2023-08-01 New York City, NY

 8 1 23 New York #4

Set 1

Ghost - 17 minutes and quite boring and aimless for the majority. Definitely does not do much of anything for the most part and doesn't come close going deep at all. Thankfully the final few minutes see the guys wake up and turn in an explosive hose finale that is strong enough to make you forgive the rest of this waste of a good Ghost.

Reba - FANTASTIC!!!! The composed section is downright ok (not flawless), but the solo is MAGICAL. You will have shivers down your spine!!! Spectacular! This is about as good as Reba gets these days!!!!

Funky B - EXPLOSIVE! FIRE! LETS GO!!!

Timber - X Factor Dark Funk Timber!!!! INCREDIBLE!!!! MUST HEAR!!! MUST HEAR!!!!

Broken Into Pieces - Terrific new song!!! Play this more, its great!! Absolutely fantastic rock and roll jamming on this ala a good Caspian or Loving Cup!!!

Wolfman's Brother - 17 minutes Vol. 2, Electric Boogaloo. Does its thing as expected, but they lay into the funk HARD. When Gordo breaks out his FX, you know its gonna be good. Must hear!!!!! Eventually this morphs into killer bliss rock with Fishman shouting "FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE WELL!'. MUST HEAR!!!! Great peak around 12 min. It gets dark again for a while then builds to a climacticr finale peak. Fantastic!!!!!!! INCREDIBLE!!!! MUST HEAR!!!!

I Am The Walrus - First since Bakers Dozen?? This is SICK!!!!! WHAT A WAY TO END A SET!!!


All in all, THIS SET IS FREAKIN AWESOME!!!!! Reba, Timber, Wolfman, Walrus....the only weak spot was the opening Ghost and even that had a few minutes of awesomeness!!! Holy crap these shows just keep getting better!!

And special shoutout to Broken Into Pieces - great song!

 

Set 2

Sample In a Jar - 17 min Sample... sure! Why not?! This sucker is incredible. Tropic Island Sample, most of its duration is spent in very relaxed bliss jamming before going into a smashing rock and roll peak. Things eventually begin to go dark and deep, but Trey unfortunately axes it and they lead into...

Kill Devil Falls - 12 minutes tonight, in practice, that was actually a great segue/transition! Pretty hot version but nothing to write home about. The jam is very disjointed and lacking direction, concluding in the usual bliss hose before a kinda ripcord into... Really, just not anything all that great, especially compared to the other stellar readings of 2023.

Golden Age - 14 min. Thankfully things click and they turn in a stellar reading. Gets dark and grimy for a bit before the expected bliss rock conclusion. Excellent. Proper return to theme and ending on this one.

Shade - Gorgeous as always. Break time!

Sneakin Sally - Great as always but too short for its own good. Builds a strong head of steam and grooves hard. Not must hear but definitely a highlight!!!

Twist - Great as always but nothing special in the slightest.

You Enjoy Myself - Ultra strong version!!! One of the best of the year (and it's been a good year for YEM!). They nail the playing, it funks hard... it's great!!!

Encore:

Wilson - Is Wilson

Sanity - Awesome!

David Bowie - Definitely not what I prefer in an encore. Fine version though.

Character Zero - Good stuff, but is the show over yet?

All in all, the first set was incredible, but set 2 was very frustrating. Jams with potential getting axes (or just taking too damn long to do anything), a slee of shorter songs with a refusal to truly go deep, yet ANOTHER short Twist....Enjoyable as hell, sure, but I fail to see where this is a nearly 4.5 rated show.

Nothing comes close to the ridiculous journey of 7 30s No Men or the Light hose explosion.....
Great show, sure, but a damn 4.5?! Not on your life. A solid 4.0 or 4.1, imo.
Im being a bit harsh but the jamming really came up short tonight and the 2nd set was just a bit too much sizzle and not enough steak, if you will.
Hit the first set, then grab the Sample, Golden Age and YEM. The encore can come too.
I know im crazy and I did enjoy the show fine, and im sure it was bonkers in person, but at the same time I just didnt "click" with it....

2023-07-30 New York City, NY

 7 30 23 New York City #3


Set 1

AC/DC Bag - Killer 12 minute bliss rager. Excellent!!! Jammed pretty decently!! Winds up in hazy aquatic type 2. Great segue into.....

>My Friend My Friend - That segue should not have worked so good!!! This sucker is a beast. 10 minutes long, it doesnt go ultra dark or ultra deep, but it rides that Type 1.5 line oh so fine. Absolutely fantastic little sucker!!

>Bathtub Gin - Only 10 minutes but it rages. Phenomenal segue outta MyFe that was oh so genuine! Killer peak. Must hear shorter type 1 awesomeness!

Quick aside - the opening trio each showed promise but really felt like one big whole rather than 3 separate songs or something. You definitely need to hear the trio TOGETHER for maximum effect. They each definitely felt "primed" to go deep, but instead we got great segues and a killer finale with the Gin.

Theme From The Bottom - A funnily botched intro leads to extra Page soloing. This spurs them on and they turn in the strongest modern Theme for a while now. Absolutely inspired from start to finish. Love the extra funky nature of it - porno wah in the verses!!!

Llama - Fast Llama! MORE TERRIFYING THAN MYFE. PSYCHO FACEMELT EXPLOSION!!!!! NUCLEAR BOMB ANNIHILATION!!!!!!




Great and lengthy bit of banter following this - "Have we played that one yet? LETS PLAY IT AGAIN!" *cue Llama intro...*

Tube - 10 minutes tonight, it is the most inspired playing of the set so far. Uber-funk deluxe as expected. Does its Tube thing and does it excellently Hardcore wah abuse. Robo bursts. Goes very, very deep inside the relatively brief runtime!!!! Killer peak!!!!! Must hear!!!! Freaking insane!!! SPRAY THAT HOSE !!!! LETS GO!!!!!!!

My god, that was one of the greatest jams of the entire year so far!!!

TUBE ANNIHILATION!!!!!

Golgi Apparatus - Even Golgi is must hear tonight!!! Killer version with so much extra OOMPH to it!!


All in all, an oddly short set, but holy crap if it didnt pack a WOLLOP!!!! Gin, Theme, Tube, Llama, Bag.....all fantastic, next level versions.

That Llama and Tube in particular were just....the folks in Hiroshima aint seen nothing, ok?

Wow....

Set 2

Sigma Oasis - Not the Huntsville epic, this one still gets it going great. This one is just powerful. Only 8 minutes but its got such great strength about it... Just a strong, A+ Type 1 reading

Life Saving Gun - Nearly 13 minutes, you couldnt ask for more from a debut that most folks never expected! The jam is actually disappointing. The first six Type 1 minutes of fire are great, but then they spend the remainder trying to go deep and utterly failing. Trey just sputters and noodles for like 6 minutes, unsure what to do and not committing to anything fully.

Bummer!! That jam was NOT good!

No Men In No Mans Land - 18 minutes behemoth to the rescue!!! And thank god the ridiculousness of set 1 was not in vain, for this No Men EXPLODES!!!!! ITS SPECTACULAR!!! Trey is just annihilating!!!! FIRE FROM THE SKY!!!!!!! GET IT!!! LETS GO!!!!!! Around 6 minutes, the wah creeps in and you can ca hear the jam start to get dark. By 8 minutes we descend fully into the wormhole...We quickly rise out and ascend into blissful noodle space. Trey sets loopers and we spend the next long while grooving slow and easy, but always with direction. No aimlessness here!!!! At 12 minutes, we move swiftly back into dark and nasty, grindy funk territory. Slow peak building from here. At 17 min it dissolves into a reggaeish jam to close...

MASTERPIECE! JOTY CONTENDER!!!!!! SPECTACULAR TYPE 2 ADVENTURE!!!!!! MUST HEAR!!!!!

Lonely Trip - Perfect out of the groundquaking No Men. Obscenely gorgeous. Pages piano...

Frankie Says - Great to get but nothing special

Gotta Jibboo - Fantastic!!!!! Great chill version that slowly builds to a red hot finale. Must hear!!!

Light - 14 minute killer version to close the set. POWERFUL, red hot, Type 1.5 RAGER!!! KILLER!!!! ABSOLUTELY INSANE AND MAGICAL HOSE PEAK FINALE!!! HOLY FREAKING CRAP!!! HOSE HOSE HOSE HOSE HOSE HOSE!!!!! MUST HEAR !!!!!

Encore:

Suzy Greenberg/Izabella - Suzy kills of course, then Izabella comes and drops the proverbial atom bomb, proceeding to re-melt our already melted faces 50 times over. Pure lava!!!!

All in all, if you like your Phish RED HOT, this is the show for you!!!! For set 2, Life Saving Gun, No Men Odyssey, Light, Jibboo and Bella are all MUST HEAR!!!

An absolutely DESTRUCTIVE show and certainly my favorite since the two at Star Lake!!!!!! 

1997-08-16 Limeston, ME - The Great Went, "dump truck review 2023"

 Its Friday, im ultra relaxed and my route isnt conducive to a 2023 show, so im casually playing through the Great Went.

Ive played the two shows a number of times but never "properly".

8 16 97 Limestone

Set 1 - if you recall, in Bittersweet Motel the guys come offstage after this set (apparently) and Trey rages something along the lines of "THAT WAS THE WORST EFFING SET WEVE EVER PLAYED", etc lol

Lets see if he was right or wrong!


Makisupa Policeman - Uber dank, yo. Love the hazy jam out of this.

Harpua - Conclusion from the Clifford Ball. Cool but nothing special.

Chalkdust Torture - Hot as always but not a great version. Very sloppy and all over the place.

Theme From the Bottom - They all kinda sound the same, but this one felt like it really got cooking and had extra mustard. Very strong version, imo.

Punch You In The Eye - Not a good version. Ultra lethargic and sloppy, it never "clicks" and there is flubbage abound from everyone. There are far better versions from 2009.....

Ghost - 16 minutes, I really dig this one. Not an all timer, but the jam in the back half where they slow it down and get all rhythmic with it is awesome. Not an incredible Ghost, but its good!

Ginseng Sullivan - Is Ginseng.

You Enjoy Myself - Killer! A+!! Nailed in that way only 1.0 can!!!! Incredibly funky, its the first time in the set where things "click" in that certain way. Hell yes. Spectacular version.

Train Song - Is Train Song. Odd after YEM. They shoulda just ended the set there.

Character Zero - Is C Zero. Rages hard.

The Squirming Coil - Friggin classic version. Fantastic.

All in all, set 1 started pretty limp and loose but got it together in the back half. Theme, Ghost, YEM and Coil were all must hear. Not a terrible set but neither was it particularly spectacular either.

Set 2

Wolfmans Brother - 20 minute classic! Beastly! Very slow and laid back. This is 20 minutes of strange and hazy pornofunk. Great segue into....

Simple - Awesome version that again goes very strange in the back half. Killer segur into...

My Soul - INSANE!! GOAT STATUS!!! FIRE FROM THE SKY!!!

Weirdo jam - exactly as I say. Between songs thry noodle a bunch of strange stuff for a few minutes. Only at a festival!

Slave to the Traffic Light - Not my favorite. Maybe if I was high id enjoy it. It just droned on and on and on and on....I mean, it was grear, but it definitely sounded like music made by stoned individuals, lmao

Rocky Top and Julius to close.


All in all, again not my favorite set, lol. Lots of enjoyable strangeness though!! The whole thing is pretty much 1 piece to be heard as a whole though.

Wolfy-Simple-My Soul was the meat for me!

Set 3

-keep in mind, I am falling asleep exhausted, its dark and rainy, and this is absolutely NOT the day to review this, but im in this far, so....

For some reason, they screwed the pooch on the FM of this set. Its horrible!!! Trey is completely buried, almost sounding like bleed-through, and the ambient mics are completely to the fore. Very difficult to listen to and actually HEAR whats happenning

Halleys Comet - 15 min. Nutzo. Awesome type 2. Must hear.

Cities - Great segue into. Slow as a mother and super, duper HEAVY. This is like a 50 ton version of Cities, creeping across the land like a glacier....I think the jamming was sick despite the aural flaws. Classic in every way. GOAT contender??

Llama - Destroyed. Kept me awake, lol.

Lawn Boy - is Lawn Boy

Limb By Limb - 15 min. Spectacular reading!!!! Another GOAT contender??

Funky B - Closer. Kills.

Contact and Loving Cup for the encore. Both seemed like they had extra mustard, but again the sound mix was so poor it was hard to tell.  

 

 

2023-07-29 New York City, NY

 

7 29 23 New York #2

Set 1

Back On the Train - standard, A+, red hot opener. Great stuff.

Down With Disease - Must hear! 19 minutes long, the song itself is a strong reading. Extra "funky" kinda - everyone playing with the phrasing and stuff, but in a good way. It rages the bliss HARD with feeling and impact until a great peak around 13.30-14 minutes. Then we naturally, and patiently, drop into super dark, thick groove Type 2. The X Factor is flowing and then, outta nowhere, the jam just....dies. instantly. Like someone yanked the light cord out of the wall. WTF!! THAT ENDIND WAS HORRIFIC!! THIS WAS KICKING SO MUCH TAIL UNTIL THEN!

The Dogs - At least a big rarity follows. Good version. Great heat! Unfortunately, The Dogs is nothing to bark about and is patently average. Enjoyable enough, but they axes that Disease for this?!

Bug - Very strong version! For Jovi...

Sugar Shack - Shockingly must hear!! The guys nail it, its ultra tight, it almost jams, and is everything a Sugar Shack should be! A+

Evolve - A+ Type I version!! Nothing else to say, its exciting and excellent!

Horn - is Horn

Foam - A+ !!! THEY NAILED IT!! TIGHT LIKE THE HOLLYWOOD BOWIE!!! WOWW!!!!

Moonage Daydream - Facemelter supreme


All in all, despite a lack of jamming after the aborted Disease (a crime...), the set felt very much of a single whole. Song wise im sure it turned people off, but everything was played flawlessly and with extra zest and enthusiasm!!! Highly enjoyable set!!!!

 

Set 2

The Wedge - A++++++ version! Yea its just great type 1, but Trey is on FIRE and it feels tight and right. Fantastic.

Fuego - ...FUEGOPOCALYPSE!!! 30 MIN GOAT FUEGO!!!! LETS GO!!!! Blazing hot, ultra tight reading. Blissful type 1 awesomeness until the first peak around 13 minutes. They begin the first drop and start to really spread their wings. Wonderful stretched out rock jamming until the next peak around 19 minutes. From here, Gordo kicks on his FX and the jam dives headfirst into goopy, murky power-funk!!! Thankfully this lasts a good, long while!!! Around 23 minutes, the funk goes away and they begin to rock out again. Trey does those chirpy, pitch shifted high note things, then they start to reincorporate the Fuego theme. From here it slowly fades out and into.....
A true masterpiece, imo. Not a second of the 30 minute run time is wasted and it never lagged or lacked for direction. The X Factor is flowing tonight!!! Absolutely classic.....

Oblivion - Absolutely killer rock and roll rager!! Smashing!!!! A wonderful lets-just-rock version with a great "classic rock peak" conclusion.

Wingsuit - After a brief moment of interesting ambience, they slide perfectly into Wingsuit. And this sucker CRUSHES!!!! Its super heavy and hot to start, then descends into gorgeous aquatic bliss. All patient and proggy like a good Wingsuit should be! From there thy build it back up and the sucker positively EXPLODES for several glorious face melting minutes. Classic Wingsuit!!! OH MY GOD THIS WINGSUIT IS MAGICAL. HOLY CRAP.




2001 - Out of Wingsuit and into 2001 to give us a lift. Absolutely spectacular version, they jam it to shreds in nifty ways and even get it into type 2 territory!! It ends up somehow, hilariously, morphing into....

HYHU-Cracklin Rosie-HYHU - wtf. Pure Phishy shenanigans. Sick. Hilarious. Awesome!

SANTOS - Santos to close. This one felt next-level. Nuclear bomb hot. Killer.

Standard-but-excellent Farmhouse and First Tube encore.

Absolutely stellar set construction!!!!! The Fuego-Oblivion-Wingsuit was a trio made in heaven!!!! Wingsuit was MAGICAL!!! Fuego was not overrated in the slightest, and that Oblivion is probably UNDERRATED!!!

Set 1 was great, lets not forget (Disease, Evolve, Sugar Shack, Foam!), but this 2nd set was like a 20 ton sledgehammer to the face. Killer!!!!!!

On top of the Feugoblivion-Wingsuit, the 2001-Cracklin Rosie bit was 100 percent must hear as well.

What a show!!!!!

2023-07-28 New York City, NY

 7 28 23 New York

Set 1

Evening Song - Awesome to get!!! Sounded excellent being played a bit more uptempo. Dont sleep on this.

Wave of Hope - Massive disappointment!
Sure it was 22 friggin minutes, but it never "clicks", it never goes anywhere, and just never really does much of anything! Whats here is fine, but youll definitely be checking your watch throughout. Its was like the 7 25 Disease on steroids... Bummer!

Cities - Thankfully Cities saves the day!!! 15 minutes of excellent and exciting Type 2 with several different sections. A+ Must hear!!!!

The Old Home Place - soundes great! Rare!

Free - The song itself is supr rushed and awkward sounding, but the jam destroys. Funk rock face melting. Fantastic. Not the best ever but a great one!

Brian and Robert - Unexpected but great

Stash - A+ Type 1 face melter!!!!!!! Holy crap!!!!!

My Soul - Raging fire to close the set!!!

All in all, a damn good set!!! Stash and Cities and My Soul were MUST HEAR with mostly everything else being kickass or just totally excellent. Just delete that waste of space Wave of Hope and youre all set!

 

More - An ok but stiff set opener. Love ue song, but absolutely prefer it as a closer. There is a reason they play it to end sets and not open them!

Ruby Waves - Fantastic!!! 16 minutes, it spends 2/3 of its time in a darkly introspective kind of place. Synthesizers and looming ambience abound, but the robo hellscape never materializes. Eventually this slowly morphs into a massive multi minute rock and roll peak. The peak leads back into the jam again and its leads into...

*The RW felt unfocused at first and Trey was doing jack diddly for a long while. Once he "woke up" it gained major steam.

Plasma - ...a 14 minute Plasma!!! Fiery and ultra exciting. The guys lock in in a way that they havent since the Cities in set 1! They strike X Factor gold with this one!!! It morphs into a POWERFUL, synthesizer-led example of how to melt faces and destroy worlds. Best jam of the show so far, by a wide margin. They go way out with this one!!! Incredible!!!!!
Latin Fire Type 1>wacky synthesizer fun>aquatic bliss peak>song reprise. Hell yes! Thats gotta be a top 3 Plasma the band has ever played, no?

Simple - AND INTO A 14 MINUTE SIMPLE! HELL YES!!! Ultra POWERFUL version. Killer Type 2, they take it out for a ride. The bliss gets very abstract and askew, morphing into tenseful fire. Slowly the heat builds. Prepare for face melting. They instead abort mission and head for bliss rock peaking. Boo! However, they again move away from this and slowly start to rhythmically pump up the energy once more. This sucker is driving! Some whacky weirdness ensues and brings it to a close. Super strange Simple! Not quite 8/6/21 or 4/17/23, but it approaches the same area!!! Must hear!!!

Mountains in the Mist - Rises from the ambient ashes of Simple. Not a particularly great version to my ears. Always welcome, but this was pretty average (not poor at all though!)

Split Open and Melt - Closes the show. @Jerfan13 , welcome back to spooky scary bleep bloop hell! Pure insanity! 15 minutes of hell WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING. THIS IS A MELTDOWN INSIDE OF A MELTDOWN INSIDE OF A MELTDOWN! PURE UNADULTERATED RIDICULOUSNESS. MY GOD. Say hello to your new intergalactic Sith Lord leaders of the black hole hive mind.

I know Melt is on a tear these last few years, but even by recent standards this was OUT THERE.

Good Times Bad Times - Great encore as always.


A bit of an odd show. Highly enjoyable and with great flow, but Trey is like a light swich, on and off from song to song. Some songs he is spitting pure fire, other songs he can't get out of the noodly doldrums. Also, the band is hit or miss with the jams - when they "lock in", its incredible, when they dont, its super frustrating and all too apparent. I dont think this show was overrated, but It was just way too UNEVEN overall despite the great stuff played. The 2nd set is an absolute behemoth though, uneven or not!!!!!

Cities, Plasma and Simple were all spectacular. Plasma in particular being an all-timer and Cities coming close behind. Melt can join the part too. Ruby Waves was among the best "2nd tier" level versions and Melt was pure robotic ridiculousness. That Melt...that was sure..... something!!!!

I mean, this show was LOADED with jamming, a lot if it "hit", some did not.
Tempos were rushed throughout and Trey was his own worst enemy, so pick your poison.

In conclusion, F that Wave of Hope. Total BS.

2023-07-26 Philadelphia, PA

 7 26 23 Philadelphia

Set 1

Mike's Song-Reggae Woman-Mike's-Hydrogen-Weekapaug

Well my freaking god, what a way to begin the show. Its obviously all downhill after that! Mike is insanely face melting, then as Fishman starts Hydro, Trey leads them instead into Boogie! When the song part of Boogie reaches the jam, instead of the Boogie jam, they drop back into Mike!!!!!!! Mike explodes once more and Weekapaug is nuts.

Pure, unadulterated, x factor magic!!!

Army of One - TERRIFIC!!! Strongest I've ever heard!!!

Mound - Super rare and excellent version! Killer!

The Moma Dance - X FACTOR MAGIC! THIS SUCKER GOES ULTRA DARK TYPE 2!!!!!! MUST HEAR!!!

Prince Caspian - dang it Trey. RIPCORD ALERT! Friggin stopped the Death Moma dead in its tracks. Wtf... 

 Number Line - Caspian killed and this sucker does too. Excellent and unique call and response jamming!

About to Run - Guitar annihilation.

Fluffhead - Excellent, tight, jubilant version to close!!!!

WHAT AN INCREDIBLE SET!!!! Ever hear a set/show that made you completely reevaluate the one prior in a "That wasnt as good as I thought" kinda way? Yea, this is that set.

Crazy x factor jams, ridiculous heat, super inspired playing on all fronts.

My god. This set was CLASSIC.

 

Set 2

Set Your Soul Free - 12 minute rager to open. Immediately, the jam heads for that dark heat kinda feel. The jam weaves itself this way and that, toying with ambient bliss briefly, before cranking up the thermostat and building to massive conclusion. Not classic, but totally kickass by any measure!

Carini - And now, into a nearly 23 minute Carini!!! The initial round of raging moves into interesting funk-bliss around 5 minutes. Chirpy melody lines and aquatic, textural synths. Trey introduces a descending motif and sets a loop of it. Full blown type 2 has arrived. Hell yes. The magic is flowing.
This soon builds into a more stately, majestic kind of "classic rock" jam. Powerful and utterly TRIUMPHANT! It keeps building and building and building!!!!
Then at 11 minutes, Gordo kicks on his fx and we descend into a dark funk jam!!!! PORNOFUNK DANCE PARTY!!!!
At 13:45, the tempo upshifts and the synths come out to play. This leads into feel good bliss rock territory with a strong funk undercurrent.
At 16.30 a peak begins!!! HELL YES!! LETS FRIGGIN GO!!!! RIDICULOUS LIGHT SPEED HOSE EXPLOSION!! OH MY GOD THE UNIVERSE IS COLLAPSING!!!!!
Around 19.30 the nuclear bomb, Machine Gun Trey peak subsides into an extemely powerful, slow burn, heavy, classic rock style of jamming. It almost sounds like they are going to build to another peak!
Alas, it is not to be and very slowly the jam drifts to its ambient conclusion ....


Masterpiece. Utter masterpiece. That friggin THREE MINUTES OF NON STOP PEAK!!! Absolutely unbelievably ridiculous. How the hell do they do that.....

Joy - heartwrenching cooldown out of the destruction of Carini. A+ version as always. This one hit me hard and a few tears eacaped....

Golden Age - 10 minute version gets us grooving fast again. This sucker develops a stompingly heavy jam with a great repeating motif. They sound totally poised to stretch it to the moon!!!!! From here, Trey proceeds to just melt faces and the jam sounds like its gonna explode into a giant peak!!!

UNFORTUNATELY.....

Limb By Limb - ....the jam dies down into aquatic bliss and Trey moves us into LxL. To be fair, it was actually a natural segue that worked great, but it was still annoying as hell. The POWER of this Limb, good god. It's a steamroller!!!! Killer version!!

Golgi Apparatus - strong version but nothing that special.

Harry Hood - Super whacky intro with Trey going ham on his whammy pedal Terrific Hood loaded with nuance and passion. Stellar way to end the set!!!! The peak section is so ridiculously cathartic...

A Life Beyond the Dream into Antelope for the encore. Antelope is must-hear. Absolutely nuclear version!!!!!


All in all, what a friggin show!!! Probably the strongest, top to bottom, since Alpharetta!!! EVERYTHING was great!!! Multiple strong jams. Rarities. Interesting/unexpected segues. An outright BEAST of a show!!!

 

  

 

 

2023-07-25 Philadelphia, PA

7 25 23 Philadelphia

Set 1 was pure fire from start to finish. Absolutely INSANE set. Hans down one of the best of the whole year so far.

Everything was ULTRA powerful!!!

Heaviest Squirming Coil ever?! The 14 minute Gin is a raging, funky, volcanic shot from the stars. X factor magic.

And the Blaze On is so ridiculously, well, BLAZING.

Not a weak link in the chain, this set demands you play it right through.

A+ first set!  

Set 2

A gnarly 16 minute Disease to open. It never really gets off the ground, but it sure does spit, snarl and hiss from start to finish. Not must hear but an absolute rager from start to finish.

The Well is next and is 20 minutes of some of the best jamming of the year. Pure insanity. But you already knew that.

From here, the set becomes quick-cut, dance party madness.

A short but potent No Men segues at the perfect moment into a gorgeous Sea of Stars.

A must hear Piper rises from the ashes. Wonderfully sick delay/stop start jamming on this. Total groove fest.

Jarring, sudden transition into Crosseyed, but as always, Crosseyed was a friggin Nuclear Bomb. Short like No Men, it hits its mark hard and leaves is begging for more....No, seriously, jesus christ on a cracker.....

And then a perfect segue into Chalkdust. See Crosseyed - another short blast of nuclear radiation to the face!

Wading Sea into, what else for a show like this, but Fire to close!!!!

An insane show!!!! Sure, some of the playing was slightly flubby at times, but this was the ultimate example of fire-from-the-sky, nuclear bomb explosion, headbang til you break your neck Phish in 2023.

The 2nd set was BALLZ TO THE WALL FIRE!!!!

In othe words, MY KINDA SHOW

I can understand the 3.7 rating, but for me, this would be like a 4.2 or so. SO. MUCH. ENERGY!!!!!!!!

Also, The Well was a top 5 jam of the year so far. Hands down. Strange and ridiculous.