2023-12-31 New York City, NY

 Onwards to night 4 of New Years at MSG, aka 12/31, Gamehendge Deluxe

This is gonna be long - 4 hours and 10 minutes according to the LivePhish files.

To preface, from the start, the vibe in the room felt WAY better than on 12/30 and right from the get go you could tell this was going to be an "ON" night for the band. I'm guessing the impending 2nd and 3rd sets had them hyped, haha....

Everything's Right - I was stoked to get one of these finally. A very fine version, nearly 12 minutes long. Honestly, it set the vibe perfectly. Everything's right, indeed! Getting this as the opener felt like the ultimate personal validation for myself. Awesome stuff. Trey's voice sounds a little fried on this. Kinda rough in that regard. But yea, "this long night's over and the sun's coming up" has never rang more true to me than it did on this night. Fantastic. Right away, the song drops into a funky, chill kinda wah-pedal groove to begin with. Fiery and relaxed at the same time. The guys are playing patiently - this does not feel rushed at all. Around 8:30, this shifts slowly back into a more "standard" sounding rock and roll jam, complete with loads of killer peaking from Trey and the guys. An absolutely fabulous little ER!!!! Not every X Factor version needs to be 25 minutes long! Go seek this out pronto! FANTASTIC!!! LET'S GO!!! I. AM. SO. PUMPED!!!!

No. Seriously. This thing is a damn BEAST!

Tube - Rough start on this one. Again, Trey's voice is fried and the band sound hesitant for the first 30 seconds or so, but thankfully they quickly pull it together. Awesome moment around 2 minutes where Page and Trey are soloing together for a while before splitting off again. Sick stuff. This is a terrific little Tube. Probably won't be on any best-of-the-year lists, but for the short run time, they cram in a lot and it really packs a huge punch. Wonderful bliss-funk in the back half!!! Killer! Don't sleep on this! No, seriously, it's way better than I'm making it out to be. Definitely belongs on the best-of list for this 4 show run.

Ether Edge - Probably the new song I enjoy the least. It's good but sounds like a re-write of Evolve, which is only now coming into it's own anyways! Still, was glad to hear it, but it felt like it sucked the energy out of the room a little bit. To be fair, this is played excellently, and sounds the least "awkward" of the few versions played so far. I would say this is likely the best version yet played, but that's not saying a lot.

Reba - Fishman is going nuts on this. Blew my mind that I was seeing my second Reba in only 6 shows!!!! The setlist gods continue to shine their light on me! Thankfully, tonight Reba is basically flawless. Sounds practiced and tight! Well, almost - Trey butchers the first 20 seconds of the "out of sync" portion, but otherwise it's spotless. Super nice solo on this. Very laid-back and patient but never sounding lazy. Then the rest of the guys start increasing the intensity and slowly they work it to a majestic peak. As expected. Not an all-timer or anything, but a strong "normal" Reba for sure!!!

Taste - This is fantastic. Every version this year has been - truly the comeback year for Taste (more versions this year than any year since 2009!!!). Also, my partner was with me at this show and he is not, musically, a Phish fan. He couldn't stop raving about this performance and loves this song now, so thank you Taste for being a gateway for a non-fan!!!! I don't think this was the best one played this year, but it was probably in the top 3 or 4 of the bunch!

Ruby Waves - Worth a highlight, but not the finest moment of the set. Only about 10 minutes, it feels a bit rushed and the jam gets going good, but unfortunately lacks the time needed to really take us out there. If this wasn't cut short, this had the absolute potential to become a monster. What's here is killer, there just ain't enough of it!!
This was the only part of the set that felt "rushed".

A Life Beyond the Dream - Love this song, but this felt like terrible set placement to me. It still feels that way upon this relisten. It's like they played it just to say "yea, the sets almost over". To be fair, this is a phenomenal version with an outstanding peak. If they played it like this every single time, nobody would complain. Worth a highlight.

Character Zero - Yup, sets over. Great as always but C Zero is C Zero.


All in all, a very strong set, but in the back half it felt like they were beginning to worry about time. Still, Taste, ER, Tube and probably ALBTD are all genuinely must-hear. Warm up sets have certainly been far worse than this!

 

12/31/23 New York City

Set 2

Down With Disease - A strong version, if cut short for the gag. This was great - they come out and launch into Disease to troll us and make everyone go "oh, no Gamehendge", ya know? Nothing special in the long run, and barely 7 minutes, but what's here is great. No, seriously, they play it as tight as they ever have all year and it almost sounds like 1.0 playing it again for once. Hell yes. Short but OH SO SWEET!!!! It even gets a jam going!!!! A+ short Disease!!!!!!

HARPUA - HARPUA HARPUA HARPUA HARPUA HARPUA HARPUA HARPUA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You've never seen more people lose their collecting $h!t than if you were in the room for this. Incredible. Jimmy on the bed rising from below the stage. Annie Golden as the grandmother....and Jimmy's "gaslight @$$hole" of a father.....We are heading over the cliff.....

WELCOME TO THE REAL STORY OF....
GAMEHENDGE!!!!!

Honestly, no joke, I cried when Harpua began. I still didn't expect Gamehendge - I figured Harpua itself was the gag. And then the damn rhombus arose from the stage and my head exploded....what about you @Islands ??
My god, Annie Golden was so perfect, lol.....

The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday - I'm calling this the TMWSIY overture or something. They don't play Alvenu Malcanu and it's more background intro music than anything, but of course we get to check this off of our "another song I'll never hear ever again" list!!! Sounds great, of course! Colonel Forbin can't resist temptation any longer and steps through the door into Narnia Gamehendge.

>The Lizards - Absolutely incredible in person. 50 people in Lizard costumes roaming around the stage, everyone singing and cheering along! Fantastic. The "Skippy the Wondermouse" part made me cry again, seriously. Musically, with the extra vocals and the extra synth strings and whatnot, this version feels like a genuine all-timer reading of the song, if you can even say such a thing. Genuinely terrific.

Punch You In the Eye - Narration time! Colonel Forbin is in Gamehendge and learns of King Wilson then sees the ship with the Wolf on it....etc. Punch sounds darn good tonight! Love the explosions and "prepare for battle!!!" cries during the main intro portion of the song. Fantastic!!!! The rhombus was red, white and blue during this and looked SO badass! They do have to slow down the Landlady section, but they hit all of their notes (and sweeps, haha). A great Punch for the modern era if a tad on the slow side. Totally highlight worthy.

AC/DC Bag - 19 minute Bag and the only jam of the Gamehendge set up next. This is so long due to the Multi-Beast puppet needing to slowly make its way from the back of the crowd all the way to the stage. Obviously, I know Bag is a GH song, but I can't fugure out for the life of me what it has to do with the story. Can you guys help me out? The jam in Bag begins around 5 minutes. Gets kinda chill to start, but by 7 minutes things are getting hairy. Some darkness starts to creep in - rubbery bass, extreme sustained notes....we are in Type II by now!!! Then come the dark space snythesizers!!!! By 10 minutes though, the darkness has been subverted and replaced with a quais-majestic kind of feel! Slow and steady, the whole band moving this thing like a vehicle together!!!! Then at 11 minutes we descend into outer space darkness once more!! Super angry and dark playing, space synths abound, Fishman annihilating the kit! THIS IS POWERFUL STUFF! From here, they evolve it back into a slow-burn rock and roll jam. MACHINE GUN TREY IS OUT TO PLAY, MELTING FACES LEFT AND RIGHT!!! LETS FRIGGIN GO!!!! THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!!!! WE ARE MELTING!! WE ARE ALL DEAD!!! WHAT IS THIS BAG!!!??? THIS IS THE GREATEST BAG SINCE....EVER?! After 6 or 7 minutes of this, they lay back and let the MultiBeast get to the stage. They keep tearing it up, but they have already peaked and moved on. Slowly, they continue to rage hard and pour lava in our ears, hopefully building back to another peak to close...

^^^^That Bag is beyond incredible and I feel blessed to have witnessed it. Jam of the friggin run. Probably a top 15 or so jam of the entire year (that's saying a LOT!). The definition of must-hear.....

Tela - GOAT TELA. Period. End of story. How the hell do you beat this?! The dancers and the girl flying 30ft in the air....one of the absolute highlights of this pure-highlight set. Incredible.

Llama - AND THE HITS KEEP COMING!!! Lizard man shooting tshirts into the crowd with a bazooka! Headbanger's paradise - GET IT TREY!!! LETS FRIGGIN GO!

Wilson - GOAT WILSON. Period. End of story. Ok, maybe not, but it's gotta be in the top 5, no? Wilson is Wilson, but having The Wolf prowling the stage, singing along with Trey, all the crazy smoke and near-pyro going on around the rhombus...this one can't really be topped. A damn treat. I mean, just check this pic I took of the overhead screen, lol. Epic or what?!

The Sloth - Up next is The Sloth. This was hilarious. Even Trey was cracking up throughout. Some guy in the dumbest looking sloth outfit slooooowwwwlllllyyyyy crossing the stage to attack Wilson, only to miss when he actually gets close enough to strike, lol. Meanwhile Wilson is just looking at his watch, sitting and yawning, etc. Hysterically stupid in the best way.

Divided Sky - DS is DS. Excellent version. Everyone nails their parts. Whatchu want me to say?!

END OF SET 2

Set 3

McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters - Oh man, you had to see the animatronic/puppet McGrupp they had running around the stage. So perfect. "Was Tela a spy?!" "WASN'T SHE?!". "I'm not telling, grandma!" LOL

Colonel Forbin's Ascent/Fly Famous Mockingbird - First since 2021, only 2nd since Baker's Dozen! This featured one of the coolest things ever, like the whale on the Earth Day show, they had a drone-powered Mockingbird flying around the arena!!!! I honestly teared up again during Mockingbird. It was beautiful to experience. As for the music, it's not flawless, but it does sound practiced. For a song played only once every couple of YEARS, it sounds about what you'd expect it to sound like.


>Auld Lang Syne - Is ALS. No balloons...

Split Open and Melt - And Gamehendge comes to a close with The Lizards dying a molten death in the volcano. :'( Poor lizards! 14 minutes on this sucker, it goes deep and nasty as expected. A fantastic way to end Gamehendge, though slightly "anticlimactic" in a "that's how they are gonna end it all?!" way, haha.

You Enjoy Myself - Great version. Nothing to say.
Loving Cup
Possum
Cavern
First Tube
Tweeprise

Nothing really to say from YEM onwards. The rest of the set/show is just a kickass victory lap. Nothing to say really. This was an unbelievable and unique experience. I will treasure the night for the rest of my life....

2023-12-30 New York City, NY

 If you couldn't tell already, I'm off from work - rainy day.

Onwards to 12/30/23, MSG #3, aka, the weakest show of the run (but it's still great, haha). Quick thought, I freaking LOVED the first set from start to finish, but set 2 was pretty much my nightmare as far as song selection goes. I was tired that day and set 2 was basically "is it over yet?" for me. Interested to see how it is as a listen versus in person.

Set 1 -

Backwards Down the Number Line - We knew we were screwed when we got a #Line opener.... When all is said and done, this is actually a very good version worthy of a highlight. Not the opener we wanted, but it kicks tail, for real. Great little Number Line!!! HOLY CRAP CHECK OUT THE PEAKING ON THIS SUCKER!!!!! MY GOD!!!

Wolfman's Brother - Hell yes! My namesake! This WolfMAN is utterly fantastic. It doesn't get overly funky or go into Type II land, but it PEAKS harder than just about anything you've ever heard. Pure, unbridled, rock and roll ecstacy of the highest order. Definitely one of the most underrated moments of the whole run, imo. KILLER.

Turtle In the Clouds - Absolutely kick ass. I remember losing my mind in person (this happenned several times this set) because this is my favorite Kasvot song and it felt like they were making up to me for not playing it at Charleston 2019 Jumping up and down with everyone else, screaming the lyrics aloud, is a Phish memory I will hold forever dearly in my heart. AND THEY DID THE DANCE THIS TIME!!! Maybe this isn't anything special as a listen, but you can hear the crowd absolutely going NUTS throughout the song, and that's exactly what it was like. Incredible. Forget what I said about it not being a great listen - it's terrific. A very strong version of the song, Trey nails all of his parts, there is just some very slight hesitancy from Page switching keyboards throughout, but otherwise, this is an A+ Turtle!

Undermind - And the PARTY continues!! At this point it was pretty apparent what kind of set they were going for on this night. And that's ok! Lovely use of Robo FX from Trey throughout. Killer soloing from Page as well. Undermind is always friggin' hot, and this one is no exception, maybe even a bit stronger than most!!!! Don't sleep on this! Must-hear! THIS SUCKER DESTROYS!!!!

Kill Devil Falls - Yet another favorite of mine, at this point my head was exploding. I sang my absolute heart out to this. KDF is KDF. Destruction. This set rules!!!! A+++++++++++ shredtastic facemelting KDF!!!! MUST HEAR!!! HOLY MOTHER OF X FACTOR THAT PEAK!!!!!!

Fuego - AKA, warewolf95 loses his mind. I posted about it here already, but launching into the WOAH section is an all-time memory for me. Absolutely incredible in person. 16 minutes on this Fuego, so we do get it stretched a little!! Somewhere around the 9 minute mark, as the song portion is winding down, the guys start playing around with strange rhythms and synths. Trey busts out the Robo FX and you know they are planning to stretch it at least a little. Around 10:50, Trey leans into his wah and the jam gets driving, but it also has a very soupy quality about it! Super cool! Outer-space driving, yo! They stay in this lane for several minutes, just relishing in the goopy space-funk (or whatever). Somewhere around the 13 minute mark, things slowly begin to change once more. Trey lays off the wah and the whole band syncs up on a great "1-2" rhythmic pulse (you'll know it when you hear it). Around 15:20 we move into Type II outer space bliss, but unfortunately this is simply the death knell for the jam and the song peters out from here. Probably one of the "weaker" Fuegos in a year full of amazing versions. What is here is as good as any other Fuego, it's just that it's cut too damn short!!!!

Train Song - Leaving that Fuego for friggin Train Song?! BOOO!!!!!!!! Plus, I already have seen the song once before, so it loses points for that as well.

It's Ice - AKA, warewolf95 loses his mind, vol. 2. Put this song directly at the top of the "songs I want to hear most but don't expect to ever hear" pile, so, as you can imagine, I lost my mind when this began. It was the furthest thing from my expectations! And thankfully, it's a great version! Honestly? I think it's the 2nd best of the year right behind the MSG version from the summer (a terrific reading - go revisit it!) Played just about flawlessly, this is close to perfection and sounds very obviously rehearsed! Terrific little Ice!

Life Saving Gun - Probably the highlight of the set AND the entire show!!! Nearly 14 minutes, performance #3 of the song is easily the best one yet played, and I'm not saying that just because I was in attendance. This thing was the definite of NUCLEAR. Absolutely incredible on all fronts and 100 percent must-hear.


All in all, I LOVE THIS SET!!!! I kicks so much tail!!! It's like they said "hey, let's play a set of uptempo rockers with a bunch of them being, specifically, favorite's of wolfy!" That is this set in a nutshell. Who needs jamming when you have this much straight up FIRE! A spectacular set, imo. If you are judging sets based on amounts of jams, you are missing out on a ton.

Set 2 of 12/30/23 this morning while downloading Neil Young shows

As I've already mentioned, this was my least favorite set of the run from a setlist perspective and I was pretty beat during it. I enjoyed it but was very much "checking the watch" throughout, unfortunately.

Here's to hoping it's a better listen! I remember Twist and Piper being surprisingly good so....


12/30/23 MSG #3

Set 2

The Well - Aside from Oblivion, this was easily the new song I was most looking forward to. The insane version from Philadelphia in the summer is an all-timer jam, imo. Unfortunately, this is the opposite. About 6 minutes long, they basically play the song, then Trey decides it was wrong and kills it on the spot instead of jamming it. Very annoying as it was a great reading, song-wise. However, it did feel, vibe-wise, like the wrong song to open the set with in person. It reminded me of everyone being super confused at Charleston 2019 when they came out with The Connection, only to change course and immediately afterwards go into Axilla . In conclusion, this pains me, as what is here is damn good. Trey just loses all confidence in it or something.....For that, I can't highlight it as it's nothing remarkable, really. This is so annoying, because this is a GREAT reading of the song - tight and powerful and full of ENERGY!!! It sounds like it's primed for liftoff, but they abort it instead!

>Tweezer - However, if you're gonna axe a song, at least go into Tweezer! Only 13 minutes on this one, unfortunately. I gotta say though, the energy definitely SKYROCKETED when they launched into this sucker. Upon playback, The Well kicked ass, but in person, I remember the energy being very "low" throughout, so I'm not surprised if Trey picked up on that and changed course. Strange how we can experience something in person but hear it back differently later, eh? But back to Tweezer...Right away, around 5 minutes, the jam gets very nice and quiet. Super laid back. It stays like this for a long while, unfortunately to the point where Trey begins to sound unsure of what to play. Thankfully, around 7:45, it starts to take on a slightly aquatic feel about it with Trey doing melodic noodles atop Fishman's increasing energy. The jam is still laid back and chill, but it has more "oomph" to it. By the 10:30 mark, this is starting to peak. I wouldn't call this laid back anymore, and it's starting to get a majestic kind of rock and roll flavor about it. They are totally building slowly to an explosion point. Unfortunately, it never really fully peaks, but it does rock hard to a great conclusion with a TERRIFIC segue into.... ***final thought - not a classic Tweezer, and too short for it's own good, but what's here is excellent!***

>Twist - That segue was so ridiculously perfect. I can't even complain about it. Nearly 10 minutes on this Twist, they waste no time getting down to business, immediately dropping into a chill section like the start of the Tweezer jam. Around 5 minutes, things start getting serious with Page coming in clutch with his blaring synthesizers to give this Twist a rather unique vibe that I can't recall from others!!! Also, fun "The Well" tease around 4:50. They slowly build this sucker up more and more until we get to a point where Trey is straight up trilling to his heart's delight, ripping it up. This is an absolutely killer little Twist. I honestly feel it's got more "character" than some other short ones. Don't sleep on this!!! They just explode this thing at the end! Synths and shredding everywhere!

>Piper - FREAKING RIDICULOUS!!!! UTTERLY INSANE!!! X FACTOR MACHINE GUN TREY INSANITY!!! HOLY MOTHER OF CRAP ON A CRACKER I WAS SO WRONG ABOUT THIS SUCKER!! MUST HEAR! MUST HEAR! MUST HEAR!! NUCLEAR BOMB!!!! Then around the 7 minute mark we go into Robo Funk Land. This is so killer.....

>Golden Age - I saw this coming from a mile away. Where Twist and Piper lay, Golden Age will follow. To be fair, Golden Age is excellent tonight and doesn't feel like the usual place-holder. In no way is it anything approaching the ridiculous Type II hellscape of that version from the Fall 2023 tour, but it does start to go Type II for the final 2 minutes or so. Not enough to be worth a damn, but the potential was there tonight. Not worth highlighting as it's a big thing of unfulfilled potential, but what's here is great. Felt like "The Well" all over again....

>2001 - The playing in the beginning feels very stiff and stilted. This is just your bog standard 2001, but the room is exploding like it's Gamehendge or something. Very cool robo-squiggle jamming in the back half, but not cool enough for me to highlight this.

Sigma Oasis - Again, nothing that special about this either. However, it was awesome for me because they debuted the song at the final Charleston 2019 show while I was only at the first two, so it was kinda like "hey, this one is for you!" Highlight worthy for the ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE PEAK near the end. That needs to be heard. Wow.

David Bowie - At this point.....yea, I'm not really a Bowie guy on most days, no matter how played. No reason, just not my particular favorite song. So I was kinda bummed, honestly, to have to sit through this considering I got one in Charleston. The song itself isn't super well-performed, and it does have a decent jam of sorts, but overall I'm glad when this is finished.


Slave to the Traffic Light - See Bowie. I was definitely checking my watch during this.... Again, you guys know I'm not normally a Slave guy.

More - I honestly enjoyed this WAY more than both Bowie and Slave. Kill me. The set was dead in the water by this point and this picked it up in a big way. This sucker kicks ass.



All in all....the first half of the set is pretty darn good, but there are problems with aborted jams and things not reaching "Full potential", if you will. We saw that in the first set with Fuego. Tweezer>Twist>Piper is the meat of this set and all you really need from it. The rest is by the numbers and, while well-played, just one "wrong" song after the next (again, imo). Get Tweezer>Twist>Piper and the first set and chuck the rest.

Oh my god, is it over yet?!

2023-12-29 New York City, NY

 Been a couple days without a review, so since I'm home on this rainy day, I have no excuse to not keep going with MSG2023.

Onwards to night 2. If anyone recalls, set 1 was a total bust for me - missed train and personal issues, songs missed, horrible vibes.... So I'm actually really looking forward to seeing what I think of this one as lord knows in person I couldn't think about it at all

12/29/23 MSG #2

Set 1

Free - Holy crap, listen to the crowd ROAR! I gotta say, from the get-go, this version is SUPER TIGHT and played at the perfect tempo! Sometimes Free can be a hit-or-miss if everything doesn't line up "just so". Not the case with this one! Perfect guitar solo fills as well. Maybe not the Free of the year, but if you're looking for a "perfectly played" rendition, hit this up pronto! This one reaches 9 minutes - the jam has some great little moments of ambience and strangeness. A terrific Free - seek this one out!!!

The Moma Dance - ***I got into the venue during the last minute or so of Moma. I remember hearing this while walking in and thinking "Oh good, it's only Moma", haha.*** At the end of the day, they tear the roof off as usual. Moma is Moma. Really great "whispered section" in the middle. Terrific A+ energy! As with Free, there really isn't anything "special" at all about this compared to other great versions of the year, but it's played straight with so much energy and just sounds damn great! Really not worth highlighting, but know that it is excellent, still.

Maze - Love the robo-ambience in the intro!!! ***Once I got in and to my seats, there were issues with seat-stealers in my place that had to get sorted, so I didn't get settled until Maze was 2/3 over which REALLY sucked! One of my favorite songs I'd been dying to hear.....**** Play it Leoooooo!!!! Absolutely terrific and shred-tastic soloing from Page! The crowd erupts and roars their approval! Then Trey comes along and absolutely tears this sucker to the friggin ground!!!! HOLY MOTHER OF CHRIST ON A CRACKER THIS MAZE IS AS HOT AS ANY VERSION PLAYED IN THE 90s!!!! 100 PERCENT MANDATORY LISTENING!!! OH MY GOD!!!! OUTSTANDING!! 10/10!!! A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Evolve - "Welcome back! I hope everybody slept well..." I remember being a little "bored" by this choice. I enjoy the song but feel it is probably the most overplayed new song by a wide margin. It's starting to approach Ruby Waves territory, except that Ruby Waves jams. Great song, and always played super well, but it seems to be a "you know what you are gonna get" tune for now. When all is said and done, look to Moma Dance. This is another fine-if-unspectacular/noteworthy reading. I remember it sticking out in person that it wasn't that particularly strong (I mean, it's as good as any other, but not good enough to surpass them or make me rave about it).

Stash - 13 minutes on this one. The closest thing this set comes to actual jamming. The song itself sounds excellent, aside from Trey's off-key "WOOOAAAHHHWOAAAH"s, lol. Trey taps back into the Maze energy and just lets it friggin' rip. If you want a facemelter Stash, this is the one for you. This refuses to stray outside of it's Type 1 lines in any meaningful way whatsoever, but holy nuclear bomb did they just EXPLODE this Stash to friggin' bits!!!! A++++++ Type 1 version that needs to be heard!! Fantastic!

Back On the Train - Yet another terrific Type 1 BOTT. There isn't much else to say. As with Moma Dance, it's fantastic, but at the same time, it's just Back On the Train. Don't sleep on this, but does it really need to be highlighted? Not really. BUT IT'S STILL FRIGGIN GREAT!

Theme From the Bottom - At this point, if you hadn't figured out what kind of setlist this was going to be (the pedestrian kind), I don't know what else to tell you. All songs you love but don't need in the same set, lol. That's harsh, but you know what I mean. Thankfully, this one goes above and beyond even Moma and BOTT with it's Type 1 awesome-sauce. MOTHER FRIGGIN OUTSTANDING! A++++ 10/10 THEME. SO POWERFUL. SO JUBILANT! SLEEP ON THIS AT YOUR OWN PERIL!!! MAGNIFICENT TYPE 1!!!! HOLY CRAP!!!

>Mountain In the Mist - Awesome ambient segue from Theme! Absolutely beautiful as always. Same as ever, but ya gotta highlight this on principle.

46 Days - See Maze^^^^^^^


Drift While You're Sleeping - Normally in a "boring" set like this I'd complain, but this version felt extra strong. Great stuff.


All in all, song-wise, this is a yawn-fest, but they had the playing to back it up. Not a single Type II jam to think of, but who cares when the Type I is THIS fantastic. The Maze was a legitimate ALL TIMER rendition (seriously - please go play this NOW!) and Theme>Mountains>46 Days was terrific. Not an amazing set in the grand scheme, but still very strong for what it is - straight ahead, "greatest hits" type Phish.

Set 2

Chalkdust Torture - 23 MINUTE CDT!!!! In person, I recall the Chalkdust sounding good but also sounding a bit slow or "tired", for lack of a better term. You can hear this a little bit on the recording - it's certainly not the "tightest" version, but it's got a sludgy menace to it that I really dig! The jam begins around the 5 minute mark with Trey vamping on CDT while Page does aquatic keys. Like a chilled-out CDT groove or something. Super cool. It's like they are still inside Chalkdust but are slowly turning it into a weirdo chill-funk version or something.
---By 7 minutes, Type II is fast approaching, if it hasn't already arrived. Trey starts setting loopers and playing with delays, Page is on the watery keys, etc. They are still holding on to the last threads of Chalkdust but things are very strange. By the 9 minute mark, we are in full-blown semi-ambient synth bliss. Or something like that. Page is doing that cool "stuttering synth" thing that he has started using. Trey is doing melodic leads over a looper.
---They stay in that area for a long time, building the intensity back up to a rock and roll rhythm so slowly that you don't even realize what happenned. By 13 minutes we have reached rock and roll bliss with a looper in the background and Fishman doing great "tribal" rhythms all over the toms. This jam is friggin' SICK! It sounds like they are playing the whole thing underwater (hard to explain, but lots of great delay and watery keyboards all over this thing!!!!). This is a damn JOURNEY!!!
---Then, right on the dot, at the 15 minute mark, Trey starts playing with robo FX a bit on top of his wah and delays. Very cool. The whole band then sync up on a great stop-start, pulsing rhythm kind of thing with the crowd going "WOO!" in between. At the 16 minute mark, it sounds like Trey wants to kill the jam for a brief moment, but Fishman pushes onwards and we descend into ROBO SPACE!!!! Full-blown, outerspace, black hole Type II!! SQUIGGLES ABOUND!!!!
---SQUIGGLE WARNING!!!!!!!!! WE ARE HURTLING THROUGH THE WORMHOLE!!!!!!! WHAT IS GOING ON!!!! IF YOU WANT YOUR PHISH DARK AND WEIRD, THIS IS THE FRIGGIN JAM FOR YOU!!! X FACTOR MAGIC!!! WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENNING!?!?!??!
---By 19 minutes, the rhythmic strangeness begins to subside and Trey kicks off the FX....But the guys are all still linked up hardcore, doing an awesome rhythmic thing again before Trey returns to the Whammy pedal for more SQUIGGLE ABUSE!!! This jam is ALL OVER THE MAP!!! By 20:45, the ROBO FX make a massive return like it's 2021 all over again! Gordo finally kicks on his "growler" effect and we are again being sucked into the proverbial wormhole, being dragged every which way. ROBO MELTDOWN ALERT!!!!! THIS JAM IS THE SOUND OF A DYING DROID!!!! WHAT THE HELL! THIS IS ONE OF THE GREATEST JAMS OF THE YEAR. TOP 10 or 12, EASILY. BRUH. TOTAL ROBO DEATH......

>Oblivion - 17 minutes on this one, you can hear Trey signaling this from a mile away in the dying throes of that monster Chalkdust (torture, indeed!!!!). I remember being so stoked to get Oblivion and knew we HAD to be in for a lengthy one after that!!! The jam proceeds as usual until things start to get weird around the 8 minute point. A cool rhythmic thing starts happenning and everyone follows on. Page doing weird synths while Trey does melodic soloing. All the while, Fishman is going bananas behind the kit as if to say "HEY. LISTEN TO ME!". The jam is very upbeat and feel-good, which is funny, considering it's birth out of that Robot Hellscape Chalkdust!!!!! Around the 10 minute mark, Trey starts to go ham on the wah pedal and we are just deep into a wonderful rock and roll jam. It almost sounds like they are getting ready to go into Party Time!!! An EXPLOSIVE Party Time!! Then, around 12:45, Trey drops into an ascending motif and the jam just SKYROCKETS into PeakVille, population: this friggin' Oblivion!!! Around 13:45 Trey hits the longest note this side of Divided Sky and holy crap it is OFF TO THE FRIGGIN RACES BOYS AND GIRLS!!!

Yo, that Oblivion was X Factor Magic!!! Pure rock and roll insanity like the Ghost from 12/28!!!!!!! MY GOODNESS!!!!

What's the Use - 7 minutes on this one, it goes deep fast. It doesn't segue out of Oblivion, so it feels a little weird when it comes out of a dead stop, but that's ok, This was absolutely the perfect song choice for the spot. After the robo insanity of CDT and the melt-your-face shred fest of Oblivion, this cools us down while giving us a more "mysterious" and slightly dark vibe. Wonderful version!!!

>My Friend My Friend - YES! That was a true segue! Wow! Again, keeping the darkness going strong, what a great choice of song and a unique set placement as well! 11 minutes, this one felt like the little brother of the much-lauded Alpharetta version from the summer. Following the regular extreme meltdown portion, around the 8 minute mark, Fishman introduces a new drum beat. A true, blue, Type II MyFe!!!! Wow! Trey is going nuts on the RoboWah along to Fishman's new rhythms. They keep this going and jam it hard for several minutes until it slowly starts to slow down with Trey introducing a genuine segue into....

>Sand - Again, the PERFECT choice outta that robo hell!!! YES!!! THIS IS FRIGGIN AWESOME!!! THAT SEGUE WAS PERFECT!!! This sucker is merely 10 minutes, but it does it's sandy Sand thing and melts our faces just like we want. Hell yes.

About to Run - Not really anything THAT special, but it kicks ass just like Sand, so I might as well highlight it

Harry Hood - Hood to close, 15 minutes on this one. I know I'm often not a Hood guy, but I tell ya what, they had me enraptured from the first drum beat. I could not wait to scream "HOOD!" with everyone else. And thankfully this is a wonderful Hood! Very tight, Trey nails his parts and the whole thing sounds dark and angsty to go with the mood of the set. A wonderful Hood to close a wonderful, and oddly DARK, second set!

Lonely Trip - First encore. Is Lonely Trip. Great to hear, imo

Carini - Only 9 minutes, but the Garden friggin' EXPLODED!!!! I lost my mind, that's for sure. First encore Carini since the famous 2021 version!



All in all....set 1 is a snooze pretty much (the playing IS great though), but the 2nd set is where it's at. A terrific set chock full of amazing stuff. The CDT>Oblivion and WTU>MyFe>Sand are MUST HEAR. Seriously, the CDT>Oblivion is one of the finest pairings of the year. The Chalkdust has to be in the top 5 or 6 STRANGEST jams of the year along with the Berkeley SYSF or the Dayton Ruby Waves. Just insane. A great gig on the whole. Many will prefer this show and I wouldn't argue!!!!  

2023-12-28 New York City, NY

 I lied, I'm doing proper reviews of the 4 MSG shows to close things out, well, properly!

Today it is 12/28/23, MSG #1

I will try my best to put my memories aside for this. That's pretty easy as it's hard to make out much detail at a show in person (for me, at least).

Set 1

No Men In No Man's Land - Absolutely CRUSHING and EXPLOSIVE type 1 shredfest!!! A terrific version bordering on must-hear. Reminds me of the Alpharetta 2021 Sand where it will be quickly forgotten but absolutely brought the house down while it was happenning. SERIOUS ENERGY!!!! KILLER!

Halley's Comet - One of my sleeper hits of the run. The opening vocal section sounds downright awful, Trey warbling all over the place and out of key...Honestly, the song itself sounds a little sluggish. Thankfully, after a couple minutes, they pull it together and the tight energy returns. The jam begins right at 5 minutes, then, at 5:50, you can hear someone hit a wrong note/wrong change (or something like that) and the jam instantly hits upon a new direction. Into a funky robot area we go, Trey honking it up with the RoboWah Deluxe, Page mirroring his playing over on the electric piano. Soon after, Trey returns to a normal sound and the guys proceed to just straight up Type 1 peak this sucker to a raging conclusion. Not an all-timer, but a surprisingly potent version considering the semi-brief runtime (hey, it hits 10 minutes, just about!). Go revisit this - it kicks tail once it gets going!!!

>Sample In a Jar - Unexpected segue into Sample that somehow worked better than it should. Super powerful Type 1 on this, ala the Seattle 2023 version I love so dearly. Nothing special in the slightest, but this absolutely delivers exactly as you expect. Trey is ALL OVER this thing just going HAM on his axe!!!!! Wow!!!

Runaway Jim - Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! The hits keep a-comin'!!! As with the first three numbers, this is just all-killer no-filler Type 1 like it's 2011 again. Before the big "hit", I love how they bring it down to total silence then quickly BAM, right in the face! The jam beins very quiet and delicate start to the jam. The guys take it nice and easy, keeping a great "chill" feel for a long while. Trey is having a good night, hitting all of the "right" notes at the perfect times. This slowly builds into a SOARING solo from Trey. Totally must-hear little Jim!!! Seriously!!! A+++++ Type 1!!! Must hear!

Bouncing Around the Room - Is BATR. Good set placement for once. Nice breather. Noteworthy for being exceptionally well performed tonight. They don't get played better than this. Yes, it's an easy song, but this version is TIGHT . Super well done!!!! A+.

Axilla - I remember the place friggin' EXPLODED when they launched into this. First repeat of the run for me, caught this in Charleston in 2019. Love the outro jam on this one. Slightly longer than usual, Trey gets to some really great places with it. Love when it gets super evil with Page's synths blaring in the background!! Total Egg In a Hole vibes! Killer.

Funky B - See Axilla. I remember in person the place exploded yet again and also that Gordo was particularly into this version, which was AWESOME to see!!! Very cool delay work from Trey during Page's solo. I haven't heard that in a Funky B. In the back half, listen to Cactus absolute TEAR it up! Shredding up that bass and also absolutely howling his vocals. Killer. Must-hear!!! NUCLEAR BOMB FUNKY B!!!! MACHINE GUN TREY!!!! FREAKING SHRED IT UP!!! LETS FREAKING GO!!!!!

Bathtub Gin - 17 minutes! Let's go!!!! Right off the rip, the tempo is UP and the song has a harder-rocking feel about it. It's subtle, but enough to make you take notice! During the song, EVERYONE is going hardcore with the vocal scatting, so much so that it even influences the start of the jam. Sick to hear!! Around 5 minutes the jamming begins and then around 6 minutes they shift into Type 1.5. The jam starts all chill like Runaway Jim, almost having a laid-back nighttime kind of feel to it. Trey hanging back and picking his shots while Page takes the lead on the keys. Around the 8:30 mark, things start to get weird. They dive deeper into this laidback nighttime feel. Trey setting backwards guitar loops while Page plays with some interesting stuttering synthesizer FX. Gordo is even varying up his playing, doing strange bends throughout. This lasts a good long time - at least a few minutes!!! Eventually, around 10:30, Page axes the stuttering synths for his "No Quarter" watery keys and the jam begins to take flight. Trey starts soloing it up and the whole thing begins to slowly move skywards. At the 11 minute mark, Page jumps on the piano and INSTANTLY the jam rockets up in intensity by about 10 clicks!!!! HOLD ON TO YOUR SEATS! THERE WILL BE PEAKS!!! At this point we have left weirdo night-synth land behind and are rocketing to the heavens in a good old-fashioned "type 1", bliss-fire rager of the highest order. The tempo keeps increasing bit by bit and you know they are gonna just explode this sucker sooner than later! Sick mini-peak around 12:40!!! This goes forever until around the 14 minute point where Trey is full on giving us the business, just tearing it up atop Mount Bliss-Peak. Swirling piano, shredding Trey, 90s style x factor magic....THIS IS SICK!!! HOLY CRAP LETS GET IT!!!!!! WOW!!!!!!

AND IT KEEPS GOING!!! AND GOING!! AND GOING!!! MY MEMORY WAS RIGHT!!! THEY PEAK THIS THING LIKE 10 TIMES!!!!! HELL YES!!!!!

Then finally at 16:15, the jam concludes with a great return to the Gin theme, and by 16:30, this masterpiece of fiery bliss has reached a conclusion.....

WOW!!!!

>Ghost - THAT SEGUE! Extra bonus shred spectacular to close the set! Don't sleep on this!! Right off the bat, Trey is playing chill, but the band has the same hotter fire from Gin. Awesome. Also, singing along in person was beyond awesome. One of my Phish dreams coming true! The jam starts slow and swampy, Trey absolutely honking it up on the wah, but doing so patiently. Wonderful drum-sample fills from Fishman throughout! Very slowly, they increase in intensity, never rushing, always taking their time. Around 5:45, there is a great "accidental" moment where the jam shifts in a major way. They move into more upbeat waters, Fishman still going strong with the fills and samples, Trey still going ham on the wah. Page and Trey are almost mirroring each other at times. Around 6:30, Fishman introduces a much quicker, more shuffley rhythm, seemingly in an attempt to propel the jam in a new direction (or at least speed up the one they were heading for). Thankfully, they avoid going completely into bliss heaven by the fact that Trey keeps his robo FX going, sets some loopers, and things stay just askew enough to make this different than your typical latter-day Type I Ghost. At 8:42, Page jumps to the piano while Trey is going nuts with loopers and the jam begins to head for Peakville. Around 9 minutes, Trey begins his circular trilling and the jam just LIFTS THE F OFF in a huge way!!!

HERE WE GO!!! HOLD ON TO YOUR FRIGGIN HATS!!!!

THEN AT 10 MINUTES THE JAM FRIGGIN EXPLODES!!! MORE PEAKAGE THAN THAT GIN!!! MORE SHREDDING THAN THAT FUNKY B!!! WE EVEN GET A NO MEN IN NO MANS LAND TEASE TO BOOKEND THE SET!!! YES!!! THIS IS AWESOME!!!! HELL YEA!!!!


And with that....set 1 of YEMSG 2023 is over. An absolute barnburner of a set, Halley, Jim, Funky B and of course the masterpiece duo of Gin>Ghost to close are all MUST HEAR with everything else being A+ Type 1 of the highest order. A set that doesn't go TOO far out there but does it's thing with more pizazz and aplomb than you can shake a Gamehendge at. An absolute BLAST of a set without a single weak link in the chain!! WOW! As good as my memory!!!

Set 2

The Howling - HELL YES!! LETS FRIGGIN GO!!! You bet your ass I got the F down to this sucker and howled my tail off! AWOOOOOOOOO!!!! An absolutely perfect choice to get the set going in a PARTY mood!!! Not quite the masterpiece from Dicks, but this sucker still rages hard and, as I said, was the perfect song to get us up and grooving!!!! KILLER!!! SO, MUCH, ENERGY!!!!

>A Wave of Hope - 24 minutes, longest of the year!!!! And that perfect segue, smooth as butter!!! ***I'll never forget this one in person. It felt like it went on forever in the best way possible. This was maybe the single new song I wanted to hear more than any other, equal to how much I was dying to catch Mercury in 2019.*** As usual, this sucker rages hard to high heaven. An absolute Machine-Gun Trey SMOKESHOW.
---Around 6:30, the first sign of deviation occurs with Trey doing these longing sustains for a while, setting a cool loop of them in the process. Meanwhile, Page begins to vary up his piano as well. By 9 minutes, we are still rocketing skyward at 200mph, but the jam is definitely beginning to take on a more introverted yet psychedelic kinda style. Backwards guitar and loops, Trey playing off of Page, Fishman slowing down the drums, synths creeping in.....WELCOME TO TYPE 2 BOYS AND GIRLS!
---Around 11:30, we have full assimilated into the Borg hivemind, if you will. Page takes the lead on the synth while Trey does porno-wah background accompaniment. At the same time, Fishman amps it up again and gets us going quick, getting us shooting straight into outer space.
---At 12:30, the drums and synths and psychedelic insanity comes to a halt. We enter Quiet Bliss Heaven!!! Pounding tom-tom fills, Page buttering us up with textural synths, Trey unsure what to do, lol. This is pure, unadulterated Type 2 of the best sort.
---Eventually around the 14:30 mark, we begin to move into a much heavier space, ala the dark section of the Greezer. Or something like that. A great midtempo STOMP , if you will. Super heavy and rocking, like a jam out of an About to Run!!!! CHECK OUT CACTUS GROWLING IT UP AT 16 MINUTES!!! HOLY CRAP THIS IS FRIGGIN SICK!!! THIS IS BONKERS!!!!
---Then, at 16:45, they launch back into the Wave of Hope rhythm outta nowhere! You can tell Trey was planning to conclude the song finally and they start to build to the expected rock and roll peak!!! This kind of happens, but they keep averting it and stretching this sucker out instead. By 19:30 we are back into a blazing lava hot rock and roll jam like you expect. Fantastic.
OH MY GOD!!!! CHECK OUT THAT BLAZING PEAK AROUND 21 MINUTES!!!! HOLY CRAPP!!! CAN HE PLAY ANY HIGHER OR ANY HOTTER?!?!?!? MY FACE IS IN A PUDDLE ON THE FLOOR!!!!! THAT GIN AIN'T GOT NOTHING ON THIS!!! FANTASTIC!! MUST HEAR!!! ONE OF THE BEST JAMS OF THE YEAR!!!!!!!

So they conclude it afterwards and we move on to......
  >Rift - In a very rare move, Wave of Hope does NOT return to the song and instead we get a GENUINE ambient segue into....THE BEST PLACED RIFT OF ALL TIME. Seriously, this damn segue/set placement is so ridiculously great....And thankfully, Rift is played mostly flawlessly!!! Trey is picking everything audibly and hitting all his notes for the most part. Terrific stuff!! Not a classic Rift, but it'll still get your damn blood pumping!!! And again, that set placement!!!!

>Mike's Song - And the stellar placements continue! That segue was killer and the "Howling" "awooooo!!!!!" samples that immediately follow the main riff were great!!! The song is taken at a slightly groovy-sounding pace tonight, full of oomph. The initial jam picks up on this and is SUPER FRIGGIN FUNKY!!!! Lots of easy delay and laid back super-grooves. This is spectacular! Around 6:40, Trey busts out the robo FX. THINGS ARE BEGINNING TO GET SQUIGGLY!!!!!! This only lasts about a minute and by 7:40 Page is on the piano with Trey using a clean tone. The next few minutes see them rage this thing to high heaven. ABSOLUTELY SKULLCRUSHING!!! HOLY MOTHER OF CRAP!!!!! THE X FACTOR IS FLOWING!!!

>Simple - And out of the short Mike's Song of the year into one of the Simple's of the year!!!! 14 minutes on this one. ***Getting a legit Mike's>Simple like it's the 90s was one of my Phish dreams, it must be said. I honestly could not believe it was happenning in front of me!*** The guys lay hard into the chill ambience out of the song, leading to the start of the jam. Instead of ending and going to another song, they stay in the zone and just keep it going and going and going. It's absolutely delightful.
-----Then, right at 6:50, the light comes to an end and Trey begins riffing. The guys very slowly start to move into another direction. An uneasy, hazy space-ambience is the new backdrop atop which Trey lays down his leads. A very cool sustained note loop persists throughout this section. Still taking their sweet time, around 9:45, looper still going, the whole band begins to raise the intensity of the jam considerably. Still at a slow Godzilla-stomp tempo, Trey lets it loose again like it's About to Run.
----The jam by this point is a big swirling, fiery mess of guitar histrionics and robotics juxtaposed against the soothing calmness of Gordo's bass lines and Page's keyboard playing. Kinda claustrophobic! Then, at 11:45, the mood shifts again, and slowly a new driving, pulsing kind of rhythm emerges!!!! This sees the band leading the song to it's conclusion. No peakage, just a great set up for the following tune....

>Blaze On - Again, great little segue! Your standard blazing hot version to close the show. Belongs more in set 1, but I'll take it. Great stuff!


ENCORE - FOUR songs?!?!?

Mercy - I refuse to lowercase that. Only 2nd time ever played by Phish!!! Very nice, I was maybe the only person around me the recognized it, lol

The Squirming Coil - Very tight reading of the classic. Terrific outro solo by Page. You know something's up when the band stays put and doesn't leave the stage!

Weekapaug Groove - Is Weekapaug. How could they not?! I was worried they wouldn't play it and thank god they did! Nothing that special, but ya gotta have it!

SANTOS - HOLY FRICKIN CRAP HOTTER THAN THE SUN!!!! Being on the floor for this was absolutely incredible. Those lights spinning at 200mph, blinding me. You have no idea how much I headbanged to this. I had to be the happiest person in the entire room to get SANTOS.


All in all....THE FRIGGIN REVIEW SPEAKS FOR ITSELF!!! Honestly, they came out SWINGING HARD this night, with the x factor flowing big time. One of the most balanced shows you'll ever hear. Starting with the best, eh?

YEMSG 2023 - A Quick Recap

 Quick recap of the 4 shows from my in-person experience. I plan to do proper reviews of the shows shortly for completeness/comparison sake, but for now, here is my memory of them. Keep in mind, I had seats from shows #2 and #4 and I was on the floor for shows #1 and #3.

12/28 -
Overall strongest "normal" show of the run for me by a wide margin, but tied with 12/31 if you discount the "extra" nature of that very special gig. I thought the X Factor was flowing MAJORLY throughout. That Gin and Ghost to close the first set were pure insanity. Gin seemed like it had 20 peaks, I swear. And Ghost was annihilation.
Then you have the second set with the longest Wave of Hope in a year of massive Wave of Hopes (nearly 24 min!) going into a KICK ASS oldschool Mike's Song>14 minute Simple.
The four song encore, including only the second-ever performance of "Mercy" by Phish, was the definition of icing on the cake. I tell you, being on that floor for the pure insanity of the evening's closing S.A.N.T.O.S. (THOSE MOTHER EFFING LIGHTS SPINNING 1000mph!!!!) is something I will cherish for all eternity....


12/29 -
The first set was basically dead on arrival for me. I mentioned in this thread, but our train was delayed for an hour and we missed all of Free. I made it into the building during the final minute or so of The Moma Dance. Then, Maze was shot because people were in my seat and I had to get security to kick them out of the way. On top of that, my partner and I were having a bad day personally and this carried through the rest of the first set. I tried hard, but the above factors and the uber-pedestrian setlist totally killed it for me in-person. Bummer.
Thankfully set 2 was a million times better. We worked our issue out and got into it totally. This was my partner's first show (he is NOT a fan, lol) and he spent the evening laughing at the crazy hippies trying to "dance" to atonal outer space psych rock (Chalkdust>Oblivion) He thought the 23 minute Chalkdust into the 17 minute Oblivion was awful, haha. Can't say I expected anything else from him!
For me, I thought set 2 annihilated. Pure fire from start to finish and a massive step up from set 1. Chalkdust limped out of the starting gate but once the jamming began, they righted course and it was smooth sailing from then on out. Also, this set felt very, very DARK!!! Oblivion, What's the Use, My Friend, Sand, About to Run....with only the 2nd Carini encore EVER since that fabled 2021 version!!!!
Note: the Chalkdust and Oblivion are both incredible and up there with the best music of the year.
Harry Hood was killer and converted me for real. And the Carini destroyed in person - not a patch on the 2021 version, but when they ripped into it, the Garden EXPLODED!!!!
Final thought - set 1 was pedestrian, set 2 obliterated. Set 2 was as good or better than anything played on Night 1, imo. If you called this the show of the run based on set 2...I'd argue with you, but it'd be hard!


12/30 -
Easily the weakest show of the run, but if 12/31 and 12/28 were A+ shows, this was a strong B+/A-. In other words, not a classic, but it still KICKED ASS!
Like 12/29, this was a show of two distinct halves. The first set was much stronger, imo, than the second. Set 1 blew my mind - I got my Fuego and It's Ice!!! I never in my life thought I'd get to see an It's Ice!!! The Wolfman's Brother jammed early and felt like it went pretty deep - don't sleep on that. Turtle In the Clouds was a pure party - another one I dreamed of seeing but never thought I'd get to!!! AND THAT FUEGO!!!! When they ripped into the "WOOOAAAWOOOAAAWOOOAAWOOAAA" after Vlad the Impaler....holy crap on a cracker my head exploded (and so did the Garden). Then we got a nearly 14 minute Life Saving Gun (longest yet?!) that was pure nuclear bomb annihilation of the highest order. I can safely say it was the strongest one yet. It was like the SANTOS from 12/28 on steroids. Unbelievable.
To sum up set 1, it was like they came out with the mission to play a set full of uptempo rockers/party songs (KDF, Undermind, Turtle, Fuego, etc). It never let up, and while the jamming was minimal (Fuego was 17 min though!), the pure PARTY energy was ultra palpable. This set was a friggin' BLAST to attend!!!
Set 2? Not so much....Things started poorly with a good version of The Well that proceeded to produce no jam to speak of. It seemed like Trey realized it was the wrong set opener and purposefully axed it quickly in favor of Tweezer. Of course Tweezer was great but all too short. It actually had a really nice transition into Twist that felt natural (I definitely wouldn't call it a ripcord). Twist and Piper jammed pretty nicely but this was fast turning into the set I did not want. You guys have heard me complain about recent Twists and Pipers - I swear the two always have to appear together, no? Then my other favorite set killer Golden Age came up....Ugh, this was not going good. And a Slave to the Traffic Light on top of it all. Look, I got my Hood, so I'm stoked that I did get a Slave, but it didn't stick out as anything noteworthy. Long story short, I really kinda ended up just waiting for the set to end after a certain point, which is really unfortunate.
All in all, set 1 ruled and set 2 was a snoozer (for me, personally - eager to revisit it and listen better). Weakest show of the four. Hands down.


12/31 -
Set 1 is a big sleeper hit. I thought the Everything's Right and Tube were excellend and, despite the short run time (66 minutes), the set never felt rushed or purposefully neutered in any kind of "holding back" way. A great first set, if just a bit short (which is understandable, lol - this show was MASSIVE!)
Set 2 and 3 - what to be said that hasn't already been said?! Absolutely incredible from start to finish. Just go watch the damn thing on youtube - there's a great single cam from the rear of the venue that shows everything excellently.
Playing wise, the 20 minute Bag has to be one of the jams of the year, certainly top 10 or 15 (and that's saying a LOT!!). The rest of the show was surprisingly well played and the first set did NOT feel throw-away!! This show was a pure classic in league with those crazy 90's Halloween shows, imo. The theatrics and production were unbelievable and they had the tunes to back it up.
A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

2023-10-15 Chicago, IL

 Tonight we finish Fall 2023, just in time for the shows next week!

10/15/23 Chicago #3

Absolutely AWESOME setlist on paper!

Everything Is Hollow - First version since Charleston 2019 (the show I missed, dang it!). This is killer!!!!! BRING THIS BACK!!!! This deserves rotation!!!

Timber - You know it's gonna be a good show when Timber pops up! And this version is excellent - the energy is through the roof and Trey's soloing is so perfectly patient throughout. Fantastic! Freaking AWESOME whole-band interplay and ensuing peak!!!! MUST HEAR!!! WOW!!! LET'S GO!!! A++++++ TIMBER!!! THIS SUCKER IS NUCLEAR!!!!


Ocelot - Trey's voice is indeed SHOT, @pbuzby . This sucker is almost 10 friggin' minutes long though, so that's gotta count for a lot. And by golly does it peak. HARD. Must hear!!! Maybe not the greatest of all time, but good lord they ride this one to the finish line in a big way.....

Vultures - First since Seattle? Really?? I could have sworn we had, like, two other ones in between. Huh. Trey's vocals kinda kill this one, but thankfully the jam is great. A bit awkward on the whole, but still a powerhouse. Nevertheless, it's too awkward and "not smooth" for it's own good and does not deserve highlight status, imo.

Monsters - Only the SECOND version?! Really?!?! First since Star Lake debut. Again, I could swear we got another one recently....This version slays. Trey just lets loose a rain of fire from start to finish. Great stuff.

Plasma - Nearly 11 minutes on this one! Dark and murky and swampy, wah-infused vibe to the jam on this. Trey leans HARD into the wah, nearly getting robo sounds out of it. This is must hear. It's all Type 1, but it's just spectacular soloing and jamming from start to finish. Awesome, awesome, AWESOME!

Mercury - I can't in good faith highlight this. A 7 minute Mercury?! What the hell?! I thought 9 minutes at Dick's was ludicrous (and that was actually an excellent version, truth told)!!!

>Stash - I'm calling that a segue. They got to the point where the jam would start in Mercury and just launched into Stash instead. What the corn, man.....Anyways, 12 minutes on this Stash. Thankfully, this Stash is MUST HEAR!!! No, it's not the robo meltdown from Mexico 2023, but it spits fire from start to finish and has a great, powerful peak from the band. A stellar Type 1 Stash for 2023!!!!

Leaves - Always most welcome!!!! MUST HEAR! FRIGGIN MUST HEAR!! A++++++++ X FACTOR TREY SHREDDING!!! SPECTACULAR!!!

David Bowie - Rough start on this Bowie to close, but the song quick coalesces turns in a BARNSTORMING rendition!!! The final 4 or 5 minutes is pure primo fire-in-the-ears!!!! FANTASTIC!!!


All in all, a slight mixed bag of a set. Some fantastic stuff (Plasma, Stash, Leaves, Monsters, Timber, Hollow), some not-so-great stuff (short Mercury, Bowie beginning section, Vultures, Trey's voice....). Not much else to say. Was highly enjoyable to listen to but also had that "not exactly cohesive" thing going on.

Onwards to the final set of Fall 2023:

10/15/23 Chicago #3

Set 2

Drowned - First since August of 2021! Rages the expected Type 1 hard until 6:43 when things shift into a decidedly funky and danceable groove!!! On another night, this would be the launching pad for a great Crosseyed, and hell, you can just about hear Trey teasing that sucker. Lots of wah pedal, backwards delay and robo FX!!! Sick! Only a few minutes worth of Type II, but it's a great little "teaser" jam!

>A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing - Then, at the perfect moment, they launch into tight and POWERFUL reading of this classic. Everyone is playing this sucker on overdrive - truly a KICK-ASS version!!! 11 minutes, bass synthesizer robo fx come out early, at the 2 minute mark while Trey is shredding it up on the wah. Cactus is ALL OVER this thing!!! UNDERWATER DARK ROBO CACTUS SUPREME!!! Then around 5:30, the jam shifts into upbeat bliss for a while before turning into feel-good dance funk around 7 minutes!!! We even get some Manteca-style teases as well!!! Total wah pedal destruction, those are friggin Manteca teases, I don't care. This is friggin' fantastic! MUST HEAR MUST HEAR!!!! Hell yes!! FUNK IT UP!!!! THIS IS KILLER!!! Wow!!!

>Tweezer jam - Then at the 11 minute mark, we move seamlessly into a Tweezer jam!!! For 7 minutes! Super cool bent-note interplay between Page and Trey around 2 minutes! Then shortly after, Trey jumps back on the wah pedal and we go back to funking it up. Then in come the robo fx and synthesizers! Yo, this ASIHTOS/Tweezer is friggin' fantastical!! X FACTOR MAGIC!!! LETS GO!!! MUST HEAR!!! WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENNING ANYMORE?! Then around 4:45, hints of robo FX begin to happen and the jam starts to get a little abstract, teetering on the line between dark and light - which way will it go??? From here, the jam is in FULL BLOWN ROBO FUNK TYPE II. Very rhythmic, lots of blips and bloops, but also lots of unsettling bliss (which doesn't make sense until you hear it). THEN WE SEGUE INTO SIMPLE!!! YES!!!!!!!!!

>Simple - WHAT IS GOING ON!!! THIS JAM SEQUENCE IS FRIGGIN INCREDIBLE!!!!! And this Simple is friggin SOARING!!! Spectacular Type 1!!! Wow! A+++ In the back half, it straight up melts into full blown, black-hole Type II. They could easily go into "Egg In a Hole" from this!!! This bit of ambience fades the song to a glorious conclusion....

Pebbles and Marbles - Who saw that coming?! First version of 2023! AND THIS SUCKER IS UTTERLY FANTASTIC!!!! Obviously well rehearsed, it climaxes with an astonishing bliss peak, ala a great Walls of the Cave. MUST HEAR!!! LETS FRIGGIN GO!!! BANG YOUR HEAD!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!

Spanish Moon - First since Mexico 2019!! Again, sounds super rehearsed and KICKS SO MUCH FRIGGIN ASS HOLY MOTHER OF CRAP. MUST HEAR MUST HEAR MUST HEAR!!! FANTASTICAL!!!!

A Wave of Hope - 12 minutes on this one, it keeps the rocking fun friggin going hard!!! X FACTOR MAGIC AGAIN!!! This thing goes Type II HARD!!! Full on robo-haze, psychedelic rhythmic explosion!!! ROBO WAVE!!!!! LETS FRIGGIN GO!!! One of the most out-there jams of the entire year, a true must-hear!!! HOLY CRAP!!!!! RETURN OF THE SON OF BLEEP BLOOP WAVE!!!! FULL BLOWN TYPE II LIKE THE ISLAND TOUR TWIST!!!! HOLY CRAP!!! ROBOT HEAVEN!!!!!



>Evolve - Finally a much deserved cooldown!!! Super strong Type 1. Great stuff, if not exactly Must hear.

Loving Cup - Comparable to the face-melting MSG version from the summer, this one is another grand slam rendition. A++++ version. Facemelting, as mentioned. KILLER. Don't skip this!!! OH MY FREAKING GOODNESS!!!! LAVA TIMES NUCLEAR EXPLOSION, DIRECTLY INTO THE EAR CANAL!!!!


Run Like An Antelope - "THREE ORANGE WHIPS"!!!! Really sick interplay between Page and Trey, with them echoing eachothers playing. They are listening to each other! A great little Antelope, this is no stuff to turn your head at. Maybe not an all-time classic, but 2023 Antelope's don't get much stronger than this!!! Killer!

SANTOS - Nuclear. Nuff said.

Tweeprise - To close.


Oh. My. Effing. God. What the hell did they do before this set to make them turn out a MONSTER like this?! Hands down in the top 10 sets of the whole year for me. Honestly? It tops my beloved second set from night 1 in Chicago. All 3 nights were monster shows, but this 2nd set was among the finest constructions of 2023. What a friggin' TITAN it was from start to finish! Nearly the entire thing was essential. Good god....

SEE YOU GUYS AT MSG NEXT WEEK!