2022-05-28 Orange Beach, AL

 5 28 22 Orange Beach

Set 1

Off to a bangin start when we begin with a damn 20 minute Sigma!!! I still cant believe this song became a primo jam vehicle when it screams "first set type 1 rocker". But thats Phish for ya! Sigma itself spits and snarls tonight - hot energy on this one.
------Immediately at the 8 minute mark they drop into a funky, delay-slashing kind of rhythmic jam akin to something out of, say, Golden Age. Aw yea, lets friggin go! Immediate type 2!!!
-----Fishman drops into the 2001 beat (pretty much!) for a solid 3 or 4 minutes while a chill funk takes over. Gordo THUMPING it up, Trey motifing all over the place, Page on the Rhodes....super 1997 style jam!!!
-----Around 13 minutes Trey starts wah soloing and the jam goes into super funky rock and roll jamming. Definitely slowly working towards some kind of peak down the line.
----At 16 minutes everyone syncs up on an ascending melodic motif and they definitely commit to some peak building for real!! From here they slowly rock it out to a majestically triumphant conclusion. "Youre already there!!!"

Yo, that was fantastic!!! Total X Factor all over that. The funk jamming was PRIMO. Hot damn, what a way to start a show!!!!

And then straight into Possum. Possum is very relaxed tonight in an excellent way. Everyones playing is just on the mark and Treys soloing feels blusier than usual. Kind of a slow burn Possum - this is actually great! It explodes in the back half and Machine Gun Trey comes to kill. SICK POSSUM, YO!

AC/DC Bag is standard tonight but totally full of energy and is just an overall great little type 1 reading. Nothing essential but its excellent!!!

Up next is an excellent Reba. A+ job, for 2022, on absolutely nailing the technical section!!! Hell yea! Seriously, this is basically as good as Ive ever heard "modern" Phish play it. Terrific. The solo is really fantastic. Super patient tonight, it begins real chill and delicate, moving into a darker, more intense zone before positively erupting out of the dark clouds and into the sunshine for a typically blazing Reba solo finale. Wow, that was a GREAT Reba!!!! Maybe not magical, but definitely excellent! And it even comes with whistling! Must hear!

Roggae is placed perfectly tonight working wonderfully as a cooldown after Reba. Everyone is locked in tight and Treys soloing is sooooooo on point. Nothing special you havent heard before, but this is about as good as a Roggae gets, pretty much!!! Killer! Not essential, but the Roggae equivalen of the Bag from earlier in the set.

Up next we get a MASSIVE 9 year, almost 300 show bustout of My Minds Got a Mind of Its Own. First version since friggin fall 2013! Sounds great, no slop here! Nice.

One of my favorite songs, The Final Hurrah gets us up and boogying again. Sounds great, and boy do I wish this was in regular rotation! Thankfully this version SMOKES and MG Trey is out in full force! Id call this must hear - it is SO hot!!!

Finally, the set concludes with a large and in charge 11 minute Free. Heck yes, lets go. And Free is several magnitudes even better!!! Extreme cyborg robo grooving. All hail our dystopian cyberpunk overlords!!! Holy effing hell though - X Factor Magic ALL OVER this sucker!!! The funk jamming is some of the most intensely headbangable music Ive ever heard. Gordo on FX, Trey doing fantastic delay slashing work, Page on wiry synthesizers. This thing is a damn MACHINE!!! And then Trey just letting it rip atop the mechanical soundscape, slowly leading them back into Free so friggin flawlessly....

That Free was INCREDIBLE!!!! HOLY CRAP!!!

All in all, this was a terrific first set!!! Not a weak link in the chain, the high points are higher than those of nights 1s first set. The boys are LOCKED IN tight tonight with no hint of sticky fingers or slop!!! Id say Reba, Sigma, Hurrah and this insane Free were all genuine must hears, while Bag and Reggae were both A+ type 1. Throw in a 9 year bustout sounding like it never left rotation and you have the makings for a wonderful set!!!

AWESOME. THAT FREE, THO!!!!! 

Set 2

Perfect way to open set 2 but with Wave of Hope. Basically a perfect and red hot type 1 reading. If you want a "go to" reading of the song itself, this is the one. Its still incredibly strange to me to be listening to a time where most versions were still sub 5 minutes! Thankfully this would soon change for good!

Wave ends awkwardly with a full stop but they maintain momentum by launching into a 16 minute Mr. Completely - played at the right effing tempo for once! Yay, a Phish version that doesn drag!!!! Golly, this one is like a dang freight train. So great to hear a tight version for once.
----Initial rocking gives way to uptempo major key rocking via Page taking charge on the keys. Trey is being patient, not playing too much, but playing stuff that fits.
-----Unfortunately, minimalist Trey goes for too long and the jam starts to reach that boring "is anything going to happen??" kind of area. They just languish in a nicely melodic "aquatic bliss" zone for way too long. Music to zone out to - Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
---What they are actually playing is good, they are just stuck in first gear doing the same stuff over and over and over, like a precursor to some 2023 jams or something. It thankfully picks up a serious head of steam and the final 2 minutes see Trey going full psych shred on us, but its too little too late, imo.
The actual playing and energy were GREAT, but overall that was a bit of a "nothingburger" jam.

Thankfully they maintain the energy in the best possible way by launching flawlessly into a rare Walk Away! Guarantee NOBODY could have called that! AND MOTHEREFFING NUCLEAR BOMB WALK AWAY JUST DESTROYS EVERYTHING IN ITS PATH!!! GET TO YOUR SHELTER!! IF YOU ARE NOT UNDERGROUND YOU WILL NOT SURVIVE!!! Also, mad props to Fishman for the FANTASTIC Mr. Completely jamming beneath it all!!!!

HOLY CRAP THAT WAS INSANE!!! FIRE UPON FIRE UPON FIRE UPON FIRE UPON FIRE!!!

And into a nearly 19 minute Golden Age we go. Please, for the love of god, get strange on our asses! Around 8 minutes the jam goes type 2, moving into a late night, laid back funk vamp zone. And holy hell this thing FUNKS.
....also.....ALL HAIL THE MEOWDULATOR PEDAL!!! THANK YOU MIKE FOR GRACING US WITH CUTE LITTLE KITTY MEOWS AT EXTREME VOLUME!!!!
----By 11 minutes, the late night funk is slowly evolving into something more rhythmic. Page on the Meatstick synths, Fishman switching up the beats, Trey doing lots of good melodic motifing. This is killer! The whole band is locked into the GROOVE ZONE, just crushing as one 4 headed monster. Killer.
----Out comes the robo wah for some color for a bit before back to "standard" melodic bliss rocking. Thankfully it is just bursting with energy and the whole jam is positively exploding! From here, they spend the next long while in "hose peak" land just absolutely rocking to a finale.
Yo, that Golden Age was fantastic!! Definitely must hear!!! Normally I complain about jams like this, but not when they are THIS great!!! This is a spectacular Golden Age!!! GO HEAR THIS NOW!!!!

After a short return to the GA theme to close, they launch onwards into a very nicely placed WTU. Awesome version. Most sound alike, but I swear this one is extra, if you will. Just killer. Perfectly delicate yet tense and brooding. Beautiful WTU!

Super refreshingly, we get a rare 2nd set Moma Dance to follow. Bopping hard, its uptempo, tight and rocking!!! A perfect way to get us back up dancing!! This sucker BOPS!!!! Even though this stays type 1, I would put this in the must hear box for this show. This SMOKES! Awesome little Moma!!!!

A very rare If I Could is up next and golly is it a pretty song or what? Excellent placement as well, imo. Not truly must hear but my god this is just fantastic regardless. Gorgeous!! Aw screw it. Just grab this, it's great!

The set proper concludes with a lengthy Antelope. And its a good one!!! Just absolutely blazing with that same fire and intensity as Walk Away, the machine gun section on this is just * slams head into concrete * By modern Antelope standards this is a mothereffing masterpiece!!! Seriously, this is 1994 level HEAT. Must hear!!!!

Terrific encore tonight of I Am In Miami (2nd and last to date ) followed by Izabella. Miami is super fun if a but awkward, haha. Please break this back out!!! And then here comes nuclear bomb Izabella. Machine Gun Trey out in FULL FORCE like its 12/6/97 or something. Absolutely must hear!! Holy smokes!!!!!

All in all, this show was a KILLER!!!! This was an easy 4.2 or 4.3 level show in my book. Inspired setlist again, incredible effing HEAR, interband TIGHTNESS, multiple deep jams, energy out the wazoo...man oh man this show was a HEATER of the first order. Also, it did away with the "ramshackle" kinda nature of night 1 - tonights Phish was a lean, mean, fire spewing machine!!!

Set 2 was so great. Flow out the wazoo, Walk Away, Golden Age and Antelope were all true must hears while everything else was baseline excellent and hot. Special shoutout to that Moma and for Mr. Completely sounding awesome, if not for the bland jam.

This show is a winner. Full stop.

2022-05-27 Orange Beach, AL

 5 27 22 Orange Beach

Set 1

Not my preferred choice but I cant complain about the freshness of getting a 13 minute Twist to open the show, as well as getting it out of the way for the rest of the run!!! A wonderful version, it goes type 2 early, morphing from really nice chill jamming into full throttle up tempo robo-rocking. If every Twist was like this I would never complain!! AWESOME version! Must hear!!

Halley is next and unfortunately is a stumble, the boys fumbling the arrangement. Trey doesn't even allow a chance to jam and instead the boys execute one of the sickest segues ever into Sand.

And right away its obvious that this Sand has extra written all over it. A truly magnificent FACE MELTER, this one has so much extra oomph and groove. Then Machine Gun Trey comes and unleashes the trill hurricane supreme and just crushes all in sight. Must hear! This San was FREAKING AWESOME!!!!

We get a short break with the first Old Home Place since Fall 2019. Good stuff. Martian Monster is short but hot as hell, robo Trey all over. I would venture to cal this must hear - it kicks ass!! Really great interplay on this!!! Super funky and BOPPIN!!! And Trillmaster Trey continues to reign as best guitarist in outer space!

Following a rare (and honestly excellent!) Dogs Stole Things comes Halfway to the Moon. Not essential but still very good, check it out for Pages exquisite piano solos!!

Up next is a powerful 13 minute Stash. The composed parts sound tight and punchy. And it ends up being a 10/10 type 1 reading. The boys are ON in the best way. Trey is crushing and the whole thing is tight. Its nothing unique, but it is friggin GREAT!!! Go check this out!!

Beautiful Shade is our cooldown next. Excellent.

After a standard INNYLTB to get us rocking again the set comes to a close with Bathtub Gin. Really good type 1 version with a hot peak but nothing must hear. Its excellent, just not anything special.

All in all, I really felt this was a great set!! Some bustouts, lots of Machine Gun Trey, very high energy, tight playing, "colorful" song choices...this was my kinda set!! It wasnt the greatest set of all time but by golly was it FRESH, and that goes a long way!!! It really felt like everything FIT together well too. The only real issues were the fumbled Halley and the last couple songs seeming to lose slight amount of steam.

Id say Twist and Sand and Martian Monster are must hear and Stash is WELL worth your time.

 

Set 2

Llama into a 21 minute Soul Planet to open set 2!! Lets friggin go! Slow Llama is absolutely nuclear tonight. Totally must hear, we get a robo annihilation nuclear bomb version. MUST HEAR!!! Wow!! KILLER!!

Even better is the following Soul Planet. Complete and utter X Factor Magic. This is as good as any jam played in 2021!!!! This is freaking amazing!!! The energy is through the ROOF! Everyone locked in tight and the jamming is SO fluuuiiiiddd!!!! Many different sections that flow seamlessly and perfectly without a hint of awkwardness. Total inspiration from start to finish!! This was easily better than any jam played at the MSG run, imo. EASILY. THIS THING IS FRIGGIN MAGICAL!!! ALL TIMER SOUL PLANET!!!!! WOW!!!!

And they execute another terrific segue straight into a 14 minute Ghost. Ghost is extra funky and murky, less rocky than usual. Soupy and thick!!! Ghost slowly gets a good rock jam before slowly devolving into a lengthy, rhythmic kind of robo chill. It slowly fades itself out kinda over a good long while. Great little Ghost. Maybe not must hear on its own, but terrific in the context of this set!!!

At the precisely perfect moment as Ghost is closing, Trey leads them ridiculously smoothly into the Scents intro and by God that worked so friggin great holy hell!! Scents is a short type 1 workout. Solid stuff but inessential, serving instead, via another great segue, to be the launchpad for a damn 17 minute Chalkdust!!!!
Total beast of a jammed out version. Not much to say. Of course this was essential!! It goes FAR into the outer reaches of outer space textural soundscape type 2, holy mother of X Factor insanity!!!!

The set ends on a fantastic note with a killer as always Loving Cup before a nice encore of Waste and SANTOS.

All in all, this was a great show!! Not an INCREDIBLE one, but it's definitely a lot better than the 3.6 rating on .NET. Id honestly give it more of a 4.0 or 4.1, imo. For set 2, Slow Llama, that Soul Planet and of course Chalkdust were all must hear. And dont forget Twist and Sand from set 1!!!!

I can understand why folks might not view the show as highly as me - lots of "new songs everyone hates for no reason", the fumbled Halley, the abridged Scents, etc. But honestly, I LOVED this show. I thought it was a really great listen and I will definitely revisit it down the line at some point!!!

2022-04-23 New York City, NY

 4 23 22 New York City

Set 1

A reall good Fluffhead opens the show. Trey is very flubby throughout but that's ok considering how energetic and enthusiastic this one is. Inessential but good regardless.

The following Mikes Song builds a good head of steam. Nothing special but definitely enjoyable overall. Same goes for Hydro and Paug. Paug actually gets really great by the end and there are hints of a budding jam that isnt pursued (dang it!). A really GOOD Mikes Groove overall that doesnt disappoint but also doesnt burn down the house.

Up next is what this set is most remembered for - a giant 22 minute Simple outta nowhere!!! The song is good, with the initial type 1 rock jam extending all the way to 13ish minutes. The rock jamming is real tight and not as boring as you might expect. Copious amounts of Party Time jamming/teasing as well! From there the jam breaks down awkwardly like Fuego from the night befor and they literally FORCE it to keep going. Thank god they do!!! They slowly build it up into a dark and monstrous robo stomp funk jam culminating in a full blown Egg In A Hole playthrough at 19 minutes befoe reintroducing the Simple theme and closing it out. That Simple is of course must hear, but honestly it was a bit of a mess. A crazy mess that Im glad exists, but it definitely wasnt the glorious magic of the 8/6/21 Simple etc

Another problem tonight is that Trey is just playing really CHILL. Its like instead of burning fire we are just getting little sparks ....

Divided Sky is up next. Terrific job NAILING the difficult compositional parts!!! Divided Sky is extremely delicate tonight in the best way. Just a terrific version well worth a listen!!!

Average hot First Tube to close

All in all, set 1 was very good. The Simple and Divided Sky were both must hear, but the whole thing still just has this.... underwhelming vibe to it all. Like they are flicking a lighter over and over and only producing sparks. Its really frustrating.

Set 2

Now thats what Im talkin about!! The set opens with a massive 27 minute No Men!! Even better, it RAGES, easily producing more heat than anything in set 1!!! This thing SMOKES!!! No Men is great, if a bit bloated. It never goes "strange", but at least its not chill bliss! Its spends the entirety of its jam in a darkly brooding kind of melodic tenseness. You just get lost in the soup, if you will. Not my favorite jam but it was still must hear, of course.

A spectacular short little Caspian gives us a slight breather . A terrific version, this sounds straight out of 1997 or something!!! Must hear!!

Piper is nice if annoyingly aborted just as the jam gets going, but Jibboo is SPECTACULAR!!!! Truly must hear, that has to be the best soloing Trey has laid down so far in 2022! Exceptional Jibboo!!!

IAWITW is an awkward waste tonight but Lonely Trip is great.

This uneven set ends with a NUCLEAR BOMB Walls of the Cave!! Definitely must hear, this thing annihlates!!!

Nice encore of Wilson, Bowie and More

All in all, a very uneven 2nd set. Caspian, Jibboo and Walls were all must hear, and No Men would be incredible if 10 minutes were chopped off of it. Great show, sure, but the "magic" is still lacking for now. Hmm.  Super uneven run, Im really annoyed that I didnt enjoy most of it that much more.

2022-04-22 New York City, NY

 4 22 22 New York

Set 1

The show opens with a lengtht 16+ minute Everythings Right. The jam takes a long time to get going, feeling aimless and meandering for a while. Eventually it all clicks and Trey explodes into a wonderful, Reba style, trill fest of a solo. From there the jam slowly dissolves into stuttering quasi-ambience and slowly faaaddddeeeessss out to a close sounding just like something straight out of Summer 1999. #thehazeisreal Overall I would definitely label this must hear. A really fantastic reading once it gets going.

The following Tube, while not must hear, is still terrific. Just total funk annihilation for 9 minutes. Wonderful!

Aside from a wnderful Trey solo, 555 is plodding and boring. You can safely skip it if you want. BOTT is way better. Nothing essential but its a typically killer type 1 reading.

Thankfully everything comes together on the following Army of One. Borderline must hear, they kill it. The backing vocals, Treys bluesy soloing...its all great. Definitely worth a listen!

A lengthy 10 minute Axilla 2 follows to kick things back into high gear. The song itself is just unhinged in the best way. The jam is certainly unique, developing a very eery laid back feel. Vocal scatting and a definite 1999-style haze to it once again. Total X Factor on this. This is definitely must hear!!!

Gin is terrific tonight. Very bluesy and rhythmic yet also tropical with a great peak. Hard to describe but definitely unique and must hear!!!

Standard SANTOS to close.

All in all, this was a real good set, if not my personal favorite. Id say ER, Axilla and Gin are true must hears with shoutoutd to Army and Tube. Great stuff but nothing super "impressive" at the same time for the most part. 

Set 2

A giant 22 minute SYSF kicks off set 2. Real good straight ahead version that unfortunately never breaks free, finding itself stuck in "extended type 1". Whats here is really enjoyable but for 22 minutes this thing is definitely underwhelming. Enjoyable version but not must hear, imo.

And into a 16 minute Light we go! Light is way better, imo. It also stays "extended type 1", but the X Factor inspiration shines brightly and Machine Gun Trey comes out to play. A spectacular version, definitely must hear!

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the "surely worst version ever played" Fuego that follows. It falls apart before it begins, never coalescing. The jam even comes to a dead stop before they FORCE themselves on into janky and awkward space jamming. This is terrible. Yuck!!

They try to save it wiu WTU which I will admit flowed great out of that Fuego "jam". After this enjoyable but average WTU they finish the set with a GREAT Numberline. Not essential, but it's definitely really good.

All in all, this set really disappointed me and felt like a chore to get through. SYSF was enjoyable if uninspired and way to "do nothing" for its epic length and of course Fuego was a disaster of epic proportions that left WTU to shakily pick up the pieces. Light was terrific and must hear and Numberline was good.

Im really not sure what to think of the show at this point but im definitely underwhelmed. 

 

Set 3

An excellent robo wah laden Free kicks open the door for set 3 followed quickly by a fiery Wave. Both are hot type 1 readings, neither must hear, but definitely a shot in the arm. The energy is noticeably higher than the rest of the show so far and this goes a long way. They actually sounded HOT on these two, something lacking the rest of the show prior. Great stuff.

Waves and Sand are both exceptional readings tonight. Waves is just magical, seeing Trey do full on whale siren jamming trying to sing to the flying drone whale, lol. And Sand is just a tour de force, equal parts exceptionally funky, powerful and rocking with copious amounts of Trey hose peakage included.
Both are de MUST HEAR!!!

And then a 12 minute Melt, complete with seaweed I have heard, comes along to close the set. Played great but the jam doesn't do anything for me at all. Im sure this is way more satisfying when viewed rather than simply heard.

Its Ice is the surprise encore. I know about the screen freeze but, thematic, how does this tie in with the rest?? Ice is water?? Waves and Sand? Something like that?? Good version but I really dont like it as an encore lol.

All in all, set 3 was the best of the bunch, imo. Obviously constructed, it had great flow that the others struggled with and the most energy of maybe the entire run so far!! Waves and Sand are easy must hears and of course we all should watch this spectacle!!!

Taken as a whole, the show probably deserves the 4.5 it has on . NET. Based strictly on the music itself, I think its more akin to a 3.9 or a solid 4.0, imo. There were 6 or 7 genuine must hear tunes, but there was also a good amount of "unfulfilling" jamming, that Fuego disaster, the up and down quality of set 1...

In no way is this a poor show at all, its just that the majority of it did not "blow me away" either. A lot of it was really enjoyable but also underwhelming overall, if that makes sense.

What I mean by that ....Mexico 2022 #3 is still the best show of 2022 to this point. And by a pretty wide margin, at that.

 

 

Another viewpoint on that Fuego thanks to a .NET review. Sometimes being able to SEE a show can definitely alter an opinion drastically!!!:

I'd like to elaborate on another reviewer's post that mentioned a perhaps confused or rusty start to Fuego. That's not how I perceived it. It was actually a hysterically funny and frankly heart-warming musical moment between four really close friends. After blistering jamming that seemed to go on for an hour with Set Your Soul Free and Light, the breakneck pace finally started to wind down into cool ambient space. Just then the camera happens to cut to behind Fish, who takes the opportunity of this tiny reprieve to play with one hand while turning about a liter of water straight up and chugging the whole thing. Although we viewers at home see this, Trey does not and he begins the notes to Fuego - a beast of a drumming song. They all then realize that poor Fish is gassed (his is the most physically demanding part of the music, after all) but they've begun the song.... So they kinda do a slower, more stretched out intro to let Fish catch his breath. By now Page and Trey are laughing their asses off. Eventually, Fish starts dropping fast little drum fills, as if to say, "Alright you ****ers, I'm ready!!" And then off they go into Fuego. A little moment of empathy for their man behind the kit. I was howling and crying at the same time. What a joy it was to see these guys back on stage with one another, doing the thing that they enjoy most in the world. I shed more than one tear last night and it felt good 

2022-04-21 New York City, NY

 4 21 22 New York

Set 1

After letting us know THE supposed Suzy Greenberg is in the house tonight, they open with a terrific an inspired reading of said song. Extra all over, Fishman is going nut with vocal interjections lol!!! Must hear for sure!!

After a standard hot 46 Days, we get a REALLY nice little Plasma. The jam is super fluid and gooey tonight. Definitely grab this - its a hidden gem!!!

Following that, we get the first TMWSIY suite since... when??? Fall 2019? Or was it played in 2021.... I forget... Good stuff.

Wolfman is pretty terrific tonight. Definitely deserves it's jam chart. Not the hottest ever, but as with Plasma, it's just super duper SMOOTH, slowly winding and building its way to the peaky conclusion. Really, really good!!!

And the "wtf?!" hits continue with a rare outing of Esther, beginning the 2022 Estheraissance. Solid over all though Trey has sticky fingers throughout. A solid reading of one of my least favorite songs.

And set 1 concludes with a huge 17 minute Ghost!!! Up through the 10 minute mark its a gooey, soupy, major key kind of funk. Great stuff. Then it slowly gets a little darker and more serious. Heavier Gordo, more rocking, the robo wah and synths....Things pick up a major head of steam and around 13 minutes they begin to slowly build into one of the sickest, nastiest, hose spraying peak sections ever. And it lasts a solid 2+ minutes!!!!!! Holy moly suzy creamcheese!!!! And then out to a close....Holy SMOKES what a Ghost!!! Total X Factor!!! Definitely must hear!!!

All in all, this was a great set. Individually, I thought it held together better as a whole rather than if you were to pick it apart. Ghost is must hear and Suzy and Plasma and Wolfman are all well worth your time. The rest is excellently average, but major points two huge bustouts. And the energy is WAY better tonight.

No complaints with the set. A million steps up from night 1!!! 

 

 Set 2 opens with a 17 minute Chalkdust!! Woohoo!!! And immediately Trey rips into us with his first solo by going straight for the robo way!! Never heard the in-song solo sound like that!! That was SICK!!! He goes back into a straight sound and they absolutely RAGE for a few glorious minutes! A bit shambolic with the transition back into the song, but who cares. The jam itself begins with them dropping into a laidback night groove. Around 10 minutes a pounding rhythm begins but alas it is not to be and they quickly shift into boring upbeat melodic chill bliss. Ugh. This goes until 15 minutes where things begin to pick and the jam regains a head of steam. Lengthy sustained notes and shredding Trey. Absolutely incredible hose explosions finale!!! Wow!! I know I complain about too much "major key chill bliss", but either way this was a pretty exceptional Chalkdust. Definitely X Factor!!!!

The watery ending of Chalkdust segues perfectly into Tweezer!!! Really beautiful 13 minute chill Tweezer. Definitely worth a listen. This Teeezer is just gorgeous!!! Bright sunny day vibes! HOLY CRAP THAT PEAK!!! MUST HEAR!!! THIS TWEEZER IS FANTASTIC!!!

Perfectly after that magical conclusion we launch into 2001 to get us up and moving and back down from the clouds we were flying through. Excellent high energy version with a great Martian Monster section in the middle.

And then oh crap into Maze we go. AND OH BOY WHAT A MAZE IT IS!!! This one is a gosh darn 10/10 as far as modern versions go. Trey is just annihilating. Absolutely must hear!!!

And what a world it is when a blazing About to Run is the "cool down" song! Also, hot damn does that just FIT coming after Maze or what?! Must hear, this is a facemelter. Also of note is Treys soloing sounds particularly bluesy and slinky on this one. Wow.

An excellent and rare Mango Song follows. They nail this and it sounds GREAT!

Harry Hood is excellent tonight. Not must hear but definitely strong. Killer end to the set with a crazy C Zero/Tweezer sandwich. Id call that must hear. Sick.

Uninspired encore of ALBTD into the obligatory Tweeprize.

All in all, this was an excellent show, but it also fell a little short for my taste/expectations. There is a lot of great stuff but not much that will TRULY blow you away, if that makes sense. I mean, nothing "all timer" level or anything.

Id say Ghost, Tweezer, Maze, Dust and Zero are the must hear materials. This WAS a terrific show, but at the same time it didnt even feel in the same league as something like Mexico 2022 #3
Basically, Im being a jerk to this show. It kills. So ignore me. It was great!!!

2022-04-20 New York City, NY

 Onwards to the 420/Earth Day run!

Been dying to hear these shows since they happened!

4/20/22 New York

Set 1

Certainly a massive 19 minute Carini opener is a good sign of things to come, yes? Wow. Good bliss rock type 1 until around the 9 minute mark. Things shift to a darker, funkier and more laid back vibe. More rhythmic, Pages fancy keys come out to play, Fishman is in Fill City, etc. Unfortunately they quickly abandon this new direction and return to chill major key dad rocking. Around 13 minutes they shift again into funky, upbeat jamming. Love Pages watery keys throughout! Gotta say, the band interplay has been fantastic - everybody is definitely paying attention to each other closely. Just a million "blink and youll miss it" synch up moments between everyone! Around 15 minutes they slowly begin peak building. The crowd erupts (anyone know why???). Around 17:30 the jam explodes into a massive, triumphant peak. Trey hits one of those Divided Sky notes and just holds it for like a minute. Slowly the peak subsides and the jam winds down to a natural close....

Wow!!! That was awesome!!! This Carini wasnt the black hole type 2 space monster we always want, but instead it was a majestic, slow working version that highlighted the tightness of this band while subtly shifting here and there. Fantastic peak. I feel like this Carini is probably underrated - for me to wax poetic about a "mostly major key bliss rock" jam should say enough.....must hear!!!

And so Carini ends and Trey leads us into Possum. Possum is average good. A little lacking in energy at times.

Up next is a lengthy 12+ minute Moma. This version is fantastic. Extra chill and slinky during the song, then Trey kicks into the robo wah and it takes off. Slowly it morphs into an extremely fiery and explosive yet still kinda laid back area. Machine Gun Trey comes out and melts faces big time. Wow. This Moma is SUPER sick!!! Havent ever really heard another like it!!! Definitely must hear!

Moma has an odd conclusion and kind of fizzles out. From here we go into Leaves. On paper this is a terrible placement, imo, but it actually flowed great out of Moma. YMMV. Leaves is always great to hear. This version is average good but nothing special.

And into a super rare Strange Design!!! 2 ballads in a row is an interesting call but who cares when they are Leaves and Strange Design?! This sounds awesome. Lovely and delicate and powerful. Grab this!

Stash is pretty good tonight. The song itself is pretty rusty, but thankfully it has a very cool jam. Darkish and chill, Gordo all over his bass fx while Trey patiently builds his solo. It just builds and builds and builds into a WILD, crazy and explosive "tear your friggin head off" Machine Gun Trey explosion before leading SEAMLESSLY back into the song.

Yo, grab that Stash! That was SICK!!!

The set concludes with a terrific Type 1 Blaze On. Maybe not must hear but know it is excellent.

All in all, this was a weird set!! The energy was there but there was also this weird kind of chill undercutting everything as well. I would say Carini, Moma, Strange Design and Stash are the essential music. Very hard to judge this set - just know that it was great regardless, if not incredible. 

Set 2

The 2nd half opens nicely with Sigma Oasis. Solid version, nothing special.

And into a damn 23 minute Disease we go from there!!! The song sounds good aside from a serious snafu in the middle. 80 million miles removed from the Mexico 2022 atrocity, however! Aside from some brief funkiness, we rage type 1 bliss rock all the way to the 14 minute mark. At the point the jam quiets down. The watery keys come out to play along with some synths. Trey is patiently picking out melodic lines. Slowly they work it back up and Trey goes all Stevie Ray Vaughan on our asses just shredding this sucker to a conclusion.

Definitely a face melter kind of version. Way too "stuck in the box" for my taste, but at the same time it DOES kick ass.

The Howling keeps the party going. Good god does this one FUNK. Super laid back late night groove supreme. Im calling this must hear. Its sick.

And the segue into Twist is just fantastic. And Twist is just an explosive nuclear bomb shredfest once again. Really great. Grab this.

After a lovely Mountains, we get a rare late set 2 Reba! Reba isnt technical perfection, but it's about 95 percent there. Ill take it! Magical solo on this. This rips. It aint MSG95 but this is a great little Reba!

The set proper concludes with a slighty rusty Drift. Ok version, nothing more. Special note to the fantastic climax, however.

Inspired encore of Gumbo into Slave. Not much to say. Good stuff.


All in all this was a strange feeling show. Somethings were terrific, some things were rusty, some things were chill, others were blazing hot. I FEEL like this show is worthy of a light 4.0 rating, imo. Its a million times better than the "good but undercooked" 2/27/22. But neither is most of this show amazing either.

For set 2, Id say The Howling is THE main highlight though Disease was excellent, if boring by the time it was done.

If 2/27/22 is like a B/B+, Id give this a solid, firm, B++

 

2022-02-27 Quintana Roo, MX

 Finishing Mexico 2022 this morning.

2 27 22 Mexico

Set 1

Surprise bustout of Fat Man in the Bathtub! Was it realy 12 effin years since 2010 already?!?! This sounds great and rocks hard. Honestly, they could add this to regular rotation and I wouldnt complain!!!

Up next is a classic Mikes Groove. Mikes Song never gets super hot, yet at the same time their is this heavy energy all the same. Like a restrained heat. Nice version. Hydro is a little sticky, but Paug is great. A really terrific type 1 version that positively EXPLODES to a climax!!

Mikes Groove probably isnt must hear night, but its still very nice and Paug in particular is great.

46 Days is great. Pretty lengthy, it deserves its Jam Chart but at the same time still feels ever so slightly underwhelming. Interesting.

Rift is....eh. Everyone is killing except Sticky Fingers Trey over here who kinda sinks the ship a good bit. Bummer. Not a good version - just yucky. Trey COMPLETELY botches the fast ascending lick and straight up just gives up!

Thankfully a must hear If I Could follows. Stellar version, Treys extended solo is just downright magical. Killer.

Unfortunately, MyFe returns us to Shakey Trey territory. Thankfully he picks up but its just a solid type 1 reading with a short peak. Nothing special in the slightest.

The set gains new momentum again with the much welcome and very fresh Clear Your Mind. Great stuff. Grab it. Great jamming!!! This thing smokes! Best thing of the set so far!!!

The set ends with a massive 18 minute Melt into a partytastic Suzy . Melt is essential, not much to say. Just dark and melty and spacey and gnarly. A definite BEAST of a Melt!!! Essential listening!!!

Suzy is Suzy.


All in all this wasnt a great set, but it wasnt BAD either. It just felt "undercooked" most of the time. 46 Days and Mikes Groove were both REALLY GOOD but neither truly transcend. Clear Your Mind, If I Could and probably Melt are the must hears. Rift is a complete butcher job up there with the Coventry Glide....

Extremely UNEVEN 

 Set 2

Great start to set 2 with a raging No Men. Just 10 minutes of pure high energy rocking. Awesome.

Immediately following is a 16 minute, chill fest Everything's Right. This one stays in laid back, chill groove zone for its entirety. However, the playing feels inspired and I would venture to call this GREAT!!! Borderline must hear. Not sure what I think of it, haha.

Big sin committed by leaving it for Caspian, but fear not! Caspian puts on its big boy pants and turns in an outrageous rendition!! Total X Factor all over!! It just explodes! And it even pretty much melts down for a good while going proper dark type 2. Wowzers! Must hear!!!!

They follow that with a freaking spectacular Sea of Stars. Holy mother of must hear X Factor Magic, this one stays type 1, but this has to be, hands down, the finest reading I have ever heard. Imagine if 1973 Dead played the song. Thats basically what this version is like. Just astounding in its perfection. Holy crap. It gets dark in the final few minutes but BASICALLY you could call this an "in the box" version. Absolutely a 10/10 MAGICAL rendition!!!!!

 From there we slide into a massive 20 minute Golden Age. Nice. Terrific grooving and full band interplay throughout. Listen to the jazzy back and forth between Page and Trey. Sick. The only downside is that, like ER before, it never goes anywhere. By the 15 minute mark they are still in a decidedly Type 1 Golden Age jam. Thankfully it IS genuinely excellent so I will forgive it. Hell, its not until the damn 17 minute mark though that it finally starts to deviate and goes into a dark robo jam fo two minutes. I'd call this sucker must hear regardless!

Even better though, seriously, is Lonely Trip. This is an astonishly great version. Extra Page all over. MUST HEAR.

And finally into Hood we go! Terrific Hood worthy of its chart. Extra mustard.

The show ends with average readings of ALBTD and First Tube

All in all, set 2 had the makings of greatness but struggled to achieve liftoff. What they DID play was excellent, its just that very little actually trancended into true greatness, ya know what I mean? Id give the set like a B+ or something. Actually, Caspian and Sea of Stars both absolutely did - somehow just forgot about those 2!!

 This show is better than the paltry 3.3 rating it has. Id probably give it like a 3.7 or 3.8. Solidly good but rarely GREAT.

 For set 2 grab Golden Age and Lonely Trip, maybe Hood or ER as well. Definitely the Sea of Stars and Caspian though! Those are the two shining diamonds of the whole show!!!!

 

 

2022-02-26 Quintana Roo, MX

 2 26 22 Mexico

Set 1

Off to an incredible start tonight with the first ever Axilla 1/2 combo. They play Axilla 1 but tack the "dont shine that light" outro to the end. It aint the beast of Mexico 2024, but if this isnt an inspired way to open a show than I dont know what is!!!

Up next is one of the sickest 1-2 punches in recent memory. A fantastically placed Twist is first. Twist is total X Factor, doing a very slow build into a crazy runaway freight train kind of reading. Absolutely inspired and ass kicking. MUST HEAR.

Even better, the jam reaches a natural segue point and Trey leads them right into Your Pet Cat!!! And YPC is awesome.

So, basically, you get 23 minutes of primo awesomeness. Ridiculous.

And if that wasnt enough, up next you get the finest Divided Sky this side of 1.0!!! No, Im not exaggerating. This one is MAGICAL. Just complete and utter X Factor from start to finish. Perfectly played, extra mustard throughout....THIS IS ESSENTIAL. THIS IS AN ALL TIME DIVIDED SKY. HOLY MOTHER OF GOD. THIS IS EXTRAORDINARY. 100/10!!!! GRAB YOUR RHOMBUS AND PRAISE ICCULUS!!!!

No, seriously, if you told me that was a 1996 Divided Sky I might just believe you. Ive heard a lot of great 3.0 versions but this hands down the best Ive ever heard by modern Phish, I really think. Magic. Magic. Magic. Magic. Magic.

After a nice Mull, we get....a friggin 22 minute Wolfman. In set 1. What even is this show?? The song itself is downright explosive - really an exceptional reading of the base part. But this jam....holy moly. PUT THIS IN THE HALL OF FAME, NOW!!!!!! A raging hot kind of super chunk deep funk jam on par with late 90s cow funk...then halfway through they naturally hit upon some weirdness and we are catapulted into outer space - FX galore, blaring synths, wacky drums before rocking out steadily to a blazing, explosive finale ....This is easily on par with the very best jams of 2021 and better than a lot of them. Wow. THIS WAS INCREDIBLE!!!!! X FACTOR MAGIC!!!! LETS GO!!!!!

Terrifically spunky Cavern to close the set.

All in all ....what in the love of X Factor Magic was this set?!?!? This was a CLASSIC FOR ANY ERA set!!! The Axilla Combo opener, the 23 minute Twist>YPC party, the 90s-level-of-excellence Divided Sky and a damn 23 minute, multisectional type 2 multibesst of a WolfMAN......

What in the hell....Im already done!!! 

Set 2

The 2nd set wastes no time beginning with a 22 minute Set Your Soul Free. Right from the rip, this one is LOADED with extra everything!!!! And boy, what a beast it is!!! This thing SMOKES!! The initial rocking turns into a lengthy yet excellent round of bliss rocking. Slowly the robo fx come out and we get a long spell in Upbeat Robo Party Funk Rock Land. Excellent stuff. Just as slowly they spend the back section of the jam deconstructing it all and going into full blown type 2 robot apocalypse zone. And then it just fizzles to a close.....Total X Factor Magic!!! Holy moly this was like a killer 3 act play or something. Perfectly built and executed....must hear, of course!! Definitely one of the greatest I have ever heard!!!

And they keep the momentum going by quickly launching into a 13 minute Simple!!!! AND THIS IS INCREDIBLE TOO!! Extra sauce from the beginning, the initial Simple jamming is great. Then, outta the friggin blue, around 7 minutes the song DROPS into a full blown blues jam!!! What in the name of Sweet Banana Jeezus is going on!! ALL HAIL OUR LORD AND SAVIOR, X FACTOR MAGIC!!!!!

After 5 or 6 glorious minutes of blues jamming, Trey decides to change course and we launch into a 17 minute Scents!!!! And hold onto your effing hats, this version CRUSHES. Complete and utter facemelting, hard rocking insanity. Just an absolute MAELSTROM. MACHINE GUN TREY IS IN THE FRIGGIN HOUSE!!! The nuclear annihilation continues all the way to the 14 minute mark. Things get really groovy and low key, yet still super frantic and energetic. Late night vibes. Hot damn. X Factor Magic strikes again.

They ride it out from there and proceed to launch into a 14 minute Crosseyed! Stop! There is nothing left!! You have already razed the entire site!!! Crosseyed is sick. It rages as usual then slowly morphs into a late night, dark chill zone, ala the Gorge 2018 version of something. Super funky and low key yet still bursting with energy. This is SICK. Super slowly it morphs downwards into a insanely relaxing chill bliss jamming. Wonderful interplay between Page and Trey .....wow. This was just beautiful!!! This goes on for a LONG time and its excellent.

Eventually, the jam finally comes to a close and Trey leads us into an absolute heartwrenching version of Waste, placed oh so perfectly. Just gorgeous, wow. Friggin killer.

A killer type 1 Blaze On ends the set.

Inspired encore of The Wedge, Sleeping Monkey and Slave. All are great but you need Slave. Holy crap what a capper on a show like this....


All in all....YO THIS WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST SHOWS I HAVE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE!!! THIS SHOW IS SPECTACULAR!!!!! WHAT A TURNAROUND FROM NIGHT 2!!!!!

That entire 2nd set is more than worth your time. SYSF, Simple, Scents, Crosseyed and Waste are all must hear. An absolutely RIDICULOUS show and set.

Easily falling into the "all time classic for any era" level for me. I would gladly give this show a 4.5 rating. All day long.

Wow....