I have never understood the whole "Never miss a Sunday show" thing. The ratio of shows that have blown me away on Sundays to shows that have blown me away on any other day of the week is pretty even.
This particular Sunday show was good. Very good. The weakest of the three so far, but very good, nonetheless.
The "red velvet" flavor theme secured an appearance of "Wading in the Velvet Sea" and some Velvet Underground. While I figured the choice VU song would be tried-and-true "Rock and Roll", we were treated to a debut of "Sunday Morning", complete with Fish playing frontman (with Trey on drums) dressed as a bishop and sprinkling holy water on the crowd and a kneeling-while-playing-a-bass-solo Mike Gordon.
After that opener, it was down to business, though it seemed like business as usual. I certainly will not complain about a well-played "Axilla" or "Glide" or even "Theme From the Bottom", and I do love to shake my tail to "Your Pet Cat"; but the Mike Gordon tune "How Many People Are You" (better than "Yarmouth Road" and "Waking Up Dead", but not as good as "555" and "Let's Go") went on a little too long without a good payoff and "It's Ice" went on much, much too long while meandering about and getting nowhere.
Still, the set had merits. "Back on the Train" had a jam that flew off the tracks and into the air, peaking perfectly in its patient but elevating 10 minutes. And the set-closing "More" was a climax that shook the whole arena. Truly a highlight, even for my friend, Alan, who is not a Phish fan but attended his first show out of sheer curiosity and an appreciation for all types of music.
Unfortunately, the second set was much like the first. There was greatness - check out the huge jams in "Wolfman's Brother" and "Twist" - but sometimes things fell a little flat (a lot flat, with the sluggish "AC/DC Bag"). While "Waves" showed potential, it did not deliver much of interest until things started getting weird and spacey. As it wound through some wild soundscapes (much like the previous night's "Melt"), it would have been a perfect time to segue to "2001". Instead we got a misplaced "Miss You" and a funky but standard "Boogie On Reggae Woman", that suffered from Mike's bass being way too low in the mix.
Still, the encore was "Sweet Jane", a VU song that Phish had not played in five years. It rocked with such ease, and the crowd was so into it (I was behind the stage again, so I could see the incredibly happy reactions of the fans on the floor), that I could only wish that more of the rest of the show, instead of the handful of highlights, would have been this good.
A bad show? Not on your life. But the bar has been set pretty high with the Baker's Dozen and this one came out just a bit undercooked.
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