06/17 - Bader Field - Atlantic City, NJ - Post-Show Discussion

[Gumbo72203]

AC3 was kind of weird.  The playing, however, was quite stellar; I have to say they brought the h33t.  There was mad shit I wanted to hear again, especially the 2001 > Reba, both of which might be top 3.0 versions. 

I mean it was weird; I didn't dance a lot during the 2nd set.  I WIGGED out for Walls, so thankful for that again, and nobody else around me was bugging out.  But boy oh boy when they started Character Zero, you'd think Trey just dropped Gamehendge. 

Also, the crowd does not pay attention anymore.  Its social hour.  I was asked so many times "are you okay man, why aren't you talking to anybody" or "so did you come by yourself?"  NO SHUT THE FUCK UP IM TRYING LISTEN TO THE FUCKING MUSIC.  "DUDE YOU ARE JAMMING THE FUCK OUT"  Yeah?  Shut up and pay attention to the fucking music dillhole.  Nobody cares about the fat chick you're trying to get to put your dick between. 

Hotness highlights though:

Boogie On had a nice little jam
Timber was pretty gnarly I think
Foam was tight
Fluffhead peaked well
Zero was pretty badass with some Trey shred

Drowned - don't remember much
2001 - AWESOME
Reba - Incredible
Roses - no jam = serious buzzkill.  Very poor decision by the band, imo.  This was the Go or No Go point, I thought but....
Chalkdust - pretty incredible.  This was so gnarly, tension everywhere.  The lights were perfect.  There was one point where I thought they finally unhinged it, and Trey was slinking low into the modulation, and the lights were black and strobing and somehow it found its way back to the ending.
Disease - wicked hot for being so short. 

Jibboo - really sweet structured jam from Trey, didn't pick up super amounts of steam though. 

[Marmar]

wow...lamest attendance report I've seen so far.....15,000......so sad.

Gumbo, for as much as I appear to rag on ya....your previous post hit the nail on the head....

(Most)People aren't there for the music anymore. It's Phish Club.....and the first rule of Phish Club is there is no Phish.....just drugz and stupid shit that distracts from the music. Haters have been around since '95.....most of the haters that I know, don't like what it has become for that very reason.....no one listens to the music, it's just a thing to do on a night now....and that's the sad fact. Most of these Caspian kidz have never been at a show when the real heet was brought. They wouldn't know heet if it gave em 3rd degree burns. I personally think that's why the Haters are so vocal with the hate now.....they can't stand hearing people call slop heet when they aren't even paying attention to the music being played. While it may be good by their inexperienced ears, folks who have felt the heet know otherwise.

Arre they playing well? Yes. Are they playing consistantly? Kinda. Have they brought the heet? Nope.

Personally, I'd be more happy if they came on stage and just did 1 full set of ambient noize vs. the blue ball inducing stuff they're playing now......

[Undermind]

wow...lamest attendance report I've seen so far.....15,000......so sad.

Gumbo, for as much as I appear to rag on ya....your previous post hit the nail on the head....

(Most)People aren't there for the music anymore. It's Phish Club.....and the first rule of Phish Club is there is no Phish.....just drugz and stupid shit that distracts from the music. Haters have been around since '95.....most of the haters that I know, don't like what it has become for that very reason.....no one listens to the music, it's just a thing to do on a night now....and that's the sad fact. Most of these Caspian kidz have never been at a show when the real heet was brought. They wouldn't know heet if it gave em 3rd degree burns. I personally think that's why the Haters are so vocal with the hate now.....they can't stand hearing people call slop heet when they aren't even paying attention to the music being played. While it may be good by their inexperienced ears, folks who have felt the heet know otherwise.

Arre they playing well? Yes. Are they playing consistantly? Kinda. Have they brought the heet? Nope.

Personally, I'd be more happy if they came on stage and just did 1 full set of ambient noize vs. the blue ball inducing stuff they're playing now......

Not sure about AC because I wasn't there, but the crowd in Worcester was the most attentive I have witnessed in some time.  Just sayin'.  Anybody else that went to Worcester notice that?

[WhatstheUse?]

I just don't get it sometimes.  I've spent nearly my entire life studying music and playing in bands very similar to their style of improvisation and what Phish is doing today still blows me away almost every time I see them.

It's not like it used to be at all -- nothing is HEET like the 90's, but the "special" connection between the 4 of them is still there. No other rock band out there improvises like them -- to me they are still one cohesive unit jamming as a whole and constantly bouncing music phrases around between each other. Mike is KILLING it, at the top of his game, imo. The jams are short and mostly rocky (which is unfortunate) but their is still so much impressive musicianship to be witnessed.  Trey is still so great at theme and development, and his connection with Fishman is still there.  Even in, say the C&P from AC, which, yes... was a generic rock, tension/release jam... there is such awesome things happening musically. they are 4 fucking incredible musicians playing together! Is anyone here as good as them at their instruments? I doubt it.  I'm no where near as good as Fishman, so how could I not be impressed watching him? I learn things from watching this band every show.

I totally understand the frustrations people have with the current music. I wish it was what it used to be like too... or I at least wish they were more explorative with their jams, progressing at a faster rate, and making a better attempt at extending their song catalog -- but I still see the impressive musicianship between them... I still hear PHISH. the same four guys the play the the same awesome songs and improvise in a way only they can.

[Hicks]

I don't get why AC1 isn't getting more love, I thought that second set was top shelf 3.0. 

[WhatstheUse?]

I don't get why AC1 isn't getting more love, I thought that second set was top shelf 3.0.

ME TOO!

[Thrillhouse]

I just don't get it sometimes.  I've spent nearly my entire life studying music and playing in bands very similar to their style of improvisation and what Phish is doing today still blows me away almost every time I see them.

It's not like it used to be at all -- nothing is HEET like the 90's, but the "special" connection between the 4 of them is still there. No other rock band out there improvises like them -- to me they are still one cohesive unit jamming as a whole and constantly bouncing music phrases around between each other. Mike is KILLING it, at the top of his game, imo. The jams are short and mostly rocky (which is unfortunate) but their is still so much impressive musicianship to be witnessed.  Trey is still so great at theme and development, and his connection with Fishman is still there.  Even in, say the C&P from AC, which, yes... was a generic rock, tension/release jam... there is such awesome things happening musically. they are 4 fucking incredible musicians playing together! Is anyone here as good as them at their instruments? I doubt it.  I'm no where near as good as Fishman, so how could I not be impressed watching him? I learn things from watching this band every show.

I totally understand the frustrations people have with the current music. I wish it was what it used to be like too... or I at least wish they were more explorative with their jams, progressing at a faster rate, and making a better attempt at extending their song catalog -- but I still see the impressive musicianship between them... I still hear PHISH. the same four guys the play the the same awesome songs and improvise in a way only they can.

My main issue with the band isn't that they aren't "bringing the h33t" It is that it is now....2012 and they have been back together since 2009.

Its four years in and there really hasn't been ANY progress in style....I know it has been stated before but it bares repeating....1993-1997! Now that was musical progress and prowess!

That is why I love this band.......I know you have seen a lot of shows and I know you love them just as much as anyone I have ever met scotty....and yes, that feeling you get when you are under those lights (sober OR not) and trey is treyin out super hard is like none of other on the planet.....but I honestly feel that when you and I saw at that kimock/worrell show before I left......

That was improv.....

The Boys cant keep up with that anymore.

It's not The Paug that turned me hater.....it was the band. 

[WhatstheUse?]

Meh, Kimock was amazing but it didn't touch any of the Phish shows I just saw (or have ever seen, for that matter)

[mattstick]

What bugs me most is the real disregard for setlist flow.  Trey must know that playing 3 straight ballads in the second set of the final night of a 3 night run is going to be a real buzzkill.

If the new style is rock/peak and they're going to stick with it, putting songs in the "right" order would go a long way into making the shows more listenable and enjoyable.

[gah]

wow...lamest attendance report I've seen so far.....15,000......so sad.

Gumbo, for as much as I appear to rag on ya....your previous post hit the nail on the head....

(Most)People aren't there for the music anymore. It's Phish Club.....and the first rule of Phish Club is there is no Phish.....just drugz and stupid shit that distracts from the music. Haters have been around since '95.....most of the haters that I know, don't like what it has become for that very reason.....no one listens to the music, it's just a thing to do on a night now....and that's the sad fact. Most of these Caspian kidz have never been at a show when the real heet was brought. They wouldn't know heet if it gave em 3rd degree burns. I personally think that's why the Haters are so vocal with the hate now.....they can't stand hearing people call slop heet when they aren't even paying attention to the music being played. While it may be good by their inexperienced ears, folks who have felt the heet know otherwise.

Arre they playing well? Yes. Are they playing consistantly? Kinda. Have they brought the heet? Nope.

Personally, I'd be more happy if they came on stage and just did 1 full set of ambient noize vs. the blue ball inducing stuff they're playing now......

Money! 

[Undermind]

What bugs me most is the real disregard for setlist flow.  Trey must know that playing 3 straight ballads in the second set of the final night of a 3 night run is going to be a real buzzkill.

If the new style is rock/peak and they're going to stick with it, putting songs in the "right" order would go a long way into making the shows more listenable and enjoyable.

Exactly!  That's one of the reasons 6/7/12 Set 2 was so good to me.  The flow was perfect imo.  Plus I'm a huge If I could fan, as far as ballads go.

[WhatstheUse?]

What bugs me most is the real disregard for setlist flow.  Trey must know that playing 3 straight ballads in the second set of the final night of a 3 night run is going to be a real buzzkill.

If the new style is rock/peak and they're going to stick with it, putting songs in the "right" order would go a long way into making the shows more listenable and enjoyable.

This I can totally get behind.

[sophist]

Meh, Kimock was amazing but it didn't touch any of the Phish shows I just saw (or have ever seen, for that matter)

Phish could literally abort a baby on stage and launch the lifeless fetus out of a canon while shooting off fireworks and you'd find a way to say it's still better than anything performed by any other band.  Come on dude.  Your absolutism to this band is mind baffling at times.  It's okay to say they suck and that someone plays better. 

[mbw]

admit you hate phish scott!

[WhatstheUse?]

I can't help what I think dude. It's as if you are accusing me of lying or something, which is quite silly.

I'm sorry you can't understand why I am more impressed with Phish than Kimock and that frustrates you.. but it is what I feel, and it's what I hear. You might think Phish sucks, but that is not a fact. I'm not saying anything against Kimock - dude kills it, and if you read my recent review of his show you'd know that I had only good things to say about it. Just didn't come close to impressing me like Phish does and I feel I have plenty of valid reasons to feel so.

I could flip this same argument around on you Ramz regarding Animal Collective. The fact that you find their live shows better than Phish completely perplexes, yet... it's what you think, and you feel that you have very valid reasons to feel that way. I don't get it... but it doesn't mean you're "wrong"..