2024-07-20 Mansfield, MA

 Set 1

The show opens with a powerful Theme into a blazing BOTT. Sand, in slot 3, is the first true must hear of the night. An absolutely next level rendition, it delivers one of the sickest, most "developed" kind of hose explosion jams. Its not just straight shredding, it has some unique character that I cant quite place. It feels "jammed", if you will. Insane!

After BATR and a solid Number Line we get the live debut of Human Nature!!!! Human Nature destroys!! THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!! HOLY EFFING CRAP!!! GIVE US A 20 MINUTE JAM BEAST!!! IT HAS THE POTENTIAL!!!!!!!

The following Its Ice is anothe very good recent version. Trey fumbles a little during the technical section but this is 95 percent clean. Good stuff.

Wolfmans is next. MUST HEAR! The song itself is janky as F! Seriously, ugh - tempo issues and everything! But thankfully the jam just CRUSHES! Gordo gets filthy for a good long while before they rage it to an insane hose climax ala Sand. Must hear, for the insane jam!!!

Obligatory Drift set closer.


All in all, set 1 was very much a MIXED bag. Lots of looseness and "average" versions, offset by the towering behemoths of Sand, Human Nature and Wolfman. Those three stick out like a sore thumb!! Basically, grab those and forget the rest of the set - the rest is FINE, just positively unimpressive (wel, BOTT does rage..)

 Set 2

The 2nd set gets off to a very awkward start with a strange YEM. It sounds pretty flawless and has great energy, but they barely jam it at all! They head straight for the vocal jam and even though we get a coveted 2nd jam out of it, they abandon thst very quickly as well. It barely reaches 15 minutes! What a buzzkill!

Thankfully the rest of the set is all up from there!

Oblivion is a satisfying rock and roll rager. Probably not must hear but great all the same.

The duo of No Men and Monsters are friggin incredible, however! No Men rages hard before eventually going completely off the deep end!!! A psychedelic black hole vortex of craziness! Pure X Factor Magic all day!!!!

And the following Monsters is one of the most impassioned performances Ive ever heard - this sucker RIPS! LISTEN TO TREYS VOCALS!!!!

Both of those are absolutely must hear, essential listening at all costs!!!!

After a solid 2001, the set proper ends with a 14 minute Chalkdust! An absolutely fantastic "unhinged" reading ala SPAC 2023. X Factor abound once more! MUST HEAR!!!

We get a lengthy encore of Circus, Bowie and Santos. B
Bowie is 1.0 tier!!!! GRAB THAT SUCKER!!! ITS INCREDIBLE!!!!

All in all, set 2, aside from YEM, is a complete and total winner!!!! Id say the 3.7 for this show on .NET is low. This is a 4.0 level show, imo. The 2nd set (and the few 1st set highlights) really are just THAT good!

2024-07-19 Mansfield, MA

 Set 1

Always a great sign when you get a Buried Alive opener! And wow!!! A genuinely terrific version for once!! Zero slop here, super fireball energy abound....now THIS is what Buried Alive needs to sound like every time!

Character Zero is up next. Very, very refreshing to get it so early! It actually almost sounds fresh! This is a wonderful and unique version going surprisingly chill and laid back before slowly building back to the climax. Give this a listen!

Hey Stranger is absolutely spectacular tonight. Starting chill, Page goes ham on the synths delivering a sick "havent heard that before!" solo before Mike and Trey both get turns. As with Zero it builds heat as it goes along and rages to the finale. Must hear!!! Type 1 doesnt get much better than this! A+++++

And then...woah boy.....in slot 4, we get a friggin 17 minute Disease! And this isnt any Disease, this one is TIGHT, played uptempo, and FULL of the energy a good one needs! The jam is superb, getting grimy to start before slowly building and building into a ridiculous hose climax for minutes. This is different from the "by numbers" Sphere hose. This is "legit" hose. X FACTOR MAGIC ALL OVER THIS!! THIS IS THE BEST DISEASE THEY HAVE PLAYED SINCE.....A LONG TIME!!!!! THIS IS SPECTACULAR!!!!!

What a start to the show so far!!! My god!!! And the way Trey lead them back into the Disease outro out of the jam was just ......smooth isnt the word!!!!

After a slight dip for average readings of Roggae and NICU, we get an incredible 14 minute Stash. Slightly scattershot, it blisses out early, hits the robo fx, blisses again and then moves dark to close out. A bit too short for its own good but still absolutely terrific the way it FLOWS. Call this must hear!!!

Same for the set ending 46 Days. Youve heard this before but it still annihilates!

All in all, set 1 is a pretty smashing success. Hey Stranger, Disease and Stash are all must hear, and Buried Alive, C Zero and 46 are all worth a listen. They definitely came to kill and smashed the door right open!!! Killer set!!! 

Set 2

The "reverse set placement" fun continues with an uber rare Suzy>Antelope opening. Suzy is merely average, but Antelope is pure fire. As with BA in set 1, this is what Antelope should sound like!! Maybe not must hear but absolutely worth a listen. This thing is PURE FIRE!!!

A 19 minute Ghost follow afterwards. Not my favorite, it stays in enjoyable but average "hose bliss"/"chord vamping" mode all the way until 15 minutes. Its honestly rather boring. But then in the end they dive into a super dark, deep space, BLACK HOLE robo vortext for several glorious minutes!!!!

Trey yanks the jam and segues them - surprisingly well! - into Light. Light is quite good but nothing super special by the end.

The following Pillow Jets feels perfectly placed out of Light and the BASOS that follows feels the same. A+ on FLOW in this set!!! Sea of Stars is must hear - a terrific type 2 "microjam" (if this was 2019...) with a stellar outro back into the song. Wonderful little version!!!

Thankfully something finally goes right when the set closes with an incredible 16 minute Melt. This one is absolutely unhinged!!! Picture something ala the 12/6/97 Tweezerbella with Trey just going completely off the deep end into psychedelic wah abuse annihilation. Total X Factor all over this one!!! One of the finest of recent years for sure!!!!

An excellent Hood is the perfect choice for encore!!!

All in all, set 2 really felt like it was floundering for the most part. Sea of Stars and Melt were both legit incredible and Antelope was FIRE, but a lot of the rest of the set felt "unfulfilled", if you will.

As a whole, this WAS a pretty great first show of tour, but it definitely had some issues here and there.

Hey Stranger, Melt, Sea of Stars, Stash and that INCREDIBLE Disease were all spectacular though!!!

Seriously, Melt, Disease and Hey Stranger - GRAB THOSE!!!

2024-04-21 Las Vegas, NV - The Sphere, Night 4

 Set 1

The show begins with some pretty sick into music before they launch into a roughly 14 minute Plasma to open the night!! Plasma is full of that X Factor Magic, baby! A truly exceptional reading going through several different moods and reading red hot.

The following Evolve sounded downright perfect to me today. When Evolve is good, its really good and this is definitely one of those versions.

In slot 3 we get a massive 18 minute POWER GHOST, complete with robot visuals, lol. Throw this in league with Plasma - it suffers from the 2023 "stuck in the box" syndrome, but aside from that, its a total powerhouse!!!! Definitely must hear!

Following a very, very nice Divided Sky and a gorgeous acoustic reading of Shade, Hey Stranger tears the roof off before a slightly less-than C Zero closes the set

All in all, while still highly enjoyable, this was probably the least impressive set since night 1, set 2. Ghost and Plasma are totally killer though and WELL worth your time while Evolve and Hey Stranger are both top tier type 1 readings. Im making it sound bad - I enjoyed the HELL outta this set as a listen, but the results speak for themselves if we are gonna "analyze" things.  

Set 2

The final set of the run gets off to a bad start with a "sounds good but does nothing" wimpy 8 minute version of Oblivion. What a bummer!

Thankfully, a damn 34 minute Down With Disease immediately follows! Unfortunately, it follows a similar vein as the Fuego from the night before: its REALLY good but at the same time seems to truly lack that special "magic". They bliss rage until 21 minutes (kinda boring!) and then finally go into true Type 2. Trey stays FX free as is his wont and the rest of the jam, while great, just leaves you feeling slightly underwhelmed by the time it is done. Good enough to call must hear, but its a perfect example of what is "wrong" with current Phish jamming. A+++++++ for effort though and HOLY CRAP THAT SEGUE BACK INTO THE SONG WAS SMOOTH AF!!!

Oddly enough, the following Sea of Stars does 10 times as much in a third of the time!!!! This is INCREDIBLE!!! Top 3 or 4 versions ever played, imo next to Camden 2019 and Mexico 2020....Now THIS is type 2 jamming!! Its a wonderful, wacky, soupy, psychedelic mess of a jam. FX all over. Now THIS is X Factor Magic!!! This was so good Id say it is a contender for jam of the whole run!!!!!

And that perfect slide out and into....a 9.5 minute 2001! Excellent version, good enough to label must hear, imo.

The real surprise of the set is a 22 minute Light!!! This one dives deep and dark quickly before slowly building back up and out into your typical hose bliss finale. Really fantastic version worth a listen!

The following Ether Edge is wonderful!!! Page takes over with piano and the song is just gorgeous. A++++

Piper follows and kicks things into ludicrous speed Its your typical shred your balls off Piper, but holy friggin cow they are GOING FOR IT!!!! MUST HEAR!!! A+ PIPER!!!!!! PURE INSANITY!!!!

A raucous First Tube, and a hot duo of More and Slave close out the run


All in all, set 2 was basically as killer as any other. Not much to say! The Light, the Disease, Sea of Stars and Piper all fall into must hear category for me.

Another awesome show burdened by too much "hose bliss"

2024-04-20 Las Vegas, NV - The Sphere, Night 3

 Set 1

The show gets off to a BANG with THREE must hear heavy hitters all in a row!!! The opening 15 minute SYSF is red hot and full of dark energy. This is no bliss rager. Just fantastic.

Then Tube continues by diving into a dark and brooding jam before slowly building to an absolute majestic finale. Again, must hear!

Finally, in slot 3 we get a 15 minute Stash that takes us on a slow build adventure. As if its 2021 again, it begins with a lengthy bleep bloop robo jam before taking a more arabian slant. From there it builds into a sideways kind of slow-burn peak section. Total synth and robo zaniness abound. This Stash is friggin INCREDIBLE!!!! X FACTOR MAGIC!!!!!!! MUST HEAR AT ALL COSTS!!!!!

SYSF and Tube were both legitimately amazing and a cut above but that Stash was downright incredible!!!!!

The craziness continues with a face melter 15 minute Pillow Jets!!!! After the initial round of shredding, the rest of the jam is one massive, incredible, slow building hose peak explosion for minutes and minutes. Def must hear! Good golly Phish! Save something for set 2!

A 13 minute Steam keeps the fire going. This one is surprisingly "laid back". Night time vibes all over. Absolutely fantastic yet again and another definite must hear!!!! Slow burn to the max!!!

After a spectacular Mountains and an A+ Taste, the set blazes to a conclusion with yet another nuclear bomb 46 Days.


All in all.....this set was pure overkill in the best way! The whole set right through Steam is completely must hear - seriously - and the rest is just killer. So far The Sphere is 3 for 3 with these first sets!!!!!! Holy crap on a cracker..... 

Set 2

The 2nd set opens with a nice Sigma Oasis. Its ok but nothing particularly great.

Thankfully things pick up immediately with a terrific 30 minute Fuego into dark funk Golden Age!!! Fuegos jam begins dark and funky before moving into a too-long chordal vamping zone. Finally at 22 minutes the beat slows and they slow burn that sucker to its fiery conclusion.

Golden Age is far too short, but the X Factor is running deep on this one and it sees them diving straight into the abyss for a while. A spectacular little jam - this is must hear!

They finish it with a perfect and natural segue into Twist. Its a typical chilled out Twist, but as with 46 Days and Taste, it's just splendid tonight. Nothing more, nothing less. It ends by exploding into a ridiculous wave of hose. Killer.

After that is a strange standalone Hydrogen. Why they didnt play it night 1 and leave Lifeboy for this night instead is a mystery. This just feels SO out of place....

A 16 minute type 2 Chalkdust is the penultimate song of the set. This one is excellent and unique. High energy, yet the entirety of the jam is spent in a quiet and introspective area. Absolutely worth a listen!!!

SANTOS closes and this one is actually truly must hear as well. One of the finest ever displays of pure hose annihilation ever. A+

A Life Beyond the Dream is a serious contender for GOAT version, imo. Starting beautifully on acoustic, this one feels extra impassioned. I cant believe anyone could hear this and NOT be a fan afterwards.

As per Hydrogen, an out of place Tweeprize closes the show.

All in all, another monster set. Fuego right through ALBTD is all pretty much must hear quality. At the same time, for some reason it felt lacking in that extra "x factor sparkle" that coated Night 2 in spades. Just a nitpick - this show is another ridiculous outing.

Way to friggin go, Phish....

2024-04-19 Las Vegas, NV - The Sphere, Night 2

4/19/24 The Sphere, Las Vegas

Set 1

As with night 1, some ominous intro music leads us into the first number. A perfect CRASH into the song, Free is their weapon of choice! This version SMOKES!!!! Uptempo and RAGING like nuclear fire! It couldnt have been a better opener!

Moma continues the energy but is less impressive. What IS impressive though is....this friggin EIGHTEEN MINUTE AXILLA!!!!!! HOLY CRAP! This thing is complete X Factor Magic. Its like the ultimate slow build kind of jam. The changes are subtle but they are there. An absolutely extraordinary all time rendition...

Mercy is odd coming so early in the show, but it works perfectly after the 40 minutes of head smashing we had to open! This one sounds particularly "extra" to me. Really nice reading!!

A 14 minute Bathtub Gin picks up where Axilla left off delivering the ultimate "rage til you die" 2023-style "keep shifting upwards until you break the shifter off" reading. Pure energy and fire and annihilation. Another must hear.

Following that we get a 13.5 minute Theme From the Bottom. Pretty quickly the jamming starts to skew when Trey leads them into a more rhythmic direction (you'll know it when it happens). From there they slowly toy with full on jamming or staying in the box. They are teasing us, dang it! Eventually they commit and out comes the wah pedal and delay! THEY ARE JAMMING THEME! LETS FRIGGIN GO!!!!! After some tasty, quasi-funky playing, they move back into Theme proper and shred this sucker to a close. Holy moly this was incredible!!! Must hear! Must hear!!! X Factor Magic strikes again!!!!!!

As per usual, Melt shows up in the set closing position, 16 minutes long tonight. This Melt is a slowly morphing behemoth, textural and massive. It sounds like a giant swirling wall cloud about to drop a tornado at any moment. Heavy and DARK and just all kinds tense!!!! Must hear, of course!!!

All in all, set 1 was another SMASHING success!! Easily as good (or better) than set 1 of 4/18!!! The Axilla, Gin, Theme and Melt are all fantastic pieces of music fitting right at home alongside the best of 2023/2024 so far. My god.

Can you imagine if they played THIS first set back in, say, 2011?!

Set 2

A ripping 20 minute Wave of Hope gets us out of the gate for set 2. Heck yes. Wave is absolutely killer. It rages hard then dives into dar and bubbly type 2 befoe slowly and naturally building back out to the hottest hose peak EXPLOSION imaginable. A+ must hear!!!!!

After a solid WTU, we keep the energy high with a swift move into Ruby Waves. Ruby toys with jamming but really this one is all about that damn finale. HOSE EXPLOSION ANNIHILATION. MUST HEAR!!! WOPE 2.0!!! FRIGGIN AMAZING!!!!

After a lovely Lonely Trip to cool us down, things get dark and grimy and nasty with a really fantastic ASIHTOS. This one definitely sounds like you are drowning in the murky abyss. Dives deep then bliss rages out to a conclusion. Probably must hear.

The following Caspian however absolutely IS must hear!!! Absolutely incredible version! A+++++++

YEM closes the set proper. Trey struggles mightily and the composed section has definitely sounded better elsewhere. Great version other than that. Grab this!

Velvet Sea into a wonderful Hood to close the show.

All in all this was an AWESOME set and an AWESOME show! If you do not like HIGH FRIGGIN ENERGY Phish, then stay far away from this gig!!!! Definitely beat night 1 as a top to bottom full show experience!!!

Gin, Axilla, Theme, WOPE, Ruby, Caspian, ASIHTOS, Hood...thats a LOT of must hear, hose explosion greatness!

Definitely give this a go - its like drinking 5 Red Bulls and popping some Adderall.

Wow....  

2024-04-18 Las Vegas, NV - The Sphere, Night 1

 4/18/24 The Sphere, Las Vegas, NV

Set 1

After some intro music, the run opens with the band launching into a 16 minute Everythings Right! Really excellent version, this one goes a strong "type 1.5" getting slightly psychedelic before hosing out to a conclusion. Absolutely worth a listen!

After a standard hot BOTT, the first true monster of the run arrives in a 16 minute Wolfman! Absolute insanity, this one goes deep into dark heavy psychedelic stomping craziness before hosing itself to a massive, peaking finale!!! Definitely proper type 2!!!! Powerful as hell!!! INSANE!! MUST HEAR!!!!!! HOLY EFFIN CRAP!!! ALL TIMER WOLFMAN!!!

Following another strong modern Maze we get an A+ Leaves. Full of extra finesse, the outro jam rocks hard and is as long as the song itself! Must hear!

And then...oh boy...a friggin 17 minute Life Saving Gun!!!! Filled with nuclear energy, this one goes proper type 2 right out of the gate into a swirling, soupy mess of keyboard psychedelia. They rage this for several glorious minutes before morphing slowly into a fantastic upward momentum bliss rock zone. Closes with a move into a darkly rhythmic section before a return to the song. X FACTOR MAGIC ALL OVER!!! Hands down the greatest played to this point! ESSENTIAL!!!

After a lovely Dirt, set 1 comes to a ridiculous conclusion with the hottest, grimiest, most filthy Melt-esque psych breakdown Carinin of all time! UTTER ANNIHILATION!!!! MUST HEAR!


All in all....HOLY CRAP WHAT A SET!!! The boys came to KILL! LSG, Wolfman and Carini are all ESSENTIAL and Leaves is must hear as well! An absolutely spectacular set and beginning to the run! My god!!!

 Set 2 opens with an incredible 20 minute Sand!! It spends most of its time in a hazy, looper-laden ambient rock zone before building to the biggest hose peak EXPLOSION this side of anything!!!! X FACTOR MAGIC! MUST HEAR!!!! HOLY CRAP!!!

And into a friggin 25 minute Tweezer we go!!!! Tweezer spends most of its time in a laid back bliss zone before going wild in the last few minutes. Great jam overall but not my favorite.

After a gnarly MyFe we get the good but inessential run of Mikes Lifeboy Groove followed by a ripcorded Tweezer. Thankfully a fantastic Fluffhead closes the set in perfect fashion!

An acoustic Farmhouse into a fine Antelope is the encore. Farmhouse is just gorgeous....

All in all, set 1 blew away set 2 for sure. The Sand and Tweezer and Farmhouse are all essential listening, but set 2 definitely took a slight dip in the midle for a while.

Still, this is a KILLER show that everyone needs to hear once!

2021-12-31 Lititz, PA - Live From the 9th Cube

 Onward this morning to 12/31/21, Lititz, PA.

Aka, Live From the 9th Cube!

Wrapping up 2021, we have the crowdless webcast show for New Years. The first set gets off to an awesome start with a ripping trio of Moma, Tube and 46 Days.

Tube and 46 Days in particular are both must hear. Short but nuclear. Thats how Id describe both. A+ type 1 readings LOADED with energy. And Trey is out to kill tonight as well!

Awesome stuff worth a 2nd listen.

Afterwards is the shock surprise of the set and probably what this show is most remembered for - the return of Time Turns Elastic!!! They must have rehearsed the snot outta this as it is basically flawless without a hint of hesitation or nervousness. A+ Hot damn!!

Free follows and continues the type 1 domination of Tube and 46. Maybe not must hear but totally smashing nonetheless. The solo section is particularly excellent!

Ghost is terrific tonight, giving an extended jam that first rockets to the moon before breaking down into excellent ambient dark space! Must hear!

Slave is probably the weak point tonight. Not bad but neither is it poor.

The set closes with a rollicking Cavern like its 1993 again

All in all, this set was a wonderful surprise! I expected nothing and was totally surprised. Id say Tube, 46, TTE and Ghost are all legit must hear versions.

The boys sound TIGHT tonight with not a hint of rust! They definitely sound "prepared".

Even better, the between song banter with the online chat is total belly laughs throughout.

 

Set 2 opens with the obligatory excellent type 1 Sigma Oasis. Inessential but excellent all the same.

After a very nice bliss rock Disease and a powerful Miss You we get a lengthy YEM. Unfortunately its rather rough playing wise, especially from Trey. Weird how they nailed TTE but YEM is so sloppy! Thankfully they push through the vocal jam and the jamming beyond is magnificent!!!! Only a couple minutes but boy is it SICK!!

An unexpected and rare Frankie Says follows. After that is a wonderful Mercury>Possum. Mercury is one of the best played versions I can recall and the segue into a shredding Possum in lieu of a Mercury jam is so choice. Must hear!

Set 2 ends with a just ok ALBTD.

All in all, set 2 delivered the goods for the most part. The YEM jam and the Mercury>Possum are the keepers though. 

Set 3

The final set begins with excellent standard versions of Blaze On and WTU before a solid Everythings Right appears.
ER sandwiches ALS and is a very sweet version. Worth a listen!

The following Twist battles Ghost as the jam of the night however. Super dark and heavy and grimy. MUST HEAR!!

After Baby Lemonade and HYHU fun, the show, and the year, conclude with a fine Hood with a great finale section. Perfect

All in all, this show is way more fun than you expect!! TTE, Tube, 46 Days, Ghost, Twist and probably Everythings Right are all worth your time, even if none truly go next level (Twist and Ghost come close!)

Give this a listen if youve avoided and give it a relisten if you dont remember it!