One more leg of Summer 2011 is behind us, and although short—what a power-packed run it was. Only two shows, in my opinion, fell short of amazing and much of the fan base loved ‘em, so I’d say Phish had a pretty successful tour! With the unquestionable centerpiece of the Gorge’s “Rock and Roll -> Meatstick” and several other gems that can look any jam from any era directly in the eye, leg two included timeless music throughout, music that need not carry the omnipresent label: “of 3.0.” Throughout this summer, the band has played music on par with any era and continues to improv, taking one step further into the Golden Age of Phish.

Between the Gorge’s monumental “Rock and Roll -> Meatstick -> Boogie On,” Hollywood’s “Piper,” Tahoe’s “Light” and “Ghost,” UIC’s “Waves -> Undermind” > Steam,” “Light,” and “Disease,” the band’s spirit of exploration was on display throughout the past two weeks. Embarking on a cosmic excursion in almost every show, when they guys weren’t surfing mystical waves, they were annihilating standout versions of more contained jams such as the Gorge’s “Tweezer,” “Sand,” and “Reba,” LA’s “Crosseyed > Twist,” Tahoe’s “Bowie,” “Slave,” UIC’s “Wolfman’s,” “Chalk Dust,” “Harry Hood” and beyond. In short, the band was on fire throughout the second leg, having their way on almost every night of tour while executing many different types of shows.

During their improvisational passages, Phish integrated a new sound—“storage jamming”—into their music. The jams of June built to Super Ball’s late-night, free-form excursion, a session that served as a sonic shift for Phish. And in August, the band took their newest style to the next level. Integrating these sounds in different ways throughout the aforementioned highlights and throughout Leg Two, the band continued forging a blazing path through this calendar year. Experimenting with new sounds and pushing new musical boundaries, Leg Two became a natural evolution of a multi-legged tour that has witnessed Phish being Phish again. Infusing distinctly 2011 psychedelic and abstract effects into their playing, and creating post-modern sound-sculptures, the band has began to hone in on a new sound, something that seemed so elusive only one year ago. Though it may be a cause or effect of this emerging style, Trey laid way back during many jams of August as Mike led the band through wormholes of the universe. Both “Lights” of tour provide prime examples of this dynamic, not to mention several other heavy-handed excursions. Carrying over from June and Super Ball, experimental jamming continued to be a central theme of Phish 2011.

On a tour of dream venues, Phish bookended their run with two that couldn’t be more different. The vast natural surroundings the Gorge contrasted completely with the tiny and overheated environs of UIC Pavilion, though, not surprisingly, these were the two stands that provided the highest collective highs, with the most dialed in crowds of the tour. Throw in Hollywood Bowl, Lake Tahoe, and Golden Gate Park to complete the late-summer circuit, and each stop along the way was a memorable one—a welcome departure from June’s countless cookie-cutter amphitheatres.

During these two weeks before Denver’s summer finale we will look more closely at the many special moments of August. Thinking back to Bethel in May, where this whole shindig got started, things have progressed like a dream over the past few months. And as Phish prepares to step into the freezer one more time in Denver, one can already be sure fans will be listening to Summer 2011 for years to come.

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Following two shows that showcased jams of all shapes and sizes, Phish played an odd tour finale in which they rarely let an improvisational root take hold. Still crafting an engaging opening half of the second set the band carried legitimate momentum, albeit with short jam segments, as they segued smoothly from the show’s improvisational high point—“Piper”— into “Ghost.” But Trey decided to supplant any semblance of a “Ghost” jam with “Makisupa,” a move which wound up diffusing the entire set and sparking an innocuous run of made-far-radio Phish, leaving their leg two finale as the weakest of the Chicago’s three nights—by far.

“Crosseyed and Painless” made its second appearance of the month to kick off the final set of August in promising fashion. Bleeding into an ambient passage after a scalding run through the song’s theme, it seemed that Phish might be on the brink of a darker excursion. But as it turned out, this segment merely set up a seamless move into “No Quarter.” Pairing two iconic covers to start the set, as Phish dropped into a long awaited (and often teased) “Timber Ho,” the table seemed set for an extended ride. As the guys got into the onset of the piece, they quickly reached a “Crosseyed” reprise—including lyrics—the first of many “Crosseyed” teases throughout the set. Barreling through a torrid, though succinct, jam, the band trickled out of “Timber” with an intricate space that led into the opening licks of “Tweezer.”

Taking it back to the early-nineties, the band dropped an old-school banger that got straight to business, packing quite a bit of high-powered and well-phrased interplay into a shorter-than-usual duration. Moving into an abstract and bass-led realm in which Trey played staccato leads atop, the band was on the move. But just when they had settled into a melodic plane that was bound for glory, instead of following an obvious signpost to the sublime, Trey slowly curbed a still-jamming band into “Caspian.” Following a gentle and cooperative take on the song, Trey segued, unfinished, into “Piper.” And now the stage was set for the highlight of the show.

A surreal melodic exchange took very little time to break from structure, into transcendent territory and beyond. In a clever maneuver, the band worked a second reprise of “Still waiting” into to an already glowing jam. Eventually oozing into an ambient passage that brought the band into “Ghost,” this is where our story comes to a screeching halt.

Reeling off nine straight short songs over the rest of the set and encore broken up only by a set-ending “Antelope,” the band rode the show right into the ground. As if deciding halfway through the set that they wanted to change vibe 180 degrees, the band took a left turn out of an solid set and into jukebox Phish. Killing any continuity and any serious musical endeavors, a different muse seemed to speak to the band for the rest of the show. Turning an already song-based night into a relative head-scratcher, the odd decision left the show’s lasting segment reading “Tweezer > Caspian -> Piper,” with little competition.

Despite second leg breakouts of “Forbin’s > Mockingbird” (an opener for the first time since 1989), “Gumbo” and “Weigh,” the highlights of the mostly retro, up and down first set came in “Divided Sky” and the late one-two punch of “Bathtub Gin,” “Maze.” “Divided” just popped with far more energy than usual, as the song’s signature pause evoked memories of Trey’s transcendent experience during the same instance at UIC in ’94 (as told to Charlie Rose). “Bathtub Gin” brought the most danceable highlight of the first half as the band rode Mike’s galloping bass lines out of an introductory section of pocket-less playing. As the band opened the floodgates of groove, the piece’s emotional quality skyrocketed as the quartet converged in a triumphant romp on the coattails of Trey’s ferocious guitar solo. Blissed out textures defined this whole-band peak, perhaps the highest of the entire show. A blistering “Maze” followed suit before “Cavern and “First Tube” closed out the first half.

Stumbling to the finish line a bit, Phish closed out UIC with a show that could be summed up in a word: underwhelming. With the stage set for a gargantuan final set of tour—or at least a significant one—the band came out with a half a set of solid play and one lasting jam that was, arguably, not even the song’s best version of this short second leg. Following two high-quality nights of Phish at UIC, perhaps the band ran out of steam for the third? Scripting an engaging (but hardly groundbreaking) half a set, one has to wonder what caused such a sudden change in the show’s direction. But as one more part of Summer 2011’s colossal puzzle comes to a close, one more awaits. And one thing 2011 has proven with Bethel, Super Ball, and The Gorge, is that the band starts out runs on fire, a good omen Colorado’s three-night bash only two weeks away. Much more between now and then, but for now…I’m out.

I: Colonel Forbin’s Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird, Gumbo, Possum, Weigh, The Divided Sky, Alaska, Bathtub Gin, Maze, Cavern, First Tube

II: Crosseyed and Painless -> No Quarter, Timber* -> Tweezer > Prince Caspian -> Piper* > Ghost > Makisupa Policeman, Sleep, Buffalo Bill,  Golgi Apparatus,  Character Zero*, Run Like an Antelope*

E: Funky Bitch*, Show of Life, Tweezer Reprise*

* w/ Crosseyed teases and/or quotes

With two sets of power-packed playing centered around an massive exploration of “Down With Disease,” Phish put on an upbeat and feel-good rock show for the middle night of their trifecta at UIC Pavilion. With authoritative playing all night long, the band dispersed improvisational highlights throughout two largely song-based sets, making for a choppy, though often impressive, night of music.

Within a colossal “Disease,” Phish’s passed through several naturally connected segments of dark, bass-anchored psych-rock. Using one idea from the jam to organically spawn the next, Phish crafted an exploratory odyssey that remained, simultaneously, coherent. Steering their way through an array of driving textures and pulsating rhythms, the band unleashed a herculean effort while navigating an intricate piece of original sounding music. Not resembling the contour of so many Phish jams we’ve become accustomed to over the years, we are now discovering what they would sound like with a lead bass player. Following Gordon’s lead for most of the piece, the band took an engaging jaunt through a new-school, beat-backed passage that sounded different from any jam we heard on night one.

Deep into the “Disease,” Trey began a familiar-sounding melody that set the stage for the most heart-tugging music of the night, but in an ever-protean jam, the band was consistently on the move and some ideas didn’t get a chance to fully develop. Sounding as if he was urging the band towards “Piper” with guitar chops, when his mates didn’t follow him, Trey turned his offerings into increasingly darker places that Mike supported with a thunderous bass lines. Revving back into a segment of high-speed psych rock, the band darted their lines around each others’ with precision. Building through an increasingly dark sequence, the band eventually blended into a cerebral spaced-out out finale. Phish sculpted this last segment into a gradual and very quiet segue with “Twist.”

Though still adhering to “Twist’s” theme, the band got more creative last night within a notably laid back and groovy version that fit quite well in context. Serving as a smooth landing point for “Disease’s” full-throttled adventure, the slinky, funked out textures slid people’s mind back from the ether and into a song-driven rest of the show. Crushing a mid-set “Theme” to smithereens and briefly jamming through a spacescape out of “Golden Age” into “A Day in A Life,” the band then put a cap on the set with a series of filthy, bass-led funk grooves in a version of “You Enjoy Myself” that quickly built into a guitar showcase.

The first set got off to a super-charged beginning with “Dinner and a Movie” and Ha Ha Ha” followed by a heat-seeking, “Bowie-esque” take on “Chalk Dust,” one of the most impressive jams of the entire night. A mid-set “Walls of the Cave” gave way to the old-school one-two punch of “Runaway Jim,” Foam”—all played with rock solid precision and tons of energy. A late-set “Limb by Limb” picked the set back up from a slight lull with an original jam that dipped into “plinko” land as Trey stabbed out a solo atop his looped patterns. Building into a more abstract and percussive territory before landing back in the song’s theme, “Limb” provided the set’s other improvisational gem. But the band still had a surprise up their sleeve in a gorgeous “Let It Loose” set closer—the song’s first appearance since Indio when the band covered The Rolling Stone’s “Exile on Main Street” in full.

Continuing to push the envelope with bass-led jamming, Mike and Fish sculpted a certain rhythmic intensity in “Disease” that has come to define many new Phish jams. Last night’s cosmic chase that will not soon fade from memory held down most of the improvisational meat of a show packed with Phish songs, providing a considerably softer feel than night one. Sometimes, however, when the band drops a monster jam you just have to ride out the ripples. And as the band continues to forge new pathways in their improv, sometimes huge jams are coupled with lots of songs, and last night was one of those nights. Tuesday was not a show that will be remembered for flow or its overall contour, rather, UIC’s second night will be remembered for its “Down With Disease.” And sometimes that is enough.

I: Dinner and a Movie, Ha Ha Ha > Chalk Dust Torture, Mexican Cousin, Walls of the Cave, Runaway Jim, Foam, I Didn’t Know, Ocelot, Ginseng Sullivan, The Wedge, Limb By Limb, Let It Loose

II: Down with Disease -> Twist,  Backwards Down the Number Line,  Theme From the Bottom > Golden Age -> A Day in the Life, You Enjoy Myself

E: Heavy Things, Slave to the Traffic Light, Rocky Top

What happens when you get Phish out of California, put them in a tiny venue in Chicago and let them loose? Well—last night happens. Scripting another page in their rich history at UIC Pavilion, Phish sculpted a top-shelf second set defined by free-form jamming and stunning original interplay. One of their most musically adventurous sets of the year was comprised of song selections that represented Earth’s classical elements in “Sand,” “Light,” “Dirt,” “Waves,” “Steam,” and “Fire.” And with the set’s final piece, “Undermind”—a song whose self-referential lyrics rang the truest since Hampton—Phish was the symbolic fifth element in a universe where all things felt aligned again.

Taking the audience on a non-stop journey through the depths of psychedelia, Phish plunged into the unknown time and time again during a set that has to be considered among their finest efforts of the year. Playing comfortably on the astral plane, Phish danced more than a few spiritual jigs last night in a second set that flowed as naturally as ever. It’s tough to discuss any single highlight of a musical experience in which the entire whole stood out. Each piece, while magnifying different aspects of the band’s repertoire, was tied together with remarkable cohesion as the band migrated from one musical plane to another as naturally the patterns of the Earth.

Starting with the sinister swank of “Sand” the band showcased their one-minded playing with a heroic dose of Phish groove. The band took the song far beyond rhythmic gymnastics however, as they moved right past the song’s conclusion into a hard-edged ambiance. Amidst this context Mike and Trey had an eerie, one-on-one conversation that gradually brought the band towards “Light.” And after a small time off from being the band’s central portal into the center of the cosmos, “Light’s” two versions of tour have been exactly that. Taking last night’s piece into the heart of modern Phish experimentation, Mike stood at the center of an intergalactic jam. As the band pushed eclectic and alien boundaries, the wide-open style of play that defined the jam would soon come to define the entire set.

Whispering through “Dirt,” the band’s spirit of exploration came right back into play in the to-die-for sequence of “Waves -> Undermind > Steam.” The band followed its musical senses wherever they led them, never altering their natural flow for a moment in one of the year’s most endearing improvisational segments. The band spilled out of the lyrics of “Waves” with a delicate-turned-ferocious groove in which Fishman and Mike set the stage for Trey join in with seething accompaniment. And the groove that the band dropped into at this juncture was pure magic. This dark escapade, more than a few times, seemed heading for “Timber Ho,” but Trey took everyone by surprise as he layered the lyrics of “Undermind” seamlessly over the bands undulating patterns. And out of this song—so lyrically poignant at this stage of the game—came some of the most magnificent music we’ve heard this year.

Trey has routinely said throughout his career, that he feels that musicians are vessels for universal music and vibrations that already exists among us. The musician’s job is to get his ego out of the way so this tidal wave of universal sound can flow through him and enlighten the audience to this common realm. And within a tour and era where this egoless state hasn’t been readily attainable on a show-to-show basis, last night it most definitely was; the music coming from “Undermind” is the only proof you need. (Though the entire set will provide more than a few mind-numbing illustrations). Flowing naturally from the song’s textures into a totally transcendent reality, spirits merged within the sweltering psychedelic storage shed of UIC. And when this spectacular journey was seemingly winding down, the band continued jamming with purpose, gradually transforming the piece into “Steam.”

Placing their newest song in its most significant slot yet, the band dripped through “Steam”— a landing point that seemed perfectly fitting within the inhumane temperatures and humidity of UIC. The band had just melted our faces with four centerpiece jams, and then used Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire” as a musical victory lap around the pavilion. Adding the tongue-in-cheek cap on a thematic set of “jamming with the elements,” Phish left nobody begging for more when this set ended. But there was a lot left to come.

With an all-killer-no-filler second half, the band, apparently, pulled up a bit short of curfew. Performing an unprecedented quadruple (or quintuple) encore that featured “Camel Walk,” “Guyute,” and a monster version “Harry Hood” as the cathartic exclamation point, the band left it all onstage last night in the heart of Chicago.

With communication divine, the band took their audience on a musical journey into the heart of the present moment in Phish’s world. With a lens on new styles and experimental jamming, the band brought the Midwest up to speed with one of their most impressive performances of 2011. Delicate and soulful, yet demonic and cutting-edge, UIC’s opener showed what the band is capable of right now. And for those who liked what they saw, you’re in luck, there are two more nights to go…

1^st Set Notes: A slow-starting first set blasted off in earnest with an incredibly creative take on “Wolfman’s Brother.” Building the groove into uncharted ground, Trey laid way back as the rest of the band formed an emphatic rhythmic template. Slinking into the mix one note at a time, soon Trey stood atop the jam leading the troops to glory. But the journey between these two points is quite astounding. Balancing the experimental grooving of “Wolfman’s” with a classic dose of bliss, the band unveiled a first-set “Reba” that sailed through tranquil waters with with unparalleled band-wide interplay. In addition to playing a particularly shreddy “Alumni Blues” to end the first half, the guys also unveiled Mike’s most promising song in a while, “Babylon Baby.” What seemed at first like quirky Gordeaux horse-hockey, upon re-listen, really has substance. Coming pre-loaded with a whole-band launch pad, it will be interesting to see if song sticks around.

I: Back on the Train, Rift, Guelah Papyrus, Scent of a Mule, Jesus Just Left Chicago, Wolfman’s Brother, Anything But Me, Babylon Baby*, Reba, Alumni Blues > Letter to Jimmy Page > Alumni Blues

II: Sand > Light > Dirt, Waves -> Undermind** > Steam > Fire

E: Camel Walk, Guyute, The Horse > Silent in the Morning, Harry Hood

*debut, **Page on theremin