Ok, up next is the infamous (and much derided) Sirius exclusive show. I
remember all the hubbub about this. I didn't think it was that big of a
deal, personally, but we all have our views on that. I know this show is
low-ranked and not counted as much of note, so I'm going in with zero
expectations. 
12/3/19 Phildelphia
The Met
Set 1
Hello My Baby - Hello old favorite! 
3rd time in 3.0, first since 2009 and 3rd ever since 1999!!! Yea, its just an a capella tune but c'mon.
Tweezer - What other way to kick off a show? Awesome. Cool stuff,
they waste no time getting down to the funk, with Page and Mike both
hitting us good, establishing a dark and moody vibe to begin with. Trey
tosses in some very nicely measured and bluesy licks, carefully
listening and placing his notes with perfection. Really, check out this
section from about 5 minutes onwards - just fantastic. Patience is key!
Love this!!! Really shows what the guys can do when they just slow down
and think! Absolutely fantastic little Tweezer and talk about a way to
kick the show off!!!! Slowly they bring the song to a major key kind of
peak. It's clear where they are heading and without literally stopping
for a second, the guys do one of the most incredible segues into....
Free - That segue! That friggin' segue!! THAT WAS THE T!T$!!!!!! Rocks
hard and Gordo is going totally extra on that bass solo. He is tearing
that crap up like it's Brooklyn 2004 (please check that out if you
havent!) There is some serious energy, the guys are vibing it big time,
and this sucker is RED HOT!!! Freaking awesome.
Moma Dance - The guys rage this sucker hard. Perfect out of Free
(didn't they follow it with this in Brooklyn 04 as well?) Trey almost
butchers the intro by coming in early but that's ok. This thing FUNKS HARD. The guys absolutely milk this intro jam for several glorious, RAGING minutes that see Trey annihilating his guitar - literal fire on the fretboard. Holy hell this sucker is spectacular. The ENERGY is ELECTRIC tonight - it's got that feel where they could play almost anything and kill it. This Moma Dance is FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS A FRIGGIN DANCE PARTY!!!! I CANT STOP RAGING TO THIS!!!!!
>Tweezer Reprise 1 - The Moma jam instantly morphs into
Tweezer again with Trey still tossing in Moma licks here and there. Talk
about another killer segue!!! This is some
1994-stitching-songs-together stuff. Fight me. And its a strong 3 minute
return to the Tweezer jam before Trey pulls the plug on us....
>Blaze On - As much as I hate this song, I gotta admire the segue! AGAIN, CHECK OUT THAT FRIGGIN SEGUE! 2019 IS THE YEAR OF THE FLAWLESS SEGUE!!! DANG!!! Ok, they nailed that. That means it did not feel like a ripcord and I can shut up and enjoy this.
Absolutely killer key smashing from Leo. This Blaze On is strong as
heck. The energy is still top-tier. Let me put it like this - If I liked
Blaze On, I'd be raging about this like Moma earlier. The jam rips
hardcore Type I action with Trey still throwing in those tasty Moma
licks and the whole thing building like an erupting volcano. Hot as a freshly microwaved HotPocket! BLAZE ON!!
With this the first segue-fest comes to a proper conclusion. 36:13 of nearly flawless A+ Phish. Get real people, listen and tell it's not incredibly awesome!
Jesus Just Left Chicago - Always love a tasty Page vocal! He's really giving it his all - funny to hear gruff vocals from him! Absolutely CRUSHING blues
shredding from Trey to remarkably quiet and precise licking... This is
awesome as hell on all fronts. Not much to say. It's just awesome!
Kill Devil Falls - The song is pretty hot but not raging (to
start). The jam begins in an unusually quiet and dynamic manner, leaving
shredding at the door for the time being. This slowly builds to a very
feel-good (but not quite "bliss") and upbeat jam with lots of melodic
phrases from Trey and lovely piano from Page. Interesting version!! Very
slowly they turn the heat up, note by note. This is still an unusually
"blissy" version of KDF though. Very awesome and pretty darn unique,
imo. AWESOME!!!
>Tweezer Reprise 2 - Well, just as KDF was approaching total
liftoff, they turn it again back into Tweezer! And this returns us to
that Moma heat we loved earlier. Again, just fantastically funky and
rocking. KILLER. PAGE IS MURDERING HIS KEYS. THOSE SYNTHS ARE DISGUSTING! Or is that Mike?! A short minute of excessively NASTY Type II funk leads us into...
>Ya Mar - Great to hear. Not what I would've picked out of
Tweezer right then but that's a minor, minor nit pick. The energy is
still sky high and its a total party. I can only imagine the crowd were
dancing their asses off! Nothing too noteworthy, but a terrific Type I
rendition worthy of any highlights list!
Drift While You're Sleeping - I love this, I don't care. It's a
perfect set closer with the good vibes and all. Perfect choice (ok,
maybe not PERFECT but a good one).
Holy crap this set blew me away!!! I was honestly going in with no
expectations (but still expecting a letdown), and it was the total
opposite. No it's not loaded with 20 minute Type II Mega Monsters or
rarities, but the guys weave together an EXTREMELY hot set loaded with
A+ playing from all involved. The energy and the X Factor are in it. The
segues are FLAWLESS. If more people got rid of their expectations for
this being a "special" show, this would be rated way higher, I'm sure.
Please listen to this set and tell me it wasn't a fantastic party!!!
Wow!!!
Dang....
Set 2
Chalkdust Torture - A bit of a chill vibe kicking this one off.
Oddly dynamic - something happens with Fishman losing the beat (stick
loss or something?) that causes him to stop for a second, which in turn
causes Page to reduce his volume making the whole band do a quick "drop
out > crescendo". It's only a few seconds but interesting to note.
I'm on the fence whether I think the song portion is good tonight or
sloppy - it's in that grey area where can kinda go "oh they were just
trying it differently". Thankfully the playing is still top notch and
Trey is shredding it up with ease. No sticky fingers here!!! The jam is
pretty cool. Very blissful with some middle eastern sounding themes from
Trey and Page. The jam then quickly achieves liftoff and heads for the
sky with Trey channeling some 1999 Chalkdust histrionics!!! FREAKIN
AWESOME!!!! GET IT TREY!!!! After the sky-peak, things take a more funky
turn with a focus on Page and rhythms. This was a great little Type II
CDT!!!
>Tweezer Reprise 3 - Just a mere 90 seconds this time but they
go into it so smoothly and, again, just completely DROP into the jam
like they never left it before. AWESOME.
>Mike's Song - And the seguefest continues into Mike's Song!!!
I wish Fishman didn't stop the beat and just adjusted mid-stream, but
that's ok and the segue still comes off great. The jamming gets funky
and nasty like Moma. Raging it up, almost bringing back memories of
1993. In other words, standard Mike's fare.
There's a great part near the end where Trey stumbles into a sustained
note for like 20 seconds and just holds it there, milking it, and the
band come together beneath it. Great stuff. Then they leave MS for....
>Sparkle - No highlight for you. Sparkle is Sparkle and Sparkle will
always be annoying, lol. Definitely not what I would've picked and it
kills the vibe, imo. It's an ok Sparkle. I mean, Sparkle is Sparkle and
not much else. What do you want, a Type II Sparkle? Would that be too
Sparkle-y for you?! Am I getting my point across?! 
>Ass Handed - See Sparkle.....I'm sure it was fun in person though!
>Weekapaug Groove - Gets EXTREMELY funky real quick and loaded with Ass Handed quotes. This sucker SMOKES!!!!! From
there we explore other ground, some melodic bliss and uptempo rock
stuff. Your typically raging hot 'Paug. Fantastic, really.
Miss You - Just beautiful. I know everyone hates Big Boat and
Trey ballads, but I genuinely think this is a great tune and this one is
just gorgeous. Beautifully emotive and sensitive playing throughout. If
this was 1996 people would be talking about Miss You instead of Waste.
Waves - Again, just gorgeous. Trey is really, really on point tonight, just slaying it left and right.
>Twist - As with Waves, short but incredibly sweet. Just 7 minutes of sweet, latin-tinged, primo Type I Excellent!!!
A Day in the Life - Not my favorite Beatles song and not one I'm ever
looking forward to in a Phish set. Good for what it is, but NEXT!
>2001 - It ain't the Great Went, but it is a terrific
11-minute dance party extreme. Killer. Halfway through we go full-tilt
delay-jam, psycho space. No drums, just pure ambience of the dark and
unsettling kind. Pretty incredible meltdown, actually!!!! Oh my god this is terrifying!!!! Sounds like a horror movie score or something. Oh my god, can I have a hug? Please?! Back to the funky theme, thank goodness. What in the ever-living hell was that?!?!?!?
More - Is More. Is good as always but nothing special.
Waste - Very good but nothing special. See More
Tweeprise Finale - A raging 3 minute send off to a wonderfully underrated (and overexpected!) show.
All in all, I'd give this show a solid 3.8 or so. It was
absolutely better than most of the reviews and 2/3 of the show was pure
heat. Set 1 was almost flawlessly in terms of execution, playing and
energy. Set 2 had its ups and downs but that 2001 was a MONSTER. Now, I
think it also helps not to judge this along-side the typical arena gigs
on the tour - I viewed it as a "special" gig and something different.
Basically, go in with zero expectations and you will have your nodding
and rocking along from start to finish. A great little show and probably
an absolute blast to attend.
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