2022-12-31 New York City, NY

 12 31 22 New York

And so it finally comes to an end...

Set 1

14 minute Tweezer to open! And its absolutely fantastic!!! X Factor all over. The usual high energy funk gives way to reflective melodic playing. Very cool Leslie playing. Super slowly they spend their time working it skyward, culminating in a massive and lengthy peak section. This Tweezer is a little BEAST!! Must hear!!

The fun continues with a smashing Halley>SYSF combo. Both are super high energy and absolutely COOK. Total rocking! Halleys jam somehow reaches a natural point where they do a blinl and youll miss it spectacular segue into SYSF. Seriously, the segue was NUTS!!!! SYSF rocks to high heavens, eventually going type 2 and spending several excellent minutes slowly deconstructing into an abyssal "bottom of the ocean" kind of jam, winding to a close.

That duo was SO SICK! MUST HEAR!

Just as good is Rift!!! Again, massively high energy, they actually PRACTICED IT! It sounds terrific, tight, and nailed to the bone! Trey completely nails his parts and, again, this is so damn good I gotta call it must hear. Its essential perfect!! Wow!!

After a rocking Cavern, Trip rips back into a standalone Tweezer jam. Nice and lengthy at 6 minutes, hard funk turns into melodic robo bliss rock before finally hazing out into a badly placed, momentum killing Shade.

Good version as always but it definitely deflates things a bit.

Thankfully the set concludes on a high note with an "excellent but not must hear" Mikes Groove. Mikes in particular is really strong. Borderlin muse hear for that - it cooks!!! If only it was longer!

All in all this was a great first set! It cant compare to 12 29 or 12 30 but on its own its strong, pretty much from start to finish.

Honestly, remove Cavern and the set straight through that Tweezer jam is must hear with special notice to Mikes Song as well.

Good stuff!   

Set 2

The 2nd set opens with a high energy combo of SANTOS into 2001. Neither are noteworthy but they are good picks to get us up and rocking.

Up next is a 12 minute Kill Devil Falls. Heck yes! The song is high energy but the jam begins really laid back and chill for a long while. Slowly it kinda starts to build back rocking energy bit by bit. Unfortunately it never lifts off and just slides downwards into chill bliss. There is a BRIEF 20 seconds or so where it flirts with darkness and even the power drill comes out! All that being said, this jam never feels aimless. Its completely CHILL but its chill with a purpose! They are absolutely leaning hard into this "vibe" just building this landscape. I normally hate excessive chill bliss but this is something different and inspired, flowing like a river from start to finish. Even the reintroduction of KDF at the end is flawless! Id say there is good X Factor on this and im calling it must hear!

The set continues with Mercury, a measley 7 minute rendition....and boy does sucker sound LAID BACK like an early 90s west coast hiphop album. The vibe is fantastic. I mean its nothing you need to purposely seek out, but its really nice while its here.

Out of Mercury and into a 10 minute Light. Initial rocking gives way to awesome way pedal porno funk around the 6 minute mark. Type 2 here we come! The funk slowly gives way to soaring, high energy rocking. Welcome to Peakville! This sucker just burns, yo!! Must hear - this Light is friggin AWESOME!!!

Set 2 concludes with excellent versions of Waste, Drift and Numberline (obvious nod to the whole 40th thing). All 3 feel imbued with extra passion and emotions. None are particularly hot, but they all feel like there is genuine "weight" behind them. Very chill, but also just powerful. Good stuff for sure.

All in all, set 2 was pretty enjoyable! KDF and Light are both must hear. The whole traded the energy of set 1 for a uniquely laid back vibe. Not sleepy or low energy, just really relaxed in an excessively comfortable way, like sinking into a nice couch or something.

Very good stuff, if not amazing. Definitely some emotional heft to it, imo. 

Set 3

The set opens with a wild medley for about half an hour of a bunch of different songs, weaving in and out of each other, similar to the zaniness of 8/7/21 set 2. Not much to say, you gotta hear. Its super FUN and oh so Phishy! Great gag idea, the Time Machine!

Surprisingly it works better as a listen than you might expect. Its pretty awesome. The BoRhap>Jungle Boogie is amazing and special shoutouts to the Interntional Meatstick from 2010!

A truly ripping Carini (no, for real!) gives way to a fun reading of New York New York. Trey then rips back into a Tweezer jam. The jam is less successful than the one in set 1 and he axes it for Caspian.

Caspian tries really hard, spending 4 whole minutes attempting to go deep and getting nowhere.

Infinitely better is the following Crosseyed>Piper. Crosseyed goes into some cool, melodic introspection like KDF while Piper is an unbelievable nuclear bomb (no, for real!). This duo is absolutely must hear.

Following the obligatory ALBTD, First Tube closes the set in rocking manner.

An emotional Show of Life into Tweeprize is the perfect encore to wrap up 2022....


All in all, another pretty dang enjoyable set! The Time Machine Medley is must hear, as is the Crosseyed>Piper, with special shoutouts to that Carini!!

I was pleasantly surprised how strong this show was MUSICALLY. I was really prepared for the usual New Years "lets get through this and get to the gag" kinda thing. But the music was passionate, energetic and emotional throughout.

A really, really good show!

 

2022-12-30 New York City, NY

 12 30 22 New York

Set 1

14 minute Disease to open the show. Great sign! Excellent version. It never goes type 2 but it positively rages and is super hot. Awesome.

12 minute Moma in slot 2. Same as Disease, it isnt truly essential but it is spectacularly great regardless. Absolutely compilation worthy.

A surprise Pebbles in slot 3. Awesome surprise and the song sounds great, raging hard.

The first true must hear of the show occurs next with a dang 15 minute Theme!! And its absolutely MIND BLOWING!! X FACTOR MAGIC REIGN SUPREME!!!!! The jam begins and they enter a very long, wah SOAKED funk section. Its fantastic and they groove it for a very long time. Eventually Trey lays off the wah and its back to melodic rocking. Fishman signals a quick beat change and the jam closes with an inredible couple minutes of outer space deconstruction. The jam gets incredibly HAZY and has a perfect wind down close with a massive, and anxiety inducing, burst of NOISE from Trey. Absolutely claustrophobic and incredible. This straight up sounds like a 1999 jam or something. This is unbelievable - certainly an all timer Theme right here. MAGIC! MAGIC! MAGIC!!!

And a solid segue out of the noise and into Reba! Really excellent Reba. Technically it sounds about 99% flawless to my ears! They nail it for sure. The solo is very long and slow building (by 2022 standards, at least). They are just relishing it hard, taking their time. Slowly it begins to boil over, getting more and more peaky. The peak section is just spectacular. Ok, this is must hear. This is absolutely an above average Reba. And that peak!! Lets freakin get it Trey!!! THIS REBA WAS SICK AS HELL!!!!!!! MUST HEAR!!

Out of Reba we get the single most BAD ASS song intro Ive ever heard in my damn life. That Howling intro was a straight up heavy metal drone! Open a show with The Howling, you cowards!! That would be insane! Terrific choice to keep the energy high. And I tell you what, like the song or not, it is so ridiculously FUN in person! This doesnt end up being "next level must hear" but its still a terrific, stomping, great time of a party. Love The Howling!

Hey, a rare Foam comes outta nowhere next! Alright!! Terrific version by modern standards. Page sounds absolutely insane throughout and Trey is playing with confidence and fluidity. There is no "shakiness" with this one. They nail it! Honestly? Imma call this sucker must hear. Its strong as F.

From there, this sick ass set closes with Antelope. And boy does this CRUSH. They build the solo at the perfect pace, Trey hitting all the perfect notes at the right times. This is tight as hell with nuclear bomb energy. Probably must hear - its about as good as a 2022 Antelope is gonna get.

All in all, this set was AWESOME!!!! Super high energy, inspired and tight playing. Great flow and song selection (for me). Not a single lowlight and even though only a few things are truly must hear, there isnt anything not worthy of a shoutout, imo.
Foam, Reba and Theme are must hear with shoutouts to Moma and Antelope.
Holy crapballz.... 

 

Set 2

21 minute No Men to open the set. Ok, lets friggin go! Vocally flubby, the first part of the jam is one of those way too lengthy sections of boringly average melodic "bliss rock". The part of the jam you wish they would just skip. Unfortunately the jam just dissolves from there going into an even more laid back and chilled out area. Look, I guess this is good stuff, but there is zero fire here and this jam is honestly just boring as hell. It just never goes anywhere or really does anything. Total Zzzzzzzz.....SKIP!

Yes, all jams are different. No, I did not enjoy that jam. Even the peak finale was underwhelming.

Speaking of underwhelming - we move into an 18 minute Golden Age. Yay, just the song I wanted, played sluggishly without any energy. Also, what happened at set break? Treys playing is way more "loose" in a bad way. No tightness to be found anymore.
The jam gets off to a real good start with Page leading them through a very nice "jazzy" kind of section. Unfortunately its all too brief and Trey reverts back to major key noodling as expected. And man, it just never recovers....Trey spends the next 4 or 5 minutes messing around with Leslie and tremolo sounds, ditching both quickly and playing literally almost nothing. He pretty much goes AWOL for a good minute or 2 there. The band tries to pick up the slack to no avail. Finally around 15 minutes some energy comes in and the jam has a pretty good peak finale equivalent to No Men, but its way too little way too late. This jam is a bust.

Man! That was one of the most disjointed, low energy, downright confused-sounding jams I can recall hearing. In no way can I recommend that Golden Age to anyone - that sucked. Plain and simple. Call me insane but I stand by my remarks. What a dumpster fire that was....

In a rare mid 2nd set placement we now get an 18 minute Sand to hopefully rectify the crap they've laid forth so far this set. After a good wah section, Trey drags us back down with a pretty lengthy and uninspired run through more bliss rock, except he is just not present at all. His playing is sticky and sloppy and just refuses to lift off. Around 9 minutes, the jam at least takes a shift towards the weird. Robo FX and strange sounds make their much welcome appearance, but unfortunately there is zero cohesion to any of this and it just ends up sounding like a bad Melt jam. Everyone just flailing around like they are drowning. Things kinda pick up after a minute or two and move into a heavier rock direction, but really, this is just a messy, yucky jam. Id probably recommend it as it's at least INTERESTING but is it particularly GOOD? Eh, probably? Some parts are awesome, other parts suck. They move out of the cool stuff after 30 seconds each time I swear. As soon as something awesome starts happenning Trey gives up and yanks them back. They get way the F out there with this Sand but its really, REALLY janky.

A++ for effort. B- for execution. They are TRYING but it just doesnt ever "gel" in that magical way you hope for. It's like they are "teasing" us with bits of this and bits of that throughout.

Wtf is going on with this set. THAT SAND IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE WHEN I FORGET TO TAKE MY ADDERALL! Functional but forced as hell. A TON of robo and wah craziness but its all super "sticky" and just...it feels like the band never "connects" until the sick ass finale section.

If I Could is a terrific cooldown choice. Good enough but Treys terribly screechy guitar tone just ruins any subtlety. Its really nice but I wouldnt call it essential.

The set concludes with the now "famous" 14 minute IAWITW. Right away, things get interesting with Trey layering down lots of rapid fire delays before jumping perfectly onto the robowah supreme. Outerspace robo rocking ensues. Yo, this is sick. If you like the wacky robo space odyssey of the Dicks 2019 Piper, grab this. This never goes type 2, but I cant imagine a type 1 reading of IAWITW being explored more excellently and thoroughly than this!! This is just ridiculous - absolutely annihilation. And eventually Trey starts building a peak and the jam begins an insane "Antelope from hell" nuclear bomb hose finale. Absolutely x factor magic supreme! THIS IS FRIGGIN INSANITY!! LETS GO!!! HOLY CRAP.

An absolutely ridiculous Chalkdust closes the show. Must hear at all costs, this thing spewd 1.0-level energy like a train running off the rails. Think along the lines of the maniacal SPAC 2023 version. THIS is what you hope for in a type 1 Chalkdust these days. Absolutely nuclear heat.


All in all ....im incredibly mixed on this show/set. Set 1 was terrific - id rank it like a 4.2ish level set. Maybe more.

Set 2 on the other hand....the first 40 minutes are a complete waste. Just skip No Men and Golden Age. Both are just a total waste of time. No Men way overstays its welcome and does F-all in its run time while Golden Age is just discombobulated, unrealized trash.

Sand im up in the air about. I REALL dont think it "held together". It doesn't flow at all and it feels extremely forced. That being said, it is incredibly kick ass and is pretty dang sick, but its so not....smooth. In any way, shape or form. Its weird.

Id say IAWITW and Dust are both incredible must hear readings and Sand - ask me tomorrow on that one. Im 50/50 on it.

The Golden Age and No Men though....what is that crap? 

 

2022-12-29 New York City, NY

12 29 22 New York

Set 1

Holy mother of Icculus what an opening!! 22 minute Fluff into a YPC. Fluff is very good if not perfect. Great energy. Somehow they smoothly lead out and into slightly dark and powerful kind of hard rocking jam. Very much pushing. After a good while it starts to bliss out and Trey slowly leads them through an extended segue into a smashing YPC.

X Factor magic right out the gate. Hell to the yes. Of course the damn thing is must hear!

And then immediately into a 17 minute Gin?! Oh crap, its gonna be one of THOSE shows!! Gin is definitely wild and wacky, going way out into type 2 land. Unfortunately, this is TreyDHD: The Jam. Thry are listening to each other and the whole thing flows great, except for the fact that there is about 80 different sections lasting 10 seconds each. As soon as they shift gears Trey immediately gets bored and moves them again. Excessive "searching" in that regard. It does have a great finale (not as great as the one from 12/28/23, though!).

I cant call that must hear or even particularly "good". It was just..... not great, imo. Sure it was amazing in person though! Still, A+ for effort. A 17 minute type 2 Gin in slot 2 must at least be acknowledged!

Following that we get the debut of Hey Stranger. Im calling this must hear - I think this is a killer, killer version. Hot, tight and inspired soloing abound.

Just as good, if not better, is Tube. Average great, until the back half where it picks up major steam. They land in a ridiculous hose spraying section with Trey holding an insane note for, honestly, had to be at least a minute. This version is a POWERHOUSE. Must hear!!

A rare 1st set Slave is the icing on the cake. Other than feeling to short, this is excellent and powerful all around. The soloing is especially shreddy and "wall of noise". Great stuff.

A terrific Blaze On closes. Just 10 minutes of high energy rocking, robo funking and just plain ol killing it

All in all, this was a spectacular set! If you put this as the 2nd set of one of the summer shows nobody would bat an eye!!!

Basically flawless aside from the super janky Gin jam. The Fluff>YPC, Hey Stranger and Tube are what you need most, but my god what a damn set!!!  

Set 2

A super fresh start with an incredibly rare Bowie opener (dont think Ive ever heard one!). Kinda sloppy compositionally, it makes up for it with excessive all around energy and a terrific major key kinda jam. Borderline must hear. Really, its great.

What is definitely must hear is the following trio of songs!!! The X Factor fun begins with an incredible 16 minute ER. Likely the version of the year for me and one of the best Ive ever heard. Its a soupy, dark, groove fest of epic proportions. Spectacular to the end, you NEED this in your life.

YEM follows and delivers a hot reading with a maniacally BLAZING solo from Trey - holy mother of Mt. St. Helens, for real. This is essential for the extraordinary raging that occurs. My god.

The nearly 16 minute Ruby that follows reaches easy all timer status imo. A soupy, spacey, ridiculous psychedelic monster of "hold on to your friggin hats" insanity. Top 8 or so version ever, I reckon. Its that spectacular. And again, Treys soloing is NUCLEAR ANNIHILATION.

After some relief with Lonely Trip, the set concludes with monstrous type 1 readings of BOTT and C Zero that are among the finest type 1 versions imaginable. Pure full throttle, A+ versions of both.

Fantastic encore of Guyuute and Possum


All in all, HOLY MOTHER OF MOVE THE F OVER 8/5!!!! THIS SHOW WAS ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!!! TOP TIER ACROSS THE BOARD, YO!!!

Seriously, where the HELL did they pull this from?!?! The entirety of set 2 is top shelf. You can really almost say the whole damn show is must hear - its that good - but if you really nitpic id say the trio of ER, YEM and Ruby are the most "essential" pieces.

An extraordinary show up there with the likes of Chula Vista 2021 for my money.
Easy overall 4.5 for me. At least!!!

2022-12-28 New York City, NY

 12 28 22 New York

Set 1

The show opens with Buried Alive. Good energy and playing but a definite stiffness is present.

Wolfman and Maze both turn in very strong versions. Neither reach must hear but both are definitely excellent.

Sigma is 12 minutes. Goes type 2 for a bit but doesn't really impress. Ok version, gets an Eh/10.

NICU is pretty weaksauce but thankfully Steam is excellent. Along with Maze, this is the closest to "must hear" so far. Really fantastic.

After a screechy Tela (Treys tone sucks!) we get a real nice Stash. Worth a mention, now THIS is must hear. The jam is downright magical, holy crap!!! PEAK CITY!!! MUST HEAR!!!

Melt to close. Pretty awesome version, imo. It's wacky and shreddy and has a unique vibe, imo. Definitely a must hear!

All in all, this a was a GOOD set with nice flow and selection that suffered from a definite "stiffness". The energy is there and they "come close" many times but never truly reach the true magic, if you will, for the most part.

Stash and Melt are only true must hears, but Steam and Maze get in the ballpark.
Id put this set in the "strong side of average" kind of area. Get that Stash though - wow! 

Set 2

An excellent Free opens the set. This sucker flows hard and is red hot. Great stuff.

Up next is a 20 minute Wave. Wave is excellent - it rocks hard, going into an awesome robo funk type 2 before coming out into a massive finale ala Seattle 2023. Awesome version, id definitely call it must hear. Crazy ending where they somehow pull off a segue into...

...Its Ice!! Very good version, pretty much flawless to my ears. Killer.

Up next is Leaves. And my god, I swear, that was the most perfectly sequenced Leaves ever. Flow out the wazoo. Outstanding as hell, this is super powerful and they crush it. Must hear.

Following that we get a must hear jammed out Simple. This one is AWESOME, spending a lengthy time in ass kicking robo funk land. Killer.

Twist and Plasma keep the good times going excellently before a nothing special yet still excellent Hood to close the set.

Insane encore of Esther in a blazing 46 Days


All in all, set 2 was pretty much a smack in the face with no let up. Id say Wave through Simple is one giant must hear sequence, though everything in this set was at least base level excellent

Id rate this show higher than the 3.7 on .NET. This one feels like a straight down the middle 4.0 for me. The 2nd set just flows like butter with no let up.

Good show!

2022-09-04 Commerce City, CO

 9 4 22 Dick's

Setlist wise this looks 100 percent up my alley. Lets go!

Set 1

The setlist 2022 shakeups continue with First Tube in a rare opening spot. Good stuff and definitely sets the mood! Not the hottest version ever but definitely a good opener.

A 13 minute Gin is next. Unfortunately Trey sounds for at a loss of what to play for most of the jam. There is a bit of this and a bit of that but it never coalesces and ends up a messy disappointment. Bummer.

Thankfully Undermind is WAY better. It sounds super tired but they use this to its advantage and deliver a really excellent, FLUID version loaded with stellar Trey. Borderline must hear!!

Unfortunately, this falling asleep set encounters the worst possible thing imaginable with a draaaggggiiiinnnnggg Drift in slot 4. Wtf Trey??!! What is wrong with you?! The song itself is actually a really good version with strong soloing, its just that the damn song is played at half speed ...UGH!!

Just as bad is Halleys. God, this is the most TIRED and dragging ass version Ive ever heard in my life. The definition of low energy.

Man!! This set is downright lousy so far! There is NO energy! They are playing like they got no sleep or something. Ugh!

They axe Halley and move into a sleepy Everythings Right. Thankfully, as with Undermind, the excssively sleepy mood actually really helps. This has a very unique vibe. Its SOOOOOOO laid back. The guys are able to really sink into the groove and let it envelop everything instead of racing towards a peak explosion. But then they DO hit that peak section and the energy lifts and its just terriic!!! This is awesome!!! MUST HEAR!!!
Seriously, this is fantastic!!!

The Sleep Set finishes with More into Fluffhead. More actually sounds nice at the more mellow pace, surprisingly. Good version.

Fluffhead is really good!! Technically its tight with nary a flub. Nothing must hear but it is worth its time!

All in all, this was not a great set. NO energy at all, holy hell. ER is the only true must hear but Undermind could probably qualify as well. Aside from those 2, you can safely delete the rest of the set. And what the hell was with Drift so early in the set?! 

Set 2

16 minute SYSF open, its a very good version with about 3 distinct sections. Good energy, melodic rocking gives way to more rhythmic focused playing before a lengthy robo section. The problem is that none of it is particularly engaging or exciting. Its good stuff, but very much a "fast food type 2" jam.

The following 14 minute Fuego is miles better!! Explosively hot and TIGHT!! The jam explores some cool laid back, almost tropical areas. X Factor all over and definitely a unique reading. Must hear for sure!!! This thing grooves HARD before quietly fading itself out like moving a volume slider slowly down....

And then a spectacularly horrific set call once again with ALBTD coming next. Cmon man - I love the song but in no universe is this anything but a TERRIBLE set placement!!
The song itself is pretty good without being amazing but that god awful set call was one of the worst things I've ever sat through.

Thankfully Crosseyed and Bowie are both fantastic!! Crosseyed is downright must hear, completely loaded with X Factor. The song slays and the jamming is highly inspired with a ton of great robo action. Absolutely must hear. Maybe the best of 2022??

Bowie feels different than most recent ones. It doesnt go type 2, but its very energetic with terrific jamming. Borderline must hear.

The set closes with a spectacular Loving Cup. Nothing special but Trey goes molten banana sandwich on this bad boy. Definitely worth your time.

Crazy encore of Divided Sky, Icculue and C Zero.

All in all, set 1 was 85% a total waste, but aside from that stupid ALBTD, set 2 was excellent. It felt a step below the TRULY great shows of the year, but set 2 was really, really strong for the most part.

Crosseyed and Fuego are what you need but special mention to the encore and Loving Cup!
Id rate set 1 about a 2.5 and set 2 about an even 4 or 4.1 Overall ill give this show a 3.9-4.1ish rating.

2022-09-03 Commerce City, CO

 9 3 22 Dick's

Set 1

Heck yes! A super rare Punch opener! Punch sounds excellent for the most part. Very high energy and uptempo, its excellent aside from Trey completely botching the Landlady section.

He makes up for it though. Wolfman is exceptional!! Laid back yet high energy jamming leads to a volcanic Trey eruption. Extra sauce all over this. Totally must hear!!

And then, mother of Icculus, what comes next....

Walls of the Cave!!! 16 minutes long, this aint your typical version, just ERUPTING at the seams. They take it into fantastic robo outerspace funking and then back out into a ridiculously insane peak finale like the Bangor Disease. This is an all timer reading right here. This sucker is special. X Factor for days. OH MY GOD.

The hits keep coming with the 3rd and final (to date ) Heavy Rotation. And it sounds fantastic! Everyone is locked in tight and it kicks ass. Killer. Why is this not in (heavy) rotation?! This is sick! Must hear!

After a short but high energy Reggae Woman, we get spectacularly good type 1 readings of a flawless Stash into a simply FANTASTIC Free. Free is must hear - played perfectly and tightly, the robo jam is fantastic (if way too short) and the whole thing just kills. Seriously. You wont expect it to be this good.

Apply the same to the Mikes Song we didnt get last night. If it was longer id call it must hear. Its tight and it smokes. Not much else to say. They absolutely crush it.

The set closes interestingly with a terrific Bug. Im calling it must hear. Its really exceptional.

All in all, wow! What a set! They came to kick ass and take names!! Walls, Wolfman, Heavy, Free and Bug are all must hear, imo but there isnt a single lowpoint besides the botched Punch.

This set kills. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

Set 2

After a rocking SANTOS to start, we get a heavy hitter 15 minute KDF. High energy, excellent melodic jamming, a lengthy robo/deconstruction freakout, the only bad part is that it fizzles out at the end. Real good stuff. It ultimately feels slightly undercooked, but definitely give it a listen!

Sigma Oasis is good but annoyingly Trey yanks it just as it goes type 2. Skip!

So far, the set is good but definitely doesnt feel as "flowing" as set 1. Thankfully that is about to change big time!!

In reference to the storm on 9/2 we get the incredible bustout of Thunderhead. This is spectacularly good and sounds as if it has been in rotation for ever!! X Factor all over this, this is spectacular!!!!!

A 13 minute Moma (fresh show placement!) picks things back up. Another must hear, going into a late night groove lasting its entirety. This is sick in every way. Must hear for sure!

The hits keep coming with a soupy dive into No Quarter. An exceptional version, Trey really goes ham and its hot as balls. Absolutely must hear, yet again.

After a solid 2001 the set proper concludes with Melt. This one is terrific, simultaneously going off the abstract robo looper deep end while still maintaining structure throughout. This one feels particularly standout and Im calling it must hear.

Inspired encore of a flubby Fee into a hot Slave

All in all, once things clicked, this set was a steamroller from Thunderhead onwards.
Thunderhead, Moma, No Quarter and Melt are all must hear with a nod to KDF.
Awesome show all around, Id give this a solid 4.2ish rating!!

THUNDERHEAD WAS AMAZING!! WHY IN THE HELL WAS THIS A ONE OFF?!

2022-09-02 Commerce City, CO

 9 2 22 Dick's

1 set rain delay show.

Good 12 minute Carini to open. Good energy but struggles to do more than a pretty good peak and gets aborted as soon as it starts to get strange.

YEM in slot 2 is sloppy compositionally, but again, great energy. Nothing special in the slightest but a nice set call. Noteworthy is that they push through the vocal jam again and keep going. Very quickly though Trey reaches a perfect transition point and they segue excellently into Ghost.

Ghost is really, really good. Borderline must hear, it reaches a genuinely SOARING peak that is all kinds of awesome. Definitely worth checking out!

After an uneventful Julius comes Reba. Reba is far from perfect but the jam/solo is just stupendous. A really, really GREAT solo from Trey. Absolutely worth your time! Another "borderline must hear" piece.

Tube is pretty excellent. Nothing must hear but great all around. Up next is a 16 minute Tweezer into WTU. Tweezer never gets strange but Id call it must hear. Its excellent, just exploring lots of different little subtle areas. A rager. Love the Destiny Unbound teasing.

WTU is another standout. Great as ever. Id call the pair must hear.

A rare standalone Paug>No Men>Paug reprise is next. Paug is boring and pointless but the segue into No Men is awesome. No Men is blazing hot but extremely short without any jam, leading back into a short Paug reprise.

Moonage Daydream and Chalkdust to close are MUST HEAR!! Moonage is nuclear and Dust is among the finest type 1 versions of recent years featuring an incredible solo from Trey.

Inspired encore of a rare Pebbles and Tweeprise. Good stuff.

All in all, for a 1 set rain show, this was surprisingly really good. I can't call it a GREAT show and nothing had any real "X Factor Magic". Most of it was excellent on its own terms but nothing beats anything else played this summer.

The people on .NET calling this the show of the summer are smoking crack, straight up.

A+ for effort, B+ for result. The energy is there and most of it is really good, but even the "must hear" music is very much "lowercase" and not MUST HEAR, ya know?No way was this a 4.2 imo. Id give it a strong, like, 3.7 or 3.8 though!!

Its better than you expect but never truly excels for the most part - Dust, Moonage, and Tweezer>WTU are what you need most, probably.

2022-09-01 Commerce City, CO

 9/1/22 Dicks

Set 1

Ooh! 13 minute Sand opener - lets go!!! Bummer, this version kinda sucks... It grooves hard but Trey is asleep, and the jam is all kinds of disjointed and crappy, Trey trying to set loops and failing miserable. Terrible start to the show!!

A lengthy, nearly 14 minute Disease is next. Excellent reading, the song is tight and high energy. The jam is boring as hell - trapped in bliss rock purgatory with no escape!! The actual music itself feels great and this is not "uninspired", but it is definitely in that "ok, is anything going to happen or not?" territory. Its a really good version, incredibly boring jam wise.

Eventually, the jam somehow picks up steam and we get a ridiculous (and perfect!) segue into.....Scent of a Mule!! Dude, that segue was nuts. And Scent is killer! Sounds super rehearsed and very high energy. Effin A, alright!

After a grimy Ocelot, Heavy Things, Axilla and BOTT all deliver stupendous type 1 readings. None are must hear, but the energy is HIGH and they are all about as good as type 1 versions of them get.

Awesome.

The set closes with Theme and Blaze. Both are solid enough.

All in all, Sand was terrible, but the rest of the set was excellent, if exceptionally "ordinary". Id say grab Disease into SOAM, but thats stretching it as far as must hear material goes, imo. This set is a winner, just dont expect anything really special is what Im getting at.

Very enjoyable and high energy, but pretty uneventful playing wise for the most part. 

 

Set 2

The set starts off badly (see a theme yet?) with a decent but not amazing Possum into a very good but also underwhelming type 1 Twist. What is this nonsense?!

Finally it all takes a turn for the better with a 17 minute Ruby Waves. Ruby is unbelievable MAGIC!!! Well, the first 11 minutes anyways. After that Trey seems to lose interest and the jam kinda stutters to an end. Utterly insane, they deliver a "rip your head off and smash it into the ground" molten lava hose annihilation peak destruction version of all time proportions. 5000/10 version.

Dont Doubt Me is excellent and lengthy. Not must hear but kicks butt in the context of the set.

And then, hold onto your effin hats, Wave comes along and takes what Ruby started and elevates it a million times hotter. How is this even possible?! Just molten lava machine gun 1.0 level destruction. What in the F.

The Howling keeps it going good and then we get a 14 minute "balls to the wall" Piper to close that is explored nicely and definitely loaded with X Factor Magic like Wave and Ruby.

A terrific, if not truly must hear Hood for the encore. Wow.

All in all, if you like your Phish BLAZINGMOTHEREFFINGSOMEONECALLTHEFIREDEPARTMENT!!!! hot, well, proceed directly here!!

The segues suck, the jams never get strange, Trey abandons Ruby, and yet...man, hottest set of the summer. Hands down. Easily. My God.

Ruby, Wave and Piper are truly must hear and everything else from Ruby onwards is just heat, heat and more heat. What in the love of X Factor from Hell.

Wow.....

2022-08-14 East Troy, WI

 8 14 22 East Troy

Set 1

Great choice of The Landlady to open. Played pretty good with no flubbage. Great stuff!!

Unfortunately Runaway Jim is a snoozer. The song takes forever to get going and completely lacks energy. It almost gets going at the end but its way too little way too late. Major bummer!

Divided Sky is solid enough. Definitely not bad, but its very "sticky" and never really takes off very well. Trey struggles massively with his sustain notes. Eh/10

46 Days is decent but not great. The song never gets too hot and it has a budding jam with some cool delay stuff that Trey horrifically ripcords them out of.

DISGUSTING!! YUCK!!! That "transition" into Stealing Time was Coventry level garbage. Adding insult to injury the intro is botched even worse, with them unable to lock in at all, tempo all over the place. Throw this right in the trash

Surprisingly, Sugar Shack is pretty good. Still way too sleepy, Trey at least nails his parts. Solid enough.

After a nice Shade and a positively uninspired Moon, this lousy set comes to a close with the ONLY highlight of the entire set, a 13 minute Everythings Right. Surprise surprise, this is a terrific version! The boys finally CLICK and deliver a hard grooving, high energy rendition with MASSIVE peaking and rocking. Seriously, this is must hear.

All in all, this set is basically hot trash for the most part. Excessively "sticky" playing from Trey, a total lack of energy and the guys totally not "clicking" at all. This set was just downright LOUSY.

The ONLY thing truly worth hearing is the set ending ER. Everything else is just trash, pretty much, really.

 

Set 2

The 2nd set opens with a killer 11 minute reading of Energy! High energy, it goes type 2 quickly, delivering spctacular robot funk jamming with a hefty dose of strangeness thrown in. This one gets there, big time. Definitely must hear!

They follow it with an excellent 10 minute Jibboo that keeps the dancing goinf strong. Trey sets legit whale siren early and its off we go. The boys definitely sound infinitely more locked in that set 1. Treys soloing is sticky but this is otherwise an excellent reading. I'm calling this must hear, it's fantastic. Seriously!!

A 10 minute Soul Planet follows and hold on to your friggin space suits!!! This version is on FIRE!!! It stays type 1, but it sloooowwwlllyyyy builds into a series of minutes long peak raging of the highest order. Hose supreme. Must hear at all costs.

Excellent segue into a perfectly placed Rift. Rift is excellent, really well played!!!!

Reba follows and delivers an almost must hear reading. Technically, its 98 percent perfect and the solo is spectacular, if just too short.

Martian Monster is too short, but whats here just kills!!! Extremely inspired and "extra", im calling this must hear.

Broken Heart Attack>HYHU>MM jam is incredible!! This sequence is so unexpectedly killer!!! And the way HYHU works MUSICALLY in the sandwich is shocking. Must hear trio!!!

A raging Possum and a grindy Slave close the set excellently.

Waste and First Tube encore, both are extra excellent A+ readings. Waste is magical!!!

All in all, this set was shockingly fantastic!!! I honestly think the Energy, Jibboo, Soul Planet, BHA Suite and maybe Waste are all MUST HEAR with shoutouts to Reba, MM and Slave.

This was an all killer, no filler set. This set kicked so much ass!! Definitely one of my favorites of the whole year!

 

2022-08-13 East Troy, WI

 Welp, I just heard one of the greatest first sets ever played in existance.....

8/13/22 East Troy

Set 1

Tributing the famed 1999 show, we get an unbelievable opening triple threat combo of 1999>22 minute Fluffhead>Saw It Again. Good lord!!

1999 is absolutely killer. About 6 minutes long, everyone is locked in, the groove is hard and deep and the soloing is spectacularly perfect. A+ all around, an absolute must hear!!

Even better is Fluffhead. 22 minutes long, the song itself is FLAWLESS. Seriously, thats a 1.0 level Fluff, imo. I didnt head ONE single flub! And immediately, instead of concluding the song, they drop headfirst into an interesting and kind of darker rock jam. This is so sick. The whole jam goes through 2 or 3 sections and is just magical. X Factor. X Factor for friggin day!!! MUST HEAR AT ALL COSTS!!!!! BRING ON THE WHALE SIREN!!!

Eventually the jam somehow winds its way into Saw It Again. Another true must hear, this one is very lengthy by SIA standards (7 minutes!) and exceeds the usual awsomeness of the song. This has extra writen all over it. Killer.

After nearly 40 minutes of "wtf!?" magic, we get a gorgeous Leaves to give us a break. The X Factor continues to shine brightly and we get about a 4 minute jam tacked on the end! Quickly going type 2, this things goes FAR into the strange, whale sirens and whacky synth craziness. You would never know this was a Leaves.
Must hear, of course.

Unfortunately the jam is cut short, but at least Trey allows them to transition into BOTT instead of ripcording them. Excellebt type 1 as always.

Taste is as strong as any other recent version. Totally excellent if not truly essential.

Placed perfectly, imo, is the next song. The first post covid Petrichor (as far as im aware?), this is about as good as the song has ever been played. Apparently they soundchecked the crap out of it and boy did it pay off! Seriously, as with Fluff, this bad boy is, again, to my ears at least, flawless!!!! Good god!! All hail Petrichor!! Let the rains come down! Wow!

Following the non-peak conclusion of Petrichor, we get a perfect Squirming Coil to wrap the whole thing up. Coil is terrific and the piano outro is the most perfect ending this insane set could have received.

All in all, I thought this was one of the finest sets Ive ever heard from any era!! The playing is tight and energetic, Trey is ON, they nail the technical parts, the setlist is incredibly inspired and, the jams are fantastic and unexpected and the FLOW was out of this world - this set felt perfectly constructed!

Id say the opening trio of 1999, Fluff and Saw It Again as well as Leaves are the true must hears, but the entire set was just excellent across the board.

Id rate this set itself like a 4.5 or 4.6.
Wow....

 

Set 2

Tonight we get the first Number Line opener since 2011!! And on top of that its 14 minutes long! Unfortunately, the jam never escapes excessive bliss rock territory. While its enjoyable, is also kinda boring and the playing isnt especially good - its just kinda uninspiring and the attempt to peak it out at the end is janky and basically a total failure. It sounds like they simply just "give up" and limp the song out of existence. FINALLY in literally the last 30 seconds it goes type 2 and the FX come out but its too late and it just collapsed into Maze (great segue though!)

Bummer. That jam pretty much just straight up sucked!!!

On into Maze, that was one of the best setups/transitions ive ever heard. Killer! Thankfully Maze kicks serious ass. Absolutely unhinged feeling in the best way. Hot Maze is Hot Maze but dang is it always great to get a standout reading!!!
Trey takes his time slowly building his solo. Slowly he gets more and more off the rails. The crowd roars its approval and the song just EXPLODES with the final peak section. Hot damn, this is a spectacular modern Maze!!! Im calling this must hear. Trey botches the outro but who cares, lol

And they keep the energy going with a rocking 14 minute Mr. Completely, actually sounding energetic and slightly heavy tonight instead of the limp Phish versions we usually get. Really nice Trey and Page interplay to begin the jam while Fishman goes bonkers. This thing is GROOVIN! Trey sounds a little lost for what to play, like in Numberline but otherwise this is super tight and definitely enjoyable. Awesome part where Trey, Page and Mike all sync up on this interesting, circular kind of melodic motif for a good long while. The delays and subtle FX usage come out and the jam finally starts to get interesting. Trey keeps teasing robo wah while Page brings out the stuttering THX synths. Finally, the jam starts to get kind of ethereal, moving into an uptempo robo bliss, with Fishman teasing the Mr. Completely beat here and there, leading them to a lengthy bliss rock conclusion. Really excellent peakage. This is pretty sick - its a thick, soupy kind of slow burn groove fest. Noone is particularly soloing and they all seem to be more interested in building it all "together". Very textural jam. Im calling this must hear - its great! Sometimes it feels minimalist, but it also just, well, delivers as the same time. Absolutely worth your time!
Really, this is AWESOME!!

The song finally finishes not with a hard stop but a series of noisy "smashes" leading into another ridiculously smooth "how did they pull that off?!" segue into an interestingly placed Roggae. Seriously, its like they "crossfade" into the song. Its SO cool! And I must say, a mid 2nd set Roggae is actually really refreshing!
And HOLY CRAP THIS ROGGAE IS FREAKING MAGICAL!!!! X FACTOR MAGIC, BABY!!! ALL TIME GREAT VERSION UP THERE WITH THE BEST EVER PLAYED!! THIS IS MINDBLOWINGLY AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

HOLY CRAP!!!

Even more insane, they follow it up with a mindblowing, truly nuclear bomb (way more than usual!!!) About to Run. Trey just murders everything in sight. Total bloodshed. Honestly, if someone wanted to try to pick the single greatest About to Run of all time, this would have to be in the top 2 or 3. Even by ATR standards, this over delivers in the extreme. X FACTOR MAGIC!!!

*An aside note - the first few songs of the set felt kinda "rusty" and slightly unsure, despite eventually delivering great results. With Reggae and ATR everything "clicks" finally and the quality level of the playing gains a new fluidity and is elevated drastically!!!

Another fresh move is the following late set Waves. Really excellent and delicate. Doesn't do anything special, but its REALLY, REALLY, good!!!!!

Another super inspired call is the set ending Undermind! (First ever 2nd set closer? And very rare in set 2 anyways!). Very lengthy, about 10 minutes. Undermind is hot, featuring robowah and synthy goodness off the rip. The robowah is just all goofy and terrific. Wacky in the best way!!! And then Trey kicks it into MAXIMUM FRIGGIN OVERDRIVE and destroys like we are back in About to Run. Total X Factor on this. Must hear!! One of the best Underminds ive ever heard!!!

Nice encore of a nicely jammed Blaze On. An incredibly molten hot rendition, you absolutely need to hear this! As good as Undermind! PURE FIRE!!!!


All in all....top 8 show of the year. This show BURNS. The 2nd set looks weird but delivers completely once you get past Number Line.

Maze, Completely, Roggae, About to Run and Undermind and Blaze On were all magical, spectacular readings, especially that mind blowing About to Run

How this has a 3.9 rating is beyond. Easy 4.4-ish level show for me.
Holy crap.

2022-08-12 East Troy, MI

 8/12/22 East Troy

Set 1

Ooh! A rare Fuego opener! AWESOME!!! Killer version, its tight and hot and high energy. The song sounds perfect and the jam is excellent, never getting weird but absolutely soaring to the sky instead. Its a bliss rock version, but its a terrific one! Must hear - also, is this the first Fuego opener Ive ever heard?!

The rocking keeps going with the must hear duo of Clear Your Mind>Twist. A super inspired pairing and set placement, CYM is excellent funking, groovy type 1. They execute a flawless and seamless transition into an excellent type 1 Twist. Taken on their own, neither is particularly "standout" but as a pair, the whole thing just works outstandingly well. The guys are playing TIGHT with each other and the flow of it all is outstanding. Wow.

Even better is Halley. On 6 minutes, but this one buuurrrnnnnssss. Honestly? This is hot enough for me to, again, call it must hear. Not much else to say - it CRUSHES.

With a "somehow they almost pulled it off" ripcord/segue we leave Halley for Destiny Unbound. Super, super FUNKY with sick "plinko wah" playing from Trey. I would jam chart this - this is KILLER. Its not overly long but, as with Halley, its absolutely on FIRE and the ridiculous funk jamming makes this sound as if they played the song in 1997 or something. Must. Hear.

And then, outta nowhere - 18 minute Moma Dance! LET'S FRIGGIN GO!!!! Off the rip, the song is excessively tight and energetic, with Trey getting in some "na na na na nas" from his TAB version of the song. At the 8 minute mark, the jam dives into type 2 with Trey going nuts with loopers and delays for a bit. After settling back down, the jam goes into a super laid back "night time funk" section for a god while. Killer. Trey is just tearing it up!! Finally around 14 minutes Page pushes them out and they spend the final few minutes building an abstract peak section with lots of wonky FX usage from Trey. Sick.

MUST HEAR!! ALL HAIL X FACTOR MAGIC!!! THE MAGIC REIGNS SUPREME!!! THAT WAS FRIGGIN RIDICULOUS!!!!!

The set closes with Drift. Im a fan, but this is a pretty ragged version. The raging finale saves it, but otherwise this is the only true blemish on an otherwise perfect set.

All in all, I LOVED THIS SET!!! Moma, Fuego, and CYM>TWIST and Destiny were all genuinely must hear. Aside from Drift, there wasnt one single low point. The energy was OFF THE CHAIN and the tightness was on lock. THIS SET KICKED ASS!

 

Set 2

Insane start with a 6 minute "genuinely jammed out" version of ....Ass Handed! Absolutely worth your time and worth a listen. Its awesome, lol

Unfortunately, the transition/ripcord/YANK into a 12 minute SYSF is like getting whiplash from hell. Awful!! That being said, SYSF is pretty excellent - if this was a first set. The song is TIGHT and high energy. The jam is pretty decent, exploring delay stuff, regular melodic rock and ultimately having a lengthy cool down outro. Whats here is pretty good, and while I wouldn't necessarily call it unercooked, this definitely leaves you wanting way more than what they give you.

Up next is the ultimate setlist sin - a 14 minute Golden Age that is played well but goes absolutely nowhere and does absolutely nothing and is way too long!!! It doesnt even finish that good. BORING!!!!! NEXT!!!! Seriously, this is a complete waste of time...

Love Lonely Trip but its not what we needed after that lame Golden Age. Love the song and its a good version but lets get on to Ghost.

13 minute Ghost. And holy sweet banana jeezus what a Ghost it is!!! This one rages extremely hard with Trey absolutely burning down the house. Then it goes type 2 into a crazy, wacky, "what the hell is going on?!" jam with lots of FX and Ass Handed call backs. The only flaw is that it ends too soon, but otherwise this is up there with the best jamming of the year. X FACTOR ALL OVER THIS SUCKER!!! MUST HEAR!!!

Following a hot but WAY too short Howling we get a shortish Simple. Simple follow Howling and doesnt jam at all - literally. Ok version but easily a total skip.

The set finishes on a high note with an X Factor laden, slap in the face Bowie!!! HOLY CRAP THIS KILLS!!! HECK YES!! MACHINE GUN TREY FOR PRESIDENT!!! MUST HEAR!!!

The Lizards and More for the encore. Pretty good.

All in all, this was one of the jankiest, most non-delivering sets ever, I swear. Ghost and Bowie are essential and Ass Handed is must hear too. SYSF is good but undercooked. The rest of the set is pretty much a total waste.

The 3.7 on .NET is apt. Bummer

2022-08-10 Toronto, CAN

 8/10/22 Toronto

Set 1

The show opens with a 10 minute Sigma. Good high energy version but a little loose. It gets a nice jam going when, outta friggin nowhere, they execute a ridiculously smooth segue straight into Blaze On!!

Blaze On is the definition of A+ type 1. Uptempo and very hot, Trey just laying down perfect soloing throughout. Id definitely call this opening duo must hear!!!

Steam is totally must hear as well. Even by hot Steam standards this is a cut above. Excellent soupy robo jamming gives way to the expected volcanic eruption. Essential.

My Sweet One is great. MSO is MSO.

A 13 minute Theme follows and continues the excellence. As with Blaze On, this is A+ type 1. The jam is very long and if it was more adventurous I would call it must hear. Still, genuinely excellen.

Wombat is friggin great tonight. Aside from Trey completely forgetting the first verse, this is as tight and hot as Ive heard in a while. Really excellent and tight jamming with cool delay work. If this was longer Id call it must hear.

Afterwards comes a 12 minute Stash. A really terrific version, this is as perfectly played as possible. The jam is upbeat bliss but it is pretty unique featuring stellar kind of...soaring leads. This is genuinely fantastic and must hear.

The set closes with Sand. Even by "hot set closing Sand" standards, this is a cut above. The X Factor shines in spades and Trey absolutely WAILS on this sucker like it beat up his momma!! This Sand is jaw dropping!!! Must hear at all costs!!!

All in all, I thought this set was GREAT!!! Tight, high energy playing throughout and Trey in top form. Id say the opening Sigma>Blaze, Steam, Stash and THAT SAND are all must hear, but really the ENTIRE set is excellent.

Smashing!!! Wow .... 

Set 2

Ooh a 13 minute Sample to open? High energy and rocking, the jam immediately goes into a some weird key change or something (SOMETHING happens but im not sure how to explain it). After some nice type 1 they get wacky and spend much of its duration going full blown type 2 robo funk. This is friggin amazing. X Factor magi! Must hear!

Unfortunately the good times quickly come to an end. An 18 minute Disease that is basically a jam trainwreck....the song itself sounds good, spending its time doing that boring type 1 thing up until around 8:30. The jam finally shift gear and goes type 2 for a bit, but never realizing its potential. Around 12 minutes it reaches a perfect natural conclusion point and comes to a stop. For some reason Trey does a reverse ripcord and YANKS them back into the jam. Lame type 1 bliss rock ensues. Around 18 minutes it gets powerful finally abd they segue into....DDHVL!

The short DDHVL jam is sick but the entire rest of that Disease is garbage! One of the worst jams Ive EVER heard!! Just boring, disconnected and extremely messy

Twenty Years Later and Light are both SOLID renditions that try but never really achieve. Neither offend but neither are special in the slightest.

Bouncing is surprisingly rough, tempo and tech issues abound. Ugh!!

2001 is ok but barely 5 minutes, but at least it wakes us up.

Finally things get back on track with a high energy and inspired feeling Sally. Too bad its barely 5 minutes as well! Really a shame its not longer as this is fantastic!! Must hear!

An 11 minute Free ends the set before Lawn Boy abd SANTOS wrap it all up.
Free is really good and high energy woth excellent robo funm rocking! Great end to the set! No really this Free is fantastic grab this!

All in all, set 1 was just killer but set 2 was just a mess! That Disease was astronomically bad and Light, 20 and 2001 were among the most "solid but uninspired" versions imaginable. Sample and Sally and probably Free are worth your time but the rest is just....not good.

Overall id rate this show like a solid 3.8 or 3.9.It was strong enough, just super messy!!

 

2022-08-07 Atlantic City, NJ

 8/7/22 Atlantic City

Set 1

A rare 11 minute Wolfman opener tonight. Heck yes. Terrific type 1 version that really stretched good without getting weird. Hot. Must hear, imo.

A 12 minute Tube is next. Really good version and big points for length. It never fully gets there jam wise but is still great overall, so ill call it excellent but not must hear.

Mountains is gorgeous, sounding like it could go into Terrapin if they wanted to.

An 11 minute Ocelot follows. Absolutely must hear!!! Total energy, Trey is ON and the jam is just COOKIN!!!! Spectacular Ocelot!!! Holy crap!!! No, seriously, this is next level. Killer....

And then into...a mid set Fluffhead?! Ok! Sure! Why not! Not must hear, but its an excellent reading, high in energy and played close to flawlessly. Killer.

Mercury is tight and sounds great but its only 7 minutes and completely lacking any jam. what the heck, dawg...

Gumbo is excellent too, but once again they just play straight through with no jamming whatsoever. Bummer.

Thankfully the set closes on an absolutely rodic note with Carini. 10 minutes but complete and utter X FACTOR MAGIC TO THE EXTREME!!! HOLY MOTHER OF ICCULUS THIS IS INCREDIBLE!! No, seriously, the entire thing is just EXPLODING with MAGIC! No other way to explain it!! Perfect FX usage, perfect length of the jam sections, umbelievable psycho space rock hose peakage.... All timer version. Put this in the pantheon of the greats.

All in all, this was definitely an excellent set. Everything was tight with good energy and good song selection. On the flipside, most of the versions seemed to have a hard time escaping "this is genuinely excellent but also nothing special" territory.

Carini is a big, fat, shining X Factor diamond. No clue where the hell that came from. Both are a step below, but id also call Ocelot and Wolfman as must hear. Others will love Tube, but for me it left me wanting.

Basically I have lots of small nitpicks. This is a great first set anyone would be stoked to get!! 

 

Set 2

Ooh, a Mike's Groove to set us off! Solid version. Paug develops good heat but overall nothing special and lacking a bit of "oomph".

A 19 minute Wave picks us right up and delivers a spectacular reading. High energy, it gets stuck in some semi-aimless type 1 until 12 minutes. The X Factor kicks in and the jam spends its remainder crafting a killer, kick ass, aquatic robo rage factory. Dark and light, lots of hard grooving and weirdness. Just KILLER!!! MUST HEAR! Doesn't top Hartford but its worthy competition!

Then out of nowhere and into a 24 minute YEM! And boy oh boy is this YEM a doozy!!! The song itself sounds pretty decent. High energy from the outset. Rages hard and hot until around the 14 minute they reach an extraordinary peak explosion. Unbelievable. Really. X Factor for days. For the next 2 minutes os the vocal jam before Fishman kicks us back into the jam at 16 minutes. The final 7+ minutes see the jam going type 2, exploring a killer kind of bouncy and uptempo funk/rock jam. Absolute magic. THIS YEM IS FRIGGIN INCREDIBLE!!! There have been several "holy freaking crap" YEMs this year and I think this one just topped them all. My god.

Solid Suzy to close before Velvet Sea and First Tube close the encore.

All in all, not a perfect show but generally high quality all around. The 2nd set feels a little short but who can complain with the spectacular Wave and incredible YEM.

For this show, grab Wolfman, Ocelot, Carini, Wave and YEM, imo.

I think I liked night 2 better personally, but this is still a killer show. Id rank it like a 4.2 or something.