[zybar]

So what do you think?   



Unfortunately, I haven't been able to attend any of the shows (damn work!), but I have downloaded all the shows (outside of the Fenway show) in FLAC and have been listening to them on my main system.

My initial thoughts:

• Song selection is very good and the sets have been consistently excellent
• Lots of energy and "grooveability"
• Audio quality has really varied from pretty good to pretty bad
• Hopefully I can catch them on the 2nd half of the Summer Tour!!

George

[TRM]

I'm a taper, curious which sources you haven't liked? Don't worry, none are my mine so I won't get offended

Overall I think it was a really solid tour. Better than anything in 03/04. Looking forward to Red Rocks and The Gorge.

[maxwalrath]

A good friend and Phish-head commented that Tre's guitar playing is looser, and the rest of the band adjusts their playing to follow his lead much more than they used to.  This friend thought it was a negative, since they aren't as "tight sounding". 

I was loving it...

(Camden show)

[zybar]

I'm a taper, curious which sources you haven't liked? Don't worry, none are my mine so I won't get offended

Overall I think it was a really solid tour. Better than anything in 03/04. Looking forward to Red Rocks and The Gorge.

My source is livephish.com

George

[TRM]

ahh yes, well they have been hit or miss. Here's a review I wrote of the Hampton official releases,

I got mine a couple of weeks ago. Finally getting around to listening to them and I'm curious what folks think of the mix.

It's sort of making me dizzy honestly. The imaging is weird with respect to Page and Trey. Mike is locked in dead center and Fish's kit sounds really good and the imaging is great.

Page and Trey though appear to be swimming all over the soundstage. I'm used to Page's leslie being presented in a pretty wide stereo on tape. On this tape though the piano is spread way out, he's literally running from my far left almost completely to the right, depending on where he's at on the keyboard itself. Trey is similar something similar, at times being on the far-right and running well over to my left. Both Trey and Page present strong center imaging at times as well.

The two of them playing at the same time creates this weird effect where they are running over the top of each other and switching sides.

Anyone else notice this?

I've only listened to the mp3 boards on my iphone for this run, not paying money for such subpar product. The audience tapes have been pretty good so I get those cranking on the big system 

[sts9fan]

I have been generally jazzed with the way it been going.  GREAT song selection imho.  I think Page has been turned up a bit in the mix and I really like it.  I think he has taken a srtonger role, not that his role was ever weak.  Some people have been complaining about Trey's "whale call" loops a la 97-98 but those were the good ole days of Phish for me so I like it.  Generally I am super glad they are back and playing with energy.
So far I have seen them 3 nights in Hampton, Fenway, Mansfield, and the two nights at Bonnaroo.  We will be hitting Hartford and The Gorge for the second leg. 
Good times.  I am glad glad glad their alive...

[Hicks]

I'd say it's a good start.  I think they are still getting back to their comfort zone and haven't really clicked on the telepathic level that they did back in the old days.  Fish in particular seems to be having some trouble keeping up at times.

Having said that they definitely showed progression over the course of the tour with the last four shows all being top notch.  Camden, JB3 and the first night of Bonnaroo are my other favorites.  Especially the Sand from Camden, the DWD from the Roo, Twist w/Santana jam and Boogie from JB3.   

As for sources the SBDs definitely sound flat and dry to me, probably because they put them up with no post-production immediately after the shows are over.  Although the boards from Starlake sounded noticeably better than the others I've heard. 

The DPAs I d/l'd from 6/9 sound mighty good.  Other than that FOB schoeps are what I always look for, there's some crazy several mic mixes and dudes running split mics at 40' apart that I've been meaning to check out.  Seems like most of the OTS tapes have suffered since the section has been pushed to the back of lots of venues.

[rydenfan]

   As for sources the SBDs definitely sound flat and dry to me, probably because they put them up with no post-production immediately after the shows are over.  Although the boards from Starlake sounded noticeably better than the others I've heard. 

I would attribute it to Paul not being there. Nobody was connected with them and knew how to mix them like he did.

[TRM]

Fish in particular seems to be having some trouble keeping up at times.

Totally and completely agree. He's been off a bit, definitely not locked in like he has been pretty consistently for some time. For me Fishman needs to be on for the band really be cooking. Just look at 1997 when he really refocused over the summer and then we were treated to that Fall/Holiday tour.

The DPAs I d/l'd from 6/9 sound mighty good.  Other than that FOB schoeps are what I always look for, there's some crazy several mic mixes and dudes running split mics at 40' apart that I've been meaning to check out.  Seems like most of the OTS tapes have suffered since the section has been pushed to the back of lots of venues.

For a good OTS tape check out the Telefunken's from (I believe) great woods. Very nice.
The fob schoeps 4 mic mix from Camden is a phenomenal tape, definitely grab that if you don't have it. I compared 3 FOBs from Asheville, the 4023s won out - and I'm not normally a DPA guy (ran neumanns for years myself).