2025-09-17 Alpharetta, GA

 Set 1

The show opens tonight with a 13 min Wolfman. This one kicks total ass. It's extremely tight and funky with an overt heaviness about it. This is a super hefty boy! Or, well, wolf. Trey isnt ripping, instead patiently picking his spots. The jam eventually shifts and heads for the sky. A terrific slow burn, soaring peak section ensues, lengthy and melodic. It goes on and on and on getting heavier and heavier just exploding with magic. They definitely spray the hose on this one! The next Factor magic coming out early!! This was a really really great version. Definitely must hear! Wow.

Up next is fast Llama. Taken at more of a mid-tempo pace (by fast Llama standards), it takes him a minute to lock in, kind of stumbling into this song. It's an okay version but nothing that excellent or fantastic.

The following Martian Monster is about the same, delivering a solid reading but nothing you need to run out to hear.

Up next we get the continued revival of Devotion to a Dream. Great to hear and solid but nothing exceptional or overly exciting. Trey sounds particularly tired on this one. It does pick up majorly in the end and rocks satisfyingly to a close but I was worried for a minute there!

Man, after that killer Wolf opener, this set is now kinda floundering a bit, sounding tired and uninspired. Huh.

Up next is perennial favorite Divided Sky.
Thankfully DS is very strong tonight. Laid back but very tight musically. Definitely a strong reading. I dont think it tops the others from this year that Ive raved about but its certainly worthy competition!! The back half of it absolutely TAKES THE F OFF! Killer version. Borderline must hear for me.

Axilla is really strong tonight, continuing the heat out of Divided Sky. Excellent type 1 face melter.

SICK AF segue out of Axilla, melting seamlessly into a 9 minute Hey Stranger. Hell yes. Fishman takes charge pounding away while Trey slyly and patiently takes his time going at it nicely with the robowah. Excellent - really terrrific vibe and tightness on this, very "late night". Ya know what, I think this is must hear. The boys are LOCKED IN with each other, the jam flowing ridiculously smoothly. Killer killer killer.

The set concludes with the trio of Steam, Taste and Wilson. Steam is a fantastic, goopy, slow burn meltdown. Definitely must hear, some x factor at play. It crushes!!! Holy smokes that peak section!!!!

Not much to say about the others. Both are strong as with the rest of the set but also ridiculously unspecial for the most part.

All in all this was a weird set. It wasn't tired sounding for the most part and the boys were locked in with great flow and tight playing.

Wolf and Steam and Stranger are the must hears. There isn't much to say about this set. Is give it a solid B+

 

Set 2

Let's try this again shall we? The second half of the show opens with a giant monster of a 27 minute Carini. Holy smokes Kaiju Phish returns. Lets go! Immediately its apparent this will be different from set 1. Everyone is just EXPLODING with energy on this sucker. It rolls along like a freight train, just pummeling you into the ground with its massive weight. The jam begins initially in upbeat chill bliss rock mode. It picks up pace mightily and ascend swiftly into a soaring melodic peak-rage section. This thing is just bursting at the seams!!! If it ended around the 8 minute mark I'd still rave about it. As it is, at that point the peakage subsides. The guys all seamlessly lock in tight on a chordy, rhythmic motif. Trey starts doing that nice "beep boop bop" upper register picking while Page jumps on the washy synths. The jam has now entered type 2, evolving into a hazy, late 90s style bliss-haze excursion. All thats missing is Treys pitch shifter. Around 10 minutes the drums drop out and you think its going to hazily fade to a close. Thankfully Trey keeps playing and Fishman starts some tribal tom tom work and the jam keeps going. Heck yes. We are drownin in major key bliss boredom, meandering now -- please do something!!! Trey kinda answers, jumping briefly on the wah as the jam quickly begins to slowly morph into a darker and much more intense area. Hell yes, this is more like it. Very powerful and brooding vibe, Fishman still favoring the toms big time. As with the initial "power rock" peak section at the front of the jam, Trey sets some loops and this darker area evolved into a similar area. The band are locked the F in sounding like one 8 armed monster. Just flawlessly working together, flowing like water, the jam goes on. Page starts with his keys and Trey keeps going with chordal vamping (for the love of god rip a damn solo, please!) This is fantasti, despite my comments, haha. Unfortunately again, at 19 minutes it shifts back into light. Ugh, cmon now. Why is it so hard to get a dark and nasty Carini??????.... The jam devolves again into a veeerrrryyyy laid back bliss jam, watery synths and ethereal loopage going on, etc. Masterful soundscaping work. Slowly it starts to work back upwards. At 24 minutes it just SHOOTS INTO THE SKY!!! WE ARE FLYING TO THE MOON!! STRAP IN!!! An incredible and magical soaring peak section evolves, VERY MUCH evoking memories of the Camden 99 Chalkdust. HOLY FREAKING MOTHER OF ICCULUS THIS IS INCREDIBLE. MY JAW IS ON THE FLOOR LETS FREAKING GO!!!!

And in one of the best setues of all freaking time they then go SEAMLESSLY into an 18 minute Light! Holy smokes lets go!!!!! ALL HAIL OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR X FACTOR MAGIC!!!!! As far as the actual song, this is one of the most perfect readings Ive heard in a while. No its nothing technical but its so damn TIGHT. Good lord they are crushing. Yeah, I get the 4.5 rating, lol. The jam begins with the expected major key rocking before flirting with darker waters for a brief moment. Trey sets a loop and Page gets on for a piano solo. We are in that transitional kind of "type 1.5" area, if you will. Trey is doing great melodic work answering Pages piano calls. They all soon synch up on a cyclical little motif together. The jam is inching towards darkness but its more of a laidback night time vibe more than anything. Trey still stuck in Chordal Vamp Land. They spend a loooonnnggg time in this one zone. Almost to the point of feeling meandering. THANK GOD Trey hits the robo wah and Gordo answers with a bass burst. The jam is in this really powerful but chill kind of dark zone. Its dying to go deep but they are just refusing to relent. The intensity slowly ramps up and the jam gets really powerful, they still sound lost for direction at the same time, refusing to commit to one way or the other. This is a really frustrating and bipolar jam. Dark/light/dark/light/... Just pick something and take it deep for the loe of god. At 15 minutes they stumble into a slow build peaky section. And from here they proceed to just annihilate the universe. Bang your head and snap your neck, this is the most POWERFUL jam of the year - its like a 40 ton weight just dropped on your head. Omfg the final few minutes are just peak destruction, holy hell.

After a certain point you can swear they start inching back towards Carini. And then they move into a full reprise of the theme and the monster hour of Carini>Light comes to a conclusion.....

Daaaaaaaammmmmmnnnnnnnnnn.
Thats about all I have to say about that....

 

Truth be told that was not one of my favorite jam pairings. It WAS absolutely incredible but as far as personal "preference" goes it was way too in the box and I was kinda getting bored/annoyed after a while. But thats the uppity thing I can ever say so disregard me. From a power/energy perspective, thats up there with the best stuff ever

It was just kinda disjointed at times I thought, really not doing "enough" in the extened run times for me personally. But nitpicking is nitpicking and im an ungrateful ass. They exploded the universe regardless. 

 

 

Set 2

The set follows on with a 17 minute Sand! And holy moly does it actually use the entirety of its run time like I would hope and pray it would. Right away a whale siren is looped and you know this is going to be a banger. It gets into that grimy night time funkiness as oh so excellent for a good long while. Slowly the jam begins to morph, becoming ever so hazy and ethereal. It turns into this giant orgasmic mushroom cloud of psychedelia. It's absolutely incredible and contains more x Factor than you can shake an x Factor with. MUST HEAR! One of the most unique versions of all of modern Phish!!!!

After a do-nothing Piper, comes a terrific reading of The Lizards. Definitely must hear, this one has some kind of extra emotional oomph to it big time. It sounds awesome and made me misty eyed, for real. Wow.

weget a 20+ min YEM. Very strong reading on the whole, tight and fiery. Great Trey soloing, and dont miss Page doing Smoke On the Water, lol. After several minutes of the vocal jam, around the 18 minute Mark they come back in with a robo funk jam at last for several glorious minutes. Killer version overall I'd give it a must hear!

Because this is Phish, they proceed to close the night with a crazy 12 minute jammed out Meatstick. Wtf?! Not much to say you just need to hear at all costs. Total x Factor and absolutely freaking awesome!!!

All in all, I thought this show was a very very mixed bag. The highlights were titanic, but the set itself felt like it lacked a little bit of flow. It felt like a bunch of separate elements in a row instead of one big piece of music.

The Carini>Light sandwich is incredible for sure, but for my personal taste the pair felt pretty bland or hesitant at times. This sounds nitpicky but I don't know how to explain it. It felt like Trey was really holding back or lost for what to play a lot of the time.

Sand was the big keeper for me. That was legitimately amazing.  On the whole I don't think this show is LOADED with A+ material! From top to bottom though it's just too disconnected or underwhelming at times or whatever the hell you want to call it for my personal preference. It's not as strong as Birmingham, imo, but its close for sure.

My main issues are that the jams are way too "in the box" regardless of how powerful and face smashing they are. The Carini just sounded downright unsure of itself much of the time, though made up for with everything else.

Also, it really felt like Trey was barely doing anything but chord jamming tonight. That got old for me. The second set as a whole just didn't feel like one "singular experience" for me. It felt like one random song after another which takes me out of the immersion a little bit.

However, dumb nitpicks aside, Carini>Light, Sand, Lizards, YEM and Meatstick are all MUST HEAR! All of that being said, it goes to show you what a mind blowing era of the band we are in when I can nitpick that much about a show that is actually this strong!!!

I can understand the 4.5 rating even if I didn't enjoy this show as much as many others. 

 

ADDENDUM:

 

9/17 was weird - I feel like it's a show I might feel wildly different about on another day, considering my "protracted" listen through it. I had to abort after set 1 on Thursday, and then yesterday I was definitely propery in it like I should be when playing a show, but at the same I also had that thing in the back of my head like "ok, let's get on to the next show"

9/17 was effing loaded with awesome stuff - again, my issues are stupid nitpicky "personal preference" type things that would only really bug someone like me who is sat in a truck, by themselves, sitting at an asphalt plant for two hours, hopped up on adderall with nothing else to do and thinking WAY too "intently" about what they are listening to It's the kinda stuff most would probably never even hear/think about, haha.

Looking back, the Piper is only thing in that 2nd set that isn't properly excellent, imo. And that's really just because its so short and is more of a transitional piece more than anything.

My main issues:
1. Trey "holding back". He wasn't hesitant but it was rare that he "let loose" I thought
2. The jams being kinda bipolar. They flowed awesome, the playing was great, etc. They just weren't as "deep" sonically as I like
3. The 2nd set felt like a bunch of "singular" big pieces to me rather than a big, interconnected whole. That's just how it came off to me for some reason

So, as you can see, those are 3 stupid things that would only annoy a crazy person like me

I get the 4.5 rating. PERSONALLY, for my preferences and opinions I'd rate set 1 like a B+ and set 2 a very strong A, but not quite A+
But at that point it's splitting hairs so..... We are talking about fractions of a point here, lmao.

I really hope the 3 Hampton shows deliver because they look friggin AWESOME!  

2025-09-16 Alpharetta, GA

 9 16 25 Alpharetta

Set 1

The show opens with a - more than usual - blazing Buried Alive. This sucker absolutely CRUSHES. Trey goes bonkers and holds one note for a solid minute like its Divided Sky. Must hear all day - wow!!!

Coming after is a nice Bag>Slave combo. Bag is red hot but unfortunately extremely short (barely 5 minutes) and Slave feels very badly placed, immediately deflating the energy built so far. After a long time of boring noodling though, it "clicks" and turns into a fantastic resding! The sucker just explodes and shoots straight for the sky. I won't call this must here but the back half deserves some recognition.

A major surprise, we get a super rare Peaches En Regalia. It's ever so slightly rusty and hesitant but that's nitpicking. This is one of the most well played versions I've heard in a long while. Page nails his parts and Trey almost nails his. Awesome.

An 11 minute version of Tube follows and keeps the show on track. Must hear all day, it's super high energy and delivers a lengthy and punishing hose explosion back half. Sick.

Following that we get a punchy and tight type 1 reading of 555. Nothing special but keeps the energy going great. Even more tight and punchy is an absolutely Barn burning My Soul. Like the Buried Alive that opens the show it absolutely destroys. Hot damn. Let's give it a light must hear.

From here on out the rest of the set is basically essential and must hear. Reba and Maze are both exceptional for any era readings!!!! Reba is played close to flawlessly thankfully and solo is just insanely magical. It's a perfect slow build. It feels much longer than usual and is perfectly measured and constructed in the best way. The final couple minutes of finale explosion are absolutely incredible. A magical reading.

Basically all of the above goes for Maze as well. Yes of course it's always played really hot yeah yeah, but this one is like five levels above that. I don't know how to describe how nuclear it is but it's absolutely essential shredding of the highest order. Tight and fast and just ripping. My god.

Following Horn, the set concludes with an extra strong Coil featuring a lengthy outro with the drums included.

All in all for the most part this was a very very strong set. It dipped a little bit early on and then gained major momentum and exploded to a finale.

Buried Alive, Reba, Maze and My Soul, with special nods to Coil....This set wasnt perfect all the way through, but more often than not it excelled majorly.

Wow. 

 

Set two

The second half of the show opens with a 17 minute Oblivion into an 11 minute Bowie. Now if that ain't fresh then I don't know what is. Unfortunately it's not that great of a jam in my humble opinion. Initially going bright it quickly dives into a darkly aquatic robo-funk zone. Unfortunately they don't do anything with it and they meander aimlessly for several minutes taking the jam absolutely nowhere. Going for broke, they instead move out and into the standard type 1 Rock raging. Thankfully that is very very strong and kicks total ass but on the whole this jam is not my favorite. Others will likely get more mileage out of it than me. The back half of it kicks total ass but the whole thing is just kind of disjointed and slightly unsuccessful overall.

Bowie on the other hand... Holy moly it's like Maze on steroids coupled with a nuclear bomb tonight. It's hard to describe it without making it sound like it's just another red hot type 1 version. This one deserves a jam chart entry in my opinion if it doesn't already have one. I would definitely call this must hear!!! There is some kind of connection in x Factor going on on this one for sure!!!!!

And on into a 17 minute Fuego. Hopefully we get a good jam out of this one! AND HOLY MOTHER OF NUCLEAR ANNIHILATION WHAT A FUEGO IT IS!!!!!!!! This has to be the hottest type 1 version I've ever heard. It never gets strange instead opting to grab you by the back of your head and slam you face first into the concrete crushing you into oblivion over and over and over and over until you are begging for mercy. 10,000% must hear there isn't much to say about it except it is the definition of destruction.

They follow that with a nice version of Leaves. This one also has heavy overtones about it and the jam out of it gets nice and darkish. Threatening to go type 2 they instead switch on a dime into Sneaking Sally. Sally is merely a transition piece however into a massive nearly 13 minute version of The Howling.

Oh my effing God what in the name of Columbus 2025 Piper is this. Take the Fuego from before and times it by a million. It's super up tempo and the Segway out of Sally is pretty damn awesome. The song is the most ridiculous dance party rock face melter ever. About halfway through the funkiness gives way to straight up shredding and ripping and hose explosion annihilation until it's conclusion. If this isn't considered the greatest of all time yet then I don't know what would be. 10,000% must hear as well. Oh my freaking God this show is killing.

Finishing the set proper with decent Number Line into a rusty but extremely energetic Drift, we then get a burning encore of Monsters and Antelope. Not much to say, I don't know how essential any of it is but it all blows up and destroys as expected.

All in all this was one of the most energetic, fire-laden, nuclear hot shows I've ever heard. If someone labeled this the hottest show of 2025 I probably wouldn't disagree.

Musically it was one of the least adventures of the year, but the non-stop overkill fire/lava in your ears makes up for it to a very large extent. Show as a whole was rather uneven but 2/3 of it I would say you could call excellent.

Also how long was this show?! I swear it felt like it took me forever to get through it this morning....

For set 2 grab Fuego, Bowie, Sally>Howling 

2025-09-14 Birmingham, AL

 9 14 25 Birmingham

Set 2.

Another 2025 Punch opener tonight!! Nicely jammed intro as usual, some cool rhythmic back and forth going on. Its energetic and played pretty perfectly. Not the version of the year, but absolutely zero in the negative with this one aside from about 10 seconds of uncertainty from Trey in the Landlady section. I can't believe we've entered an age where a well-played Punch opener is a regular reality again.

14 minute Mikes Song in slot 2!!!! Heck yes! Off the bat this one is cookin. The jam takes a long time to do much though - its very high energy, but Trey lays back a lot sounding slightly unsure at times, reverting to loops to fill his gaps. The jam reaches a solid peak but Trey feels like hes forcing it and its rather ramshackle. This Mikes gets a pass but its nothing more than average strong, imo

They quickly rectify this with a Roggae-tier Ocelot!!!! Very long at nearly 11 minutes, Trey takes a long time constructing his solo. Eventually everyone links up and they spend several minutes exploding in a massive hose peak from heaven. Must hear this was one of the best versions I've ever heard, holy smokes!

And into a 12 minute KDF! Unfortunately it turns out to be a slight disappointment. The energy is there and the rest of the band sound great but Trey is very hesitant sounding in his playing. It never leaves type 1 and doesn't even peak that fantastically. It's not bad or anything but it's nothing you need to rush out to hear.

After the world's most dragging and tired sounding version of Ginseng, we get Halley. It sounds pretty bad for the start section and then locks in decently in the back half before segwaying out of nowhere into Weekapaug. Trey seems to finally wake up during Paug and it turns out pretty strong version.

The set concludes on a high note with a 15 minute Stash into Cavern combo like it's 1992. Stash is killer - sounding average at first it eventually clicks and the jam takes off. Briefly going robot type 2 they instead take it back to home base and rage it to an absolutely nuclear finale . Definitely strong enough for me to call must hear. it's fantastic!

Cavern is Cavern

All in all this was a humongous step down from night one. The rest of the band sound great and the energy is there for the most part, but Trey is absolutely having an off night. It sounds like he changed something with his settings because his tone tonight is really bad compared to night one.

He has sticky fingers, is hitting a lot of bad notes and is very hesitant for much of the set. Not a horrible set but definitely not one I can recommend either. A solid B/B+ imo.

You do need that Ocelot and Stash though! 

 

Set 2

The second half of the show opens with a large and in charge 18 minute Wave of Hope. Unfortunately it is basically a waste of time for 2/3 of. In meanders along doing nothing pretty much until the final section where it locks in and they peak it to oblivion. Dang this was a disappointment....

Even worse, if you can believe that, is the following 17 minute version of Mind. An even WORSE jam, it spends a solid 10 minutes or more just doing nothing. I mean really nothing. Trey doing chord vamping non stop, Page doing nothing (maybe he's just inaudible on soundboard?)... It ends with about 2 minutes of ambient whatever you want to call it but at that point it's way too little way too late. This was almost as bad as the Philly Sand. Yuck!

Mercury is a great set call after this. The song itself sounds excellent and the whole thing reaches 15 minutes. Unfortunately it continues the "nothing jam" theme of the set. It stays firmly type 1 and not even a particularly hot type on it that.

FINALLY, the band clicks and the following 15 minute Golden Age into WTU delivers the genuine highlight of the whole show. GA sounds terrific quickly going type 2. It spends its time in a psychedelic and hazy kind of looper funk whatever you want to call it. It's extremely cool and must hear. And the WTU that follows is The perfect landing pad and is extremely powerful. MUST HEAR!

Same goes for Good Times Bad Times!!! Put on your radiation suits because things are about to get nuclear! No, seriously, this is a damn MELTDOWN!!!!!! HOLY SMOKES TREY!!!! Must hear!

Great encore of Fee, Twist and More.

All in all this was one of my least favorite shows. It wasn't bad it just felt very disconnected and/or uninspired at times. Very weird. For set two all you need is GA>WTU.

There isn't much more to say about it. It's an a for effort b minus for execution kind of show. I'd say the 3.7 rating it currently has is accurate. 

 

  

2025-09-13 Birmingham, AL

 Working on a Saturday today so we get a weekend listen in. Super stoked to hear this show considering I've already heard the second set having had an amazing bedroom guitar jam to it, lmao

9 13 25 Birmingham

Set 1

The show opens with a lengthy Back On the Train. Energetic yet relaxed. Its your standard, excellent type 1 BOTT opener. Great stuff. The aforementioned relaxation quickly disappears however and the song just takes right the F off!! Hose city on this sucker, they rip it to shreds. HIGH ENERGY!! Killer little version!

Letting us know this is going to be one of THOSE night, they proceed to then launch straight into a 16 minute Cities in slot 2. Hell freaking yes, dawg. A short round of initial funking is quickly elevated when Cactus takes the lead with a super sick and filthy bass effect. Things get nasty!! Out come some robo fx and synths etc. The funky psychedelia is here. Strap in tight, boys and girls. Total X Factor dripping from every pore of this performance (shame the mix sucks!) Trey finally starts leading again with some cool stocatto melodic jamming. Fishman is just exploding, Mr. Fills on the kit back here. THIS JAM IS SICK! LETS GO!! Its like a massive, funky, cloud of awesome. Finally at the 10 minute mark they naturally shift into a slow build upbeat melodic jam. Fishman is pounding those effin drums, holy hell. Someone want to accuse him of overplaying, this would be a jam to point to, haha (I love his playing but I'm just saying ). Thankfully just as quickly at the 11 minute mark the jam shifts on a dime back into pure darkness!!! Unfortunately its not to be, and its back to the light. They are riding that line, unsure which way to go until Page and Trey sync up and its off to the races. It kinda peaks but not really, slowly dissolving beautifully into a really beautiful and low-key chill out outro. Complete with 1999 style hitch shifting from Trey. We are floating among the cosmos tonight!!!! And with that, this epic jam reaches its conclusionComplete and total connection between the guys. Add this to the best jams of the year list!!! Wow!!! THIS KILLED!!! FREAKING GRAB THIS!!!!

Oh so perfectly out of Cities they segue, legitimately, into Sample!!! Damn that segue worked better than I ever could have imagined what the hell. Its just Sample, but it just blazes to hell tonight. It almost feels like the coda/finale to the Cities that came before - the explosive peak finale, if you will. I'm definitely calling this must hear in tandem with Cities. Hot damn!

Our first "breather" comes with a nicely placed Theme. Super powerful, awesome peaking. Holy freaking smokes! THIS CRUSHED!! LAVA IN MY EARHOLES!!! Trey holds one note for about a minute and the whole is basically nuclear. Must hear. Type 1, to the nth effin degree. You know, the usual.

After The Old Home Place its time for a damn 23 minute Gin.....ok! The initial jamming sees Trey slyly introducing loops for a VERY cool effect of the type 1 playing with other stuff happenning beneath. Around 7 minutes the wah comes out and the jam starts to get rather ferocious and intense. We are ROCKING, ya dig? Very driving, if you will. Trey sounds lost for a minute before coming back in. Finally he comes back in and around the 11 minute Mark the jam enters an incredibly cool and trance like kind of psychedelic soundscape zone. Dude this is so freaking sick. For a couple minutes they ride this wave until around the 14 minute mark the jam dissolves and comes to a natural close. But wait, there's more!! A WHOLE LOT MORE!!!!! As the jam is dying Trey makes the glorious decision to egg everybody back on and we go into a very quiet and delicate kind of "floating slowly up into the stars" jam. For about 5 minutes we explore this outer space ambience. Second by second the intensity increases but it happens so ridiculously slowly that you don't even realize it until it hits you later on and you go "wait a second how did we get here". Oh my freaking God this jam is incredible. FINALLY A TYPE 2 GIN!!!! Around the 17 minute Mark the jam begins to gain a heavy amount of power and they spend the next five or six minutes in a ridiculous slow burn peak section of epic sonic noise destruction proportions. It's a ridiculous and magical psychedelic wash of noise and sound from the heavens like I haven't heard in.... Maybe ever. Add this to the Mount Rushmore of Gin's please. It absolutely deserves it. I don't think it's a jam of the year but if somebody said they thought it was a top five? I would not argue. This was like the Forest Hills Carini refined and executed in the most amazingly perfect way.

MUST HEAR AT ALL COSTS. IF YOU HAVE TO PICK BETWEEN LETTING YOUR CHILD DROWN IN THE RIVER OR HEARING THIS? WELL THAT KID IS GOING TO DROWN I'M SORRY TO TELL YOU!!!

If that doesn't have your jaw hanging on the ground.....

And if all of that wasn't enough, the X Factor continues its rampage of utter destruction and we close the set with a 15 minute Runaway Jim. This gym is basically the equivalent of the Gin preceeding it. On steroids. If you ever wanted to know what a category 5 hurricane mixed with an F5 tornado sounded like, proceed directly here. No this isn't just a raging type 1 reading, I don't know how to explain what this is. It kind of goes into that weird type 1.5 zone, slowly building from there around the 7 or 8 minute mark. Would you call this a peaky shred fest? It's so much more than that. It's like the heavens opened up and 40,000 fire hoses rain down on us full blast. A swirling Titanic histrionic mass of utter nuclear annihilation. What in the love of Satan.

My jaw was, again, hanging open with this.....

All in all, I am at a complete loss of words to properly express my thoughts of this set. This was an all-timer first set along the likes of SPAC3 set 1. The Cities>Sample, Theme, Gin and Jim are all must hear readings, but the Cities, Gin and Jim are legitimate all timers.

Please find me the most recent versions of Jim and Gin that approach what these two achieve. They were channeling something tonight, be it x Factor magic or something from the Lord above. I am in shock. 

 

Set 2

Continuing the show it looks like we have a monstrous set ahead of us. You know what's up when it opens with a 21 minute Sigma Oasis. Sigma is killer. It stays upbeat and blissful throughout, but it's ridiculously powerful from start to finish. The gym is absolutely soaring in the strongest way, with a really cool part where they all link up on this interesting sound (mode/key/whatever) and peak that sucker to oblivion. There's no strangers about this jam just epic awesomeness on all fronts definitely full of x Factor.

Keeping the fire going we move straight on into a burning 15 minute Disease. The song itself rages and is absolutely killer. The first section of the jam sees it dying down into a very nice and quiet kind of night sky bliss jam. This goes until about the 10-minute mark when things begin to change. Suddenly it shifts into a nasty, snarling, dark wah jam of the No Quarter variety. Just heavy and brooding. Hell yes. Lots of teasing. And then it develops this SICK descrnding motif. Trey introduces it, then Page latches on. Trey then rips over it. This thing is friggin BEASTLY!!!! Powerful as F!!!! HOLY MOLY THIS IS SICK!!!!! I cant with this band...my god. Trey just keeps going, spitting robo wah fire from hell over this slow doom march of a jam. Woe to ye who enter thine portal of Hades.

Dude, what in the f was that monstrosity!!! It was only 15 minutes but felt like a 30 minute crusher. Holy crap.

And out of Disease with one of the greatest set list calls of all time straight into a ripping 18 minute Life Saving Gun. When you've just melted the universe what do you follow that up with? Why more lava of course! And melt the universe they do... It's hard to accurately describe this jam. So much going on from start to finish. It's like one giant massive ridiculous Sonic noise destruction robot vortex beehive gateway into robot o.blivion. Just a swirling mess of loops and robo-d construction and synthesizers etc etc etc. O.ne of the finest psych jams of a year loaded with them. X Factor to the 9th degree on this one. Probably the goat version at this point, really. This version is effing mind blowing.

Even better, it winds down in morphs into Pillow Jets. GOAT type 1 reading right here. . End of story. This one is extraordinarily ridiculous in terms of the fire the heat and the interconnectedness between the players. This version will melt your universe and do it again and again and again and again. Just nuclear fire on top of nuclear fire. Pillow Jets is always hot, but this one is just 12 steps above. Christ....

Perfectly, they follow it up with Mountains In the Mist. Another spectacular reading this one really evokes imagery of The Dead. Go listen to this and don't tell me it doesn't sound straight out of a 70s Dead show. Terrific. Beautiful.

And then comes Blaze On to bring us back to Earth.... Of course it absolutely annihilates. Not much to say but it's pretty much the hottest type one version ever played, know that.

The set proper ends with a 10-in minute Ghost. The final must hear of the show, it follows suit with the rest of the set as far as being absolute liquid lava in your ears, what about halfway through something strange happens - it deviates and begins to ascend into the stratosphere! Of course not to that extent but it's comparable sonically to, say, the Camden 99 Chalkdust. Not that extreme but that's the closest thing I can think of as far as that vibe. It's absolutely incredible. Seriously this is as must here as it gets. All hail our Lord and savior x Factor magic for he reigns supreme over our universe. Where in the love of sweet baby Jesus did all of this energy come from tonight.....This Ghost is just.... Jaw on the floor going "wtf was that?!", ok?

Molten encore of Shine a Light and SANTOS. Sick.


All in all, this show currently has a 4.3 rating over on .NET. it 10,000% deserves that and even more. I would honestly seriously call this probably a 4.5 level show. It's absolutely superb. I cannot throw enough praise on it as you can probably already tell....

An all-time classic show for any era, it's easily as strong as SPAC3 or stronger even, imo. If this show isn't held aloft by the masses as a classic in years to come then it will be a major crime to humanity.

Sigma Oasis (!), Disease(!!!)>LSG(!!!!!!!!!)>Pillow Jets(!!!!¡!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), Ghost (!!!¡!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Dude.... 

2025-09-12 Louisville, KY - Bourbon and Beyond

 Well two weeks off from proper show reviewing is enough of a break. I'm now continuing on into the fall tour before I get too far separated from the summer job and lose listening momentum/perspective


9/12/25 Louisiville - Bourbon and Beyond

Set 1

A fine, standard 46 Days opens the tour. Nothing remarkable and slightest and takes a little bit to gain some heat. It's a fine little type 1 reading, nothing more nothing less. Good opener. Good energy.

As mentioned above, apparently this show takes place 47 days after SPAC 3. How appropriate. No way in hell they didn't do that on purpose, lol.

A similarly unspecial but "what did you expect this is a festival show, its fine" version of Moma Dance follows. Predictability +1 Hot Moma is Hot Moma. It is extremely energetic and up tempo, its just nothing you haven't a heard a million times before. Still kicks ass though, I mean they are cookin!!!! Worth a mention, actually, when all is said and done.

Free is red hot and basically follows in the footsteps of Moma. Strong if inessential.

The first must hear sequence of the comes with the following versions of Wolfman and Timber. Wolf has a jam chart and it absolutely deserves it. This is pure an adulterated type 1 destruction. Yes it's always a hot type 1 Blazer but even by those standards this one seems a little bit "extra", if you will. Absolutely crushing and definitely must hear!!

Apply the above statements to the following version of Timber. Same thing. Just a plus plus type 1 and must hear all day long. The set comes to a close with a nice couplet of A Day in the Life into a typically roaring Possum.

All in all, there isn't much to say about the set at all. Basically Fast Food Phish, but at the same time the energy is sky high and the heat is there in spades.

The only truly must your material are the aforementioned versions of Wolf and Timber. But the set is a good time on the whole in a small way.

  

 

Set 2

The second set opens with a large and hefty 14 minute Sand before going into a giant 22 minute Chalkdust!

Sand is absolutely incredible loaded with x Factor magic. 14 minutes of lengthy gooey wonderful psychedelia. The song and initial jam are slow building and patient tonight. They take your time it really getting into it with loops and a very nice chill vibe reminiscent of Dicks 2024. Eventually it builds and kind of peaks as expected and Trey starts the main riff again intending to end it, but Page comes to the rescue with some dark and heavy synthesizer stabs and the jam morphs into several minutes of terrific robo-darkness whatever the hell you want to call it. Absolutely must hear, this version actually goes full-blown type 2 for about 3 or 4 minutes. Maybe the sickest version of the year if you're asking me! Wow!

So the ending jam dies down and Trey leads us on into a 22 minute Chalkdust. This sucker is an absolute BEHEMOTH. It rages fast and hard and powerful with insane hose type 1 all the way until the 11 minute mark. There's even a moment where Trey holds a note for a solid 60 seconds or longer. Absolutely insane, if it ended right there everyone would still consider it maybe the best type 1 reading of the year. Thankfully that's not the case and around 11 minutes Fishman changes the beat into a more skippy kind of shuffle rhythm. From here, they spend until the 17-minute mark evolving the champ into this extremely hard rocking Jimi Hendrix style hard fire psych rock. Definitely shades of the 12/6/97 Tweezerbella - that kind of thing. Around 17 minutes Trey introduces a more funky lick and the jam goes into weirdo roboticonstruction mode. In a very cool move, it doesn't completely self-destruct and they smoothly more fit back into more hard rocking territory without missing a beat. The flow on this jam is unreal. From there they of course bring it to a close and we get an excellent segue out into Light.

Yo dog that was absolutely incredible!!! Man there have been some amazing versions of that song this year and that has to be in the top three at least. Definitely one of the strongest jams of the entire year from top to bottom. It's got a solid three or four different sections, each one explored perfectly and with wonderful transitions from one to the next. An a+ reading across the board!! Wow ...

And on into a 9 minute Light we go. Truly excellent type 1 reading, while not must hear it definitely delivers the goods. A terrific kind of upbeat bubbly jam kind of morphs absolutely perfectly, and unexpectedly, into a short but perfectly placed Ya Mar.

Following that we get an absolutely spectacular 13 minute Carini. Kind of the equivalent of that version of Sand from earlier in the set. An absolute beast, it ranges hard and heavy until about 6:30. From there it goes type 2 and morphs into this kick ass upbeat kind of synthy funk whatever for it's duration. Total x Factor magic once again and absolutely must hear.

After an excellent and hot type 1 Everythings Right, set to proper comes to a close with Harry Hood. It's not the finest of the year but it's also above average I would say. Not much to you but worth a little bit of recognition. The build-up solo section from Trey feels three times as long as usual tonight. Excellent "lower tier" reading.

Boring encore of C Zero and First Tube. Really strangely, they both DRAG and are very low energy. Strange end....

All in all, this was a very very enjoyable show. Of course I definitely wouldn't call it top tier in terms of the standards of 2025, but I'd say it's better than the 3.7 rating it currently has. Honestly this is maybe a light 4.0 or something.

Set one was good with the very strong highlights of Wolf and Timber. But set two was pretty much a smashing success from start to finish. I'd still put it high in the "2nd tier" of second sets for the year but it's excellent on the whole.

The Sand>Chalkdust is 10,000% essential, as is the Carini. And the Light>Ya Mar in between is so much fun.

Comparatively speaking, I would honestly say that second set was far better than that of, say, Charleston #1. And the show as a whole I would take over both of the Philadelphia gigs all day long (come at me!) 

2025-07-27 Saratoga Springs, NY

 FINALLY finishing up summer tour with the immediately legendary SPAC3...

7 27 25 Saratoga

Set 1

Always a great sign to get a Buried Alive opener! Aside from the atrocious sound mix, it's the perfect high energy opener we love and expect.

Immediately subverting all possible expectations of the universe, they do that Phishy kind of thing not only Phish does, and they launch into Twee....prise?? And its 13 minutes?!?! What in the love of x Factor magic! Obviously you must hear jam, this will take you by surprise like someone smashed me across the face unexpectedly. Again, 13 minutes, the jam going "as expected" until about the 7-minute mark. There it shifts into the eventually expected major key Bliss Rock. Eventually at 10 minutes or so it shifts back into the first section of the jam slowly getting stranger and wackier winding itself up into a robotic type 2 meltdown.. dude.....

And straight into Reba! And that was a genuine segue as well. Very cool! And its an excellent one! Technically it's tight and FLAWLESS. Seriously, they effing NAIL it!! The insanity continues when, during the slow build to a peak during the solo, Trey begins heavily teasing the ascending Tweeprise riff! They catch on and shift back into a full blown Tweeprise jam once more!!

Tweeprise>Reba>Tweeprise - how 'bout them apples, eh?

Tweeprise gets nice and filthy again for several minutes before shifting on a dime once again, this time into a burning Funky B. Probably must hear, this is just pure fire, even by Funky B standards.

As if all that wasnt enough, up next is a 17 minute Roses are Free!!!!! What in the love of what the hell is happenning?!?! Longest since....Big Cypress??!! Up tempo and high energy, the jam immediately goes type 2 around 4:30. The band shift into this stomping kind of shuffle beat (not sure what else to call it) with Trey and Page playing melodically on top. Around 8 minutes it returns to a more standard groove, with the mood getting very laid back, but still truckin right along. Slowly becoming a more atmospheric and slightly darker groove, synths and loopers begin to subtly make their entrances. They are building this sloooowwwww and sssstteeeaaadddyyty. This is so dang sick. This feel like a late 90s 1.0 jam where they are just sunk into the music, letting floooooowwwww patiently and organically. By 11:30, the energy has ramped up significantly. Trey jumps on the wah and proceeds to solo it up nicely above the funky groove machine beneath.
Around 13 minutes, Trey is properly beginning so slowly set up the peak conclusion. After a good while everybody syncs up on this little rhythmic motif. The jam is slamming on like a steamroller and builds to the expected energetic finale, finishing with ANOTHER Tweeprise!!!!!! Holy moly what is this set?!? That was awesome! It wasnt jam of the year, but it was proper type 2, totally in the zone, flowing and connected as hell....killer....must hear!!!!

Without a single second to catch their breath, its straight into a disgustingly filthy 46 Days!!! Absolute chaos, its extremely heavy on the down and dirty. Out of nowhere around 4:30 they shift into a soaring round of powerfully majest bliss rocking, sounding straight out of Prince Caspian or something. Dang!!! After about a minute, like a sledgehammer to the face, it smoothly morphs straight back into the filth. Must hear, X Factor all over this sucker. This show just keeps getting better, holy cow!!! And then of course we get the most screaming from the skyz hose annihilation explosion to finish.....damn...

The third to final song of the set is an absolutely bonkers About to Run. Always a burner, this is a rare next-level face melter that will make you sit up and take notice. If there aren't so many other highlights of the I would say it's must hear for sure!

The set ends with a 13 min Melt intow, what else, Tweeprise. As with everything else this set, Melt is absolutely insane and one of the most wackily destructive readings since the universe bending 7/28/23 rendition. Holy moly for real though, that Melt!!! It's not the typical slow robo deconstruction meltdown that most modern versions feature. Instead, it's something entirely unique. Very slowly it morphs into this extremely hazy and dark psychedelic kind of cloud. Just this explosive dark haze. Was Page using a freaking chanting monk chorus vocal sample throughout?!??? Dude
...

Eventually it's slowly begins to reach its conclusion and instead of finishing the song they launched back into Tweepris once again to send us out....

I cannot say enough good things about this Melt. Definitely add this to the true all timer renditions list. Seriously

And of course we get Tweeprise to close


Man, throw every other set of the year out the window. That was the first set of the Year possibly the decade. What in the love of x Factor magic did they do. Honestly probably the best first set since Chula Vista 21. Literally pretty much the entire thing is must hear. Just one big round of endless Insanity after another.

The Reba sandwich, 46 Days, Melt and Roses are among the finest pieces of music laid down this year. Of course we know how set to plays out but if this were any other show I'd be going how in the hell can they possibly top this.   

 

Set 2

The second half of the show begins with a giant 17 minute Kill Devil Falls. Unfortunately, though others mileage may vary, I didn't think this was a particularly great version. The song itself sounding kind of ragged, and the jam was pretty unrewarding overall. Aside from a terrifically strong peak, the majority of it is spent in meandering bliss zone. Others will call it soundscaping but I will call it boring and uneventful. Eh.

Thankfully the sonic torture comes to an end with a move into a 14 minute Twist. Right away it's apparent that the x Factor is back. There's all kinds of extra and spirit in this version. Fishman is just going nuts with all kinds of different accents and fills. It briefly dives deep for a quick moment getting dark and bubbly before moving back into the light. Ultimately, well it turns out to be one of the most "typical type 1" readings in a while, I'd say it's still ends up being must hear. It's an a++ reading, with explosive energy, taken out of ferry up-tempo rock and roll clip just exploding with energy. This one is like a 20 ton bomb. Fantastic. Must hear!

The craziness from set one finally resumes with Golden Age>23 minute Tweeprise. ?!?!?! (Is it actually or is it really just a Golden Age jam...you be the judge).

Either way, Tweeprise begins with extreme, hard funking like it's 1997. As expected in oh so absolutely glorious. It rages the fiery power funk until around 7 minutes, (IIRC, typing this an hour later), rocking hard and powerful, moving out if the funk. After a splendid peak section around 10 or 11 minutes. The jam shifts into a really cool kind of ethereal bliss rock... something. Dont know what you would call it. Extremely cool. Slowly getting more and more powerful, they ride this to the 15 minute mark. In one of those magical "blink and youll miss it" moments, in 1 second, outta nowhere, the jam DROPS into heavy darkness! They spend the next 4 minutes in the black hole, exploring the same territory as the Mex25 20 Years Later and Mex24 Chalkdust. Pure, unadulterated, dark annihilation supreme. Trey absolutely melting faces like it's the 1997 Tweezerbella again. Holy moly Christ on a cracker. Get it!!! Suddenly, and completely organically, at the 19 minute mark, Trey starts to slowly slide in the Tweeprise riff AGAIN, as if hes slowly trolling us, lol. You KNOW he had to be greening like an idiot when he was doing that, haha. Classic Trey. From here until the jam's conclusion at the 23 minute mark, they ramp it up hotter and hotter and just explode this finale section in the way you expect. Absolutely glorious.

And then in another ridiculous moment nobody saw, they shift supremely smoothly into Boogie On outta nowhere! Actually you can hear them setting it up but it sounds more like they are going to return to Golden Age, so I was pretty shocked when they went to something else. And of course you have to include this as part of the prior jam because it flows straight into its seamlessly. An absolute scorching ripper as expected full of the extra x Factor that has invaded this glorious show.

My God man what the hell is going on tonight this is mind blowing!! Now that being said I do have one extreme nitpick with that jam - it felt like a 35 minute multibeast compressed into 23. You got a bit of a taste of pretty much every style of Phish, but it felt like as soon as you were settling into the new zone they had reached they were all of a sudden moving back out again into something else. But I mean hell if that's my complaint that's the dumbest most nitpicky complaint in history of the universe so just ignore me.

How better to follow all that then with YEM!! 17 minutes, so rather on the short side, but, as with Reba, its played flawlessly and oh so tight. Not must hear, but in the context of the show it definitely crushes big time!!!

Following the vocal jam, they shift back into a brief bluesy bit before ANOTHER 4 minute Tweeprise to close the set. talk about a perfect set conclusion holy hell.

And of course in a show where they didn't play Tweezer, but instead played the reprise the entire night, how is else can you end the show and tour but with an actual version of the song itself, lol.

Probably the shortest proper Tweezer since.....when? Good stuff and pretty funny. And then of course Hood is the magical capper on one of the strongest tours in the entirety of modern Phish.

Great Hood. Definitely above average but I wouldn't call it the best of the year. Definitely gets the emotions running high though, and that's all it needs to do!

All in all, this show absolutely lives up to the extreme hype!! Chula Vista 2021 is always my benchmark for show quality to beat. I definitely think this is at least on par if not stronger than that show. This show is absolutely ridiculous, obviously.

What is there to say that hasn't already been said? How can you accurately critique perfection? I mean you can try but it's kind of pointless, haha. I will say that I think set one was stronger overall, but the entire show was just.... What are you even say to this? What the hell did I just listen to?

Phish in 2025. Thats what. And may we put to rest the what is a genuine contender for the greatest tour of modern Phish, Fall 2021 being it's only true rival (in my opinion).

THIS is what peaking looks like.... 

 

 

2025-07-26 Saratoga Springs, NY

 7 26 25 Saratoga Springs

Set 1

Uber fresh start with a Martian Monster into 2001 opener! MM is super, super thick and groovy. Tray never solos that much or goes bananas in this one but the whole thing is just this grimy and gritty swamp murk. Not essential, but excellent.

The same can be said about the following version of 2001. Definitely some extra and groove to this one, it totally delivers but again it ends up being nothing particularly must hear.

The first true must your piece of the night is an amazing 13 minute Mikes Song. This might be the strongest type 1 reading in years, seriously. Where in the hell did this come from?! This thing positively snarls and spits and snaps and bites like a pitbull on crack. Ridiculously powerful this one just steam rolls you into oblivion. Holy freaking moly......MUST HEAR!

Unfortunately the good times come to a brief end and they, astonishingly and very awkwardly, move into and not particularly great and horrendously placed version of Velvet Sea. Instant skip. Wtf yo....

They rectify matters by jumping straight into a 9 minute Weekapagug. It's average strong and does the trick but nothing special.

Versions of Sand and Evolve follow. Again, both are average excellent but neither standout. Strong on their own but nothing you need to run to hear.

The set concludes with a decently inspired pairing of MyFe into No Men. MyFe is pretty cool tonight. It never goes full-blown dark meltdown type 2 like we expect, instead staying in this pretty cool kind of dark and melodic zone where Trey and Pagee patiently play back and forth with each other for a good while. It's actually really cool but unfortunately the jam feels like it's missing a conclusion point and awkwardly goes into No Men. No Men thankfully delivers the goods and ends the set on a very high. An absolute Barn burning rendition as usual, this one seems to go on forever and ever in the best way with terrific explosive peeking. Must hear.


All in all, this wasnt a particularly amazing set. Nothing wrong with it, the energy is there, the playing tight, etc But theres very little to get particularly excited about either. ,

It also felt like Trey was under delivering or something like that. When he did decide to show up he was absolutely ripping it up like crazy, but it really felt like he was laying back way too much for a lot of the set. Weird. And wtf was with that Velvet Sea

Basically its on the strong side of a average. Perfectly fine and im sure great in the moment, but nothing more. All that being said, the Mikes Song is absolutely essential - some x factor on that! And the MyFe>No Men is a big keeper as well.

I don't know I just didn't drive with the set for some reason it's actually kind of annoying, because it was definitely not anything approaching poor.  

 

Set 2

Oh sick, an 18 minute Oblivion! Please go dark, I beg. Bring the wormhole, please! Spending too long an upbeat Bliss Rock mode, finally around the 11 minute market starts to shift to a much darker and moody or sound. Kind of meandering around nicely, until around 15 minutes we finally take Oblivion into outer space!!! We spend an absolutely glorious minute or two in the frigging wormhole before working our way back out. Man what a tease! This was a killer jam and definitely must hear but man what could have been if they kept!!

And boy do they keep it going, onward with a freaking 25 minute Disease! And holy moly mother of sickness, they give up the ENTIRE enchilada with this!!!!

Whens theast time we had a full blown type 2 multisectional, outer space galaxy orbit Disease?!? Dick's 2017?? Now THIS is what every long ass version of the song needs to aspire to. The initial jam spends a decent amount of time flittering back and forth between dark and light type 1. Eventually it starts to go askew. Hell yes this is it!!! Let's go!!! Trey slowly starts layering loopers one by one by one as the minutes to by. The gym develops into this noisy and hazy kind of fireball wall of sound. Absolutely rocking and blazing but also this Sonic kind of force like the production on End of the Century by The Ramones. This lasts a long time it's absolutely incredible. Just layering loop after loop after loop!! Eventually the loop fest starts to die down and then all of a sudden they pull the rug out from under us and we DROP into full-blown outer space lunar orbit ambience. I'm talking Fukuoka 2000 ambience. For 5 gloriously interstellar minutes. Oh my sweet glorious Neil Armstrong!!! This is five of the most out there minutes of modern fish and not saying a lot considering we have such masterpieces as the Manchester Twist in recent memory to compare to. Eventually it dies its death into nothingness, and out of the ashes rises a 12 minute Light absolutely perfectly!!

Light out of darkness!!!!!

WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT DISEASE?!?!? OKAY NOW THERE'S ANOTHER GAME OF THE YEAR CONTENDER FOR SURE. HOLY MOLY WHAT IN THE LOVE OF GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY WAS THAT. PLEASE DO MORE OF THAT I BEG!!!!

Light is another must hear. 12 minutes of A+ type 1. This Light is exceptionally powerful and heavy with a ridiculous final minute of extreme "WOOOOAAAAHHHH" vocalization from Trey. Very funny. Think of this as the equivalent to the Mikes in set one. An absolutely killer must hear version!!!

Even stronger is the following 13 minute Life Saving Gun! You know the Piper I raved about from Forest hills? Apply that to this LSG. An absolute monstrosity, crushing everything, at warp speed and with more energy than a nuclear power plant. Holy moly. Even better it goes type 2 in the end for a couple glorious minutes. Absolutely must hear!!! Insane reading!!!

Finally we get a much needed respite with a very very nice Waste, before a nearly flawless version of Fluffhead brings the set to a close in the most majestic and celebratory manner. Another a+ reading for 2025. Maybe not must here but hot damn is it as fantastic as any other played this year!!!!

Hot encore of Golgi into a typically nuclear Rock and Roll. Heck yes.

All in all, this was ANOTHER very strong show! Honestly, my nitpicks would set one are probably just in my dumb head, and the second set is, again, ANOTHER 2025 monster!! Oblivion straight through LSG is just one SLAMMER after another!!!

Add that Disease to the all timer list. Thats gotta be "top 10 of 3.0/4.0" worthy. You better make sure you have your spacesuit handy before you listen to this one. And don't forget the Oblivion just prior - it's way better than I could describe. Never mind the heavy and crushing versions of Light and LSG...

I'd probably rate this show a solid 4.3 ish, maybe. Set one would get like a b+, set two would be close to an a+. So balances out.

ON TO THE TWEEZER FEST WE GO