A few scattered thoughts:

1. The first set peaks with the manic funk 1-2 punch of NMINML and Wolfman's, the latter of which pushes against its boundaries and heads for a more minimalist space a la 3/1/97's historic version (Page, in particular, really rules it on the clavinet) before punching back into the major key peak modern day Wolfman's tend to have. The rest of the set is fine (although Trey does have a rig problem or two that was thankfully cleared up by Set 2), although Walls absolutely rips as it always does.

2. Golden Age, somewhat similarly to the Shoreline Blaze On, never *quite* breaks free of Golden Age, but still packs a fine wallop thanks to some tremendous Trey and Page interplay. Light, on the other hand, is far more interesting than its 10 minute length belies, really digging into some spooky and gnarly territory in the last few minutes before Page goes to the keyboard and the jam comes to a gentle finish that Shade makes sense emanating from (Light > Shade, nice play on words there). Don't forget this sequence when you play this show.

3. Second Mike's Songs jams can either be very good pieces of business, or a slightly extended version of the Mike's Song first jam in a different key, which is why it wouldn't have killed me if they never jammed out Mike's again. That they *did* add the fabled 2nd jam (with an amusing Simple fakeout on top, so much so that it's damn near a tease) and that it turned out so well (chugging rockout sliding into Page-and-Mike led warm beautiful minor-key zone until Trey moves back to the forefront with some beautiful soloing) is a legitimate treat. They may never extend Mike's again, but who cares? We got this Mike's, and we have it forever.

4. Piper, with its slower intro, feels more like the Fall '97 "let's play something nice and get you to Point B" Pipers than the big jam vehicle the song would become from 1998 on. I say that to tell you that, much like those Fall '97 Pipers, don't skip this bad boy. There's a lot going on in this one.

5. Any disappointment (?) about C&P sliding into Weekapaug (after Fish deciding he didn't want to play ball for a few measures) should have been instantly mitigated with the big-time Weekapaug that closed out this set. Page runs back to the clavinet almost immediately and the tempo goes molasses-thick, which might make you think funk is in the offing (the NMINML tease might further that expectation), but instead Trey hits on some heavy chords and we go into a heavy jam not unlike the 11/30/97 Wolfman's heavy metal jam (there's a Haunted House jam in there, apparently? I didn't quite catch it) that thankfully doesn't last as long as that death metal affair, and manages to be more interesting thanks to (yep) Page on the clavinet and Trey really tearing into his soloing. The Weekapaug theme returns from the muck, along with some amusing C&P vocal quotes on top, before blasting its way to the finish line.

6. Final thoughts: a really enjoyable show. Don't skip out on that opening sequence to hear the Groove, but don't be surprised if that Groove warrants *many* listens. Time to go blast that Mike's again!

I'm not huge into webcasts for some reason but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. No Men in No Man's Land continues to impress (though I'd love to see it in the second set again) and the Wolfman's is certainly interesting. Mike seems to having a lot of fun up there (they all do), which is especially nice to see. Great start to the show. Enjoyed Trey's very deliberate and emotionally dynamic vocal take on Circus, too. Haven't heard him sing like that before, really.

The story of this show is really an old-school Mike's Groove anchoring the second set, but I'll comment on the whole second frame start to finish.

The band seemed to be in the 'let's kick down a a bunch of tour firsts tonight" mood. Trey seemed a bit nervous or tentative at times (new venue, big industry music town, webcast factor?) flubbing the Golden Age lyrics considerably. Took a while to find his footing in the jam as did the rest of the band but once he did it hit some sweet hose territory, with an incredible stretch of notes towards the end. I thought it was just getting going when the Light came along. Unlike @n00b100 I didn't enjoy the Light jam much, reminded me of a lot of flat earlier versions of the song that don't take off. Settled into some nice ambience towards the end but again that was cut short and made way for Shade, a song I don't like much. It was brief though.

From Mike's onward things were pretty butter. First of all we apparently have Tuba player Drew Hitz to thank for the extended Mike's. His campaigning for it over the past couple years directly with the band culminated last night (after playing Trey the 7/14/00 version). The actual transition to said jam wasn't exactly traditional or perfectly executed (Simply fake-out?), and I'll leave speculation about whether this was THE second jam to more qualified scholars (who care), but the jam that followed was pretty sweet. Not tour highlight sweet, but a lovely sequence. I thought the Piper jam was spectacular, though! I don't think it echoes early Pipers as much as some of the more thoughtful 99 versions with a kind of millennial groove to it. It has a fast pace but is pretty delicate too. Again Trey's playing is so on point this tour. This jam was my highlight of the show.

C&P tour bustout was a pretty welcome treat in the following slot, brief as it was. And Weekapaug got weird! Haunted House / Black Sabbath weird. Can't complain about that.

Absolutely beautiful Slave encore (even if the lead in was a bit soft). Trey didn't want it to end and kept the peak rolling to much satisfaction. Solid Tuesday night one off in Nashville.

What's next folks? Loving this tour.

Strong opening sequence punctuated by a particularly nasty Wolfman's. Rest of the first set is fairly pedestrian, if well-executed. Walls is always strong. Third quarter featured, again, great playing, but I would have liked to see Golden Age or Light go the distance in those slots. The return of the Mike's 2nd jam covers the price of admission and there's a little nod to the slow Piper intro, with Trey going out of his way, tongue firmly in cheek, to make sure you knew he was in on that complaint too. Oh, and there's that instant classic Groove. Consider that must-hear.

As I only caught the last two tracks of first set and the rest of the show, that is what I'll be basing this review on.

Let's just sat there's something musically magical in the air in Nashville for starters.

First set brings energy and smiles to everyone's faces, band members included and then the whirlwind of improving that no one is ready for happens with set two.

What struck me the most is the careful buildup of each and every song selection and the seamless segues between them (forgiving them for the slight hiccup in what I'll refer to as Mikes>Simple tease>Mikes Jam).

The Mikes>Piper>Crosseyed>Groove is hands down the best sequential piece of improvisation that they've put together all tour, and to be honest, one of the beat they've ever played. It's outright spectacular. The double Mikes jam, the simple tease, the slow Piper, the amazing vocals for Crosseyed, and the absolutely dark, metal, mind-melting Groove make this show a 5 for me.

Do yourself and those around you a favor and download these tracks and play them loud for all to hear.

I'm with Sauce, here.... So I won't repeat what's been written. (other than it's been an awesome tour....)

but to @noob:

Second Mike's Songs jams can either be very good pieces of business, or a slightly extended version of the Mike's Song first jam in a different key....

is the 'boolean' logic necessary? can't the second jam be 'very good' AND an extended version of the jam in a different key - affording a who knows what may happen 'expectation?' like a > paugh; or a > tune which better fits said key?

be the second jam the result of an accident, or pressure from a tuba player, don't you find this welcome news in a tour already rife with great playing and 'fresh' ideas?

i just don't see the piper coming otherwise (maybe 'next time' they'll even allow for an actual build).

these new shows are great. but many of the truly great shows feature 'full' mike's and the energy which ensues....

I have given a lot of love to the summer tour recently, and that is worth comment because I'm a pretty cynical phish fan. The new generation of phans honestly don't seem to have as discriminating taste when it comes to what constitutes an epic jam, night, tour, etc. And they also won't get off of my lawn or stop blaring their hip-hop music.

TO WIT: this show...isn't that good. The Mike's jam was really enjoyable in that it was heavy and goal-directed. I can't say I understand all of the hooplah around the second jam other than it being something, you know, rare. Piper was a great call coming out of the soup- it's nice to see them be a little more creatinve in song placement these days. Sorry to say this, but the segue from crosseyed to Weekapaugh was really choppy. Trey got a little ahead of everyone else, and he seemed irritated that they weren't catching on as quickly. Again, when they switched into the slowed-down clavinet funk grind, it was like Fish and trey came unglued.

HOWEVER: I will say this: What IS good about this summer tour and remains good in this show is that it's very obvious that they're having fun and trying new stuff. Trey said it in Bittersweet Motel: if you go out and take risks, sometimes you're going to play shit. I wouldn't say this show is terrible, it's just not *magical* but at least they're still trying ot make the magic happen.

Onward.

So I have listened to Shoreline and L.A. Webcasted Oregon. Went to the Texas shows and have heard pieces, of which sounded great, of Atlanta and Tuscaloosa. But this show...this show was freakin awesome from the couch. Now I dont know if it was my sub and my yamaha speakers, or maybe the superb sound quality in Nashville but Im pretty damn certain it was the quality of play. On paper the first set looks average but fun, but it was much more than that. I could just tell after the NMNML and Wolmans that this would be fire. Everything sounded great. Trey stellar. Mike really shined this night. I got chills and was raging harder on my carpet than in a seat I think...wtf???
The second set..well the second was superfluous. It looks great and it was so killer. Top set in a long long time in my opinion. Finally hit a Mike's so well. I loved everything about this second set. Im even down with Shade!!! Much love from Tejas, John

On August 4th, 2015 I ended my little southern Phish run in Nashville at the brand-spanking new Ascend Amphitheatre. The ride from Alabama had been fun and uneventful, starting with an excellent breakfast at a hipster place in Tuscaloosa before ending at the Comfort Inn in Nashville. There was a day off before the Nashville show and I spent it (and $1,600) at Gruhn’s Guitars. I picked up a barely-used Jerry Jones Supreme double-neck electric sitar and a t-shirt. That was one pricey t-shirt.

On show day I walked to the venue and did a few rounds in the parking lot, picking up a Steal Your Boognish t-shirt that I had been coveting since I had seen one in Atlanta. At $20 it felt like a bargain. From the lot you could clearly see the stage with only an empty bridge in between. Un-kudos to the venue for purposely parking a fleet of tractor-trailers on the bridge before the show started specifically (or so it appeared) to block the view from outside.

Inside, the venue still had that new-car smell; the place barely had the plastic off the seats it was so new. I was on the freshly sodded lawn under a sunny twilight from where I enjoyed the concert immensely. The show (and thus my mini-run) ended with Slave To The Traffic Light, a song I always enjoy hearing and one that is always a fitting drive-away song, though in this case it would be a fly-away song.

The venue is just a short walk from the main strip in Nashville, another city-planning coup that follows in the footsteps of Nashville’s hockey arena that is on the strip itself. I did a little honky-tonkin’, dropping into a few bars for some great live music. We spent most of our night at one bar sitting at the front table, and we found out later that a half-hour after we left Trey and Mike popped in for an hour. Too bad we missed them but whatever.

In the morning it was off to the airport to close off my four-show Phish run, my new (to me) guitar in tow. It was fun flying in and out of the shows and letting someone else take care of the driving in between. Not as fun as actually driving it all myself, mind you, but fun nonetheless.

http://www.toddmanout.com