Previous installments:

Part 1 (HM, #50-41)

Part 2 (#40-31)

Part 3 (#30-21)

Part 4 (#20-11)

And one last time, for all time:

DISCLAIMER: All of this is just one man's very subjective opinion. Feel free to discuss, disagree (gently), and point out anything I may have missed or ignored in the comments. Vive la différence!

NUMBERS 10-1

10. 7/27/14 II, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD

I think that, at this point, we have finally exhausted everything that could possibly be said about 7/27/14 II.

9. 12/…

10. 7/27/14 II, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD

No, just kidding. I’m still not really sure where the idea that this set has no replay value comes from, unless you’re absolutely beholden to jams and jams alone – yes, this set is a tad light on improv compared to, say, even something like 7/20/14 II, but I’ve always maintained that segues can sometimes be just as interesting as jams (not always, but sometimes), and there are some absolutely mind-melting segues in this show. Couple that with deep improv post-”Tweezer” 1, the giddy wackiness of the “NICU” -> “Jam” -> “HYHU” > “Jennifer Dances” > “HYHU” run, and the heart-warming close with “I Been Around”, and you’re talking about something as *fun* as the band has ever played. This is a pretty good demarcation set for the elite of 3.0, I’d think.

Also, “Catapult” -> “Slave” still gets to me every single damn time.

9. 12/29/13 II, Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

Another show that, from top to bottom, is nigh unassailable as part of 3.0’s canon. The cool thing about the 1-2 punch style of jamming that Fall 2013 and this show traded in is that it doesn’t allow you to catch your breath after the first big-time jam – that’s not always a good thing, but so many of Fall 2013’s 1-2 punches (to say nothing of this show) featured two jams so strong that their cumulative effect really hit home in a way separating them by, say, “Julius” wouldn’t. Think about it – how strange would this death-defying “Disease” and Pigpen-from-Peanuts-filthy “Carini” sound not paired together?

8. 8/12/15 II, The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA

When you get into this level of greatness, we’re really only talking about a matter of degrees separating all of these sets – if you hold this one higher in your heart, I wouldn’t argue with you one little bit. “Twist” and “Scents and Subtle Sounds”, paired together, make for a truly hearty half-hour-plus of music, with a superb journey-to-the-center-of-the-peak in the former and a head-down charging dark groove in the latter, and is where the reputation of this set lies. But a lot of sets in this era would be quite happy with the “Gin” and “NMINML” that kicks things off, and who doesn’t love “Hood” at the end? Five songs, all well worth hearing, and the moment (for me) where Summer 2015 started playing for higher stakes.

7. 8/15/11 II, UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL

One of the true Big Deals of the era, a set that, when it was played, really started to get people talking about how the band had truly found their feet in this incarnation. It’s the fluidity of the set, more than anything else, that impresses me the most today – how every song seems to segue together, even if only a few do in the setlist-marking sense, creating the “one big jam” sensation of the great sets (and much of Fall ’97). For the people that think Page need to use the theremin more often (my hand is raised), this staggering “Undermind” is Exhibit A, B, C, and D.

6. 8/22/15 II, Magnaball, Watkins Glen, NY

It’s funny how people (including me) get nervous once they’ve passed the first two songs of a second set without improv being played – we have tons of examples of the band getting down to business with Set II, Song 2, but once you get past that with no improv, you start wondering what exactly the band is getting up to with their self-styled terrain for improvisation. It makes it all the funnier, then, when the result is something like this Set II, where the next four songs take you on a near-hour tour through the cosmos (RIP Harris), peaking with an era highlight in “Tweezer” -> “Prince Caspian”. Sometimes I need to remember that those fellows on stage know what they’re doing, y’know?

5. 8/19/12 II, Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA

A companion piece with 6/23/12 II, where a parade of encores follows up an absolutely thrilling jam sequence, almost like a Europe ’72 second set in reverse. The peak in “Light” and decamping into “Sally” still remains one of 3.0’s most “hold on for dear life” moments, and when they find their way back into “Crosseyed” after that high-energy “Sally” jam, you find yourself just shaking your head in disbelief. But, man…”C&P” > “Light” -> “Sally” -> “C&P” > “Theme” > “YEM”. Man…

4. 7/31/15 II, Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood, Atlanta, GA

Here’s a question – what part of this set would you take out, if asked to take a part out? You wouldn’t take out the “KDF”, of course, that’s the tentpole jam. You wouldn’t take out the “Martian Monster”, it’s such a crazy and weird sidecar to the big monster jam. Would you get rid of that gorgeously melodic “Twist”? Maybe the “BOTT”, but every set needs a breather, and it’s connected to the songs on both sides by segues, even! You’re definitely not tossing out that “Reba”, especially considering how high-quality it is, and that hell’s-coming-with-me “Gin” is just too good as a set closer. So that means this set is a perfect sum of its parts, right? No wonder it’s got such a special place in my heart.

3. 7/13/14 II, Randall’s Island, New York, NY

Isn’t it great how much this set works as the yin to 7/27/14’s yang? Rather than pull out more segues than you can shake a stick at, this baby’s got jamming coming out of its ears; you could very easily argue that no hour-ish sequence of the era matches “CDT” > “Light” > “Tweezer” for sheer quality improvisation. It’s a truly rare set or jam in 3.0 that a) immediately marches up .net’s official or unofficial rating chart, b) actually gets other Phish-related forums to say something nice for once, and c) becomes a standard-bearer for future shows/jams to chase, but this set accomplished all three more or less from the moment it was played. And yet, it’s still not as much a favorite to me as…

2. 10/20/13 II, Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA

This was, for a good long time, my favorite set of the era, and I’m sure I’m not the only person who held that sentiment. There’s just *so much* you have to argue against here – the Heart of Darkness “Tweezer”, the vicious firepower of “Golden Age”, “Piper” -> “Takin' Care of Business” -> “2001”’s lighter-waving moment, strong versions of “Sand” and “Slave” to close. There’s so much to love in this set, and any era of this band would welcome it with open arms. It’s one of their career highlights.

But it’s no longer my favorite set of 3.0. What is, you ask?

1. 12/31/14 II, American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL

The heart wants what it wants. Think about this – 12/31/14 II starts with “Birds of a Feather”, a song I don’t care for very much (sorry, “BOAF” fans); it has a “Chalk Dust Torture” that is played a mite too fast (didn’t think that was possible, but here we are) and doesn’t have any improv in it; it closes with “Martian Monster”, which nearly hit “Back on the Train” in ’99 levels of overplayed in the year following this show. So how can I justify calling this my favorite set of the era, over some of the most famous sets of their career?

Here’s how: with a “Ghost” that works its way into some of the best bliss jamming this side of NYE 2010, then seemingly comes to an early close, only to explode back to life and hit a staggering second peak when Trey Anastasio grabs the reins and leads the band down the stretch, a “Theme from the Bottom” that devolves into scratchy and punchy Echoplex-driven funkiness, and a you-GOTTA-hear-this mega-segue into a “Cities” that opens up like a lotus flower in gorgeous fashion and closes 40 minutes of superlative music that might as well be one long jam. I may not love “BOAF” and that version of “CDT” might not be 7/13/14’s, but neither of them actually detract from the set at all. And yes, “Martian Monster” may be a tad overplayed now, but it sure as shit wasn’t on New Year’s Eve 2014, and that massive roar that greets “You have been selected…” still tugs my heartstrings the hundredth time I’ve heard it as much as it did the first (not to mention that the version played has some real stank on it, as well). Add all that up, and you’ve got a set that I think competes with damn near anything they’ve ever played, and serves as a worthy ruler to seven truly fantastic years.

Thank you so much for reading, everyone! I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed putting it together and reliving the best of the last seven years. Please leave a comment below, and be sure to tip your waitress.*

* the Mockingbird Foundation

Read more...