Another Friday night heater. Cavern was a cool call as an opener, reminding us of that Fall Tour roof that so changes the vibe from the open air of summer shows. If I Could...you already know...as a younger fan, definitely never thought I’d catch that one. After what I thought was a chill 3-song opening run, Sand brought back some peaky energy. First set highlight though? Martian into Mercury. You are the first astronaut, that’s for sure, so lets explore the cosmos, baby. Definitely thought we were going to get a Taste about halfway through, but (honestly, thankfully) they kept it going. My ear is drawn to Mike’s modal variations on a main theme throughout. Of course, Suzy to finish, inevitable “slot machine” crowd reaction was sick. Set Two, yeah we get the Soul Planet opener. It’s kind of growing on me, but if its not your thing, the jam will be, so just drag the cursor a bit. DWD got me spooked at the time (but holy shit, the energy rising out of the crowd during Trey solo-> jam, just wow), but upon hearing it again it is a little spicy amd groovy. The evil pig kept the spooky vibes in the air, always cool, and actually, good call on set placement. Highlight for me was Sally. Wow, that was some nasty grooving. Out pops a wife, and shit, she is mad. Running down the alley at full speed, our feet are stuck in the stickiest, ickiest gunk this side of Mike’s bass amps. Throw it on and get down in your living room, guys. Even Light got dark, and Slave wrapped things up with its cherry sweet flavor (tasting the music, hmm...). Bob Weaver encore (his booty shakin’, mine getting shook by the vacuum) had my whole crew laughing before we all got treated to a GTBT (I guess Trey remembered how to play it!) Great show, worth a listen, always down for getting spooky on Halloweekend

Throwing down a Moma, Tube, 555, and Mike’s in the first set definitely got the dance party going, with a beautiful (as always) Roggae to cool it down and a surprise Lifeboy. A note on the Tube, check it out! Some stomping bass work from Mike eventually breaks through to some super happy and blissy jamming before building to that inevitable bluesy comeback of Tube proper. In the second set, we get the Carini that we knew was coming all weekend, but check out that 46 Days for hard peaking and Scents for some space cruising. Xeyed was a great call for the “room’s” energy at that point. Never going to complain about a 2001. Big SOAM to finish things off, had a crowd neighbor ask about halfway through (you’ll hear why), “What song is this?”, with a huge smile when I reminded him we were still melting. Wading in the Zero encore, alright guys, but great show overall. Grateful to dance it out in Sin City.

This show is such a good example of '95 Phish outthinking themselves a bit. I Didn't Know, Taste That Surrounds and Hello My Baby were all massive buzzkills after big preceding songs. Some great, hard-rocking nuggets in here. SOAM is raging, The Curtain is also 10% darker than normal, Tweezer is sufficiently '95. So not a lost show by any means, just lots of subtraction by addition with some of the first-set duds.

One of the strongest tour-openers in any 1.0 era. This show also has the distinction of being rather long. Set 1 clocks in at about 77 minutes, and Set 2 is just over 90 minutes with the encore coming in just under 15 minutes. Mozambique would end up being repurposed into Scents and Subtle Sounds although I like this song just as much. An utterly fantastic choice for opener, although Trey struggles with some of the lines and him and Page aren't totally in-time together. If you gave this song to 1995 Phish, it would be even more impressive. I wish they would bring this one back; big peaks at the end reminiscent of the Camden Chalkdust which informed most major jams that year. The big jams all deliver in this show as well. Just solid, all around. Standard-great in an era full of next-level greatness. Also notable for having 3 debuts, only 1 of which has since gone the distance in maintaining its place in the repertoire.

I LOVE this Split (included in SBD on the Road to Vegas bonus disc). It sounds older than 96...more like 93/94 (the peak of the song for me). There's are spots that remind me of the Demand Jam version on Hoist...the feel of the groove at around 4:30 for one. Around 10:20, it sounds about ready for the car crash. The guitar line at 5:35, the filthy note at 7:43, the line starting at 8:09...it's little things like this that thrill me. It's a great Trey-centered version (with some savage Fishman too). I'm surprised the jam charts haven't given it at least a little love.

Something about that Hood that just really clicked with me and gave me a buzz halfway thru. From the soundboard you can hear someone scream "YEAHHH!" at the brain callout during Hood. Love it. Don't sleep on the 2nd set. The 3.0 song trio to kick it off is stellar stuff. The 1st set is super fun and everyone gets a turn. The Nellie Kane and Funky, although standard, are always a welcome 1-2 punch. Great comedown show!

LIFEBOY EMERGES ONCE AGAIN! easily one of the best ballads the band has and I wish it received more stage time. After 3 nights in Vegas phish sounded very comfortable from the very start. Tube had a fantastic jam and 2018 has proven that Tube is once again a consistent jammer, lets see if it will stay. Every version this year has found a nice pocket jam right off the bat and this is no exception, perfect transition into the blue section. Second set is amazing. SaSS appearing more frequently this year with a nice jam. This SOAM along with the Gorge version stand out as stellar versions above the rest. A nice jam that stayed connected and focused. I'm hardly ever a fan of hearing this song to be honest but when I'm impressed by it (to me) that says something about the quality.

first time I ever saw Trey live in any setting. This was a great weekend in the SOSMP. Seeing trey also come out with the Allman brothers was an amazing treat. I wasn't exactly a phan at this point so I didn't stay for the entirety of this set but I remember being impressed with Sand and the overall tightness of this band. Jen and Nat are phenomenal players and hearing her for this first time stepping up on vocals was incredible. I was blown away that anyone would cover the Gorillaz and enjoyed that a lot. I definitely gained more respect for Trey after watching him with TAB and the Allmans. So much fun.

What a show, simply incredible from start to finish. So much energy and enthusiasm. I liken the whole week to BD but better because we all new phish. First set had such high points and great playing. No slow songs just pure energy and first tube set closer was phenomenal. The curtain reminded me of the only other phish show that has just blew me away in the last 20 yrs, 10/31/14. The sounds were different electronic feel. And then trey comes out with the mic and no guitar...uh oh, what is this? It was great, and the songs were just great; quirky, eccentric, humorous and all phish. I’m the glue in your magnet, you can recycle the final hoorah just awesome! A new album that is the phishiest, like the haunted house but better because there were lyrics and they were just phish. They turned the whole venue into the haunted house and they remade themselves, if they like it and that’s what it takes for them to re-energize...do it! Boy did they, just great. I would advise that you go to the next Halloween show, maybe an album this time though. Just a great experience!

The Tube was magnificent. The Lifeboy groove sandwich bustout was also niceto see. Rockin well played first set. Carini had a....nice crazy Fishman antic devilish quote from the Halloween show. The outro of cross-eyed into 2001was other worldly. CK's lights were astoundingly trippy here and during the mind bending parts of SOAM. Must see more Phish!

I was finally able to convince the whole family to come see Phish in Vegas. It was either now or New Years in NY and with us planted on the West Coast, this certainly made the most sense. I must say that I was a little curious to see what four nights of playing at the MGM would bring. Q: Would these guys still have anything left to offer us on their last night? A: They did. Both sets played very well together. Not one for the slower songs per se, for fear we'd lose momentum, but I was especially moved by the care Trey showed with the more delicate pieces. Roggae took on a surreal quality and both Water in the Sky and Lifeboy were great. My daughter kept asking to "name that tune" and I would call out the songs until I was stumped on Lifeboy. I was especially happy to catch that one after a ripping Mike's Song. Set 2 smoked from start to finish. Watching the level of control these guys consistently displayed last night was mind blowing.. SASS was a huge surprise but I must say, with a set of highlights, SOAM stole the second set at the end! I honestly wasn't sure we were ever coming back to that one. I have been really enjoying the "industrial" tones I feel the guys have been adding to their sound lately and watching Trey sculpted noise was amazing. Not sure what Page was doing but I think those additions were "the drill" I've been hearing about. All in all an impressive show. A happy end to our Vegas show.

A note on the run: what great phish music. Consistent, focused, superb jamming all over the place. I was lucky enough to see seven shows of the fall tour, which has been my favorite tour of 3.0 behind summer 2015. For everyone who said they didn’t like the Halloween set, I honestly don’t know what to do with that. It was one of my favorite moments I’ve ever heard. Every show had dominating highlights. This band, after 35 years, is still setting the bar and then smashing it. Bravo, Phish

what an awesome cap to an absolutely incredible run and, in trey's words, an "unforgettable tour." unforgettable indeed! while the first set was not the behemoth that was friday's S1, it contained some awesome moments and another coveted ballad bustout. set 2 is, simply put, a monstrous phish set. let's get to the breakdown: we start off standard with moma dance. while this song's opening notes don't necessarily excite everyone the way some other openers can, it's still a workhorse that always brings the heat, this version being no different. a similar story for KDF; one of my favorite 3.0 songs, this always raises the energy of a room. this version had a little extra heat, as well. roggae is always beautiful. water in the sky is a great song, but they had just played it in chicago. in my opinion, this one works better if it's a little rarer, but i love it just the same. speaking of things working better when they're rarer, next comes 555. i used to not be in love with this song when it seemed like they were playing it every night back in 2014, but now it's nice to hear. this version was tight. next comes one of the highlights of the set: tube! tube jams have been so great lately, and this is one of the best. exceeding 10 minutes, this version went type 2, exploring a beautiful major section before returning to funk and dropping into the blues. a must-hear for tube fans (meaning everyone). i won't lie, i wish that they had gone straight into mike's from tube, but farmhouse was a fine version, with some nice emotional playing from trey. a mike's groove to close the set is a great choice. this mike's jam, while not lengthy, raged very hard. it seemed like they were really enjoying ripping this one up. then the big treat of the set: lifeboy! like if i could, lifeboy is one my favorite songs that i'd never heard live before. so exciting. a ripping weekapaug closed out the set, with some excellent playing by trey. set two was, again, just a phenomenal set of phish. every song was jammed well. carini kicks things off with a dark, minor key jam. this was excellent and very different from the more standard, major-key-leaning type 2 jams of the tour. while not the longest version of carini, it is definitely worth a listen. next comes 46 days, an interesting choice here considering the brevity of the carini jam. this served as another boost in energy; an absolutely ripping version, reminiscent of the sand from friday night, with trey leading the band through multiple massive peaks. at the end, it seemed like they were going to jam this one out, which would've been exciting, but instead trey led a transition into (sans intro) scents and subtle sounds. this is a stellar version of the song, with the jam featuring triumphant major key hose jamming. simply sublime improvisation, which is a phrase i could apply to the entire set. as scents died down, trey signaled something to fish. i thought we would get 2001 right there, but instead trey counted them into crosseyed! always love to hear this song, and this version was funked-out dance party. some really fantastic playing by fishman. the jam began to fizzle, and all signs pointed toward 2001. sure enough, fish began the iconic beat. nothing better than some good ol' 2001 funk. the band just kept pounding away, starting up possum right as 2001 finished up. there were zero breathers during this set; just straight fire from start to finish. possum raged as usual, with a great page solo. i thought that would end the set, but phish had other plans. they began SOAM, and it seemed like a little bonus cap on the set. little did we know that this would be - and i don't put this lightly - and all-time version of the song, at least for 3.0. exceeding 20 minutes, this jam went everywhere: standard soam dissonance, a near-silent exploratory jam, a build into a type 2 bliss-like jam, and finally a return to the soam outro. truly magnificent phish, and especially cool for this level of improv to happen during the set closer. phish left the stage to a massive ovation. for the encore, the band opted for the breather they'd been withholding for all of set 2. always nice to hear wading. character zero to close; this one was a hugely energetic version, with some shredding from trey. wow, what a tour. night after night, phish displayed incredible improvisational prowess, brilliant set crafting, and superb imagination. certainly one of the most consistently good tours of 3.0, truly thrilling to watch. been a pleasure to review them night after night. can't wait for the NYE run!

[b]Tube[/b] was so much fun, [b]Mike's Groove[/b] with [b]Lifeboy[/b] I hadn't seen since Dear Creek 1996.08.03. [b]SCENTS>CROSSEYED >2001[/b]SUPERB STYLE! [b]SOAM[/b] MASTERPIECE! [i]Excellent way to drop a freak bomb on our way out! A tour gem on the final night. I like it alot! [/i]

Glad I made the turnaround trek for this show. Walked in the arena during the opening notes of Cavern and the vibe felt right from the start. The first set was playful with a nice mix of old and newer material all of which seemed to get obligatory jams that fit the bill. Major blastoff during Mercury which went places that were certainly unexpected. The room was popping with heads in party mode, and the band did not disappoint. Second set was simple, well crafted yet playful. In short it was an “old school” Phish. Forget about type 1 or type 2 jamming, I’m talking about the interaction of the crowd and the boys. The not taking yourself too serious, try new things just for the hell of it band that many of us fell in love with in the first place. It was perfect. Songs were on point for the most part, controlled chaos. Trey put away the rip chord, Page got some time to shine, mike dropped bombs and Fish got weird. All good things! After the show I hoped in the car and drive back to Cali with a huge smile and a newfound hunger for more. Thanks Phish

My very first show and now I don't know what to do... Extremely grateful I get to do this again tonight. I want to do this every night. The crowds reaction to the if I could bust out was insane, so cool. Weigh is awesome. I almost expended all of my energy during sand, the jam was intense. Mercury was out of this world. Seriously epic and stuffed full with groove and space. Soul planet opens the second set to a groan from this guy, three minutes in I'm on board... Disease gets everyone moving and I'm super jazzed there's an ugly pig at my first show. Guitar God heavy metal Phish. Sally got everyone grooving and light was really good. The joy songs are getting it this run IMHO. I personally love joy... Even TTE, give me more like that. Slave closes my first ever second set with gusto, peaks nicely and really makes me not want to go home. Vacuum is over this guy's head, but the energy from the crowd during fish's spotlight moment SAS great. Fish twerk..... Scary stuff... Good times, bad times just makes me yearn for Izabella. I went solo and really just focused on listening and remembering this special moment in my life, my first Phish show. See you tonight.

fall tour 2018 was already one for the ages, but this vegas run really puts it over the top. absolute MONSTER show. worth a listen from top to bottom in my opinion, but let's break it down. first set starts off with a standard rocking cavern, setting the tone for a high energy affair. beauty of my dreams is always nice to hear, and this version is well played. next is if i could! a huge bust out. here is where the set really takes off. my favorite phish ballad easily, and they rip up this version, with some emotion playing from trey. then, keeping the excitement high, they drop into weigh! one of my personal favorite phish songs. a great solo from page as always, and some tasteful licks from trey as well. next begins sand, and we knew we were in for something. this sand was akin to the chicago version; never really went type 2, but that didn't matter. some of the most incredible type 1 peaking i've seen live. unbelievable energy with the band and the crowd feeding off each other. energy continued with back on the train - another awesome, ripping type 1 version. martian monster was standard, fun as always. now, on to the centerpiece of the set. simply put, this mercury was stunning. a great pre-marimba jam, but then this turned into a type 2 beast. at one point, after a funkier minor section, it seemed like they were going to drop into taste, with trey hinting at the opening chords. but instead, the band built up into a magnificent major-key hose jam. truly must-listen phish right here. the first set jams this tour have been beyond belief, and this might be the best of them. a standard suzy to close on a high energy note. wow! what a first set. on to set 2: just about every song in the second set was jammed well. we start with soul planet. this jam, while not incredibly long, was another fantastic type 2 improvisation, with the band playing both a minor and major section. again, absolutely incredible hose jam to close this one out. soul planet dissolved into the familiar disease opening. this disease was rocking and high energy, and then a nice type 2 jam was tacked on the end. again, not the longest version, but top notch improvisation. phish is just playing so well right now. disease transitioned nicely into guyute, which is always a treat to hear. this was not the most pristine version, but that doesn't matter. guyute finishes up, and we were at an important moment in the set. they could have gone with a less inspired song choice, but instead phish opted to continue to blow the roof off MGM by dropping into sneakin' sally! this version is no standard sally. while it doesn't stray into type 2 territory, it does contain an old school phish funk out. awesome version, well worth a listen. next up is light, which, as usual, contains some fantastic jamming. at this point, it's repetitive to keep saying that. simply put, every opportunity phish had to jam during this show, they took advantage and delivered the absolute goods. just an unbelievable show, jam-wise. slave to close, and you could tell the band was feeling it. this was no standard 3.0, formulaic slave. this felt, again, like a old-school, emotional, seriously peaking version. what a set! the encore was just so much fun. HYHU is always absurd, but this bike contained some extra antics by fishman. to sum it up: at one point, he was standing on top of page's piano. it was an awesome, again old-school way to close out the show. trey referenced this before launching into GTBT, saying "this is kinda an old show, so let's do something old." can't lie, definitely thought they'd bust into some crazy gamehenge song, but GTBT absolutely raged. honestly, can't recommend listening to this whole show enough. no dull moments. truly an epic phish concert. cannot wait to see what's in store for the tour closer!

The burning intensity in Trey's eyes tonight lit a small fire in my kitchen. I danced around it and watched it rise as the band flawlessly transcended me from dimension to dimension. Immaculate song placement, seamless flow, otherworldly jams, hysterical antics. Wow. This is a show you need to listen to front to back on multiple occasions. Thank you Phish!

I LOVED LOVED LOVED this, it was genius, completely fooled me as well. I was thinking it such a long double LP I even felt the side of each disc end. I avoided reading everything online so I really did not know till it was over.. I did think on a few occasions that it was definitely Phish playing their new album , and got excited knowing that the zones would all be in rotation hopefully but it would probably be the only time it'll be played in a whole cohesive manner. I certainly had a strong feeling of a concept album back from the 1970s concept albums which would have fit with the formal long forgotten esoteric album thing and I just loved fantasizing about this band that was all of a sudden going to be popular again and I was gonna go I might buy throughout on that I could find a vital copy of it is of course it would be any digital copies and was fun just really enjoyed the foolishness that I got into mentally but the real beauty of it was I got a strong feeling of a concept album as I mentioned and I had to do with the planet Earth and humanity and it really came together at the very end during the very last song with the pictures of Earth. It was like after having tasted space and remembering where I was whenever I first tasted space that our space ship landed, and having recycled things .. um I will have to listen to this again but let us look at it as a possible classic-type concept album! I have not read in the reviews of this so far so perhaps other people have already suggested this. I do have to say that the MGM was a total should show trying to get inside it was awful it took almost an hour of being smashed in a very uncomfortable wine with people that work not so Phrindly in accommodating somebody who didn't want to breathe a ton of cigarette smoke anyways I was not a happy camper the way the show was one of the greatest ones ever! I do not have the memorable quotes down yet but there are a lot of them.. face plant into rock, death don't hurt very long, This is what space tastes like soooo many CLASSIC rock phrases really friends this needs to be listened to there are a layers of meaning here that our band has gone to great lengths for us to uncover meaning... or maybe not! hahahaha

This is one of those Phish shows where the reading of the setlist doesnt do the Music justice. Clearly, this was a Trey driven show (versus crowd or otherwise). He was in charge of the song selection more than usual (see: Joy, Blaze On, Rise/Come Together). There were some amazingly stellar musical moments that don't translate on paper. Check out ER through Wolfman's, CDT, Blaze On to NMINML, Twist Caspian sandwich. I was blown away by experiencing these guys blow us away with songs we don't normally expect to get those feels from. I give it a 3.5 because it didn't stay in the zone the whole time. Can't wait for the last two shows of the year before the NyE stacker.

Another day, another quality fall 2018 phish show. this one will probably get knocked a bit for song selection, which is fair. they really have been hammering home everything's right and no men's, but they are also playing them so well. that's been the story of this tour in some ways - lots of the same songs being jammed excellently. on to the review: for me, everything's right doesn't work as an opener. it just starts off a little too low energy for me. i would've maybe just switched Bag' and ER's spot in the setlist. that being said, i do like the song, and this version, like the one in chicago, was jammed quite well. very cool to see them taking these early set 1 songs out for a walk. in general, the first set jamming this tour has been incredible. very standard, short bag. would love to see them take that for a walk one of these days. wolfman's was particularly rocking, definitely worth a listen. always love to hear nellie kane and funky bitch. chalkdust was another great version, with some more awesome set 1 jamming. this song might be overall 3.0 MVP. it is very rare to be disappointed in a chalkdust these days. i been around is fun. joy is a great song, but they'd just played it in chicago. i think it works better if it's a bit rarer, but still nice. standard walls of the cave closer. set two was a banger, in my opinion. monster blaze on. absolutely sick jam, definitely worth a listen. another high quality NMINML. i will admit the song is getting a bit stale, as theyve now officially played it in every city this tour, but again, each rendition has been amazing (particularly the mammoth chicago version). another more recent song in fuego. would've definitely loved to see an older, more "classic" phish song in this spot, but this fuego was played well with a little extra meat on the jam. twist was very awesome, and could've been even sweeter if not for a sliiight ripcord into caspian. trey went off during caspian which is always nice to see, and i love that theyve been bringing back the twist refrain to make a sandwich the last few times played. bouncing was perfectly placed here; haven't heard this live in a minute so it was a treat. and then the hood. for me perhaps the highlight of the set. seemed like it was gonna be standard bliss, and then out of nowhere went type 2. huge jam, perfectly navigating back into the closing hood chords, with an awesome final solo from trey. a stellar rendition, must-hear for hood fans. contact is another one that is always a treat to hear live. love this song. rise/come together is not necessarily my favorite (again would've opted for a more "classic" song), but definitely a nice cap on another excellent phish show. tonight was definitely a bit of a "blow off some steam" show after last night's spectacle, with the band playing a lot of songs they're very comfortable with. but they really blew off that steam well, delivering some incredible improvisation (as usual). can't wait to see what's in store the next two nights!

While this band is no Kasvot Växt, I decided to catch the show as I happened to be passing through Vegas. While it's too late to give a play by play of the entire show, the band was on fire as has been the case all tour. I rokked out the entire show and am looking forward to another heater tomorrow before the final hurrah on Saturday.

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We were treated to a short yet energetic first set. The frenetic weirdness of Buried Alive set the tone for the night. The Free, More, Halley's Comet combo was a nice treat for me. The last time Phish played More in Las Vegas was a very emotional ride for me - it was a song that I needed at that moment in my life. It's had a special place in my heart ever since. The groove in Ocelot was lovely and added to my level of happiness. I know a lot of folks don't love that song as much as I do, but I've always been a fan of it's easy and jaunty flow. For the first time ever, Theme from the Bottom made me cry from utter joy. By the time we got to First Tube, I was giddy. Trey was whipping around the stage like Pete Townshend and it was clear he was absolutely stoked. And this was just the first set. The Halloween set was a blur. I was confused, delighted, bewildered, breathless, and highly entertained. I couldn't stop smiling, even as I screamed to no one in particular "WHAT IS GOING ON??" It was so Phish, yet so 80s, and pure joy. The suits, the dancing, and the lights. My god, the lights! The squares about the floor added an element that reminded me very strongly of Arcade Fire. In fact, the sound itself, with its mix of percussive 80s layers put me very much in mind of Arcade Fire. After the Halloween set, I tweeted "it's like my two favorite bands met on some weird psychedelic 80s cruise and a had a luminescent baby. Kasvot Vaxt = Arcade Fire?" It was a straight-up Faceplant Into Rokk. Phish surprised us. AGAIN. How do they keep doing that? The 3rd set we all had to pretend like that bizarre and wonderful set hadn't happened. Back to business as usual? I can't accept that, Phish! That set changed us. Nonetheless, the show must go on. I'm always eager for my next Tweezer, so last night's was a nice gift, especially after what I thought was a lackluster Tweezer from Dicks. Backwards Down the Number Line is one of my favorites (I will fight you) and it had some great moments that I think that even some of the most jaded fans must have appreciated. A shiny Bug, followed by a hearty Antelope finished out the set. Finally, a rousing Loving Cup and always-appreciated Tweezer Reprise ended the rather overwhelming night.

I agree with Dollarbill's overall review, though I think the highlights elevate this show above others of this time period. I'd add that Trey really rips apart The Arrival in Fluffhead, it sounds like it might be a tapping solo to hit as many notes as he does, all in time. The jam chart entries are worthy, as Stash does include some unique full-band vamping, Mike's Groove is strong with great, weird, carnival-sounding, dynamic, and vocal playfulness, the Weekapaug Groove -> Mango Song is a really excellent segue, and with Horn and the Fish bit, you have a full segue bulk of the 2nd set. So that's nice. Also, the Mockingbird narration is one of the best to date, with some very funny aggressive yelling in Icculus.

Open Thread Set II: First of all, I liked the music. I want to say if they'd debuted these songs over the course of the summer and fall, I would have re-listened to them multiple times, taking each one as its own entity and tried to imagine how they'd play out as big jams, etc. (which is how I listened to albums back in the day like "Billy Breathes," "The Story of the Ghost" and "Farmhouse," since it wasn't like the Maxell XL-II tapes were piling up in my mail box.) But I can't help comparing 10/31/2018 Set II to Set II of 10/31/2013. At least then we knew the gimmick (for lack of a better word) beforehand. And it turned out well: A full eight of those songs would end up on the album that became "Fuego." I'd like to hope that things turn out well for some of these tunes too (I'll have to give it another watch and probably a few listens.) I just can't help feeling a little "been there, done that." I love that the boys can feel comfortable enough to debut an entire album's worth of new material during one show, especially in this context. On the other hand, I feel like we as phans have come to expect... maybe not more, but... no repeats? In conclusion, I love the idea of debuting a lot of new material in a confined space. Just not Halloween. Maybe they should do something akin to the Island Tour during the Spring every 3-5 years or so? Thoughts?

Originally, I thought that having the nights off and extra time to prepare for a Halloween show would pay off. It did not unfortunately for us on the rail at home. Don’t get me wrong as this was a blast and worth staying up until 5am live streaming on the east coast. I just think this was pulled together knowing there are three more nights ahead. Watching on live phish removes the energy from the crowd (not to multiple streaming issues on live phish side**unconfirmed**) so I hope the folks on hand felt differently. A lot of repeats, an obscure second set selection, all of it leads me to believe that something huge is in store for the days to come. All I know is this was still a great show, and while the Hampton and Rosemont shows are still up above in my book, I think the real heat is yet to come. While this may sound like a negative review to most, it’s more of a realization that I’m going to be one of the unfortunate souls to miss the end of a sick fall tour and Halloween run because it’s only going to get nasty from here.

wow. what a show. another just insane phish show, but in a different way than normal. i'll start with the 'regular' phish and then move on to the 'costume' set. first set is pretty standard fare. personally never seen buried alive live before, so that was a treat. it was especially sick when trey very seamlessly worked a buried alive tease into an excellent ghost jam. definitely worth checking out this segment. a nice transition from ghost to crazy sometimes. free and more are standard, both well-placed in my opinion. i think this is the first more to not be a closer or encore; i like it much better this way. halley's is always a treat, and this version was especially so as they jammed it out a bit! trey even signaled to mike and page to stay in one of the ascending keys, a la hampton '97. while this jam certainly wasn't at that level, it was quite good. a bit of a ripcord into ocelot, but the ocelot jam seemed to have a little more kick than usual. theme pretty standard, a solid first-set workhorse these days. first tube was fire, with trey really going for it. skipping set 2 for now, set three was quite good in my opinion. certainly dragged a bit during the 4th quarter, but i still loved meatstick and antelope. however, the SYSF thru Numberline segment is excellent in my opinion. three true jams in a row. SYSF set the tone early with a quick move to type ii. tweezer was magnificent. while it was short, the band really went for it in the minor key section, and then beautifully switched to major, and then again back to minor in a new key. it felt like a composition on the fly in the best way possible. really incredible egalitarian jamming, which each member contributing and listening to each other. the jam petered out a little earlier than i would've hoped, and when ASIHTOS began, i was a little skeptical. however, as usual, the band delivered in a serious way. this ASIHTOS is not to be missed, with trey employing the whammy pedal in a soaring, emotional way a la '99. the transition from ASIHTOS to numberline was slick, and i personally think that song works in this spot (not a closer or encore, but keeps energy up enough.) trey always delivers the good during the solo, and he did so here. all in all, very solid set. certainly not the best frame of the tour, but quality in many different ways. don't miss the tweezer > ASIHTOS specifically. ok, now onto set 2. oh boy. receiving the phishbill was a surreal experience; how was it possible that they were doing something this obscure? my first thought was certainly disappointment, as i had been hoping for some classic album for which we're all hoping. i pushed those thoughts away, wanting to go in with an open mind. turns out i didn't even need to, as phish delivered again. the first few songs i was a bit skeptical, but they really hit a stride with Say it to me Santos (a song i think will be in rotation), FInal Hurrah (containing the now-iconic "faceplant into rock" line), and then the absolute heater that was Death Don't Hurt very long, with trey absolutely going off. while those were my favorite tracks, i really enjoyed almost all of them. just another incredible presentation of original music by phish, a la 2014. on that note, i am personally in the camp that believes all of these songs are originals. the phishbill's writing is too crazy for no one to have ever heard of this before; if this band existed, and their story is as crazy as phish says it is, someone would know about it. furthermore, this is a logical progression of some of the recent halloween shows. '13 was billed as their music, and it was. '14 was billed as a real album, which it sort of was, but it was really their music. and now '18 was billed as a completely different band, and it turned out to be their music. just goes to show again that phish is not willing to become complacent. they could easily have played like physical graffiti or are you experienced?, and everyone would have been very pumped. but instead, they continue to push the boundaries of their own tradition, while staying true to their identity as goofball pranksters. god, i love phish.

Fairly standard 1st set, with some pretty good flow in the first four. Would have been nice if the Ghost had been taken trick or treating around the neighborhood like some other early set versions this year, but it was still a good way to ease into the night. Nice Buried Alive teases on the tail end of Ghost, if I recall. Crazy Sometimes is super underrated....they did some weirdly beautiful things with it tonight, especially in the last few minutes. Really nice to hear Halley's jammed out....been too long. Loved the Sweedish Phish gag of a second set. The new songs are intriguing and had so many new grooves and textures that I can't wait to get down to later on. Kinda felt like the first half of the set was stronger, but will need to relisten to everything. Pretty sure I heard the same I'm a Man riff from trey that he was working during the Chicago Tube somewhere in there....really need to consider what space smells like. :) Third set was a little lackluster and the only thing really preventing this year from being a 4.5+ star show. Set Your Soul Free is still growing on me, and I would have preferred the Tweezer straight out the gates....it was a good one. A really, really good one. ASIHTOS kept it going for a hot minute, but lost direction before they waved the white flag on it and everyone got Line'd. Not disappointed..BDTNL is happiness and it's a nice reminder that we're here at the show not just for the music, but to see the ones we love from places near and far. Still, momentum was lost and hard to regain with a silly Meatstick and a sentimental Bug. Antelope had some steam, but lost its legs after the coda. Nonetheless great to see everyone having fun up there.... Encore was the only reason I came here to comment. I think that might be the third straight 3 set show that's had a Loving Cup encore? Reprise had everyone walking out on the good foot.....thank goodness they have 3 more nights in Vegas to take things up a notch.

trey only picked this because it has the word mercury in it fuck ya feefee give us a real album not an obscure nothing. . .ok disney was fun and david bowie that made since phish is from the moon but wtf was this shit. . . .dont u like anything from the 70s . . .u guys are asshholes it is official