2021-08-03 Nashville, TN

 Onwards to 8/3/21, Nashville. @Islands , isn't this the show you said was the "worst" of the summer?

On paper, this setlist is pretty smashing!!! A lot to love and nothing I really dislike!


8/3/21 Nashville

Set 1

Punch You In the Eye - A very nice latter-day version in an era where a good Punch is basically a rarity. Not as "stilted" as other recent ones and even a little "fun", with Trey doing some cool delay fills during the intro. Super groovy version! Still sounds slightly under-rehearsed as usual (it's not 1997, lol) but still very good! Trey nails the "upwards sweep" before the Landlady portion, so you know it's a decent. Trey completely botches his main Landlady section though so....Eh, you win some, you lose some, and since Punch is my favorite Phish song I gotta, well....roll with the punches! A fine 3.0 version for 90 percent of it. Still, it's not quite good enough to be list-worthy, but it's worth a mention.

Strawberry Letter 23 - A fine version! Nothing special and it still sounds like the guys are shaking off the "rust". Definitely have heard better. Sounds like the band are lacking a little energy or something.

Sample In a Jar - Right from the start the boys sound more awake! Not sure why, it just feels like there is new energy that wasn't fully there before. Pretty raging peak on the whole. Not truly incredible but a massive step up from the first two songs.

Halley's Comet - First actual highlight of the night! A great type I version. Not much to say, it's just really good! Not list-worthy, but close!

Backwards Down the Number Line - Love the song as always, but thank you jesus for putting it where it belongs, in the first set. Builds upon the momentum laid down by HC. Very nice version with lots of gorgeous soloing from Trey! No seriously, this is a terrific version!!!! Spectacular! The whole band is on fire but Trey is just going on and on and on an on, getting hotter by the minute!!!! A+ A+ A+

Undermind - Super groovy and funky tonight. Check out Fishman annihilating his kit with those damn tom fills like he's Neil Peart or something. Around 3 minutes Page starts tearing it up on the organ and Trey starts playing with his honky, watery-delay effects creating a truly unique solo section!!! Absolutely spectacular!!!!!! Definitely the most INTERESTING-sounding one I've ever heard!! Absolutely must-hear! By far the highlight of the set so far, though Number Line was killer too. Ultra-gritty and "dark" Undermind!!! This totally deserves a jam chart entry. MUST HEAR MUST HEAR MUST HEAR!!!!

Divided Sky - A slightly "sticky" intro from Trey. But thankfully that's just a little detour, because this version of DS turns out to be excellent on the whole! Not perfect, but as close as 2021 Phish is probably going to get to it!!! Trey's newer, more delicate picking style that I always complain about really sounds great on tracks like this or The Lizards where dynamics are more welcome. Also, shout-out to Page's gorgeous sounding piano. Holy freaking crap, the "quiet" part in the middle of the song is outstandingly delicate tonight. Like....good lord this is GORGEOUS! Also, since the beginning of the show there has been some audible background hiss/noise and it's pretty audible during this. On the whole, this is a damn excellent reading of the song!

Mull - Wow!!! Seriously!! This is awesome!!! Play this more!! In all seriousness, this is, like, the most "practiced" version of a Mike song I've ever heard Phish play. This KICKS ASS!!! The song even has a cool robot jam in the back half that sounds like they could easily stretch it out if they wanted to. A major missed opportunity ending it so soon!!!!! MAJOR POTENTIAL!!!! AWESOME STUFF!!!

It's Ice - Yay! Trey totally nails the lick throughout! The composed portions are played pretty perfectly. Trey does accidentally begin the "ascending" lick thing too early and catches the other guys off guard, almost causing a trainwreck if they weren't paying attention. Thankfully they quickly adapt and most listeners won't catch it, lol. Trey does stumble in the back half, but on the whole, this is a nice Ice. It's kinda the Ice equivalent of the opening Punch. Almost list-worthy, but not really.

About to Run - Get it, Trey!!! Kicks ass like every other AtR. Just guitar destruction out the wazoo. Killer stuff!

The Squirming Coil - A very nice version on the whole!!! Some cool volume-pedal type stuff by Trey during the outro. Not much to say, it's SC, but it's a damn good one!!! A wonderful bit of time where they are about to transition into Page's solo but Trey keeps holding on and you think they are going to jam it out or something. Alas, it is merely a tease, but it's very cool. Awesome version on the whole!



All in all, a fine set! Definitely not next-level or anything, but nothing approaching "bad" at all. The worst aspect is Trey having "sticky fingers" syndrome tonight with some composed parts, but I thought on the whole the set really had great FLOW and when they did jam it was excellent!!! Definitely a "pick the highlights" set though. It took them a while to warm up, but once they did the portion of Number Line through Mull is MUST HEAR!!!! About to Run and Squirming Coil were both excellent too, but that 4 song section right in the middle is the definite meat you want on your plate! The Number Line and Undermind in particular were the definite highlights!!!!!!

DO NOT SLEEP ON THAT UNDERMIND!!


Set 2

Party Time - The song nobody wants but is always glad to have gotten Awesome little version with some killer shredding from Leo and a very nice solo section from Trey in the back end. Gets us all up and dancing! Freaking terrific version. The band sounds tight and Trey's "sticky fingers" seem to have gone away!!!! KILLER!

No Men In No Man's Land - Ooh!! Perfect choice to follow a PT!!! 15 minutes tonight. Check out Gordo in the mix - his bass sounds terrific!!!! A really, really wonderful "in the box" version that just rages until the cows come home. The jam is funky, then gets slightly chill before reaching a raging bliss-rock peak!!! And that's not even reaching the 9 minute mark yet! People online said the boys "failed to connect" in the jamming, but this is stupendous, so I don't know what effing show they were talking about! Right around 10 minutes things take a turn and we ascend into wailing, Type II, whale-siren-style feedback squalls!! Angelic bliss noize!!! Trey and Page going nuts with weird, ambient-style sounds. We are OUT THERE NOW, BABY!!! WHY IS THIS NOT JAM CHARTED!?!? I genuinely think I enjoyed this more than the Alpharetta Tweezer, and at the same time it's close to being as good as the Alpha CDT (the last few minutes, anyways). It's like they took the massive jams of the previous shows and cut the fat, condensing it down to an all-killer, no-filler 15 minuts of magic. SPECTACULAR! MUST HEAR!!!

>Ruby Waves - Great set call!!! Totally fit the mood perfectly!!! This sucker is only 11 minutes but is SLAYS from start to finish, just blazing a path of destruction from start to finish. Several different sections and I guess you could say we go Type II, but they stay fairly "close to home" throughout. Absolutely outstanding version. Headbanger heaven!!!!!! DONT SKIP OUT ON THIS JUST BECAUSE ITS SHORT!!!!

BOO!! RIPCORD!! BOO!!!!! THAT SUCKED!!!

>Possum - WHY THE HELL DID YOU RIPCORD RUBY JUST AS WE WERE GOING INTO ROBOT LAND?!?!?!? THAT WAS BRUTAL! Great soloing (some of the best of the night!), great version, but damn Trey.....you gotta stop that crap... At least this Possum is outstanding. No, for real, it's mother effing terrific. One of the best Possum's I've heard in a hot minute. 10/10 Possum

When the Circus Comes to Town - Fine version. Circus is Circus

Light - Odd to have one start by itself and not be coming out of something else. Very chill out of the gate. The jam immediately goes into slightly funky, late-night, chill Type II. The tempo is going, Trey is honking it up and the guys are keeping it groovy like it's 1998, baby. Things start approaching bossa nova territory in the back half. This is awesome. WHY ISNT THIS JAM CHARTED EITHER!? This eventually slowly works it's way back to the Light theme perfectly in one of the absolute best "jam conclusions" I've ever heard. Holy mother of hell this was PERFECT!!!! This was terrific. Just about as good as that No Men In No Man's Land!

You Enjoy Myself - Standard but totally excellent reading. Very much worth your time. Great soloing etc.

Loving Cup - Is Loving Cup. Is great but not special.


All in all....yea, those 3.2 ratings on .NET are total bull$#!t. First set started slow but built major steam by the half way point and contained several must-hear versions. Set 2 was a riot from start to finish. Yes the jams were shorter but on the whole I think the 2nd set was the best "complete" 2nd set since Pelham. The ripcord into Possum SUCKED but the ensuing version was amazing. NM>Ruby Waves was outstanding. Light was just as good. YEM was excellent.....I mean, people are so hard to please. This set was FANTASTIC!!!! And the show on the whole was maybe a slight "step down", so to speak, but it was in no way, shape, or form a poor show or anything even APPROACHING that!!!!

I would seriously say a strong 4.0-4.2 rating for this show is adequate. The 2nd set itself was spectacular.


All hail underrated shows!