WORCESTER 1 RECAP
The colors on the trees are mostly faded. It’s cold outside. The Red Sox are in the World Series. And Phish is back at The Centrum. Life is good. Short and sweet here, for a blow-by-blow visit the excellent JamBase Skinny.
Shit-show Friday afternoon traffic led to a very late start even for Phish standard time – at a half hour after the scheduled start time the floor was barely half full. Everything about this venue “outside the ropes” (concessions, bathrooms, Worcester as a place) is still a pain-in-the-ass, but everything inside was relaxed, cozy, and happy!
The “Waves” > “Carini” combo is exactly what you want out of the critical third quarter frame, this has it all, 23-minutes that oozes sexy crunchy grooves, and taken as a whole every bit as satisfying as the Hampton “Tweezer.” If “Carini” isn’t the most consistent go-to jam stalwart, I’m not sure what is – so damn good, every single time. The “Caspian” was a soul-crushing moment, and the “Number Line” didn’t help matters. But then every ounce of potential disappointment transformed as our lovable Vermont heroes opened the books back up on the jamming through “Ghost” and the “Disease” > “Sneaking Sally” combo. Everything that came after was gravy, but the sheer quantity of songs gave everyone a hook to hang their hat on. Good points, bad points. Good times, bad times. Sometimes it was hard to get emotional footing through the roller coaster, but that which was good, was great.
More comments from the peanut gallery:
Dan Mielcarz: What set this show apart from so many other 3.0 Phish shows was not the jams to start off the second set, although they were excellent (particularly the dreamlike journey to ambiance and back in "Waves"). What made this show special was the late second set appearance of "Ghost" and "Down with Disease," a time when many other 3.0 shows tend to shift into jukebox Phish and run out the string. "Ghost" in particular featured some soaring major key melodic riffing by Trey that was not unlike the incredible Great Went "Bathtub Gin." A four song encore was gravy on top of one of the best front-to-back second sets I've seen. Must hear.
Chris Bertolet: There is a moment at about 10:30 into Waves when you can hear the band breathe together and pivot. The end result of this pivot -- the face-melting final minute or so of Waves -- is a great payoff. But to my ears, and in this case, the moment when they choose the destination is every bit as compelling as the moment when they reach it.
Classic Phish.
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Add your thoughts, talk amongst yourselves.… cuz we are rolling out. Let’s go Red Sox!
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Phish.net
The Mockingbird Foundation
Possible best show from start to finish f
Possible best show from start to finish this year.
Pretty sure the Jack references have to do with Fish's son, named Jack. "Scared the shit out of Mom," and "cause he was on the road" lines point that way.
Hahaha....lived in Worcester (went to Clark U) from 1991-1995. Total PoS place, but lots of great Phish shows...and perfect placement to see lots of Phish from 1991-1995, which is what I did. I'm in Oregon now, but would have loved to have seen this one. Was in the 2nd row for NYE 93-94 which of course alwasy remember fondly. I always says I minored in English and majored in Phish in college. Glad they kicked down for Wormtown!!
Bottom line: Phish is pulling it off Fall Tour 2013, let there be no doubts.
Number Line... Well, lets just say I will never understand why people get bent out of shape about songs that haven't had jams in a decade not having jams... While Number Line showed oodles of potential in 09-10 and nobody's gripes ever seem to touch on that. If they're going to play a. 7 minute guitar solo song, I'll take Number Line over the Juliuses and Funky Bitches of the world all day.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5BU-y90RvaE#
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tnMIwonbBb0#
On my phone so be advised on the mobile links
I understand the dumping on Backwards, and I agree that it shouldn't be in the middle of the 2nd set, where it always seems to find itself. It would be an excellent 1st set closer IMO, but a thought on that...
To say it was "soul-crushing" in it's placement is quite an overstatement. Maybe to you but not to me. I love the song and choose to go with the flow when they play it. It's happy and heartfelt and rocks when the band is on.
I honestly think Trey plays it in the 2nd set so much (and I'm being devil's advocate here) to offset some of the minor key, dark jamming and spacey stuff. In the last couple of years he commonly will rip into a major key straightforward rocker right after an introspective section of the show. I think Backwards is one of the songs he uses to that effect, and I think this is why it jars so many people when it happens, because it always seems to be just when they're going deep that they pull it out.
I don't agree with @nichobert that they have gone backwards since last year. I think they've continued to travel down the same road, honestly.
If I had to make a blanket statement about style at this point, I just don't think Trey is comfortable sitting back and grooving and letting the music dictate where he goes, as he so often was in the late nineties. He seems extremely focused on working out specific phrasings and melodic ideas within the framework of their freeform jamming, and his playing (both his chordings and soloing) is very technical. This limits the length of jams because he's not satisfied these days to just ride a groove with his pals for ten minutes. If he doesn't get resolution and focused direction within a minute or two, he ripcords or abandons the vibe for something else. That's been his M.O. for a few years now, it's just that last year (and during parts of '11) it really WORKED.
I think what we started to see last year was Trey becoming more patient and letting his bandmates develop the sound a little more. This year, he's become a little less patient again at times, so perhaps that's what you're hearing.
I don't think the band as a whole has been as tight this year, though. It seems as though there is some level of discord within the band itself as to the direction of the music these days, but they are still clicking about 50% of the time, to my ears, sometimes within the same show.
I think the last few shows bear this out fully. Glens Falls was good but rather hit and miss in spots. Last night was tighter and really the only critique I'm hearing is song selection, and I've never felt that song selection is a valid point of criticism unless there are excessive repeats.
BTW I loved the Funky Bitch opener.
This year has produced the Tahoe Tweezer, the Hampton Carini, the Hollywood Hood, the PNC Crosseyed, and at least a half dozen other jams that rival the very best of 2012. And they're threading together consistent, densely structured, flowing sets at an arguably more consistent pace than last year.
Agree that the sets have flowed really well on average, especially the second sets which have been better on average, I think, than last year. They've definitely been sloppier on the technical side of things this year, however. Maybe I'm just paying closer attention this time around, but that's how I hear it.
I'm a long time fan that's disappointed to see that kind of hating in a main phish.net review
If you find criticism to be "hating," then perhaps you might check out some other blogs that engage in blind, slathering praise and proclaim each show the greatest collection of sounds ever produced by humankind. They might be more your speed.
Wolfman's Brother was solid. I almost think Trey was playing with the crowd to see if we were paying attention during Wilson. I know he stated that he repeated himself because "Rog" was in the audience. I tend to think he was having a bit of fun. The energy in the Centrum (I refuse to call it The DCU Center) was high for the first set. For me The Curtain With was a nice surprise. I have not had a chance to re-listen to this show, yet but rest assured, this first set should not be seen as just a precursor to what happens after setbreak.
Indeed, Wolfman's ripped up the joint.
This needs to become a trend.
I think this statement is absurd. I think this Fall run has been among the best runs of 3.0. I think Hampton 3, Worcester 1 and Worcester 2 are some of the most complete 2nd second sets we have seen in 3.0. No "jukebox" tunes (as they were referred to earlier) in the 4th Quarter.
Deep Jamming, dark and beautiful, to start the set -- busting out into all out dance-parties, funky and rockin', and closing off with a peak or a beauty like Slave.
I'm bias towards this tour I guess, since Hampton 3 is my favorite set of Phish in a very long time.
P.S.
Providing a review of a particular version of a song is completely different than bashing it's entire existence.
From start to finish, this show was about as solid as a Phish gig gets. 46 Days set one closer literally had fans wide-eyed, and when it ended and the lights went up, the crowd would not stop roaring in approval. I think it was the longest I've ever seen Phish stay on stage after a first set closer, and they were grinning from ear to ear, bowing and waving. It felt like the end of an encore, and yet it was still just set break!
And yeah, I get that Caspian into Number Line isn't everyone's cup of tea, but they even made that work this time around! Add in the fun Ghost, a killer Carini, Sneekin' and a four song encore, and it is clear the band gave it their all and the fans truly, truly appreciated every moment of it...just ask the dude next to me who had to take a leak from DWD but couldn't bring himself to leave because the show was just that damn good. I don't think he peed himself, but he ran out of there as fast as he could after the lights finally went up.
I normally dig the reviews on .net, and I'm not trying to rip on @pzerbo, but this was a truly shoddy review, man (or lady). Give a full review or no review at all...this is phish.net, after all!