Phish - Tweezer in 2023 (so far)

 Hmm, this is incredibly hard ranking the 2023 Tweezers (the ones I've heard so far, at least).

What a damn good year for it! Honestly, this is the best year likely for Tweezer since...when?!

They are all great and mostly pretty different from one another which is great. Actual replay value from one to the next.
Currently, this is how I'd rank them in terms of my FAVORITE versions (I.E., how much does it "get me off" as a listener).
This is merely for fun - none of them sucked or anything like that, haha. This is purely "preference".

This is 5 Tweezers, but really you rank it more like

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#1. 8/5/23 New York - Can't say enough about it. A spectacular rocket-ship of a masterpiece for me. Insanely tight, little-child-on-a-sugar-rush levels of fun, the weirdo Guy Forget thing....this is lightning in a bottle, imo. Not a dull moment to be had. For 31 minutes, they absolutely filled the time splendidly!!! X Factor Awesomeness.

#2. 7/15/23 Alpharetta - This versions feels very similar to the Syracuse one for me, but that is fine. I give this one more preference because it feels like there are a bunch of "natural" end points where in another year/show, the jam would have ended, but instead, over and over again, they push through and keep it going!!! Another one that is in absolutely no hurry - just sit back and sink into the sofa and let it wash right over you. Also, this one DOES get way more "out there" on the whole. Much more "meat" on the bones as well, so to speak. Not as zany as New York or Berkeley, but this one feels super professional or something. Like they cooked up the perfect Tweezer in a science lab with just the right amount of this and just the right amount of that, but also perhaps missing a smidge of lunacy that propels a killer Tweezer to a friggin' ridiculously insane one.

#3. 4/17/23 Berkeley - Not putting it here to be "cool" or whatever. But it's 44 minutes and literally the first 20 do almost nothing for me. We've been over this a million times before, lol. I think the "dark viking" section, as I call it, in the mid 20s in beyond incredible, but then Trey does that horrendous YANK back into Tweezer. I find the stop-start funk jamming that follows great, actually, and the whole thing is a blast to watch on the webcast. But really, it's just all over the damn map at times, and not in a good way (especially considering the length). It is totally a ME issue, I get this. There is a crapload to love, but that OPENING 20 MINUTES really drives me up a wall (if you couldn't tell by now).... There is a ton of great stuff once it actually gets going, but there is so much about this Tweezer that either annoys or just infuriates me as a listener, lol.

#4. 7/23/23 Syracuse - A multi-part beast with a number of sections, but it perhaps is "stretched" a little long. Never aimless, but it does probably 18 minutes worth in 27 minutes. Kinda. What's here is excellent though. When I just replayed it, it surprised me how much I loved it. It didn't feel aimless or noodly, but at the same time the section changes are few and far between and they spend a long time in each. Maybe "too long" isn't the write term - it was super relaxed but still packed a punch. They were in no hurry at all, let's put it like that.

#5. 8/31/23 Commerce City - I think this one is absolutely awesome. But it suffers from the fact of the others above it simply being so massive. It's like the "little brother" to their "older sibling" status or something. Probably the most overlooked one you all should revisit though!


Alpharetta, New York and Berkeley are all mammoth titans of jam-based insanity. Syracuse and Dick's were both great too but felt way more "standard" or less...adventurous?? Not sure how to explain what I mean. But all 5 are killer when all is said and done. I know I nitpick the hell outta the Greezer, but it's still a 44 minute Phish jam, and a 44 minute Phish jam will almost never not be enjoyable.