Raleigh is criminally underrated tier-wise

Tier This

While I agree with the general observations about this show (and even the tier-based placement), I think you're ignoring or at least under-appreciating the 3-song start of Set II.

This, I think was a particularly adventurous and cohesive run of songs. From the 46 Days jam on, the energetic staccato theme re-emerged over and over, reminiscent of some '95 experimentation. The refusal to play the tweezer riff during the song proper - subbing it out for a drum and bass rhythm - (and especially the brief possibility of a tweezteca) seem like a good example of how the songs in Q3 were all played slightly 'off.' I would argue that experimenting with the structure of songs like this is as musically interesting as 'jams proper' and produces a continuity that is rare.

This bs review is why i almost never read reviews on net. For 28 years i've thoroughly enjoyed every show ive seen or heard. Im sorry someone is so jaded to feel the need to rank a subjective experience. Just bs.

Haaaa .. Funniest thing I've read all day! Congrats

Gorge night 1 is way underrated. Great show start to finish. 24 min chalkdust. Ya mar with a Mike solo. Poor heart. The best summer feel to a set of the tour IMO.

Halfway through Tube, I started focusing on Fishman. Dude controlled the jam. Am I pissed it never went deep? Fuck no. Dude's got chops for days.

With every song, my wife and I looked at each other and said, "Nice!" Great songs. Who am I to judge. But seriously, am I the only one who enjoyed the first set last night?

We create problems when we try to rank and sort everything to compare it with what has happened before.

@CapnJenks said:

This bs review is why i almost never read reviews on net. For 28 years i've thoroughly enjoyed every show ive seen or heard. Im sorry someone is so jaded to feel the need to rank a subjective experience. Just bs.

So you've been following the band for 28 years and almost never read reviews on Phish.net, and yet you chose to read this "bs" one? The author should be honored by your presence!

Night 1 Alpharetta is the cream of the crop.

I guess my problem is this: do we only like a show if songs XYZ all go Type II? For me, no. It's how you play the 5 minute songs that matters.

For those (like myself) with sky-high expectations following cancelation of Curveball and the general hype leading up to Dicks 2018 and the awesome show Friday night and the past track record of excellent Sunday night Dicks shows, last night was definitely a letdown.

For those who unconditionally love seeing Phish, last night was a great time.

I thought this review was spot-on. I thought the show was pretty underwhelming. I still had a blast. More importantly, I was served yet another reminder to one of the biggest keys of enjoying this band: don't expect anything. Because for better or for worse, just when you think you know what'll happen next, you might get a curveball.

@youenjoymyghost said:

Gorge night 1 is way underrated. Great show start to finish. 24 min chalkdust. Ya mar with a Mike solo. Poor heart. The best summer feel to a set of the tour IMO.

I agree with your sentiment. I'm surprised how little credit Gorge 1 gets. We were there for all 3 nights and I actually liked 1 the best.

Reviews are subjective. Every list ever created is subjective. I roll my eyes every time I see Rolling Stone put out another '100 best ...." list. I appreciate, but may not always agree, with the reviews put out on Phish.net. I appreciate others perspectives. To each his / her own. The beauty of a Phish show is that everyone has an individual yet collective experience at the same time. We all had an amazing time yesterday. Great venue, great Shakedown, beautiful weather. We went to dance and have fun and let our hair down.....get away from the grind and enjoy the music. I can recall one night of Phish that I walked away disappointed (10/12/10). But ask others who were there and you'll get varying opinions. We all get something different out of it. No one is wrong.

Alpharetta night 1 is definitely the cream. If your going to tier these shows which is all subjective Dicks night 1 is maybe a 2 but more like a 3. 3 jam chart selections in Alpha1, with a ghost and carini that were some of the best of the 3.0 era.

@jenscoop4 said:

No one is wrong.

I get what you were going for here, but I prefer the formulation, "EVERYONE is wrong."

Appreciate the thoughts. All 3 shows were very well played, albeit devoid of the kind of bustouts and covers that I really yearn for (where’s rock and roll?). Was a very fun show...huge dance party on the field. I’ll have to listen back to hear the Golden age issues. Anyhow, another awesome dicks run.

I totally rate Merriweather 2 higher than Dick's 3. Both had good stuff going on in 2nd set, but MW2's first set--better than some second sets--carries it further.

*****This is specifically looking at the music that ends up on the recordings. It is not a ranking of good times and crowds going wild (e.g. even though Alpharetta night three was obviously one of the most fun shows of Summer, it’s also one of the weaker shows of Summer in terms of improv and flubs).

Fun fact: many of us are critical thinkers and discerning listeners who are capable of disageeing with dot net recaps without being mindless fluffers who rate shows solely based on our own personal experience or the “fun factor.” I’m not saying every recap has to be glowing, but when reviewers post these overly negative, unnecessarily defensive screeds it suggests quite strongly that readers who disagree are wrong, it doesn’t suggest the actual truth that there are many different criteria that phans use to judge and enjoy shows. In reality the experience of being a critically thinking Phan necessitates being open to the idea that the band playing WELL and the band that way YOU as an individual reviewer WANT or PREFER them to play are not always the same thing. I’d rather have reviews that make “I statements” and acknowledge that subjectivity is a part of these reviews than reviews that pretend somehow that this crew of dot net reviewers speaks only the objective truth, unique among any other humans on the planet.

Any well written review is either going to make the reader feel thrilled because they agree or angry because they passionately disagree. To attempt to remain truly neutral and in the gray would be giving everything 3.5 stars, and wouldn’t be worth reading. But to pretend that that’s what you’re doing and that anyone who disagrees are the ones who are biased and flawed is worse.

TLDR: stop trolling with your reviews and just recap the previous night’s show.

Stopped reading at “tepid” but when everyone in the comments section disagrees with you perhaps it’s time to consider the fact that you are “doing it wrong” @chopaganda.

PS the review team should tap @farmhose for a review on fall tour because 1) she’s an amazing writer 2) she’s a woman 3) she’s doing the entire tour. She doesn’t post much but she’s seen over 80 shows since her first in 2015 (headiest noob award) and she writes the horoscopes in Surrender to the Flow.

Full disclaimer: she’s also my wife.

i wish you wore my ears last night, because you would have heard a completely different show!

everything was played so well (all weekend). horn? when has it been last played that well? horse > silent, patient and spot on for a front end encore.

the four song (46 days, tweezer, golden age, steam) start to set two was pure gravy. the back end of set two was pure dance party (jibboo, suzy, zero), as was the mellow mood, tube, funky bitch in set one.

for me, the band jammed night one, but never really connected. i heard a lot of forced effort and segments where things weren't doing much. things only got better night two and night three was the cherry on top.

(and the camping grounds were spectacular all weekend! i had to laugh this morning when i was walking to the showers at 6:30 am (to catch a 9 am flight home) and there was a silent disco going down on the main drag. you people are crazy!)

Thought last night was pretty dank. Both sets. Great run. Thanks for sticking your neck out with the review but fuck the boys are en fuego for sure and we’ll see you in Albany.

I feel sorry for you that you think DIcks 1 was top tier. That means you don't get it all the way, and hey brother i love you and that's okay. Saturday was church and healing. Sunday was all over the place. Both were far better than DIcks 1. Well, I could see an argument between the anger set of D1 and the resolution set of D2, but no way brother you missed The Big Boat if you think night 1 was the tops!

Did anyone else notice the band didn’t play a single Gamehenge song all weekend, they came on later Sunday night than the previous 2 nights, as if they were rehearsing some stuff and needed an extra couple of minutes, and then played 2 sets with no Gamehenge songs to continue the weekend? Trey was asked about that during the “Ask Trey” interview so we know he/they have been recently reminded they haven’t played the Gamehenge saga in decades. When I noticed that after night 2 I began to wonder, what a great way to close the tour and offer up a true Curveball? What are they waiting for? I’m ready, Giddyup

@CapnJenks said:

This bs review is why i almost never read reviews on net. For 28 years i've thoroughly enjoyed every show ive seen or heard. Im sorry someone is so jaded to feel the need to rank a subjective experience. Just bs.

Nobody is going to sue you if you stop reading, pal.

MPP2 is not the same tier as Dicks3, and sorry but that Tweezer? No.

I think this summary took a steep nosedive when the tiers came into play. It's a
show recap, not a tour recap.

This has to be one of the worst reviews in .net history.

A pretentious recap of an average (at best) Dick's show, followed by a "tier" rated ranking of the summer that nobody asked for.

A ranking which, I can only hope, was written by someone finishing off their leftover bags from summer tour.

Dicks N1 in a tie by itself is laughable. Like, what show did you see, dude?

Camden N1 in the same tier as MPP2?

Clownshoes.

No more from this guy, please.

I feel like the tier ranking is pure clickbait designed to get comments. If so, you win.

I attended all of the shows mentioned below. Not couchtour. Real life.

Merriweather 2 is overrated. I attended. It was ok. First set was forgettable. Bustouts dont make a show.
Dicks 1 is not the best show of summer. It was a good show, and an argument can be made for a tie with Dicks2.

Dicks 3 is overrated hard. 1st set is average. Second set is great. Therefore it falls in rankings.

Both SF shows may be underrated here.

clickbait works people.

I looked at these tour rankings longer than I’d like to admit, considering different possibilities for what the ranking criteria could be (song selection, song execution, improvisation, setlist flow, # bustouts, # 20 minute jams, # Gamehendge tunes, proximity to east coast, etc.), but I couldn’t figure it out so I stopped trying to.

I can’t see how anyone who listened to the shows could find Camden1, an therwise below average show with a great jam, in the same tier as Gorge3, Alpha2, MPP1, and Dicks3.

I put Camden1 in the same tier as BGCA2, in the “they played a lot of songs and did a decent job, but had some serious flow issues – check out that one big jam and that other solid one” tier. To not see BGCA1 ranked more highly than Camden1 makes me feel like there is a typo or something.

Not that anyone cares, but I’d put BGCA1 in the second tier with Gorge3 and Alpha2, behind Dicks1, Alpha1, and MPP2 in the top tier.

It's pretty clear this person is a NE'r.. Missed CB and went to Dicks.. Prob worked in the 2 average NJ shows...
There's nothing that came out of Colorado "musically" that is worthy of even a tier 2..
So u got 1 show each at the 1st two tiers and 5 shows lumped together in the next few?
This is so far off and prob an epic troll job but it's stuff like this that makes me want to tell the MB Foundation and dot net to eat one..
The s**t that went down in Alpharetta and Walnut Creek and dare I say Austin was so much better than Dicks its not even funny.... Troll on...

Yah these Tiers as carefully thought out as you have here, I feel a lot of this does end up being subjective (do a degree). Example. I would put SF 1, and Tahoe 2, 2 shows i attended, at a higher tier than you would give them. But you also alluded to the one thing that makes it all subjective; having been there, vs hearing the recording/seeing it on webcast. Don't get me wrong, I"m not denying how awesome Night 1 Dick's was from observing it on the Webcast. I think one thing we can all agree is that they're playing exceptionally well. They're having fun, and they're taking jams to some really amazing places. It's why we love them.

Don't care about the shows or setlists, why would anyone talk shit about dicks being better and shit on anyone who went?? Calling someone a sucker for thinking it would actually happen is pretty fucked up, especially for a so-called vet, or anyone else for that matter. It hurt enough for everyone that went, not to mention the local community that was devastated, why would anyone rub it in??? Obviously not a true phan. Pathetic

Golden Age was slow on purpose...it's called "improvisation"...that 3 song combo of 46-GA puts this show up there as top notch
What were some of you listening to this summer?
Completely independent sound of the BD & I fully expect Fall Tour to be stellar

@jaycam1027 said:

Don't care about the shows or setlists, why would anyone talk shit about dicks being better and shit on anyone who went?? Calling someone a sucker for thinking it would actually happen is pretty fucked up, especially for a so-called vet, or anyone else for that matter. It hurt enough for everyone that went, not to mention the local community that was devastated, why would anyone rub it in??? Obviously not a true phan. Pathetic

It was a joke.

I'd like to add my two cents and just say that this and this band these dudes are smart. I had a curveball wristband and I missed out so of course I was then fearful of the shows at Dicks and what I would have missed but obviously these shows were totally independent of everything played prior to them so that set my heart at ease. They played songs from the Merryweather a show one show Gap two show gaps that I respectfully thank them for not busting out some shit that would have went down a curveball in lieu of fans expectations that's why these dudes rule they're fucking smart

I'll avoid commenting on the tiers and say that the observations of night 3 were pretty spot on, from my POV up front Page side. The beginning of the 2nd set is what keeps me coming back, however it would have better had they just gone into Manteca instead of forcing their way into that Golden Age, which was extremely rough. It looked like Trey was reading the lyrics off a tablet/teleprompter?

Also, Miss You deep in the first set to set up an Antelope closer is a questionable placement. Still better than Sunday's show from 2017.
Finally, this show had 5 songs from Rift, which is somewhat unusual. Maybe Trey was feeling particularly contemplative for some reason?

I liked the recap and have similar feelings about Sunday's show. This is a comment section on a blog. Every one is going to have different opinions, so for me, it's fun to read them all whether I felt the same way or not. No hating here. Sometimes I think a particular set is fantastic and my husband or friends think it wasn't very impressive. Some Phish fans are going to be super stoked with Petrichor, Sleeping Monkey, Icculus and Your Pet Cat and some folks will be taking a really long bathroom break. Nature of music fans. No problem. I went to tour opener in Tahoe, so my unfortunate disappointment was the fact that Phish played 21 of the same songs from Tahoe at Dicks...some of them in the same order. And I found that Phish was a bit messy at times (opener of Antelope??), but then again, Tweezer was a super fun surprise...hearing the percussion add a totally didn't different vibe. As with any Phish run, I had a blast and am always interested in their musical journey and will be a forever phan.

@TwiceBitten said:

PS the review team should tap @farmhose for a review on fall tour because 1) she’s an amazing writer 2) she’s a woman 3) she’s doing the entire tour. She doesn’t post much but she’s seen over 80 shows since her first in 2015 (headiest noob award) and she writes the horoscopes in Surrender to the Flow.

Full disclaimer: she’s also my wife.

Howdy all!

Still spinning from three nights on the floor Mike's Side but back in the ATX seeking some perspective on what felt like an epic weekend (PS- thanks Right Siders between the soundboard and speaker stack- ya'll brought it hard and left it all on the floor all three nights). Night 1 felt like all business- no chatter from the stage, no ballads, no jokey songs- raw, passionate, and spectacular. And Trey's guitar tone sounds "fixed," that is- from the opening notes of Free it cuts right through the mix with that searing sustain we've been craving/remembering. Enter Night 2 as the cathartic antipode to Night 1. Starting right after Home with a blistering Wolfman's the show takes off with a sigh & a shrug and off we go. The Curveball monkey may still be on their back but it's smiling and nodding it's head.

And Night 3?

Like everyone else, I read the review above and respect the effort put in. Having raged the floor and now relistened to the show from front to back I offer the following alternative take:

Set 1 opens with the TAB newbie Soul Planet and the band hits us over the head with their 3.0 mantra- we love the new songs, so get on board. That makes SYSF, NMINML, Soul Planet as fully 50% of the set openers for Dick's 2018. Planet is a straightforward jam platform and it get's there quickly- no huge surprises but quality interplay all the way until the breakdown were Fish's high hat leads us into Possum. The floor around us went bonkers and the first of many glowstick attacks reigned down. First some silky Page lines and then a single peak from Trey and we are off and running!!!

And then we are not- long pause for the first true bust out of the run- Mellow Mood. A pretty straight take and a great sing along daaaarlin'. I'm personally pretty psyched that we collectively agreed that we could sing unobtrusively with our favorite band, a new experience that the BD took to great heights and we all seem to have decided is acceptable. This is then followed by the triptych of funk nastiness- Tube, Funky Bitch and Ocelot. Tube goes deep quickly thanks to Trey's use of his echo, gets reeled back in and we get a bit of hose before the break. A concise, quality Tube with a bit o' nastiness. The Bitch that follows also keeps it simple but tasty. The shuffling Ocelot comes next and once it dispenses with the formalities of chorus & verse it goes quiet. Then it builds slowly and starts notching up the tension (via the tried and true "anything but the eight" Trey formula). Trey seems to have officially broken in his CAE rig and we are witness to a trilling peak worthy of the venue.

Keeping It Real keeps it short and sweet, and surprisingly tight and bouncy. It seems Trey likes this Mike creation and even plays the melody line repeatedly in his solo before going slightly off the rails at the dismount. Good effort all around. Rift, the album not the song, then appears for MYFE>Horn and Maze. No flubs in the composed section of MYFE and in general all get a thorough workout with Maze reaching a typical fever-pitch peak.

I can hear the complaints of "songiness" as Miss You shows up next but I would like to remind the dear reader that each song thus far has been played with passion and pride- and by pride I mean pride in one's craft- AKA practicing the difficult composed sections to avoid flubbing or ripcording. Anyway- the song is poignant and blissful and leads us to Antelope. Mike grabs the reigns and does not let go of a good/great Antelope that closes Set 5.

The final set of the run opens with the familiar guitar & cowbell (the chocolate & peanut butter of rock n' roll) rocker 46 Days. The jam takes its time as Trey's fascination with his Leslie & sounding like Page continues. Mike hits us with a doubletime bass line at 8 minutes but it's not meant to be- the jam almost peaks but doesn't.

But the cowbell does.

And the cowbell will define the next two songs as Tweezer rises from the cowbell & synth mash up. And what a Tweezer- experimental in both tempo and playing with Trey eschewing the typical Tweezer riff for a chopped, muted note. It all lent itself to a dirty, dirty dance party on the floor. After Uncle Ebeneezer stopped by things got truly interesting- slow, dark, synthy followed by major chord bliss out but still within the unique tempo established from the top. And that cowbell infusion will follow us through a Page keyboard breakdown into Golden Age. This has been getting a lot of mixed reviews as Golden Age is played at the same slow shuffle as the Tweezer. I consider the Golden Age from 10/26/18 to be the pinnacle of 3.0 Phish and this version is a unique 180 degrees from that nugget at least execution wise. The tempo makes the verses a bit clunky to sing (and to remember Trey?) but Page rescues this bold experimentation by remaining on his clavinet for the first 6 minutes. It lends such a dirty tone to the proceedings that you cannot help but put your head down and shake your ass. The song doesn't build but instead shuffles.....and shuffles..... into a song that might could use a cowbell- Steam. Seriously- think about Steam right now but add a delicious cowbell line to it...... yeah. That'll do.

The Steam is slow, steady and surprisingly quiet until the screaming peak built into the song. Out of Steam comes a space segment broken by the hard snare intro beginning ASIHTOS. Standard good version with Trey's tone sounding particularly underwater. And now for a true curveball- Gotta Jibboo. We have finally shifted the tempo upward and Page and Trey's listening, responding & building are on brilliant display as the jam builds back to the chorus. Suzy and Zero finish off the set in typical rock star, power chord fashion, with kudos to Page for crushing both keyboard breaks on Suzy and for Fish for woodblocking (the cowbell's nerdy little brother) his ass off taboot . I think my crew burned a hole those plastic puzzle pieces on the floor. Glowstick rain, white hot lights, power chords. Yippie!!!

Horse>Silent as an encore seemed like an inside joke to last year but who gives a rip as that song is so pretty and anyway, Tweeprise is on deck. And here it comes, spitting fire all the way.

Overall Dick's Night 3 felt electric in the venue and the band sounds practiced, engaged and energetic. After Night 1 (an all-timer, in this crusty vet's opinion- never miss a Dick's Friday show?) I think Night 2 & 3 were super high quality shows but would be hard pressed to follow the energy/anger/release of the opening night's throwdown. Anyway.......If you read this far you deserve a medal. Thanks for your time and thank you to the band, the crew, the fans on the mezzanine, the ragers in the bowl, the freaks on the floor, the couch tour voyeurs and any/everyone who loves this community.

Peace,

Matty in Austin

Golden Age was a huge highlight for me. Yeah trey flubbed a few lyrics but I wouldn't call it a disaster. Slowed down tempo gave it room to get funky!

@CapnJenks said:

This bs review is why i almost never read reviews on net. For 28 years i've thoroughly enjoyed every show ive seen or heard. Im sorry someone is so jaded to feel the need to rank a subjective experience. Just bs.

This is silly. Rating a subjective performance is what writing a review is about. If you don't like it, don't bother reading it and don't bother writing about how you don't like it. Literally no one is forcing you to come to this page or read.

3.0 phish

I usually hate Golden Age but I loved the slowed down tempo version.

Dicks 1 Set 1 was great. Set 2 was average, nice Carini jam. Dicks 2 was overall pretty average. Dicks 3 was average but better than Dicks 2. First part of set 2 was the highlight for me.

Dicks 1 was definitely the best show of the summer but Camden night 2 was better than night 1

Billy disagrees with everybody.

Raleigh in Tier 5 lololol

Yikes OP.

Sorry to read you dont really get it.

@TwiceBitten said:

Stopped reading at “tepid” but when everyone in the comments section disagrees with you perhaps it’s time to consider the fact that you are “doing it wrong” @chopaganda.

NOPE. The dudes at .net chose him to write the review so he gets to say whatever he wants, even if I think the tiers are way off and a bad idea altogether. Doesn't matter. It's his mic. Respond on your own time with insightful comments. Don't want to take the time out of your day to do that? Then cram it. If your wife wants to do a review, let her stump for it the way the rest of us did, which is by writing thoughtful reviews and earning it. Reel that shit in.

Anyone else blown away by the epic MYFE jam? That was certainly a highlight of set 1, surprised it didn’t get more mention above. Horn to follow was solid as well. Great run, so much phun!

@Nomansjam said:

Golden Age was slow on purpose...it's called "improvisation"...that 3 song combo of 46-GA puts this show up there as top notch
What were some of you listening to this summer?
Completely independent sound of the BD & I fully expect Fall Tour to be stellar

Completely agree re Golden Age. It started down tempo because it was a very smooth transition, with everyone carrying the Manteca/Tweezer theme under Trey as they got thru the intro. This sounded pretty intentional, as there was a gradual accelerando lasting until the beginning of the jam segment.

I thought 46 through Golden Age was one of the most cohesive quarters of Phish all weekend. Though would still argue that Friday was the best complete show all weekend, and possibly one of the best of 3.0.

Is this satierical?

@mattybweston said:

Howdy all!

Still spinning from three nights on the floor Mike's Side but back in the ATX seeking some perspective on what felt like an epic weekend (PS- thanks Right Siders between the soundboard and speaker stack- ya'll brought it hard and left it all on the floor all three nights). Night 1 felt like all business- no chatter from the stage, no ballads, no jokey songs- raw, passionate, and spectacular. And Trey's guitar tone sounds "fixed," that is- from the opening notes of Free it cuts right through the mix with that searing sustain we've been craving/remembering. Enter Night 2 as the cathartic antipode to Night 1. Starting right after Home with a blistering Wolfman's the show takes off with a sigh & a shrug and off we go. The Curveball monkey may still be on their back but it's smiling and nodding it's head.

And Night 3?

Like everyone else, I read the review above and respect the effort put in. Having raged the floor and now relistened to the show from front to back I offer the following alternative take:

Set 1 opens with the TAB newbie Soul Planet and the band hits us over the head with their 3.0 mantra- we love the new songs, so get on board. That makes SYSF, NMINML, Soul Planet as fully 50% of the set openers for Dick's 2018. Planet is a straightforward jam platform and it get's there quickly- no huge surprises but quality interplay all the way until the breakdown were Fish's high hat leads us into Possum. The floor around us went bonkers and the first of many glowstick attacks reigned down. First some silky Page lines and then a single peak from Trey and we are off and running!!!

And then we are not- long pause for the first true bust out of the run- Mellow Mood. A pretty straight take and a great sing along daaaarlin'. I'm personally pretty psyched that we collectively agreed that we could sing unobtrusively with our favorite band, a new experience that the BD took to great heights and we all seem to have decided is acceptable. This is then followed by the triptych of funk nastiness- Tube, Funky Bitch and Ocelot. Tube goes deep quickly thanks to Trey's use of his echo, gets reeled back in and we get a bit of hose before the break. A concise, quality Tube with a bit o' nastiness. The Bitch that follows also keeps it simple but tasty. The shuffling Ocelot comes next and once it dispenses with the formalities of chorus & verse it goes quiet. Then it builds slowly and starts notching up the tension (via the tried and true "anything but the eight" Trey formula). Trey seems to have officially broken in his CAE rig and we are witness to a trilling peak worthy of the venue.

Keeping It Real keeps it short and sweet, and surprisingly tight and bouncy. It seems Trey likes this Mike creation and even plays the melody line repeatedly in his solo before going slightly off the rails at the dismount. Good effort all around. Rift, the album not the song, then appears for MYFE>Horn and Maze. No flubs in the composed section of MYFE and in general all get a thorough workout with Maze reaching a typical fever-pitch peak.

I can hear the complaints of "songiness" as Miss You shows up next but I would like to remind the dear reader that each song thus far has been played with passion and pride- and by pride I mean pride in one's craft- AKA practicing the difficult composed sections to avoid flubbing or ripcording. Anyway- the song is poignant and blissful and leads us to Antelope. Mike grabs the reigns and does not let go of a good/great Antelope that closes Set 5.

The final set of the run opens with the familiar guitar & cowbell (the chocolate & peanut butter of rock n' roll) rocker 46 Days. The jam takes its time as Trey's fascination with his Leslie & sounding like Page continues. Mike hits us with a doubletime bass line at 8 minutes but it's not meant to be- the jam almost peaks but doesn't.

But the cowbell does.

And the cowbell will define the next two songs as Tweezer rises from the cowbell & synth mash up. And what a Tweezer- experimental in both tempo and playing with Trey eschewing the typical Tweezer riff for a chopped, muted note. It all lent itself to a dirty, dirty dance party on the floor. After Uncle Ebeneezer stopped by things got truly interesting- slow, dark, synthy followed by major chord bliss out but still within the unique tempo established from the top. And that cowbell infusion will follow us through a Page keyboard breakdown into Golden Age. This has been getting a lot of mixed reviews as Golden Age is played at the same slow shuffle as the Tweezer. I consider the Golden Age from 10/26/18 to be the pinnacle of 3.0 Phish and this version is a unique 180 degrees from that nugget at least execution wise. The tempo makes the verses a bit clunky to sing (and to remember Trey?) but Page rescues this bold experimentation by remaining on his clavinet for the first 6 minutes. It lends such a dirty tone to the proceedings that you cannot help but put your head down and shake your ass. The song doesn't build but instead shuffles.....and shuffles..... into a song that might could use a cowbell- Steam. Seriously- think about Steam right now but add a delicious cowbell line to it...... yeah. That'll do.

The Steam is slow, steady and surprisingly quiet until the screaming peak built into the song. Out of Steam comes a space segment broken by the hard snare intro beginning ASIHTOS. Standard good version with Trey's tone sounding particularly underwater. And now for a true curveball- Gotta Jibboo. We have finally shifted the tempo upward and Page and Trey's listening, responding & building are on brilliant display as the jam builds back to the chorus. Suzy and Zero finish off the set in typical rock star, power chord fashion, with kudos to Page for crushing both keyboard breaks on Suzy and for Fish for woodblocking (the cowbell's nerdy little brother) his ass off taboot . I think my crew burned a hole those plastic puzzle pieces on the floor. Glowstick rain, white hot lights, power chords. Yippie!!!

Horse>Silent as an encore seemed like an inside joke to last year but who gives a rip as that song is so pretty and anyway, Tweeprise is on deck. And here it comes, spitting fire all the way.

Overall Dick's Night 3 felt electric in the venue and the band sounds practiced, engaged and energetic. After Night 1 (an all-timer, in this crusty vet's opinion- never miss a Dick's Friday show?) I think Night 2 & 3 were super high quality shows but would be hard pressed to follow the energy/anger/release of the opening night's throwdown. Anyway.......If you read this far you deserve a medal. Thanks for your time and thank you to the band, the crew, the fans on the mezzanine, the ragers in the bowl, the freaks on the floor, the couch tour voyeurs and any/everyone who loves this community.

Peace,

Matty in Austin

I was there Sunday night and I tend to agree with this, rather than the other review. Solid show. Not in my top 20, but not in my bottom 20 either. I left with a huge smile on my face and I can't wait until they get to Chicago in October.

This review was fine. He did something different with the tiers instead of straight rankings. Sometimes people, myself included, have trouble with something different or with change. It doesn't really matter anyways. Its supposed to be fun. Ranking and rating shows should just be for fun.
The shows that really stand out for me are the first two he mentioned: Dicks 1 & Alph 1. I agree those two shows were at another level. Musically, plus energy of the band and crowd, for me were the best shows. Then there were a bunch of other very solid shows (in no order): Merriweather 2, Raleigh, Gorge 3, Alph 2 & 3, Dicks 2 &3. Overall the band played very well, and with great energy, this Summer. Fall Tour is close at hand too!

It says right on top that Chop is a jaded vet and serial ranker. If you can't take his show and ranking opinions in the spirit in which they are offered, you're doing it wrong.

And to top it all off, Chop is far from spectacular!!!!

;-)

This review is garbage as is your tiering system. Sunday was far and away the most balanced and well executed show. Mellow Mood hadn't been played in 7 years, and the start of the 2nd set was fantastic. Friday had a great first set (with the exception of the poorly placed "What's the Use"), but 2nd set was uneven and disjointed. Saturday was the weakest of the three nights. Regarding your tiers... the band sounded a bit rusty on Tahoe Night 1, but for all of us that were present it was a great show. Far from bottom of the barrel.

Putting Forum2 last in tier 6 makes me think you didn't even listen to that night. That was a top 3 tier show for sure. Or maybe it was the acid.

The fact that positive reviews dont garner much pushback but critical reviews cause lots of negative comments, makes me think phish.net readers understand that reviews are just one persons opinion, they just cant handle it when that opinion differs from their own. If you really are upset by someone ranking a phish show lower then you would have on an imaginary ranking system they just made up for the purpose of a review, then how do you deal with real life? Where reasonable people can have different opinions on things that actually matter like gun control, or chocolate vs. vanilla?
TLDR: lighten up

When I see Gorge 1 ranked in "tier 5", I realize that this person doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about.

I have found this tour much more enjoyable without all the pseudo-intellectual ass-wiping that has been going on here on phish.net this summer.

The boys have been ripping it up. This coming from a guy who nearly gave up on them in '16 and thought they were nearing the end. They are loose, in sync, kicking ass and taking names. Take your game-console armchair criticisms and shove 'em.

I'm sure you'll feel the same about my opinions as well. Fair game. But what the hell. Get a life, and then get a clue.

@TroySucks1488 said:

I usually hate Golden Age but I loved the slowed down tempo version.

Dicks 1 Set 1 was great. Set 2 was average, nice Carini jam. Dicks 2 was overall pretty average. Dicks 3 was average but better than Dicks 2. First part of set 2 was the highlight for me.

Dicks 1 was a comparible show to the epic Philly show in '15 before Magnaball that everyone here on Phish.net went utterly gaga over. Ditto the Atlanta run from that year, both of which would be probably ranked as "tier 6" by this reviewer if they happened during this tour.

Dicks 1 had no issues that would drop it from being an epic barnburner by any Phish fan's expectations.

The truth of the matter is that the intellectual clique at phish.net are simply not happy unless they have something to bitch about. It's that simple. The shows are at or exceeding the quality level of Magnaball all summer. Expectations expectations. We all have 'em. Just that some of us have enough perspective to be aware that we have them.

@JMart said:

@TwiceBitten said:

Stopped reading at “tepid” but when everyone in the comments section disagrees with you perhaps it’s time to consider the fact that you are “doing it wrong” @chopaganda.

NOPE. The dudes at .net chose him to write the review so he gets to say whatever he wants, even if I think the tiers are way off and a bad idea altogether. Doesn't matter. It's his mic. Respond on your own time with insightful comments. Don't want to take the time out of your day to do that? Then cram it. If your wife wants to do a review, let her stump for it the way the rest of us did, which is by writing thoughtful reviews and earning it. Reel that shit in.

Yeah...and you're an asshole. Own it.

Who cares about this review? This comment section is where it is at! Wow, everyone goes hard on this one.