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In Episode 2, Steve, Scotty, Justin and Tanya briefly discuss Phish’s sets from Austin City Limits and 4 Mile Canyon Revival before jumping into the first 5 shows of fall tour. We cover The 3 shows in Broomfield, CO and the 2 in Charleston, SC.

All of the panelist agree that the Austin City Limits set was a well-played selection of songs designed to welcome new listeners to Phish’s music. The 4 Mile Canyon Revival did not include a Phish set, but did feature a stunning Trey and Mike acoustic set. Tanya attended the event and shared a clip from My Friend My Friend. Conclusion: Mike can get dirty playing acoustic.

The meat of the show involves discussion around several of the highlights of the 5 shows. We begin with Broomfield night one, and move right into the Ghost. The Ghost jam was deserving of 2 clips: one to highlight the jam’s peak, as Mike kicked in with the chunky funk, and then another toward the jam’s descent. The second clip begins with Jon hitting the cowbell to lead into a more rhythmic jam. This Ghost is Scotty’s favorite jam of the tour so far. He point outs that the boys do so much with the minor>major key jamming and patiently let it develop, as was their style of improv during the 2.0 era. Broomfield night one set 2 also featured the brilliantly-placed debut of My Problem Right There-right in the middle of a Makisupa sandwich. Scotty notes that the rare extra verse in Makisupa has the first drug reference of 3.0. The passing of the dank, in Tanya’s opinion, was fitting in Colorado. The final highlight from night 1 that is touched upon is the gorgeous version of Slave to the Traffic Light. Again, the patient musicianship was appreciated by all of tonight’s panelists.

Broomfield night 2 included another brilliantly-placed debut: What Things Seem, from Mike’s new album Moss. Justin plays us a clip, and Tanya remarks that it was well-received by the audience. Justin also shares a clip from Golden Age, which, as Scotty mentions, is the one-timer cover that fans want to see according to the poll in Hidden Track. Steve, Scotty, Justin and Tanya agree that the Broomfield version of Golden Age was very well-played and demonstrated that the band is responsive to fan feedback. Justin encourages us to give Broomfield night 3 a few listens. He likes the less-traditional setlist and shares a clip from the explosive Carini set 2 opener, as it transitions into David Bowie. Broomfield night 3 set 1 also featured Meat, which is saved for later.

Episode 2′s discussion wraps up with highlights from both Charleston shows. Scotty takes us there with a clip of Dr. Jack McConnell carrying on the tradition of performing Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home? Scotty’s assessment that Charleston night 1 was a marathon song-based show is shared by the panelists. Charleston night 2, however: different story. Set one featured the return of a beautifully played The Curtain With (everyone except Steve likes it With all of the time – Steve will take it With 9 out of 10 times), accompanied by Sand and Pebbles & Marbles. Scotty then plays us a clip from the set 2 Crosseyed and Painless opener to highlight the hilarity of the vocal reprise toward the end of the song. The final piece of music shared in Episode 2 is the Mike/Jon jam from YEM – another example of unrushed improv that characterizes this first part of fall tour.

Finally, this epidose of TypeIICast takes you home with Meat from Broomfield night 3 set 1. The panelists’ final word on early fall tour 2010: Patient, exploratory improv gives us hope that more type 2 jamming is on the horizon.

Join us next week when we discuss the next week of Phish tour, ME>NY>RI>MA.

photo via mlive.com

Please give a big Umph welcome to Marsha Stasik as she performs her second stand-up comedy act immediately prior to Umphrey's McGee this Friday, October 22nd at The State Theatre in Kalamazoo. We look forward to seeing you out!