2019-07-09 Uncasville, CT

Been waiting a week or so to listen to 7/9/19 Uncasville. I was wanting to watch the DaaM webcast but I've accepted that I don't have the time right now

Oh well, the audio will do just phine...


Terrific and interesting looking setlist. I remember hubbub around this show with the standalone Weekapaug and the Energy and whatnot. Also I believe it has the only Phish performance of the GotF tune "Wider" as well.

Set 1:

Energy - Excellent tune to kick off the show. First version since August of 2013!! 226 show gap! 5 minutes in and the jam comes out of nowhere with everyone funking it up big time. Big Cactus and Page energy here. The guys settle into a good groove and give us some Sand-esque jamming for about 5 more minutes. All in all a killer and unexpected show opener!

>Weekapaug Groove - Full on standalone Weekapaug!!!! SICK!!! And they rip this sucker to pieces. Wow, what an opening to the show!!!

Moma Dance - Red hot version, but nothing special. Hot Moma is Hot Moma!

Lengthwise - is Lengthwise

>Maze - HOLY CRAP GET IT PAGE!!! The guys manage to nail Maze for once and provide a smashing version that any 1.0 show would be glad to have!

Petrichor - A very strong version, imo, but I'm just not a big fan of it yet. A for effort!

Things People Do - Another rarity, lol. Love this and wish they played it more.

Sample In a Jar - Nice, but Sample is Sample.

Bathtub Gin - I actually don't think this really does too much that exciting. It's 16 minutes though, so surely stuff happenned that I just am not comprehending


Awesome and unique first set!  

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Set 2

Soul Planet - The original debut performance is still my go-to, but this one is dang excellent! The guys nail the song portion with extra gusto and energy, rocking down the friggin house. Hot jam that goes slightly ambient type II for a few great minutes of inspired playing. They close it out before approaching What's-The-Use-Land, but that's ok because they SEGUE FLAWLESSLY INTO WIDER!!!!!

>Wider - THAT SEGUE! I DIDNT EVEN KNOW WE WERE IN THE NEXT SONG UNTIL THE LYRICS BEGAN! Good version of a good song that shows potential from the get-go with some flawlessly playing from Trey and a great kind of chill-funk mood infused into the song by the rest of the guys. Really, really must-hear, awesome stuff. Can't say I've heard anything else like this! Cactus even plays with his effects! Slowly the jam devolved back into that ambient bliss from which the song arose. Incredible stuff, really. I don't know how they do it.

>Undermind - AND INTO UNDERMIND WE FRIGGIN GO!!!!!!!! They are doing it! The X Factor is flowing!!!!! Again, as with Wider, the segue into this was impossibly perfect and flawless. A++++++ Trey. Leo leads the jam out of the gate with some great jazzy playing sprinkled throughout with Trey's delay-stabs. At the end of the day this is just a great little Undermind ala the Moma in set 1, but one absolutely cannot ignore that dang transition and flawless execution. Holy hell.

>The Final Hurrah - Excellent and funky, nice and dynamic. Awesome stuff. Absolutely KILLER version!!!

>Beneath a Sea of Stars - Goes toe-to-toe with its 6/29/19 debut brother. That previous version was MAGIC. PLEASE check that out if you havent!! This one picks up where that one left off, sounding very Terrapin-Station-esque in its beauty. Very elegant and grandiose, yet soothingly calm at the same time. Who needs Petrichor when you have a beast like this in the roster?! This is MAGICAL. PLAIN AND SIMPLE. Please refer to the jam-chart description of this as I can't possibly do it justice. One of the greatest pieces of blissful music that has ever graced thine ears... It's like Dark Star-meets-Terrapin-meets-Wingsuit or something. Just insane. And then they bring it into a full on Type II jazz rave or something. I don't know what this is but I'm 'avin' it. Big time.
Jul 09, 2019 Setlist - Phish.net 

 

Hold up everyone. I need to take a break.

Ok, steady on, amigos

>Ghost - Out of the blissful soup of Beneath, a hot and exploratory Ghost arises. It's only 11 minutes, but they QUICKLY get to the jamming, beginning with some watery and ethereal playing, staying in the same zone as the previous excursion. Surprisingly non-funky and much more feel-good than usual. They somehow morph it into a major key bliss-a-thon. Everyone is riding this sucker for all its worth. There is some especially great interplay between Mike and Fish. Really sounds like they are following each other. This is less a proper Ghost and more like a coda to that Beneath a Sea of Stars. Eventualyl though Trey does hit upon a rhythm that the other guys lock into and we are off into spastic funk land. Or something. I don't even know anymore. It's just fantastic stuff. Awesome stuff. Also - WEEKAPAUG JAM.

>Birds of a Feather - AND IT JUST KEEPS GOING AND GOING AND GOING!!!!! WOO HOO!!!! Alright!!! They attack indeed - I do fear the feathered creature! Having already worked us into a frenzy, Trey takes a difference approach and brings things on down, real chill and smooth like. Let's ride this sucker to the stars, baby. Slowly they work it back up and things get hot again. Trey introduces a great little Third Stone From the Stone jam before hitting those sustained leads we all know and love. Now things are raging again and are toes are tapping and our butts are a-wigglin'. Its' still building though and the guys are all working this musical dough more and more, locking on to each other's playing and patterns. Absolutely spectacular.THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!! Eventually the black hole explosion slowly melts away as Trey reintroduces the song's theme and we perfectly conclude the song after another chorus.

A-FREAKING-PLUS BOAF.

Waste - My favorite Phish ballad. Absolutely perfect set placement. Holy this was like a cool drink of ice cold water after laboring in the hot sun all day. Omg that solo from Leo - please Page, I can only cry so much. Good lord. Talk about tugging at the heart strings.


Golgi Apparatus - The magic can only last so long and we get a lackluster Golgi Apparatus after that BEAUTIFUL Waste. Oh well, it was good while it lasted, lol. Too slow, Trey flubbing it up...next!!

Foam - The token Foam for the year. A pretty good one that doesn't sound half-assed! Wonderful piano again from Page (he is on FIRE tonight!!) and a wonderful overall addition to this insane set.

Contact - And the rarities keep comin'! Contact is Contact but its wonderful to hear. Awesome and unexpected. Surprisingly jammed out, this sucker gets downright groovy! Wow! Who woulda thought Contact could be so interesting! AWESOME.

More - A smashing-if-predictable More to cap of this 10/10 set


All in all, this show was impeccable. Set 1 had clear highlights but nothing was less than excellent. Set 2 was pure X Factor Magic from the start all the way through Waste. Just incredible. One of the best shows of this terrific summer tour. Do NOT skip this sucker!!!!!!!!!