LIGHT REVIEW timings from LP

With a somewhat jarring transition out of nice Caspian (seems fuckerpants has grown some legs in 3.0), Light starts up in what may be a tad slower composed section than usual.

3:07 Trey hits the signature Light lick amidst the "fences are filters" from Page. Onward to a solo…
3:40 Almost a reference to something here from Trey, Allman Bros maybe? I'm terrible at calling teases…Jessica in a slower tempo and different key?
4:37 Trey's using it (whatever the reference is here) as a landing pad in what would normally be the tonic (root note of a key) portion of the solo, you know what would be the release if this were a tension jam…the effect produced is a slight shift signaling an organic turn out of type I territory.
5:17 Some intentionally off-key notes here, maybe some modal playing (definitely not schooled enough in music theory to even really talk about this), but certainly something that fits, just not in the standard in-scale sort of way. Just here and there in his runs producing slightly off-kilter stuff but no outright tension
5:50 He keeps returning to that reference I mentioned earlier which, along with the more off-scale notes, but played smoothly with the vast majority in-scale, overall producing a sound that hints at a different sort of jam to come. But in a very subtle way. Everyone else is playing standardly solid type I Light stuff in here, btw.

5:55 Spoke to soon, Mike is picking up on this modal shift, mimicking Trey's pattern and stepping out front more for a bit, pushing things.
6:05 Definite Leslie phase shift from Trey, adding a bit more lunacy. Very jazzy stuff in here.

6:38 Two seconds of "London Bridge is Falling Down" from Trey, blink and you miss it.
6:45 I'm noticing some extremely subtle use of digital delay (but not the 'loop') from Trey here that possibly had been going on and I might have missed it.
6:57 Plinko clav stuff from Page in a nice push towards type II, all amidst the digi delay stuff. This is very modern (3.0) sounding stuff in here that is certainly using a jazz ethos with a sparse tonality. Each note seems powerful yet does not come to the 'front' of the soundscape and it sounds rhythmically shattered, but creating a collage that fits together. Think each note would be out of place, but the overall sound produced is a pastiche that blends things together--somehow making it all work. Seems like a very mature and thoughtful way of doing things and part of what I love about the 3.0 sound. Less gliding, more complex.

I also think Fish is just using the perfect accents, playing somewhat syncopated yet with *just enough* of discipline towards the rhythm not to lose the beat of the jam

8:16 Envelope filter from Mike!! Crowd roars in approval. With the delay stuff going it almost sounds like there are 5 members of the band playing, everyone is playing off of the pocket of the delay employed by Trey, modulating and stretching things out.

8:33 Those powerful (but not strictly speaking, power chords) that Trey uses to such great effect in 3.0 here, challenging everyone to greater poignancy

8:52 Mike stepping up to the forefront and at 9:00 Trey finding a nice groove cementing a clearer rhythmic picture with chordal work. A nice rhythmic approach creating a new direction. Some palm mutes add emphasis.

9:40 Mike picks up on this new direction and fuuuuunks it up nicely, there's a more sure jam coalescing here definitely. Trey's repeating a chord phrasing pattern first higher then lower tones. Sounds almost like you could imagine a nice A and B sort of jam here (like that used on Fire on the Mountain) but with elaborations A1A2A3 …B1B2B3

10:34 Great Trey and Mike interaction, Trey repeating a single chord and Page picks up…ooh Trey signaling a nice build using the same pattern and

11:14 Almost playing the inverse of the original chord pattern, great groove in here that Fish emphasizes nicely. Just coasting along in groove but with a harsher tonal pallet going on…

12:24 Trey stepping back just repeating the same chord…Page picks up and adds some nice fills. Things getting more rhythmic almost getting towards plinko but not quite

13:12 Leslie is back on for Trey…for whatever reason this effect almost always makes him play things that sound kind of strange in the jam…think he uses it to push things further out there. But the rhythm is still being employed to great effect, just adding a splash of weirdness

13:44 Big departure towards much more melodic (major key) jamming here from Trey. Niiiice melody out of nowhere I swear is a return back to that little them he was teasing in the beginning of the jam. Suuuper happy and joyous sounding but with a great beat pounded out by Fish. Ahhhhhhhh just love this in here, only Phish could switch on a dime like this--remembering something off the cuff from a passage they played 10 minutes before. This is seriously blissful stuff in here, Trey and Mike sound gorgeous.

15:05 Trey with a shimmering little solo and Mike follows with his own lovely solo.

15:40 Trey lands somewhere a little more rocking, but still keeping with this great melody--we've thoroughly left the land of rhythmic scatter-shot and are into a coasting ride of bliss

16:00 Hints of growl from Trey picking things up, almost Manteca but a meanass Manteca…Fish picks it up immediately and we are in minor key land…still rhythmic glide just great flow but quite badass.

17:12 One of my favorite 3.0 runs from Trey in here, you can just distinctly hear he has an IDEA almost immediately going out of nowhere that leads to a BADASS build. Everyone picks things up appropriately and Page lets loose an amazing counterpoint lead at 17:45. Mmmm, this is turning into a mean motherfucker. Trey does a little work higher up the frets and returns to the original almost Manteca sounding groove.

18:48 Just perfect Page backing up with runs that are so clean sounding (piano) but somehow so powerful. They have certainly hit THE groove here of amazing jamming, hard to describe…say YEM-vibe but with a relaxed power. Great sustain from Trey in his phrasings. Can't say enough about Page's backing, he's really melodically leading this thing. This jam is really picking up into just amazing rock territory and they are exploiting every last ounce of music from this pocket.

21:10 Great peak from Trey, rocking and rollicking action from everyone. Just rocking the f out right now. What a peak to this jam. Just hear it. Sounds like a just amazing YEM from 1.0 here, not much to add.

22:45 Straight up Oye Como Va-ing, explicit nod to YEM to my ears…and they ride it to the cool down.

So overall I'd have to say we have 4 pretty distinct (yet organically integrated) movements going on in this jam. Jazz syncopation and storage-inspired pastiche, the first rhythmic groove with that nice AB pattern that is elaborated on fully, the shift to bliss (my favorite segment probably), and finally the growling-yet-somehow-powerfully-relaxed rock YEM-like action to close. The difference to my ears in these big 3.0 jams is that they pick up on ideas and subtly shift them around and have absolutely no fear of completely dropping them…much less time searching. But also this means that if a jam is just not happening they may lose patience and drop it entirely. This is not one of those jams, and I think nicely sums up the spirit of 3.0. Sections are explored for 4-5 minutes max and they are not as concerned with peaking a jam as they are the melodic and rhythmic overall ideas contained within the jams. Pastiche, indeed.