Finishing my fall 2019 replay this morning with the much-maligned-for-no-reason 12/8/19 North Charleston #3
Not being able to attend night 3, I friggin DIED when I saw the
setlist the next day...new song debut?! About 40 major rarities?! The
one KV song I wanted more than any other (besides Turtles!)?!
I was not a happy camper, lol. BUT SUCH IS LIFE AND WE CAN'T WIN THEM ALL. BE GRATEFUL FOR WHAT WE DO GET! 
All that being said, lets get on with the dang show!
12/8/19 North Charleston
Set 1
The debut of Sigma Oasis opens the show. Already sounding pretty tight
and confident, the boys definitely sound enthusiastic about playing it! A
great debut!
An excellent Buried Alive follows - everyone nails their parts, its full
of energy and Trey even reprises the Little Drummer Boy fun! Zero
complaints here!
All the same for Guelah Papyrus! Sounds damn well rehearsed to me with nary a flub in sight! Why is this a rarity?! This should be in regular rotation!
My Sweet One kicks butt before they launch into the hard grooving
Everything Is Hollow. I never understood why this song got less play tha
other KV songs - not that its better or anything, but its such a great
party-stomper, ala The Howling or something. Youd think theyd be all
over it. Great version. LETS PARTY!!!
Set 1 is going great so far. Also, Trey's playing is abs more
"fluid" tonight than whatever stiffness he was working through on 12/7.
Bit of an odd placement but up next is The Curtain....Without! IIRC a
Without version hadnt been played in a long while so this is like an ass
backwards rarity and a half, lol. There is some slight hesitancy to the
playing, sounding rehearsed last minute, but they still basically nail
it pretty damn well!!! It's honestly a great version for 2019 without
any flubs, just a general sense of "looseness" at times. Excellent!
Best part, it concludes with a perfect segue into....Mound!!!! As with everything else, it sounds genuinely excellent, and tighter than you expect it to be. Another success!
Giving us a break from the onslaught, the rarities continue with a lovely Brian and Robert. Genuinely terrific.
They continue onwards with a perfectly placed Crazy Sometimes to get us moving again. Man I would love to catch this song - seems so much FUN! 
This version SLAPS with a great party funk jam that is such a blast. Terrific!!!
Back down with another ballad, but its an extremely rare Frost - is this
the most current version to date?? This sounds terrific and Id welcome
them adding this to Phish rotation.
And back up again with an excellent Breath and Burning. Type 1 raging, this one is all about that hose, baby! Awesome!
They keep the energy going with a PERFECT Alumni Blues Suite - everyone
NAILS their parts and youd think theyd been playing it every night all
year on tour! Must hear!
One of the few true mishaps occurs next with Its Ice. Very rough, it
sounds like i was played on 12/7, ya dig? Fitting right at home with
Guyuute or Reba. Trey has major problems but A for effort....at least it
has a nice funk jam during the breakdown section!
The set ends nicely with a strong Walls, typical version, but they
unleash everything they have and give a great little send off to the
set. Well done!
All in all, no this set isnt a masterpiece and, musically, there
really isnt anything must hear aside from maybe the Alumni suite, but
c'mon folks - they played GREAT (for the most part!) and it was almosy
entirely rarities! For a tour ender, surely this merits some leeway?!
Flow issues aside (from cramming so many songs in...) there is honestly
nothing wrong with this and it was a genuinely enjoyable party of a set!
Great stuff and I would have killed to be there!
Set 2
The set gets off to a great start with a genuinely blazing After Midnight. Definitely a show highlight, it kills!
Right away though, they fumble into Faulty Plan and you think "oh no!".
Thankfully the song comes together and actually delivers a jam with some
meat on its bones - Trey lays hard into his sustained notes and
feedback and this thing just about goes Type 2 before they kill it. Absolutely worth a listen!!!
Rushing into a sloppy Energy, it gets axed quickly in favor of Soul
Planet. Soul Planet produces probably the best jam of a night mostly
lacking in them - they go deep into type 2, taking us on a glorious
journey soaring through outer space. Ethereal, beautiful, whatever you
wanna call it, before slowly turning dark and angsty and strange. Now
THIS is must hear! A proper Type 2 deep dive, this goes head to head
with anything played the entire weekend. Fantastic! Im calling this an
underrated/forgotten gem!
Out of the synthy ashes of that Soul Planet rises Wingsuit. I dont care what anyone says - go listen to this. That transition is spectacular!!! Excellent
dynamics, this version is powerful! Trey is even doing great guitar
fills in the verses and what not! And of course the solo just explodes.
Must hear - there is extra mustard all over this!!!!! X Factor Magic on this one!
IAWITW backs off a tad but keeps the energy going nicely, delivering a
strong rock and roll type 1 version. Nothing special but a fine reading.
In an extremely controversial set placement, Petrichor follows.
Petrichor delivers good tonight. Everyone nails their parts and, while
it's not an exceptional reading, it is a GOOD reading, if a bit...
unnecessary, lol. "Hey lets just effing throw Petrichor in the middle of everything for no reason whatsoever!"
The set ends awkwardly with a good but average Boogie On into a disappointing Rise/Come Together. Look,
I personally dig the song and think it CAN be amazing when they put
their all into it, but this is just a limp version with no extra
anything about it. Total bummer!
The encore gets off to a bad start with th worlds most uninteresting
Pebbles and Marbles followed by a supremely sloppy and underwhelming Sea
of Stars. Ugh!
They thankfully end on a high note with a hot Izabella and the strange CDT Reprise.
All in all, set 2 is a MESS!!! It starts ok, gets pretty good,
then limps to the finish line. Soul Planet>Wingsuit is must hear but
nothing else is essential. Everything else is either subpar or
good-but-not-anything-noteworthy.
I will die on the hill that set 1 is a great listen, but set 2 is just...hell, even I gave up defending it.
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