Finishing the week with The Big One
10/31/21 Las Vegas - SCI FI SOLDIERS!!!
Set 1
Buried Alive - Not amazing. Just ok.
Roses are Free - Very nice. Sounds like its going to jam but then they pull the plug on it 
Ghost - 27 minute super jam in slot 3!!! All the
way to the 14 minute mark they power rock to oblivion. Then, just as you
think the jam is ending they push on and dive into a dark and spooky
robo area for a long while. Fantastic. They slowly build back out and
rage the bliss rock. A quick detour into roboville before reprising the
Ghost theme to close...X FACTOR MAGIC YO!!! All that being
said, for as great as it was, It feels a little underwhelming on the
whole. That is definitely a "me" issue and Im sure further listens will
change my opinion. 
Wolfmans Brother - Standard excellence but holy crap Trey goes OFF!!! Great version!
Kill Devil Falls - Absolutely spectacular!! X Factor Magic!! This ends up being my favorite music of the set. A+++++ version. Must hear!!!
Free - standard. Good but inessential.
David Bowie - YUCK!!!! Add
another version to the list of worst versions ever. The jam is actually
great but all of the composed playing is horrifically bad!! The dang
intro section will make you go "Is this August 2004?!" .. Yea. Nasty in a
very bad way.
All in all, quite a mixed bag set quality wise. Ghost and KDF are
the essential must hear music and the rest you can safely go without
ever hearing ever again......
Set 2 - SCI FI SOLDIERS!! 
Intro - a cool and strange intro piece of music welcoming the Sci Fi Soldiers to the arena stage....
Knuckle Bone Broth Avenue - Right from the first play this has
been a favorite of mine. Friggin 15 minutes on this sucker! This feels
right out of the Kasvot Vaxt playbook. Im honestly shocked this
was basically ignored in setlists following the debut. It only has,
what, 2 other versions?!? I thought this would be THE breakout jam
monster for 2022, but alas for some reason they just shelved it!!
KBBA DESERVES MORE LOVE!!!
Get More Down - Another underrated tune. Absolutely love the proggy
"what the hell is this" rhythm pattern. All anxiety-ridden and what not.
Not surprised this was never played again but it'd be a great bust out!
"GET MORE DOWN!" "We are Sci Fi Soldiers! This is our album!" 
As with KBBA, this is surprisingly jammed out, reaching 9 minutes. "Only we can stop it - stop the Howling!"
GREAT STUFF, YO!
Egg In a Hole - Holy mother of nucleae bomb explosion, I remember
being astounded by this the first time I heard it. Immediate dark and
evil Phish to the nth degree. There is zero reason for there not
to be a massive jammed out version of this. Also, imagine a Carini jam
morphing into this....PHISH WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN US!!!!
The solo section is ridiculous on this. Trey delivers one of the tastiest, nastiest, FX-laden solos ever.....
Thanksgiving - Another super funky number in line with KV....This sucker is loaded with
"spoken" vocals. Basically its a "nothing" song existing just to show
them absolutely tearing the roof off with some of the hottest, sickest
jamming of the year....Maybe not essential in the grand scheme but it
sure is fun!
"We are SciFi Soldier from the year 4680. We are very happy to be with you humanoids tonight."
Clear Your Mind - Not as much play as it deserves, but at last
this one has been played 5 or 6 times since. More laid back kinda Dead
vibe on this one. Golly, I love the stupid lyrics on this one. Really nice feel good, upbeat playing on this. The outro jam section is cash money....
The 9th Cube - I absolutely adore this tune and its a shame it
has only played once since its debut. Its a terrific instrumental,
jazzy-yet-proggy, that almost recalls the composed stylings of early
Phish. Really, really love it!
The Inner Reaches of Outer - Another "weird rhythm pattern" song.
Its a very pleasant upbeat kind of pop ditty with some nice melodic
ideas thoughout. This deserves another look from people.
Don't Doubt Me - Another song that I adore. This one is so much stupid fun! Love the chord progression and dark vibe. "He does handstands in grand fashion, but hes a GEN-YOU-WINE A$$HOLE!" "HOLY BLANKENSTEIN!! UNHEAD THE KNEE!!!"
Like, what the hell does that even mean?!?? Lololol. Ugh, just
fantastically fun.... And this debut version has serious legs already -
THIS ROCKS! Absolutely amazing, haha
The Unwinding - Now THIS is one im shocked has never been played
again. A wonderful little ballad. The music/vibe is to die for. Love it
to bits. Absolutely fantastic!!!!!
Something Living Here - Another excellent upbeat kind of funk song. Only played what, 1 more time after this? Major live potential. No reason this should be on the shelf!! The music is terrific....THIS IS SICK!!! The dueling Page and Trey solos are great. This sucker jams!! PLAY THIS AGAIN, PHISH! PLEASE!!! THIS DESERVES LOVE!!!!
The Howling - We know it and we love it. This definitely has earned its spot in the rotation, and thank god for that!!!
I Am In Miami - Nice little acapella tune to send us out
All in all, I loved this way more than I expected. Individually
the songs can be threadbare at times, but it really felt like it all fit
together thematically and they all probably work best heard as one.
Still, some fantastic music and tunes that does not deserve the hate!!!
Really, Thanksgiving was pretty much the only song that didnt really do much (and even that has great playing!).
Somethings Living Here, 9th Cube, KNBA, Get More Down, Dont Doubt Me,
The Unwinding, The Howling, Clear Your Mind, Egg in a Hole - all great
pieces!!!
Set 3
"We are the Phish, from the year 1-9-8-3...."
Carini - 13 minute Carini to open was a great choice! MUST HEAR!!!
Absolutely kickass jim. They start to drift out into type 2, but then it
morphs into an insane POWER ROCK section. This in turn slowly morphs into deep space ambience to finish. Total X Factor on this sucker! Holy crap...
>Lonely Trip - poor placement imo, but I still love it either way. Great version as always.
Soul Planet - 14 minutes on this one. Rocks good then dives into a
wonderfully laid back "ocean chill" kinda zone about halfway through.
Quickly they begin to raise the intensity back up. This morphs into some
high energy robofunk fun. The uptempo robo rock somehow then morphs
into a very dark and heavy "Egg In a Hole" type jam. Outta nowhere.
Extreme FX usage and evil funk follows, carrying us tonthe finish
line.....X factor friggin magic.....Yo, this jam is SICK!!! Deep
and multisectional, its a compact adventure! Give this a revisit!!!!!
ITS FRIGGIN AMAZING!!! Actually, this might be THE jam of the night!
Yea, Im serious!!!!!!
>Death Dont Hurt Very Long - Basically the fun conclusion of the Soul Planet jam
Twist - is Twist. Good stuff
Drift While Youre Sleeping - excellent choice that really hits the emotional mark. Love it.
Harry Hood - Excellent Hood to close the show and tour. Could it be any other song in this spot?
All in all, set 3 was a raging success!! Carini was fantastic, but
that Soul Planet is easily up there with the finest jams 2021 has to
offer. An excellent post-gag set!!!!! I ended up enjoying this show much
more than anticipated. I actually was always kinda "anxious" going into
it because of the size and the rather negative reception to the SFS
material, but screw that. This show was a PARTY!!
Must hear music:
Soul Planet
Ghost
Carini
Kill Devil Falls
Dont Doubt Me
Clear Your Mind
Somethings Living Here
The Unwinding
Knuckle Bone Broth Avenue
Get More Down
And with that, Fall 2021 is finally - PROPERLY - complete
Extended thoughts to come later....
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