06/23 - First Niagara Pavilion - Burgettstown, PA -Post-Show Discussion

[Thrillhouse]

I'm going to abide by the 48hr rule before I give it a full review, but the Light from last night had me stopped in my tracks.

atta boy.

[Gumbo72203]

I think Trey has his head in the game more, and is *maybe* a little more interested in jamming than he was at the beginning of the tour - and I hope it continues, as he's really playing much more inspired than he was earlier in the tour (say Boner-roo). He might just be relaxing more, and "going with the flow", or he might be actually taking an interest in what this band is doing. I personally hope it's a good mix between the two.

This show highlights for me: Weekapaug Groove -> Seven Below is silky, Light, Scent Of A Mule, and the Slave didn't suck ass (but it might not have taken me to the same place it did Gumbo).

First, its definitely not my favorite Slave ever lol.  Don't get me wrong, I think its great, but it doesn't give me the soulgasm like 6/23/04 does.  Its just a great, well-played competent Slave.

2nd, I'm not going to say you're wrong in your assessment of Trey, but honestly I think it comes down to confidence in his own playing.  His playing has CHANGED.  I mean, I experience this myself when I play myself and jam.  Sometimes, you just can't come up with anything you feel is worthwhile; its like you're fighting the notes.  Either, due to lack of practice, distractions by other things in life, the sound not being quite right, etc etc.  *Something* is blocking your mind from entering the flow.  But when Ive been playing for a good week straight every day, I'll get on runs where EVERYTHING I play is fucking gold.  I have confidence that no matter what, I'm going to come up with something awesome.

Typically, its half-inspired by me changing up the routine.  Instead of throwing on a clean sound with a phaser over the Jibboo groove, I'll start with a sound like David Gilmour on ABITW pt1, super delayed-out.  And having that new framework literally opens up my mind, because I'm like "oO the delay does this, so then I can do THIS and THAT sort of phrase/lick". 

And when you're playing a lot, your hand is more limber and better shape, and your timing is a shit-ton better, enabling you to bust into some crazy licks easier and know that you're going to land them in time with the beat.

And its weird, because for most of the "bust out licks" you kind of just sort of like, almost spasm your hands into motion, and hope that you hit something sick.  You aren't in complete control, because you can't think that linear in such a short amount of time.  You're relying on muscle memory, and memory of the fretboard combined with knowing what key you're in, what scales you can work, etc etc. 

So, anyway....  analyzing it from what he's actually playing, beginning with the Worcester Boogie On, it seems like he simply has more confidence in himself to let it go and let it rip on the fly.  Before, he'd only EVER bust into any crazy fast licks when the energy was juuuust about to pop off, and it was like "hey i need to play catch up, so even if its a little shaky, it'll fit" because everything is already wild and off the rails. 

Plus, when you throw OTHER PEOPLE into the equation, everything changes.  Every decision you make has more weight.  I open my window when I jam, because it lets a breeze in, and if I know ppl are walking by outside, even if they aren't paying attention, it impacts my playing SIGNIFICANTLY, because its like "well, i'd be fine if i miss a few notes because its just me, but someone else hearing that?  they're going to JUDGE it". 

Anyway, basically we're both right haha.  I just love that we've got badass "im a fuckin MAN and I play GUITAR, bitches" Trey back, instead of weiner pussy-footing "ohhhh i donnno guysssss" Trey.  Which comes down to confidence.  The jock guys always got the girls because they had the confidence and gusto to fuckin GO THERE, rather than sit around and get caught up in their own self-analyzation of the situation. 

He's got the balls to take risks now.  Its paying off, and its goading him to do it more, knowing that it'll succeed.  Plus, he rediscovered the whammy loops and wah pedal.  So, he's got new elements to factor into his palette of tools, which impacts his thought process and how he approaches the music.  Combine that with Page being (thankfully!) super eager to go to the synthesizers, and bam.  We have new Phish.

[zackonthetrain]

I was at the show and havent listened to it since but here are some of my initial reactions:

First show ive seen in a long time that was <20 songs.
Torn and Frayed was much better than all the others I have seen.
Gotta Jibboo was one of my favorites of the night and a great way to open the 2nd set.
Light was fun, and it was great to see all four members listening to each other even if the jam wasnt so 1.0 or 2.0 epic.
Weekapuag was also interesting.

Overall id like to give Light and weekapaug another listen, but i left feeling like i went to a very solid, above average phish show. I hope this band keeps it up cause i had a lot of fun and i hope everyone else on tour can have fun too all the following shows.

Thats it for my summer, heading back west and going to catch them again at Dicks in Denver and thats it. Enjoy!

[emay]

Band seemed pretty comfortable and took some risks during the show which makes me think they were feeling pretty locked in or in a mood for exploration.
This show is a great example that this band still has some progressing to do...they have only been back for 3 years from a 5 year "hiatus". In no way do I expect them to deliver like its 95-97. They are going to be around for a while, and they will get more and more comfortable with jams and exploration as time passes and they play more and more together. Not to mention they probably invest 1/10 as much time invested in Phish as they did in any other 3 year period of time they have played together.

But yeah light, weekapaug, yem, scent, 7 below should all be listened to. Great 3.0 versions.
Also, this crowd seemed very fun yet respectful and aware of what was going on for most the show. Lots of dancing and very minimal talking where I was. It seemed like a lot of people were just focused on the show. I said to one of my buddies "this is probably the quietest I have seen the crowd in a while at a phish show" and I didnt have to talk over anyone to tell him that...pretty cool. There was a ton of fucked up people on the walk in, some didnt even make it to the show, saw some passed out in the lot, on the lawn before the show, and saw someone seizing in the line to check tickets...crazy shit.

A ridiculously wild night in Cornopolis after the show/early morning today.  :crazy: So glad I made it back to MD.

[mattstick]

I'd love to hear what Mattstick had to say.

It jammed more than I expected.
It was tighter than I expected.

If all 3.0 shows were to this standard there would be a lot less 3.0 griping.

[aphineday]

I'd love to hear what Mattstick had to say.

If all 3.0 shows were to this standard there would be a lot less 3.0 griping.

It certainly makes me excited to spend money to see them at least.
I'm not looking for 1.0, but I'm definitely going to be griping if I spend $240+ on tickets for 4 nights and hear no jamming.
If I wanted to see the same shit repeated (relatively poorly) over and over again, I'd just hop on the *insert name of semi-popular shit fest here* tour.

This at least makes me happy.

[Thrillhouse]

This show is clearly above average but this whole slave fluff is just that.

Fluff.  straight mehsville

[mattstick]

Slave was well played and placed perfectly as a set closer.

Granted, it's nothing like the Julius > Slave from Cleveland '97 (only other pairing of those songs?) but Slave did was Slave is supposed to do.

I can't be too objective here, I really dug this show - it may have been the first time since Red Rocks when I left the venue wondering how I could get to the next show without interrupting my life too much... but instead I went to the Pirates game and drove home the next day.

[mbw]

took the paug> seven below for a spin on the way to work. i skipped the light for now because the live phish app isn't seekable and i didn't want to sit through the whaling in the beginning of the jam.

the paug really is pretty great.  some of the most creative playing/communication i have heard from this band in a long time.  there were multiple times trey could have gone for the peak but didn't.  a few times fish goes for the peak, then has to bring it back down because trey isn't ready.  i don't blame him though, he has been trained to go for the peak, and go early for years now.

thought seven below was a mess.  it doesn't know what song it is throughout most of it, and not in a good way.

[danje]

Its so good to be at a show when the band starts clicking and you just can't stop grinning. So pumped for the rest of this tour.

[aphineday]

Interested to hear a Hicks review of this show... Specifically the Light jam.

[runawayjimbo]

took the paug> seven below for a spin on the way to work. i skipped the light for now because the live phish app isn't seekable and i didn't want to sit through the whaling in the beginning of the jam.

the paug really is pretty great.  some of the most creative playing/communication i have heard from this band in a long time.  there were multiple times trey could have gone for the peak but didn't.  a few times fish goes for the peak, then has to bring it back down because trey isn't ready.  i don't blame him though, he has been trained to go for the peak, and go early for years now.

thought seven below was a mess.  it doesn't know what song it is throughout most of it, and not in a good way.

Yeah, I had forgotten how much whaling there was in Light because the calypso jam washed it out of my mind. Agree on the Paug, that was a lot of fun; disagree on the 7 Below, the intro was a little rough but I thought the jam was pretty enjoyable (from my first half paying attention re-listen).

Overall, I thought it was a really strong show and it's a toss up for me between this and Cincy for my favorite thus far (haven't gotten to last night's second set yet). I thought the first set was well played and flowed nicely and I really enjoyed the whole sequence from Mike's > 7 Below. I also kinda liked how pissed Trey was when he flubbed the Lizards lyrics instead of just laughing it off; tells me he's taking it more seriously than I thought he was at the start of the tour. I'm excited (I just hope they don't lose this momentum with the whole week off).

[Undermind]

http://phishvidcollection.blogspot.com/2012/06/phish-2012-06-23-burgettstown-pa-mk.html

[antelope19]

Not sure if this was mentioned, but apparently mike got a ride with some phans to this show. Story and #1 here: http://forum.phish.net/thread.php?thread=1340658856

Pretty funny

[mbw]

Not sure if this was mentioned, but apparently mike got a ride with some phans to this show. Story and #1 here: http://forum.phish.net/thread.php?thread=1340658856

Pretty funny

thats great.