Had been on a Soul Shakedown Party kick after seeing Leftover Salmon do it and was pleasantly surprised to get this one as an opener to my last show before "the retirement."

Don't remember the shows being as bad as they sound/are made out to be but my crew was probably as fucked up as Trey at these shows. Vegas Phish is an excercise in endurance. Seen all Vegas shows up to this point except 97. They are in a different league. Imagine Hampton Coliseum, in Las Vegas!!!

The Left Coast Mothership

I drove 16 hours down from the outback of eastern Oregon with my dog for these shows. Have you ever driven through central Nevada? Let me tell you it is a high elevation, barren, cold, dusty ride. I did see some brightly colored trailers in the middle of nowhere, which I found out later were whorehouses. Spent the night huddled next to my dog in the cab of the truck near a place called Ely. Woke in the AM to beautiful views of the Ruby mountains.
Damn these shows were really odd. Most people know that. Apparently Trey was out of his mind. This became very apparent to me on the last night (it takes me a while to notice these things). The show just has this crazy energy that is undeniable. Trey plays with a lot of distortion and a lot of abandon. The end of the Piper in the first set is why I keep seeing Phish... the jam out gets seriously gnarly. Second set is actually a set I will re-listen to on occasion (except Friday). It has some really good grooves in Ghost and the Wolfman's brother has a vocal jam. I was so out of it that during YEM, I thought that Trey was asking the girls in the front row, "Tongue or meatstick?!" Yea, his ego was pretty much in full effect, you know how it was!

A decent show, something that would for sure fit in the average category. But it still has stuff to offer.

Soul Shakedown and Halleys are pretty straight forward. Tweezer kicks off and gets funky pretty quick and drifts off into a peaky jam. Piper goes type 2 very fast and into familiar but fun territory. The segue into Frankenstein is pretty awesome. Bowie is fairly average with some good peaks, but has an unfortunately sloppy ending.

Pebbles and Marbles is in slot 2 for the second set and really kicks things off with an intense jam with some great Trey Shreddery, it slows down and then enters Caspian. The segue is great into Simple. Friday kind of kills the vibe as many would find out in the coming shows. Ghost has a little stretch to it, but it's a pretty stereotypical jam. YEM is straightforward but has some fun audience interaction with the meatstick chorus chant. Which is pretty cool as it does not have a vocal jam. And goes into a tweeprise with some fun lyric changes.

Wolfman and Coil are a cool encore and Wolfman has a cool little funk jam in its center.

Tonight we have a show from a very controversial run, Vegas ‘04. I personally think these shows are a wee bit over-hated. I think there’s some great material here, but it’ll be tough to beat Night 2. It is definitely a more stable show than the last two nights, the guys definitely have their bearings here, or at least more so than before.

Soul Shakedown Party is a very mellow, but suitable opener. The guys seem really relaxed in this one. The energy picks up with Halley’s Comet, which quickly evolves into an angry jam, with Trey paving the way, though everyone is locked in wonderfully. The jam slows down a little, and Trey brings us -> one of the haziest, funkiest Tweezers you’ll hear. Seriously, hide your kids from this one, it’s downright sleazy. Mike and Page really lay it on thick pretty early on in this one. Fish keeps a very steady beat throughout, and eventually turns it into a stop-go jam. Trey soes some really scary shit around 7 minutes in, and keeps a more dirty tone for the rest of the jam. Mike’s tone can best be compared to puddles of goo, real funky stuff. As if you thought the jam couldn’t get any more nasty, Fish heightens the tension, and we get REALLY dirty. Dark and dirty, just how I like ‘em. The peak is very satisfying, and they slow it down into a very groggy ending. Excellent stuff. Ginseng Sullivan is definitely needed after a jam like that, there’s nothing like a grass tune to lock you back in to reality. Very pleasant playing all around > A fairly solid Horn. This one really shows how shot Trey’s voice was at these shows, but we’re not really listening to Phish to criticize their voices; if their playing is good, who gives two? > a pretty standard Sample in a Jar. You gotta have your veggies, you can’t get to the meat if you don’t eat your veggies. Piper starts off really strong, with Trey and Page acting as the powerhouses through most of the jam. Page is kinda quiet in some parts, but listen closely to what he’s doing, really cool. The jam gets into a more mellow (but energetic) groove, and Trey keeps such a solid rhythm through the whole thing, but eventually gets real grimey with his effects, as if his guitar were melting (a 2004 staple). Fish picks up the pace, and turns the it into a heavy rock type jam until we get -> a seamless transition into Frankenstein, a very well executed one, at that. Perfect placement, too > a very solid David Bowie. Mike really dominates the jam. He and Trey duel multiple times throughout. There’s a lot of tension early on, but they all take their time to ride it out properly. There’s a lot of thought in this jam and I like it a lot. I love to listen to everyone individually; they’re all doing such complex things, but they weave together so seamlessly. I could relisten to this one many times. The energy in during the end is un-matchable.

We start off set 2 with Meatstick, and thus creates a theme for the rest of the set. This particular Meatstick is average, but does a good job of establishing energy. Page gives us some very pleasant synth stuff. Meatstick will return, but, in the meantime, we have Pebbles and Marbles, which is always welcome in my book. This one is just seething with energy, and the intro feels much like a pot nearly boiling over the edge, just waiting to be let loose. Trey eventually takes the lid off the pot, and the jam that emerges is just non-stop fire; a complete tornado of sound. He carries most of the jam, until it gets to a tight groove near the end, where Mike and Page do most of the talking. They all slow down, and Page gives a beautiful lead > a charming and well-placed Caspian, with a lot more mustard than usual; Mike shows a lot of range in his playing, and Trey gives a very raw performance, where the mix of his wah and his overdrive gives a dirty, visceral effect. This Caspian is short, but pretty great -> a short but very pleasant Simple. Mike’s playing is beautiful in this one; the end gets really slow and mellow, and he gives us some amazing material. Very serene ending > a standard Friday. Mike’s playing here is pretty nice, but there aren’t many other highlights. Trey is pretty sloppy here and there. I don’t think this is inherently a bad song (unlike most people), but this one was kinda meh. We didn’t really need it in the setlist. Mike starts up Ghost, and continues to shine through the rest of the heavy jam. This one has a lot of energy, but remains in the same territory for most of it. This YEM is extremely good, there’s a lot of variation where you normally wouldn’t see it. Everyone shines in this one. Fish gives a nice drum solo while Trey does the Meatstick dance (you can hear the crowd singing along), and they return to the jam in spectacular fashion. This happens twice more after a Mike and Page solo. We get some heavy Meatstick jamming near the end, and In lieu of a vocal jam, the ending is very dark, and brings us swiftly -> an intense Tweeprise, with Meatstick quotes up the wazoo. Perfect closer.

Wolfman is solid, and always a great encore choice. Most Wolfmen in 2004 are pretty great. It has a lot of weird teases, and is overall quite a chill experience. I honestly can’t think of a better song to end a show than Coil; the piano solo is one of the greatest pieces of Phish media, it leaves the audience with a sense of closure and appreciation, and there’s no better feeling to capstone a show with. This Coil is very well played, and the ending is just… perfect. I love these guys.

This is a slightly above average show, with some solid highlights throughout. This is a very suitable ending of this run; it’s much more composed than the last 2 nights, but still holds its’ own as a monster in its’ own right. I still don’t think these shows deserve the hate, but they’re not necessarily the best 2004 can offer. Check out the Halley’s > Tweezer, Piper -> Frankenstein, YEM, and maybe the Pebbles and Marbles, if you have the energy for it.