, attached to 2023-04-14

Review by spreaditround

spreaditround Here is my review. Did not attend. Just finished listening via the Live Phish app:

PHISH, FRIDAY 04/14/2023
CLIMATE PLEDGE ARENA
Seattle, WA

SET 1: Blaze On: Very good opener and well jammed. Nice and mellow. Great way to start a show and the tour I thought. Pretty good segue, likely practiced… ->

Plasma: Love the opening to this song and it sounds like this version elicits many cheers as it should. Great placement. Bit of a statement, the band means business. Short jam. This jam was always meant to be a brooding, dark jam. This one lives in that major chord space but sounds great all the same. ->

Blaze On: Not sure I agree with the track listing on LivePhish as to when this actually goes from Plasma back into Blaze One. But the Blaze On ending is a bit of an afterthought and feels tacked on. Still, this was a great way to get started with these jams.

Vultures: Throws a bit of a wrench into the momentum previously created. But a good way to measure the bands chops and to see how much they may have practiced before the tour. Has some whale call elements in the beginning of the jam. 2009 and 2010 flashbacks. Stupid ‘Woos’ ruin the ending. Sad.

Sample in a Jar: Broadway Trey’d with that vibrato. Trey has minor problems with the solo.

Ya Mar: What is this annoying sound, almost makes it sound like my air pods are blown (they aren't). Issue with the drums. LivePhish version. Mike and Trey team up nicely in this one.

Steam: Pretty standard version other than it has some wooo ooooo ooooo's vocals ad libbed from Trey. Can't say I have heard that before. It's...not great. >

My Friend, My Friend: No "Myfe" ending so they have Page guide them through a cool segue into – sounded practiced to me… >

Walls of the Cave: Oh man, Treys first couple of lyrics in Walls are very, very bad. Standard and short jam.

Ghost: They don’t let this breathe at all coming out of the composed section. Things seem tentative and out of sync for the most part in this very short jam. They should have saved this for a better spot or another show. Also, there is some whale call stuff from Trey in here. Not much, but it’s there. This Ghost is a real head scratcher.

SET 2: A Wave of Hope: That annoying sound I referred to in Ya Mar comes back in the early going of the jam here. Briefly. Mike with that new bass sounds great at about ten and a half minutes in. Still, things are slightly tentative in here, they are all kind of feeling each other out. 11:30 here come those sound issues again. Early in the 12’s, Trey takes the reins. The next seven minutes are hard driving and big bliss jam peaks.

Bouncing Around the Room: LOL.

No Men In No Man's Land: Decent jam although again, there seems to be a lack of all in sync and much of it – to me – comes across as tentative until they find themselves awash in briefly in effects and then lazily into… ->

Golden Age: The early part of this jam sounds GREAT. Trey has this strumming thing going on with cool delay effects and Page is painting a beautiful portrait behind him to back it all up. Crazy and fairly annoying new effect late in the 8’s and into the 9’s. Very dark and murky from the 9.5-minute mark, good stuff. I imagine all this paired with CK5 had some heads spinning a good bit. By the 12-minute mark Trey has the reins, has a clear purpose, and sounds fantastic. This is great Phish. Big fan of this jam, this is what I am looking for these days from the band. Not a recycled bliss jam but a coherent, collaborative, and competent jam. Very well done!

Martian Monster: Poor placement.

The Wedge: Man, they have killed the momentum. I just don’t get The Wedge in the middle of the second set. At all. Never have, never will.

Bug: They struggle mightily to get this one started, rough. Very short Trey section >

Back on the Train: Is this bizarro world, Jerry? It sure feels like it. Hopefully, they have something really special planned for this version…Unfortunately, this was not the case. Trey’s vocals are laughable. Out of the jam and back into the vocals is very rough. Really strange second half of the second set.

ENCORE: Fluffhead – Played 275 times and 9 times it has graced the encore slot. 6 of those times were 3.0 shows. This version is far from technically proficient, but I sure appreciate the nod in the encore, and it does a bit to help the overall rating of this show. Interesting little jam in this one and then the end shred is one that will leave you smiling for sure. Good stuff.

Replay value/Summary: I wouldn’t necessarily recommend or seek out Blaze On or A Wave of Hope but do recognize that both have redeeming value. If you are bliss jam fan, then you are going to love A Wave of Hope, they definitely crush it in that realm – it’s just not my thing. I will strongly recommend Golden Age, that jam is seriously great Phish – I loved it. I would rate this show as a 3.7 out of 5.


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