2025-07-23 Forest Hills, NY

 7 23 25 Forest Hills

Set 1

A Free opener again - didn't we just have one a few shows ago?! Unfortunately, I thought this one was rather bland and sluggish. Not particularly great.

Thankfully things pick RIGHT the F up BOTT. A raging type 1 reading, it feels extra colorful with nice Leslie and wah playing. Not must hear but definitely highlight worthy!

Apply the same to the following Theme. A firmly ordinary type 1 version, the likes of which youve heard hundreds of before, but like BOTT, its very...powerful and weighty. Nothing special, it just has a great vibe about it. Check it out.

And then, BAM!! OUTTA NOWHERE!! 15 minute hose explosion Cities! A terrific, terrific reading across the board. The extra funkiness is properly jammed out, slowly morphing into the expected bliss rocking. But they slowly keep turning the heat knob higher and higher and higher. Eventually you reach a point where the jam just EXPLODES and the hose rains down from above. The peakage on this is friggin magical, honestly maybe even stronger than the Carini from last night. Some definite x factor on this bad boy. MUST HEAR!!!

Thank God that wasn't just a fluke - from here the rest of the set ascends to the freaking sky. The following Divided Sky is extra in the best possible way. It feels like the paws goes on forever and the crowd is just erupting. The song is extra high energy and all full of extra oomph, tight playing and all. This version is an absolute beast, maybe even topping my beloved version from Charleston. Must hear!!!

After that, we get a NUCLEAR FRIGGIN BOMB reading of Timber. Yes, this song is always hot and this year has delivered multiple great versions, but honestly, no exaggeration, I think this version tops them all as well! It's just OVER THE TOP fire and power. Absolutely CRUSHING! Another true must here!!!

"But wait, there's more!!!!"

And into a 17 minute Ether Edge we go!!! Ok.... and Good golly Miss Molly what a version it is. There have been multiple jammed-out versions (surprisingly, of all songs), and while I don't know if this tops them, it's definitely in League with the best of them. This one stays firmly quote on quote extended type 1 raging. Basically it's Cities on steroids. If you enjoy the pedal to the metal jamming style of 2023, this will be YOUR jam. All day. The boys just FLOOR IT and crush us to bits. Of course it's must hear, duh!

The set ends on a nicer and more calm note with The Squirming Coil. Not much to say, it's a fine version.

All in all, HOLY FREAKING CRAP WHAT WAS THAT SET!!!! Honestly, that run of Cities through Ether was definitely as strong or strong then some actual second sets I've heard. And you know what?? That run might have just been as good as the sequence of the second set of night one.

Cities, Divided Sky, Timber, Ether Edge...Make sure you wear your flame retardant clothing to this set... 

 

Set 2

Set two starts on an amazing note with Punch>Ghost. Punch is another tight and slick version from this year, this one feeling even tighter and more concise, in a good way, then others. The intro jamming is shorter but oh so perfect. And the song is flawless basically. The best part is the incredible outro where the song kind of does a hazy fade out into Ghost.

The outro is one of the sickest mother freaking segues I've ever heard in my life. No, seriously, THAT WAS SO BADASS YOU HAVE NO IDEA. HOLY MOLY THAT WAS SICK!!!

Even sicker is this incredible 16 minute version of Ghost!!! Quickly going type 2 around the 8-minute mark, the jam starts to slow into a heavier more stomping kind of flow. Trey is inserting robo wall bursts and the band is flittering back and forth between dark and light, teetering on the edge but unsure whether to jump off or not. It's incredibly sick and last until about the 12 minute mark. Just all kinds of nasty and gnarly Godzilla stomping awesomeness. Somewhere around 12 minute mark they switch slowly back into rock mode and take us on into the sky. X Factor Magic at its absolute finest.

Keeping the insanity going, we move on into a 15 minute Wave of Hope. An absolutely incredible rendition, it feels like a 30 minute journey instead. Raging like a nuclear bomb, like a heat-seeking missile, until about the 12 minute mark. From there we just descend into the black hole vortex of Doom. From there the song goes full blown Fuego meltdown deconstruction mode. A glorious mess of dying robot sounds and wormhole vortex destruction. HOLD ON TO YOUR SPACE SUITS WE'RE GOING INTO THE WORMHOLE!!!!

And oh so perfectly, you can hear it coming from 10 miles away, out of screaming of that dying star, comes Whats The Use. Now, look, you and I both know that almost every version is identical, and you're lying to me if you tell me you can really tell them apart, but add this to the list of "oh my God this is so good I've never heard one this good" list of versions of this song. And good god did it work spectacularly coming out of that Wave, really. Damn.

My God what even is this?! This is blowing my mind this is CRUSHING!!!

"BUT WAIT, THERES MORE!!!!!"

Just when you think that there's nothing else to give, we get a spacey, hazy cloud of a 20 minute type 2 Ruby Waves!!! No seriously, there is no type 1 in this. It immediately goes type 2, morphing into this hazy kind of waaasssshhhhh of sound. A completely textural kind of soundscape type of jam. Not really any proper soloing if you will, just one giant cloud of psychedelic bliss. One of the most unique versions I've ever heard and definitely another case of x Factor magic for the night. Must hear, all day long. Its sick.

From here the big hitters come to a close and the show basically rages to a normal conclusion.

Numberline and Character Zero end the set, with Character Zero honestly reaching must hear status, imo. Trey just goes banana sandwich on this sucker abusing his poor old wall pedal to the fullest. This is the definition of an a+ type 1 reading. Nuclear!

Very fun encore of Sneaking Sally, Wilson and Rocky Top. Sneaking Sally is worth a listen as well, basically acting as C Zero Vol. 2. Just straight funky fire!!!

All in all, while I was blown away by night one, holy moly in hindsight night one has NOTHING on night 2!!

Currently the show sits at a 4.1 rating, which I think is pretty ridiculous. Hands down this is at least a 4.3 or 4.4 level show, again, imo. And again in hindsight, haven't heard this monster gig now, I must downgrade night one to somewhere around a 4.0. This second set...man. HEAVY HITTER AFTER HEAVY HITTER AFTER HEAVY HITTER!!!

Punch>Ghost
Wave of Hope
Whats the Use
Ruby Waves

All are downright spectacular readings with tons of proper type 2 magic throughout. There is basically no meandering Bliss Rock in this show. And thank God for it. I thought the show was so strong I would probably put it in the top three or four of the entire tour. Maybe. Top five for certain (of the shows I've heard so far!!!!!)

Damn .... 

2025-07-22 Forest Hills, NY

 7 22 25 Forest Hills

Set 1

Very nice dual combo of Moma into Rift to open the show. Neither are anything special but both get the job done as expected. Good stuff! Both are hot and tight and excellent.

From here though, the set launches into the stratosphere and never lets up!!!

Sigma Oasis is 12 minutes of magic. The song is extra powerful feeling tonight. The jam sees them totaly eschew bliss rock and instead dive headfirst into a gnarly, dark and grimy jam fit for a Carini. Hypnotic. Absolute x factor magic on this sucker. MUST HEAR.

Possum in slot 4 is very refreshing and its absolutely nuclear as expected. A+.

The next must hear is Wolfman. Firmly type 1, it goes above and beyond the hottest type 1 readings of the year (and they are almost all terrific, lol). This thing positively EXPLODES in the most incredibly magical way. X Factor magic to the gills, this is a gold standard for type 1 reading that everybody and their mother needs to hear at all costs. Hot damn!

Stash and Blaze On continue the heat delivering scorching renditions both. Stash in particular is close to the craziness of that Wolfman. Stash is probably must hear.

And then comes maybe the gnarliest, sickest, most extreme version of Monsters played yet! I swear, it feels like every version of this song seems to top the one before it. This song is just a monster every time it comes out to play, and this one is no exception. MUST HEAR! NUFF SAID!

The set concludes on a great note with another version of I Am the Walrus. Is that four versions this year already?! Trey has a hard time with the lyrics fumbling them throughout but that is the least of anyone's worries. Getting a Walrus at any show would be awesome regardless of how well it would be played. Terrific ending to the set!

All in all, this was a fireball of a set. Definitely highly inspired with several absolute standout renditions. Wolfman, Sigma and Monsters are BIG BOY must hears and special shout outs to Stash.

Hell this may have been the strongest person in a while! Definitely count me a fan, this set was a barn burner. 

 

Set 2

The second set opens on an incredible note with a massive 29 minute monster of a Carini! This one is ALL love and light, but even as someone who counts themselves as a hater of excessive Bliss Rock even I was completely converted by this version. It rocks powerfully albeit slightly blandly all the way to the 12. The band are tight and powerful and have a driving energy so at least it doesn't feel meander. Then at the 12 minute mark slight loopers and delays and synthesizers start to come out. For the next 5 minutes they proceed to build a beautiful and hazy kind of blissful soundscape. Never going fully ambient but absolutely leaving the ground for the sky. Killer. Around 17 minutes some power begins to emerge and the jam heads back into more powerful in driving rock based waters. At around the 20-minute Mark after an absolutely incredible peak section, things finally begin to deviate sonically for a bit. For a couple minutes we get some very nice funky robo rock, but alas it's not to be. From about 24 minutes onwards they revert back into rhythmic Bliss rock type upbeat motif jamming, everyone in sync like one foreheaded beast. And eventually it somehow reaches a conclusion point with a very cool segue into an unexpected 15 minute Tweezer!

That jam was pretty damn epic! POWERFUL as all get out, even I could tolerate the sonic blandness of the jam because the playing was so damn tight throughout. It never felt meandering or lacking for direction and it felt like a giant journey. For a light and love rendition of a tune it was absolutely pummeling in the best way. Wow!!!

Tweezer is terrific as well. It feels more like a coda to the giant Carini if anything. Taken on its own I would call it a slight must hear, but as part of the greater whole of the set and whatnot it's an absolutely killer piece of music. Aside from a very slight section of robo deviation, it's basically 90% extended type 1 hard rocking raging. The final few minutes of peakage are absolutely insane, sing the jam swell into a giant sonic vortex of type 1 insanity. Unfortunately just as it crosses the threshold into weird zone Trey. decides to kill it and leads us into a 14 minute Mind instead.

Man the ending of that jam was some total BS but that's okay because what was there was terrific.

Mind is absolute funk supremacy tonight. Must hear just an absolutely smashing shorter version. The funkiness goes hard and deep, eventually evolving into a bleep bloop kind of blissful robo delay and looper wall of sound. This is killer and lasts a long while before seeing the jam naturally imploe in upon itself like a dying star. Yo, do NOT sleep on this! One of the sickest shorter jams of the year, hands down!!!

The set then concludes with an incredible magical combo of Life into Hood. All the Life haters can suck a fat one - this one is down right magical. No seriously this is what the song is SUPPOSED to sound like!! This is honestly the equivalent of say an a+ modern Slave or something. GRAB THIS IT IS INCREDIBLE!!!

Basically repeat all of the above for the set ending Harry Hood. If this isn't the strongest version of the entire year then I'm a deaf man. This is no average reading this is one of those "stars aligning", flowing manna from heaven, A+++ readings. If this version doesn't knock you out then you have no soul plain and simple. Holy
moly what a hood!

The encore is rather average tonight. Slave is ok and then we get Tweeprise.

All in all, this was another absolutely killer show. It was a slight step down from Chicago, but that's more due to some nitpicky things on my part. Such as not being overly exploratory on a sonic level or jams getting cut kind of short etc

But they aren't horrendously big issues just issues that are there regardless. The second set is basically must hear from start to finish. In any Life haters need to freaking hear this one. Its amazing. And the energy was HIGH!!!

Never mind the Carini! AND THAT HOOD!!! I'd say the show is worthy of a SOLID 4.2ish ranking. Nothing more, nothing less. 

1998-07-15 Portland, OR - The O.G. Live Phish Series, Vol. 17

 In to work late today at 1030 so Im at the ""morning hype has subsided now im chilling" part of my day

The "1998" section of my day, if you will

So, skipping out of order from my "OG Live Phish Vol. 1-20" series of reviews I got distracted from 2 years ago, we jump ahead to Volume 17....

This review will be short it's hard to say anything noteworthy about a lot of songs in 1.0 shows considering the base level of excellence of most of them. It's like "well that was great and that was great too and that was also great!!!" By modern Phish standards everything would be highlight worthy.....

7/15/98 Portland

Set 1

Fresh off the summer euro tour, the band slowly glides into a lovely Wolfman to start the show. Very laid back, though it gets COOKIN in the back half. Nothing special, but know it's excellent.

Water In the Sky is next and I swear it just feels perfectly placed! Youll go "oh crap, that WORKS!" Great stuff.

I'm sure this review will be shorter than most - considering this is 1.0, even average readings of songs are still excellent on the whole, so differentiating between an average excellent version and a true must hear rendition is a little trickier than with modern shows, make sense??

After the excellent Water, comes a terrific 10 minute Moma. Basically Wolfmans counterpart, its nothing that special but is just overall REALLY NICE in the smoothest way. Good stuff. Hell, the vocals dont even come in until after the 5 minute mark!!

Guyuute is flawless. What is there to say? Horn is a nice little surprise. Horn is Horn, but out of it comes maybe the first must hear piece of the night. The song ends and they slowly morph into this really beautiful kind of hazey, atmospheric bliss jam. Total late night, starry sky ambience....just beautiful.... Slow building, growing from quiet peace up into a powerful kind of climax. This kind of stuff is why we Phish. Awesome.

And then Trey "ruins" the mood and rips us into a burning 9 minute Chalkdust. Typically killer reading, it kinda sticks out in this otherwise chill set. Still excellent though!!

Following lovely readings of Beauty and Brian and Robert we get the next must hear of the night. Cars, Trucks, Buses is loaded with extra rocket sauce. Check out Page's piano soloing - it's extra jazzy in a way that I have never heard out of this song. And then slowly it gets harder rocking until Trey is eventually on the wall pedal ripping it up. I'm calling this a genuine must here it's pretty dang sick.

Roggae is gorgeous as ever, this one sounding almost hypnotic. Nothing much to say, it's great.

Following Roggae, Trey gives a lengthy little speech regarding all the new songs that are playing and how they just recorded a new album prior to the recent European tour. "F-ck it, we'll play some new songs!" Lol

And indeed they do, moving the set onward with a killer version of Birds of a Feather. It's so cool to hear the song played very similarly to the album rendition, with lots of dynamics in the playing, as opposed to the straight up rager versions of later years. Great stuff.

The set concludes with a really excellent, and borderline must here in my opinion, version of Loving Cup. Hot but laid back at the same time. It rips as usual but has such a subtly groovy kind of....flow to it. Wonderful.

All in all, I generally really enjoyed this set from start to finish. No covers like this summer tour would be known for in the future, plenty of new material, a wide VARIETY of material....As expected from 1998, the set is chill as hell but, but more in that perfectly laid-back kind of way rather than a sleepy way. Plenty of heat, counter balanced out with groovy flowing vibes.

Id say the Horn outro jam, Cars and Loving Cup are must hear, but Wolfman, Moma, Chalkdust and Birds are all worth checking out as well.

  

 

Set 2

Really interesting and unique choice of a 13 minute Limb By Limb to open the second set! It's a genuinely terrific type 1 reading, good enough that I'm going to call it must hear. Just gooey and hot and flowing and powerful. Really killer reading.

After a brief minute or so of outro ambience it moves awkwardly into an excellent as well type 1 Simple. Really great stuff working as a perfect one to punch with Limb.

Great start to the set! And it only gets better from here, when we launch into a 17 minute Tweezer! And its obviously fantastic as expected. Following the typically unhinged 90s reading of the song, it immediately drops into a spacey, quasi ambient groove. Gordo and Fishman holding down the fort while Trey and Page layer synths and loopers and whale sirens atop. Very sick. After a groovy long while it gets a head of steam and slowly moves into a more rocking direction for a bit before winding up in the super funky stew kinda jam you expect from the song. Its hard to describe - its like a subtle 3 act play kind of jam. The kind you just sink into like a comfy sofa and let wash over you. Killer.

In a really awesome/awful ripcord/trainwreck moment, Trey actually picked up on a cool moment with which to make a transition out of the jam, leading into Free. It was actually a really creative and unseen kind of transition that would have worked amazingly. Unfortunately, Fishman seems totally startled and completely drops the ball, dropping out and ruining the segue entirely, lol.

Free, as a result, takes a long time to settle in, completely nerve racked by that horrendous disaster of a transition, lol.

Fear not though, as the song goes on to deliver a STELLAR performance! Utterly kick ass, the usual Free wah abuse soloing is 10/10 and blazing hot. Eventually it somehow starts to get more rhythmic and groovy - when the cowbell comes out its game on!!! The jam gets funky but also kinda... tropical? Beachy? Either way its absolutely SICK and must hear regardless. A freaking COOL version!!!



The set then continues with the slowest, goopiest Meat Ive ever heard. No, seriously. Meat is a slow song and this version is almost at half speed, lol. Meat is merely a little interlude however with the set concluding with Harry Hood.
Must hear. A terrific slow burn version in line with the rest of the show, the extra relaxed nature of this version adds a whole nother level of magic to it, just flowing like butter and with a wonderful peak. Hell yes. Grab this sucker!

Slightly disappointing encore of Circus into Tweeprize.

All in all this is a fantastic show. I'd probably rate it like a 4.3 or something. For set two, Limb, Tweezer, Free and Hood are all must hear.

Classic show is classic, enough said. Nothing else really needs to be said!!! 

2025-07-20 Chicago, IL

 7 20 25 Chicago

Set 1

The set opens with the excellent triple thread combo of Cars, Bag and Funky B. Not much to say - the energy is high and these are excellently energetic type 1 readings. But also they are nothing particularly amazing or noteworthy either.

And thats fine! Good stuff!

A nicely placed Alaska gives the set some nice flow, bringing in the groove and letting us get on down, if you will. Ever the stomper (whoulda thought?), its another hot version as expected. Again, good stuff!

The setlist finally start starts getting interesting with Mikes Song, unfortunately another shorter version (cmon you heathens, jam it out!!). Thankfully this one is excellent. Its friggin bumpin' from the get go. I mean, its nothing unique, but its always awesome to just dive into some Mike's funk, eh?
Maybe its just me, but I swear this one is REALLY cookin tonight! Honestly, despite the shorter length, totally check this one out. It just kills! Must hear? Honestly? Maybe.

Averting Hydro-like expectations, we the continue on into Reba. The composed section is strong if not perfect, but you are here for the solo. It absolutely EXPLODES!! Must hear just for the solo, some definite magic on this, imo!!

Keeping the flow going nicely we get a slowly-becoming-less-rare Leaves. TERRIFIC version, with a gnarly, ripping solo from Trey. A+ version, imo. Definitely must hear.

The set ends on an energetic note with the combo of Taste into Izabella! Taste is supremely average if still very energetic, but Izabella absolutely burns down the effing building as expected. Terrific reading and definitely must hear.

All in all, this was a bit of an interesting set. The whole thing was base level average excellent, and there were very few true standout moments, but also nothing at all that disappoints. Mike's>Horn is a "small" must hear, but Reba and Leaves and Izabella are all killer.

Not every set or show needs to be an a+ all-timer to be great. Sometimes just fine is, well, just fine indeed!

 

Set 2

Set begins with an 11 minute Jibboo. Im a big Jibboo guy but I didn't really care for this version and didn't think it worked as a set opener. Even though it has a legitimate whale siren like its 2000, that's not enough to save it from feeling like a slightly meandering and non-delivering version. It's not bad or anything like that it's just not incredible. The soloing has an interestingly grimy kind of feel about it that is kind of unique but on the whole this isn't anything you need to rush out and hear.

Much better is the following 19 minute Fuego!! Tight and solid, smack at the 10 minute mark it goes proper type 2. Initially the jam just takes on a heavier more kind of stompy and darker groove type of feel. Very hypnotic, if you will. But after a few minutes Fishman starts playing with the beat changing it to a more up-tempo feel. It's a really weird section in a great way. Slowly it becomes more ethereal and blissful, with lots of backwards loops and chirpy playing . Total deviation! Welcome to the psychedelic soup kitchen. Somewhere around 14 minutes it really feels like Trey is trying to set up Izabella once again! The jam is becoming more rocking by the second. Now this is what I'm talking about! Give us that x Factor come on boys! Trey jumps on the wah and the jam takes on a more straightforward HEAVY rocking feel, loopers still going in the background. This is like a 10 ton boulder of awesomeness just pummeling you into the pavement. Hot damn this is SICK!!!!! This is just FILTHY!!!! At 1845 this incredible jam winds to a close with Page STRAIGHT UP playing Izabella, lol. But Trey doesnt take the bait....wtf Trey....

Either way, a genuinely KILLER jam!!! Must hear, of course!

And outta nowhere, the most hilariously and unexpectedly placed Sparkle follows. Fun as ever. Somehow, it doesnt feel out of place and works great as a fun little interlude before the next round of world destruction.

The 27 minute duo of Scents>Twist present one of the finest jam sequences of a year absolutely bursting with all timer and GOAT contenders. Scents is 14 minutes of flowing perfection. The song begins with a wonky intro out of Sparkle (in a good way!), the jam slowly evolving out of type 1 into this really sick and ethereal kind of upbeat bliss undercut with Pages flowing synthesizers. Its a gooey "ocean in the sky" scenario. Totally sick. It slowly morphs again back into a much more slow and deliberately hard rocking STOMP of a jam. Absolutely raging with WEIGHT. They easily could have morphed back into Izabella during this section.

Aside from the awkward sudden ending ripcord out of the jam into Twist, its just incredible for a modern Scents. Must hear, duh!

And then comes Twist. Holy mother of "where in the F did this come from, how did we get here?!" Get your space suits on because it's time to fly to the outer regions of the universe!!! This jam is, simply put, a damn masterpiece. Honestly, I think it tops the mind-blowing adventure from Manchester back at the start of the tour, and it's probably even crazier than the GOAT of 3.0/4.0 reading from Hollywood on 4/27. THIS IS WHAT X FACTOR MAGIC LOOKS LIKE ON FULL THROTTLE BOYS AND GIRLS. MY JAW WAS FIRMLY PLANTED ON THE FLOOR. WHERE IN THE HELL DID THIS COME FROM?!?!

After a standard but very nicely played version of The Lizards comes Shine a Light and KDF to finish the set. Continuing the stellar flow of the show, Shine is a wonderful choice for this spot! And and honestly, Shine is must hear, imo. It's just an a+ perfectly played perfectly enthusiastic version loaded with extra heart and soul. And it's one of my least favorite songs that I would much rather hear anything else of in the setlist so that's saying a lot for me to say that

Twist begins with very inspires type 1 as usual. Right around 5 minutes, the bottom totally drops out. They rebuild it into blissful, rhythmic type 2. Page on the wah-wah-wah synths, Trey doing chirpy melodic work. The beat begins to stutter and go awry. Quickly things start getting strange!!! We shift into some kind of abstract heavenly bliss jamming. Extremely "soundscapey", if you will. Super textural in the best way. Like a warm, comfy quilt on a cold winters night. The pulsing synths continue in the backdrop while Trey and the boys just build this majestic, ethereal, cloud of bliss atop the bedrock of ooze. By 9 minutes we are in full blown, 1999 style POWER HAZE!!!! This jam is just soaring! Slowly and beautifully, second by second, everyone locked in tighter than Fort Knox. Somewhere around 10 minutes, the jam finds itself evolving into a massive slow burn, explosive peak straight from X FACTOR MAGIC HEAVEN!!! HOLY BANANABALLZ LETS FREAKING GO!! ANYONE GOT A PARACHUTE?! WE ARE SOARING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my sweet mercy this is one of the most mindblowing, earth shattering, soul crushing finales ever. My god.

And with that, a new Twist legend was born......

After a nicely played version of The Lizards comes a terrific reading of Shine a Light. This is personally one of my least favorite songs ever that I hope to never get in a setlist, so take me seriously when I say this is a terrific reading. Just perfection from start to finish. I'm calling this must here it's so stupidly good.

The set concludes with KDF. At first it's surprisingly chill, but thankfully in the back half it delivers the screaming peak you expect and closes the set on a great note.

Terrific encore of Fee, Paug and SANTOS. Fee is excellent and terrific to hear as always, but the real winner here is the Weekapaug we were shortchanged in set one. Small must hear on this one, it's just another type 1 reading but it's REALLY, REALLY good one!!!

After that Paug, SANTOS almost feels unnecessary but still is a welcome show closer as usual.

All in all, wow this set killed!!! Set one was pretty good overall with little that was most hear, but set two definitely brought the goods and then some!! Fuego and Scents were TERRIFIC reading, but that Twist reaches genuine all timer status imo. I don't know how anyone could hear that and not be blown away. Holy moly. So grab those as well as Shine and Paug.

On the whole, I thought set one was a solid 3.7 or 3.8 level set, while set 2 was like a 4.3ish level set imo. So it evens out nicely to the 4.3 rating over on .NET
 

2025-07-19 Chicago, IL

 7 19 25 Chicago

The Seven Below Show

Set 1

Absolutely KILLER opener tonight with a raging 13 minute Life Saving Gun!! Very cool version. Very groovy tonight, around 7 minutes it goes type 2, moving into a psychedelic space rock kind of zone that's pretty awesome. It kinda just fizzles tona close unfortunately, but thats ok. This is must hear!

Steam is next and feels perfectly placed out of that slightly grimy LSG. Chillest, most laid back version ive ever heard, it does have a strong finale, but never expands past slow bubbles. Fluid is a good way to describe this version.

McGrupp kicks things back up. Loose around the edges, tightening up as it goes along. Strong version that almost hints at jamming, but they resist. Bummer.

One of the ultimate WTF moments of th year comes with the ridiculous bustout of The Line!! First version since Fall 2018, the crowd reacts appropriately with zero applause. Its pretty hilarious, lol. Its a surprisingly strong and non awkward reading. Even the annoying woooo background vocals are on point. Honestly? I kind of dug this version! It almost rocked and sounded pretty darn good. I'm going to give it the Novelty Factor must hear award.

The first TRUE piece of magic though is the following version of Seven Below. Trey completely botches the vocal entrance instead of trying to go for a second round and begin singing, he instead leads the band into an eight or nine minute long instrumental version of the song. Absolute x Factor! This jam is sick!!! It just builds and builds into a swirling magical storm of hosey peakage. It's purely type one but it's downright beautiful. The best stuff always comes when you least expect it, eh? Wow!!!!

Ocelot and Ya Mar are both excellent type 1 readings that cool the set off nicely in a good way. They follow those with a perfectly placed Mountains in the Mist. This one really hit me hard this morning, coming on as the sun was just creeping above the horizon.

All 3 are nothing special but also typically great at the same time.

The set ends on a high note with the double whammy closer of a VERY strong Golgi into Most Events. Golgi super tight and rages hard and of course MEAP brings the house down as usual.

All in all, this set felt a lot like Charleston N1 S1. A very colorful set list, with a lot of average strong readings and no disappointments, but few truly incredible moments also.

LSG and Seven Below and (I can't believe I'm saying this) The Line are the must hear material in my opinion. The Ocelot>Ya Mar>Mountains trio was super solid though, feeling like someone took the fader switch of a light and slowly slid it downward.

I highly enjoyable set with a nice chill vibe to it that isn't sleepy but doesn't need to be fiery either. Not the strongest of the tour but a fine listen.

Set 2

The second set opens with a 15 minute version of Tube!! Is this the longest version since Chula Vista '21?! And thank God it ends up being a FANTASTIC reading!!! Fiery from the outset, the initial jam sees Trey kicking on some subtle robo effects, chorus etc, patiently taking his time and building this thing easily. Slowly it increases in intensity, he begins to set loopers and the whole thing lifts off as you pray and hope. Unfortunately, smack at the 8-minute mark, he leads them into upbeat bliss rock and it's out of deep jamming from there. THANKFULLY, there is some definite magic in this section, with everybody syncing up like a well-oiled machine playing together as if they were one total piece. The jam eventually builds to a massive and powerful conclusion that is well worth the ticket price of admission. Total x Factor on this sucker, absolutely must hear. This was sick!!

Keeping things going perfectly, they then launch into a 17 minute ASIHTOS. And its another must hear killer!!! Initial rocking QUICKLY turns into a weirdo type 2 exercise in "wtf how did we get here?!". Blissful rocking starts to swirl, Trey begins a cavalcade of loops, and the jam spends 5 glorious, insane minutes morphing into this utterly psychedelic swirling wormhole of light. Dude, wtf this is amazing!!! Unfortunately, right at the 9 minute mark, Trey axes it and leads them back into rockville. It takes on a very rhythmic and driving feel, slowly working its way to a conclusion, eventually peaking and exploding as hoped. Absolutely killer and must hear!!!

Even better is the following Disease>Seven Below>Disease!!!!!! HOLY CRAP WHAT IN THE MOTHER OF X FACTOR LETS GO!!! For the love of God, Disease ACTUALLY goes full-blown proper type 2 for the first time since, freaking Hartford 2022 I reckon?! The Charleston disease is an abomination compared to this. Quickly askewing the usual boring type 1 Bliss Rock, things get funky with synthesizers and robo wah taking over. A gloriously lengthy section of funking robot type 2 ensues. Slowly it starts to get weird turning into a heavy snarling psychedelic kind of vortex jam once again. Things go full on into outer space. Just as you think we are going to really go over the edge, somehow we step back and we morph into a brief Seven Below jam before returning to Disease and out. Yo that was sick AF, total magic. That was one of the coolest things played all year. Again the unexpected things are where the magic lies with this band. Moments like this are the kind of things. that makes us keep returning to shows. Of course this is must here what are you kidding?? Dang!!! Basically, Disease goes full blown Fuego-meltdown on our asses. Hell freaking yes.

Following that, we get the TERRIFIC combo of 20 minutes of Pillow Jets>2001. Neither are "unique", but both are basically as strong as type 1 versions of either can possibly be. Pillow is down right monstrous in its girth and execution tonight. Just pure fire beyond the perfunctory readings of much of this year. The ending sees it dissolve into a giant HAZE of growly feedback. Fishman starts the 2001 drumbeat beneath and its on, til the break of dawn, ya dig, ma boy?!

THAT SEGUE WAS SO EFFING BADASS!

And 2001 is just spectacular - A+ on all fronts. Tight, high energy, exquisite and lengthy funky robo destruction. This version is SLAMMIN!!!! This duo is absolutely friggin must hear. They both kick so much ass.... Wow....

Just like 2001 out of Pillow Jets, along comes a giant 10 minute Chalkdust ripping out of the ending feedback of 2001 to close the set with a bang. Hell freaking yes let's go!!!! Just make it part of the must-tier trio with PJ and 2001. This thing is NUCLEAR!!! Basically, it's a do-over of the set ending Charleston version turned up to 11. Absolutely screaming from the damn sky like a missile set to destroy you. 10/10 type 1 for a 2025 Chalkdust. Hell yes.

Terrific encore again of While My Guitar and a burning First Tube

All in all, this was a really great show. Set two was entirely must hear from start to finish. It wasn't the perfectly created from God voodoo magic of that one Boulder show with the Tweezer, but it was the next best thing.

Easily the show I've enjoyed the most since probably Charleston number 3. Also easily probably the best show since Charleston number 3. This currently sits at a 4.1 rating. I'd say that's accurate, but if the first set was better I would feel fine bumping it up to maybe a 4.2 or even a 4.3!! 

2025-07-18 Chicago, IL

 

7 18 25 Chicago

Set 1

Oh snap a Hood opener! THAT BODES WELL! And holy smokes what no it is!!! A great launch to the show, Hood delivers one of the finest readings of the year. The long slow build peak section just goes on and on and on forever in the best way. Some definite x Factor strikes and the song just explodes. Absolutely orgasmic! Must hear!!!

An 11 minute Oblivion follows. Another very strong version, this one unfortunately spends its entire time in melodic upbeat Bliss mode, however it's downright excellent almost sounding Hood like tonight. Maybe not much here but definitely give this one a listen.

After a rare Heavy Things, we get a 15 minute Gin esrly in the show! Unfortunately, it turns out to be a pretty boring, one dimensional melodic bliss rocker that doesn't even rage particularly hot or do anything all that special at all. It's fine for what it is but you can completely skip this safely.

Thankfully they correct their error immediately with a giant bust out of On Your Way Down. X Factor Magic in full force, this sucker smokes!!! Must hear at all costs, trade delivers what is possibly the finest solo of the entire year to this point. Just NUTS!!!

They keep the magic going with the following Limb By Limb. Tide as hell and full of that x Factor once again, it's another true must here. Treys soloing is just outstanding with a capital o. HOT DAMN THIS WAS FANTASTIC!!!

The set concludes with typical hot readings of Hey Stranger and Character Zero.

All in all this wasn't my favorite set. Hood, Way Down and Limb are all legitimate must hear versions, and the rest is average good. But this set seemed a little short and just felt slightly lacking in some way I can't quite place.

Strong set overall but I'd rate it like a solid b+ 

Set 2

The second set opens with a big 14 minute version of No Men. Raging hot until the 9 minute mark, they spend the remaining time slowly morphing into this blissful yet synthy kind of soundscape wash. On its own it's not must here but as part of a bigger section of the set it's really good.

Great segue out of it and into a giant 28 minute Mind!! Mind is interesting - it takes a long-ass time to get going, not deviating at all until almost the 15 minute mark. Pleasant type 1 to that point, it finally deviates and goes type 2, the beat slowing down and the jam morphing into an atmospheric kind of blissful rocking. Slowly the sense start to kick in and Gordo jumps on the base effects and it turns into a giant snarling beast vortex of a section. Excellent section, it goes until about 19 minutes, slowly building into a giant eruptive peak. No seriously this is an unbelievable slow burn peak explosion of the gods. Freaking magical!!!! Killer stuff. Around 20 minutes though is when the jam REALLY takes off at last. The final 8 minutes see them slowly morphing it once again into a hard rocking get extremely funky kind of rhythmic jamming. This section is what you came for! Just skip directly here! X Factor all over this section!!!

Finally at the 28 minute, the band execute some kind of weirdo, preplanned full band ripcord. Its half remarkable how perfectly and on a diamond is and also incredibly frustrating that they pretty much killed the jam with a dead stop right in the middle of it with no warning, like having the rug yanked right out from under you.

That mind jam was downright fantastic!!! It never gets strange and there is barely any effects usage until the very end, but it was ridiculously powerful with a couple peak sections and just insane tightness to the whole affair. The band were LOCKED IN tighter than Hannibal lecter to a transport gurney!!!! MUST HEAR!!!

At least they use the opportunity to launch into a 14 minute Crosseyed. This Crosseyed is as excellent as any other but it definitely feels like it has extra oomph and x Factor to it.b no seriously it's a terrific version. Going completely type 2, it morphs into this dark and swampy kind of outer space whatever, slowly melting down into a psychedelic soup, complete with synths power drills etc etc. MUST HEAR MUST HEAR.MUST HEAR!!!!

Following a much welcome and perfectly placed version of Farmhouse, the set continues with Light and Numberline. Light I'm actually going to call slightly must hear - it stays blissful type 1, but its really fantastic!!! Truly!!! Just completely locked in like crazy. An a+ type 1 reading!!!

After a rocking Numberline, the set concludes with a rocking Cavern.

Another ultra inspired WTF encore, this time of Silent and 46 Days!! Good stuff!!

All in all, this wasn't a perfect show but it was still a strong one. For set two, No Men through Crosseyed, plus Light are all must hear.

There isn't much else to say. It's not at the very top of the shows for the year, but it's certainly not at the bottom either. I'd say the 4.1 rating on .NET accurate

Good stuff!  

2025-07-16 Philadelphia, PA

 7 16 25 Philadlephia

Set 1

The opens with a shock surprise - a rare reading of The Dogs! Not sure how I feel about it in this spot but its always great to hear! Actually it sounds pretty dang good. Trey is just soaring. Great stuff.

The momentum continues with an excellent version of Evolve. Not much to say and it isn't much here but it is a genuinely great version!

Up next is something extremely odd - the most wrongly placed Fluffhead of all time, lol. Seriously, what the corn? Why HERE?! Honestly, at first it kind of sucks the energy out and the crowd doesn't even applaud much. But once it gets going it turns out to be a terrific reading!! Not topping Boulder, but either way compositionally it's played basically flawlessly!!! "The Chase" in particular! No, seriously! They nailed that as good as any great '90s version I've ever heard. Hats off, yo!!! The finale of this Fluffheas doesn't feel very amazing but other than that it's a stellar reading on the whole. And who can complain about that!

Also of note, the band feel WAY tighter playing wise tonight than on 7/15. Awesome.

Yay, another version of Gumbo pops up! This one only reaches about 10 minutes. AND HOLY MOLY GET YOUR FALLOUT GEAR, THIS ONE IS NUCLEAR!!!! X Factor all over this sucker, things CLICK in a ridiculous way. Downright magcial, they deliver MAYBE the version of the year (yup, saying that!). Just insanely tight, the funky robo jamming is supreme, and the slow burn, explosive finale is what dreams are made of.
.MUST HEAR AT ALL COSTS!!!

Following that comes a rare Pebbles and Marbles! And just like Fluff, Pebbles is TIGHT! No typical awkwardness here! SICK! No, really, its "what the F" levels of tight! Sounds like they rehearsed the crap out of it. Definitely not your "typical good but slightly underwhelming" modern version. Nothing must hear, but it feels so good to hear a tight version like this.

An 11 minute Roggae delivers the 2nd must hear of the night. X Factor all over this sucker, it sees them morphing the song into a genuine jam that, while mostly type 1 (despite a brief minute of darkness!), flows like the Nile. Honestly, this may be the closest to a Dead-sounding jam as Ive heard from Phish. Dont tell me this doesnt sound like a Dead song/jam tonight! So muh more than a Trey solo vehicle, this Roggae is just killer. Must hear!

Following a rusty Ginseng, we get the ever rare Guelah. Not must hear but of course more than welcome. Good stuff.

Following a standard Julius, the set concludes with Must Hear #3. This 13 minute Melt is a beast!!! So much more than robo vortex deconstruction (though there is plenty of that!!!), it delivers a shockingly cohesive and "proper" jam. They slowly morph it and work it, sliding it over the abyss into the black whole without it all falling apart. Then they magically slide back out and into the song to close. This is modern Melt PERFECTION right here. X Factor on this sucker for sure!!! Holy moly that was GREAT!!!

All in all, I thought that was a genuinely awesome set. 10 MILES better than set one of the first night. Tight playing and terrific song selection as well as three true-blue must hear pieces elevate this set majorly. Killer set.

Gumbo, Roggae and Melt are all genuine must hears, and shout-out to Fluff and Pebbles! 

 

Set 2

Another SUPER inspired set call, the 2nd set opens with a 15 minute....The Curtain?!?! Holy moly!!! Has this EVER opened a 2nd set?! Oh and it's a killer version. The song is tight with an excellent power to it tonight. Hefty Curtain, ya dig? The solo is terrific, the prehistoric Reba, if you will. Honestly, im just going to call this must hear.

Up next is the interesting combo of Wave>Mercy. Wave is 16+ minutes tonight. Its an interesting (in a bad way) version. The song is tight and energetic, if not especially raging. The typical rocking deviates at the 8 minute mark. They somehow stumble perfectly in sync into a cool stop/start pattern. From there, the jam goes full ADHD, alternating between low key whatever, upbeat rocking, darkish robo whatever ....its a mess. But a solid one - the actual music being played is enjoyable, but it changes direction constantly and fails about 10 different times to achieve liftoff. Way better than the meandering of Sand, and I can see folks digging this. But to me this came off as a disjointed mess. This is NOT bad jam, but its also a very uncertain kind of one....

I will say though that the segue into Mercy is pretty decent. Too early in the set for my taste but always great to hear. And this is an excellent version worth a listen.

Kicking things back up, we get a 13 minute Simple. Making up for past mistakes, the song immediately drops into an ultra funky kind of heavy funk groove, sounding like a Mike's Song jam or something. Sick. Out come the synths while Trey and Gordo both solo melodically. SICK. This baby is cookin!! Getting more rhythmic, out come the delays and watery, robotic synths. We are in THE ZONE. Lets GO! Rip that robo wah, Trey! God, this jam is so sick. Listen to Cactus just tearing it the F up, holding it down like a 10 ton weight while Page and Trey do their robo boogie on top. Eventually Trey starts to lead them out of Roboville, playing clean, but Page and Mike refuse to let go, lol. So the jam takes on a gooey kind of 2021 sound to it. In a classic moment of Phishyness, Trey full on stumbles into the macarena. Yup, we've got a macarena jam here, boys and girls. Dicks 14 Simple dance party?! Yea, well, they didnt get THE MACARENA! All hail our lord and savior X Factor Magic once again!!!! THIS SIMPLE IS SIMPLY AWESOME!!!! MUST HEAR!!!!

After the macarena party, the jam dissolves into a wacky dark zone for a few a minute before morphing neatly into another Ether Edge. Check out Pages glorious piano soloing during the verses!!! Great little version on the whole with a cool bit of jamming out into Maze.

Wonderful setlist call, a late set Maze to kick us back into high gear. Excellent as ever, not much to say.

After a very good version of 20 Years Later, the set explodes to a close with a nuclear bomb Antelope.

Inspired encore again of a nice YEM.

All in all, this show was way better than night one. Set two was far from perfect, but apart from Wave, there really wasn't anything wrong with it at all except for lacking a big jam.

Id say Simple is the only true must hear of set 2. Id give this shiw a solid 4.0 

2025-07-15 Philadelphia, PA

 7 15 25 Philadelphia

Set 1

The show opens with a giant 11 minute Punch! They've been jamming it this year, but I think this is the longest version played to date, no?! Dude! Even better, they ACTUALLY jam this one! Not that they havent been jamming the others, but this one has 5 1/2 minutes of legitimate "actual" jamming, not just "playing around the intro" stuff. Out come the hazy synths like its 1999. Trey jumps on the robo wah for an extended lead section. They actually build the damn thing to a peak! Trey maks a loop of the peaked note and it sustains as he then leads them into the actual song. He then takes the pitch shifter and fades that loop down...dude, that was SICK!!! Jam chart this, NOW! The song itself sounds as good as any other version from this year, not much to say there. Must hear - this was AWESOME!!!!

They immediately follow that up, with a 16 minute Everythings Right. ER is SUPER laid back and chill tonight. Thankfully I wouldn't call it meandering though. They are just chilling in that low key zone. A very nice and relaxing rendition. It's not until the 12 minute Mark that's some real heat starts to build and they kind of rock it to a close. I can't call this must here but it's worth a listen.

A rare, and hot Camel Walk follows and keeps the show rollin nicely. Good stuff.

Theme is up next and, to me, it feels rather fresh coming earlier in the set like this. Standard reading, good stuff. Really powerful finale as always but nothing special overall.

Honestly, its a nice call going into Caspian after. It just....fits, imo. And its better than getting Caspian'd out of a blooming jam, haha. Caspian is basically the equivalent of Theme, except the peak finale absolutely explodes. It's actually took me by surprise a little bit. Honestly this is a light must hear, it just goes on and on and on in the best way!

They follow that with the inspired choice of Its Ice. Unfortunately this is a pretty lackluster version in my opinion. It's incredibly loose and the furthest thing from tight that I can imagine. No big flubs or anything but it's just.... Loose around the edges in the biggest way. Definitely the least great version I've heard in a long while, haha. If it was 2018, we'd be raving about this one, lol

A bog standard About to Run follows. Solid as ever but nothing that impressive.

Thankfully this bland set ends on a very high note with David Bowie. It feels rather lengthy, despite only being 12 minutes. For the first half you go oh no this is just going to be another boring regular version. But then in the back half The x Factor kicks in and they just rage it to the sky. Nothing you haven't heard before but it's an exceptional type 1 reading.

All in all, this set was like a solid B+. It started amazingly with Punch but quickly devolved into a set full of "standard average but good versions of a mostly bland selection of songs".

Punch is the only TRUE big boy must hear, but Bowie and Caspian are legit as hell. ER is worth a mention too. This set gets an "eh"/10 for me. 

 

Set 2

40 minute Sand opener, woohoo! Oh no, does that mean this is going to be one of those "blow your load early and then play catch up in the 4th quarter" kinda sets? Even worse - this might be the most disappointingly boring and non-clicking jam of all time!

It starts great - around 8 minutes, Trey latches on to one sustained note and the boys are off. Into melodic Bliss rock type 2 we go. But it's excellent melodic Bliss Rock! Nicely inspired playing, lots of loops and "substance", etc Great stuff! All the way at the 14 minute point after a peaky bit, the jam proceeds with the bliss rock, but instead also moves into a ridiculously meandering couple of minutes, reminiscent of that late teens portion of the Pittsburgh Mind. Nobody doing anything of note, Trey sounding lost for direction, the jam just floundering along completely lost for what to do. Finally around the 19 minute mark, they kind of start to connect back into a rockier zone. From there all the way to the 23 minute mark, they built the jam into a spectacular peak finale rage reminiscent of "insert favorite peak finale rage section". Awesome stuff and it feels like the jam ends appropriately around the 23 or 24 minute mark. They should have ended it here!!!!

Omfg the next 16 minutes or so are pure torture! From around the 25 minute mark to around the 29 minute mark, they start to go into robo space groove territory - FINALLY SOME DEVIATION!!! Just as unfortunately, it's very uninspired as well, nobody really jumping off the deep end and the playing rather restrained on the whole. Ugh. Even worse, around the 30-minute mark, they shift back into upbeat Bliss Rock. From there they spend the next seven or eight minutes just meandering and floundering along in the most boring and uninspired melodic Bliss Rock whatever the hell you want to call it hell I've ever heard. The gym ends with a nice peak around 38 minutes or so but it's not even that spectacular and when all is said and done it's WAY TOO LITTLE WAY TOO LATE . Every so often they would torture Us by teasing a brief moment of a different direction and then immediately falling back into boring meandering. UGH!!

F this jam. It is trash. This jam can suck a chode. Should ended it at either 14 minutes or 23 minutes ...

Lets hope this 19 minute (!!!) isnt trash as well... And its not! THANK GOD!

MyFe is must hear. A stellar reading full of extra pizazz. Fishman and Trey are going nuts screaming "MyFe!!!!" constantly, lol. The jam begins effing FILTHY MCNASTY. Holy moly is that some tasty jamming! The the next few minutes see them just going wild in the best way possible. Spectacular. Check out the Meowdulator SPAM at the 9:50 mark, lol. This goes until the 10 minute mark. Fishman switches us into a more shuffly kind of zone. From here out, unfortunately we move into major key Rock and rolling, so the funky strangeness is done, but that's okay because the playing is very tight and inspired all around. This is a killer reading that definitely deserves must hear status.

They keep the energy going nicely with standard but excellent type 1 readings of Boogie On and Blaze On.

The set concludes with, honestly, probably the strongest most ridiculous piece of music of the entire show! No, seriously. Carini is only 10 minutes, but it does in 10 minutes more than that version of Sand did in 40, basically. Absolutely UNHINGED, this version is a screaming spitting snarling black hole vortex of ridiculous x Factor magic nuclear bomb destruction. 10 times more EXTREME than your typical type 1 set closing Carini. X FACTOR! X FACTOR EVERYWHERE!!!! THIS CARINI IS ONE OF THE MOST MIND BLOWING THINGS IVE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE, HOLY MOTHER OF SATANIC HELLFIRE FROM HADES. WHAT IN THE LOVE OF SATAN'S BUTTHOLE CAUSE THEM TO UNLEASH THIS MONSTER!!

5000/10 Carini. Full stop.

Highly inspired 4 song encore! Shade, I Didnt Know, Wilson and Possum! LETS GO!!
Man, we really needed that Shade, I tell you what...

All in all, this was easily the worst show of the tour after Columbus in my opinion. But thats just a testament to the strength of this band in 2025 that a show with THAT MyFe and Carini (I refuse to acknowledge that garbage dump Sand) can be called on the weaker side.

For set 2, MyFe and Carini are all you need. By 2025 standards, this show gets like a 3.7 from me. Or something. I dont know. This show wasnt amazing. Not horrible, but not great on the whole either. 

2025-07-13 North Charleston, SC (I was SUPPOSED to be there! :( )

 7 13 25 Charleston

Set 1

A nice Jim opener. Woulda been my 2nd....if only. Solid enough. Incredibly unincredible, it does its job but that's about it.

Like its 1994, they move right into Foam. Heck yes! Foam is absolutely killer. They nail the sucker, its loaded with energy and it just plain kills. I don't understand all these people I see online saying foam hasn't been good in recent years. That is some grade A b.s. They've obviously practiced the crap out of it in recent times and this is another perfect example of it. Honestly? Im gonna maybe call this must hear!

And into a 15 minute Wolfman we continue. And this version is a FIREBALL!!! Extra thumpin from the get go, it actually spends most of its time in a vampy kind of full band jam. Very little actual quote unquote soloing, if you will. It gets kind of chill for a while which is pretty cool, and then slowly builds to a nuclear bomb finale. Is it unique? Not really? Is it must hear? Probably not, but it's definitely worth mentioning and deserve some recognition. Awesome version.

Up next is....Thread!!!! Oh and its a KILLER version! Tight and rehearsed, this mega rarity finally jumps out there with a jammed out 11 minute reading. It bas spends most of its time in a Melt-esque robo deconstruction kind of psych jam. Or whatever. Definitely must hear!!!

Even better , if you can believe that, is Stash! An 11 minute type 1 reading, the song is tight, but EXTREMELY POWERFUL!!! This is a Kaiju power, Godzilla stomp reading with the most explosive nuclear bomb finale section I may have ever heard from this song. Absolutely nuclear. And it just goes on and on and on and on in the best way. MUST HEAR! Some definite X Factor on this bad boy!!!

Following a fine 555, the rarities continue with a lengthy and expectedly explosive version of Walk Away. Hell freaking yes, lets friggin go!!!! Its WA. It rips. Its rare. Im calling it must hear.

This ass kicking set concludes with perennial favorite Drift. Theres a reason this closes sets, as much as folks hate to admit it - its a killer climax for a set, much like a good Hood (of course not in the same realm, haha). This version is energetic, but kinda rusty in spots from Trey, but not too bad. The reggae section is extra relaxed but not dragging. Very nice stuff! From here, it proceeds to deliver a really excellent peak finale ala a good Hood. It's not must hear but it's definitely excellent. Great ending to the set!


All in all, this set kicked total butt!!! Id say Foam, Thread, Stash and Walk Away are all must hear, with a shoutout to Wolfman and that KILLER Drift finale!. There isnt THAT much to say - it was just a really great first set on the whole

THAT STASH!

Killer set overall even if not 100 percent perfect (ignore my ridiculous nitpicking). Total energy throughout, strong song selection, placement and playing. Wonderful! UGH WHY DID I HAVE TO MISS THIS - I HAD FLOORS FOR IT!!!!!!!

 

Set 2

Opening proceedings, we get a 17 minute Set Your Soul Free! Man, another song I was dying to hear since my first. Unfortunately it ends up being a big nothing burger of a jam...its very disconnected, with everybody unsure what diection to go and nobody taking any lead. It begins with a LONG sectíon of this low key kinda vibe with nothing really happening. Forever. After a long time, Trey has enough and kicks on the robo wah for a brief minute or two up some funky action. Unfortunately it's not to be and they go for broke and do the tried and true raging finale peak instead. It's not very long but it's pretty decent enough but unfortunately Trey ruins it with a clumsy ripcord back into the song proper to close. Yea, I dont like this jam. At all. Nuff said. YMMV.

Realizing his errors, Trey decides to remedy things by launching us into a massive 30 minute Tweezer. The initial round of Tweezer funk jamming is unfortunately pretty uninspired and bland. Man, what is going on?! Thank God, at the 10 minute mark, things deviate finally. The jam turns into a different kind of bliss mode, but they slow the tempo down and it acquires a hefty weight about it. Soon The the synths come out and a heavy, majestic, ethereal soundscape flows forth. Now that's what I'm talking about! Around 12 minutes, they flow into a KILLER slow burn peak section. Trey is just SOARING like a bird into the sky! Absolutely spectacular!!! Somewhere around 14 minutes, the peakage subsides and is replaced with this really cool and nasty kind of hard rocking shuffle groove. It almost sounds like they are trying to set up for Izabella or something!!! THIS IS FREAKING AWESOME!! BRING ON THE X FACTOR!!! Riding this all the way to the 17 minute mark, at that point Trey steps on the wah pedal and its ON! (As if it already hadn't been!). Until the 21 minute mark, the boys gloriously spend 4 minutes laying it on thick just melting our faces like it's 1997 or something. X FACTOR FLOW STATE SUPREME. Finally at the 21 minute mark, it begins to shift again. Tray kicks on some Loopers and it starts to get a little bit more psychedelic and blissful. They ride this new robo bliss until the 23 minute mark. At that point they freaking floor it and it's off to the races with a nuclear bomb peak explosion section that is absolutely ridiculous, that includes Trey setting a loop of one of his held notes so it sounds like his sustain is never-ending. Around the 25 minute mark, that finally subsides. They spend the next 5 minutes or so, teasing in and out of the Tweezer theme/jam, assaulting us with terrific robo funk rocking. Eventually it reaches a point where robo Loopers start to appear once more. And just like that, they deliver the ever more increasingly rare (by modern Phish standards) GENUINE SEGUE!!!

This time into an 11 minute Ghost! My God, that segue was LEGIT! Ghost is killer, actually jamming for a change instead of being stuck in type 1 rock mode. IMMEDIATELY, the jam begins with them diving into this really cool laid back groove zone. Kinda hazy. They explore this nicely before they ramp the energy up. Once cookin again, Trey leads them into a full blown Set Your Soul Free jam that they ride for a good while. Holy mother of x Factor this is freaking awesome! Eventually this section morphs into the expected peak raging once more. 2023 style, they FLOOR the sucker! Off to the races AGAIN! Another must hear!!

Just when you think that was the conclusion to the set, they keep it going even harder with the ridiculous 16 minute Golden Age. GA is AWESOME!! Very unique in my opinion. It never really gets strange, but it definitely goes type 2. The majority of the jam is spent in this really really cool area where everybody is synced up doing nothing but motif jamming forever and ever. You get a motif! And you get a motif! Everybody gets themselves a motif!!! It's incredibly rhythmic and drumcentric. It is AWESOME! Honestly, you could almost call this Golden Age downright jazzy in a way! At a certain point, as with Ghost, they floor it once more. Like the one in Tweezer, this finale is just incredible. It's like a Catholic Mass - its stillllllll going on!! GOOD LORD SOMEBODY CALL AN AMBULANCE FOR ALL THE WASTE THEY HAVE LAIN UPON THE SOULS OF NORTH CHARLESTON COLISEUM!!!

The set concludes on a pretty good note, with the ballad duo of Life followed by Slave. A Life is pretty average for the most part, unfortunately not turning in a particularly great reading. Until that is the finale, where once again they absolutely just shred us to pieces.

The Slave that finishes the set is an absolute monster. Just crushing, they take their time building it just razing everything in sight. Sick.

Even sicker is one of the best encores of the year, with Meatstick, Turtle and Tweeprize finishing us out. Boy, that sure blows my 7/11 encore outta the damn water!!!

All in all, this was a pretty exceptional show for the most part. When it was clicking, which was more often than not, it was just out of this freaking world. The Tweezer>Ghost and Golden Age are up there with the best material of the summer played so far. Obviously if you take anything from the show it has to be those three pieces.

I'd say the 4.3 rating it has on .NET is pretty accurate. If there was a little more cohesion to some songs like Wolfman or that do-nothing SYSF, Id rate it even higher. The main jams were super inspired and this show was an overkill exercise in peak hose explosions, good lord.

Going out on a high note.... 

2025-07-12 North Charleston, SC (I was SUPPOSED to be there :( )

 And now the pain begins

On to the first show I had to miss thanks to my stupid appendix....

7 12 25 Charleston

Set 1

The opens with a 14 minute Moma Dance. Crap, this woulda made up for the one I missed on 12 29 23. Woulda had Moma and Free made up! Moma is terrific tonight. I wouldn't call it must hear, but it comes close to going off the deep end. Trey sets loopers and hints of synthesizer comes out but it never peaks like you expects it to and never really explodes. Still an absolutely terrific opening to the show but not quite most here.

A perfectly placed NICU follows it's nothing special and Trey has trouble with the main lick but it keeps the energy high and the flow strong.

A super rare Jesus Just Left Chicago (last one Fall 2023, I think?) is up next. Totally fresh surprise call! Awesome version that delivers the heat. Definitely on the must hear pile.

Quickly they keep it going, launching into a terrific Divided Sky!! Oh how I would have killed to get this! Saw it at my very first show in the same building - the perfect full circle! The palindrome section is TIGHT - as tightly played as Ive ever heard it! The delicate parts are perfectly delicate without any hints of flubbage or looseness. This is what an A+ modern version of DS sounds like. Smashing reading! And then, holy smokes, Trey goes OFF during the solo. This version is EXPLOSIVE!! MUST HEAR!! GRAB THIS SUCKER! IT kills!

Another one from my first show, up next is a jammed out Destiny Unbound! Ok, they are just trolling me at this point. I'm calling this must. It's a terrific version that is extremely funky, with lengthy "Im a Man" teasing throughout. It's at least as strong as the 2019 Charleston version if not better!

After a terribly placed (imo) but typically raging version of Monsters, we get a KILLER 13 minute reading of Plasma. It never strays too far from the box but it's an a+ reading all around. The boys began with the typical melodic chirpy Bliss Rock, but it's just really really good tonight. Very strong with a lot of OOMPH behind it. Eventually it picks up the pace and becomes a lot more rocking, finally exploding in a ridiculous peak finale. Absolutely must hear, all day long!

Following that, the set concludes with an equally destructive 13 minute reading of Bathtub Gin. Your typical type 1 ranger version, it exceeds the usual expectations and delivers a nuclear bomb rendition reminiscent of 12/28/23s version. The finale region just goes on and on and on in the best way melting your face and leaving you absolutely exhausted afterwards.

All in all, I thought this set was a massive improvement from set one of night one. JJLC, Divided Sky, Destiny and Plasma are all must hear with a big nod to Gin and Moma. Not the greatest set of the tour, but it was hot and tight from start to finish without a single wasted moment. Great stuff. 

 7 12 25 Charleston

Set 2

Alright, 12 minute Mikes to open. Mikes is a weird kind of mess. Musially its excellent, but there is disconnect on direction. Early on in the funking, Trey CLEARLY is trying to get them to launch into Cities (and it was perfect!), but everyone else either doesnt hear him or just ignore him, lol. Probably the latter. From there, it basically turns into Gin 2.0. Hefty boy supreme just raging it hot and straight.

Its a great type 1 reading, but nothing special in the slightest.

Hydrogen and Weekapaug are both genuinely excellent regular readings. Weekapaug is nicely patient, taking its time to bloom rather than rushing straight to the finale. Eventually the expected peakage occurs, and thankfully Trey keeps it going, jumping onto the robo wah for a sick jammy section Page on the synth, Fishman playing with the beat. Its a short jam, but oh so tasty and gives this Paug a ton of character. Honestly, Paug creeps into must hear status for me! Its KILLER! Im gonna say you need to check out this Paug. For a "regular" reading, its TERRIFIC!!!!!!!

I am mighty surprised by that Paug!

Trolling me even further, they proceed to launch into a girthy 19 minute Mercury. Thank god this song is having a resurgence! I SO wanted to see this in 2019 and they blessed me with a 13 minute reading, but unfortunately it wasnt a particularly good one. As with the rest of the show, the playing is tight, Mercury sounding properly rehearsed like the other recent renditons. The jam is very patient. After several vampy minutes, Trey sets a looper, Page kicks in the occasional synth flair. Its evolving, but taking its damn time to do so. Eventually they say screw it and the typical rocking finale ensues. Thankfully, the finale is absolutely RIDICULOUS!! A MASSIVE grindy kind of peak. Pure awesomeness. Its just unfortunate you have to sit through a whole ton of nothing to get to it.

This reminded me of the Seattle 2023 Wave of Hope.

They keep the energy going strong with a now rare 12 minute Soul Planet. And thank Christ, Soul Planet is Megaultron high energy from the sun, they FLOOR it on this sucker. The jam sees Trey kicking on the robo wah and Page on the synths. Hurdling through space at a million miles an hour on a course for impact. Eventually the synthy space fire takes on a more night time kind of vibe, Trey doing awesome melodic soloing while Page keeps pace on the keys. The intensity ramps back up and...

HOLYGOD MOTHER OF HOLD ON TO YOUR DAMN SPACE SUIT!!! LETS FRIGGIN GO!!! NUCLEAR BOMB ALERT!! UTTER DEVASTATION AT A MILLION MILES AN HOUR!!! PEAK THAT SUCKER!! LETS GO!!! GREATEST PEAK RAGING IN THE GALAXY!!! I CANT STOP HEADBANGING!!!! THIS IS INSANE!!!! OH MY FREAK GOD OH MY FREAKING GOD OH MY FREAKING GOD OH MY FREAKING GOD.

And then back into SP and its over. Im speechless. What in the F.

And then, trolling me a 4th time, we go into an INSANELY beautiful version of Joy, a song I was chasing and really hoping to catch this run. And my god, the placement out of Soul Planet was just * chefs kiss * . Seriously.

The set then concludes with the massive double whammy of Harry Hood and I Am the Walrus. Holy moly, y'all. Hood is another terrific version, lengtht and patient. The intro jam has some funny brief deviation, but the buildup is where the magic is. Page's piano is extra beautiful on this and Treys responses are perfect.As usual it's slowly ramps up the heat, but this one does it oh so perfectly without a hint of rushing. And then BOOM! Off to the peak finale races!!
AND HOLY MOLY WHAT A HOOD LETS FRIGGIN GO!! Ala something like 12/29/23, this version just SMOKES!! Definitely strong enough for me to call must hear. Wow!!!

Walrus is friggin awesome. Must hear. Not much to say - Walrus is Walrus! Its a ridiculous psychedelic black hole of sonic noize destruction. Fantastic.

Following Walrus, the encore consists of the Carolina I didnt get on 7/11 (they brought the 4 way mic out but then put it away ), and a typically blazing SANTOS.

All in all, im not a huge fan of this show overall. There were a ton of great moments but very little "magic". Almost nothing went outside of really strong type 1, but the energy was high and the playing TIGHT throughout. The setlist was excellent, and objectively this IS an awesome show, but still feels like its lackinf SOMETHING that I cant quite put my finger on. It feels like its a better show than 7/11, but it also feels like it has WAY less "character", making for a less interesting listen despite the higher quality of the music played (does this make any dumb sense? )

My complaints are "listening too closely because thats why I do" nitpicks. For set 2, Weekapaug, Walrus and Soul Planet are must hear, but shout out to the Mercury finale! 

2025-07-11 North Charleston, SC (I WAS THERE!!!!)

 Finally tackling my personal beasts after a week of joking rumination, haha

Onward in my molasses paced 2025 playthrough with 7/11/25

So my appendix apparently had burst the night before. I was dying in pain, on 3 hours of broken sleep, propped up ENTIRELY by excitement/adrenaline and my trusty old Adderall. First show since 12/31/23 - god, time flies! I raged this show so friggin hard, went home and went in the hospital for a week, lol. Thats the context.

I was delirious but I was there!

7 11 25 North Charleston

Set 1

As if by fate, the show opens with the Free opener I missed on 12/29/23 when my train was late to MSG. I remember thinking this felt just like 12/28/23 again. Probably just me being thirsty and delirious, but I recall the energy being HIGH, especially among the room. Genuinely, it just had that air of "tonight is GOING to be special". Phish came on and it all went BOOM! Free takes a minute to ease into things but quickly gains its usual amount of heft. Some nice and chill funky interplay between Gordo and Trey throughout, slowly ramping the heat up as it goes. Awesome section where everyone syncs up on the "start stop" rhythm during the solo section. All said, its an excellent opener. Nothing must hear but its hot and was an amazing experience for me on a personal level. Who doesn't love a Free opener?

And then Rift in the 2nd slot?! Hell yes!! I wasnt expecting to catch another so soon. And man does it work great in that spot, keeping the energy going from an opener. Its like it seals the deal that is going to be a hot night. Rift is another excellent recent reading. It feels slower than some others, but thats ok if it means it helps Trey nail it better, ala Punch.

Following Rift, we get the 4th ever performance of Spanish Moon since its 2010 debut, the first since Chicago 2023. What did I do to deserve this?! It took me a minute to realize what it was but the crowd seemed to pick it up immediately. I remember thinking this absolutely wailed. Also, the show had energy, but it feels like this is when the "warmup" is over and they REALLY kick it into high gear. Spanish Moon is tight, hot and and just nasty in the best way. Perfectly funking and rocking at the same time. Trey just goes off on this bad boy, ripping it, with some great usage of feedback throughout. Definitely the first true must hear of the night!!!!

Up next is my 3rd Reba in 7 shows. Hows that for some modern Phish stats? Now watch me not see a Reba again for 15 years, lol. Reba itself is NAILED, played as perfectly as is possible in 2025. The solo takes forever to get going, but when it finall clicks, BOOM its off to Magicville. Another extraordinary Reba peak! I wouldnt call this must hear, but its still a highlight.

Idk If I picked up on this in person or not, I don't recall, but while the show does have a lot of energy, it also feels very laaaaaaaiiiiiiiid back too, which is unique and unusual for a summer 2025 show. They are just chilling bro.

Following Reba we get the first Devotion to a Dream since 2016!!! Sure it aint Colonel Forbin, but I also never thought Id get to see this either! Another that took the crowd a minute to realize, lol. It was supe tight and sounded GREAT!!! Zero reason this shouldnt be a first set regular!!! Also, I cant believe im saying this, but this was easily the hottest song if the set so far. It cooks! MUST HEAR!

Up next is a very rare 12 minute The Final Hurrah - another song I never thought id get to see! I was pretty much losing my mind at this point considering the setlist! The Final Hurrah delivers a strong type 1 reading. It gets pretty chill and then builds to a big rocking conclusion, unfortunately avoiding the funky robot jamming I was hoping for, lol. I remember thinking at a certain point they could have easily gone off into type 2 and delivered a giant jam and then being disappointed when they didn't. This doesn't come across on the recording at all but that's a stark memory that sticks in my head.

Following the first My Mind since 2022 (good Lord save some bust out for the other shows!!!), we get the next must hear of the night. Hey Stranger is absolutely nuclear! It's not overly long tonight but they drop the absolute Hammer with the sucker. Trey just destroys. I was super excited to get this song as it's one of my favorites of the recent bunch and I was bummed to not get it at the 2023 New Year's run. This one is a definite must hear.

Around this point in the show, I recall realizing this was the most bass-light heavy concert I had ever attended. The mix was terrific - you could hear Cactus perfectly, but there was ZERO bass "oomph" at all. It was incredibly weird to realize. It didn't bother me THAT much as there is nothing worse than a concert where all you can hear is the damn bass and drums at the expense of everything else, but I was actually going "huh, that bass is REALLY thin!". Weird. I understand the complaints now!!!

After a good but kind of average Taste, the set concludes with Walls of the Cave. I was STOKED to finally get one! I didnt care if it was an "average" reading or not. Hell yes, Walls closer, lets friggin go! Thankfully, while not must hear, it does have genuine fire and heat and they burn it down nicely. Killer.

All in all, im really surprised upon relisten - in person I was absolutely BLOWN THE F AWAY by the set I had just seen. I went to set break absolutely destroyed, genuinely thinking "there is no way set to can top this".

Upon re listen, the set was way more laid back and chill then I recall in person. I don't know if that's just the energy of the room not translating to the recording or if that's just because I was hopped the f up and totally delirious at the time, having the time of my life, lol

Musically, this set is carried very heavily by the multiple bust outs and rare songs. Most of the songs sound excellent but there is very little worth returning to in earnest. I would say Spanish Moon and Hey Stranger are the must hear materials with special shoutouts to Reba and Hurrah.

Honestly, from a "holy crap" standpoint compared to the rest of the tour, this set gets like a B+ from me right now today. The setlist does a TON of heavy lifting, imo. Absolutely nothing that is not played well or downright excellent, but at the same time there is very little that is worth returning to after the fact - in my opinion.

  

 

Set 2

Oh boy, here we go!

Fantastically, the second set opens with Slow Llama, and it's a terrific reading, going hard in the robo funk and wall abuse just like I was praying and hoping for in Final Hurrah. Probably must hear - its great as always!! I was SUPER excited to get a Slow Llama - now ive seen both, and in back to back shows!

Out of Llama comes the massive TITAN this show will forever be remembered for. I absolutely lost my mind when Llama melted into Disease. The only other version ive seen was the perfunctory "fakeout" version on 12/31/23 that preceeded Gamehendge, and considering this was the 2nd song of set 2, I KNEW this was going to be THE jam vehicle of the night!! BIG DISEASE HERE WE GO!!

The slower tempo of the evening actually sounds great with Disease, giving it a chunky quality reminiscent of the studio version. In person, while thrilled to get the song and a ridiculously massive version (34 minutes - apparently it's officially the longest version ever played as far as I can find!!!), the gym ends up being a pretty large nothing Burger, which is a real bummer. It basically stays in super extended type 1 the entire time, Trey trying at several points to lead them elsewhere but Fishman just refusing to stop his ratat tat. I swear, there was one hilarious part, where for about 2 minutes, Trey was just glaring over at Fishman, practically BEGGING him to switch it up and let them go deep, but Fishman had his eyes closed just ignoring him, lol. Trey finally straight up just gave up and returned to blissful high energy rocking. This jam though, it just goes and goes and goes and goes some more, feeling like it peeks about 30 different times. Every time I thought the jam had reached its conclusion, they kept pushing through and kept on going! What the corn yo!? I will admit the final peak is pretty damn amazing, well past the 20-minute mark I was honestly just waiting for this jam to end. How much of that was my weekend condition and how much of that was the jam itself, I'll let you be the judge, lol. But I can honestly say this jam bored me - it felt very disconnected and not like there 

 Ok my review above is a little harsh on that Disease. Here's a better breakdown.

I still think it has zero business being over 20 minutes or so. There really is barely anything happening at all until after the 20 minute mark. Its straight up just kinda boring noodling until then, failing to go in any meaningful direction.30 seconds of darkness, Sightless Escape teases there...oi vey. Eventually they switch on a dime back into a slower rocking zone. Im assuming Trey was setting up a return back into Disease proper. THATS when the jam really takes off. Basically, just throw the first 15 minutes of the jam right in the trash. From here, it stays firmly in high energy melodic bliss rocking, but it finally has some OOMPH about it, everyone locked in at last. Saying before that it felt like it had multiple peaks was the wrong terminology - it felt like it had 40 different chances to deep and litoff abd they just never did. It was weird. Anywho, somewhere around 26 or 27 minutes they start to build to proper peakage and its off to the races and the rest is history. Trey peaking us to heaven and the crowd erupting etc. I will admit, this final section was incredible to experience in person.

I sooooooooooo want to call this must hear. If it wasnt so....undercooked, Id be raving. Because the final 10 minutes or so are terrific straight up rocking. was any magic going.

Twist and a still rare The Well (my 2nd!) keep the set going nicely. Twist is actually worth a listen, kind of breaking down nicely into a funky kind of stop start duel between Trey and Mike. I remember they were right up in each other's faces grinning like idiots while playing and it was so much fun. FANTASTIC! It never leaves type 1, but they sure explore it to its fullest. Its friggin LOADED with synths and wacky FX. Even Treys whammy pitch shifter makes a big appearance. Honestly, this should probably be jam charted if it isnt. Its SICK!

Meanwhile, The Well is your standard type 1 reading, but it was honestly super excellent and felt like a genuine cool down that we really needed at that point in the set. Crazy to call it a cool down, but that's what it felt like. And it was perfect!

Thankfully the following 17 minute version of Sightless Escape was absolutely incredible. What the hell?! ANOTHER song I never thought I'd ever get to hear!! Only the fourth version ever played since it's 2019 debut and on top of that it's the longest version ever played by a decent margin. Holy crap this is amazing. Now THIS felt like the "X Factor Magic" was in FULL FORCE!!! They were just locked in together flowing through this sucker like a wave of awesomeness, basically keeping it in one zone, but digging into that one's own so fantastically well I was just losing it. 

Sightless does its type 1 thing for a good while. Eventually something shifts and they all start this new rhythm. It stays "on the ground", but they officially take that turn into "we are taking this baby for a damn ride" territory. Riding hard in that type 1.5 kinda zone, never leaving earth but also straying far from the source, slowly effects and things start to creep in. Very slowly they just keep going and going until the eventual peakage. I really don't know how to explain what I'm talking about, but I swear in person at least, I could feel a MASSIVE difference between this and the Disease. This jam felt....flowing and organically and always on the move with purpose. Hot damn. This had to be the most unexpected thing I've ever experienced in the seven shows I've attended - freaking SIGHTLESS ESCAPE being the damn jam winner of a show. Who would think....

Even better, as the song reaches its conclusion, Trey correctly reads the room and rips us right into Chalkdust!!! And shocked us was FANTASTIC!!! Maybe not the most insane or crazy version of all time, but sometimes a super well-placed, high energy type 1 reading it's just as effective as some kind of giant type 2 multi beast. This Chalkdust felt like the perfect peak conclusion of that Sightless Escape jam. For like the 15th time this night I absolutely lost my mind. I saw an amazing type 2 robo jam space freak out version on 12/29/23, but this was my first regular melt your face type Chalkdust that Id always been pining for.

In one of the best "totally unexpected" moments ever, the jam seems to naturally "stumble" into the intro to Chalkdust This had to be unplanned because even the band (particularly Fishman, lol) seem caught off guard, haha
I mean, you have zero inkling or realization and then BAM you're in Chalkdust like "hold on, wtf. Huh?! OK! " That segue truly comes out of god damn nowhere and it was so friggin magical to experience in person. This is why we Phish, y'all. And then Chalkdust throws down the gauntlet, snappy, energetic and to the POINT, they absolutely razed the coliseum, Trey's solo screaming from the sky like a crashing Kamikaze plane. And its over just as it began but the damage is done, and it was massive. Proceed directly to the burn unit, you've got a 3rd degree ...

Honestly, I wish the set ended right there. It FELT like that was the set closer and should have been. It would have been absolutely perfect. They kept going with a fun Suzy Greenberg, but it honestly felt like one song too many, as if they had just over shot the mark or something like that.

By this time my Adderall was really beginning to wear off and I was starting to feel the pain again in a big way. The first encore was Circus, apparently with the biggest gap ever at 54 shows. Man this was NOT well I needed to keep me going. Circus was pure agony for me, waiting to get through it to see what the next encore was before I could make the choice to run for the car and get home. Thankfully, First Tube was the set closer. It sucked having to run out on it and it absolutely wailed, but I got out and watched the first half from the stairwell before running to my car to beat the traffic out of the arena parking lot. Worth it.

All in all, this was a mind-blowing show to experience in person. I am so unbelievably blessed to have seen it and despite it hurting beyond belief that I had to miss the following two nights, I don't feel bad in any way shape or form that this was the show that I got.

Multiple bust outs, the longest ever version of an absolute classic song, what the hell else could I want?!?!

I'd say the 4.3 rating is pretty accurate, my opinions today are probably just colored because of my in-person experience. Because I really thought this was a way better show than it came off to me while listening to it today.