2024-08-09 Bethel, NY - SHOW OF THE SUMMER!!!!

 Holy hell, after month long break I finally get to continue 2024 today. Ive been so dying to get to the Bethel run!!

The show gets off to a wonderful start with an unexpected First Tube!! Really great version friggin LOADED with energy! Awesome!

And they immediately follow that with.... a nearly 15 minute, nuclear -friggin-bomb No Men!!! This sucker is MUST HEAR all day!!! It absolutely blazes, jamming its way to a laid back bliss zone before they kick up the heat again to finish. The final peak explosion section is one of the most "OHMYFRIGGINGODTHISISINCREDIBLE!!!!!" things Ive heard out of 2024. That is saying A LOT!

As with First Tube, a refreshingly placed Cavern keeps the energy going. Great little version.

But then, wait for it, in slot 4 comes....an 18 minute My Friend My Friend. And yes, my friends (pun absolutely intended!), this sucker is a monster. Around the 9 minute mark they slide oh so smoothly into a groovy kind of heavy funk jam. Welcome to type 2, boys and girls! This thing absolutely COOKS!! This thing is the Groove Machine Supreme!!!! Thankfully they stay put in this zone for a good, long time. Eventually Trey starts soloing atop everyone and the whole thing just starts to levitate, Page answering his soloing back on the keys. This sick funk jam lasts to about 14:30. From there it begins to get a little more "abstract", briefly flirting with deconstruction before they all lock in together on an upbeat groove and ride that sucker to the finish line....

X FACTOR MAGIC!!! MUST HEAR!!!! ALL TIMER VERSION RIGHT THERE AND ONE OF THE BEST JAMS OF THE YEAR, HANDS DOWN!!!!!!!! 

After Trey acknowledges the ridiculousness of the jam just unleashed, they give us a great little Bug to cool us down. Great set flow/construction with that choice! Really, really strong version. Not essential but worth a shout out!

And following up with Julius, everyone probably thought "oh no, this will be a short set". Thankfully that is not the case and this Julius is just another steamroller version is a set chock full of fiery heat. Page lets it rip on this sucker and the whole thing is just a wonderful little high energy affair. Great stuff!

Following in tonights vein of songs in unusual slots, we get a nicely grooved out 2001 next. This is a really, really good version! Extra mustard all over - the boys are LOCKED IN and the playing is creative and energetic. Im gonna give this a definite must hear! This thing smokes!!!

Continuing on with its tear since 2023, a ripping Taste follows. Super tight sounding rhythmically - once again, they are locked in tight!!! Total X Factor all over this bad boy. Pages piano solo crushes, Trey has tasty fills out the wazoo, the whole thing is played as good as the album version. This is a friggin FANTASTIC version of Taste!!! Absolutely must hear!!!!

And with that, the set finally comes to its actual conclusion with a spectacularly hot Character Zero. Just blazing. Maybe not must hear but it is total facemelting regardless!

All in all...HOLY CRAP THIS SET FRIGGIN KICKED MY TAIL!!! ABSOLUTELY KILLER FROM START TO FINISH!!!!

No Men, MyFe, 2001 and Taste were all 10,000 percent must hear. Pure X Factor awesomeness all day.

And the rest of the set was an exercise in refreshing song placement and selection with dang near all of it loaded with endless fire and energy.

This was a tippy top tier first set. Hands down. Wow.  

Set 2

Oh no, the set is opening with The Wedge. I love the song but maintain it should pretty much never leave first sets, though for some reason usually appears late in a second, and inexplicably OPENS the dang 2nd set tonight. Really good version but this was the first mistep of the show, imo.

Points for continuing to be creative with the set placements though!

In classic Phish manner, they immediately right their wrong and proceed to launch into a dang 24 minute Tweezer! Lets go!!!!!
----The first section sees them diving into laid back night time kind of chill grooveout. Very rhythmic. Trey picking his spots to jump in and out.
----Eventually Trey leads them into a more ethereal and uplifting kind of bliss section.
----Thankfully this doesn't last long and quickly Trey has set a loop and its off to robo noise and deconstructionville!
--- And just as soon as that section arrived they transition smoothly back out into good old fashioned rock and roll jamming.
Dang, this Tweezer is getting taken for a ride!
----They move right back out again and into another more groovy and slightly weird area. Very rhythmic, Trey with the robo octave goin (or whatever that effect is). They are just raging up a storm - listen to EVERYONE playing off of each other so flawlessly!!
----They are listening to each other, big time. This jam just wont stop morphing! There have been 10 different sections, each one just FLOWING so unbelievably smoothly into the next!!
From there, they proceed to reach "peak building finale section" time and rage it to a close.

X Factor strikes again! That was a terrific Tweezer hands down! Too "ADHD" for me with the constant switching from section to section, but it was all done SO PERFECTLY that I cant really complain!!

Of course this is must hear, what are you, dumb?

Golly!  

So that epic Tweezer ragefest mcgee concludes and Trey leads us into a 13 minute Pillow Jets. Honestly, this just might be my favorite since the debut!!! Its total face melting destruction, taken to Split Open and Melt levels of gnarly robo deconstruction!!!! Holy crap run for your life!!! The dying robo devil is here to take our souls!!!!! X FACTOR ALL FRIGGIN DAY!!!

And then....oh boy...THEY LAUNCH INTO A LIGHTSPEED TYPE 2 DANCE PARTY!!! WTF IS GOING ON?!?! THIS IS AMAZING!!!! HOLY CRAP WHERE DID THEY PULL THIS JAM FROM?!?!? EVERYBODY CONJURE THAT THUNDER, BABY!!!!

Holy smokes. The boys are positively INSPIRED tonight!!!!!!!!!! My goodness!!! This was insane!!!!

Now THAT was the GOAT Pillow Jets. Hands down. You have to hear this to believe it. That was some 1.0 level unpredictability. Oh my freaking god.... 

So that Pillow Jets insanity reaches a natural conclusion point and Trey leads them perfectly back into a Tweezer jam again. Am I hearing Manteca jamming? And even in this little 3 minute jam, they keep the inspiration going, taking it deep into a cool night time zone with Trey motifing all over the place. Fantastic!!!!

...and into Piper they slide!! Finally a damn Piper transition that didnt feel like a ripcord!!! And Piper is 15 minutes tonight!!! It rages nice and hot as usual until things get weird around 8 minutes in.
----Trey sets a loop and its off to the races!!! The jam takes on a really dark and menacing kind of MyFe vibe, if you will. They build a sonic soundscape - Page on watery keys in the back while Trey rhythmically keeps a vamp going. Fishman, of course, going banana sandwich on the kit back there.
----Trey continues his "Cinnamon Girl" one-note solo until somewhere around 11 minutes they start to break free of the spastic flailing around. Fishman is playing around with the beat a lot, thank god.
----This eventually builds back into a ridiculous, flaming hot finale section to send us on our way out. And we even get a minute of Tweezer jamming tacked on the end!!!
-This jam sounds like a runaway spaceship or something. Another essential piece of music from this epic show. Hot damn!!!!! May we thank the Conjurers of Thunder for continuing to bless us with the X Factor Magic!!!!

Finally getting the cooldown we need, they move into Shine a Light. And my god, what a perfectly fitting song and placement. It fits soooooooooo good out of that Piper! Great version!!!

And what a perfect way to end the set proper but with a dang 12 minute, type 2 Chalkdust!!! The song sounds great and the jam begins by immediately going into that "late night robo" vibe we have heard throughout the show. Page and Trey quickly link up for a really cool descending melodic moti that leads them into a lengthy "King Crimson" kind of upbeat section. Sick. And from there they rage it all back out to a close....another essential piece of music!!!! THAT PEAK FINALE IS MOTHER FRIGGIN EXTRAORDINARY!!! BEST CHALKDUST SINCE MEXICO HOLY MOTHER OF CRAP!!!!!

The highly inspired encore consists of awesome versions of BBFCFM, a surprise insanely killer Jibboo and the perennial favorite More to close. All are worth your time

All in all...what the hell was this show?! This felt like a Mexico gig or something!! Hands down THE show of the summer so far and its not close.

Tweezer>PJ>Piper and Chalkdust and Jibboo were all essential pieces of music

10/10. Its hard to picture how this show could have possibly been any more extraordinary.....

2024-08-07 Grand Rapids, MI - with Billy Strings

 Set 1

The show opens with a damn BANG tonight!!! My Soul and Undermind tear th roof off and the 16 minute Oblivion absolutely annihilates!!! I guess Billy kicked them into high gear!

HOLY CRAP THIS OBLIVION IS UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! NUCLEAR BOMB ROCK AND ROLL DESTRUCTION!!! LETS FRIGGIN GO!!! X FACTOR FOR DAYS!!!!

Seriously, that was one of the finest versions ever played. Ridiculous.....

Up next is a gorgeous Driver. Pages piano solo is wonderful. This is REALLY great and definitely on the must hear list.

555 is high energy as hell but doesnt really click til the raging finale. Definitely not bad in any way but not essential either.

Birds of a Feather follows the template set by My Soul and Undermind. Its short, blazing hot, and to the effing point. Not exactly essential in the grand scheme of things, but it crushes you while its here, ya dig? Killer. Give this the "underdog" award or something. It absolutely smokes!

Ether Edge continues its recent upwards evolution with another practically jammed version. Absolutely killer. It builds and builds before turning into interesting spacey kind of bliss rock.
Definitely must hear. Massive potential with sucker. Its begging to just burst open one day!!

Unfortunately, Trey kinda ripcords us outta the jam. Fortunately, its for Its Ice. Even better, it sounds GREAT tonight. Trey perfectly nails his parts, its played at a good tempo and the whole thing sounds like a shockingly well oiled machine. Man, 2023-2024 has been the best period for Its Ice since probably the 90s. PRACTICE PAYS OFF!!!!
Screw it, its so well played I'm calling it must hear. A+++++

This excellent set concludes with the nuclear bomb duo of About to Run into Walls. Predictably, both are absolute smokeshows. Not much to say. They both annihilated. Period. About to Run is totally must hear. Just total annihilation on that. And Walls is full tilt wah drenched nuclear bomb annihilation.

HOLY MOTHER OF SATAN THIS IS THE HOTTEST WALLS IN YEARS. INSANE!!!!!! WHERE DID THEY PULL THIS FROM?!?!

All in all, this was terrific first set. SUPER HIGH ENERGY!!! Oblivion, Ether and Ice, Run and Walls are must hear, while My Soul, Undermind and Birds all absolutely blaze. Night 1 probably had the "better" overall set, but hot damn there is nothing wrong with this. Its a barnburner, facemelter kind of set.

JUST THE KIND OF SET I NEEDED THIS MORNING!!! BANG YOUR HEAD!!! LETS GO!!!!!   

Set 2

The 2nd set opens with a solidly standard SANTOS before a terrific 13 minute Wave. Wave goes deep into heavenly bliss looper land before finally robowahing to a conclusion. Killer version. Probably must hear!!

And into an absolutely glorious type 1 Caspian. Terrific segue outta nowhere as well! Extra mustard all over this one! Id call this must hear.

From there we go into a terrific 12 minute Light. MUST HEAR! X FACTOR FOR DAYS!!! The jam immediately goes into darkness and they proceed to basically deconstruct the song into some robo fx sonic hellscape like its summer 2021 again. Pure type 2 all the way. Serious type 2!! Must hear!!

After the Phish portion concludes with a ripping Loving Cup, they bring Billy back out for the Phish debut of Whats Going Through Your Mind!!!! Sick on all levels, the outro jam is pure guitar histrionics.

Immediately they top that with an unbelievably mind blowing Wolfman>DDHVL combo.

Wolfman sounds like an incredible laid back southern rock kind of jam. Wolf as played by the Allmans?! Trey and Billy just egging each other on to more and more extreme ripping heights. At one point they both hit a "Divided Sky" note and hold it - TOGETHER - for what has to be a solid minute or more. My god. This Wolf is pure insanity. X Factor Magic for days.

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!!!

Shockingly, Wolf drops into a totally unexpected bluesy darkness. Here comes type 2!!! Even more ridiculous is that Trey lays DDHVL atop the bluesy swamp murk basically giving us a dark blues version if the song!!! What in the love of F..... Billy pushes this one over the edge and straighr into the lava....this is a serious contender for the greatest faceMELTING jam I have ever heard in my life. This is just PURE INSANITY!!!!! MUST HEAR MUST HEAR MUST HEAR FOR THE LOVE OF YOUR FIRSTBORN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thankfully they give us time to recouperate with a gorgeous version of Evolve. Stunning. Billys solo is just fantastic!!!! Trey follows with his solo, and its a damn strong one, but good lord Billy just elevated this to the stratosphere. MUST HEAR!!!!!!!

After a gorgeous acoustic Mountains we get a ripping Blaze On. Christ, Billys fills underneath Trey just spruce the song up so much!!!! As predicted, Blaze On is a firestorm. Total annihilation. Good stuff.

Awesome encore of Ginseng and Old Home Place before Frankenstein to close it all down.

All in all, another absolute smokshow gig from the boys. Massive energy throughout. Id say, Ice, About, Walls Oblivion, Light, Evolve, and the Wolf>DDHVL are the true must hears of the show. Maybe Wave as well.

It did feel slightly inferior to night 1 in a way I cant describe, but its vague. This show CRUSHES. Period. I dont know how anyone could leave either night and not be picking their face off the floor....

On to Bethel!

2024-08-06 Grand Rapids, MI - with Billy Strings

 Set 1

The show opens with the quasi rare Strawberry Letter 23. Great pick! Very good version if ultimately inessential.

The following Sigma Oasis, however, is absolutely essential!!! 11 minutes long, this one feels incredibly inspired. Everyone is "in sync" and its basically one giant nonstop orgasm. One of the top "peak explosions" of the year. Absolutely terrific. A+++++. Wow!!!

After a super rare and well performed Peaches, we get another must hear with Tube. Only 7 minutes, and treading most of the same ground as Sigma, this Tube nonetheless turns in another positively INSPIRED performance. It just FEELS amazing!! Must hear all day!!!

Theme follows suit and builds perfectly upon the high energy, inspired playing laid down in Sigma and Tube. Trey is AWOL in his solo at first, but eventually wales up and the song just friggin EXPLODES like I havent heard in a while. Hot damn that was SICK!!!

Stash is 13 minutes tonight. Basically, its Theme part 2. Not terribly unique, but its SO goddamn powerful and explosive that it will just knock your socks off. My god.

A quick Train Song cools us off before a final trio of fire to end the set. Steam is, again, explosive. Trey absolutely dominates this poor song and delivers a DEVASTATING solo. Incredible.

Rift is another A+ version. Trey struggles ever so slightly with the fast ascending lick, but other than that it is perfect and will have you headbanging like a Slayer show!!!

The set concludes with a giant 16 minute Gin. Yet another full tilt barnburner. Not much to say. Essential - its just SO kick ass...PEAK OF THE MILLENNIA!!! RAGE IT!!! HOLY FREAKING CRAP HOLD ON TO YOUR PANTS!!!!;


All in all....HOLY SMOKES!!!! Energy out the damn wazoo! This set KILLED! The song selection was kinda boring but who cares when pretty much everything knocks it outta the damn park. This was back to Sphere 2024 overkill jamming. If you want your face MELTED, this is the set for you

Sigma, Tube, Steam, Stash, and Gin are all MUST HEAR and Theme is definitely worthy of a listen. 

Set 2

The 2nd set opens with a quick 1-2 punch of Free into Sand. Both are too short for their own good, but while Sand fails to fully ignite, Free absolutely crushes. Not must hear, but this Free definitely deserves praise. Played perfectly and molten hot. A+ little Free!

After Sand comes a big boy 18 minute Ruby Waves. Unfortunately, the song itself and the peak finale are great, but for the rest of its duration Trey cant seem to get out of the damn way and let the jam do what it wants to do. Not a bad one, but certainly not must hear and also incredibly frustrating....

Thankfully a magical, X Factor loaded Harry Hood brings it all back. Must hear.

Now the fun begins....

At this point Mr. Billy Strings joins the stage and they launch into a massive 23 minute Moma Dance. Guitar histrionics and X Factor galore! 1,000 percent must hear - this is SICK!!!!!! Even more incredible is that it goes full blown type 2 for the majority of its duration, moving flawlessly from hard funk to ambient bliss to face melting peakage....The flow on this is unreal. This is one of the finest pieces of music Phish has ever been involved with. Incredible.

Basically, apply the above for Possum and ER. Both are 100,000 percent essential. Possum even had friggin sweep picking.....Possum is indescribably hot and ER is 15 minutes of blissful, raging, psychedelic mastery at work. All hail our lord and savior X Factor Magic!!!!!

Throwing Billy a bluegrass bone, we get an awesome pairing of Nellie Kane and Beauty before a typically destructive party Carini to end the show proper.

All in all...jesus christ that was incredible!!! Dont forget the Harry Hood, but you can basically trash the start of set 2. The Moma was a TRUE all timer (not just saying that!), as was Possum and ER. Grab those and Hood.

As a whole this show was kinda all over the place, but the highs were pretty spectacular.

Hot damn....