Saturday, August 29, 2015

Phish at Merriweather, Aug. 16, 2015


Never miss a Sunday show, they say.

In this case, not quite. It never really took flight. After the previous four powerhouses, this one fell flat.

That is not to say it was bad. As I said in a previous post, Phish has gotten back to a point at which even the bad shows are good shows.

And when it was good it was great. The second half of the second set was mostly switched on with a well-jammed "Twist", a solid "Fuego", two surprises with a mid-set "Shine a Light" and "Sneaking Sally Through the Alley" and a stellar "You Enjoy Myself" (finally!).

Yet the first half of that set never quite hit the mark despite sure things like "Down With Disease" (bungled from the start), "Slave to the Traffic Light", and "Light".

The first set also seemed promising but, unlike previous shows, stayed firmly in first-set-land, with well-played but standard versions off tunes that had more potential. "Undermind" provided my favorite moment for its rarity and funky dance-a-bility.

It was definitely the weakest of the five I have seen so far, but certainly worth a listen down the road.

Full set list:

Set 1: Golgi Apparatus > Undermind, Julius, 555, Nothing, No Men In No Man's Land, Stash, David Bowie > Possum
Set 2: Down with Disease[1] -> Slave to the Traffic Light > Light -> Twist, Shine a Light, Fuego > Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley > You Enjoy Myself
Encore: Backwards Down the Number Line

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