2025-07-03 Boulder, CO

 7 3 25 Boulder,,

Set 1

Wolfman opener tonight. Nothing special but it rages hard with high energy and is a terrific start to the show.

The first must hear is a very lengthy 13 minute Tube. No funkiness here, this one is all power and melodic bliss rocking. But taken to an extra degree!! It slowly just builds and builds getting more and more dense, eventually peaking for a long while before SLAMMING back into the song and out. Terrific version!!!!! Must hear!!

Next comes the first true magic of the show. A Rare Roses are Free follows Tube. Excellent version of the song, but the real shock is that they jam the crap out of it!! Immediately (and I mean immediately), they go type 2 (im calling it type 2) by jumping into a unique stoccato rhythm pattern. Cool stuff. Some slight FX usage, but from here they basically deviate into an extreme kind of "power rock on steroids" jam or something. Just screaming!!! Hot damn!! The X Factor is just oooozzzziiinnngggg from this version. MUST HEAR!!

Perfectly on cue they drop right into Maze. Heck yes. Maze is typically hot and tight. This one feels very uptempo with extra intensity. Also, I swear Page's solo goes twice as long, allowing them to just quadruple the usual energy by the time its Treys turn to rip. This Maze is off the rails. And HOLY MOTHER OF MOLTEN LAVA TREY JUST ANNIHILATED THE UNIVERSE!! HOLY FREAKING CRAP!! Good god, this was an exceptional modern version. Maze has been awesome in recent times but even still this one is just so "extra". Absolutely friggin must hear, holy crap.

And man, talk about a perfectly placed Bouncing Around the Room after that devastation. No, really, this was so perfect - and needed. Great version.

Slowly they build the energy back with Nellie Kane. Unfortunately its not a particular good version. It drags with tempo issues and they never seem locked in. Gordo is even dropping lyrics and even Pages solo kinda sucks! Wtf, yo....

Thankfully they swiftly launch into a 12 minute KDF. Much better! The jam begins with Trey kicking on some chorus/vibrato and toying around with some darker kind of melodic playing. "Night time" jamming, if you will. Quickly they move back out into a decidedly upbeat bliss rock area. Kinda chill, Trey doing upward motifs echoed by Page. Kind of ethereal? Eventually it picks up more and feels like they are starting to click some. But we are still just exploring high energy upbeat melodic bliss rock. Thankfully they soon turn the energy to 5000 and proceed to melt our faces! For several MINUTES they basially peak the ever loving crap outta sucker!!! Trey is peaking, setting loops of said peaks and then peaking again on top of those to creat one massive UBERPEAK. No, seriously, this is must hear for that final section. Holy moly.....

Finally, this fireball set concludes with the double whammy of Sand into Fluffhead. Sand is awesome. Very textural and late 90s sounding. Patiently building the dark mood, Trey using whale sirens (that are unfortunately mixed almost inaudible...), Page echoing throughout on his synths. This is a very patient version. Its not low energy, they are just taking their sweet time and it is glorious, slowly raising the energy bit by bit. Eventually Page turns back to piano and it's off to the expected raging peak. Is this must hear in the grand scheme? Probably. This is damn "perfect" version, perfectly grown and executed. I would definitely say this needs to be heard.

As with the rest of the set, Fluffhead is perfectly uptempo, high energy and generally tight as hell. In other words an excellent reading and a fantastic ending to a crushing set. Really though, this is a STUPENDOUS reading of the song!!!! Man, they absolutely nailed it!!!!! This has to be the most well played Fluff Ive heard in a long time. I mean, its basically flawless and TIGHT. 10/10, A+ reading. For real.

All in all, for some reason I get a slight "vibe" of this being a lesser set (whatever the hell that mean), but I also thought it was basically all killer no filler aside from Nellie Kane.

Tube, Roses, Maze, KDF, THAT FLUFF and probably Sand are all definitely must hear. Nothing really gets strange in this set, just an excess of energy and tight playing even higher than the already high standards of the tour so far. Basically, you like fire? This is the set for you.  

 

Set 2

The second half of the show opens with a 12 minute Carini. As expected Carini. Right away its apparent this will be another "extra" version. Just subtle things, like the extra vocal prowess or the way Page is creeping in synths. The jam begins with Trey doing that patient thing again from Sand. Page echoing him underneath with dark synths is awesome. Trey kicks on a demented Leslie type sound and the jam starts to sound like the depths of the ocean. Trey then proceeds to do some excellently demented wah pedal texturing. They all eventually link up and the jam feels like its moving upwards and back towards the surface. That is indeed what happens and the jam morphs into high energy melodic bliss rockin. Man, is Fishman on fire this tour or what?! He is just exploding. The upbeat rocking takes on an introspective kind of "floating in the sky" vibe. Check out Fish, Trey and Page all in sync, reacting to each other. There is a cool section in the back end where Trey and Page are doing call and response kind of jazzy noodling. And then, this being Phish, they straight up start jamming Deliverance, lol. The jam kind of fades into a strange, screwed up, airy kind of wash from here. That was a really interesting Carini. Not my favorite but that jam was....something! Lots of cool "subtleties" to pick up on. I personally wouldnt call it must hear, but if someone else did I wouldnt argue.

On cue, squalling feedback leads straight into a perfect launch into YEM!! And just like Fluff, they proceed to friggin nail it! Treys playing is TIGHT!!!! Wow! I mean, this is 1.0 tight, lets put it like that. During that "ascending minor key staccato" part, Trey throws in some terrific fills with his sustained notes. Smashing! They rage it to a short vocal jam. They proceed to segue spectacularly back into jamming and proceed to let it rip for another 5 or 6 minutes of type 1 magic. Overall this, like Fluff in set 1, is basically a straight up A+ "standard" reading played as flawlessly and energetically as the very best of modern Phish. Its not "unique" in the grand scheme but it absolutely deserves recognition. Its must hear for sure - not because it gets weird or is particularly "special", but because they friggin nail this m-effer to the board. Tight, tight, tight, tight, TIGHT!!!!!

The jam concludes and Trey counts them off into a 17 minute Sally. As expected, this sucker is gooey and funky. Gordo has it BUMPIN, yo. Stellar type 1 funky raging.
All the way around 9 minutes it finally shifts, moving into upbeat major key rocking. Unfortunately the jam never gets strange preferring to stay in rocking up tempo type 1. I wish it got exploratory but you can't complain too much when it's this hot. Great stuff. The peakage on this sucker is ridiculous, even crazier than KDF. Yet another must hear!

Sally winds down nicely and oh so perfectly they rebuild us up into a short version Light. Nothing special but its a terrific type 1 reading played, again, uptempo and with extra tightness. Good stuff! The jam quickly finds itself moving into a really cool low key kind of chill out jam. Listen to Gordo and Trey playing off each other. Killer. The jam spends a bit meandering in this funky darkness. Trey sounds out of it, unsure what to do. There is a cool/funny moment where Trey does the opening chord of Plasma and they easily could have moved right into it - Gordo heard and immediately begins playing the Plasma bass line harder and harder, as if to signal Trey on. Trey instead kills the jam and weakly moves them into Whats The Use.

And I guess thats a proper thing to say about that lousy jam! The following WTU and Pillow Jets....im not sure if these are good, grimy versions or supremely average readings never worth hearing again. You be the judge.

Average readings of Possum and 2001 close out the set.

Nice encore tonight of a surprise Stash and Rocky Top. Stash is a tight type 1 reading that goes nowhere but Rocky Top is awesome.

All in all this show seem to lose major steam once Light hit, which is a real shame considering how high energy and tight the playing is throughout. The first set was genuinely excellent and the second set started on the same track.

The Carini tonight isn't my favorite but I can't deny that it at least goes quite out there. The the following YEM and Sneaking Sally are both smoke show readings as well. Then it's like the show just falls off the rails huh.

I would rate this show like a solid 3.8 or so in comparison to the shows around it. There is very, very little in terms of exploratory jamming - this is a HIGH energy, TIGHT as hell ROCK SHOW kinda gig. Far from poor but honestly maybe the 2nd "worst" of the tour so far. Or something like that.

Do not sleep on the highlights though!!! 

2025-06-28 Austin, TX

 6 28 25 Austin

Set 1

Holy crap a 10 minute Punch opener. Holy mother of all my freaking YES!!!! And its another TERRIFIC version!!!!!! In the scheme of the crazy versions played this year its maybe the least impressive but this is the biggest nitpick of all time. By modern Phish standards, this is yet another exceptional reading. Tight, red hot, and UPTEMPO LIKE ITS 1995 LETS FRIGGIN GO!!! A+ start to the show!!

Then, as if this is the cover photo for Pantera's A Vulgar Display of Power, we launch into one of the tightest, hottest, most insanely strong type 1 readings of Free that the last few years has seen. Tight as hell, energy out the wazoo. This one is a pure smash to the face. And that solo?! Gnarbars. Freaking gnarbard, amigos. This is must hear. Big time.

Following that, they cement the fact that this is going to be an incredible show with a typically blazing My Soul. Nothing must hear but its an excellent headbanger as usual.

555 follows next and delivers a terrific type 1 reading. Again, super high energy and nasty enough without dragging. Not must hear but still great.

The first mixed piece of the night is Reba, unfortunately. Trey totally botches the start of the technical section and sounds kinda shaken all the way to the solo. I would not call this anything but average. Except (and its a BIG except!) that effing solo. It starts out kinda lame but eventually "clicks" into place and delivers a lengthy jaw dropping peak explosion up there with the strongest of recent years. Honestly? This is must hear - just for that solo!!!

And on into Hey Stranger. And holy moly what a smokeshow! Must hear all day, it's basically the equivalent of Free from earlier in the set. Hot damn!

Some good song choices up next with Plasma and an uber rare Guelah!!! I don't think Plasma reaches must hear status, but it is excellent regardless, with a killer high quality rock an roll finale.

Guelah is fabtastic to hear and sounds great. Nothing else to say.

The set concludes with Moonage Daydream. A ridiculous version, even by MD standards this one is oh so extra. Must hear. Must hear all friggin day!!

All in all, this was another great set!! Blazing energy and mostly tight as hell. A number of "average strong" versions, but thats a little nitpicky. Free, Hey Stranger, Moonagr and the Reba solo are all must hear!!! 

 

Set 2

The 2nd half starts very badly with a LOUSY Chalkdust. 11 minutes, it lacks energy, going nowhere and doing nothing. They try to "chill bliss rock" it but Trey is lost for what to do and abortd the jam back into the finale (which doesnt even rage). Crapdust Torture is more like it.

Following it with a type 1 Twist is just rubbing salt in the wound. At least this is an excellent version regardless that absolutely SMOKES. Not must hear, but worth a listen.

Up next we are finally saved with the Big Boy McGee of the show, a 30 minute Ruby!!!

Ruby is amazing tonight. The initial jam sees them slooooowwwwllllyyy ramping up the energy, bit by bit all the way to the 10 minute mark. But its not a rock and roll kinda thing, its more of a "lets make this more DENSE" kinda thing. Just adding more and more weight until we reach a point where Ruby has officially reached Hefty Boy status. Then around 10 minutes the jam somhow morphs quickly into this tense, dark, kinda scary zone. Very textural with Trey laying back and Page doing his soundscape synth thing. Extremely cool stuff.
Unfortunately, Page then leads us into melodic bliss jamming at the 15 minute mark. Around 17 minutes this begind to pick up steam and they rock and roll rage it to about 20 minutes with a terrific kind of "quasi peak". Killer. Around 20 minutes, the jam shifts again into a spectacular kind of heavy funk jam. This section STOMPS likes its crushing you. Fantastic. Around 25 minutes it slowly morphs back into rock raging and it rages hard with a purpose until the final minute or so where it morphs back into an extremely cool "bottom of the ocean zone" and they fade her to a close ....

Even better it segues spectacularly into Monster as if it was a suite!
Ruby was fantastic. The flow was out of this world. Multi sectional with just enough variation and time to each section. An absolutely WONDERFUL jam!!! No, seriously, this is what perfection sounds like. Its incredible and this review is the furthest thing from doing it justice.

Anywho, Monsters is INSANE.

Its always a smoke show, but this one goes above and beyond. I know I say this all the time but honestly I think this might be the best version played to date. It's at least tied for that version that I rave about from Summer 2024, Deer Creek, I think? Unreal version.

Limb By Limb is next and is a very mixed bag. The song itself is pretty lackluster with a pretty big near Trainwreck that almost derails the whole thing. Thankfully they turn it around for the solo and trade delivers one of the hottest most searing peak fest solos of recent times. Honestly this is just like Reba - forget the song but you need the solo at all costs.

Split Open and Melt is on the slightly shorter side tonight. No real space robots to be found, instead this one sounds a lot more like careening through outer space hurling head-on towards an asteroid you're about to crash into. Or something like that. It's not must hear but it's pretty darn good!!

Finally the set proper closes with a typically kick ass version of Rock and Roll. Another searing reading it more than does the trick and is a super refreshing setlist choice to hear. Always welcome by me!!!

Nice encore of Waste into SANTOS.

All in all, this was a very mixed bag of a set. Ruby and the Limb solo are really the only must hear materials. Twist and Melt are worth to listen though. The less said about that god-awful Chalkdust the better! Good riddance!!

I would rate the show like a solid 4.0 in terms of the quality of Summer 2024. Lots of highlights but also a lot of lots of highlights but "eh" as well. That Ruby>Monsters is God damn essential though! 

2025-06-27 Austin, TX

 6 27 25 Austin, TX

Set 1

The show opens with the "wait, this is a bustout?!" first version of Crowd Control since 2022! And ya know what? Its excellent! The tempo is up, the energy is high and its all around just a great opener.

Immediately upping the ante 10 fold, they launch into a 13 minute Mikes Song. And this is no ordinary 3.0 MS, no. This is a crushing, stomping, face punching monster. X Factor. X Factor everywhere!! Honestly, im gonna commit treason and state that this is a 1.0-tier Mikes. It absolutely KILLS. Just everything about it!! The tightness, the energy, the bump and groove! The playing is definitely inspired - the first jam just sprays fire, then they go type 2 into this incredible kind of soaring bliss jam for a bit before landing back and shredding the song even HARDER to a conclusion. Must hear at all costs. This is like 10 cuts above the usual modern Mikes. Just exceptional.

Keeping the energy going we get an 11 minute Cities. Terrific type 1 version but unfortunately the jam seems to get cut short just at that point of liftoff.

As if all this face smashing wasnt enough, they rip in Divided Sky. And basically everything I said about Mikes should be applied to this. Tight AF. This is a NEXT LEVEL reading that had my jaw on the floor. Just ridiculously fantastic. Must hear, again. Good lord. I cannot stress enough how spectacular this one is.

After an excellent Type 1 reading of The Well, we get a massive bustout of OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DANIEL SAW THE STONE!!!!

Good stuff. Strong versions of Taste and Dirt then lead us to the closing Weekapaug. Paug is the strongest thing since Divided Sky and definitely goes along with the Mikes from earlier. Great version!!

All in all, I thought the first half of this set was downright exceptional for the most part. Seriously great stuff. After Divided Sky the set seemed to get a little bit more ordinary aside from the excellent song choices.

All that being said, Mike's Song and Divided Sky are what you NEED, but special shoutouts to Crowd Control and Weekapaug.  

 

Set 2.

13 minute No Men into a 23 minute Fuego into a friggin 28 minute Golden Age to start. Holy mother of crap ballz. Getting my fire gear on as we speak!

For No Men, all I need to do is quote the immortal Nigel Tufnel - "This one goes to 11!" . An absolute fireball, just like Mikes it is all kinds of just...extra. Nuff said.

Fuego is a monster tonight. It never gets "weird" or abstract, staying in a hard rocking zone for the duration. The interplay between the guys is just sick - this is a terrific version, like the Hollywood Bowl reading on steroids or something. Must hear!!!

Now Golden Age on the other hand...holy moly what is this monstrosity. After a ridiculously magical soaring round of type 1, at 8 minutes the jam immediately drops into funky robo town. They spend until 12 minutes slowly getting more robotic and gooey and wacky and oddball. This just might be the most bleep-bloopiest bleep-bloop jam that ever bleeped a friggin bloop!!!!!! All the way at 15 minutes the beat slows and the song gets dark and HEAVY. ala Mex 2024 Chalkdust or something. Dude ....We proceed to dive into the wormholiest wormhole that ever wormholed a wormhole. Robo deconstruction at its most extreme!!! No, seriously, the next 6 minutes are among the darkest, most heavy and ridiculous minutes ever heard from modern Phish. Picture if the Mex 2024 Chalkdust, the Mex 2025 20 Years Later, and Led Zeppelins "No Quarter" had a threesome and got pregnant. An absolutely unreal section. You need this in your life. Finally, at 21 minutes, out of NOWHERE, they friggin FLOOR IT!!! PEDAL TO THE METAL 500 MPH LETS FRIGGIN GO!!!!! They spend the remainder of the jam absolutely speeding like a rocket out of control, delivering the peakiest peak fest that ever peaked a peak fest!!! Think Bangor 22 Disease mixed with Pelham 21 Carini. ON STEROIDS. HOLY MOTHER OF BUCKLE YOUR GOSH DARN SEATBELTS LETS GO!!! BANG YOUR FREAKING HEAD!!!!
And then, Trey awkwardly forces them back into Golden Age and the saga of the GOAT reaches its conclusion...

GOAT. GOAT RIGHT HERE. GOAT GOLDEN AGE ALL MOTHER FRIGGIN DAY. MOST INSANE VERSION NEXT TO HAMPTON 2018. WHAT THE CORN.

They finally kinda cool us down with a terrific Squirming Coil before Sand. Sand and the set closing C Zero both definitely do the trick, but neither are more than "average strong".

Oddly kinda rusty encore of Life and First Tube, though First Tube does peak like a mother.


All in all, what a show!!! Kind of a mixed bag - great from start to finish but the highlights were clear, boy were they all friggin MASSIVE.

Mikes Song, Divided Sky, No Men>Fuego>Golden Age!!!! THAT GOLDEN AGE!!!!!!!!!!
Great show - id give it a solid 4.2 or so. The highlights were beyond huge but there was also a lot of "this IS really good, but its also nothing special in the slightest". 

2025-06-24 Pittsburgh, PA

 6 24 25 Pittsburgh

Set 1

10 minute Bag opener tonight. Very good version with great energy. Really nice solo with some cool motif jamming that stretches the usual Bag rocking a little bit.

They follow with the first Dogs Stole Things since 2022! You guys know Im a DST hater, but this one is a huge exception. Super high energy and slightly uptempo, this one absolutely slays.
Its honestly great enough for me to call it genuinely must hear!

Another bust out, now we get the first Paul and Silas since 2016. Sounds great. A rare early 1st set IAWITW follows. I think this is a great version. Crazy energy and it really streeeetttccchhhheeesss itself. Trey sounds checked out at times but when he is there it's great. The rest of the guys are absolutely smashing this. I cant call it must hear but I do think its worth recognition.

A 3rd bustout, we get the first Water In the Sky since 2022. Terrific version, it definitely sounds super rehearsed and the guys are all killing. Sick!

Stealing Time is next and I WANT to say its an amazing version. I think it is but I really cant say! Trey is mixed so gosh dang low during his solo that I can barely make him out. What is this garbage?!

Even worse, Ya Mar follows and PAGE is now inaudible!!! Even MORESO than Trey was!!! Ya Mar without Page?! Here ya go folks!!! Its not until halfway through his solo that he becomes audible. I'm not exaggerating, he is completely gone from the mix until about halfway through the song. This mix is a disgrace.

Ugh!!!

Hot damn though, we get a 13 minute Gumbo next! Gumbo is terrific, going type 2 into a great Leslie bliss rock area before getting dark and rocking to a close. Probably must hear.

The closing Walls though? Holy mother of molten lava from the sun must hear must hear must hear!!! This one somehow goes above and beyond the usual Walls heat and delivers a nuclear bomb that will have your jaw on the floor going "where did this come from?!?!". Unbelievable version.


All in all, this set was very good but also definitely not to my personal setlist preferences. Trey also was on/off from song to song. That being said, great energy throughout with a number of standouts.
Dogs, Gumbo and Walls are what you need.   

 

Set 2

Fantastic YEM to open. The boys are ON FIRE delivering one of the tastiest versions. They reach the vocal jam and Fishman refuses to stop, keeping them going into further high octane jamming. Maybe not must hear but damn is it good!!

And then...holy mother of insanity. 43 minute Mind (mind mind mind mind mind mind.....)!!!!!!! The song itself sounds great. The jam begins with a lengthy section of dark kind of tenseness. Lots of synths and Trey using his loopers to make layers of texture. Awesome stuff. The second section of the jam sees them patiently exploring a kind of hazy upbeat psychedelia. This goes from 11 minutes all the way to the 16 minute mark. From there they meander a bit until at 19 minutes things get dark. Just as quickly, Trey leads them back out at 21 minutes into hard rocking. They reach the most unbelievable peak section, going maybe more nuclear than that damn Walls! This rock peak section is INSANE!!! Around 25 minutes the peak finally subsides and the jam morphs into crazy dark psychedelic strangeness. Hell yes! Just when I thought the jam was gonna be stuck, they finally junp off the DEEP end!!! The intensity goes SKY HIGH and we spend until 31 minutes hurtling through the friggin outer space black hole wormhole vortex from hell!!! Holy mother of hold on to your spacesuits!!! THIS IS INSANE! OUTER SPACE THRILL RIDE FROM HELL! LETS FRIGGIN GO!!! Finally around 31 minutes the craziness subsides and the jam starts to break down. X Factor. All the X Factor. Every last friggin bit of it. My word.... Thank God for Jon Fishman - the jam reaches an obvious winding down conclusion point, but he REFUSES to let it end!!! He keeps that rat a tat tat going and they relaunch back into the jam. From here, they spend 10 minutes in the most gnarly, freaky kind of...what the hell would you even call this?! Think the Dicks 2012 Farmhouse taken to the nth degree!!! This wacky, dark almost kind of industrial robo jungle insanity!!!! Now THIS is what hurtling through the vortex sounds like!!! Easily as far out there as the 6/20 Twist and probably more so!!!!!!! Good god!!!! Eventually they return to the song and send us out....

WHAT IN THE LOVE OF GOD EVEN WAS WHAT?!?! THAT WAS FRICKIN NUTS!!!!!!!

All in all that jam was obviously terrific, but at the same time I don't think it beats the Tweezer from the night before. The jam seemed to be a little more long-winded than it needed to be and slightly too "concious" of itself. But ignore me because that's all extreme nitpicking.

From here, the show rages to a close with a soaring Caspian, blazing Julius and a must hear Blaze On. Blaze On is stupendous!!!! So very extra in the best way. It just COOKS!! The jam feels extra powerful and almost funky and the incredible peak finale recalls the Walls from set 1. Absolutely must hear!!!

Fresh encore of The Howling into Ghost. Both good but inessential.

All in all this was another excellent show. It felt a bit more scatter shot than the last couple but musically I can't fault it really. The only real thing is that it didn't seem as smooth as far as flow is concerned, and Trey was having some kind of uninspired night here and there. I'm really not a fan of the first set song choices - I dig the songs but to have all of those together in the same set is kinda rough.

Still this was a great show regardless and I would rate it like a solid 4.2.  

2025-06-22 Manchester, NH

 6 22 25 Manchester

Set 1

Classic Jim opener like its 1995 again. Good version that builds to a pretty hot peak.

Oblivion follows and delivers the first standout of the night. A shorter type 1 reading, everyone is synced up hard, the song sounds great and the flow is unreal. Very nice Page and Trey soloing and the on-a-dime switch from major key back to minor at the end is ridiculously choice. Maybe not must hear, but absolutely worth checking out at least once!

Same goes for The Curtain With. Not much to say. Its played perfectly and sounds great but also never reaches beyond "average excellent".

The fun continues with a typically roaring Llama. A+ on the song choices tonight! Llama is Llama. It kills.

Man, the setlist awesomeness continues with a super rare Fast Enough For You! And man it sounds great after Llama. And Id call this must hear for sure. The song sounds great and Treys solo is stupendous. Perfectly restrained yet emotional, almost sounding composed. A+

The Wedge is must hear tonight as well! Just a smashing rendition with Trey going off in a big way. Definitely killer.

Pebbles is high energy and compositionally sound but kinda loose overall. A for effort. They try hard and it is a strong reading but ultimately nothing special.

Up next is MyFe. Definitely the hottest jam of the set, this is probably must hear. It just melts. Nothing more, nothing less. Then, outta friggin nowhere, it descends STRAIGHT INTO HELL!!! Out comes friggin Egg In a Hole! WHAT IN THE F IS GOING ON!!?!?! Plundering the depths for a while we begin to ponder where it all went so wrong.....

The triple-closer section concludes the show with a SUPER HIGH ENERGY Fluffhead. Perfect choice! Its shakey compositionally with a few rough patches but the insane energy (that finale!!!) makes up for it.

All in all, another strong set. It felt a slight step down from nights 1 and 2 but thats nitpicking. The flow and song selection is fantastic and this almost feels like a set that couldve happenned in 1993!!
Id say FEFY and MyFe/Egg are the true must hears with special notice to Oblivion and Wedge.

Trey is definitely not having as good a night tonight. Hes just...off a bit. Kinda sloppy with his playing but not massively so. Just enough to make you notice. The set was excellent but also had a very noticeable looseness about it. 

 

Set 2

Nice choice of Axilla to kick it off with a bang! And then into a 20 minute MONSTER of a Tweezer!

Tweezer is an absolute monster in the truest sense. It's a perfect three act play. The song itself is so ridiculously tight and high energy it's not even funny. Then the initial jam is so crazy funky even by Tweezer standards. The first deviation comes when Trey begins doing a really cool super upbeat kind of melodic jamming on top of the rest of the guys doing the typical Tweezer funk fest. From there the jam begins to pick up energy bit by bit for a very long time. The jam slowly just gets harder and harder and faster and faster and more rocking by the second. After minutes and minutes of this the jam slowly explodes into the biggest orgasmic rock and roll peak fest you've ever heard in your life. Absolute head bangers Paradise!!!! Seriously this has to be the hardest rocking Tweezer ever played I swear to God holy crap. After having our faces melted 50 times over the jam suddenly shifts into a very dark and psychedelic kind of area. Page jumps onto the No Quarter synths and you're sure that we are going to segue into it. Alas it is not to be in the jam goes into Mercury!!

That freaking Tweezer oh my freaking God that was incredible!!! It just got better and better and better by the minute!!! X Factor Magic!!!

Oh so perfectly they launch into the revamped Mercury. 15 minutes long, this version is very tight and energetic with an excellent major key melodic rock jam. It's killer and honestly probably must hear.

And then, outta nowhere in the middle of the jam, Trey launches them back into freaking Tweezer again!! Full-blown tweezer jam for 8 gloriously magical minutes. Split into two even halves, spends the first half in the filthiest nastiest gnarliest XXX rated porno funk jam a Tweezer can possibly unleash. Then somehow it shifts into an incredible 1999 style soaring through the heavens ethereal magic bliss type jam like something out of a version of Sea of Stars. Pure unbridled x Factor magic, this 8 minutes of jamming goes far deeper and harder than the entire 20 minute version of Tweezer we had earlier in the set. This is freaking SICK!!!!

Eventually the jam reaches a natural conclusion and they pick the perfect choice of a short Pillow Jets to continue onwards. Good short version that fits perfectly.

Pillow Jets then morphs back into friggin Tweezer again!! Trey oh so slowly and perfectly leads them back into it. No ripcord here! And its 13 minutes this time!

Somehow, they top the insanity factor of the last portion of the jam. Initially the jam plays around in very nice low-key kind of night time jamming. Funky but introspective. At one point the bottom of the jam completely falls out and the entire thing goes to near silence aside from Fishman's continued drum beat. This is some freaking Fukuoka 2000 stuff going on. All hail 2025 Phish!!!! They proceed to spend a LONG time in this "twinkling twilight zone" area, slowly introducing synths and loops. Trey doing his best "1997 porno wah scratch" playing. Completely minimalist but they are building it as well. Slowly it begins to morph and grow - swirling buzzing bee noises and Treys pitch shifter....it sounds like a swirling tornado of craziness!!! Reminds me of the 11/14/97 Slave or something!!! Complete wackiness at its abstract finest!!!!!!

All hail unique jamming! I've never heard another jam like this out of modern Phish! Where in the corn did this freaking come from?!?! We are in the full-blown outer space screaming seagull vortex from planet Zongo. Squiggles and robo effects and Loopers out the wazoo. Bruh. Crap, the Twist from night 1 is nothing compared to this!

Somehow the jam continues to build back towards what you could call "music", eventually exploding back into a funky Tweezer jam and rage it to a burning close at last. The set closes with a SMOKING Golgi. Good stuff.

First encore is a heavy and hot Bug. Its not too long but its damn excellent. Then we get a 4 minute Tweeprize to put the ribbon on top.

All in all....HOLY MOTHER OF ALIEN SPACE BEES!!!! WHAT IN THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY WAS THIS MASTERPIECE OF A SET!!!!!!!!!!

I would honestly say damn near the entire set is truly must hear and needs to be played in whole.
If you combine all 41 minutes of Tweezer plus the nuclear bomb Tweeprize, that HAS to be the winner for GOAT Tweezer of the modern age. I mean, it honestly blows away something like the Berkeley 2023 version which is fantastic.

Set 1 was strong but set 2?! No way SPAC3 tops this. I don't know how any other set this summer could top this.

Good God.... 

2025-06-21 Manchester, NH

 6 21 25 Manchester

Set 1

The show opens on a fantastic note with Free into Reba. Free is excellent. Nothing must hear but still totally killer. Super high energy. Great start!!

Reba ups things more, delivering a technically sound and spirited reading. The solo is great - it just keeps getting hotter and hotter until Trey is just ripping that peak. Not special enough to call must hear, but still absolutely awesome regardless.

Again though, the energy is sky high, so even though these are "average excellent" readings, they still kick butt.

Halfway to the Moon keeps the energy goin. Everything about the first two songs applies here as well. I'd probably call this must hear. Its a standard type 1 reading, but its just oozing with extra "oomph". Its tight and hot and everyone is ON. Absolutely a highlight!!!! 5 outta friggin 5 stars. This version is a damn POWERHOUSE!!!

The party continues with the perfect set call of Halley's Comet. Heck yes. Again, super high energy, uptempo and tight. Just a joy! And hot damn, this sucker smokes! SO MUCH ENERGY!!! Quickly the song dives into a slightly darkly funky heavy rock jam. And again, just pure nuclear bomb energy. Hell, I have to call this must hear just on the basis of how freaking blazing hot it is. My goodness!!!
This thing is absolutely NUCLEAR!! LETS FRIGGIN GO!! BANG YOUR HEAD!!!

And into a friggin 17 minute Stash!!! Stash is incredible. Total x factor magic. Not much to say - it spends its time in upbeat major key rocking, slowly growing and evolving bit by bit into the biggest hose explosion peak Ive ever heard from a Stash. Absolute magic. Must hear, of course.

Meat is also must hear! 7 minutes, this one packs a wollop. They go so hard on this sucker, milking it for all its worth. Definitely some x factor at play. Spectacular!!! PRIME RIB, YO.

The set concludes with a killer 13 minute Disease. Its not must hear but it is absolute fire regardless and a terrific way to end the set.

All in all, this was an awesome set. SO MUCH ENERGY OH MY GOD!! Halfway, Halley, Stash and Meat are all must hear...THAT STASH!!!! 

 

Set 2

The set opens oddly with the strange choice of Drift. I love the song, but its terrible as an opener, imo. Either way, nothing must hear but it IS an excellent reading. Tight and high energy. Just killer. Good stuff!

And then, good lord, the next 40 minutes are just an adventure into the outer space vortex. 

Well hot damn, a 24 minute Carini, eh? An extended Carini is always welcome by me! As with the rest of the show, this version is just imbued with extra energy and enthusiasm out the wazoo. It very much has "the eyebrows" as Frank Zappa would say. You can just tell this is gonna a banger above the usual. Man, the boys are just locked in tight with each other, obviously listening and reacting, not just "autopiloting". Fishman in particular is just going nuts, constantly injecting new fills every couple of seconds.

Right around the 4:30 mark the jam starts to take flight. Around 5 minutes they briefly venture into upbeat melodic jamming. Oh no. Trey is doing chord-based playing and Page is locked in right with him as if they are playing a song (I mean, they are - you know what Im saying). They stay in the major key melodic zone for a good long while. Around 7 minutes Trey starts getting more noodly and the jam begins to stretch. Page jumps on the synths and it all takes on a decidedly "aquatic" vibe, but more...gooey than usual. VERY "flowing". Around 8 minutes Trey starts riffing but returns to the melodic playing while Page increases his presence on the synth with Gordo keeping up on the bass.

FINALLY, at the 9:30 mark, the jam begins to deviate again. Trey jumps onto the wah and some robo fx while Page leans harder into the blaring synths. The jam takes on a much darker tone and things are slowly getting more intense bit by bit. This is sick - I mean, it develops so friggin' smoothly, like butter. In come the robo fx! Fishman, meanwhile, is still introducing new beats and patterns, keeping tight with his brethren, propelling the jam onwards evermore.

At 11:20 Trey starts "chord vamping" again and Page takes the throne, layering in some very 2021-style synth work. Super ethereal and extended. Trey moves to the pitch shifter like it's 1999 and the jam fully enters outer space, flirting on the line between dark and light. We have entered the Twilight Zone!! Slowly the jam begins to increase back to a raging psychedelia. Trey is going nuts making layers until you go "wait, hold on, how many layers are there?!". The jam at this point is in full "ethereal outer space" mode. A million loops, Page's synths, bubbly Gordo, Fishman going nuts unable to hold a steady beat.

At 14 minutes, Page takes charge and ramps up the synth backing increasing the intensity further. It just keeps slowly getting "thicker", if you will. Shortly after, Trey removes the loops and lets Gordo shine for a bit as the crowd roars their approval. Quickly he returns to looping, however, laying a nice little stoccato kind of bedwork atop which he does lots of cool "volume swell" sounding stuff as the jam turns into a funky "stop/start" machine.

At 16 minutes, the funky looper space orgy is in full swing. Man, this is a friggin' soundscape. Everyone just BLENDING together, nobody taking lead. Killer. Of course, just as I say that, Trey takes the lead. He leads them back into melodic upbeat rocking, but the wacky undercurrent still persists. The jam wanders briefly, sounding as if Trey already wants to jump into Wave. He resists, however, and just ramps up the heat. Fishman is driving this sucker like a MACHINE and it's just steamrolling us into the ground!

Trey begins a "1-2-3" chord motif and it's off into heavy funk land. By 19:30 they are just laying into this harder than anything. The "1-2-3!" rhythm pattern taking center stage. Then, around 20:30, Page steers the jam again with his sustained textural synths. Trey seems to have a looper/delay going (hard to tell) and the jam starts to turn spacey again with robo fx returning in force. By 21 minutes, you would swear this is a jam straight out of summer 2021 again. By 22 minutes, the hard funk is a thing of the past as we are now firmly in the outerspace robo wormhole. Page quickly rescues us, however, with some classic rock organ stabbing, prompting Trey to move into more straightahead chord vamping.

Then, just as it began, it quickly winds to a hazy close, Trey playing around with harmonics amongst a backdrop of synthesizers.

Just as quickly, the haze immediately concludes and they launch - friggin PERFECTLY - into a 16 minute Wave. Seriously, I don't know why, but that segue/transition was just unbelievably perfect. Perfect song choice out of the perfect musical moment, executed perfectly.... And hot damn, does this Wave of Hope friggin fly! Wave always soars, of course, but this one feels absolutely....triumphant. Like a musical exclamation point or something.

At the 5 minute mark, the jam immediately dives into a dark and, once again, heavily "aquatic" sounding jam. We are exploring the depths, mateys. Wonderful interplay between Page and Trey, the two of them working like one to create this darkly mysterious soundscape. Trey doing slow melodic lines while Page interjects with bubbly keys an outer space synths to create a, well, spacey kind of "depths of the ocean" vibe. This is friggin' sick. Anyone know any other jams like this?

Around 7 minutes, Fishman ups the rapidfire drumming while Trey leads the jam into more ethereal waters (There's that word again, but what other word should I use??). Like a continuation of the first section of the jam, just with everything gaining some "girth", if you will. Listen to Cactus thickening it the hell up underneath!!! Dude, those synths coming in and out....this is SICK!!!! UNDERWATER ALIEN EXPLORATION!!! LETS FRIGGIN GO!!!

Then at the 9 minute mark, the jam TRULY dives into the strange when Trey sets a looper pattern. The ethereal haze enters and it sounds like something from Summer 1999 coupled with Beneath a Sea of Stars. Or something like that. I don't friggin know. All I know is that this is damn incredible. Just killer kind of "textural" jamming, everyone just layering it all into one big sandwich, perfectly reacting and listening to one another!!!! Everyone is TOGETHER! This sounds like one big instrument instead of 4 people on 4 separate instruments, ya dig?? In other jams, I might get on to something like this for being too "minimalistic", but this is that PERFECT kind where they are just laying into it hard.....

Those synths!! MY GOD I LOVE THOSE SYNTHS LETS FRIGGIN GO!! Trey doing excellent chord vamping laying a foundation for Page to "dart" in and out with tons of synth stabbing and layering. Meanwhile, Gordo is keeping rapidfire pace with Fishman back there who is, in turn, playing exactly in sync with Trey. God, I freaking love it when they are LISTENING to each other. Greatest thing ever.... Man, this jam is just SPECTACULAR!!! Hell, they could stay in this one zone all friggin day if they wanted to like you're "stuck" inside a 1997 Ghost vamp or something.

Finally, around 13 minutes, the jam begins to take a major turn. Things go askew in a big way. Page, again, leading direction with his synths, Trey responding by layering a multitude of robo fx. Welcome to outer space, boys and girls (or is this the ocean on Europa??). About 10 layers deep into synthy robo fx, the rhythm drops out and the jam slowly fades itself to a conclusion among a cavalcade of watery bleeps and bloops......

Billy Breathes is a PERFECT cool down from the insanity. A great version, id call this Carini>Wave>Billy trifecta one of the most must hear things of recent times. Insane.

A killer and surprisingly jammed 2001 gets us back on our feet before Meatstick. Meatstick and the following About to Run arent anything special but the set closing Possum is borderline must hear! Even by Possum standards, this is a HOT one. Trey is absolutely going off!!!

Inspired encore of Bold, Bowie and Wilson. Bold and Bowie are both spectacular readings - definitely must hear. Just locked in, tight, and both bursting with more energy than the sun. Hell, Bowie was practically 1.0 worthy. Killer.

All in all, I loved night 1, but there is no denying this show was an obvious and major step up! The Carini/Wave combo is truly something special. That Carini....other than that Fall 2021 version we love, what other Carini of the last few years is this downright magical?!

Honestly, this show was awesome, plain and simple. SO. MUCH. ENERGY!!!

I feel this is worthy of a 4.3ish rating 

2025-06-20 Manchester, NH

 Lets start listening through summer tour, shall we?

6/20/25 Manchester

Set 1

Funky Moma Dance to open. Super energetic and tight, the guys are into it. Nothing essential, but definitely a most excellent start to the show and tour!!! Really killer little Moma.

The fun continues into a blazing hot BOTT. Honestly, the energy is just palpibly sky high tonight, played with that extra bit of tempo and oomph. As with Moma, its nothing special in the grand scheme, just a typically excellent "get the blood flowing" set 1 reading. Seriously though, the energy is THROUGH THE ROOF!!

Predictably (but thats ok!) in slot 3 we get a 12+ minute Wolfman. Wolfman is MUST hear! An utterly spectacular version with an extra rhythmic slant to it. A++ reading, must hear. WOW!

Even better is the following 14 minute Theme!! X Factor all over this bad boy! Extra from the start, it just slays, eventually morphing into a sick funk jam that leads into full blown type 2 robo fun before coming back and blowing the roof off.

After The Old Home Place we get standard yet blazing versions of 46 Days and Birds. Birds in particular just crushes. Im gonna call that one must hear. Its nuclear!!!

In classic fashion, the set concludes with an excellent Slave. Inspired pick!

All in all this set is way better than I expected. Wolfman and Theme are both genuinely must hear and special mention to Birds! Everything is blazing hot and the energy is through the roof.
For a "start of tour warmup set", this kills. 

 

Set 2

A strange pair to open with the duo of Bouncing into Sample. Sample at least is balls to the wall pure energy. An absolutely explosive type 1 reading.

And then the alien invasion occurs ...

Kicking into high gear, a friggin 19 minute Life Saving Gun is next. X Factor galore, it annihilates, wasting no time immediately going type 2. It spends most of the jam in a sick kind of gooey and synthy psychedelic and meditative zone. Very textural and soundscapey without ever feeling meandering. No major key bliss rock here boys and girls!Eventually the beat changes and the last section sees them dive into a sick latin funk area to close. This was AMAZING!! BEST VERSION YET!!! KEEP JAMMING IT, DUDES - IT KEEPS GETTING BETTER!!!

Then, immediately blowing that the F away is an 18 minute Twist. A ridiculous LEGITIMATE ALL TIMER, its hard to describe without just listening to it. This is a 90s level psychedelic evil wormhale alien haze jam on the level of something from 2000 or the Hampton Halley, etc. Dark and synthy, eventually slowly morphing into the most insane, skull crushing, what in the love of Satan is happening jam this side of the Mexico 24 Chalkdust. X Factor?! More like XXXXXXXX FACTOR TO THE MAXXX!!! THIS TWIST IS SO FREAKING UNBELIEVABLY RIDICULOUS. WHERE DID THIS COME FROM. MORE OF THIS, PLEASE! LET THE TWISTAISSANCE CONTINUE!!!



ALL HAIL OUR SUPREME SATANIC ALIEN OVERLORDS FROM PLANET X!

They then "cool us off" with a raging 11 minute Piper. Nothing you havent heard before but it keeps the energy going great.

And into a 16 minute Everythings Right we go. Treys voice is SHOT, holy crap. Thankfully it turns out to be a spectacular reading. Excellent robo funking slowly morphs into a terrific motif-lead finale section. Probably must hear - its fantastic!!!

Highly inspired encore of Strange Design, Hood and Suzy. All are good but Id call Hood must hear. A terrific slow burn reading just dripping and oozing with passion. The final build up jam feels particularly lengthy and the whole thing is just killer.

All in all, this was an AWESOME show!! Zero low points, for real. Wolf, Theme, LSG, Twist, ER and Hood were ALL must hear! They came out SWINGING and knocked it outta the park. And words cannot do justice to that Twist. That was a true mind melter evil noise jam if there ever was one.

Hell. Freaking. Yes. Lets go!