Just finished a three-week project to listen thru the entire Phish Baker's Dozen run - and maaan that was fun. I know no one asked for it, but I'm gonna drop my notes from each show below. Fave nights were 7/23, 7/25, 7/29, 8/4, and 8/6.
If anyone has a LivePhish account, I made a huge playlist of my highlights here:
plus.livephish.com/#/playlists/playlist/15178377/21/17, NYC, Madison Square Garden
- LivePhish App
- Baker’s Dozen Night 1: Coconut Theme. Really fun, well played show. Timber and Pigtail (rarity) had great short jams. Reba jam was a vibe. Then Tweezer > Seven Below was the show highlight. Loved the peakiness of Tweezer and the Fripp/Eno rip-off of 7B that dives into darker jam territory. Everything’s Right from the BD Comp also in S2. Nilsson’s Coconut to close was a fun choice.
7/22/17, NYC, Madison Square Garden
- LivePhish App
- Baker’s Dozen Night 2: Strawberry Theme. A nice but not super memorable show. A cappella Strawberry Fields to open. Moma > B&B was aight - really enjoyed the peak jamming on Roggae (on the BD comp). S2 started off hot with a really cool DWD > Strawberry Letter 23 debut with a killer solo. Rest of set just kinda happened.
7/23/17, NYC, Madison Square Garden
- LivePhish App
- Baker’s Dozen Night 3: Red Velvet Theme. Slow start but S1 kicks into gear with high octane jamming on BOTT. Rest of sequence is excellent. Mike rare track How Many People > Glide (sounded nice). A climactic Theme from the Bottom > 15-minute take on It’s Ice. Closes with the BD Comp version of More. S2 is breathtaking. Wolfmans > Twist > Waves all have quiet, sometimes soothing, sometimes dissonant Type II jams. Overall effect is beautiful. Melts into a great version of Miss You. Last 3 songs on the BD comp.
7/25/17, NYC, Madison Square Garden
- LivePhish App
- Baker’s Dozen Night 4: Jam-Filled Theme. Highest rated show of BD run, 20th highest of all time. 5-song S1 incl. massive 30-min Lawn Boy, with two big peaks. Really cool MFMF that follows it w/ some dark jamming. Love the triumphant piano-filled Gin to close the set. S2 is anchored by a 33-min Crosseyed, merely cool until drops into ambient zone at 18:00, stays there for a bit, then Trey weaves some blissful trancy lines and they bring it to a big close. Fave jam of the night. Some rarities here too (Thread, End of Session, Tuesday), they’re a’ight.
7/26/17, NYC, Madison Square Garden
- LivePhish App
- Baker’s Dozen Night 5: Powdered Theme: This was a good-not-great show for me. S1 was uneven - interesting songs, but limited structure. Highlights were White Winter Hymnal a cappella & jammed out closing Tube. S2 was 5-song segue, best was Carini > Mr Completely segue + jam peak. 1999 was a mess but fun. Tech probs? Powderfinger encore was cool but Trey can’t really sing Neil.
7/28/17, NYC, Madison Square Garden
- LivePhish App
- Baker’s Dozen Night 6: Chocolate Theme: Solid show but not my fave. Lots of rarities in S1, i.e. Weigh, The Oh Kee Pah, and Destiny Unbound - which I loved. Opener Chocolate Rain slapped. S2 highlight was a super killer CDT jam, a big highlight of 3.0 in general and on the BD comp. You Sexy Thing was fine, but Number Line felt especially great? Fee w/ megaphone and a cappella Space Oddity to close. A weird one!
7/29/17, NYC, Madison Square Garden
- LivePhish App
- Baker’s Dozen Night 7: Cinnamon Theme: S1 was mid, highlights being synthy Water in the Sky and I Am The Walrus w/ HH samples. S2 ruled. Killer Blaze On jam (from BD comp), Alumni Blues, then a perfect segment of Meatstick > Dirt (amazing segue) > Hood w/ Dirt teases that soared in surprising new directions. Maybe my favorite multi-song segment of the BD run so far. Cinnamon Girl to close - much better than Powderfinger cover!
7/30/17, NYC, Madison Square Garden
- LivePhish App
- Baker’s Dozen Night 8: Jimmies Theme: Pretty cool S1 - love opening w/ Curtain With; Waking Up Dead was rough tho. Col Forbin > Mockingbird was a huge highlight, Trey teases Squirming Coil lyrics too lol. Drowned was the jam piece of the night, goes to a real spacey ambient place > SIHTOS which was cool but didn’t wow me. But that segues into a crazy Harpua w/ long band discussion re: The Universe is a Donut. Wind Cries Mary encore was a cool choice too - surprised no Izabella.
8/1/17, NYC, Madison Square Garden
- LivePhish App
- Baker’s Dozen Night 9: Maple Theme: Opened w/ distorted Hendrixian O Canada, rest of S1 was sub-10 min songs. Liked Crowd Control, and Limb by Limb > Walk Away was def the highlight. Maybe I’m getting jaded but none of the S2 jams (Golden Age, Steep, 46 Days) did it for me, tho Piper was awesome per uge. Possum smoked w/ a huuuge build-up release. Surprising highlight. Not a bad show, just didn’t light me up.
8/2/17, NYC, Madison Square Garden
- LivePhish App
- Baker’s Dozen Night 10: Donut Hole Theme: Another show w/ a killer S2 and an okay S1. Nothing really stood out - weird jam on Meat, Guyute was a bit rough, Fish vacuum on I Didn’t Know. S2 was a Mike’s Groove w/ a loooong, super cool Mike’s jam, segue into a cappella O, Holy Night(?!?), and into an 18-minute Taste with a lovely Page-heavy jam. Enjoyed hearing A Day in the Life for the encore - Mike, I think, was cracking up throughout.
8/4/17, NYC, Madison Square Garden
- LivePhish App
- Baker’s Dozen Night 11: Lemon Theme: Hell yes. This night was hitting for me. S1 - a lil disjointed? But consistently fun as hell. BBFCM > DaaM > Ocelot worked for me. Bold as Love > First Tube peak was great too. S2 ruled. Dem Bones a cappella (leg bone connected to, etc) - but Radiohead Everything In… cover was awesome - and they kept returning to it (“sucking on a lemon…) t/o the set. What’s the Use was HUGE w/ great transition from EIIRP. Scents was the huge jam piece > Prince Caspian with massive Type I peak. Then got dark and ambient, more EIIRP teases and > into a big Fluffhead finale. Fully returned to EIIRP midway thru Frankenstein encore too. One of my fave nights of the run.
8/5/17, NYC, Madison Square Garden
- LivePhish App
- Baker’s Dozen Night 12: Boston Cream Theme: S1 here is high-key better than S2?! A very space grass show w/ Uncle Pen, Scent of a Mule, and Rocky Top. Jiboo gets a cool goopy piano jam > FYF, but Sunshine of Your Feeling (Boston/Cream mashup) is the big highlight. S2 jams are mid (Ghost) and then mostly set piece songs (Petrichor, Lizards). Finely played but not mind-blowing.
8/6/17, NYC, Madison Square Garden
- LivePhish App
- Baker’s Dozen Night 13: Glazed Theme: I did it! Honestly, this show was one of my favorites. Big, rewarding jams (Most Events, Simple is awesome, YEM ripped), gorgeous covers (Starman, Izabella, Loving Cup), and big emotional payoffs (the whole celebratory conclusion, teasing previous covers in YEM, Lawn Boy + Tweezer Reprise). You could feel the emotions and joy in the room - just thru the recording.
