1997-07-01 Amsterdam, HOL

 Onwards with 1997!

Super excited for these 2 Amsterdam gigs. They are some of the last major "classic" shows I have yet to hear.

7/1/97 Amsterdam, HOL

Set 1

Ghost - Well hot damn! An epic 22 minute version to open the show! Slow and sludgy on the playing of the song itself. Of course it is also ridiculously funky in a way that current Phish just couldn't make it. Everyone laying back and laying it down thick. Somewhere around 5:45 mark, roughly, Trey begins to "vamp" on the wah and the jam starts to take off. Around the 7 minute mark the jam gets a little heavy and we begin to move into a rockier direction, but still with the heavy funk underlay. Trey then proceeds to just tear it up on the wah while the rest of the band groove hard beneath him.
----Around 9 minutes, Trey and Fish start howling "WE'RE ON THE BACK OF THE WORM!" and the jam starts to get psychedelic!! This is INTENSE!!! This is swirling, ridiculous heat! They rip this hard until around 10:50 when everyone lays back again and Page takes center stage on the piano, delivering wonderfully jazzy leads atop the crazy funk.
---Suddenly around the 12 minute mark Trey starts to repeat a little melodic motif. Slowly the rest of the band catch on and begin jamming on this chill little figure. By the 13:30 mark they are still jamming along in this more melodic vein, hinting at a more blissful side of things, but the energy is slowly increasing once more. This goes all the way about the 16:30 mark.
---The building bliss slowly subsides and a more "tense" kind of feel starts to appear. Trey is still noodling repeating motifs and Page is still on the piano. This goes until about the 18 minute mark when Trey jumps back on the wah, doing lots of scratching and inserting himself more into the jam. The heat and funkiness are making their glorious return! By the 19 minute mark we are almost into a kind of latin-funk type of jam!!! Very powerful and angsty!
---Somewhere around the 20 minute mark the fire subsides and they band go into a terrific "stop/start" jam, bringing things back on down in such a smooth way. These section transitions are SMOOTH!

And with that, the Uber-Ghost comes to a perfect conclusion. Holy mother WHAT A FRIGGIN JAM!!!!!! This song keeps getting stronger and stronger with each rendition! My god what a start to the show! ESSENTIAL LISTENING!


Horn - is Horn. I guess after a 22 minute Ghost ya gotta take a break! Strong little version but Horn is Horn.

Ya Mar - A terrific version just loaded with extra mustard all over. Pretty long as well, reaching the 10 minute mark. Wonderful jamming with a heavy emphasis on the drums and the rhythms. A+ Ya Mar!

Limb By Limb - Holy crap, a 13 minute Limb By Limb! Trey's background noodling during the "taken far away" part is so choice! This thing rages hard. It's just an exceptional Limb in every way. Somewhere though, around the 8 minute mark, Trey begins a little motif and the jam starts to slowly stray sideways in the slightest of ways. They proceed to remain inside the Limb structure, but are pushing and pulling it in every little way, making the absolute most of what they are working with. They play around heavily with dynamics, bringing the song down to a literal whisper while Fishman proceeds to accentuate his drums. This is fantastic!!!! Talk about a unique version!!!! Then, around 10:30, the song at a whisper, they kinda dissolve into a murky soundscape. Trey is doing rhythmic time keeping while Page carefully picks his spots to insert a piano note or two. Fishman gently tapping his rims. The bottom completely fell out! Around 12 minutes Trey comes in with some terrifying feedback-type notes and we are officially IN THE BLACK HOLE!!!! WHERE DID THE SONG GO?!?!?!?!?

YO THAT LIMB IS ESSENTIAL!!! TOTAL DECONSTRUCTION!!! HOW DID THEY DO THAT?!?!?!?!?

>Ain't Love Funny - And into the 2nd version of ALF we go! Starting extremely dark and scary!!! What the corn is going on! What a dumb little cover but it's fun and sounds great!!!!

Saw It Again - And the strangeness continues with a move into SIA. Bass FX right off the rip on this one. This is basically just an excuse for the guys to lose their marbles and go ape$hit for 7 minutes. Absolutely glorious meltdown of a track.

Dirt - Yet another standout from this show, this is a wonderful rendition. Ever so slightly more mid-tempo instead of "slow", you can really feel the emotion this song conveys. Sick. Trey's soloing is excellent.

Reba - 17 minute Reba!!! The composed section is played at lightspeed as usual. Unfortunately, Trey has a very, VERY rough time during the technical portion, at one point missing darn near 30 seconds or so of playing! Trey tries to recover but kinda threw himself off and he slips in and out for the rest of the section - this is one of the worst composed Reba section performances this side of Coventry. Yucky! And then he comes and slays the next portion like he didn't just F up for 3 minutes straight. 90's Trey was crazy, eh? The guitar solo/jam is wonderful. Almost immediately it drops down into a very ethereal area. I mean, it's Reba, but it's EXTRA chill! The solo is one of the nicest I have ever heard - just phenomenal in the way the whole band participates, building and then collapsing....Love Page's subtle use of synthesizers! From here it builds to the expected Reba solo peakage. This solo section is one of the best, most perfect, most awe-inspiring versions I have heard. My goodness what a PERFECT Reba solo!!!!!!!!!!!!! MUST HEAR!!!!

Dogs Stole Things - closes the set. Dogs is dogs....



All in all, what the hell do ya want me to say?! A ridiculously good set - the opening Ghost, the Limb By Limb>Ain't Love Funny and the Reba are the "must hear" material, but almost everything is strong as can be and worth a highlight. This did not exceed my expectations - it delivered exactly as I had hoped it would! WOW! 

Set 2 - TAKE TWO....excuse the brevity. I just typed a masterpiece of idiocy and then accidentally deleted it so I gotta rejigger this from memory.....

Fish keyboard jam>Timber - The set opens with a super strange and dark little jam that sees Fish playing the keys while the rest of the band slowly join in one by one creating a strange, wacky kind of soundscape for several minutes. Suddenly Trey begins the Timber lick and they proceed to turn in a barnburner, A+ reading of said song. Great stuff.

Bathtub Gin - Superb slide right into a 14 minute Gin! An absolutely stellar version, this one is all about the FEEL! It's like they are exploring every inch of the box they are playing the song in without ever moving outside. It perfectly sounds like a drunk stumbling his way out of the bar at the end of the night. The jam is very cool - they go "ROCK BAND" on it and turn it into a slightly strange, kinda heavy feel. Very unique!!!! The outro sees the jam slowly getting slower and slower and slower until they are creeping along like a snail and move into Cities. This Gin is phenomenal. It's just PERFECT in every way. Exceptional.

>Cities - 24 minute Cities>Outer Space Odyssey! This is likely the single most unhinged, extreme, strange, wacky and downright ridiculous jam I have ever heard. This is not an exception. This is the stuff legends are made of. Cities, coming out of the Gin outro, is played at, like, 1/3 tempo. Extremely SMOOTH, the jamming eventually dies down to totaly silence. Eventually, one by one, everyone creeps back in and they go into this super dark and strange zone. Twenty Years Later could only dream of producing a jam this dark. It is DARK DARK DARK DARK DARK DARK DARK. Everyone is doing strange noodling, yet it holds together somehow. After almost 10 minutes in the outer space black hole they move back into a slightly more upbeat-yet-still-strange area. This turns smoothly back into rocking out before morphing into a SICK funk jam to close out.

^^^^^I am making the bold claim that the above piece of music is now the greatest jam my ears have heard. Ridiculous does not begin to describe it. It's STRANGE and WEIRD yet somehow never falls apart (despite completely deconstructing itself!!!!).

Loving Cup - Picks us up from the ashes of that scorched earth jam and lets us rock out carefree. Wonderful type 1 version that just annihilates.

Slave to the Traffic Light - See Loving Cup. Absolutely magical. I rag on 3.0/4.0 Slaves all day, but when you hear one like this... I understand what the fuss is all about.

When the Circus Comes to Town - As the encore?! What the hell?! Maybe better in person, and it's a fine version, but it's just awkward as hell to me as the encore. Huh.



All in all....IF ONLY I DIDN'T FRIGGIN DELETE MY FIRST DRAFT!!!! GAH!!!!

Seriously though, WHAT THE HELL WAS THIS SHOW?!?!?!?!? I mean that in the best way possible!!! Europe 1997 has been as strange as you can imagine on the jamming front and I can't imagine anything topping that Cities. That's gotta be, like, a top 10 Phish jam of all time!!!! This show was remarkable and deserves all the praise it receives. Classic doesn't begin to convey how amazing it is. This. Show. Blew. My. Mind. Honestly, this is the best show of 1997 to this point I think. I don't feel that's controversial to say.

Essential listening. Why the hell did it take me 6 years to finally hear this masterpiece.....

2019-07-02 Saratoga, NY - 2024 revisit

 7 2 19 Saratoga this morning.

Aka, Cathys Clown

Set 1

Opens with the weird ass Everlys cover that nobody saw coming. Awkward and strange, lol

After Tweeprize we get an INSANE Carini!!! 11 minutes of MUST HEAR MAGIC!!! This is an absolutely spectacular little version that is totally killer from start to finish!!!!

AC/DC Bag is extra hot, if not essential, but Moma is another keeper - a fun false start leads to spirited playing. They are going total "smooth operator" on this one. Must hear.

And that SMOOTH segue into a very nice Theme.

Meat is excellent and Home, albeit sloppy, is great to hear. Home is at least raging hot and has a great little jam! Must hear!

An absolutely killer Gin is the penultimate song of the set. The peakage is long and insane. Complete rage fest.

Killer face melter Walls to close.

All in all this was an excellent set!!! The boys sound LOCKED IN in a way that they havent for several gigs (aside from set 2 of Camden 3...). Carini is essential listening, as is Gin and Walls, and Moma is well worth your time, but almost everything here is just REALLY GOOD if not entirely essential. A great little set!!! 

Set 2

Fun and short Cool Amber opens the set. But thats just a warmup for the 20 minute Disease that follows! Thankfully, the reading of the song is surprisingly excellent. Its not all limp and weak but rather strong and powerful!

After the initial type 1, the jam drops down into a more "late night" uptempo feel. Lots of dueling Page and Trey. Out come the delays and the Leslie. Very cool stuff. Very aquatic.

Very slowly they work themselves into a more feel good zone. Page moves to the piano and a bliss peak begins to build. Trey sidesteps the peak in progress however and they move into a slightly more jazzy/funky area.

Wah pedal, Gordo fx, etc. Lots of cool delay usage and the synths even come out to play. Unfortunately its only for a brief moment, then Trey yanks them back towards feel good.

Cool rhythmic area comes out of this with the whole band syncing up and working the jam to a peak.

This was a pretty good jam but I wont call it must hear. It was a bit all over the damn place with a constant need to change direction just as they get one thing going. Worth a listen but its the lesser of the Summer 2019 jams, imo. I mean, its going on the master playlist of highlights but it's definitely very "fragmented". 

Disease comes to a sudden, jarring stop and they move into the Scents intro. Scents is pretty big, nearly 15 minutes!

The jam starts in a cool, laid back kinda jazzy vein and stays there for a good while, very slowly building in intensity.

Still in this jazzy vein, it gets more and more rocky. Pages on the piano while Trey is raging the delay pedals. They proceed to dig deep and rage this sucker hard. Fantastic.

This was terrific. Absolutely better than that ADHD Disease, imho. Must hear Scents!!!! 

Twist is up next and continues the great vibes, turning in a shortish but excellent version. Really good little jam on this. Put it in the show highlights!

After Wilson we get a rare Scent of a Mule. Solid but unremarkable.

And then we get a must hear F Your Face!!! Holy crap melt those faces Trey!!!!! And out of that and into a basic Halley before they close the set with a strong Hood.

Another strong encore with a very rare Fee turning up.

All in all, set 2 was pretty tasty. Disease was flawed but still highly enjoyable while the Scents was probably the best jam of the night. Twist was worth a listen and F Your Face crushed. Hood and Fee are worth a listen as well. Strong show overall but not a classic. Strong A- . Good stuff!

2019-06-30 Camden, NJ - 2024 revisit

 6 30 19 Camden #3

Set 1

You know a show is gonna bang when you get a Curtain With opener! The Curtain With is a bit flubby but overall good. Inessential but solid.

Wonderful move into the first FEFY in 2.5 years! Great mood setter! Strong version, worthy of the highlight list.

Buried Alive rages hard but the intro is the yuckiest trainwreck youve ever heard. UGH!!!

Thankfully Camel Walk is excellent and worthy of the list as is the following Reba. Must hear!!!

After a standard Sample, we get an excellen Pebbles and Marbles before a standout Tela. Tela is EXCELLENT, as is the flawless Mango Song afterwards.

Very rare Driver as well.

Solid Bowie closes this rarity packed set.

All in all, this was great! Camel, Reba, Pebbles, Tela and Mango were all standout versions. Absolute blast of a set!!

Reba is SHOCKINGLY well played! The solo is so so but the composed part is the best modern one Ive heard in a while. Seriously, its actually flawless. Stunning! 

Set 2 opens with a must hear 17 min x factor magic Mr. Completely. Rages hard with a dark hear before moving to a great kind of uptempo "late night fire" section before moving down into space and then going skywards and climaxing with the most epic rock and roll finale of the summer. The spacey section the middle was amazing!!! And the slow build back into the song before the rocking finale was even sicker!!!!

THIS WAS ESSENTIAL!!! HOLY CRAP THIS WAS FREAKING INCREDIBLE!!!!!! MUST HEAR!!!!! ONE OF THE BEST JAMS OF THE SUMMER!!!!

That was so great I had to play it twice!!!

And then we get a 21 minute Twenty Years Later!!!!

Initial heavy grooving gives way to a slow build move into an extended section of awesome, heavenly bliss. Very slowly and organically over the course of several minutes this slowly morphs into a hard funking yet still feel good jam. This heavy funk is terrific and leads the jam all the way to its conclusion.

Dang! Another absolutely must hear jam!!! Felt like Camel Walk on steroids!!! My truck reviews does not do this justice. It was phenomenal. 

So 20 Years Later concludes and Trey friggin launches right into...BBFCFM! This set is unhinged!!!!!

BBFCFM rages harder than usual and then we get a shock surprise move into a 13 minute Tweezer!!!!!! Tweezer is a fantastic funk fest and delivers the goods. Excellent type 1 rager version. Rock and roll supremacy! Must hear! Destroys worlds!! Oh my freaking god!!!! 10 outta friggin 10!!! Meltdown!!!! MUST HEAR!!!!

Following a needed cooldown with a lovely Shade, Pages Most Events gets us grooving good again. Rocks hard as usual.

A fun Makisupa into a blazing Chalkdust/Suzy combo closes the set in grand fashion.

A+ for effort on the encore!!! Punch, WTU and finally Julius? Sick!!!


All in all this was a spectacular show and easily tied with Charlotte, probably, as the best top to bottom gig so far of the summer. Set 1 was all about the rarities but delivered the heat when needed. Set 2 was one of those incredible X Factor sets that you hope and dream for. Utter perfection and awesomeness.

2019-06-29 Camden, NJ - 2024 revisit

 6 29 19 Camden #2 in the truck this morning.

Set 1

Set 1 is just ok tonight. A definite improvement on set 1 of night 1 but it mostly sounds like the guys going through the motions.

Nothing is bad, in fact its all well played, but very little jumps out or makes you take notice.

Divided Sky is pretty strong and the ER has a very nice, if too short jam. Guelah sounds well rehearsed.

The main must hear material though is the incredible, X Factor 46 Days to close the set. Multisectional and epic, they go dark before peaking harder than almost anything else this summer. A true must hear version. Incredible.

All in all, a pretty boring set overall. 46 Days is what you need, though ER and DS are worth mentioning ... 

Set 2

A strong Blaze On opens. Sub 10 minutes but excellently jammed. Not essential but a great listen!

After a botched segue (A for effort!) we get a nice NICU followed by a strong, if short, Golden Age. Like ER in set 1, this one goes deep quickly but ultimately comes to a terrible close, fizzling out horribly. Massive disappointment!

At least we get a 13 min Ruby Waves in its place! Ruby is weird. It goes DEEP, throwing everything at the wall without much sticking. Its an A+ for effort but the results are kinda lopsided. Probably the weakest one so far, but not for lack of trying. Hell, the best part is the SICK segue into DDHVL...

DDHVL is completely skippable. When they get to the solo/jam, Trey instead opts to launch into Rift!

Ok, at least Rift is very strong tonight. Great version!

First set cool down is the debut of Beneath a Sea of Stars! In the wake of monster versions to come this is rather inessential, but its a great little debut if a great song and the placement was perfect. No, screw that, this was terrific. It goes full type 2 ambience and the drill even comes out to play. Wow!!!

AND THEN THEY WENT INTO WAITING ALL NIGHT. The perfect pair of all time!!! The song is nothing special tonight but that pairing was a match made in heaven!

Ghost gets us up and moving again. A strong shorter version with a great little jam. Excellent reading with the perfect segue into a hot SANTOS.

Solid YEM into Grind for the encore.

All in all, what an oddball set. Highlights and lowlights and anything but consistent. Its at least interesting, but little is essential. Most will say Ruby was great but Idk...Sea of Stars was fantastic. Ghost was pretty strong. 46 Days and ER in set 1..... Definitely just grab the highlights. This show is all over the place.

2019-06-28 Camden, NJ - 2024 revisit

 Back to 2019 this morning.

6 28 19 Camden

Set 1

The first half of set 1 is enjoyable but bland. Skip straight to Birds of a Feather. Very awkward version but it has some great moments of jamming. Not anything must hear but worth a mention.

After that interesting but awkward Birds its into a nice sequence of Wolfman, Wombat and Timber!

Wolfy is about 11 minutes and has a wonderful little jam to it that goes kinda dark befoe building to a rocking climax. As with Birds, it aint must hear and is slightly awkward, but its still a nice little piece.

Wombat goes nowhere and Trey ripcords them right into Timber. Whiplash!!! Timber is decent but nothing special

Drift to close - just what this set did NOT need!


All in all, an enjoyable but kinda off set. The boys try hard but are fumbling over arrangements and lyrics the whole time. Hell, Birds is basically a train wreck in the back half. Fine set but not one of the best of the summer. Hey, they gotta have an off night some time, eh?

Not a great one... 

Set 2

Thankfully set 2 opens with a terrific 20 minute Mercury. Excellent version that funks hard before peaking out and returning to the song for a proper close!!! Must hear!

11 minute No Men up next. Super funky late night supeme. Killer version. Absolutely stellar bliss peak on this!!!! Must hear!! It was absolutely spectacular!!! Fades out with dark ambience into WACTOOB.

WACTOOB and About to Run are good but nothing special.

The following 11 minute Light is pretty good. Not must hear but worth a mention - does a lot in its short run time and the final 2 or 3 minutes are excellent WACTOOB reprise!!!

Stellar segue into an 11 minute Antelope to close the set!!! Pretty strong version but not essential.

Nightmare encore (for me) of Monkey and Quinn


All in all, not a great show. Mercury into No Men was the easy highlight if the whole night with Light as a bonus. It was an ok show, but something like the much derided Toronto gig wipes the floor with this.

1997-06-29 Roskilde, DEN - Roskilde Festival

 Onwards with Euro '97. Last show before Amsterdam again!

6/29/97 Roskilde Festival

8 songs in 75 minutes - the anti-Ramones set

The song selection is utterly pedestrian, but I'm sure the performance is serviceable.

The set gets off to a great start with a 22 minute You Enjoy Myself, which I can't complain much about. Very strange, but this is the first YEM of the tour - 11 shows in! I guess this is one, like Wilson, they had "shelved" prior to the tour! YEM is a fine, funky version full of energy, but it's nothing you need to rush out to hear. An ordinarily average-excellent reading.

Up next is Taste - the 8th version in 11 shows, my goodness! Yet another excellent, if not mind-blowing rendition. Solid but inessential. Following standard readings of Bouncing and Beauty we go into Chalkdust. Chalkdust is excellent. 8 minutes of rip roaring awesomeness. As with Taste, nothing essential, but great stuff for a casual crowd.

Following some nice Trey banter regarding their 1992 appearance, they move on into Theme From the Bottom. I would say this is one of the highlights for sure. An absolute stellar reading, not really anything special, but totally excellent from start to finish. They kill it.

Character Zero keeps up the energy and rages friggin' hard. Stellar type 1 melt-your-face version. No, seriously, this is an absolutely RIDICULOUS version. Full-tilt, 10/10 fire from the sky. Must hear!!!

Standard hot My Soul to close.

All in all, this show was pretty much what you expect by looking at the setlist. Very enjoyable - the energy and enthusiasm is palpable - but the only thing you really NEED to hear is that Character Zero. Everything else is excellent but nothing else is must-hear.

On to Worm Town!

1997-06-27 Somerset, UK - Glastonbury

 Home again from work due to rain so let's go on with 1997, shall we?

54 minute set at Glastonbury. Not expecting anything, but it's cool they got to play "Wilson" so close to Stonehenge.

6/27/97 Somerset, UK - Glastonbury Festival

A rousing Wilson opens the show. Not much to say. Good version. The following Chalkdust is pretty demented. For an "in the box" rendition, Trey annihilates the hell out of it like it's a strangulatory version of Maze instead, Highly recommend this Chalkdust!!!! Wow!!! No, seriously, this Chalkdust is positively UNHINGED!!! MUST HEAR!!! Wow!!!

Stash is surprisingly enjoyable. Incredibly dynamic version, they bring it down to silence and to raging peaks and all points in between. The excessive whistling by an audience member is icing on the cake, lol. Not the greatest version ever but it's perfectly fine and even slightly unhinged at points. Solid stuff.

The obligatory "It's 1997 so we HAVE to play it" Dogs Stole Things is next. NEXT! Poor Heart picks us back up but Poor Heart is Poor Heart.

And into a surely-great 11 minute Taste we go! This is a pretty terrific version. Love how relaxed and patient Trey begins his solo section. Great little Taste!

Bouncing and C Zero lead us out.

All in all, there is as little to talk about as you'd expect. I'd say the Chalkdust Torture is pretty essential listening, but nothing else really goes beyond "pretty good". A nice little festival set, nothing less, nothing more. Definitely the least interesting of the tour so far....

1997-06-25 Lille, FR

 Had no time this weekend for any Phish listening and my recent dump truck runs have not been conducive to audience recording listening. The next show of Euro '97 looks like a great one and I really wanted to properly listen to it.

So today, out of work early due to rain, I sit in Starbucks once more with my headphones and my laptop.

Onwards to 6/25/97 Lille!!!

Set 1

Olivia's Pool - Very potent version. Nothing special but gets us up and rocking.

Dogs Stole Things - Dogs is Dogs but tonight it works surprisingly great coming right out of Olivia like that. Think we've found the winning set placement! No, ya know what? This is a raging version. The energy is through the roof. This is what it needs to always sound like!!! Doesn't really need a highlight, but it didn't bore me tonight, so that should tell you something.

Taste - Man, is the energy through the ROOF tonight or what?!?!?! This version is absolutely GNARLY. PAGE THE RAGE!!!! PLAY IT, LEOOOOO!!!!! Then it dies down a bit while Trey begins his solo from scratch, patiently building it up note by note from ground zero. He stays down low and chill for a good long while. He takes forever building the solo until eventually you don't even realize that he is tearing it up and melting your face. THIS TASTE IS A NUCLEAR BOMB EXPLOSION!!! KILLER!!

Billy Breathes - A bit early for a ballad, but I will always take a great Billy. It's a good version, but nothing spectacular.

AC/DC Bag - And into a 10 minute Bag! This is gonna be great! Immediately at the 4 minute mark when the lyrics end, things get weird - the standard Type I jam section begins FUNKY!!! They lay it on thick from the start, Trey owning the hell outta that wah pedal, and keep playing the AC/DC themes but in an ultra-funky rendition! FUNKY BAG!!!! THIS IS SICK! At some point the funk slowly drifts away and they move into the standard Bag jamming you expected to get out of the song. Very slick! From here they take their time and just rage it out to a conclusion. And just like that 10 minutes has passed, lol. MUST HEAR!!!! INCREDIBLE!!!

The Old Home Place - Is The Old Home Place

Theme From the Bottom - Hot damn potatoes and biscuits!!! It doesn't begin as anything special, but the grindy outro jam makes this a must-listen. Sonic Noize Destruction. Not anything THAT special, but it's definitely worth a mention!!!

Wading in the Velvet Sea - Man, this song is appearing all over the place in setlists so far, but this comes excellently out of the droning wash of Theme. What a great "landing pad" kind of song if placed correctly! Very fine version but nothing special.

Saw It Again - The next highlight of the set, this version gets going hot from the outset and feels like it has more "substance" than some other versions. It doesn't feel as "slight" tonight as it sometimes does in other shows. And they proceed to just lay the F into this sucker for 5 smash-your-head minutes. Glorious, meltdowny stuff!

Limb By Limb - Very nice. Another strong version but doesn't really distinguish itself.

My Soul - Great, rocking version to close. See Olivia's Pool


All in all, this was a great little set. It won't blow your mind and there weren't many highlights, but go in with no expectations and you will have a great time. It's very "straight to the point, let's just rock". I'd say AC/DC Bag is THE must-hear material. Great energy and the guys sound very enthusiastic tonight, but this definitely had "warming up" vibes about it.
   

Set 2

Down With Disease - Alright! A 32 minute Disease>Piper>Disease!!!! Wow!!! Rages hard type 1 until the first signs of deviation occur around the 7 minute mark. Blazing along at lightspeed, Trey starts to do some more riffy kinds of stuff in his soloing. At 8:45, the jam suddenly slows down to half tempo and we move into a more bluesy kind of swaggering rock and roll area. Sick. Around the 9:30 mark things take another shift - Trey jumps onto the Porno Wah Deluxe and the jam begins it's descent into goopy vamping.
-----Suddenly, around the 11 minute mark, Page comes in on some textural synths! The jam slows down even more into a more laid-back kind of area. Fishman is annihilating the kit like Carter Beauford, but the whole thing is taking on this heavily psychedelic vibe!!! This is freaking incredible!!! This is A+++ jamming!!! Page is coming in and out on the synths, picking his spots, while Trey slowly shreds it up hotter than the sun.
----Then, out of nowhere, at the 13 minute mark, Fishman speeds up the tempo and we launch back into a lightspeed ragefest supreme!!!! LET'S FREAKING GO!!!! There is so much going on, I can barely keep up with the jam as I write this!!!! From here they proceed to BURN DOWN THE MOTHER EFFING HOUSE LIKE A NUCLEAR BOMB!!!!!! SHRED IT UP!!! BANG YOUR HEAD!!!!! I CAN'T RAGE ANY HARDER THAN THIS!!!!! HOLY MOTHER OF NUCLEAR BOMB!!!!!
---Finally, around 15:30, Fishman comes to our rescue once more and slows the rhythm back down for a brief moment, causing the band to follow suit, Trey moving back to vamping on the Porno Wah. That was in incredibly "come down" moment. Wow! And Page comes out with the piano. And into the porno funk we go....They lay into it hard and deep, everyone taking their sweet, glorious time and doing the best funky jamming you can imagine. My god this is incredible.
---Around the 21 minute mark, the funk slowly fades away and a sweet kind of night-time ambience begins to take hold. Surprised there ain't a looper going! Page moves over to the organ and the whole thing just becomes incredibly quiet, like somebody turned the volume knob down.

And with that, Disease fades off into....

>Piper - The longest version yet!!! This one is nearly 7 minutes!! But that's not saying much. It's still basically just a glorified intro, though it does begin to build in intensity in a major way the longer it goes. Very slowly, as it builds, Trey begins to go nuts more and more on the wah pedal. By the "end" of it, it's raging as hard and hot as the initial jam in Disease. Speaking of which...

>Disease reprise - Trey sees his spot and perfectly leads the band back into the song for a couple glorious, fire-to-the-face minutes to conclude this epic sandwich, finishing it off with the Can't You Hear Me Knocking riff.

Oh my freaking god, that was one of the greatest Phish jams I've ever heard. Is that Disease known as an all-timer?! That is ESSENTIAL listening!! 

>Meatstick - ...and out of CYHMK and into the debut of the infamous Meatstick!!! The Disease jam technically never stopped and instead they just kept on "riffing around", letting the music move them onwards. Slowly Gordo begins to pop his bass and move us back into a more rhythmic area, though we are still very uptempo. Over this strange, uptempo jamming, propelled by Cactus, Trey randomly begins singing the lyrics to Meatstick!!! Well, the chorus anyways. THIS IS WACKY AS ALL GET OUT!!!!! Near the end, Page begins to slowly reassert himself on the synths, but only just. Picking his spots to come in and out of the jam. Fishman starts playing with the percussion and this thing is one gloriously strange rhythmic kind of...something. I don't even know how to describe this. The jam begins to slow down and take on a much funkier, almost latin vibe about it.....

>McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters - WHAT THE HELL?!?!? FUNKY MCGRUPP??!?!?!?!?! In one of the most astonishing moments in all of Phishstory, Trey begins playing the lead line of McGrupp, but with the wah pedal and the band all funky-like!!! Page even begins to throw in terrifiying snythnesizers atop it all!!! And it's not just the lead lick, they follow it onwards and move into the actual song! X. FACTOR. MAGIC. Let it be known, on this day, in Lille, the Jam Gods graced us with this masterpiece of insanity. Suddenly, once the vocals begin, the jam moves from funkiness and into REGGAE?!?!?! REGGAE MCGRUPP!!!!!! WHAT IS HAPPENNING!!!! The song continues and more strange bass FX and synthesizers come in and out. HE LOOKS TOO MUCH LIKE DAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Eventually, by nature of the song, they are forced to move back into the "standard" way of playing the piece. By the time we get to Page's solo, it has all died down to nothingness, and we get an eerie, extra-introspective playout from him. Slowly they awkwardly start to build it back up, coming back in one at a time while the crowd begins to clap along. Finally the ridiculousness comes to a close and Trey fires up his "Ghost intro looper".

>Makisupa Policeman - Alas, Ghost is not to be tonight. Fun as usual, nothing really special, but it gets the highlight.

>Cecilia - Fish vocal on this. Uniqueness factor, lol. Wtf.

>Hold Your Head Up - And into the classic we all love to hate.

>Rock a William - And into Rock a William. Still not a fan of this song.

Run Like An Antelope - Very lengthy version. Does it's Antelope thing and melts your face. Good stuff.

Guyuute - Guyuute is Guyuute but points for it being the encore!


All in all.....the Disease>Piper>Disease>Meatstick>McGrupp is beyond essential listening. You can pretty much throw the rest of the show away if you want, but that sequence needs to be put in the Smithsonian or something. That was once-in-a-lifetime music being played right there. Incredible stuff that everyone needs injected straight into their brain case. My god,.

2019-06-26 Bangor, ME - 2024 revisit

 6 26 19

Bangor

Set 1

Set 1 begins terribly with the put you to sleep trio of Crowd Control, a boring Plasma and the sleepy Army of One.

Ugh!

Alaska is next and you think oh no, but alas, it turns out to be MUST HEAR! Its absolutely MOLTEN HOT!!!

Thankfully a killer 11 minute, type 2 Killd Devil Falls keeps the heat going with some sick jamming and an explosive peak.

The rare and much welcome How Many People Are You follows and almost ups the ante!! Blazing hotter than a comet, this thing is insane. Plus its 9 minutes and gets jammed out. Essential listening!!!! MUST HEAR!!!! THIS IS X FACTOR MAGIC!!!

Wow!!!

Then Petrichor comes outta nowhere and turns in a pretty flawless rendition. Inessential but damn great to hear. I mean, they friggin nail it. Killer.

Saw It Again is must hear. Wacky and uber evil, grab this.

The set ends with a BLAZING Sand. Must hear!

The Set With No Flow. All in all a strange one for sure. Definitely not a GREAT set overall, the highlights were strong. Alaska, KDF and HMPAY and Sand are essential. Saw It Again if youre feeling generous.

What a weird set.... 

Set 2

The set begins excellently with a strong Turtle into a must hear Jibboo. It stays Type 1 but its spectacularly good.

Then into a 17 minute Fuego! They nail the song perfectly and the jam builds smoothly out of the ending. Quickly they drop into this sick, bass driven, late night chill funk kind of zone. This leads into cool, melodic synth bliss! From here it all drifts sideways into a dark section. Very ominous and foreboding. This leads to a lengthy party funk section which morphs, perfectly into....

A 13 minute Cities!!! Cities is utterly incredible like the 6 25 Simple. Nothing but X Factor Magic, it goes deep into the type 2 wormhole and never lets up . MUST HEAR!!! ONE OF THE GREATEST JAMS OF 3.0!!!!!

This in turns leads flawlessly again into an EPIC The Final Hurrah. Surely in the top 2 or 3 ever played, again this is must hear. Its a massive volcanic explosion of ridiculousness.

Excellent but inessential versions of Caspian, Farmhouse and Number Line let us cool down before a blazing Chlakdust ends the set.

Chalkdust is something else. Beyond incendiary and jammed oh so perfectly, this is a true 10/10 type 1 version. Essential.

Great old school encore of The Lizards into Suzy!

All in all, holy hell what a set! Jibboo was amazing, and the Fuego>Cities>Hurrah was total X Factor Magic and Chalkdust was essential listening. My God.

Best complete set since Blossom set 2. A smokeshow!

2019-06-25 Bangor, ME - 2024 revisit

 6 25 19 Bangor

Set 1

Very high energy first set! It opens with a must hear, nuclear bomb 46 Days. BOTT is also strong if not essential.

After a fun Ass Handed we get a 14 minute Gin. Gin is great - 50/50 on it being must hear or not. High spirited but kinda awkward. Cool leslie funk jamming. Fish and Trey keep almost fumbling the end as they cant decide whether to return to the song or keep jamming. Pretty funny and definitely highly enjoyable.

The Dogs is nice to hear but kinda sloppy while Waves in the first set is a great call! Unremarkable version though, as is the following Mike. Good but not list worthy.

Water In The Sky is awesome though and a shock coming out of Mikes like that. Killer and totally a highlight!

But then comes the highlight of the set - Limb By Limb. X factor magic!!! Must hear!!! It goes into a dark type 2 for a while before crescendoing to a great finale. Completely unique!!! Where did this come from?! And the following Weekapaug is extra funk, loaded with extra pizazz as well!!! Its OUTSTANDING!!! MUST HEAR!!! BEST MODERN PAUG IN FOREVER!!!

Rocking Julius to close

All in all, this set was miles better than set 1 of 6/23. Id say 46 Days, Gin, Water, and the Limb>Paug are all must hear. The rest is pleasantly unremarkable. Not an incredible set, but the highlights are killer! 

Set 2

19 minute Disease to open!!! All X Factor Magic on this one. Slowly unfolding like a film, it starts off in some great "plinko bliss" before evolving into some gnarly and growly synth rock for a while. They slowly move out of that back into rock and roll and work towards a massive, blissful peak conclusion!!! This was fantastic!!! A total adventure!!! Must hear!!!!

The jam fizzles out into a rousing Play By Play before we get a massive, X Factor Magic, 19 minute Simple!!! Diving deep into type 2, it spends a long time in blissful, heavenly ambience before building up into a MASSIVE rock and roll explosion!!! X FACTOR MAGIC!! THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!!! Following that epic peakage, the boys drop hard into a sick whale-siren anti-funk kind of zone for a few minutes to close. Very 1999.

Out of the strange and into a perfectly placed Piper!!!! Piper slays oh so good.
And a gorgeous Miss You is the perfect heart wrenching landing pad. My goodness.

Llama is utterly ridiculous tonight. Backwards guitar histrionics out the wazoo. Essential version.

The rest of the show is good but inessential.


All in all....hot damn what a set! The Disease was strong but HOLY CRAP THAT SIMPLE WAS AN ALL TIMER!!! That Simple was as good, or better, than the Blossom Birds or the Charlotte Jim. Top 3 jam of the year so far, easily, and one of the best Simples ever played. Ever. The rest of the set is great , but cmon, you aint topping those. Disease, Simple and Piper are all must hear. Llama too.

2019-06-23 Columbia, MD - 2024 revisit

 6 23 19 Columbia

Set 1

Strong 11 minute Carini opener! Stays in a blissful, rocking type 1.5 area for the duration. Maybe not essential but worth a listen.

After My Soul, a strong Rift and a solid Gumbo we get a "fake it til you make it" Its Ice. Not the finest version, lets just say that.... The brief funk jamming in the middle is terrific though - more of that!!!!

Winterqueen is very good. About as good as the opening Carini.

Yarmouth Road is an excellent surprise call tonight! Love this song and this is a fine version. Smokin, actually!

After an ok Shade, we get THE highlight of the set. The montrous debut of Halfway Home!!! Incredible headsmasher soloing, this thing is a beast! PLAY THIS AGAIN!!!!

After a decent Wedge, this lengthy and lukewarm set closes with a nice Antelope

All in all the weakest set since St. Louis night 2, imo. Good song choices but everything was stuck at lukewarm temperature. Halfway Home and MAYBE Yarmouth Road or Carini are what you need. Not a bad set, but definitely on the icy side. 

Set 2

A killer , 15 minute Crosseyed opens the set. Must hear - it rages hard and quickly goes type 2, dying down into nothing, rising again into killer bliss, then moving into a lengthy dark Leslie section that will have you picturing the night sky above. Very very cool version!!!!

And a perfect segur into a nearly 16 minute Everythings Right!!!

ER is strange. Kinda awkward, it goes through multiple different sections. All highly enjoyable but they move to the next before they can get to the height of the current spot. Incredible ending though - the drums drop out and we get 2 minutes of full on, psychedelic space ambience, Trey shredding madly. Wow.

Perfect segue into the best jam since the Charlotte Jim. Ruby Waves is only 12 minutes but they CLICK HARD on this sucker. X FACTOR MAGIC FROM START TO FINISH. HANDS DOWN THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE SHOW!!! From rapid fire outer space to funkiness to a woo section and all things in between. 5/5 stars for this one. Literally the only flaw is that its so short. This was a top 5 jam of the summer tour so far.

And into a standard excellent Twist from Ruby. And into a fine 2001 with a rocking Blaze On to close

Insane encore of Maze, Waste, Sanity and Wilson


All in all, definitely one of the lesser shows of the tour. Set 1 just could not build much energy aside from Halfway Home and Yarmouth. Thankfully set 2 brought the heat but had to struggle through awkwardness to get to the best of it. Still, id say the CP>ER>RW sequence is pretty essential listening. CP is great, ER is strange and RW is mind blowingly great. The rest of the set brings the goods but that Ruby was the peak for sure.

Actually Twist was incredible too - dont overlook that. Same with Blaze On.

Definitely a grab the highlights show.

2019-06-22 Columbia, MD - 2024 revisit

 6 22 19 Columbia

Set 1

The opening trio of Undermind, Tube and Funky B is terrific. Undermind is next level good, Tube has a strong blissfulness, and Funky B shows Trey doing his SRV best!

Steam is the first must hear highlight of the show - a perfect "microjam", it goes bliss-reggae Type 2. Totally unique and 100 percent worth your time. Killer!!!

Incendiary My Sweet One! LEO LEO LEO!!!!!!!!!!

Following a dragging NICU - not a great version - we get the Phish debut if Ghosts song Friend.

And HOLY MOTHER OF GOD THAT WAS INCREDIBLE!!! PASSION OUT THE WAZOO!!! THAT WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST THINGS EVER!!!!

SERIOUSLY!!!!

Then into a feisty No Men to pick us back up. As with Friend, this is essential listening. Insane, face melting peakage of the Gods, and that is no exaggeration. This is an unbelievable version.

The set concludes with a nice Silent/Bowie/Coil trio.

All in all, what a varied set!!! Undermind, Friend, My Sweet One, No Men and Steam are what you need. Friend was an all timer Phish performance. I beg you to go revisit it!!! 

Set 2

A killer 15 minute Ghost to open the set. Starts with some chill bliss before getting slightly darker and heavier. It just moves and grooves, going dark to light and back again. Wonderful version that does a lot more than the runtime suggests. Very slowly the dark synths creep in and the jam gets a very gritty and growly feel to it. But Trey resists and they move back to bliss raging. From here they go into the hottest rock and roll raging since No Men. Stellar!!! Killer Ghost!!!! Must hear!

Move into a hot Axilla and then SYSF to keep the rock going hard!!!

Axilla positively destroys. More than usual. My god.

Set Your Soul Free is the next big jam of the night, reaching 14 minutes. Rages HARD for a long while then drops into a funky, Leslie and plinko kind of dark funk. Chilled back but still hard on the throttle. Oh yea, baby, this is the stuff.

Slowly they move into more rocking territory again before dropping hard and fast into a wonderful synthfunk outerspace groove!!! Full on type 2, this is utterly fantastic!!!! Slowly this morphs back again into a hot rock and roll and they bring it to a close.

Holy crap that was incredible!!!! Like a 25 min journey condensed into 14 minutes!!!! Must hear!!!!!

And, awkwardly, into Whats The Use.... 

Whats the Use has rough segue into it, but honestly? It feels great coming out of that SYSF jam as if its just an extension and the jam never ended. Love when they do that!!!!

And, oh so perfectly, out of WTU into...Billy Breathes! On paper this looks bad but holy crap you have no idea how great this works.

Its like that 2021 Disease>Velvet Sea (Dicks??). My god, Billt was THE perfect landing pad!!!!!!

A raging DDHVL up next. Love how it just rises from the ashes of that gorgeous Billy. I wouldnt call this essential but it was awesome.

Killer Hood comes early before the show kinda falters to a close with the remaining, but still enjoyable, song selections. Hood is killer, if not must hear. Doesnt beat the Bonnaroo version but gets the job done quickly.

Killer smokeshow set!!! Ghost>Axilla>Soul and that explosive Numberline are the must hear materials. This show was an absolute BLAST to listen to!!! It wasn't perfect but the highs were massive and the balance of it all made them stand out that much more. Love the varied setlist as well and, again, the debut of Friend is hall of fame stuff. Please go check that out!!!!

Id put this show on par with 6/19 Blossom. That show had a perfect second set and a just good first set. This had the goodies spread throughout and gave it better balance overall. This was an awesome show!!!!

2019-06-21 Charlotte, NC - 2024 revisit

 6 21 19 Charlotte in the dump truck this morning.

Set 1

Super rare and excellent Have Mercy opener. Praise Jah!! Then we get an all-timer (for 3.0) Jibboo that is essential, must hear material. Incredible version.

After a standard Free and Ginseng, we get one of the highlights of the summer. Tweezer>Passing Through.

Tweezer is 13 incredible, glorious, X Factor minutes. It begins in dark chill, goes to an epic Caspian style majestic bliss and wraps up with some great funk before moving seamlessly into PT.

Passing Through is wacky as usual but rages hard. Seriously. Great stuff.

X. Factor. Magic. I need to play that again.

All this is followed by an exceptional, uber tropical Ya Mar. Treys soloing is perfection. Not quite must hear, but almost.

And then, holy mother of crap on a cracker, the trio that ends the set....

Mercury>Tweezer jam>SANTOS

GOOD GOLLY MISS MOLLY!!!!

Mercury is a pretty picture perfect Type 1 version, as perfect as youre gonna get, with a wonderful, soaring solo that peaks to extremes.

Then the jam swiftly moves unexpectedly into a short Tweezer/"the nets unbreakable" jam before smoothly moving again into SANTOS.

And holy crap this SANTOS. Sure every version is hot, but this one is NUCLEAR!!!!

And with that, set 1 is over. WHAT A BLAST THIS SET WAS!!! A TOTAL PARTY BUT ALSO A FACE MELTER!!! Set 1 of Cuyahoga felt like a bunch of random songs with little purpose. This felt like some cohesive whole, the boys on some kind of mission.

The opening Have Mercy, Gotta Jibboo, Tweezer>Passing Through, and the Mercury>SANTOS to close are all top notch, must hear pieces of music.

Wow, what a set!!!! 

Set 2

Holy crap, we get a 19 minute Runaway Jim to open the set!!!!!

The song itself is a typically strong and blazing hot rendition, full of energy. Immediately though, the jam begins with some patiently laid-back soloing from Trey. The move out of the song and into the jam is so wonderfully smooth!!!!

Eventually, Trey decides to kick on the Leslie and move the jam in some other direction. We are in that "Type 1.5" area - still noticeably the song, but also far removed from it as well. More patiently melodic soloing ensues.

Very, very slowly the intensity of the jam begins to increase, bit by bit. Eventually this kind of peaks out and Trey leads the band into a funkier, more rhythmic kind of zone. This is like a funky runaway train or something.

Quickly, this moves into a much darker tone!!!! But this lasts only a short moment before more upbeat playing occurs. This is a very strange jam!!! Totally unique sounding!!! Its hard to describe it - its moving so fast from part to part.

A brief moment if quasi ambience gives way to Pages pounding piano and the jam evolved into a heavy rock and roll brew. Quickly again, though, they move into a strange electronic kind of pulsing anti groove!!!!

What is going on. Welcome to space!

Quickly again it dies down into something more plucky and strange, ala Daves Energy Guide. And out come the synths!

Synth space Jim!!! WELCOME TO THE WORMHOLE!!!! Several glorious minutes of sonic deconstruction ensue and bring this to a close, before Trey goes back into Jim and leads us home..... 

And out of Jim we LAUNCH into Scents without the intro. Strong version. Short but some great watery dark jamming. Then out of nowhere they freaking launch back into tweezer like nothing.

THEN OUT OF TWEEZER AND INTO SAND!!! ALL HAIL X FACTOR MAGIC!!!!

Fantastic Sand too. Bluesy and patient and all late night on this one. Must hear!!! Killer peakage!!!! Exceptional Sand!!!!!

After an excellent and rare Lifeboy we go into a very strong and nicely jammed ASIHTOS. Feels like 20 min instead of 10. Awesome type 2!!!! Must hear!!!

Then into a ridiculous Taste!! They friggin nail it better than every 2023 version. Absolutely must hear!!!! Holy crap!!!! A++++ Taste!!!

And then the darkness returns with a standard Twenty Years Later. Strong but inessential.

Ripping and LONG Possum closes the set. Have Mercy reprise!!!

Eh encore of More and Tweeprise.

All in all, an essential show. Definitely the most complete, top to bottom listening experience of 2019 since Mexico 1. An incredible show that kills from start to finish. Great jams, insane segues, great rarities....best show of the tour so far!!!! Id say Jim, Ocean, Sand and Taste are the essentials for set 2.

2019-06-19 Cuyahoga Falls, OH - 2024 revisit

 Onwards with 2019 in the truck this morning.

6 19 19 Cuyahoga Falls, OH

Terrific 10 minute Soul Planet gets us raging right out the gate. Strong version, it goes a deep Type 1.5, if you will, pushing boundaries without going intergalactic. Check this one out!!!

Excellent but inesessential versions of Moma, KDF and BOTT follow, with a poor Your Pet Cat thrown in for variety (not a good one at all, imo).

So far, the set rocks good and the energy is up but Soul Planet is still the only must hear.

After Train, we get a good Everything Is Hollow to pick us up. Dance party extreme!!! Nothing essential but great to hear again.

Standard hot About to Run before a solid Divided Sky. DS is a mixed bag - some parts are terrific and others are flubby.

I Didnt Know and a blazing Walls to close the set.

All in all, a strong and consistent set, but the only thing you NEED is that opening Soul Planet. Felt like an early 3.0 set where everything was baseline excellent, but very little stood out from the pack. 

Set 2

A red hot Stealing Time opens the set. Good stuff but, again, inessential. Quickly, they launch into the main course of the show - a massive, 23 minute Birds of a Feather!!!

Now thats more like it!!!

The jam begins by dropping into a slightly majestic, quasi-ambient kind of chill zone. Very relaxed. Slowly the watery effects come out to play and it begins to rise like a building wave. Within a minute or so Trey is back to melodic soloing and the whole thing is building to a massive head!!!

Peak incoming!!! Lets go!!!

They do that kind of anti-peak, save it for later thing and drop into a darker, more rhythmic area instead. Trey on Leslie and delay pedal, Fishman pounding those toms, etc.

Page comes out on the Meatstick synths, Gordo kicks on his FX, and we start to ro develop into a heavy kind of dark funk. Or something like that. This is fantastic!!! Rage it up!

It sounds again like they are working towards another peak section. Anti peak strikes again and they morph into a kinda of upbeat, islandy type of feel. Trey doing textural Leslie work, everyone playing as one. No soloing, lol.

Some "plinko" sounds emerge and we move into another section. Things are still upbeat and feel good and tropical, but slowly some funkiness is returning. The intensity rises sharply and we go into funky stop/start section. Woo!!! Faceplant into Rokk!

Cue all the keyboard vocal samples!!!!

They then shift YET AGAIN!!! Immediately they move into a strange, rapid fire zone of swirl before it quickly dies down into a lovely, piano led area. Slow build to another peak incoming.

This is incredible - its a freaking adventure that just keeps moving and going!

And into the peak they go!!! Absolutely soaring like Divided Sky!!! Yes!! All of my yes!!! Ive got goosebumps! Camden 99 Chalkdust!!! LETS FREAKING GO!!!! THIS PEAK WAS SICK!!!!

And then after the short peak of the gods, it quickly dies down into a darker, more vampy kind of zone. Dark jazz or something. And with that the jam fades out, moving into..... 

....Crazy Sometimes. Now that is how you land out of a jam and into another song!!!!

Perfect pick, it keeps the ending vibe of Birds going in the best way. Not the song everyone wanted but the absolute perfect choice!!!! This feels like an extension of Birds, almost. Uber funky, synths blaring, killer stuff.

Birds>Crazy Sometimes is incredible. Best combo of the year so far and that Birds was the best jam besides the Mexico SYSF. Hands down. Fantastic. X factor magic all over this sucker. This duo was absolutely mind-blowing.

A gorgeous Miss You is the cooldown we get next. Great stuff. No, this is a stellar version. Trey plays the most perfect solo ever. Add this to the must hear pile. All timer right here!!!

Following that we get a terrific trio to close the set - ER>Chalkdust>Slave!!
Fantastic, must hear ER!! Wonderful dark jamming on this!!!

Chalkdust is fantastic. Destroys worlds and the segue out of ER was great. A+ 10 minutes with a great, slow build bliss jam. Goes full type 2. Feels like 20 minutes not 10! Holy crap this was SICK!!!!!

Slave is immaculate tonight. A true 10/10 for 3.0. A definite cut above most others. Essential.

Crazy double encore of Melt into ALBTD to tie it all together!!! Melt is 15 minutes but not the craziest out there. Solid but not essential. Just kinda messy and doesn't even get that crazy. Missed opportunity.

All in all a knockout blazer of a set!!! The must hear music is the Birds>Crazy, Miss You, ER>Chalkdust and Slave, but the whole thing flowed great and worked as a cohesive whole. Damn, they brought the heat this set!!! Killer!!!

2019-06-19 Toronto, CAN - 2024 revisit

 Onward to 6 19 19 Toronto

I remember really enjoying this show, but everyone else hates it for the chill 2nd set.

Been eager to revisit this one!

Set 1 begins with a short but excellent Bag with a great move into 555 in the 2nd slot. Good 555. Absolutely ripping Trey on this!

Ultra chill and excellent Ocelot. Lots of patience on this one. A great sleeper!!! Awesome slow build peak finale!!!! Killer Ocelot!!! Wow!!!

Sample up next. Pretty sick Trey shredding on this - it goes nuclear!!! Holy crap!

Up next is a 12 minute Stash. Song itself isnt impressive. Like Ocelot, however, the jam gets going into a cool, kina chill and blissful zone of sorts. Its definitely "building". Solid jam, but not anything amazing. Almost highlight worthy but just missed the mark. A+ for effort.

The Wedge is The Wedge. After a rare Frost and a really nice standard Halley (Page is all over this), we get the debut of the soon-to-be-epic Ruby Waves!! Solid version but nobody could predict the beast laying within!

Lawn Boy and YEM to close!!! Standard but strong.


Really dug this set! Its definitely CHILL but in the nicest, most relaxed way. Ocelot, Sample and Ruby, maybe Stash are the highlights. If you can dig chill Phish, its a great listen. 

Set 2

The set opening Plasma is terrific. Its multisectional and packs a wallop in its short run time. Short but stellar stuff!! Plus, it features the greatest segue of all time into....

The following version of The Final Hurrah is even better, lasting probably twice the length and going full-blown type 2 multisectional as well. It reaches a natural conclusion. Some of the finest playing of the year so far. X Factor magic!!!!!!!! TERRIFIC STUFF!!!

TFH concludes and up next is for the ages Wingsuit. Holy mother of crap on a cracker if this doesnt melt your face then nothing will.

Also, seriously, A+ set construction/flow!!!!

Picking us back up, next we get a giant, 15 minute Golden Age!!!! Golden Age is incredible. Along with the St. Louis Twist, its probably the best jam since Mexico.

Starts funky, gets reflective, ends in that 1999-style kind of haziness.

So Golden Age basically fades out perfectly. Page sees his chance and they launch perfectly into IAWITW. Again, the set construction is just perfect!!! Killer version as well - THOSE SYNTHS!!!!!!

After being taken on an intergalactic voyage with the first part of the set, Caspian leads us into a rare If I Could to cool us down before 46 Days sends us home happy.

Almost. We get Drift While Youre Sleeping as the encore. Eh.


All in all, this was easily my favorite show since the first of the tour, 6/12 in St. Louis. Its not perfect, and I understand the dislike, but the highlights speak for themselves. In no way is this anything approaching a bad gig and sections of it are as good as anything played so far in 2019.

THIS SHOW IS UNDERRATED. I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL!

2019-06-16 Bonnaroo - 2024 revisit

 6 16 19 Bonnaroo in the truck this morning.

Set 1

A very strong "lets rock" kind of first set. Most is baseline excellent but not really noteworthy, aside from a few songs.

DDHVL is dark, grimy and killer. And Sand is a friggin guitar explosion masterpiece. A next level version that will melt your face.

Following that is a MUST HEAR Wolfman! Probably THE highlight of the set, it goes a strong Type 1.5 for its jam duration and concludes in a terrific peak. How is this not Jam Charted?!

Standard Cavern closes the set.

Strong set overall. DDHVL, Sand and Wolfman are all must hear. The rest is regular excellent. Great stuff!! 

Set 2 is a strange seguefest with odd placements and unexpected surprises.

Standard-but-red hot Mike's Song set opener. Soaring peakage and borderline must hear. Gives way to....Fluffhead?! Strangest placement Ive ever seen for it but ok!!!!

Fluff is fantastic tonight! The guys friggin NAIL it and the peak is wonderful. Seriously, this was 2023-level. Fantastic!!!!

Awkwardly, a 12 minute Twist rises out of Fluff. Very peacefully chill jamming to start. It eschews the standard latin feel for something more laid back and blissful. Very unique. From there it slowly builds and builds into a massive, soaring peakfest!!! After the peak, Trey kicks on the Leslie and it goes into a fiery, more uptempo kind of funkiness. Everyone is playing together perfectly as one. This is sick!!!!! Things continue to evolve and get borderline spacey for a bit. Eventually it builds to another big peak and out we go. Must hear!!! Totally different than the St. Louis version. Killer!!!! X FACTOR MAGIC!!!!!

Twist fades out and we get a sick Segway into Weekapaug!!!! A genuine segue at that! WOW! However, Paug is just a tease and they then Segway perfectly into No Men!!! What the hell!! That was awesome!!!!!

No Men is a short 4 minutes and then they swiftly segue back into Weekapaug which turn leads back to a Twist reprise to finish.

???!!!???!!!

And into Fuego we go....

Fuego is the perfect launchpad to keep the momentum going. Solid but nothing special version. Great soloing in the back half!

Segue into a 9 minute Ghost. Drops straight into a great, laid back kind of jam like at the start of Twist. Slowly builds into some wandering bliss. Slowly builds into a more uptempo and atmospheric jam with wonderful peakage and sustained notes. Very airy and beautiful!!!!! Wow!!! Great little Ghost!!!!

Segue into a 12 minute Gin! Standard excellent peak-your-face-off Gin. Just builds and builds and builds. Solid version!!!!

Wilson and First Tube encore.

All in all, a way better show than expected. The highlights from set 1, as well as the Twist-a-thon, Ghost and Gin in set 2 are all worth your time!!! Not the Second Coming, but I cant help but feel this show is pretty underrated!!!! 

2019-06-19 St. Louis - 2024 revisit

 6 12 19 St. Louis #2

Set 2

Current review, lol

Gloria to open is strange but a ton of fun, and Loving Cup is a major surprise in slot two. Even better, its nearly 12 minutes and goes Type 2!!! Totally forgot about this - MUST HEAR!!!!

Truly exceptional, nearly 15 minute Twist. Great Type 1 before a lengthy, and genuine, Type 2 section that sees it getting funky with great FX before peaking to a conclusion. Must hear!!!

Debut of About to Run. Utter destruction.

Up next is the first Mr. Completely since the Bakers Dozen. Slow tempo on this. UGH ITS AT, LIKE, HALF SPEED. Aimless, chill jamming for a while. Eventually it coalesces into a pleasant, watery kind of jam. Moves into a bliss zone from there. The song itself sucked but this jam is very, very pretty!!!

And from there into a 14 minute Light! Unfortunately this isnt really anything all that special. They are caught in a chill zone and have a terribly hard time breaking free. Finally they move into a more enjoyably funky zone in the back end of the jam. Then a very strange outer space outro.

Good Light. Not amazing. A bit all over the place. Terribly awkward end section.

Waste and Suzy close the set. Farmhouse into First Tube encore

All in all, id say Light and Completely had decent, if unfulfilling jams while Twist was the definite highlight of the set. Special props to Gloria and the type 2 Loving Cup!!!! A good show all around but a bit "lacking payoff", if you will.