okay hmmm Trey sounds kinda cool now.  Wow this is a strangely unsettling Hood intro!  Oh DAMNIT Trey!!!!!!!!!!  Fucking horce the Harry shit.  Fucking dipshit.  You were getting to set up an epic Hood intro part.  Mike must be playing in a different position, because his notes are really sticking out throughout post "Go" throughout the rest of the song.  Wow Trey didn't fuck the Mr. Minor riff!  Jam start is great....  cool melody interplay, and great work from Fish.  Trey is playing interesting things, and Mike is fucking cool.  They're leaving spaces for each other, and filling them wisely.  The part at 7:17 is really fucking cool, thanks to Mike's bass chords!!!!!!  It was a neat ride on into....

Have Mercy - THANK GOD TREY DIDN'T LEAD THAT!!!  I don't know if it was planned cuz you can hear Trey lead into the chords, trying to find a way into it, and then him and Mike seem to kind of hook up as Fish smears the beat.  It wasn't super smooth, but it wasn't jarring or akward.  Imo, they should have smeared the beat a little more longer before jumping in, but Mike and Trey hooked up on it pretty well.  Cool Pay Jorgan!!!  Fish adding nice hi-hat flourishes, almost doing some Frankie Says-type patterns.  Hmmm....

Hood Reprise - wasn't super smooth, lead by Trey, but he didn't horce it totally.  It sure could have been more fluid and patient, but it wasn't horrible.  Some cool playing though by Page and Trey here.  WOAH!!!!  TREY LINES!!!!!!!  :57!!!!!!  TREY!!!!  YOU DON'T SUCK!!!   Omg these lines are awesome, up until like 1:10, fucking melodic up the ass!!!  Wow, I can't remember the last time Trey made me do that with my keyboard.  Lizards tease?  1:38 and onward is definitely Lizards teases.   Okay yeah, Lizards tease.  Climb up to the closing seems to be a little....mmmm, I'm not sure.  Trey comes in with Bowie-ending licks though, this is pretty cool!!!  Wow!!!  OH fuck you Trey.  God damnit.  WHY DO YOU DO THAT?!?!?!??!?!!
DURRRRRHURRRR DURRRPPPP GOOD ABOUT HOOOOD  DURRRP DURRRRP GOOD AH-BOWT H000D DURRRRRRRRRR.  Wow, fail.  Okay, it wasn't totally horrible, but damn that wasn't the right time to do that.  At all.  Not even close. 

Character Zero - kicked.in.balls.  Fish getting Julius-esque on us, thats kinda cool.  Man I haven't actually listened to this song in forever.  Jam actually features some pretty fast playing by Trey in some licks, as well as some thought-out playing.  A random WOO from Fish?  Whoah.....  4:28 TREY!  Holy crap, he CAN play a guitar!!!!  He actually pushes it to a nice guitar peak, too.  Damn.  That wasn't a complete waste of time.  Woah, more blues shredding from Trey!!!  Holy crap!!  This is actually good!!!!!!  Around 6:00 or so, and then a nice Possum down-tune return.  Haha, thats kinda cool.  haha, that was good.  Wow, a Character Zero thats actually interesting.  I didn't know those existed?  Great Trey licks during the outro refrain, too!  God damn. 


Well.... this set was fun!  God damn.  Some good shit all around, very interesting, very playful, great stuff by all.  Definitely a good set.  Very good set, very cohesive playing, and they broke the mold in places.  Thats good.  Some people may not like this, because the utmost 95-ish perfection isn't there in terms of the execution, but this is absolutely the opposite of bland 3.0 playing.  It warrants the Slave encore, for sure. 

I'd say this is a solid B+/A- set.  If the Sally wasn't the random drawn-out Trey abortion noodle jam, then this set would be epic, as well as if the Hood>Mercy>Hood transitions were a bit smoother.  But hey.... its good.