All the midshow jams are unusually strong; from Ocelot through Bug the performances are precise, fluid, and touched in places with a sense of adventure. The Sand > DWD > Maze run is particularly fine, with the ambient jam out of Disease serving as a handy demonstration of Phish's recent mastery of that style, far beyond the toxic haze of 2004 or 2009's first steps. Hardly a classic Phish show - not even top 150 I'm guessing - but then how many bands can put on a 3-hour concert where every tune offers something *new and interesting*? That said, if you're looking for a first summer '11 show, grab 6/3 instead for its justly-celebrated DWD > Fluffhead > Bowie.

Couch tour was great...I've fired up the unauthorized streams before but this was an much better experience. Only a couple small hiccups in the stream, nothing major, and if I had anything better than a terrible integrated graphics card in my MacBook those probably wouldn't have happened. The audio was top notch, and the video was generally HD with the exception of a lot of compression artifacts. Turned off the lights and the way the stage lights strobed through my living room really gave a great feeling of being there, with the added plus of snacks and some really great beer.

The show seemed pretty average for 3.0. The Light Up and Gin jams were fantastic and by far the highlights of the first set (and entire show). Unfortunately other songs that used to jam (Moma, Cities) in the first set were really just short, maybe even less than standard. Fluffhead was very well executed, and being able to watch Trey and Page up close during some of the runs they play was great. Page in particular seems like he's having the time of his life up there, all smiles all night.

Set two started off with what seemed like a promising Carini jam which then came to a crashing halt when Mike seemed to miss the Sand riff that Trey was laying down. The Sand jam was good, in fact the entire sequence through Maze was fun. Although truth be told, I would have preferred one tune with a long jam in the place of Carini> Sand, pick either one Trey, I don't care. Meatstick was entertaining since the webcast let us see the dance, but audio only it was completely standard. As for the rest of the second set - well - it was fairly typical by 3.0 standards (Bug was kind of boring, and I actually kind of like it as a song), although I always enjoy ADITL. The Quinn encore was really, really great, high energy, crowd at the show singing along, as well as the crowd on my couch.

This show is probably a 4.0 all time, scale it up to a 5.5 on a 3.0-only scale if you want. On a scale of what is usually on my TV on a Tuesday night, 10.0! Definitely check out the Light Up and Gin.

I also expected a heavy show b/c of the webcasts and I "personally" wasn't let down. Got some "big" tunes and a couple of wonderful bustouts. Everything seemed so tight--I was in 103 straight back with a big posse and it was a great scene for sure. Dinner was well received as an opener--I have only seen it live 2 times up til Tuesday night. Cities seemed short but what a great tune--loped along like I love straight into Fluffy which was well played! Groggy elevated! Kill Devil Falls was played like it always should be--over the top!

But nothing in the show hit me like Light up or Leave me Alone--seeing that was a top 10 highlight to me--veteran of 113 PHiSH shows all around the world and spanning 18 years. Wow--was I blown away to hear this one live--it seemed as if they weren't gonna let up and the ferocious jam just seemed to go on and on--and that's actually what we DREAM of in jams--I was dancing like I used to when I was YOUR age--hellfire, I was dancing so hard if the jam had been longer and I might have probably had a heart attack! hahaha Cavern kept the heat going and never let me catch my breath. I just pogoed up and down ecstatic to see Light Up and riding on the high of that intensity all the way thru Cavern. Couldn't wait for my download to finish to hear this one again. Its not letting me down in anyway re-listening.

Carini seemed short also but was great to see--it seemed like Trey prematurely cut it to go into Sand but Sand was awesome. My only complaint was after seeing Trey do it several times on TAB 2001 tour, I like the extremely long versions (red Rocks 2001 is a 22 minute example) DwD is usually a launch pad for a long space trip but also seemed short Tuesday, but still crunchy. I had also been wanting to see another Meatstick--something my phriends were busting on me about. I don't care about the dance (I was in Oswego when we DIDN'T set the world record and haven't danced it since) but love the rhythm of the Japanese lyrics and you are prolly laughing at that but its true. BUG was an EPIC version with aDitL and Antelope ending a great set.

Not a perfect 10 show but REALLY are any?? And, to mirror what someone wrote earlier, I am also a Dead Head (and dig Dylan, the lyricist) and love Quinn, but it didn't thrill me for some reason that night (I have seen 3) but did enjoy the fact that they played it for us. Anyways, on the scale of 1-10, I would say 8.8. But I was always satisfied with a "B+" in school if I couldn't nail the "A."

So, quoting the epic song itself is a way of pointing a finger at those couch tourers who weren't there fussing and complaining--can't wait to dish on the 6/15/2011 show

You're up all night preaching your mind
Come home in the morning with your latest find
I'm gonna have to lay it to you straight on the line
Either light up or leave me alone

PS - The reference to "Memphis, Home of Mary Johnson" is (probably) a reference to Officer Mary Johnson, Memphis Police Dept, Retired. She was arrested for DWI on 06/13/2011, the day before this show. The news of her arrest was on all the radio & tv stations the morning of the show, which (probably) caught the attention of someone in the Phish entourage.

Like it or not this show raged. It had all elements;blues,jams,funk,space,covers,bluegrass and last but not least the element that trumps them all....energy. Well done fellas. Looking forward to tomorrow.

This is first show of this tour I attended. And even if it wasn't exploratory or filled with eclectic, long jams, it was TONS OF ENERGY. More importantly - all 4 of the guys were 100% invested. They were obviously having an amazing night along with the crowd. It is wonderful to catch them on a night like this one. I could hear every instrument and they were all really on it concerning execution and vibe. I cant wait to see where they go tonight.

After the experience of my life on Sunday I was due for a letdown and its all good. Though the show definitely had its blazing moments. And though there was nothing really wrong, performance-wise with anything that preceded it, it felt like it went up a notch in all respects, sonically-wise, from KDF>Gin and then the Light Up>Cavern to close a very solid set.

Carini roared out of the set break, Sand showed some spunk and DWD featured some rip-roaring Trey leads and some monstrous Mike bass bombs. Maze was monstrous itself and might have been the best song of the night if not for Bug, Trey ripped and then ripped again and again and again, this one overflowed with passion and emotion.

The Meatstick and 2001 that preceded it got the crowd into a very heavy groove.

The A Day in the Life that followed it was near perfect but, more importantly, passionately performed but the song-ending crescendo was something to behold and neat to be in the building for. After all that the Antelope felt anti-climatic but that's a good criticism to have if any at all.

And I might be in the minority here and being a DeadHead but the Quinn didn't quite resonate with me as it seemed to do with most others. I was kind in the mood for more Phish material, not a cover song, that's all. My problem and in general if that's the worst thing I can lobby against a show then I should have such problems in life in general. This was an extremely solid show simply overshadowed a bit by the previous show to these ears. Looking forward to tomorrow, GA Pit seats and looking to rage hard with them.

Peace,
Alex

"Home Of MARY JHNSON"

This was a fun show indeed! Din and Movie opener was a nice treat, and fluffhead was played very well. I haven't heard those last 5 notes trey plays ending fluff since 2.0. He does it in Portsmouth too. Light up is a must hear imo. This show is unfortunately one of those where the first set rages hard, and leaves little room for the 2nd. Still a very fun show.

ps..... the Ocelot from this show is the BEST ONE they've ever played.

Not much I can add here, just that this Light Up is top tier work by Page, and the boys. Probably the most engaging cover I've heard this year. (sorry, No Quarter fans).

Highlights: Light Up Or Leave Me Alone, Dinner and A Movie

Honestly, the rest is pretty generic. Certainly not bad but really nothing that sticks out if you've heard many shows.

This was my first show. my dad took me and my buddies up to Alpharetta for his 30th show up to that point I think but man just when I thought I had the seatbelt strapped in they busted me up with the dinner opener! that was my first time ever hearing it too. Whole show was pretty good. nice long ocelot. and the boys showed us that they're still ambient assassins with some tasty dwd->maze. ill admit though the antelope was lacking a bit. overall ill give it a 3/5 even though it was my first show