I thought night 2 in Atlantic City was going to go down in history as the Halloween show to be at in 2013, but if you like phunky phish, this is one show that you definitely have to add to your collection! Funk jam is sick (especially in a theme! )
and the tweezer gets as phunktified as ever!!!! Thank you boys and see you at New year's :-)

As my 15th show I know some will certainly discount my review as not coming from someone with enough experience to discern the best of Phish from the somewhat mediocre. Personally I thought this was a very well executed show, with some extremely fun moments between the band to witness.

It began for my friend and I as Trey's guitar tech checked his rig. From our vantage point we could clearly hear the tonality of Wilson coming from the chords that were strummed as he the tech helped shape the tight distortion, tipping us off we we're in for a classic treat. The Wilson kicked off an instant dance session and the audience was rocking. A very fun Wilson, though not too out of the ordinary in my experience.

From there we hear Trey begin to blip out the very articulate, Morse code like beginning of Rift. I thought this song was extremely well played in a technical sense, with all the runs, and open splashy landings seeming to line up harmoniously.
Then came out the third animal in our three day phishy menagerie, the Ocelot. This was very funny to watch as when Trey began the song Fishman seemed to jump on the riff on the off beat, and Trey and Mike kept chuckling as they tried to realign the song in the opening measures. I found this to be strange song placement originally, but the Ocelot does deliver a funky groove which the audience certainly didn't mind slipping into. It seemed strange to me to bring the energy to a moderate chug at this point in the show, but hey, I don't write the setlists.

At this point Water in the Sky began, but all I really took from it were the beautiful sweeping piano lines coming from Page, I won't lie, it was a great opportunity to just listen intently and maybe puff a little...

For me a highlight came during the next song, Sample in a Jar. Because of the fact that it reminds me of friends that have some, but not much experience with Phish, it always makes me smile. This was a particularly rocking Sample! Toward the end of the guitar solo Trey could clearly feel this too as he built and built only to land on a classic blues/rock distorted fast strum. It was so cheesy Trey actually stopped playing it about two measures in and just let the grungy sustain ring out the chord as he laughed and waited to pick up the next cue. Hilarious to watch, musicians will probably agree, sometimes it's the simple riffs that are repeated a million times by everyone that get the job done!

Now I always love the opening guitar scream of a Funky Bitch and this one hit on the opening. From there, there were a few issues. Trey flubbed the Riff on the second portion of the opening solo, but recovered quickly. The mistakes didn't end here though. For some reason as the song built back up after the breakdown, Mike sang the fourth verse completely different than he typically does, altogether missing the hold on the "EV-ery time I see..." Trey hit it, but they we're clearly not together. This threw off the momentum of the song and in my opinion this Funky Bitch didn't end up quite as rousing as others I have heard. Despite this it was still very dance-able, and gave way to a 46 Days that kept the energy up up up! This song just screams and always seems to be an audience sing along. There were some nice peaks but admittedly nothing stand out from where I heard things. Very well played nonetheless.

Theme from the bottom... Whoa! This was just awesome! From the fun plinko guitar and piano sounds, Fishmans impeccable timing and a perfectly harmonized vocal bridge, this had it all. If that weren't enough, we also were afforded the opportunity to discuss our least favorite politicians and most favorite beers, all while swirling to a scratchy funk wah. ( I admit this was strange two nights in a row, it almost seemed schtick-y, and I had never personally seen the band do anything so similar two nights in a row) Back to Theme for an excellent and very tight ending. Perfect!

I would be willing to bet that Trey called an audible on this next one, because after a brief chat the band came out with a Yarmouth Rd that seemed a little impromptu. I think the tune was brought out because the band seemed to be firing on all cylinders, and it was the opportunity to mold Yarmouth road into a more final version (that's the evolutionary process live music undergoes, as Trey told us Thursday in reference to Wingsuit) Well, it worked. This was what I believe to be the most solid version of Yarmouth Rd yet, with a loose but unwavering groove and the best vocal work I've heard from Mike on this song, ever.

Limb by Limb was then begun so fluidly that I'm pretty confident this was the other half of the pre-Yarmouth discussion. This song is so bouncy, so cerebral and another audience favorite, clearly. Lots of fun. Now I was expecting one more song here.... I was wrong!

Holy Guacamole people! Mikes was all there and lets get right to it, what a dark, funky, sinister Mike's it was. The solo section simmered quite well. As far as Hydrogen goes, I know, it's divisive. For me, excellent, even with 15 shows, this was my first I Am Hydrogen, I was very happy to hear it. Some of my cohorts with nearly ten times the number of shows under their belt as compared to me were less than thrilled, but hey I like it! Weekapaugh always makes me bust out the dancing shoes and I was cutting a rug through the end of set one. Well done gents.

Set two: Down with Disease other than the mildly extended intro from Mike with some strange ambiance laid down by the guys, this was pretty by the books. I also realized that I don't know what the end of this song actually sounds like as it seems to have been unfinished the last million times it was played (yes I am clearly exaggerating) Fun though...

If memory serves correct, Piper began somewhere between a fade and a ripcord, and the audience was elated. This Piper also seemed within the confines of normalcy to me, but was again very pleasant on the ears.

Roggae was a (live) first for me, and I enjoy its relaxed chunking and lyrics very much. I can picture this as a something being sung to children at a carnival, very surreal and again well played. It dissolved into Waves and this also stayed in surreal land, though it's a more brief song in general. At this point we were all relaxed and wrapped in our warm Phish snuggies, but that wouldn't last long...

Tweezer! Here, I suddenly became possessed by some dancing demon. Don't get me wrong, I didn't become Fred Astaire or anything, but I did not stop moving for this one at all. I think it's worthy of note that there were moments where Mike approached his bass rig but then visibly decided to keep the bombadier doors closed. Sit tight for resolution on this matter my friends, but let's just say it paid off.

Highlight of the night- JULIUS! Listen to this Julius, then listen again. Then give a copy to everyone you know. This was awesome, feel, solo's everything. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure the initial intention was for Trey to take the first solo, but he approached the piano and handed it off to Page (rather abruptly). The raging, Jerry Lee Louis piano solo that followed was Pages best playing of the night, hands down. This was insane. If Page does't quite blow your brain out of the top of your head, than just give it a second, because here comes Trey. JUST LISTEN TO THIS JULIUS.

Yeah you know what happened next. I wasn't to into this particular Backwards Down the Number Line, and the band didn't seem to be either. A double length intro strum began the tune with some dissonance as Trey was too far from his mic to begin singing. Alas, this BDTNL didn't really even have the flowy Allman Brothers style piano lines that some more interesting versions have had, so it might be a second set skip when it comes to relistens.

Character Zero is always high energy, if not a little overplayed lately, but it was obvious that people were enjoying themselves and the band. Let's be real, who wouldn't take a Character Zero to get you back in the groove after a BDTNL.

Sleeping monkey featured a big ol' group sing along during Fishmans vocal break, and I was really surprised to hear so many people talking about how much they like that tune. I always thought it was more of a cheeky humorous thing personally, but hey, to each their own.

Pilot to bombardier, pilot to bombardier-- Signal Mike to open the bomb bay doors! This was the moment we had all been waiting for. Cue Cactus with the room shaking Tweeprise intro. Auditory bliss. From here we were treated to that sweet sweet intensity only delivered by pure raging arena rock. Very fulfilling. Very.

This one is going to probably seem a little backwards but this was a night I feel set one trumped set two in execution and excitement, but all in all this was a great performance. Give it a listen, I don't think you'll be dissapointed!

Cumbustular. Fanfreakytabuliousishness.
This is why...
Wilson opener, just making sure you all are here
Funky B -46- theme shaft theme first set came alive, love the smiles and banter. Yarmouth rd++
Sinister Minister Mikes H Week a groove.
Then set 2

THAT DwD= piper palm muted chukkas from mystical music gods in sky
Roggae to breathe.
Step into freezer MY People! Timing changes to The funkmost.
Good form. Before you take another step, Don't Blame it on yourself.
Plenty of return on the FAITH WE HAVE PROVIDED. Slippery slides. RAGING LUNACY of the best kind.

I HAVE SEEN. Things are true that I Forget. I I I have seen the man.
Wah, chukka Da Wah Wah WAH Wah ta da da But but.

Kush
Bush
Tush
Bat bat

Ha. sleeping monkey. Home on the train. Why? The day that you arrived.

I stepped into the Freezer.

Thank you Beatles. Thank you led Zepplin. Thank you Jimi. Thanks Jerry.
Thank you Jon Fishman.
Thank you Mike Gordon.
Thank you Page McConnell.
Thank you Trey Anastasio.

Yeah and the KURODA FACTOR.

This kind of show right here is what it is all about.

The Greatest of all Time.
Masters of illusion. Confusion. Manipulators of the Sonic.
These people.

Can not wait to see you Again. Do you know why?
These silly boys. Sure know how to have a good time.

In my opinion this was simultaneously the most fun show of the three night AC run and also the weakest (which still means it was an excellent well-above average Phish show.)

Set I highlights: Wilson to kick it off. Who doesn't love a show that starts off with those stutter chords to signal the "Wilson" call? Nobody, that's who! Things got a little sloppy at times -- maybe the boys are a little overexcited to start recording in the next 48 hours? -- but they seemed to take it all in stride and never let it rattle anybody. Next big highlights for me were the insane funkathon with some hysterical jabber from Trey and Fish in Theme (Bush, Busch, and Kush references) - easily making this my favorite Theme of All-Time. And a really sweet Mike's Groove, with a Weekapaug to cap off the set that was a filthy porno cowphunkfest plucked straight out of fall '97. What a fun way to get the show going!

Set II, a typical 2013 slay the dragon version of Down with Disease - they're just decimating the song this year in the best of ways, leaving no survivors in its wake. Piper was fun, and it quickly went into type II territory with a "woo" section before slipping into a wide open Roggae that was given room to breathe - a very nice treat indeed! When Waves started, I think everyone was hoping for a reprise of the Worcester version, but instead what we got was a "merely" excellent one, which was just fine because the Tweezer that followed unleashed more fall '97 style funk that took on a kind of psychedelic trance-funk vibe that the boys appropriately grooved on for a mighty fine while. I didn't want it to end.

After that it was time to coast to the finish line in the form of a raucous rendition of Julius, a late set BDTNL, and ripsnorter version of Character Zero that Trey tore to shreds. Sleeping Monkey > Tweeprise encore and that's a wrap for fall 2013, easily the best overall tour of the 3.0 era, arguably of the 2.0 era as well and in my mind deserving of being in the same conversation as a top 5 tour of all time.

Thanks boys, you've killed it this year! On to MSG!!!

I can't stop listening to this show! The band had nothing to prove at this point of tour, no obligations, no mountain to climb. The jams roll off of them so effortlessly on Saturday night. The band's empathy towards each other is so apparent. Even though other nights may have a this or a that, out of all the shows I was lucky enough to attend, this one is my favorite because of where the band is right now. Looking forward!

Best show of fall tour. A little thin in the end with #Line and Julius and a little slow to get going in the beginning of the first set. But the Theme was as good as anything played in any first set this tour and the DWD piper Roggae waves tweezer is the best hour of music they played all year. The tweezer was perfect. Absolutely album worthy. Tight as can be and loose as a funk dance party. Better than all the 20+ minute tweezers of this tour. The Waves was equally perfect. Way better than the Worcester waves. If aliens came down from space and I had to play them one version of waves to show them what it was it would be this version. If you listen close enough you can hear the ocean on Fishmans cymbals and hear the waves crashing to the shore with te whole bands perfectly synced music that breathed and flowed like only something nature could provide so perfectly. Fishman was really really on this show. Wonderful improvising from Jon all show. I rate this show a 96/100
On a side note a fight broke out during # line when these two skinny drunk teen age space poachers tried to use their size 0 bodies to weasel their way in front floor with all of us who had been waiting all day for that spot, and this coke head tried to get them to leave by pushing them away in parts of their body they probably didn't want touches so she poured a beer on his head so he responded by firmly shoving one I them in the shoulder. The girls freaks and started throwing punches and the band was getting distracted before a wily tour vet made them leave. But there's no way the band wasn't distracted by them during # line as punches were being thrown four rows from the stage. Fortunately they made. Full recovery of concentration in time r that wonderful character zero. I got down hard! And side side note it was nice to meet Amanda from Philly wherever you are.

I was there, had a good time. 84+ hour weekend, boogied til my bones were sore and fought back puking on my section, twice, encouraged police to act ridiculous on ATV's, taunted them for their outstanding Halloween costumes (man, can they sell the look), rolled dice til my wallet bled, mocked a crew of "guys" from Jersey looking for Heineken's and Jaga'bombs on the "Boardwalk of Gas", visited the dentist, even the one hauled away in cuffs, stayed out of jail and the hospital, and listened to the greatest band in the world absolutely shred 14,000 plus for three straight nights. to think i could have been ANYWHERE else on Planet Earth if i had a transportation device, defies physics, but i would have unplugged it from it's crepuscular encasing and stayed in AC with my phriends pumping my fists, kicking my feet like a karate man and steadily devouring $1 Crown n' gingers until they were sobering! Phish, may the Gods' bless and rock out to you for eternity! THANK YOU!

Unbelievable first set, unbelievable second set. Hot show all the way through. a few bumps in the road but didnt take away from the quality of these jams. Need to relisten, but remember theme, funky bitch, disease, and ocelot being clear highlights for me. First time hearing tweezer so had to love that.

Cant wait for msg!!!

After having stated in my Hartford review last week that it was going to be the only show attended on this evidently history-making Fall Tour I quietly put out into my Phish universe thru my Phamily of Phriends that if a what would be an obviously coveted Fall tour-ending Saturday show ticket was to made available to me that I would love to attend it based upon the most excellent time that I had with my Phamily at last week's most excellent show. So there I am sitting in the couch of one of my beloved Phamily's couple's house when one of their best friend's comes in while the webcast is in progress and surprises me with the ticket because her brother and his wife had to back out at the last minute. I was ambushed by my Phamily, but in the best possible way so everything that is typed from this point on was made possible by Phamily and this is my public thank you to them for looking out for me.

So f'ing A WOWSER! I was one lucky dude to be able to attend the only two shows on this Fall Tour that I could realistically attend due to family obligations and get tickets for both of them virtually at the last minute and grateful feels too insufficient a word to describe my feelings to be able to do so. So with that being said and after witnessing the Halloween show via couch tour and hearing from all of my Phriends that attended Friday's show that they were still, indeed, en fuego…:-wink/wink!…that the possibilities for last night's show were endlessly wonderful. And I believe to these ears that they tried their very best not to leave anything on the musical table. And succeeded to the best of their ability, both performance and set list-wise.

The non-stop fun started with the familiar guitar riff of dud-uh, dud-uh: WILSON! And the party at Broadwalk Hall officially started at approximately 8:15PM. And continued with the riffs of Rift. And how could then they not play Ocelot when I wore my Ocelot shirt last night, given to me for my birthday while in Denver by the very same folks that I watched the Halloween webcast at their house and planted the bug in one of their best friend's ear 'bout perhaps passing along to me the now available ticket for last night's show? Another killer version, Trey obviously loves the song and is letting it all hang out on it. Then a relative but beautiful breather with Water in the Sky. Then back to full-party mode with a absolutely killer trio of songs: Sample in a Jar, Funky Bitch and an unusually early-in-the-1st Set placed 46 Days which certainly seemed to signal that they were willing to empty out the musical bag without any reservations. Then something musically special occurred: the unleashing of Theme From the Bottom from its usual boundaries into an extended jam that was both musical manna from the musical heavens (quoting the Shaft theme) and just plain ole' hilarious, with Trey and Fishman doing a verbal call and response on who was Fishman's least favorite President (Bush), 2nd least favorite President (Bush again, ha ha ha!) and his favorite beer (Busch!). Face were melted and jaws were being picked up from the floor at the end of this song as they even went back to the main theme of Theme just to remind us where all this musical insanity had started from and while they were deciding where to musically go afterwards we the attendees showered them with love and affection for what had just occurred with our screaming lungs. And rightfully so, the look of amazement was just downright priceless…:-big grin! So they decided to cool us down a bit with the reggae-tinged Yarmouth Road to allow us to catch our collective breath before finishing off the hour and a half long 1st Set with first Limb By Limb and then the beloved Mike's/Hydrogen/Weekapaug musical triumvirate. The buzz for what had just been witnessed and the anticipation for what was to follow was clearly palpable during the half hour-plus intermission while we all were reattaching our faces and picking our jaws off the ground.

While I was hoping that I would become Crosseyed and Painless at the beginning of the 2nd set, they decided that I would simply have to get Down with Disease. And I and apparently the collective masses was ok with that as the dance-fest started feverishly anew. This jam vehicle then segued into the next jam vehicle, Piper, which was fast, furious and unrelenting in its sensory assault. Then my personal highlight of the show: Roggae. It was just downright beautiful, it reached deep into my soul and tugged at my heart, a picture-perfect version. Trey's guitar tone was reverberating in the hall while the band sympathetically provided the musical vehicle for which he played his craft out on us. Just magnificent. It then segued into an equally beautifully-played Waves and the two songs back-to-back was one of the best segues ever witnessed, on this night they just seemed to be made for each other. Then the stunner as the freezer was opened one last time and, duh!, revealed Uncle Ebenezer in it again! No kidding…:-wink! I'm getting the goose-bumps just typing this at the memory of the reaction when we realized that the funk that is Tweezer was to be unleashed on us and the dance-fest and the glow-stick war that ensured was one of the purest moments of joy ever witnessed and felt by yours truly. And I'm guessing by more than just myself…:-smile! And the woo's made one final appearance before MSG and the band clearly reveled in eliciting them out of us, the funk was down and dirty while we danced on the stickiness of the Hall's floors. This eventually segued into catching up to what Julius was doing nowadays and it was rocked out to the max. And strangely enough a song that never to my ears seems to sound right anywhere in a show when played on this night sounded perfectly placed. BDTNL was both celebratory in nature and musically fleshed out, Trey once again showing his love and affection for it and I, for one, took the opportunity to acknowledge my Phamily of Phriends during it for without them I would not have been there. And as a exclamation point they unleashed one final song, Character Zero and Trey reminded us once again that he is a Rock God sent down from the musical heavens for our enjoyment. During its conclusion he thanked up from the heart for being such an loving and open-minded audience during this ground-breaking run and pure love was truly abounding in every inch of the venue. The Sleeping Monkey that I thought might awaken last Sunday at Hartford since the last time it was awakened at Jones Beach during the pouring rain but did not was finally awakened last night, much to our pleasure and humor as Fishman playfully hit his falsetto during his solo moment then the tour that will apparently go down in Phish lore as one of the most consistent and enjoyed by both band and fans came to its last orgasmic conclusion in the form of the Reprise, one last dance-fest for the soul.

What else to say but that it will be a very enjoyable two months of anticipation for those lucky enough to finish this fine year off@MSG. And for those that finished their personal Phish year off last night, one might think that they will walk off tour pretty satisfied with what they were able to witness either last night or on prior nights. Judging from the shows heard either personally, via couch tour or thru the other available means nowadays it was a virtually no-miss tour and one that showed that the boys in the band are excited with the musical possibilities in front of them and that they clearly intend to forge forward and not rest on their laurels. Long live the Phish as they win. Again. Hope to see you'all@MSG! Should be some sort of four-day party!

Peace,
Alex

It was nice to hear Mike's Yarmouth Road. This was a great show, although it garners less recognition than the two previous nights.
When Trey walked out with his cap and Wilson Jack 'o Lantern, I knew it would be a night to remember.
The second set Roggae > Waves was sublime.

It was nice to hear Mike's Yarmouth Road. This was a great show, although it garners less recognition that the two previous nights.
When Trey walked out with his cap and Wilson Jack 'o Lantern, I knew it would be a night to remember.
The second set Roggae > Waves was sublime.