Congrats everyone, we got over that Summer tour hump. After last night's show, we are guaranteed a jam-filled, flowing, and concise summer tour. Every summer it seems as if the first couple shows feature one or two notable jams that tend to be sloppy since the band is just getting started and back to the routine. The jams are good, but never seamless and certainly never flawless. This continues for a bit until the band finally settles in, gets comfortable, and realize that patience is the key to putting on a good show. The summer tour hump jam last year was the 7/14/13 MPP Light, where the band finally settled down and delivered a concise and rhythmic jam that set the standard for the 2013 jamming style filled with stops and starts. Following MPP, most shows packed the punch and brought many noteworthy jams to Phishdom.
And as for this year...the summer tour hump looks like it is gonna be this show: 7/4/14. In return from the lack of covers, we all knew Fuego was going to earn the glorified second set, first song slot sometime soon. As the band worked their way into the jam segment, we knew they were dedicated to delivering a jam of this caliber. After struggling to find a solid foundation (sloppiness and noodling were still avoided), the band reached a point where they could liftoff from there on forward. As soon as we got to this point, we knew this was going to finish off as an uplifting jam. Trey began to play a sequence of notes that needed more umph. In what was somewhat forced (for a great reason), Trey fueled the foundation by fiddling with powerful yet high pitched chords that completed and defined the first Fuego jam ever. The apex of this jam is very much so memorable. The band lifted the crowd off it's feet and delivered a jam that will not be forgotten.

Never breaking the flow of the set, Down With Disease told us that we were in for a another jam. The band was particularly patient in this one. We didn't get much of the typical Trey solo from the start of the jam. This was extremely rhythmic with Fishman filling in all the empty spaces in the jam. Fishman was crisp sounding and always in sync with the band. After Fishman showed us his chops, the band sunk into a spacey but rhythm driven segment complemented by mouth noises from Trey and indulgent drum beats from Mike.

Once again, flow was never lost. Twist came straight out of DWD. Twist was the least noteworthy jam of this show. A classic Twist jam that ended with 3.0 ambience. Nonetheless, if if wasn't in this show, it would probably be praised all around, but this show featured several other jams that deflected attention from this jam.

Next, the band showed us their willingness to jam with Light, a song that has been continuously advocated in 3.0. This Light jam reached some great points in an equal contribution from all band. As Mike dropped bombs, Trey made the jam connect, and Page filled in all the necessary blanks to make this an invoking and serenading jam. This completed one of the most jam packed 3.0 sequences of songs in the second set. Possibly only rivaled by the FYF show with most back to back jams in 3.0. All the jams swayed and featured little to no meandering or grave struggle to brew the jam commonly faced in 3.0.

Theme from the Bottom and BDTNL appropriately made their way into the set with ease. First Tube couldn't have been a better choice for a closer. As the band complemented Trey's beautiful and relentless chops, the band soared into a sequence of pure perfection and joy that outlined the basis of the second set making for an everlasting memory of a Fourth of July.

Also published on medium:
https://medium.com/the-phish-from-vermont/outside-your-fuego-7-4-14-review-f9459c5c9cf5 />
Outside Your Fuego: A Near Perfect Show from the Phish

Well that was amazing. First of all, mea culpa. In my first review, I argued that there was no logical reason to expect “Fuego” to be the next jam vehicle because (a) it hasn’t jammed at all in the previous three versions and (b) the two jams preceded composed sections. I also suggested that if it jammed they would skip the composed piano based outro/ending and it would count as ‘unfinished’. Well, that’s what we got last night and with stunning results. After an unbelievable 20 minute “Fuego” we got three more(!) type ii jams in the set stretching to nearly a full hour. But first.

In my piece about what makes Set Is good I argued for three ingredients — jams, early classic Phish compositional material, and bustouts. Well, last night’s first set had two out of three (which Meatloaf has told me “aint bad”). Of course, bustouts by definition will happen rarely, so I’ll take First Set with quality jams and classic Phish songs any day.

“Star Spangled Banner” — It’s a cover! Gotcha Phish! But, as @zzyzx said on twitter this clearly falls into the Holiday obligation exception rule. As my brother remarked, “Auld Lang Syn’d”.

“555" — I really like this song in the “opener” (for the instruments at least) slot.

“Kill Devil Falls” — Ever since 5/27/11 I always secretly hope this song opens up. Otherwise it’s just the 3.0 Chalk Dust. This version was nice and patient at the beginning.

“Reba” — Classic early Phish composed material? Check! This is my favorite Phish song. It combines Trey’s early amazing talent for composition with my favorite style of type i jam — soul scorching, gorgeous, melodic, and emotional (see also, Hood, Harry). In 2.0, I used to get very upset with “flubs” (and lord knows there were plenty). Now, I’m kind of at peace with them. These dudes are 50 (or nearly). These songs are so, f’in hard (trust me, I know, because I try to play them in a cover band!)— to expect them to play them perfectly at this stage of life and success is just ridiculous. Not to mention, there have always been flubs throughout Phish’s career (yes, even in the early 90s). Flubs are a sign of their ambition to play such difficult material. This particular version was not flub free, but it was relatively well played. And, the jam was great (it always is). It really “hung out” in the quiet section which featured some beautiful interplay between Mike, Page, and Trey. The peak was its usual triumphant self.

“Waiting All Night” — The fact they have to count this one off (1,2,3,4) means it might be harder than we think for this song to emerge from a jam in a segue (that has been my hope). It just feels like it comes out of a jam. The jam on this version seemed extended when compared to the last on (or maybe I’m just comparing to the album). I still love this song…for now!

“Runaway Jim” — I can’t find anyway to confirm this on phish.net, but I would venture a guess that this is the latest first set Jim in a long, long time. This is may favorite opener (it is Phish’s “Bertha” as far as I’m concerned), but if it doesn’t open it almost always falls either in the first 3-4 songs of the first set, or as a jam vehicle early in set 2 (see, 8/4/13). This version was solid with some “echoplex” (I think) effects near the end of the jam.

“46 Days” is the rocking, Trey-peak fest I usually don’t enjoy. But, this version was particularly tasty. Anyone notice how much Trey is playing “octave” phrases this tour? This is a technique made famous by the jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery (playing two of the same note an octave apart on the guitar to get this full, airy sound). I love this style. The jam built to its rock peak, but didn’t self-indulgently stay there for overly long.

“Rift” — More early classic Phish! The problem with Rift these days is Trey has forgotten the proper chords to Page’s transition riff to Trey’s second (raging) solo. Also, at the outset of this second Trey solo, these days he almost always plays the wrong note (I can’t figure out why). To make things a bit worse this time around, his second solo was flubbed. That said, I’m at peace with flubs. Remember?

“Spit Open and Melt” — I love this song. I will take it over Bowie, Antelope, or basically any Set 1 closer you can imagine. After the legendary “SPAC melt” about a year ago (17 minutes — for the record I think its overrated — just because it is type ii doesn’t mean its good — this one meandered aimlessly, but I really appreciated its risk taking — just didn’t pay off imo), @mrminer remarked that he was so happy this “Melt” jam finally went somewhere because they had been awful in 3.0. I couldn’t disagree more. I always love Melt jams in 3.0. They are dependably weird, abstract and crazy dissonant. This one is no exception. The highlight jam of the set.

Wait, Melt wasn’t the closer?!? More early classic Phish compositional material??? Yes, please — “Squirming Coil”. A very well played version too. Beautiful set closer. And, it featured Mike (I think right?? The webcast is inconclusive) doing the high screeching vocal line that is on Lawn Boy during the final “It Got Awayyyyy” line. Has Phish ever done that screech live? If so, when was the last time? Absolutely hilarious.

If you’re still reading, the best is yet to come!!

Set 2 opened with “Fuego” and everyone was like, “this is it!” I was sticking to my guns and thought it would be played like it was at Great Woods. I was wrong. This jam, man. This jam. For a while it kind of appeared to be meandering in this spacious, open “bliss” territory. I worried it might meander into nothingness ala the Gin the previous night. I was wrong again. This jam was architectural. It just built, ideas brick by brick slowly, with incredible patience. After a long period of spacious building, we found our self in a gorgeous “trilling” melody led by Trey that repeated over and over again. As if that wasn’t enough, that transitioned into an absolutely triumphant melody based on a series of “bent” guitar notes. This “peak” of the jam was on par with the 10/29/13 Disease, 10/31/13 Carini, and the often forgotten 7/10/13 Crosseyed. Just absolute hose.

“Down With Disease” — when was the last time DWD fell in the 2 spot in set 2? I know recently they have put it in the middle or end of second set, but the 2 spot was weird. Just more evidence that lack of covers means interesting set placements. If this Disease opened Set II, we would be like “that was a really good jam” and would understand if Phish went on to play a lot of songs (as they sometimes to do). This jam had some really nice rhythmic grooves — Trey mostly played chords. It then descended into some weird abstract mush that was highlighted by Trey making a “popping” sound with his mouth. The “popping” rhythmically slid beautifully into the next song.

“Twist” — This song has had some epic journeys in 2013, but usually it sticks to about 8-9 minutes and even if it doesn’t always go “type ii” it always is dynamic, rhythmic, and features dense interplay. This one is no different, and to add icing on the cake, this one got weird. In the middle of the jam it featured a dissonant funk riff that the whole band gathered around. After some more “Twist” comping the jam fell apart into that spacious, melodic “bliss” territory. I was hoping this might build to another peak ala “Fuego” but that might be simply too greedy. It slid into…

“Light” — why does Trey always start this song in the wrong key? It’s funny. So, after three amazing and satisfying jams we get the most dependable jam-vehicle of 3.0. This one stuck within the normal “Light” jam (which means Trey playing a lot of dissonant notes and phrases over the main Light groove) for a while until Trey started playing this gorgeous chordal phrases, followed by some more Wes Montgomery-style octaves. Those phrases and chords got more dissonant and Fishman responds by adding crazy fills. Then, we appeared back in normal “Light” territory for maybe 30 seconds before the jam really opens up. Trey starts playing some punchy chords that established a groove for Mike, Page, and Fish to basically go off. He starts looping those chords to create a fuller texture. Then the jam gets more dissonant with Trey playing this weird, descending melody @MikeHamad I think said this is a “whole tone” scale which is what it sounds like) with his octave pedal (that is a pedal that makes a note sound an octave higher than it really is on the guitar neck). The jam peters out into mush which allows a new song to emerge from the depths.

“Theme From the Bottom” — Great placement! This (like “Free”) can often be a ripchord song. But, after nearly an hour of incredible jamming, it allows you to take a breather and reflect on the fact that this is really a great fucking song. Trey has trouble with the transition riff again (I don’t understand this — it’s not that hard), but a nice jam.

OK -this is the only part of the show where I have a slight complaint. For me, this is where “Slave to the Traffic Light” should (must?) be played. After so much “out there” jamming, “Slave” is the perfect, beautiful type i jam to allow us all to reflect on what just happened. Instead, we got “Backwards Down the Number Line” and “First Tube”. Now, don’t get me wrong, the “Backwards” solo was beautiful and celebratory and the “First Tube” practically brought the house down with energy. It was a great pairing. I just would have preferred “Slave.”

Encore with “Character 0" — I was still hoping for Slave. What a show. What an early start to tour. Lets be thankful we have this band still playing this stuff for us, OK?

Another stellar show. Absolutely stellar.

For the third time in three shows this tour saw a first set of one-offs. But while SPAC night 1 was a melliow, chill affair, tonight's was a true rock party. It was high octane with 555 starting us off with a bang - but rather than go into a mid set lull, the energy kept on coming. KDF,, Moma Dance and a superb Reba followed with feet not receiving any breather until a good half hour into the set. After a quick Waiting All Night, the energy returned ten-fold. They could have ended set I with the runaway Jim/46 days combo and few would have minded...but along came rift followed by the first appearance of Split - a exploratory version to be sure, and it got some exploration. Unlike last years SPAC - this split finished and it finished spectacularly.

The second set was, again, a monster. And for those of us who value exploratory jamming, this was a dream come true. I walked in expecting a Friday night rocker, but I never expected 3-4 extended jams. This was not a set for the faint hearted....this was a gift to the hardcore fans amongst us, constantly clamoring for the unknown. And they have us gift after gift starting with what was an outstanding Fuego. Four times played and it's now already gone type II...it's already anchored a second set and it did so beautifully. In fact, 555 and Fuego were both princely positioned. The Down with Disease felt fresher after the Fuego, and the transition into Twist alone was worth the price of admission. The set cooled off after the theme from the bottom with a backwards that did not seem oddly placed....in fact.,.it was one of the more seemless transitions into the song and it gave way to a smoking first tube for a fun, high powered set end.

Overall, incredible song selection the entire show, incredible jamming the entire show, incredible show. Highly recommended.

Best show of 2014 so far. Nice acapella start with the de rigeur Star-Spangled Banner. Happy birthday, good ol' Murrica! Solid versions of 555, Kill Devil Falls, and Moma got the crowd dancing. Reba was just right - spirited verses, gentle jam interplay, good enough peak, and yes the whistling! Long pause? Must be a new song. Waiting All Night was nicely done, with a slightly extended instrumental section that floated on the summer breeze. Then BOOM! Runaway Jim kicked the show in the pants! Inspired version, with Trey employing some wild effects and dizzying cosmic bass from Mike. The big fun continued with a typically stomp-tastic 46 Days. No frills - just goods delivered. Rift was marred by guitar solo flubs, but at least it was quick. The parade of jaw-dropping highlights began with a big, juicy SPAC Open & Melt - adventuresome collective improv like last year's stumbling behemoth, but this one kept its footing through some dangerous dissonance and stuck the landing like a Romanian gymnast! A truly majestic Squirming Coil felt like an encore - the screech (Mike, or Fish...it's a Mikeorafish) kept it from being too serious. Fireworks booming in the distance provoked big cheers from the crowd, and Page obliged by extending and embellishing his piano solo coda. What a jaw-dropper! ...and that was just the 1st set!

Set 2 kicked off in style, with Fuego definitively making the jump to the big leagues. Wandering and searching, yet cohesive and purposeful, this was a 20+ minute mind-frick. The jam culminated in an explosion of distorted noise which neatly segued into Mike's angry DWD intro snarls. Bump-bump, badonka-donk, and now we're on our way! Top-notch Disease, with Trey tearing into the iconic solo sans shortcuts, and then a quick drop into a rhythmic flow that hinted at Steam before a percussive interlude punctuated by Trey's mouth-popping and Mike's kick drum. This swerved into a strong Twist - herky-jerky polyrhythms, dirrrty guitar and keys, and a spacy outro jam. Light emerged from the bliss in the wrong key, and the abrupt correction made it even more jarring. As usual, the jam atoned for the intro's transgressions - a distorted, thunderous chord progression that is still echoing around my skull >12 hours later. Magnificent! Back to terra firma with an awkward and jagged Theme, followed by an unusually understated BDTNL. Big set salvaged by a big finish: First Tube was well above average - simultaneously angry, celebratory, distorted, and anthemic. Character Zero slammed things home with a second exclamation point, as a show like this one clearly deserves. Phaith restored!!

Loved the whole show, had a great time blasting it out the window at home with the fireworks popping off all around my neighborhood - the one night of the year you can play music super loud outside and no one can say anything because no radio is louder than the mortars my neighbor has been firing off every hour or so for the last two days. :-)
If last night's show was a game of Wackbat, I'd say they definitely jumped over the pine cone like crazy. Page's solo on Squirming Coil cannot get enough love. It's always a pretty piece of music, but last night he went from pretty to sublime. One of those moments where music is so beautiful, you suddenly are aware and appreciative of the sun on your face and the wind blowing your hair in a way that is, for me, the essence of being alive. Just wonderful.
Also, Fuego is fuego.
Gonna be a good summer.

A bird's eye view:

Highlights: Reba, SOAM, Fuego, DWD, Twist, Light, First Tube

The context of my following criticisms is my recent re-listen to the highlights from the previous two shows, and the Live Bait 10 DWD.

Yes, this was a great show from beginning to end. Set list design alone was off the charts. Execution on numbers like Reba, Light, and First Tube were flawless. The first Type II Fuego, although rocky at first, turned into a brilliant blissful, soulful throw-down. Additionally, the DWD went into some interesting and unexpected jam spaces, just missing an encounter/segue into No Quarter... Damn this no covers thing!!!!

That being said, Trey's jamming throughout the second set was in my humble opinion a step down from the previous two shows, more comparable with some of the awkward moments of Jazz Fest. He persistently riffed on the same chord or note, sometimes for upwards of 3 to 4 minutes at a time. I know... I get it.... from such repetition have come some of the greatest Phish jams, particularly of the 99-00 and 2.0 eras. But it just wasn't doing it for me last night. Twist showed a return to the serious run-based jamming of the previous two nights. Light was a show highlight. The depth of concentration, Trey's fluidity, the angular exploration, al highly reminiscent of the first set SOAM (with more notes) and the SPAC 1 Limb by Limb. The First Tube, an excellent one, really set things straight in my mind. The composed sections of this one stood out to me as relatively symbolic of Trey's whole jam style for the much of the second set. Skeletal, structural, not necessarily inspired.

Call this review an outlier. Definitely great energy. Page was beaming like the Cheshire Cat all night long. And so was I, despite these criticisms, which as I indicated at the beginning of this review, come primarily from a bird's eye view, a cosmic view, a 30 years of jamming point of view. A high level criticism at that, but one ensured to me by the freedoms of this glorious nation. USA USA USA!!! Peace. Loving Summer Tour 14 so far. Best start of a summer tour in 3.0 so far.

Ahh the fourth of july night 2 at spac, crazy night for me but again very solid show in my opinion. Fuego was a great jam. I was very happy to hear theme from the bottom that night as well!!! I had balcony seats for this night but traded with a guy who's 100th show it was and he didnt want to be on the lawn.

I was very involved in reading this show on Twitter while watching fireworks with my wife and in-laws. Great cool weather where we were. Great fireworks.

I would say that aside from BDTNL popping inexplicably into the second set, this was a near perfect show. Great song choice and great transitions. I put all three nights of SPAC '14 into one big playlist on my Ipod so this came up right after the first night as my wife listened to it on a long car ride. She was into this one from beginning to end. Moma was funky, Reba was fresh. This was the greatest of the 3 nights, and so far the best show of the tour beginning to end. I'm saying this not even having been there!

Looking back a few years, and this setlist and show is exceptional.
Personally, this was my first 3-show run. Camping at Lee's made this weekend a nonstop party.
Tons of fun to be had at the campground both before and after the show.
SPAC always an amazing venue for both the lot scene and for the music.

Set 1 Highlights:
Moma> Reba
Runaway Jim,
SOAM
Coil

Set 2 Highlights:
Fuego> DwD
Light>Fuego
Theme

Fuego songs fit in the set as if the band has been playing them for years. Reba and 46 Days were Set 1 highlights. Page treated the crowd a heartfelt, extended piano solo on Squirming Coil followed by a massive, well-deserved ovation. Set 2 was everything you could ask for with tons of Type 2 jamming, new songs, old songs, and topped off with a HUGGGEEE First Tube (at least for those at the show). The SPAC crowd exploded at the finale of the second set! No one can really argue a Character encore. The band seems determined to jam harder this summer with seamless integration of any/all of Fuego.
Would recommend listening if you can.

I went to this show on a complete whim. Had no plans of attending at all until about 3:00 on the day of the show when my long time friend told me he had an extra and was going. Since it was raining in CT, I decided there would be no 4th fireworks with the kids so might as well..might as well and I am so glad I did.

Tons of great energy in the show and you could tell the band could feel it as the Jim>46 Days was really strong. Melt also managed to get out there, but, damn that song is still a shell of its former self.

The goods are obviously in the 2nd set. I was hoping to see Fuego and sure enough I got FUEGO!!! Wow! I knew that this tune would have potential to get out there into type 2 land this is the first and still the best version that went to the outer limits...after a gorgeous jam they bring in the Disease and this sent the crowd over the edge. Disease founds its way into slinky Twist which smashed headlong into a raging Light...after an hour of intergalactic travels i found the bathroom when the band found Theme. The rest was pretty much standard fare for 3.0 era. But, that hour of music in the second set was some of the most creative music I have heard from the band in 140 shows.

My first show of the summer, and what a great start. The played Twist and First Tube, which were firsts for me. Most of my shows are in the 1.0 era, so I'm always trying to hear the post Farmhouse songs I haven't seen yet. I did manage to listen to the first and third nights show from the SPAC run, and I'm glad I caught the middle night. I felt the second night had a lot more energy than the other two. As always the scene at SPAC was pretty cool. I really love exploring the park, before and after the show. I hope they keep with the annual SPAC shows, it's one of the highlights of my summer these days.

What a show. Gotta love seeing the boys sing the national anthem; great start to kick off one hell of a first set. After a well-played 555 and a patient, smooth KDF, The Moma Dance was about as funky, fresh, and solid as I've ever heard it. It's hard to say why precisely, but it was during Moma Dance that I knew that the boys were deep in the zone. This was going to be one of THOSE nights where they straight up destroyed it. The rest of the set confirmed this. Great Reba - pretty much your typical Trey-led Reba jam, with very good playing by Trey that definitely makes it worth re-listening to. And the SOAM was sick!! DAMN!!! The Jam was rockin and weird, and its climax made me feel like a happy and slightly deranged giant. That's a good thing. Overall, it was one of those wonderful first sets where you just KNOW that the second set is going to bring us to some weird, unprecedented, and beautiful places. One last note on the first set. Waiting All Night may not be the #1 song from the show to re-listen to, but I'm really glad they played it. I love that song, and the energy when they played it brought the sense of "all of us at this show are just one big family right now" that I love getting at Phish shows.

Then came the second set. Fuego. Fuego. Fuego. Based on how much I enjoyed the jam in the moment, this Fuego was probably my favorite Phish jam I've ever been physically present for (this was my 12th show). As they continued to discover various moods and smoothly move form one idea to the next, I couldn't help but grin in euphoria and think "Yes...They're doing it. They're jamming the crap out of Fuego it's dope!!! And I'm here!!!" After going to a bunch of really cool places, sometimes mellow and sometimes rocking, Trey strikes on a shredding descending pattern that ultimately brings the jam to a blissful peak. The DWD that follows is really cool. Becomes very hypnotic as it moves toward the section with lower guitar notes and tongue popping from Trey. I don't feel like going through each song from hear on out individually, so I won't. And that's okay, because guess what. THIS WHOLE SET IS WORTH LISTENING TO AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN. And that's the truth.

Looking forward to catching the boys at Randall's this Saturday!

Nice to see the boys taking risks this early in summer. I'm glad they took that fuego out, although I didn't feel that they ever hooked up during the jam. It seemed more like meandering. Disease however was the opposite, the jam had purpose and direction. Can't wait to see what the rest of summer has in store for us.

Set 1 is so far my fave of the young tour. I was so impressed by their ability to load up set 1 with classics, to keep that #Phish30 vibe strong. I really thought SOMA would end the set and then BAM we get a beautiful bust-out in Squirming Coil. You see how happy Trey looked in announcing Little Jimmy went off to camp?

Wow the first two SPAC 2014 shows featured three-song set 2 brain melting kickoffs. Instead of Gin>Limb>Queen we get Fuego>Disease>Twist. Our first ever epic Fuego. So much juicy darkness in set 2.

I tend to treat every Phish show as it's own piece, it's own story. I can only imagine what the story will in night 3. Crazy over-the-top energy? Or maybe bittersweet calm knowing they won't be back till another year?

Excellent show, a promising first set with some old favorites (Reba, Coil, Melt, Rift) and some newer fare proceeded an incredible set of type II jamming. (Jim is the 1st set jam highlight, along with 46 days' stellar piano) After showing us how far they could take Fuego, they took us right back out again during DwD. After hinting at the Twist groove several times, they played this delightful tune, not straying far stylistically, but exploring some interesting octatonic harmony before a spacey psychedelic Light. A superb Theme ended a great stretch of songs before a relatively uninteresting, but very high energy close. Page was definitely the MVP tonight, followed closely by Fishman, who showed off his breakneck speed funk chops several times in the second set.

Trey and Page can be heard quoting Sly and the Family Stone's "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey" a couple minutes into the DwD jam.