2022-06-05 Noblesville, IN

 6 5 22 Noblesville

Set 1

The 34 minute Sand and tour finale show has arrived! And they open it with one of the greatest "nobody could have called this" openers - While My Guitar Gently Weeps!!!! Heck yea! They kill it and Trey delivers a wonderful solo that is both patient and ripping at once. Simply put, they CRUSH this!! Absolutely essential listening! Trey is just melting everything in sight like the Chicago 2018 Moonage Daydream or something. Wow. Talk about a high quality opener!!!

Up next is a red hot My Soul, always a surefire sign its going to be a hot one tonight!! Maybe not essentil but know that it cooks hot regardless. Great version!!!! BLAZING HOT!

Rift is the definition of hit and miss tonight. Most of it sounds tight and BLAZING HOT with ridiculous energy from everyone, and then Trey comes and completely (literally) botches the ascending lick worse than the Coventry Glide. August 2004 Rift right here. Shame!

Horn is Horn. Good enough but nothing special.

Wombat kicks it back into high gear. This is the best played version Ive heard in a while. Super TIGHT and definitely well rehearsed!!! They just nail it!! Absolutely bursting with energy with an excellent vampy funk jam. Not truly must hear, but worth a listen - this is GREAT!!!!

After a typically lovely Evolve, we get a really good Guyuute. Unlike Rift, Trey gets his parts right, though there is a weird kind of "slightly hesitant" vibe to it all. Either way, no flubbage to my ears so this Guyuute is definitely a success!

Limb By Limb is excellent. The solo is just wonderful. Not must hear but a great reading nonetheless.

To my knowledge, the devolution of Mercury begins tonight with this measly 10 minute reading. Really nice version, high energy, pretty tight overall, though nothing special in the long run. A real shame too as it begins to jam and immediately is killed. Wtf, yo?!

Hot Moma is the surprise set closer. Good stuff! AND HOLY SCHNIKE WHAT A MOMA!!! Even by red hot type 1 Moma standards this is a cut above. Absolute machine gun Trey domination of the highest order. Must hear for sure!! This is a monster!


All in all, this was a highly enjoyable set though the highlights were definitely clear. Id say the opening WMGGW and Moma are the only "magical" readings of the set, though My Soul, Wombat and Limb all turned in excellent readings and Guyuute wasnt flubbed, lol. Also, Trey is still just crushing his solos like on night 2.

Unfortunately there were lows as well - 2022 continues to be the worst ever year for Rift, turning in an absolute disaster of a reading (from Trey at least). I mean, this one is BAD. And then the intro of short Mercury....

All that being said, the energy and enthusiasm were sky high throughout so that goes a long way, but there was definitely some slight....hesitancy to a lot of it. Wombat, My Soul, Moma and WMGGW were the only times it felt like things TRULY "clicked" in that special way.

Basically, an imperfect but highly enjoyable set! 

Set 2

So, a 34 minute Sand to open the set, eh?! Wow, ok! Let me see if I can recap this from memory after the fact:
The song itself is slow and sluggish tonight. They quickly get it together but at first its kinda troublesome.
----Very good type 1 ensues and lasts until around 10 minutes. At that point they make the decision to keep going and from 10 to 18 minutes, they jam the crap outta Sand, not going off the edge yet but definitely pushing the boundaries and exploring all the nooks and crannies. Awesome section full of wonderful playing.
----- Around 18 minutes things start to get properly strange and they take the plunge. Killer delay and synth jamming.
-----At the 21 minute mark they begin to build a peak and for nearly 6 friggin minutes they basically peak and explode this sucker over, and over and over and over. Absolutely ridiculous stuff.
------Come the 28ish minute mark the jam shifts and they devolve it from there, slowly winding down with a beautiful, laid back chill vibe similar to the final section of the Mexico 2024 WOPE or something. And from there we are out....

Wowzers!! What a beast!! This is an absolute journey. It doesn't get as crazy as I wish but that is extreme stupid nitpicking. This is an all timer for sure. There was almost no "searching" and it was constantly moving naturally. The different sections were all lengthy and explored properly. This was a monster jam, hands down.

Wow. 

A really, really nice Sigma follows to pick us up out of the ruin of that Sand. The song isnt particularly great but the jam/solo is excellent. In the final minute or so it begins to go type 2 and they move, PERFECTLY, into a Sand reprise to finish!! Hot damn that was sick!

20 Years Later is a grear set call after that and is surprisingly uptempo and powerful. Unfortunately it ultimately doesnt do much but its a great reading of the song itself.

This is followed by a much welcome Mango Song. Pretty good stuff but nothing essential. I will ALWAYS take a Mango though! Actually, this Mango is pretty friggin nice....

Everyone (except mine!)'s least favorite song, Rise/Come Together is next. This one is slow and sluggish, not great example when I try to explain how this song is awesome, lol. Typically excellent solo though!

After a strong Free to close the set, we get a nice encore of Grind into Slave. Free is played surprisingly well with no technical shakiness or confusion about the arrangement (for the most part). Free ends up being really great with terrific delay funk jamming. Killer set closer. This is an AWESOME Free. Definitely worth a listen!!! Eh screw it, call it must hear! THIS FREE ANNIHILATES HOLY CRAP!!!

Slave takes fooorereeeevvvveeerrrr to wake up. Pretty lousy for most of its duration, thankfully the final few minutes see it explode into a wave of nuclear bomb hose.

All in all, Sand is obviously THE major takeaway of set 2. The rest of the set is good enough but nothing else really is particularly great, ya know? It felt like they ran out of steam a little thanks to Sand. Free was smashing though!!!

An extremely mixed bag of a show but the highlights were massive!! Definitely not a poor show but not an amazing one either.

2022-06-04 Noblesville, IN

 6 4 22 Noblesville

Set 1

The show opens with a very nice Turtle. Nothing special but the energy is there and the tempo is up. Excellent.

They immediately kick it into HIGH GEAR with the following Undermind. This baby coookkkssss!! Maybe not truly must hear but its terrific! A definite highlight!!!

And believe it or not, Drift While You're Sleeping in slot 3 was spectacular tonight!!!! Somehow it kept the energy of of Undermind going and built upon it!!! An absolutely explosive reading, one of the finest I have heard. What in the F?!? A Drift in slot 3 that not only does not ruin the set but straight up elevates it?! Must hear!!! Holy crap!!!


After a fun Strawberry Letter 23, the hits keep coming with a blazing hot, X Fsctor Stealing Time. They jam the CRAP outta this one!!! A spectacular reading, hear this at all costs!!! No, seriously, the jamming in this is just absolutely inspired. Must hear. 10/10. THIS IS MAGICAL!!!

What the hell is this set so far?!?!

Runaway Jim is the perfect followup. It never fully "explodes" but the energy is sky high regardless and the back half is one big full-band interplay love fest. Maybe not must hear, but its terrific!!!!! Killer. Definitely a highlight and worth s listen.

Camel Walk gives us a slight breather. Terrific type 1 reading. As Brent Mydland would say, silky, silky smooth!! Definitely a highlight but probably not must hear.

Id say the following Timber is, however! It stretches wonderfully, just about going type 2!!!! The initial build up jam is stretched mightily by Pages colorful synths while Trey slowly builds his solo atop. Patient in the BEST way, the full band interplay is killer on this. Just listen to everyone listening close to each other!! Short but must hear!!! Wow!!

Julius and Melt close the set perfectly. Julius is absolutely BLAZING LIKE A COMET BRIGHTER THAN A FULL MOON!!! Holy crap. Nothing special but good lord it just rips!!!

A solid Melt sends us out. Not very long, barely passing 11 minutes. Despite the length, this has an awesome jam. For a Melt, its surprisingly cohesive, going into a 1999-style "tensely ethereal" zone flirting with ambience but really flying through the clouds instead. Wonderful stuttering synths and patiently building Trey. This is wonderful!!! Then they slowly move into a deconstruction zone for a bit before perfectly segueing back out into the song again. Id call this must hear. I thought it was surprisingly great, especially considering its relatively brief runtime!

All in all, this set WAS KILLER!!!!!! Everything was baseline excellent and Trey was very much "ON" with his playing. The band are definitely having a good night on the musical communication front as well.

Id say Drift, STFTFP and Timber and Melt are all must hear, while Camel, Jim and Undermind come close.

I can see why the setlist would turn folks off, but look past that and go LISTEN instead!! This set blazes, featuring spectacular Trey out the wazoo. I understand the "flaws", but for me personally this was a smashing set!!

Set 2

First 2nd set YEM opener since 1989?!?! And it reaches 23 minutes including a post vocals jam?!?! All that out of the way, the technical parts sound very good but arent "perfect". But zero complaints on that front - sounds great. The lengthy initial round of funk jamming is just oh so good!!! Pages keys give it an exceptionally laid back "take it easy" vibe and Treys soloing is just completely on point. Then of course they build it back up and tear the roof off accordingly. Right around 15 minutes Trey unleashes one of the most ridiculous explosions of fury Ive heard in while. Holy freaking crap!! Then Gordo funks it up and we go into the vocal jam. The vocal jam barely lasts a minute before being 86d. They quickly and smoothly move back into low key funk for a bit. Eventually the jam goes type 2 and they spend the remainder in a slow building, upbeat melodic bliss heaven kind of area. Just wonderful!!!

Holy freaking crap! X Factor ALL OVER that magical beast!!! That is an all-timer-since-2009 version, hands down. Many modern YEMS are real good, but few are truly GREAT like this one....wow... 

Following YEM, we get to finally witness the birth of Wave of Hope as a true jam vehicle!!! Nearly 19 friggin minutes on this one. The song itself is surprisingly funky and thumping tonight!! Total groover! The first section of the jam is an excellent and inspired aquatic robo bliss rock section. Genuinely killer. Around 10 minutes, after some delay action and a brief peak, the jam goes properly type 2, moving into a more low key, late night rock zone. They quickly move back into inspired upbeat bliss rocking of the non-generic variety. Wonderful and perfect melodic playing leads up to a killer peak at 15:30. The jam explodes with some massive, patented Big Red Sustains, lasting a solid 90 seconds of "kicking into overdrive". Around 17 minutes a stomping groove appears but Trey instead decides to reign them in and close the song proper...

That was DEFINITELY must hear!! It never got "strange" at all, but despite being 15 minutes of "upbeat bliss rock", basically, it all felt very inspired, not "searching" or lacking. This was just terrific for the most part. Killer!!

Great pick of a wah infused Bug to give us a cooldown yet still keep the heat going!! Trey is just soloing the crap outta this one. Awesome lil Bug. This version is SICK!!!! Must hear!!! Strangle that guitar, Trey!!!

We get a nice doubleshot of the Farmhouse album with Jibboo following up Bug. Jibboo is terrific, just loaded with extra pizazz throughout. Not must hear, but comparable in quality to the Jim from set 1.

The Howling is up next and boy does this sucker CRUSH. All hail our robo overlords!!! Total robot annihilation throughout from Trey, this is the funkiest thing Ive heard in a hot friggin minute. Seriously, I think this is must hear. Its FANTASTIC!!! This thing is WACKY!!! If Jibboo set the ball on the tee, this Howling absolutely knocked it out of the dang course!!! MUST HEAR!!! THIS IS KILLER!!!

The set concludes with Good Times Bad Times to complete a fiery trilogy of awesomeness. And by god is this fire - listen to Trey absolutely nail that solo!!!!! Freaking fire, thats what this is!!! Holy smokes!!! Im calling this must hear. This just annihilated...MACHINE GUN TREY!!!

In the encore we get something really unique and downright weird - SSSLLLLOOOOWWW MMMMAAAAAZZZZEEEE. This is so damn strange and I'm not entirely sure if this even "works", lol. A++++ for creativity and effort and doing something oh so Phishy! The playing is killer and Pages keys REALLY stand out in a big way on this - man those keys just crush on this. And then Treys terrific slow burn solo is just ridiculous. This is actually super awesome!!!
I dont know if Id want this ever again, but this lone outing is pretty friggin COOL!!!


All in all, I loved the hell outta this set!!! I would say YEM, Wave, Bug, Howling, GTBT and Slow Maze are all must hear!!! (That only leaves out Jibboo, and an argumen can be made for that one too).

This show was HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT!!! Trey was having a great night solo wise and the whole affair just brims with "extraness". Hell, Id say the 4.1 rating might even be a bit too low - Id give this a 4.2 or 4.3 most likely. All it really "needed" was, maybe, one more big improv piece and the show really could have gone next level!!!

2022-06-03 Noblesville, IN

 6 3 22 Noblesville

Set 1

The show opens with Theme. Stellar type 1 version, though I REALLY dont like it as an opener. I dont think that works at all.
Good stuff but nothing must hear.

The following Boogie On is terrific. Its extra lengthy and loaded extra. Must hear. Trey plays happy birthday and the crowd explodes - anyone know why???

After that comes a giant 17 minute Everythings Right. Unfortunately its not particularly special. Its really GOOD but never achieves real liftoff until the end and has a few minutes of disconnect here and there. Its excellent overall but not quite magical, if you catch my drift. Hell, it doesn't even escape bliss rock type 1 until 13 minutes. Overall its really that it just does not do much with its runtime.

Up next is another surprise Esther!! Great overall aside from Trey totally botching the outro section.

Even better, they immediately fade into Buried Alive. Must hear! This shreds!! And why did that segue work so perfectly?!?! This is FANTASTIC!!! GRAB THIS!!!

Same goes for Alaska! Kinda ragged at first, thankfully the solo freaking EXPLODES like a damn nuclear bomb!!! Machine Gun Trey is out in full force!!! MUST HEAR!!!!

Then comes dandy lil Mull. Anyone got a taco? This is fantastic!!!! X Factor Magic all over this beast, it stretches to around 12 minutes featuring wonderfullt patient and building jamming that goes into great melodic type 1.5-kinda zone, slowly essing its way to an eventual close. MUST HEAR!!! THIS IS AWESOME!!!

Absolutely raging versions of Birds and Cavern rock this HOT set to a close.


All in all, this was a weird set. The energy and heat are definitely here, but Trey is kinda having "sticky fingers" here and there. Terrific setlist calls/shakeups and a number of BLAZING HOT versions. At the same time all of it still felt like it should have been better than it was. Really not sure how to explain my feelings - this was great, but felt like it should have been exceptional. Or something like that.

Also, it definitely got better as it went along. It feels like they are warming up until they get through Esther. Then everything clicks and the rest of the set just smokes.

Id say Boogie On, Buried Alive, Mull, and Alaska are all must hear with shoutouts to ER - It tried real hard and was really nice, it just wasnt fully "realized"

My complaints are "thinking way too hard" nitpicks. Dont listen to me, its a pretty great set.

  

Set 2

The 2nd set gets off to an incredible start with the ultimate 1-2 punch that is No Men into Disease. No Men is must hear! Firmly type 1, but just oh so next level. There is definite X Factor with this beast. Wonderful ambient kind of breakdown at the end that leads into ....

Disease. 17 minutes of X Factor Magic. Absolutely essential listening, this thing annihilates! The song itself is tight, fast and ass kicking. You know its gonna be a good one when Trey is nailing that little "back and forth" lick! The jam is a damn adventure, going through 4 or 5 sections from delay jamming to upbeat rock to downbeat robo wah, etc It even has a slow breakdown to a fade out conclusion without Trey yanking them back into the song!!! A+ across the board. Wow.

After a very strong and passionate reading of Joy comes Ruby Waves. This Ruby is all type 1 but again is loaded with undeniable X Factor. This is freaking NUCLEAR HOSE BOMB OF THE HIGHEST ORDER!!! HOSE HOSE HOSE HOSE HOSE HOSE HOSE!!! Essential listening!!!

The Lizards is the only real lowpoint tonight. Disconnect from the start, Trey totally butchers Skippy the Wondermouse. This is the opposite of a clean version

Thankfully a very good Fluffhead picks us back up. Not essential but its mostly real good. Awesome.

The set proper ends with a OMFGWHATTHEHELLKINDOFMOLTENLAVAFIREFROMHELLISTHIS?! Chalkdust!!! Seriously essential, its incredibly EXTRA from the start. Must hear!!!

Nice encore of Contact and First Tube


All in all, set 2 was terrific outside of Lizards. No Men, Disease, Ruby and Chalkdust were all MUST HEAR!!! This was a KILLER show!!! Hell, it looks like the kind of show I would construct if given the chance!

Id give this a solid 4.2

2022-06-01 Charleston, SC

 6 1 22 Charleston

Set 1

Holy crap what a trio of songs to open the show!! Cool It Down is great - energy already and no sticky fingers from Trey. Not essential but its excellent!

The next two songs are definitely must hear though!!! A rare Foam is executed flawlessly. No, I mean that seriously, no exaggerating. Easily the best played version of all the ones Ive hard from 2021, 2023 and 2024. There is NO flubbage, its quick and tight, and they NAIL the outro that is usually a total trainwreck! Wow! MUST HEAR!!

Up after that is the 2nd and final version of Knuckle Bone Broth Avenue for two damn years, and that is a total mystery why as this things is tight, ripping hot, and just perfectly extra. Think of a perfect type 1 Moma with lots of robo wah. This kills. No clue why they shelved it!!!!!

Dirt follows and is just terrific. Ill call this must hear as well - Treys soloing is so POWERFUL. Just a killer Dirt!!!

555 and Gumbo are both great tonight. Neither are must hear, but both are picture-perfect "go to" readings with nothing but tightness and energy. Sick.

Numberline, however, is absolutely essential!! A magical version, Treys solo is spectacular, almost a mini jam in itself featuring a few different little parts/sections. X Factor Magic all over this one, the delay jamming is just insane. MUST HEAR!!!

After a terrific, killer type 1 Wedge of the Gumbo and 555 variety, About to Run comes knocking. See 555 and Gumbo. Excellent but nothing special.

The set concludes on a spectacular note with a must hear Divided Sky!! Talk about a climax, eh?! As with Foam, its nearly flawless, aside from about 5 short seconds of disconnect at one part. Trey is on fire, giving tribute to the gods of sustain. Just POWERFUL tonight. Awesome.

All in all, this set was awesome!!! Not ONE single weak link! The boys are playing TIGHT and enthusiastically. Trey is ripping. The song choices were killer.....

Foam, KBBA, Dirt, Numberline and Divided Sky are all true must hears and the rest of the set never dips below baseline excellent. Just killer. 

Set 2

Wilson is a fresh and high energy opener, but that is quickly forgotten about by the following 24 friggin minute multi beast Simple! Simple is fantastic. It never goes as deep as you would like, constantly flip flopping back and forth from slight dives into type 2 jamming back into melodic type 1. Over and over. But thats ok as the actual music is terrifc! The flow is outstanding. The peak finale is sick and the best part is when Trey reintroduces Simple higher up the neck and they start trying to sing it too high, lol. Good stuff. Must hear!!!

The following round of music will just blow your damn face off. A killer type 1 Caspian (seriously, Trey annihilates!) somehow slowly winds down and heads for either an outro or the start of some jamming. Out of friggin nowhere they segue PERFECTLY without any hiccup into Egg In a Hole! What in the love of hold my beer is going on?!?! This is SICK!!! Egg goes for 3 or 4 absolutely glorious minutes before finishing up and leading into ....

....a 14 minute Piper that isnt just a bliss rocker! This sucker uses its time well, jamming excellently and rocking hard to a close before Trey yanks them back into a Caspian reprise to tie a knot on top and send us out

Holy mother of x factor magic this sequence was FREAKING AWESOME!!!! DUDE! If you want some "WTF is going on?!" Phish, this is the set for you, lol

The following Lonely Trip is one of the most perfectly placed things ever. Another absolutely beautiful reading. I would call it must hear, but just about every version is fantastic....

The get us up and moving again with a red hot and robowah-laden BOTT. Normally Id say BOTT should never leave set 1 (along with Wedge!!!!!) but this is just killer. Perfectly patient playing, extra "eyebrows" all over, super tight, heat when it calls for it ....is it really must hear? Probably not? But know that it is a GREAT version worth your time!!!! This smokes.

Oh hell yea, Most Events is up next. Bring on the fire! Listen to Treys fantastically longing background fills during the verses. Extra mustard all over this bad boy. Listen for the stretched out Page playing during the start section of the jam. Then Trey starts doing cool stoccato delay stuff before he begins soloing. Must hear!! This was one of the best Ive heard. The whole thing was TIGHT and felt super....practiced? Everyone was just giving it extra. Killer.

Blaze On closes the set proper. In the words of our beloved Chris Farley: HOLY SCHNIKES!!! Fire from every angle, this thing is a nuclear bomb!!! Maybe not must hear, but christ on a cracker this thing is FIRE!!! Terrific close to the set!!!

Terrific 4 song encore that opens with only the 8th ever played version of Nothing, and the first version since friggin Mexico 2017. It sounds great, no rust. Play this more!!!!

Circus and Oh Kee Pah follow before a ragetastic party of a Suzy closes out the night for good.

All in all, HOLY CRAP WHAT SHOW!!! THIS SHOW WAS SICK!!! How in the hell does this barely have a 3.7 over on .net?! If this wasnt a 4.1 or 4.2 level show I dont know what is.

EVERYTHING was loaded with energy and the playing was as TIGHT throughout as ever in 2022 to this point. That 2nd set Simple and the Caspian>Egg>Piper shenanigans were just ridiculous. Hell, you even get a dang 4 song encore with a huge bustout...

Go give this show a listen, please! It will kick your ass!

2022-05-31 Charleston, SC

 5 31 22 Charleston

Set 1

A knockout 1-2 punch with a 23 minute SYSF into a 15 minute Walls to open!!!! Holy crap!! Unfortunately, neither realize their full potential. Both are GOOD but neither are GREAT. There is no "magic" or X Factor in either. SYSF in particular takes forever to get going, and it does get going very nicely, but still feels slightly undercooked. Plus it features the most ATROCIOUS forced return to the song Ive ever heard - absolute garbage ending!!!

Walls is still on the lukewarm side of things. As I said though, both are really nice but neither of them particularly excite.....

Things get better though. After a fiery Sample, we get a MUST HEAR Steam!!! X Factor all over this bad boy, Trey junps on the way and razes all in sight. A truly exceptional reading!!!

After MyFe and Sparkle we get another true must hear. Ocelot follows the same course as Steam. Total X Factor. If someone told me this was the best version ever played, I wouldnt argue. Holy crap. Seriously, everything about this is perfection and Trey is just killing.

After a stunning Leaves (MUST HEAR HOLY CRAP!!! Treys solo is freaking insane), Coil closes the set.

All in all, this was a bit of an interesting one. The 2 big jams were the lesst impressive part for me, Ocelot and Steam were the CLEAR highlights, the set had good flow, but also some super average stuff. Shoutout to Leaves as well - AMAZING version.

A good set but a bit all over the place. 

Set 2

The 2nd set opens with a very good Axilla 2. Solid, nothing special. The following 11 minute 2001, however, is very special!!! They jam the crap outta this!!!! X Factor all over, lots of wonderful full band interplay, Trey crushing with extensive robo wah action...This one is a DEFINITE cut above!!! This is AWESOME!!!

And they follow that perfectly with a great segue into a massive 17+ minute Light!!! The song itself sounds fantastic tonight, full of spunk and very tight.
-------The jam immediately begins without any searching - Trey jumps on the RoboHonk5000 and we get a great round of playing for a while. At a certain point the jam develops a slightly more laid back vibe and becomes a mellow bliss fest, but a fantastic one. Listen to Page and Trey playing off each other!
------Very slowly and fluidly, the jam starts to build back the heat bit by bit. Trey jumps on the robowah at the perfect moment, leading us from bliss hell. Man, this jam is SMOOTH!!! Total fluidity!!! Wow!!!
-------Eventually this leads to a more rhythmic and drum heavy section that sounds like it could bust out into Party Time at any second. Listen to Fishman just going all Keith Moon on everyone. This then dials down smooootttthhhlllllyyyy into a much darker and more tense zone. You know its a great type 2 jam when there are separate sections!
------This dark and textural zone slowly evolves once more back into atmospherically upbeat major key playing. The synths and bass fx are still going though so the whole thing has this kind of ethereal quality undercutting it all. My god this jam is FANTASTIC!!!
----Finally, the jam turns into a massively triumphant exploding volcano finale for several absolutely glorious minutes of ass kicking, eventually winding to a close and segueing into Mountains....

HOLY CRAP THAT JAM WAS SPECTACULAR!!! THAT WAS EVEN BETTER THAN THE ORANGE BEACH TWEEZER!!!! 

Mountains is the perfect breather tonight after that nutzo Light. Id call this one must hear, its fantastic!!! It sounds like a Sea of Stars jam played by the Dead or something!!! KILLER!!!!

A super fun Meat is next. Friggin fantastic, definitely must hear. Stupid fun!!! Tons of vocal samples and ridiculously swampy playing. KILLER.

Meat ends with a "didnt see that coming!" genuine segue into Golgi that.....somehow works?! Wow. Excellent and high energy Golgi. Golgi is Golgi but this is good chit, man. AWESOME GOLGI!!!! Golgi will never be must hear, but this version rages.

Old school double set outro of Slave into Cavern. Slave is pretty strong with tons of interesting fill work from Trey and blazing heat when its his turn to let loose. Machine Gun Trey is here, baby! And then his laid back playing at the start of the real solo....just beautiful. THIS SLAVE IS SIMPLY FANTASTIC!!!! ABSOLUTELY MUST HEAR!! JUST MAGICAL!!!

And Cavern is Cavern Seriously killer reading though....

Very inspired encore of 46 Days into a fantastic Tube. 46 is robo wah abuse hell, just gnarly and nasty and synthy and terrific. Tube follows suit. Both are very much must hear imo. Extremely cool delay jamming on that! Basically goes type 2! Absolutely insane!!! They both crush!

All in all, wow what a set!!! As a whole, this show was easily better than Orange Beach 3. 2001, Light, Mountains, that CLASSIC Slave, 46 Days and Tube were all must hear!!! And dont forget Leaves, Ocelot and Steam from set 1!! HOLY CRAP!

This show was far from perfect but set 2 was basically all killer no filler and the heights of this show felt higher than the majority of best material from OB3

The 3.5 rating on .NET is an absolute BS travesty. This show was an easy 4.1-ish level gig imo. The heights were just HUGE.

Great show!

2022-05-29 Orange Beach, AL

 5 29 22 Orange Beach

Set 1

Ooh, what an opener tonight, a 13 minute jammed out Character Zero! The freshness continues! C Zero is MUST HEAR!! Terrific version with tons of full band jamming and interplay. Absolutely essential!! Actually, you could say this even goes type 2 for a good while!!!

Same thing goes for the following Mike's Song - essential listening, it features legitimate full band jamming and isnt just a type 1 rocker. A+ !!!

After a nice bouncing its time for a 12 minute KDF! Unfortunately KDF is the first miss of the night featuring a jam that doesnt really go anywhere and gets killed off the moment it starts to go type 2. Bummer!

The following Winterqueen thankfully makes up for it. Stellar version, maybe not must hear, but definitely excellent.

As usual, Funky B crushes tonight. Terrific organ soloing from Page!!! Funky B absolutely rips, Trey just melting faces. Great stuff.

Great setlist call moving into NICU next. Good version, nothing special.

Carini gets some heat going but is similar to Funky B, worth a listen but nothing essential.

The set closes with a nicely jammed Weekapaug to pair with Mikes Song. Good stuff.

All in all, this was a GOOD set. The only lowpoint was that waste of a KDF. Mikes and C Zero were the only "impressive" music of the set (maybe Winterqueen and Paug) as most of the set was stuck at "very good but nothing special" level. Weakest of the 3 first sets so far, imo. 

Set 2

Awesome start with a Landlady bustout. Must hear, they play it flawlessly with great energy!

But thats just a primer for the mother effing kaiju sized MONSTER that is this 22 minute Tweezer!! All timer jam alert! Must hear at all costs!!! This thing goes throuh 4 or 5 distinct sections from funky rock to blissy rock to HEAVY EVIL FUNK ROCK finally culminating in one the craziest, most insane deconstruction jams ever played. The Albany 2024 Fuego has nothing on this, ok? They spend a serious 3 or 4 minutes slowly breaking it all down into a psychedelic soup of screaming drills and synth and Fishman samples .....
Utter insanity on a 1.0 level of sorts. Just unbelievable. This has to be the jam of the year so far and goes toe to toe with any great jam of 2021 (or any year)!

An absolute monster!

Great drop into a short Plasma to save us from the abyss. Nice version with great bluesy playing from everyone. Grab this!!!

Same for the following 13 minute Wolfman. Another essential piece, total X Factor all over this. Spectacular jamming, and its pretty fresh getting a great version late in the show. This is fantastic!!! Total type 2 robot uber funk jamming. Incredible jamming!

After a solid Miss You, we get Maze and Hood to close the set proper. Both are good enough, but neither excel or make you take notice. Both are supremely average.

Uninspired encore of ALBTD and Tweeprise.

All in all, this set was immaculate until somewhere around Miss You. Then it just lost steam and kinda floated lazily to a conclusion.

The music played straight through Wolfman is all must hear. That is some HIGH QUALITY FRIGGIN PHISH!!! Overall id say this show probably deserves its 3.6 rating - nothing is bad but a lot of it is "enjoyable but supremely average" if that makes any sense.

C Zero, Mikes and that 2nd set sequence are as excellent as anything, but everything else is kinda "eh, that was pretty good I guess".

Easily the weakest of the 3 shows to my ears.

2022-05-28 Orange Beach, AL

 5 28 22 Orange Beach

Set 1

Off to a bangin start when we begin with a damn 20 minute Sigma!!! I still cant believe this song became a primo jam vehicle when it screams "first set type 1 rocker". But thats Phish for ya! Sigma itself spits and snarls tonight - hot energy on this one.
------Immediately at the 8 minute mark they drop into a funky, delay-slashing kind of rhythmic jam akin to something out of, say, Golden Age. Aw yea, lets friggin go! Immediate type 2!!!
-----Fishman drops into the 2001 beat (pretty much!) for a solid 3 or 4 minutes while a chill funk takes over. Gordo THUMPING it up, Trey motifing all over the place, Page on the Rhodes....super 1997 style jam!!!
-----Around 13 minutes Trey starts wah soloing and the jam goes into super funky rock and roll jamming. Definitely slowly working towards some kind of peak down the line.
----At 16 minutes everyone syncs up on an ascending melodic motif and they definitely commit to some peak building for real!! From here they slowly rock it out to a majestically triumphant conclusion. "Youre already there!!!"

Yo, that was fantastic!!! Total X Factor all over that. The funk jamming was PRIMO. Hot damn, what a way to start a show!!!!

And then straight into Possum. Possum is very relaxed tonight in an excellent way. Everyones playing is just on the mark and Treys soloing feels blusier than usual. Kind of a slow burn Possum - this is actually great! It explodes in the back half and Machine Gun Trey comes to kill. SICK POSSUM, YO!

AC/DC Bag is standard tonight but totally full of energy and is just an overall great little type 1 reading. Nothing essential but its excellent!!!

Up next is an excellent Reba. A+ job, for 2022, on absolutely nailing the technical section!!! Hell yea! Seriously, this is basically as good as Ive ever heard "modern" Phish play it. Terrific. The solo is really fantastic. Super patient tonight, it begins real chill and delicate, moving into a darker, more intense zone before positively erupting out of the dark clouds and into the sunshine for a typically blazing Reba solo finale. Wow, that was a GREAT Reba!!!! Maybe not magical, but definitely excellent! And it even comes with whistling! Must hear!

Roggae is placed perfectly tonight working wonderfully as a cooldown after Reba. Everyone is locked in tight and Treys soloing is sooooooo on point. Nothing special you havent heard before, but this is about as good as a Roggae gets, pretty much!!! Killer! Not essential, but the Roggae equivalen of the Bag from earlier in the set.

Up next we get a MASSIVE 9 year, almost 300 show bustout of My Minds Got a Mind of Its Own. First version since friggin fall 2013! Sounds great, no slop here! Nice.

One of my favorite songs, The Final Hurrah gets us up and boogying again. Sounds great, and boy do I wish this was in regular rotation! Thankfully this version SMOKES and MG Trey is out in full force! Id call this must hear - it is SO hot!!!

Finally, the set concludes with a large and in charge 11 minute Free. Heck yes, lets go. And Free is several magnitudes even better!!! Extreme cyborg robo grooving. All hail our dystopian cyberpunk overlords!!! Holy effing hell though - X Factor Magic ALL OVER this sucker!!! The funk jamming is some of the most intensely headbangable music Ive ever heard. Gordo on FX, Trey doing fantastic delay slashing work, Page on wiry synthesizers. This thing is a damn MACHINE!!! And then Trey just letting it rip atop the mechanical soundscape, slowly leading them back into Free so friggin flawlessly....

That Free was INCREDIBLE!!!! HOLY CRAP!!!

All in all, this was a terrific first set!!! Not a weak link in the chain, the high points are higher than those of nights 1s first set. The boys are LOCKED IN tight tonight with no hint of sticky fingers or slop!!! Id say Reba, Sigma, Hurrah and this insane Free were all genuine must hears, while Bag and Reggae were both A+ type 1. Throw in a 9 year bustout sounding like it never left rotation and you have the makings for a wonderful set!!!

AWESOME. THAT FREE, THO!!!!! 

Set 2

Perfect way to open set 2 but with Wave of Hope. Basically a perfect and red hot type 1 reading. If you want a "go to" reading of the song itself, this is the one. Its still incredibly strange to me to be listening to a time where most versions were still sub 5 minutes! Thankfully this would soon change for good!

Wave ends awkwardly with a full stop but they maintain momentum by launching into a 16 minute Mr. Completely - played at the right effing tempo for once! Yay, a Phish version that doesn drag!!!! Golly, this one is like a dang freight train. So great to hear a tight version for once.
----Initial rocking gives way to uptempo major key rocking via Page taking charge on the keys. Trey is being patient, not playing too much, but playing stuff that fits.
-----Unfortunately, minimalist Trey goes for too long and the jam starts to reach that boring "is anything going to happen??" kind of area. They just languish in a nicely melodic "aquatic bliss" zone for way too long. Music to zone out to - Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
---What they are actually playing is good, they are just stuck in first gear doing the same stuff over and over and over, like a precursor to some 2023 jams or something. It thankfully picks up a serious head of steam and the final 2 minutes see Trey going full psych shred on us, but its too little too late, imo.
The actual playing and energy were GREAT, but overall that was a bit of a "nothingburger" jam.

Thankfully they maintain the energy in the best possible way by launching flawlessly into a rare Walk Away! Guarantee NOBODY could have called that! AND MOTHEREFFING NUCLEAR BOMB WALK AWAY JUST DESTROYS EVERYTHING IN ITS PATH!!! GET TO YOUR SHELTER!! IF YOU ARE NOT UNDERGROUND YOU WILL NOT SURVIVE!!! Also, mad props to Fishman for the FANTASTIC Mr. Completely jamming beneath it all!!!!

HOLY CRAP THAT WAS INSANE!!! FIRE UPON FIRE UPON FIRE UPON FIRE UPON FIRE!!!

And into a nearly 19 minute Golden Age we go. Please, for the love of god, get strange on our asses! Around 8 minutes the jam goes type 2, moving into a late night, laid back funk vamp zone. And holy hell this thing FUNKS.
....also.....ALL HAIL THE MEOWDULATOR PEDAL!!! THANK YOU MIKE FOR GRACING US WITH CUTE LITTLE KITTY MEOWS AT EXTREME VOLUME!!!!
----By 11 minutes, the late night funk is slowly evolving into something more rhythmic. Page on the Meatstick synths, Fishman switching up the beats, Trey doing lots of good melodic motifing. This is killer! The whole band is locked into the GROOVE ZONE, just crushing as one 4 headed monster. Killer.
----Out comes the robo wah for some color for a bit before back to "standard" melodic bliss rocking. Thankfully it is just bursting with energy and the whole jam is positively exploding! From here, they spend the next long while in "hose peak" land just absolutely rocking to a finale.
Yo, that Golden Age was fantastic!! Definitely must hear!!! Normally I complain about jams like this, but not when they are THIS great!!! This is a spectacular Golden Age!!! GO HEAR THIS NOW!!!!

After a short return to the GA theme to close, they launch onwards into a very nicely placed WTU. Awesome version. Most sound alike, but I swear this one is extra, if you will. Just killer. Perfectly delicate yet tense and brooding. Beautiful WTU!

Super refreshingly, we get a rare 2nd set Moma Dance to follow. Bopping hard, its uptempo, tight and rocking!!! A perfect way to get us back up dancing!! This sucker BOPS!!!! Even though this stays type 1, I would put this in the must hear box for this show. This SMOKES! Awesome little Moma!!!!

A very rare If I Could is up next and golly is it a pretty song or what? Excellent placement as well, imo. Not truly must hear but my god this is just fantastic regardless. Gorgeous!! Aw screw it. Just grab this, it's great!

The set proper concludes with a lengthy Antelope. And its a good one!!! Just absolutely blazing with that same fire and intensity as Walk Away, the machine gun section on this is just * slams head into concrete * By modern Antelope standards this is a mothereffing masterpiece!!! Seriously, this is 1994 level HEAT. Must hear!!!!

Terrific encore tonight of I Am In Miami (2nd and last to date ) followed by Izabella. Miami is super fun if a but awkward, haha. Please break this back out!!! And then here comes nuclear bomb Izabella. Machine Gun Trey out in FULL FORCE like its 12/6/97 or something. Absolutely must hear!! Holy smokes!!!!!

All in all, this show was a KILLER!!!! This was an easy 4.2 or 4.3 level show in my book. Inspired setlist again, incredible effing HEAR, interband TIGHTNESS, multiple deep jams, energy out the wazoo...man oh man this show was a HEATER of the first order. Also, it did away with the "ramshackle" kinda nature of night 1 - tonights Phish was a lean, mean, fire spewing machine!!!

Set 2 was so great. Flow out the wazoo, Walk Away, Golden Age and Antelope were all true must hears while everything else was baseline excellent and hot. Special shoutout to that Moma and for Mr. Completely sounding awesome, if not for the bland jam.

This show is a winner. Full stop.