Thursday 07/28/2022 by phishnet

JB2 RECAP: LIFE IS JUST A BUNDLE OF JOY? EDIBLES NIGHT!

[We would like to thank user Gootch350, Evan Gottschling (Twitter @PrisonOfLimes), for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

We live in a world where I have seen/heard easily 100 shows live from home and this was another. I personally have never been to Jones Beach, so this review will not be about the vibes or the lovely breezes, or any interstellar interactions. I’m sure the (insert classic Long Island food item) tasted extra sweet/savory and the beverages were flowing like the nearby Carmen’s River.

We start the night with "Mike’s Song," which is noteworthy mostly because what follows is the longest jam of the night instead of opting for a more traditional "Mike’s Groove" segment. Wolfie finds a chill funk groove with a bit of swing from Fishman as Trey starts to layer some effects into his tone. He pulls back to a cleaner tone and Page finds some energy on the baby grand, extra mustard seemingly emanating from his shirt. When Page switches to the organ, the band turns a corner through a heavier, more evil zone. The jam heads into a "Sigma Oasis" feel and then continues evolving. Page begins to add some sonic textures that hint at a spacey take-off point but instead we find ourselves in "Ya Mar."

© 2022 PHISH Rene Huemer
© 2022 PHISH Rene Huemer

"46 Days" immediately locks in from the instant the jam section starts. Fishman really comes alive here, building a beat that incorporates the toms while Page hammers on the bb grand again. After the return to the lyrics it looks and sounds like Trey wanted to start another jam. Fishman didn't get the memo, and his beat falls apart as he looks for a clue about where to go next.

"Something Living Here" appears for the first time since Halloween. A very active Fishman on the wood blocks and more funk pushes the end of this song into an "Undermind" kind of feel.

"Axilla (Part II)" doesn’t find the creepy sonic space that recent versions do, probably because Trey invites Kuroda to shine that thing in his face as a belated birthday treat. CK5 has earned all the treats because even from the couch, the lights have been absolutely phenomenal on the larger stages of this summer tour. "Axilla" fizzles into an oddly placed "Circus."

"Antelope" begins with Fishman exploring what I assume are some of the factory sounds on his drum pad. He fully commits to the bit and keeps it up for almost the entire first section of the song. The delicate midsection jam has more samples from Fish, who is unable to crack Trey's concentration as he continues his lead story. Purple tones lead to red as the dissonance picks up. The lights in this section are insane; chasing each other around and flickering until the tension splits and leaves us “right near da beach, boyyy” Get it? Jones Beach? Trey finally smiles at one of the samples and the song and set conclude.

No mens jam begins with lots of energy from Mike and Page and Trey plays rhythm…for a bit. Groove fully established, he begins patiently building a new story. The band collectively turns a corner and Trey plays a familiar pattern reminiscent of "Blister in the Sun." Everything locks into place. Fish tickles the snare drum and ride cymbal, leaving space for the others to find their vocies. They achieve "Type II" territory and it feels "Crosseyed" adjacent for a bit before dissolving into a more spacious place. This gives way to "Down With Disease."

© 2022 PHISH Rene Huemer
© 2022 PHISH Rene Huemer

The highlight of the "Disease" is the periods of modulation between minor and major and then back to minor. Mike starts making noise similar to the opening of the song and it gets really evil and spacey for like 5 seconds and everyone thinks, “Great, the aliens are finally here.” (they weren't)

"Don’t Doubt Me" becomes the second song from Sci-Fi Night to make its second appearance. Two humans in the front row were wearing Genuine Asshole shirts. Later they would toss one of the neon shirts to Trey. Don’t doubt me is the 200th unique song played by Phish so far in 2022. This song feels unfinished and unpracticed. Fishman mumbles about doubt and “how can anyone keep up?” The jam takes off quickly and Mike, Page, and Fishman begin to rumble in what feels to Trey like "Golden Age" so he pushes it in that direction. This felt like a missed opportunity to explore the space they had just found.

"Golden Age" is chill(?) for several minutes and finds a nice quiet space to funk in. JB2 ‘22: Chill funk. The band searches for a while and when nothing comes, we land into "Lifeboy."

"Fluffhead" follows and is played well. Fishman grunts “Life is just a bundle of joy?” etc.

© 2022 PHISH Rene Huemer
© 2022 PHISH Rene Huemer

The song finishes and "Weekapaug Groove" starts. Oh I get it, from before. The decision to make the whole show exist inside "Mike’s Groove" only works if the 'Groove comes at the right time and with the right energy.

In "Slave," Trey jumps the gun and sees the city and zoo a lil bit early.

The last several shows have seen some great jams and growth that just didn’t happen tonight. There were four jams in the range of 12:20-13:36, but nothing longer. I don’t think there is really anything that will pull me back for another listen. This was kind of the chill funk night on tour. If you were going to choose a night to eat a bunch of edibles and chill this was the perfect night for it. Classic Wednesday night in Long Island tbh.

© 2022 PHISH Rene Huemer
© 2022 PHISH Rene Huemer

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Comments

, comment by nichobert
nichobert Yea classic low energy moment in a Phish show. Directly after the end of Fluffed. Totally.
, comment by ajcmixer
ajcmixer Perhaps as a born and bred NYC’er the show/shows meant something more to me but I had a blast at last night’s dance fest. And judging from what I saw all around me everyone kept dancing.

Last night did not need the bigger jams imho. They gave me those the night before. I personally applaud both shows for how each show paved its own way from point A to B.
, comment by nicuenjoymyself
nicuenjoymyself sorry you were on your couch but that was a terrible review of an excellent show
, comment by phishcuitsandgravy
phishcuitsandgravy Always easy to spot someone who is not from Long Island or the surrounding area.

You're not IN an island, you're ON one.

So you're not in Long Island, you're on Long Island.

Enjoy the rest of couch tour.
, comment by Ehhhpick
Ehhhpick I mean could a review be more wrong? The energy was great at the show. The 2nd set was nonstop grooves and dancing. People were on lot raving and hugging and you come on here and basically shit on this show. Totally off base on this one
, comment by Rhinotropic_Microgaze
Rhinotropic_Microgaze Wow, this is undoubtedly the worst review I’ve read in a long time. I honestly don’t know where to start!? So I won’t bother… Great show, even better run!
, comment by Breezybone
Breezybone A review from a bunk bed. WTF
, comment by Lee_Fordham
Lee_Fordham I'll admit I haven't listened to the show yet, but I have to imagine that the drop into Lifeboy is worth more than 4 words.
, comment by tomwom51
tomwom51 I have to respectfully disagree with most of your review! Having been at both nights, the sound and energy at Night 2 were way better than Night 1. Trey’s lead playing was loud and pronounced (not something that happens too often) and it was the perfect Summer show. Also, hometown shows for me so that helps. But brought a lot of people to their first show and their hooked!
, comment by FourWolfMoon
FourWolfMoon Listening to the show from Z-Man's stellar audience recording, I'm finding the texture is what really appeals. If they can hit this texture every night then every show will be amazing. Groove. It's got it in spades. Sometimes the soundboards don't convey and video can be distracting to the real action in your ears.
, comment by mgolia6
mgolia6 Compared to the narratives of the previous reviews, this felt rushed. Started to go heavy on the music towards the beginning but then the writing fell off and seemed never to recover.

The energy of the narrator seemed to be a slogged down by the end of the review and what creative juices were motivating them clearly dissipated into the ether.

Question: what’s up with the Fluffhead critique. At that point it felt like you just phoned it in.

I am not going to get angry or bash the narrator, just a little shocked that with the level of review lately, we had to settle for what amounted to dribble towards the end.

I’ll add that the similarities abound in song selection from 09 run and this run. I counted almost a dozen of the same songs played and the Mikes “wolfie” sandwich being eerily similar on paper. I was motivated to write about some of that and might under the show review. But the wind got knocked out of me from this gut punch of a review. How the actual execution of what they maybe wanted to do in 09 was actually executed on here in 22.

Anyhoo, applaud the willingness to put yourself on display. Maybe just a little more effort next time. IMHO.

Mahalo Nui,
Matthew
, comment by _likethingsonmymind_
_likethingsonmymind_ Doesn’t someone over there have a delete button? What a waste of time. That show deserves so much more than this insulting rubbish review.
, comment by ckess22
ckess22 Uh oh. OP has submitted a review here that people disagree with!
Badge of honor OP…daring to zig where others want to zag. Thanks for taking a minute to share your thoughts.
Guess those that weren’t there and haven’t heard the show might just have to listen for themselves and come to their own conclusion? In the meantime the aggrieved here could leave a review of their own on the show page instead of bashing this one? Just a thought…same as it ever was regardless. Party on people.
, comment by Keepin_It_Real
Keepin_It_Real I mean that was quite possibly the worst review of a show that I’ve ever read. Just plain awful.
, comment by DiamondBeefLTD
DiamondBeefLTD Mike's into Wolfman was awesome. The transition into Ya Mar was really cool. It was No man's land jam that really got to me, felt so comfortable, patient, balanced etc. They had that one theme they were doing at 9:00 in that jam just felt so right. Then in DWD at 4:23 Trey briefly restates it. Just confirmed the vibe. Then Don't Doubt Me made me laugh out loud while I was driving. loved this show.
, comment by joshpuse
joshpuse Can we please only have reviews from people AT the show?
, comment by Trey4Pres
Trey4Pres This guy was watching a different Show then the live one I attended. This was a rockin power guitar filled show with high energy in a great summer venue. Fishman was on fire all night. Band sounds excellent right now
, comment by Phishin4Fish
Phishin4Fish Disappointing review. Guess that’s what you get from a couch tour write up.
, comment by TypeTwoJams
TypeTwoJams Carmen River?
Over 100 TV concerts on a couch?
What is this??
, comment by waltfreddo
waltfreddo I thought I left a comment the other day but it's not here....but forgot to hit submit! D'oh! Loved the show, very solid from start to finish, even Trey jumping the gun on "see the city see the zoo" was fine, we all got a chuckle out of it, including aforesaid singer. My one complaint has to do with level of chatter during the show, even (especially) during Lifeboy, I might have gotten a little out of bounds on my invective first time.... (lifelong LI'er here).... and I might have disparaged Long Islanders and New Yorkers in general about being too talkative at shows.....I've since cooled down a little, but seriously people (not you fine folks here) would it kill you to actually listen?
, comment by peeej
peeej Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but I gotta say, if you're unilaterally evaluating the quality of a phish show ONLY based on jam length you're completely missing the point. This is a multidimensional act that delivered equal parts brand new material, breakouts, and an evil tiki-bar theme on an amphitheater pier. This is my favorite show of all time. I've only been to 18, so I can't say that with as much weight as a lot of you can, but as a newcomer, 3.0/4.0'r this show hit every nail on the head for me. I love this band and I loved what they made happen for us on 7/27. I can't wait to see them again and I hope your favorite show is just beyond the horizon.
, comment by apruem
apruem Yikes!

It's still so surprising how so many Phish fans can't handle a negative review.
I'd be miffed if I went to a fun show, then read this review, but that's how it goes. But coming from a GP2 attendee, call a spade a spade, dear reviewer, if that's how you see it.

[INSERT GENERIC COMMENT ABOUT HOW GRATEFUL I AM ABOUT PHISH CONTINUING TO PLAY WELL LATE IN THEIR CAREER.]
, comment by mgolia6
mgolia6 Let me be clear here. Most of the comments here are remarking that the review was a sub par review. You can dislike a show but don’t “meh” the show. One line on the Fluffhead remarking about a whiney Fishman. Talk about the poor execution if that’s how you feel, or poor song selection or poor placement.

It’s okay to not like a show but detail the dislike or the subpar show. That’s all I am saying here. And most of these comments call out the poor execution of the review.
, comment by medusanyc
medusanyc Pathetic excuse for a review. Awesome show!
, comment by mgolia6
mgolia6 And please don’t knock the fact that this was a view from the couch. I still think intelligible remarks and a passionate case can be made for reviewing from the couch in a virtual setting. Different perspective but still and valid one. This just didn’t do it justice.
, comment by minkin555
minkin555 How could you not mention It's Ice? This was a killer show. Not jammy like usual but a songy show never hurt anyone. Circus was perfectly placed. Weak review. Stay on the couch.
, comment by Wisy_Megabeth
Wisy_Megabeth Probably best not to let “Gootch” or anybody with that as their name to write a review…Fluffy fluffy head!
, comment by Beellama
Beellama Amongst other bazaar comments What Axilla part II did this person listen to? The place was absolutely rocking.
, comment by BigCypress
BigCypress Ok the real problem with this review besides it’s kind of sucks and the reviewer was not at the show was the fact it mentions Edibles and he didn’t eat any Edibles, what kind of click bait trap is this, if you mentioned Edibles in your title and you were not High AF off edibles I don’t want to see this brah
, comment by tubz23
tubz23 You might need better edibles? Both JB shows were FIRE! This venue is usually a place I have passed on & it is in my backyard, being from Queens. The boys brought it, I loved the experimentation in Antelope! “Misplaced Circus”? How bout go join one after this review.

The only benefit from this review was the T shirt explanation. Quite frankly, they should of given it to u- Genuine A**HOLE.
, comment by jkicharvey
jkicharvey Respectfully disagree with your review. I have no attachment whatsoever to Jones Beach or Long Island as I’m from MA so my opinion is not at all biased toward this venue. That being said, this was an amazing show to attend in person. I get that couch tour totally dampens the vibe I mean how can you get the same experience out of a 60” HD screen that you do at the show? You don’t is the answer.
Sorry you couldn’t make the show, it really was epic!
, comment by nesta
nesta @BigCypress said:
Ok the real problem with this review besides it’s kind of sucks and the reviewer was not at the show was the fact it mentions Edibles and he didn’t eat any Edibles, what kind of click bait trap is this, if you mentioned Edibles in your title and you were not High AF off edibles I don’t want to see this brah
when i try to like this comment it says Forbidden, so i had to give proper kudos. I am just reviewing this comment but i feel this to be the far superior take from this jive. Have phun and ... Surrender To The Flow, remember read the phucking book mates
, comment by BigJibbooty
BigJibbooty All the trashing of this reviewer kind of bugs me. How many of you who trashed this review took the time to write one yourself? Seriously - you can disagree with the message (e.g. "I thought this flow was amazing, the energy in the lawn was incredible, don't judge the show by the jam length"), but to slam someone who spent time doing this is pretty lame.
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