An intro to this review archive!

PLEASE READ!! - Welcome to Warewolf95's "Idiot Review" archive!!

 Howdy folks! As the title says, welcome to my archive of live show reviews as I have posted on the Steve Hoffman Music Forums website! I pr...

Saturday, December 2, 2023

2023-08-25 Saratoga Springs, NY

 8 25 23 Saratoga, NY

Set 1

Kill Devil Falls - Strong type 1 rager to open. A very good version but a bit too much sloppiness drags it down a hair.

The Moma Dance - MUST HEAR!!! Excellent as always, but this one gets a very dark vibe going. It has the potential to go Type 2, but instead is peaked to a close. 13 minutes, all killer. No filler.

Ocelot - One of the greatest versions ever played. Interesting drumming and one of the heaviest hose-style conclusions ever. Must hear!!! Some of the darkness of Moma carries over to this.

The Wedge - excellent type 1 but nothing special.

Mull - Terrific type 1 version!!! Red hot!!! Trey even busts out the robo fx!!! Killer!!!!

Punch You In the Eye - A surprisingly strong version. Not flawless but definitely above average for modern readings

Sand - 14 min. Killer!!! Does its type 1 thing until 9 min when the tone shifts and a pea begins to develop. Trey hits multiple ultra -sustained notes and the jam SOARS to the sky!!!! He teases the absolute crap outta something and the peak keeps getting delayed. Eventually it does arrive and the Sand comes to a close. Absolutely spectacular! Must hear!!!

Rock and Roll -
A blazing hot yet not exactly tight reading of RnR to burn down the house and send us to set break. Nuclear hose annihilation heat. Bang your friggin head. Fantastic!!!

All in all, despite the loose nature of the playing, this set did nothing but kick total ass from start to finish. Moma, Ocelot, Sand and RnR are all MUST HEAR!!! A SPLENDID TIME WAS HAD BY ALL!!!

I CANT BANG MY HEAD ANY HARDER!!!!

Set 2

Evolve - Good but nothing special to open the set

Wave of Hope - 22 minutes!!! Utter insanity!!! Im not sure yet how "good" it actually was, but this is hands down the most out-there version I have heard. Similar very much to the 8/5 Tweezer, this one has about 40 different "sections" and is an unpredictable thrillride from start to finish!!!

>Simple - 22 minutes again!!! This one is pure X Factor Magic!!! It quickly goes deep and dark and stays there forever! Dark and scary robot hellscape!!! Hold me, please, im terrified!!! A much more "cohesive" jam than Wave that evolves slowly over its duration. Jam of year contender. This is one of the most ridiculous jams I have ever heard in my life. Finally at 14 minutes it slowly morphs into a powerful bliss rock jam. They avoid a peak and instead devolve it again into several incredible minutes of ultra -dark, scary ambience. Terrifying Phish. You need to hear this. What the hell....


No, no joke - Wave was amazing, but that Simple was an all time classic rendition. Absolutely one of the greatest versions ever played in the history of Phish. No. Im not exaggerating.


>Fuego - YO THAT SEGUE WAS INCREDIBLE!!!!!
They basically slowly "fade" into Fuego out of the Simple darkness and it sounds amazing. Fuego is STELLAR! Only a short jam, but this is a primo A++++ rendition from start to finish. Dont overlook this!!

>Chalkdust Torture - Hotter than the sun if course, but a little sloppy, and the segue kinda sucked. Thats ok though because this one is killer once it gets going. The jam is tense, wacky and anxiety inducing. Nuts!!!!!!!! Volcanic meltdown!!! Oh my god!!!! JAW DROPPING FIRE INSANITY!!!!!!!!!

Standard excellent Velvet Sea and SANTOS to close


Not a flawless show, but a damn BLAST to listen to!! Set 2 was one of the greatest things ive ever heard!!!!!!

No comments:

Post a Comment