2024-08-16 Dover, DE - Mondegreen #2

 8/16/24 Dover - Mondegreen #2

Set 1

The set gets off to an interesting start with a Bouncing opener! This actually works great, feeling more like an overture or into to the show rather than the "actual" opener. Very cool.

Kill Devil Falls immediately yanks us awake, however. A very interesting version, they take this one for a RIDE!! Not quite the robot hellscape of Light from 8/15, it still follows the same basic course, quickly deviating and totally going sideways for its duration. Relaxingly chaotic!!! Type 2 all the way, baby!! I dont know if Id call it must hear but is absolutely unique as hell and demands a jam chart entry!! Cool stuff!!!

The fun keeps going with a powerhouse Peaches!! The crowd roars approval and the boys burn it down. Awesome version for sure!!!

Free is really good but nothing special overall. Great little standard version with a little more funk than usual.

The first true must hear big boy of the night is Divided Sky. An absolutely inspired version, there is extra mustard all over this sucker. Played flawlessly, it just has that extra specialness about it. In a Gamehendge bereft summer, this just feels fresh!! Grab this sucker!!!

Small steps forward with set as me move into a very, very nice Tube. Only 7 minutes, but the jamming is great. Trey makes wonderful use of the whale siren loop and his delay pedals. Awesome stuff. Throw this on the highlights list as well. The funkiness slowly builds into a sizzling heat and they proceed to just tear our damn faces off. Definitely must hear! Sometimes the small treasures are the best treasures!!!! This smoked!!!

A really, really, extra excellent Mountains gives us a quick breather. Im burnt out on the song but this version definitely made me take notice. Definitely must hear!!! 10 outta friggin 10. This version was downright magical!!!!

Following Mountains, we get what may be the Reba of the year and one of the finest of this whole period of Phish!! Downright flawlessly played and tight like its 1995, it builds to the typical peak, but this one is so good it will give you goosebumps. Definitely must hear! An incredible reading!!!

Then, I was deflated when they moved into Twist (please shelve this for a while, im so done with 8 minute Twists!). However, this one is totally different to the laid back version from Bethel. This one just about goes type 2 and totally reaches a crazy rock and roll energy! This deserves a damn jam chart!!! Must hear? Probably. It's definitely refreshing!!!!

The set closes with a typically facemelting C Zero.

All in all, this set felt like a strange step down from night one for reasons I cant really place. Divided Sky, Mountains and Reba are all essential, while Tube, Twist, Peaches and KDF all deserve major mention.

Definitely a great set but I think it was perhaps a bit too "all over the place", if you will. 

Set 2

And the 2nd set opens surprisingly with an 11 minute My Friend! MyFr is a powerhouse. They dont really take it dark, but the rock it to hell and back.

Just as the jam fizzles out, they launch into a crushing No Men. This one ragers hotter than a supernova, eventually spending a few minutes in absolutely glorious Type 2 "screaming through robo space" land. This kicks SO MUCH ASS!!! X FACTOR ALL OVER!!! THIS WAS SPECTACULAR!! IF THIS DOESNT HAVE YOU HEADBANGING THEN YOU HAVE ISSUES!!!

And just as that jam reaches a natual apex, they launch into a 15 minute Ruby Waves. And holy moly this Ruby is a BEAST!!!! Super powerful, they rage hard until morphing into a funky kind of tropical island jam, or something. Very Twist like. They explore this far and wide until slowly things get dark and the jam devolves into a damn Melt jam!! Dark and broken and screwed up. Just fantastic. Total X Factor on this one. Essential!!

And out of the ashes of Ruby comes Pillow Jets. And oh my sweet Icculus. Top 5 or 10 jam of the summer right here. Holy mother of F......So PJ itself just annihilates, extra sauce all over. Then the jam suddenly moves into a crazy uptempo jam and we get ANOTHER PJ>Your Pet Cat pairing!!! The YPC back into Ruby is utterly DEVASTATING. Outer Space X Factor Dance Party gone wild!!!!! If must hear had a name, its the 8/16 PJ>YPC>RW. An absolutely masterpiece of jamming in league with the best of any era of Phish!!

WHAT ARE YOU DOING JUST SITTING THERE?!?!?! GO THROW IT ON AND LOSE YOUR MIND!!!!!

A nice Ghost keeps things moving. Its an excellent reading but stays in the "upbeat bliss rock" zone. Still, an honestly great version regardless. Really awesome outro with Page and Trey linking up. The outro jam really builds a strong head of steam and they shift flawlessly into a No Men reprise to close this psychedelic sandwich of ridiculousness. Im on the fence about calling that Ghost essential but it was definitely a perfectly fitting component of the set!!!!

Oh my effing god you guys. The Dead had their various sandwiches, but Phish just added a new all timer sandwich to the list......

AND NOW LETS JUMP INTO FLUFFHEAD!

As with Reba, Fluffhead is essential. Yet another dang near flawless reading from the boys. Not much to say. Fantastic.

The Harry Hood into First Tube is so great I'm not even bothering to say how so. Hood is, again, another must hear.....

All in all..... what do you say when you run out of things to say?!?!?! Set 1 was great but felt a bit "lesser" to me for whatever reason.

Set 2 was an absolute mother effing monster. Aside from MyFe, id say basically the entirety of set 2 and the Hood are must hear. For as incredible as night 1 was, this 2nd set was crazy, inspired and totally cohesive in the best way.

Juggernaut supreme.

Yea, I understand the 4.5 rating now...

 

2024-08-15 Dover, DE - Mondegreen #1

 8/15/24 Dover

WELCOME TO MONDEGREEN!

Set 1

The show opens with a spectacular Moma Dance. 13+ minutes and very exploratory, featuring several different sections. Not quite type 2, but definitely far into type 1.5, if you will. Wow!! Definitely must hear!!!

After a ripping BOTT, we a get a surprise 20 minute Wolfman!!! Longest Wolfman since 2009, no??!! This one goes deep into Type 2 and quickly at that. X Factor Magic all the way, this is MUST HEAR;!!! Terrific version, although maybe a little too "in the box", but thats nitpicking. Essential listening!

Next up we get a smokeshow Funky B followed by a stellar Roggae. Grab both!!!

Nevermind, forget those!!!

After a super fun NICU, we get a 15 minute, full blown type 2, NUCLEAR BOMB Wave of Hope! Now THIS was the best version since Mexico! Absolutely extraordinary, this is a damn 100/10 for me. Holy mother of Jesus this Wave is a rampaging monster!!!

The following 15 minute Sand is nearly as impressive. Very different from the Bethel masterpiece, this version is very laid back and groovy. Trey is just playing with his whale siren and loops, doing textural stuff while Gordo and Page do the heavy lifting. Then in the last part Page begins a motif that Trey slowly builds upon. They take several minutes slowly building to an incredible, face melting, world crushing climax peak. Incredible!!!

Damn!!!

All in all, set 1 was a massive success!! Not a single low point and EVERYTHING had energy out the wazoo. Moma, Wolf, Wave and Sand are all X Factor must hear version up with the finest music of 2024.

And the rest just plain kicked butt  

Set 2

The 2nd set opens with...wait for it.....a 25 friggin minute WGTYM. Yup!! And it is sick!!! Multiple sections and energy out the wazoo. Definitely must hear. However, I gotta say, I think im gonna kill Fishman. There were MULTIPLE times where the jam was begging to stretch and move but Fish kept on denying any tempo/rhythm changes. It was maddening!!! Someone take away that damn ride cymbal so he stops the never ending barage of "ratatatat"!!!! Im so sick of it!!

Change the tempo! Play with the beat! ANYTHING but that damn ride/snare combo!!! Im so sick of jams being "stuck" because he wont play something else!! AAAAARRERGFGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Vent over, we do get an incredible and massive peak finale that is worth waiting for, but just as it is moving into legit type 2 strangeness afterwards, Trey moves us into a lukewarm yet still pretty exploratory Chalkdust. Great stuff, but needed more heat!!

And perfectly out of the Chalkdust we slide into Light. Light is utterly RIDICULOUS, spendin most of its jam totally deconstructing itself into a dark and menacing robot vortex hellscape. Like, how?! That was LIGHT! Not "Dark"!!!! Must hear!!!!!

And the hits keep coming with a 15 minute Caspian. The song has been on an utter tear since 2023 and this one, honest to god, might just be the best. May all behold the glory and majesty that is KING CASPIAN!!!!! Raging hotter than the sun exploding in THE peak of the night, only to drop into a legit funky type 2 for a while just to build back out to a close. X Factor Magic times 20. Hear at all costs!!!

And just when the set seems done, they LAUNCH like whiplash into my new contender for hottest Crosseyed ever played (just keep getting hotter!!!!!). Complete and total destruction of the nuclear variety. Do NOT miss this!

After a much needed Lonely Trip to cool us down, another banger closes the set. A 15 minute (timing of the night!) smashes us hard, all majestically triumphant. Truly an excellent reading, in the wake of what surrounds it, maybe its not must hear, but it is EXCELLENT regardless.

Great encore of a ripping Possum into a terrific and measured Slave. Not much to say - this is a GREAT one. Throw this in the must hear pile!

All in all, holy mother of OVERKILL!!! This show and set was almost TOO MUCH!!! Possibly dethroning Bethel #1 from its lofty perch, this show is definitely a monster classic of a gig.
There was a TON of jamming! Nearly every song seemed to get an extended treatment!!!

For set 2, obviously the WGTYM into Chalkdust are must hear (I definitely need more time with those - they were great but irritated me at times...) and the Light and Caspian are both essential as well. And that Slave, yo....

Monster gig all around.And that Wave in set one really is THAT amazing. What a day we live in where the mega jam is actually one of the "weakest" of the whole show!! Hot damn!!

2024-08-11 Bethel, NY

 8/11/24 Bethel

Set 1

After an explosive INNYLTB opener (thank god its back!), we immediately dive into a fantastic 46 Days. 46 Days isnt dark tonight. Instead its peaky and majestic. Pretty standard bliss rock but still great.

But then, hold on to your hats because we get a massive 19 minute Gin!!!!!! Gin is total X Factor magic! Highly inspired, it quickly goes into a terrific deep space psych area, very unique and strange. Somehow they move from that into peak-bliss, raging like night 2s KDF before swiftly moving, yet again, into a really killer, speed-funk section!!! Following that, they burn the damn house down with the longest rage explosion this side of the 12/30/23 Life Saving Gun!

Dude, this Gin is TERRIFIC!!! X FACTOR ALL OVER THIS BAD BOY!!!! Holy crap lets go!!!

Shows over, pack it up, nothing more to see here!!!!

And then....FIKUS. WHAT IS GOING ON?!?!?! Dude! Wtf!!! And its not a tease - they actually play the whole song proper!!

Theme reaches epic heights tonight. Not quite must hear but there is definitely extra sauce all over! Sky high peakage!!!

Timber on the other hand, IS must hear!!! A slow burn face melter, this one just crushes.

Same goes for Human Nature. Man, this song just KILLS!!! PLEASE PLAY IT MORE!!! I BEG!!! GIVE ME THAT 30 MIN JAM LURKING WITHIN!!!

Limb By Limb is absolutely must hear as well. Total X Factor all over. Just an insane version!!

After an unexpected Axilla 1, the set rages to a close with an A+ Sigma.

All in all, I thought last nights first set was great, but this was like one heavy hitter after another!!! A FANTASTIC ASS KICKING SET!!!! THAT GIN!!! THAT LIMB!!! THAT FIKUS!!!
Id say Gin, Limb, Human, Fikus, Timber and possibly even Sigma are all MUST HEAR!!!

WOW!  

 Set 2

The 2nd set opens with a perfectly played Buried Alive. Super refreshing! When was the last time it didnt open the show?!?!

Immediately after we get a massive, masterpiece of a jam - a 21 minute ACDC Bag!!! Around the 10 minute mark it shifts into a crazy awesome "screaming through outer space" section where Trey just builds on this sick motif, loopers and synths abound. Eventually they slow it down for a nice bliss rock section before the jam get dark and wacky. FX everywhere. Gordo crushing. And they just blow our minds to its conclusion.

Complete and utter X Factor Magic. A Mexico-tier jam. My god!

And PERFECTLY, they lead us out of the ashes of Bag and into a 16 minute Fuego! A+++ on set construction, boys!! Really good version if not essential. It does funky trop rock for a good long time before going "askew" and sliding to a close

The following Golden Age is total X Factor though!!! A terrific version, this one gets pulled in 20 different directions. They jam the F out of it! Must hear!!

After a short Simple interlude, LSG comes to kill. LSG is total X Factor, going into a wonderful type 2 jam where Trey is going nuts with delays atop Pages synths. Memories of 2021 for sure. Wicked must hear, yo.

Harry Hood ends the set proper. Yet another terrific version, maybe a hair below must hear, but definitely still an EXCELLENT Hood!!!

Nice encore of ALBTD into a hot SANTOS.

All in all, set 2 friggin crushed!!! Bag, Golden Age and LSG are all totally must hear with special mention to Fuego and Hood. This show was an absolute MONSTER!!! How crazy to think night 1 was even crazier!!!!!

On to Mondegreen!!!!

2024-08-10 Bethel, NY

 A week later and we are on to 8/10/24, Bethel 2

Set 1

The show opens with a typically excellent BOTT. Excellent but inessential. Same for the following Sample. High energy and rocking but nothing special.

Thankfully the set pretty much goes straight upwards after these 2!!

We get a FANTASTIC Hey Stranger tonight. A+ all around, this goes on the must hear list.

Even better, we get a shockingly well played Dinner and a Movie outta friggin nowhere! Trey pretty much nails his parts and this is easily the best 3.0 version in years, hands down.

Halleys is weird tonight. It SMOKES and rocks like a mother, but they stumble awkwardly to a close with no jam!

Thankfully, they immediately launch into Sand. And, woah boy, this mother effing Sand. HOLY MOTHER OF X FACTOR MAGIC WHY IS THIS SO INCREDIBLE!!!! PEAK AFTER PEAK AFTER PEAK AFTER PEAK!!! Kinda psychedelic, this version EXPLODES beyond the usual hot Sands we are used to. Insane ...

A wonderfully laid back Gumbo follows abd gives us a quick break. Really great version, borderline must hear.

And then into Maze to kick our asses all over again!!!! Maze is typically destructive. Nothing must hear but terrific all the same.

After a flawless Weigh, we get the jam of the set. A 14 minute Cities featuring a few different sections and styles. X Factor all over this. Must hear!!!

A terrific Antelope closes the set. The lengthy intro jam is really nice and chill and then it explodes and Trey kills us all. Probably must hear.

All in all, I freakin LOVED this set!!! SO MUCH ENERGY!!! The playing was very tight and Trey was melting faces left and right tonight.

Hey Stranger, Dinner, THAT Sand, THAT Cities and probably Antelope are all MUST HEAR!!!!  

Set 2

A high energy Wilson is a refreshing opener. They follow that with a super disappointing 18 minute Disease that does nothing and goes nowhere...sigh ...

After a great little Waves (that segue!!!!) we go into a mediocre Twist to seal the crap deal ... Actually, it IS excellent, but once youve heard 1 eight minute Twist youve heard em all, ya know what I mean? Ill give it to em though. That was a FANTASTIC version overall. Probably must hear .....

They follow that with maybe the jam of the night!! A 17 minute KDF that spends most of its time in synthy looper land exploring the cosmos. Absolutely spectacular version, definitely MUST HEAR. X Factor all over this sucker!!!!

After a really nice Sea of Stars and an excellent "peak explosion" Numberline, the set concludes with a MELT YOUR FRIGGIN FACE OFF Ghost into Tweeprise. Ghost is must hear. Total annihilation!

Inspired encore of Velvet Sea into a great Runaway Jim!!

All in all, KDF, Twist and Ghost are what you need from this set. Total energy throughout, it just lacked flow and had a rough start with that waste of a Disease.mA killer show still, this is deserving of a 4.1 or so, not the paltry 3.7 on .NET.

Great stuff!!!

2024-08-09 Bethel, NY - SHOW OF THE SUMMER!!!!

 Holy hell, after month long break I finally get to continue 2024 today. Ive been so dying to get to the Bethel run!!

The show gets off to a wonderful start with an unexpected First Tube!! Really great version friggin LOADED with energy! Awesome!

And they immediately follow that with.... a nearly 15 minute, nuclear -friggin-bomb No Men!!! This sucker is MUST HEAR all day!!! It absolutely blazes, jamming its way to a laid back bliss zone before they kick up the heat again to finish. The final peak explosion section is one of the most "OHMYFRIGGINGODTHISISINCREDIBLE!!!!!" things Ive heard out of 2024. That is saying A LOT!

As with First Tube, a refreshingly placed Cavern keeps the energy going. Great little version.

But then, wait for it, in slot 4 comes....an 18 minute My Friend My Friend. And yes, my friends (pun absolutely intended!), this sucker is a monster. Around the 9 minute mark they slide oh so smoothly into a groovy kind of heavy funk jam. Welcome to type 2, boys and girls! This thing absolutely COOKS!! This thing is the Groove Machine Supreme!!!! Thankfully they stay put in this zone for a good, long time. Eventually Trey starts soloing atop everyone and the whole thing just starts to levitate, Page answering his soloing back on the keys. This sick funk jam lasts to about 14:30. From there it begins to get a little more "abstract", briefly flirting with deconstruction before they all lock in together on an upbeat groove and ride that sucker to the finish line....

X FACTOR MAGIC!!! MUST HEAR!!!! ALL TIMER VERSION RIGHT THERE AND ONE OF THE BEST JAMS OF THE YEAR, HANDS DOWN!!!!!!!! 

After Trey acknowledges the ridiculousness of the jam just unleashed, they give us a great little Bug to cool us down. Great set flow/construction with that choice! Really, really strong version. Not essential but worth a shout out!

And following up with Julius, everyone probably thought "oh no, this will be a short set". Thankfully that is not the case and this Julius is just another steamroller version is a set chock full of fiery heat. Page lets it rip on this sucker and the whole thing is just a wonderful little high energy affair. Great stuff!

Following in tonights vein of songs in unusual slots, we get a nicely grooved out 2001 next. This is a really, really good version! Extra mustard all over - the boys are LOCKED IN and the playing is creative and energetic. Im gonna give this a definite must hear! This thing smokes!!!

Continuing on with its tear since 2023, a ripping Taste follows. Super tight sounding rhythmically - once again, they are locked in tight!!! Total X Factor all over this bad boy. Pages piano solo crushes, Trey has tasty fills out the wazoo, the whole thing is played as good as the album version. This is a friggin FANTASTIC version of Taste!!! Absolutely must hear!!!!

And with that, the set finally comes to its actual conclusion with a spectacularly hot Character Zero. Just blazing. Maybe not must hear but it is total facemelting regardless!

All in all...HOLY CRAP THIS SET FRIGGIN KICKED MY TAIL!!! ABSOLUTELY KILLER FROM START TO FINISH!!!!

No Men, MyFe, 2001 and Taste were all 10,000 percent must hear. Pure X Factor awesomeness all day.

And the rest of the set was an exercise in refreshing song placement and selection with dang near all of it loaded with endless fire and energy.

This was a tippy top tier first set. Hands down. Wow.  

Set 2

Oh no, the set is opening with The Wedge. I love the song but maintain it should pretty much never leave first sets, though for some reason usually appears late in a second, and inexplicably OPENS the dang 2nd set tonight. Really good version but this was the first mistep of the show, imo.

Points for continuing to be creative with the set placements though!

In classic Phish manner, they immediately right their wrong and proceed to launch into a dang 24 minute Tweezer! Lets go!!!!!
----The first section sees them diving into laid back night time kind of chill grooveout. Very rhythmic. Trey picking his spots to jump in and out.
----Eventually Trey leads them into a more ethereal and uplifting kind of bliss section.
----Thankfully this doesn't last long and quickly Trey has set a loop and its off to robo noise and deconstructionville!
--- And just as soon as that section arrived they transition smoothly back out into good old fashioned rock and roll jamming.
Dang, this Tweezer is getting taken for a ride!
----They move right back out again and into another more groovy and slightly weird area. Very rhythmic, Trey with the robo octave goin (or whatever that effect is). They are just raging up a storm - listen to EVERYONE playing off of each other so flawlessly!!
----They are listening to each other, big time. This jam just wont stop morphing! There have been 10 different sections, each one just FLOWING so unbelievably smoothly into the next!!
From there, they proceed to reach "peak building finale section" time and rage it to a close.

X Factor strikes again! That was a terrific Tweezer hands down! Too "ADHD" for me with the constant switching from section to section, but it was all done SO PERFECTLY that I cant really complain!!

Of course this is must hear, what are you, dumb?

Golly!  

So that epic Tweezer ragefest mcgee concludes and Trey leads us into a 13 minute Pillow Jets. Honestly, this just might be my favorite since the debut!!! Its total face melting destruction, taken to Split Open and Melt levels of gnarly robo deconstruction!!!! Holy crap run for your life!!! The dying robo devil is here to take our souls!!!!! X FACTOR ALL FRIGGIN DAY!!!

And then....oh boy...THEY LAUNCH INTO A LIGHTSPEED TYPE 2 DANCE PARTY!!! WTF IS GOING ON?!?! THIS IS AMAZING!!!! HOLY CRAP WHERE DID THEY PULL THIS JAM FROM?!?!? EVERYBODY CONJURE THAT THUNDER, BABY!!!!

Holy smokes. The boys are positively INSPIRED tonight!!!!!!!!!! My goodness!!! This was insane!!!!

Now THAT was the GOAT Pillow Jets. Hands down. You have to hear this to believe it. That was some 1.0 level unpredictability. Oh my freaking god.... 

So that Pillow Jets insanity reaches a natural conclusion point and Trey leads them perfectly back into a Tweezer jam again. Am I hearing Manteca jamming? And even in this little 3 minute jam, they keep the inspiration going, taking it deep into a cool night time zone with Trey motifing all over the place. Fantastic!!!!

...and into Piper they slide!! Finally a damn Piper transition that didnt feel like a ripcord!!! And Piper is 15 minutes tonight!!! It rages nice and hot as usual until things get weird around 8 minutes in.
----Trey sets a loop and its off to the races!!! The jam takes on a really dark and menacing kind of MyFe vibe, if you will. They build a sonic soundscape - Page on watery keys in the back while Trey rhythmically keeps a vamp going. Fishman, of course, going banana sandwich on the kit back there.
----Trey continues his "Cinnamon Girl" one-note solo until somewhere around 11 minutes they start to break free of the spastic flailing around. Fishman is playing around with the beat a lot, thank god.
----This eventually builds back into a ridiculous, flaming hot finale section to send us on our way out. And we even get a minute of Tweezer jamming tacked on the end!!!
-This jam sounds like a runaway spaceship or something. Another essential piece of music from this epic show. Hot damn!!!!! May we thank the Conjurers of Thunder for continuing to bless us with the X Factor Magic!!!!

Finally getting the cooldown we need, they move into Shine a Light. And my god, what a perfectly fitting song and placement. It fits soooooooooo good out of that Piper! Great version!!!

And what a perfect way to end the set proper but with a dang 12 minute, type 2 Chalkdust!!! The song sounds great and the jam begins by immediately going into that "late night robo" vibe we have heard throughout the show. Page and Trey quickly link up for a really cool descending melodic moti that leads them into a lengthy "King Crimson" kind of upbeat section. Sick. And from there they rage it all back out to a close....another essential piece of music!!!! THAT PEAK FINALE IS MOTHER FRIGGIN EXTRAORDINARY!!! BEST CHALKDUST SINCE MEXICO HOLY MOTHER OF CRAP!!!!!

The highly inspired encore consists of awesome versions of BBFCFM, a surprise insanely killer Jibboo and the perennial favorite More to close. All are worth your time

All in all...what the hell was this show?! This felt like a Mexico gig or something!! Hands down THE show of the summer so far and its not close.

Tweezer>PJ>Piper and Chalkdust and Jibboo were all essential pieces of music

10/10. Its hard to picture how this show could have possibly been any more extraordinary.....

2024-08-07 Grand Rapids, MI - with Billy Strings

 Set 1

The show opens with a damn BANG tonight!!! My Soul and Undermind tear th roof off and the 16 minute Oblivion absolutely annihilates!!! I guess Billy kicked them into high gear!

HOLY CRAP THIS OBLIVION IS UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! NUCLEAR BOMB ROCK AND ROLL DESTRUCTION!!! LETS FRIGGIN GO!!! X FACTOR FOR DAYS!!!!

Seriously, that was one of the finest versions ever played. Ridiculous.....

Up next is a gorgeous Driver. Pages piano solo is wonderful. This is REALLY great and definitely on the must hear list.

555 is high energy as hell but doesnt really click til the raging finale. Definitely not bad in any way but not essential either.

Birds of a Feather follows the template set by My Soul and Undermind. Its short, blazing hot, and to the effing point. Not exactly essential in the grand scheme of things, but it crushes you while its here, ya dig? Killer. Give this the "underdog" award or something. It absolutely smokes!

Ether Edge continues its recent upwards evolution with another practically jammed version. Absolutely killer. It builds and builds before turning into interesting spacey kind of bliss rock.
Definitely must hear. Massive potential with sucker. Its begging to just burst open one day!!

Unfortunately, Trey kinda ripcords us outta the jam. Fortunately, its for Its Ice. Even better, it sounds GREAT tonight. Trey perfectly nails his parts, its played at a good tempo and the whole thing sounds like a shockingly well oiled machine. Man, 2023-2024 has been the best period for Its Ice since probably the 90s. PRACTICE PAYS OFF!!!!
Screw it, its so well played I'm calling it must hear. A+++++

This excellent set concludes with the nuclear bomb duo of About to Run into Walls. Predictably, both are absolute smokeshows. Not much to say. They both annihilated. Period. About to Run is totally must hear. Just total annihilation on that. And Walls is full tilt wah drenched nuclear bomb annihilation.

HOLY MOTHER OF SATAN THIS IS THE HOTTEST WALLS IN YEARS. INSANE!!!!!! WHERE DID THEY PULL THIS FROM?!?!

All in all, this was terrific first set. SUPER HIGH ENERGY!!! Oblivion, Ether and Ice, Run and Walls are must hear, while My Soul, Undermind and Birds all absolutely blaze. Night 1 probably had the "better" overall set, but hot damn there is nothing wrong with this. Its a barnburner, facemelter kind of set.

JUST THE KIND OF SET I NEEDED THIS MORNING!!! BANG YOUR HEAD!!! LETS GO!!!!!   

Set 2

The 2nd set opens with a solidly standard SANTOS before a terrific 13 minute Wave. Wave goes deep into heavenly bliss looper land before finally robowahing to a conclusion. Killer version. Probably must hear!!

And into an absolutely glorious type 1 Caspian. Terrific segue outta nowhere as well! Extra mustard all over this one! Id call this must hear.

From there we go into a terrific 12 minute Light. MUST HEAR! X FACTOR FOR DAYS!!! The jam immediately goes into darkness and they proceed to basically deconstruct the song into some robo fx sonic hellscape like its summer 2021 again. Pure type 2 all the way. Serious type 2!! Must hear!!

After the Phish portion concludes with a ripping Loving Cup, they bring Billy back out for the Phish debut of Whats Going Through Your Mind!!!! Sick on all levels, the outro jam is pure guitar histrionics.

Immediately they top that with an unbelievably mind blowing Wolfman>DDHVL combo.

Wolfman sounds like an incredible laid back southern rock kind of jam. Wolf as played by the Allmans?! Trey and Billy just egging each other on to more and more extreme ripping heights. At one point they both hit a "Divided Sky" note and hold it - TOGETHER - for what has to be a solid minute or more. My god. This Wolf is pure insanity. X Factor Magic for days.

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!!!

Shockingly, Wolf drops into a totally unexpected bluesy darkness. Here comes type 2!!! Even more ridiculous is that Trey lays DDHVL atop the bluesy swamp murk basically giving us a dark blues version if the song!!! What in the love of F..... Billy pushes this one over the edge and straighr into the lava....this is a serious contender for the greatest faceMELTING jam I have ever heard in my life. This is just PURE INSANITY!!!!! MUST HEAR MUST HEAR MUST HEAR FOR THE LOVE OF YOUR FIRSTBORN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thankfully they give us time to recouperate with a gorgeous version of Evolve. Stunning. Billys solo is just fantastic!!!! Trey follows with his solo, and its a damn strong one, but good lord Billy just elevated this to the stratosphere. MUST HEAR!!!!!!!

After a gorgeous acoustic Mountains we get a ripping Blaze On. Christ, Billys fills underneath Trey just spruce the song up so much!!!! As predicted, Blaze On is a firestorm. Total annihilation. Good stuff.

Awesome encore of Ginseng and Old Home Place before Frankenstein to close it all down.

All in all, another absolute smokshow gig from the boys. Massive energy throughout. Id say, Ice, About, Walls Oblivion, Light, Evolve, and the Wolf>DDHVL are the true must hears of the show. Maybe Wave as well.

It did feel slightly inferior to night 1 in a way I cant describe, but its vague. This show CRUSHES. Period. I dont know how anyone could leave either night and not be picking their face off the floor....

On to Bethel!

2024-08-06 Grand Rapids, MI - with Billy Strings

 Set 1

The show opens with the quasi rare Strawberry Letter 23. Great pick! Very good version if ultimately inessential.

The following Sigma Oasis, however, is absolutely essential!!! 11 minutes long, this one feels incredibly inspired. Everyone is "in sync" and its basically one giant nonstop orgasm. One of the top "peak explosions" of the year. Absolutely terrific. A+++++. Wow!!!

After a super rare and well performed Peaches, we get another must hear with Tube. Only 7 minutes, and treading most of the same ground as Sigma, this Tube nonetheless turns in another positively INSPIRED performance. It just FEELS amazing!! Must hear all day!!!

Theme follows suit and builds perfectly upon the high energy, inspired playing laid down in Sigma and Tube. Trey is AWOL in his solo at first, but eventually wales up and the song just friggin EXPLODES like I havent heard in a while. Hot damn that was SICK!!!

Stash is 13 minutes tonight. Basically, its Theme part 2. Not terribly unique, but its SO goddamn powerful and explosive that it will just knock your socks off. My god.

A quick Train Song cools us off before a final trio of fire to end the set. Steam is, again, explosive. Trey absolutely dominates this poor song and delivers a DEVASTATING solo. Incredible.

Rift is another A+ version. Trey struggles ever so slightly with the fast ascending lick, but other than that it is perfect and will have you headbanging like a Slayer show!!!

The set concludes with a giant 16 minute Gin. Yet another full tilt barnburner. Not much to say. Essential - its just SO kick ass...PEAK OF THE MILLENNIA!!! RAGE IT!!! HOLY FREAKING CRAP HOLD ON TO YOUR PANTS!!!!;


All in all....HOLY SMOKES!!!! Energy out the damn wazoo! This set KILLED! The song selection was kinda boring but who cares when pretty much everything knocks it outta the damn park. This was back to Sphere 2024 overkill jamming. If you want your face MELTED, this is the set for you

Sigma, Tube, Steam, Stash, and Gin are all MUST HEAR and Theme is definitely worthy of a listen. 

Set 2

The 2nd set opens with a quick 1-2 punch of Free into Sand. Both are too short for their own good, but while Sand fails to fully ignite, Free absolutely crushes. Not must hear, but this Free definitely deserves praise. Played perfectly and molten hot. A+ little Free!

After Sand comes a big boy 18 minute Ruby Waves. Unfortunately, the song itself and the peak finale are great, but for the rest of its duration Trey cant seem to get out of the damn way and let the jam do what it wants to do. Not a bad one, but certainly not must hear and also incredibly frustrating....

Thankfully a magical, X Factor loaded Harry Hood brings it all back. Must hear.

Now the fun begins....

At this point Mr. Billy Strings joins the stage and they launch into a massive 23 minute Moma Dance. Guitar histrionics and X Factor galore! 1,000 percent must hear - this is SICK!!!!!! Even more incredible is that it goes full blown type 2 for the majority of its duration, moving flawlessly from hard funk to ambient bliss to face melting peakage....The flow on this is unreal. This is one of the finest pieces of music Phish has ever been involved with. Incredible.

Basically, apply the above for Possum and ER. Both are 100,000 percent essential. Possum even had friggin sweep picking.....Possum is indescribably hot and ER is 15 minutes of blissful, raging, psychedelic mastery at work. All hail our lord and savior X Factor Magic!!!!!

Throwing Billy a bluegrass bone, we get an awesome pairing of Nellie Kane and Beauty before a typically destructive party Carini to end the show proper.

All in all...jesus christ that was incredible!!! Dont forget the Harry Hood, but you can basically trash the start of set 2. The Moma was a TRUE all timer (not just saying that!), as was Possum and ER. Grab those and Hood.

As a whole this show was kinda all over the place, but the highs were pretty spectacular.

Hot damn....