2018-10-26 Rosemont, IL - 2023 revisit

 Onwards to 10 26 18

A great Punch to open. Slightly slower and more groovy, and its not flub-free, but its about as close to it as you can expect from 2018. A really great opening that sounds confidently relaxed!

Martian Monster is wah pedal and sample abuse. Absolutely insane, its pretty must hear.

Axilla keeps the momentum going perfectly.

And then Reba....holy mother of Reba!!!! NOW THIS IS HOW YOU REBA!!!!
10/10, A++++, stars aligned perfection.

The composition is nailed perfectly, and again, sounds CONFIDENT! None of this "skating by and hoping we dont flub it" stuff. Then the solo is just jaw droppingly epic. Goodebumps will be down your arms and legs. That Reba was MAGIC. Oh my goodness....

Up next is a rare and excellent My Sweet One that is the perfect come out from the Reba whistling section. They were meant to go together! Shred it, Page!

Now we get a 19 minute Mercury in the middle of set 1...

What the hell is going on...

Mercury turned in probably its finest reading.

All killer, no filler. The jam was like butter throughout. It stayed in that cool Type 1.5 zone where they got way out but never too far from shore. Just far enough.

And the playing itself was so good. The jam was PATIENT and organic - none of this jumping from section to section for no reason.

Also, before Sigma Oasis came out, this was the version of Mercury I preferred for me "non album songs 2017-2018" compilation.

When I say this Mercury is perfect, im not exaggerating.

The outta Mercury comes a "jesus effing christ!" version of Moonage Daydream that will leave your jaw on the floor!! Seriously - go replay this - this was one of the single finest short performances of the entire year.

Fiery Walls to close this special first set!  

Set 2

A 20 minute Tweezer (that feels a lot longer, in a good way) to open!

This Tweezer lays waste to my heralded version from Hampton a few shows ago. And that Tweezer was superb, that is saying a LOT!

Organic seems to be my buzzword for tonight as this one does that "10 different themes and sections" thing oh so spectacularly and perfectly.

This Tweezer goes from chill to hot to Party Time jam back to funk then to a crazy hose peak before slowly, and again, ORGANICALLY, morphing into a perfect-set-call Golden Age.

Now that is how you evolve a damn jam!

That Tweezer was absolutely on par with the Hampton Golden Age audiobook Odyssey in the Jam of the Year running.

No joke, that Tweezer is just...you need to replay it several times to comprehend it. SO MUCH IS GOING ON! But it never feels rushed or impatient. They play everything just the perfect amount of time.

Guys, where do you go when you have nothing above A+ ????!!!

And then into this 16 minute Golden Age.... 

Golden Age

A terrific 1999-style jam. Trey does a high pitch repeating loop and the guys drift into uptempo bliss for a bit.

It sounds like its getting dark, but at the EXACT perfect moment, Trey kills the loop and we head into a Leslie-led funk jam instead!!!!

Hell. Friggin. Yea. The magic from that Tweezer is still going. You know they are in the zone when Gordo turns on his FX!!

This is incredible!

After several glorious minutes, they move out of the funk and towards an impending peak. Swirling piano, Trey rocking out, hints of Golden Age returning.

This is like a meteor heading towards earth - brace for impact!!!

However, they avoid it and instead turn the coming peak sideways, outta nowhere, into Type 2, outer space, blackhole ambience.

Fishman reintroduces the Golden Age beat, but instead decides to drop out as the jam turns into FULL BLOWN AMBIENCE!!

And with that, they take the perfect moment to move into the ultra-rare Frost (that, again, who the hell saw coming).

What is even going on anymore. Im losing my mind here!

Frost is gorgeous - play this more!

Then, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Limb By Limb comes to pick us back up. Great type I version!  

After that great little Limb, we go into a standard-short, Type 1 rager version of Sand. Unique to get it so late in the set!!

And great googly moogly, this sucker is more destructive than a nuclear BOMB!!!!! GOOD LORD!!!

Holy crap....

After A Day in the Life and a red hot Possum, we get a Wilson into Tweeprize encore.


All in all, I dont know what they did differently, but this show was next-level. The Alpharetta shows and the 2nd MPP gig have been the "benchmark" to beat. Hampton night 3 almost achieved that, but this even surpassed that wonderful show.

For my money, so far in this relisten, 10 26 18 is the new show to "beat".

I said it the first time I played through 2018, but it still remains true - they are just getting better and better and BETTER with each passing show! Every time a certain jam or show hits that top level, they go and bury it a few shows later.

If there was an "official" Live Phish series for modern shows, this would absolutely be a candidate.

This show was damn incredible....