2024-07-27 East Troy, WI

 7/27/24 East Troy

Set 1

An excellent 1-2 punch of Sample into Halley opens the show on a high energy and totally rocking note. Immediately it is apparent the difference in energy between night 1 and 2!!! Thank god!!!

They keep it going great with a fantastic type 1 Birds of a Feather. This one strongly teases diving off the deep end, but unfortunately they decide to keep her in the hangar.

A super poorly placed (though definitely excellent) version of Mountains is next. Very high quality!

Foam is the first shock surprise of the night. Trey has a few "out of sync" moments and of course the outro is bad as always, but on the whole this is a very strong (and definitely practiced sounding!) version!! Probably throw this on the must hear list!

Another slightly odd set placement comes in the form of a non-set-closing Moonage Daydream. As most of them do, this thing kicks total ass. The band is exploding and Trey is just melting everything in sight with his emotive soloing. Must hear. Plain and simple. This is killer!

Considering the 40 minute Simple in set 2, how perfect that we get a My Soul in this show as well? The "legend" being that shows with My Soul, by chance, often end up being incredible Great stuff. Hot as always.

A terrific whopper double combo of Lizards into Bowie send us on our way to set break. Both are killer. Lizards is totally choice in every way. Delicately powerful and played with the utmost precision. A+++ Lizards! Bowie crushes. Nuff said!


All in all...WOW! What a difference in vibe and energy from night 1!!! Moonage Daydream is probably the only "truly" incredible piece here, but the rest of the set was full of HIGH ENERGY, excellent and rocking readings. Add in some unexpected set placements for good measure.

This was a GREAT first set!
Moonage is definitely must hear, but Foam, Bowie, Birds and Mountains (hell probably Lizards and My Soul too) are all worth checking out.

Kick. Friggin. Ass.

I so badly needed this set this morning after two bum shows in a row   

Set 2

Sigma opens us up. Sigma goes as usual until, instead of peaking out, Trey rips into the Simple lick. ...and away we go!!!

Simple is absolutely bonkers. They basically power rock the F outta it with pure fire and multiple peaky sections.....all the friggin way to the damn 27 minute mark *slaps forehead*

Remember the days when a 40 minute jam was actually a 40 minute jam and not half an hour of (excellent, I might add), basically, type 1?

Anywho, finally around 27 minutes the X Factor FINALLY kicks in and the final 13 minutes are as magically amazing as anything played in recent years. Monstrous....

Nitpicking aside, this Simple is effing ridiculous!!! Just pure power and FIRE!! It never goes truly strange like you hope, but god damn if it doesnt absolutely crush in every other way....

Must hear - duh! 

After a sloppy yet energetic The Howling to keep the party going, we get an absolutely spectacular 14 minute Wave of Hope. Wave is a soaring, magical, MAJESTIC peak factory tonight!!! This has to be the most "uplifting" version of a song I can recall. Basically non stop peakage for a lot of it. Definitely must hear!

After a wonderful (and perfectly placed!) Lifeboy, Trey and the boys proceed to absolutely friggin BLOW THE ROOF OFF THE JOINT with what im calling to be the finest Sand of 2024 to this point. Complete and utter X Factor Magic destruction. 10,000 percent must hear. Oh my god.

The set ends with a hard rocking and tight Golgi before a sick Esther into C Zero encore to send us home with our faces on the floor....


Absolutely KICK ASS SHOW!!! Hands down the show of the tour so far (tied with Mansfield #3, at least). My goodness. The pure FIRE and energy tonight!!! They came to KILL! And kill they did!!!

For set 2, Simple, Wave and Sand are the essentials but special shoutout to Lifeboy as well

Night 3 has to wait for tomorrow. I need some time to recover from this

2024-07-26 East Troy, WI

 7/26/24 East Troy

Set 1

Th show begins astoundingly bad with the most limp wristed, low energy, half asleep 46 Days of all time. It slowly wakes up near the end but its WAY too little, WAY too late! Ugh!!!

Moma is a powerful slow burner tonight. Still not reaching the "appropiate" level of heat you expect, it nonetheless winds up being a really good full band jam. Solid!

The Well is terrific. Tightly played and energetic type 1. Great stuff.

Then, oh boy....a friggin 17 minute My Friend!!! Absolutely essential listening, it spends a while in funky vamp land before moving skywards. Trey positively explodes and delivers what may be the finest peak section of the summer so far. This was SICK!!!!!! MUST HEAR!

And the cooldown into a perfect Brian and Robert was just oh so choice.....

Unfortunately the rest of the set is pretty downhill. Llama is a loud roaring nothing (I cant tell you one way or the other if it was good or not as the sound mix is so ridiculously awful....)

Cities is very good but they kill the jam very quickly....

Ya Mar was the worst Ive heard in a while. Constantly sounds like its going to fall apart. Way low energy.....

Stash is boring and sleep inducing beyond belief.

And the Cavern closer just adds insult to injury.


What in the F is going on?! Aside from The Well and My Friend>Brian, this set is pretty much a waste of time. What in gods name...... 

warewolf95 Forum Resident

Location:

Greenville, SC

7/26/24 East Troy

Set 2

Set 2 gets off to another bad start with the stickiest, most unimpressive Axilla I think Ive ever heard. Good golly - calling it OK is the highest compliment I can give it....

18 minute Disease up next. Please dont suck, please dont suck, please dont suck..... Thankfully it doesnt suck, but its also not anything amazing. It is very good and rages properly, but its 18 solid minutes of "stuck in type 1". Oi vey! Enough already! Get to the point! In an egregious act of awfulness, the jam begins to go proper type 2 and Trey ripcords them into....

...a damn 8 minute Mercury.....Guys....this show ...I cant.... Mercury is basically a waste. Played ok but it actually starts jam and Trey full on just drops out!!! He kills it dead and they move into Taste.

Taste is solid. Good version, but nothing to write home about. A bit draggy and slow but ok otherwise.

Thank Christ the following 16 minute Ghost is unbelievable!!!! Yea its a bliss rager, but we are talkin 12/28/23 Gin on steroids over here!!! X factor magic abound! MUST HEAR!!!!

Limb By Limb is also must hear. The energy continues and they just destroy this one!!

After a solid HorseSilent, the set ends with a blazing Good Times Bad Times.

Inspired encore of Contact into a hot Antelope


All in all, this show was a major letdown!!! They pick it up majorly from Ghost to the end (thank god!!!) but 2/3 of this show was just straight up sub par!!! Definitely not a fan of this show, though as with any, the highlights are killer.

My Friend, Disease, Ghost and Limb are probably the "must hear" music.

Thank god this one is over though....

2024-07-24 Uncasville, CT

 7/24/24 Uncasville #2 this morning.

Aka the "With" show

Set 1

The show opens with a solid Bag into a very well played Curtain (without!). Steam is the surprise out of it, containing a nicely patient and jagged and angular solo from Trey.

Up next is the first must hear of the night. Maze absolutely obliterates everything in sight. Definitely a 1.0-worthy version!!!

After a lovely Farmhouse and a solid Mull, we get a fantastic Reba. The composition is nailed tight and Trey's solo is definitely a cut above. Must hear!

Surprisingly the set ends with a ripping Most Events. Definitely an excellent version and just about must hear status.

All in all, this set was spectacular in its "inoffensive average-ness" for the most part. Great song selection and high energy throughout, but for the most part Treys playing was just not "there". Not bad, but definitely less-than. That aside, when it did work, it was GREAT! Reba and Maze were genuinely spectacular and the MEAP crushed.

B+++ set for me   

Set 2

A disappointing Blaze On opens set 2. Trey spends most of his time just vamping, and then finally when it begins to go dark, Trey full stop ripcords them out of it like its friggin 2010 again ....

Mikes Song is average, until the final minutes where X Factor strikes and Trey positively EXPLODES in extraordinary fashion!! Must hear for that!

The much talked about move into With instead of Hydro is really cool, but musically its another unimpressive piece. Same with Weekapaug.

Thankfully, Leaves is INCREDIBLE tonight! Trey goes insane and this version is a damn juggernaut!!! Extremely powerful!!! MUST HEAR!

Fuego is very good but has another "half baked" jam. Lonely Trip is much better. Grab this. Pronto.

A powerful More into a strong Fluffhead closes the set excellently.

Boring encore of ALBTD into First Tube.


All in all, set 2 had flashes of brilliance, but Mikes Song and Leaves are th only essential pieces, imo. Special shoutout to Lonely Trip and With, however, for sure.

This show was just ok. The band sounded great but Trey was definitely having an off night inspiration wise.

2024-07-23 Uncasville, CT

 A smoking Martian Monster into a hot Rift is a highly inspired opening duo! The 16 minute Golden Age that follows is very fresh feeling in that spot. Very good "bliss rock" standard GA jam.

After a fine Gumbo and Funky B, we get a terrific Guyuute! Seriously! This thing is basically flawless!! A++++

Solid versions of Undermind, Evolve and Waste follow before a good Walls closer.


All in all, set 1 was really good in that kind of early-3.0 "everything was really good but not much stood out in particular" kind of way. High energy and SOLID versions throughout. I guess grab Golden Age, the flawless Guyuute and that Walls closer

Grab Waste too!

Set 2

The 2nd set gets off to an excellent start with a wonderful nearly 17 minute Plasma. This one mostly stays in that "bliss rock" zone, but they definitely play around with it a lot, pushing it here, pulling it there, like a rubber band. Good enough to call must hear!

From there we go......into a friggin 19 minute Kill Devil Falls! Syracuse 2023, anyone? @fishcane knows what im talkin about! This KDF is a monster. It goes full blown dark psychedelia type 2 and mostly stays there. There are some sloppy transitions and "lost" moments, but A+++++ for effort and for not just delivering 20 minutes of shredding. Definitely must hear!

The following 15 minute Carini is equally impressive. This a snarling, writhing, funky, groovy full band effort at laying down THE THICKNESS. X Factor all over this sucker! A little "scattershot" ala the KDF, but thats nitpicking. Absolutely essential listening, this Carini crushes and manages to sound unique at the same time. Wow.

The Ruby Waves and Piper that follow both sound like "exclamation marks" atop the Jam Sandwiches we were delivered prior. Ruby is positively triumphant sounding and worth a listen or two while Piper refrains from the hose shredding in favor of dropping out into a well placed Mercy. Piper is basically aborted, but who cares when the segue out is so smooth like this.

The set closes with a spectacular and downright EXPLOSIVE Everythings Right. Definitely full of passion and energy, even the crown picks up on it and roar multiple different times!!!! Holy moly this SMOKES! Not the GOAT, but definitely worth your attention!!!!

The show ends with the fiery duo of Julius and About to Run


All in all, this wasnt my favorite show. But you definitely cant argue with that 2nd set. Holy smokes, just one giant banger after another with almost no let up!!! Probably the 2nd best set of the tour so far after Mansfield #3.

A lot of the playing felt like they were slowly moving away from outright "2023 hose bliss", but they havent arrived yet, if you will.

This show gave me "preview of things to come" kinda vibes

2024-07-21 Mansfield, MA

 Set 1

The show opens guns a blazing with a firestorm Free. Maybe not essential, but definitely ass kicking.

Immediately things get crazy with the duo of a 16 minute WOPE into a 15 minute Gin!! WOPE is X Factor Magic, baby!! An incredible version, it gets into some kind of.... mystical sounding zone for a good while, going askew, before coming back around and exploding to a finale.

Gin is another terrific hose rager version. This one is maybe not essential but it is still a terrific version at the same time!!

An incredibly rare duo of The Connection and Thread follow after. TC sounds terrific and powerful - no reason this shouldnt be in rotation!!! And Thread is a flawless type 1 reading, sadly still devoid of jamming...

After a lovely Joy, Runaway Jim absolutely EXPLODES and we get a solid LSG to close. LSG never peaks like you want, but it does seem to have an interesting kind of classic rock vibe about it or something. Very nice.

All in all, this set SMOKED! Id say Wave and Jim are the must hear material but just about everything was excellent. Definite fire throughout and A+ song choices! 

A solid Coil opens (oh how I am not a fan of Coil openers!) before launching into an incredible 21 minute Tweezer. This is a slow build one that sees them exploring a few different sections, everyone completely locked in. Absolutely must hear! A very, very strong version!!!!!

Tweezer comes to an unsatisfying ending and we go into a 17 minute Scents. Scents is incredible!!! Hose blissing to the furthest EXTREME before a deep dive into a magical dark kind of "middle eastern" area for a good while. 10,000 must hear. Mexico Magic all over this bad boy!

After a genuinely terrific Twist, a 14 minute Crosseyed comes and delivers TOTAL FRIGGIN ANNIHILATION!!!! HOLY MOTHER OF CRAP ON A CRACKER!!! THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!! IT EVEN GOES TYPE 2!!! MUST HEAR AT ALL COSTS!!!

And to cap it all off we get a legit as hell Slave to close! Must hear, again! You know a Slave is GREAT if Im the one praising it (not a Slave guy, lol). This in league with the best of modern times. My golly.

Shredtastic Possum into Tweeprise for the encore.

All in all .....HOLY MOTHER EFFIN CRAP THIS 2ND SET WAS A JUGGERNAUT!!!!!! Tweezer right through the end is completely must hear!!!! That Scents! That Crosseyed! That Slave!! And of course Tweezer itself!!!

Easily the strongest top to bottom of the 3 shows. What a MONSTER!!!!!

2024-07-20 Mansfield, MA

 Set 1

The show opens with a powerful Theme into a blazing BOTT. Sand, in slot 3, is the first true must hear of the night. An absolutely next level rendition, it delivers one of the sickest, most "developed" kind of hose explosion jams. Its not just straight shredding, it has some unique character that I cant quite place. It feels "jammed", if you will. Insane!

After BATR and a solid Number Line we get the live debut of Human Nature!!!! Human Nature destroys!! THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!! HOLY EFFING CRAP!!! GIVE US A 20 MINUTE JAM BEAST!!! IT HAS THE POTENTIAL!!!!!!!

The following Its Ice is anothe very good recent version. Trey fumbles a little during the technical section but this is 95 percent clean. Good stuff.

Wolfmans is next. MUST HEAR! The song itself is janky as F! Seriously, ugh - tempo issues and everything! But thankfully the jam just CRUSHES! Gordo gets filthy for a good long while before they rage it to an insane hose climax ala Sand. Must hear, for the insane jam!!!

Obligatory Drift set closer.


All in all, set 1 was very much a MIXED bag. Lots of looseness and "average" versions, offset by the towering behemoths of Sand, Human Nature and Wolfman. Those three stick out like a sore thumb!! Basically, grab those and forget the rest of the set - the rest is FINE, just positively unimpressive (wel, BOTT does rage..)

 Set 2

The 2nd set gets off to a very awkward start with a strange YEM. It sounds pretty flawless and has great energy, but they barely jam it at all! They head straight for the vocal jam and even though we get a coveted 2nd jam out of it, they abandon thst very quickly as well. It barely reaches 15 minutes! What a buzzkill!

Thankfully the rest of the set is all up from there!

Oblivion is a satisfying rock and roll rager. Probably not must hear but great all the same.

The duo of No Men and Monsters are friggin incredible, however! No Men rages hard before eventually going completely off the deep end!!! A psychedelic black hole vortex of craziness! Pure X Factor Magic all day!!!!

And the following Monsters is one of the most impassioned performances Ive ever heard - this sucker RIPS! LISTEN TO TREYS VOCALS!!!!

Both of those are absolutely must hear, essential listening at all costs!!!!

After a solid 2001, the set proper ends with a 14 minute Chalkdust! An absolutely fantastic "unhinged" reading ala SPAC 2023. X Factor abound once more! MUST HEAR!!!

We get a lengthy encore of Circus, Bowie and Santos. B
Bowie is 1.0 tier!!!! GRAB THAT SUCKER!!! ITS INCREDIBLE!!!!

All in all, set 2, aside from YEM, is a complete and total winner!!!! Id say the 3.7 for this show on .NET is low. This is a 4.0 level show, imo. The 2nd set (and the few 1st set highlights) really are just THAT good!

2024-07-19 Mansfield, MA

 Set 1

Always a great sign when you get a Buried Alive opener! And wow!!! A genuinely terrific version for once!! Zero slop here, super fireball energy abound....now THIS is what Buried Alive needs to sound like every time!

Character Zero is up next. Very, very refreshing to get it so early! It actually almost sounds fresh! This is a wonderful and unique version going surprisingly chill and laid back before slowly building back to the climax. Give this a listen!

Hey Stranger is absolutely spectacular tonight. Starting chill, Page goes ham on the synths delivering a sick "havent heard that before!" solo before Mike and Trey both get turns. As with Zero it builds heat as it goes along and rages to the finale. Must hear!!! Type 1 doesnt get much better than this! A+++++

And then...woah boy.....in slot 4, we get a friggin 17 minute Disease! And this isnt any Disease, this one is TIGHT, played uptempo, and FULL of the energy a good one needs! The jam is superb, getting grimy to start before slowly building and building into a ridiculous hose climax for minutes. This is different from the "by numbers" Sphere hose. This is "legit" hose. X FACTOR MAGIC ALL OVER THIS!! THIS IS THE BEST DISEASE THEY HAVE PLAYED SINCE.....A LONG TIME!!!!! THIS IS SPECTACULAR!!!!!

What a start to the show so far!!! My god!!! And the way Trey lead them back into the Disease outro out of the jam was just ......smooth isnt the word!!!!

After a slight dip for average readings of Roggae and NICU, we get an incredible 14 minute Stash. Slightly scattershot, it blisses out early, hits the robo fx, blisses again and then moves dark to close out. A bit too short for its own good but still absolutely terrific the way it FLOWS. Call this must hear!!!

Same for the set ending 46 Days. Youve heard this before but it still annihilates!

All in all, set 1 is a pretty smashing success. Hey Stranger, Disease and Stash are all must hear, and Buried Alive, C Zero and 46 are all worth a listen. They definitely came to kill and smashed the door right open!!! Killer set!!! 

Set 2

The "reverse set placement" fun continues with an uber rare Suzy>Antelope opening. Suzy is merely average, but Antelope is pure fire. As with BA in set 1, this is what Antelope should sound like!! Maybe not must hear but absolutely worth a listen. This thing is PURE FIRE!!!

A 19 minute Ghost follow afterwards. Not my favorite, it stays in enjoyable but average "hose bliss"/"chord vamping" mode all the way until 15 minutes. Its honestly rather boring. But then in the end they dive into a super dark, deep space, BLACK HOLE robo vortext for several glorious minutes!!!!

Trey yanks the jam and segues them - surprisingly well! - into Light. Light is quite good but nothing super special by the end.

The following Pillow Jets feels perfectly placed out of Light and the BASOS that follows feels the same. A+ on FLOW in this set!!! Sea of Stars is must hear - a terrific type 2 "microjam" (if this was 2019...) with a stellar outro back into the song. Wonderful little version!!!

Thankfully something finally goes right when the set closes with an incredible 16 minute Melt. This one is absolutely unhinged!!! Picture something ala the 12/6/97 Tweezerbella with Trey just going completely off the deep end into psychedelic wah abuse annihilation. Total X Factor all over this one!!! One of the finest of recent years for sure!!!!

An excellent Hood is the perfect choice for encore!!!

All in all, set 2 really felt like it was floundering for the most part. Sea of Stars and Melt were both legit incredible and Antelope was FIRE, but a lot of the rest of the set felt "unfulfilled", if you will.

As a whole, this WAS a pretty great first show of tour, but it definitely had some issues here and there.

Hey Stranger, Melt, Sea of Stars, Stash and that INCREDIBLE Disease were all spectacular though!!!

Seriously, Melt, Disease and Hey Stranger - GRAB THOSE!!!

2024-04-21 Las Vegas, NV - The Sphere, Night 4

 Set 1

The show begins with some pretty sick into music before they launch into a roughly 14 minute Plasma to open the night!! Plasma is full of that X Factor Magic, baby! A truly exceptional reading going through several different moods and reading red hot.

The following Evolve sounded downright perfect to me today. When Evolve is good, its really good and this is definitely one of those versions.

In slot 3 we get a massive 18 minute POWER GHOST, complete with robot visuals, lol. Throw this in league with Plasma - it suffers from the 2023 "stuck in the box" syndrome, but aside from that, its a total powerhouse!!!! Definitely must hear!

Following a very, very nice Divided Sky and a gorgeous acoustic reading of Shade, Hey Stranger tears the roof off before a slightly less-than C Zero closes the set

All in all, while still highly enjoyable, this was probably the least impressive set since night 1, set 2. Ghost and Plasma are totally killer though and WELL worth your time while Evolve and Hey Stranger are both top tier type 1 readings. Im making it sound bad - I enjoyed the HELL outta this set as a listen, but the results speak for themselves if we are gonna "analyze" things.  

Set 2

The final set of the run gets off to a bad start with a "sounds good but does nothing" wimpy 8 minute version of Oblivion. What a bummer!

Thankfully, a damn 34 minute Down With Disease immediately follows! Unfortunately, it follows a similar vein as the Fuego from the night before: its REALLY good but at the same time seems to truly lack that special "magic". They bliss rage until 21 minutes (kinda boring!) and then finally go into true Type 2. Trey stays FX free as is his wont and the rest of the jam, while great, just leaves you feeling slightly underwhelmed by the time it is done. Good enough to call must hear, but its a perfect example of what is "wrong" with current Phish jamming. A+++++++ for effort though and HOLY CRAP THAT SEGUE BACK INTO THE SONG WAS SMOOTH AF!!!

Oddly enough, the following Sea of Stars does 10 times as much in a third of the time!!!! This is INCREDIBLE!!! Top 3 or 4 versions ever played, imo next to Camden 2019 and Mexico 2020....Now THIS is type 2 jamming!! Its a wonderful, wacky, soupy, psychedelic mess of a jam. FX all over. Now THIS is X Factor Magic!!! This was so good Id say it is a contender for jam of the whole run!!!!!

And that perfect slide out and into....a 9.5 minute 2001! Excellent version, good enough to label must hear, imo.

The real surprise of the set is a 22 minute Light!!! This one dives deep and dark quickly before slowly building back up and out into your typical hose bliss finale. Really fantastic version worth a listen!

The following Ether Edge is wonderful!!! Page takes over with piano and the song is just gorgeous. A++++

Piper follows and kicks things into ludicrous speed Its your typical shred your balls off Piper, but holy friggin cow they are GOING FOR IT!!!! MUST HEAR!!! A+ PIPER!!!!!! PURE INSANITY!!!!

A raucous First Tube, and a hot duo of More and Slave close out the run


All in all, set 2 was basically as killer as any other. Not much to say! The Light, the Disease, Sea of Stars and Piper all fall into must hear category for me.

Another awesome show burdened by too much "hose bliss"

2024-04-20 Las Vegas, NV - The Sphere, Night 3

 Set 1

The show gets off to a BANG with THREE must hear heavy hitters all in a row!!! The opening 15 minute SYSF is red hot and full of dark energy. This is no bliss rager. Just fantastic.

Then Tube continues by diving into a dark and brooding jam before slowly building to an absolute majestic finale. Again, must hear!

Finally, in slot 3 we get a 15 minute Stash that takes us on a slow build adventure. As if its 2021 again, it begins with a lengthy bleep bloop robo jam before taking a more arabian slant. From there it builds into a sideways kind of slow-burn peak section. Total synth and robo zaniness abound. This Stash is friggin INCREDIBLE!!!! X FACTOR MAGIC!!!!!!! MUST HEAR AT ALL COSTS!!!!!

SYSF and Tube were both legitimately amazing and a cut above but that Stash was downright incredible!!!!!

The craziness continues with a face melter 15 minute Pillow Jets!!!! After the initial round of shredding, the rest of the jam is one massive, incredible, slow building hose peak explosion for minutes and minutes. Def must hear! Good golly Phish! Save something for set 2!

A 13 minute Steam keeps the fire going. This one is surprisingly "laid back". Night time vibes all over. Absolutely fantastic yet again and another definite must hear!!!! Slow burn to the max!!!

After a spectacular Mountains and an A+ Taste, the set blazes to a conclusion with yet another nuclear bomb 46 Days.


All in all.....this set was pure overkill in the best way! The whole set right through Steam is completely must hear - seriously - and the rest is just killer. So far The Sphere is 3 for 3 with these first sets!!!!!! Holy crap on a cracker..... 

Set 2

The 2nd set opens with a nice Sigma Oasis. Its ok but nothing particularly great.

Thankfully things pick up immediately with a terrific 30 minute Fuego into dark funk Golden Age!!! Fuegos jam begins dark and funky before moving into a too-long chordal vamping zone. Finally at 22 minutes the beat slows and they slow burn that sucker to its fiery conclusion.

Golden Age is far too short, but the X Factor is running deep on this one and it sees them diving straight into the abyss for a while. A spectacular little jam - this is must hear!

They finish it with a perfect and natural segue into Twist. Its a typical chilled out Twist, but as with 46 Days and Taste, it's just splendid tonight. Nothing more, nothing less. It ends by exploding into a ridiculous wave of hose. Killer.

After that is a strange standalone Hydrogen. Why they didnt play it night 1 and leave Lifeboy for this night instead is a mystery. This just feels SO out of place....

A 16 minute type 2 Chalkdust is the penultimate song of the set. This one is excellent and unique. High energy, yet the entirety of the jam is spent in a quiet and introspective area. Absolutely worth a listen!!!

SANTOS closes and this one is actually truly must hear as well. One of the finest ever displays of pure hose annihilation ever. A+

A Life Beyond the Dream is a serious contender for GOAT version, imo. Starting beautifully on acoustic, this one feels extra impassioned. I cant believe anyone could hear this and NOT be a fan afterwards.

As per Hydrogen, an out of place Tweeprize closes the show.

All in all, another monster set. Fuego right through ALBTD is all pretty much must hear quality. At the same time, for some reason it felt lacking in that extra "x factor sparkle" that coated Night 2 in spades. Just a nitpick - this show is another ridiculous outing.

Way to friggin go, Phish....

2024-04-19 Las Vegas, NV - The Sphere, Night 2

 Set 2 opens with an incredible 20 minute Sand!! It spends most of its time in a hazy, looper-laden ambient rock zone before building to the biggest hose peak EXPLOSION this side of anything!!!! X FACTOR MAGIC! MUST HEAR!!!! HOLY CRAP!!!

And into a friggin 25 minute Tweezer we go!!!! Tweezer spends most of its time in a laid back bliss zone before going wild in the last few minutes. Great jam overall but not my favorite.

After a gnarly MyFe we get the good but inessential run of Mikes Lifeboy Groove followed by a ripcorded Tweezer. Thankfully a fantastic Fluffhead closes the set in perfect fashion!

An acoustic Farmhouse into a fine Antelope is the encore. Farmhouse is just gorgeous....

All in all, set 1 blew away set 2 for sure. The Sand and Tweezer and Farmhouse are all essential listening, but set 2 definitely took a slight dip in the midle for a while.

Still, this is a KILLER show that everyone needs to hear once!  

Set 2

A ripping 20 minute Wave of Hope gets us out of the gate for set 2. Heck yes. Wave is absolutely killer. It rages hard then dives into dar and bubbly type 2 befoe slowly and naturally building back out to the hottest hose peak EXPLOSION imaginable. A+ must hear!!!!!

After a solid WTU, we keep the energy high with a swift move into Ruby Waves. Ruby toys with jamming but really this one is all about that damn finale. HOSE EXPLOSION ANNIHILATION. MUST HEAR!!! WOPE 2.0!!! FRIGGIN AMAZING!!!!

After a lovely Lonely Trip to cool us down, things get dark and grimy and nasty with a really fantastic ASIHTOS. This one definitely sounds like you are drowning in the murky abyss. Dives deep then bliss rages out to a conclusion. Probably must hear.

The following Caspian however absolutely IS must hear!!! Absolutely incredible version! A+++++++

YEM closes the set proper. Trey struggles mightily and the composed section has definitely sounded better elsewhere. Great version other than that. Grab this!

Velvet Sea into a wonderful Hood to close the show.

All in all this was an AWESOME set and an AWESOME show! If you do not like HIGH FRIGGIN ENERGY Phish, then stay far away from this gig!!!! Definitely beat night 1 as a top to bottom full show experience!!!

Gin, Axilla, Theme, WOPE, Ruby, Caspian, ASIHTOS, Hood...thats a LOT of must hear, hose explosion greatness!

Definitely give this a go - its like drinking 5 Red Bulls and popping some Adderall.

Wow....  

2024-04-18 Las Vegas, NV - The Sphere, Night 1

 4/18/24 The Sphere, Las Vegas, NV

Set 1

After some intro music, the run opens with the band launching into a 16 minute Everythings Right! Really excellent version, this one goes a strong "type 1.5" getting slightly psychedelic before hosing out to a conclusion. Absolutely worth a listen!

After a standard hot BOTT, the first true monster of the run arrives in a 16 minute Wolfman! Absolute insanity, this one goes deep into dark heavy psychedelic stomping craziness before hosing itself to a massive, peaking finale!!! Definitely proper type 2!!!! Powerful as hell!!! INSANE!! MUST HEAR!!!!!! HOLY EFFIN CRAP!!! ALL TIMER WOLFMAN!!!

Following another strong modern Maze we get an A+ Leaves. Full of extra finesse, the outro jam rocks hard and is as long as the song itself! Must hear!

And then...oh boy...a friggin 17 minute Life Saving Gun!!!! Filled with nuclear energy, this one goes proper type 2 right out of the gate into a swirling, soupy mess of keyboard psychedelia. They rage this for several glorious minutes before morphing slowly into a fantastic upward momentum bliss rock zone. Closes with a move into a darkly rhythmic section before a return to the song. X FACTOR MAGIC ALL OVER!!! Hands down the greatest played to this point! ESSENTIAL!!!

After a lovely Dirt, set 1 comes to a ridiculous conclusion with the hottest, grimiest, most filthy Melt-esque psych breakdown Carinin of all time! UTTER ANNIHILATION!!!! MUST HEAR!


All in all....HOLY CRAP WHAT A SET!!! The boys came to KILL! LSG, Wolfman and Carini are all ESSENTIAL and Leaves is must hear as well! An absolutely spectacular set and beginning to the run! My god!!!

 Set 2 opens with an incredible 20 minute Sand!! It spends most of its time in a hazy, looper-laden ambient rock zone before building to the biggest hose peak EXPLOSION this side of anything!!!! X FACTOR MAGIC! MUST HEAR!!!! HOLY CRAP!!!

And into a friggin 25 minute Tweezer we go!!!! Tweezer spends most of its time in a laid back bliss zone before going wild in the last few minutes. Great jam overall but not my favorite.

After a gnarly MyFe we get the good but inessential run of Mikes Lifeboy Groove followed by a ripcorded Tweezer. Thankfully a fantastic Fluffhead closes the set in perfect fashion!

An acoustic Farmhouse into a fine Antelope is the encore. Farmhouse is just gorgeous....

All in all, set 1 blew away set 2 for sure. The Sand and Tweezer and Farmhouse are all essential listening, but set 2 definitely took a slight dip in the midle for a while.

Still, this is a KILLER show that everyone needs to hear once!

2021-12-31 Lititz, PA - Live From the 9th Cube

 Onward this morning to 12/31/21, Lititz, PA.

Aka, Live From the 9th Cube!

Wrapping up 2021, we have the crowdless webcast show for New Years. The first set gets off to an awesome start with a ripping trio of Moma, Tube and 46 Days.

Tube and 46 Days in particular are both must hear. Short but nuclear. Thats how Id describe both. A+ type 1 readings LOADED with energy. And Trey is out to kill tonight as well!

Awesome stuff worth a 2nd listen.

Afterwards is the shock surprise of the set and probably what this show is most remembered for - the return of Time Turns Elastic!!! They must have rehearsed the snot outta this as it is basically flawless without a hint of hesitation or nervousness. A+ Hot damn!!

Free follows and continues the type 1 domination of Tube and 46. Maybe not must hear but totally smashing nonetheless. The solo section is particularly excellent!

Ghost is terrific tonight, giving an extended jam that first rockets to the moon before breaking down into excellent ambient dark space! Must hear!

Slave is probably the weak point tonight. Not bad but neither is it poor.

The set closes with a rollicking Cavern like its 1993 again

All in all, this set was a wonderful surprise! I expected nothing and was totally surprised. Id say Tube, 46, TTE and Ghost are all legit must hear versions.

The boys sound TIGHT tonight with not a hint of rust! They definitely sound "prepared".

Even better, the between song banter with the online chat is total belly laughs throughout.

 

Set 2 opens with the obligatory excellent type 1 Sigma Oasis. Inessential but excellent all the same.

After a very nice bliss rock Disease and a powerful Miss You we get a lengthy YEM. Unfortunately its rather rough playing wise, especially from Trey. Weird how they nailed TTE but YEM is so sloppy! Thankfully they push through the vocal jam and the jamming beyond is magnificent!!!! Only a couple minutes but boy is it SICK!!

An unexpected and rare Frankie Says follows. After that is a wonderful Mercury>Possum. Mercury is one of the best played versions I can recall and the segue into a shredding Possum in lieu of a Mercury jam is so choice. Must hear!

Set 2 ends with a just ok ALBTD.

All in all, set 2 delivered the goods for the most part. The YEM jam and the Mercury>Possum are the keepers though. 

Set 3

The final set begins with excellent standard versions of Blaze On and WTU before a solid Everythings Right appears.
ER sandwiches ALS and is a very sweet version. Worth a listen!

The following Twist battles Ghost as the jam of the night however. Super dark and heavy and grimy. MUST HEAR!!

After Baby Lemonade and HYHU fun, the show, and the year, conclude with a fine Hood with a great finale section. Perfect

All in all, this show is way more fun than you expect!! TTE, Tube, 46 Days, Ghost, Twist and probably Everythings Right are all worth your time, even if none truly go next level (Twist and Ghost come close!)

Give this a listen if youve avoided and give it a relisten if you dont remember it!