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?!