[We would like to thank Oliver Pierson (phish.net user VermontCowFunk) for this recap. -Ed.]

Phish summer tour is arguably the second most wonderful time of the year. Everything feels right when you set off to a summer show, ticket in hand, a musical adventure in store, friends by your side. I hadn’t seen the band since 12/29/23, and I was excited to hear where their very busy seven months had led them. It’s been a productive time for the band, with an epic Gamehendge NYE show, a stellar Mexico run, a short but incredible visit to the Sphere, and then all the chatter around the new album Evolve.

Phish has even felt, by their typical media coverage standards, a bit overexposed lately. This month, we’ve seen Trey and the band in Rolling Stone, WTF with Marc Maron, NPR's Tiny Desk Concert, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Vulture, etc. So, they are not “Travis Kelce – Taylor Swift – Fall 2023” overexposed, but somehow it is slightly jarring to have them in the public eye so much. I had to wonder how all that attention jives with one of Trey’s comments in the Rolling Stone article, i.e. that the lack of mainstream success is the band’s incredibly liberating “superpower.” Could all the recent media coverage be the kryptonite that diminishes their superpower? Fortunately, an installment of Massachusetts Phish was only hours away to help me answer that question.

Reports from the tour opener suggested the band was raring to go, doling out songs from the new album bit by bit, and hopefully night two of the tour would see any rust shaken off and the band settling in for the creative and exploratory playing we all enjoy so much. Summer Phish at Great Woods has a legendary pedigree, and I’ve been lucky to be a part of it on a few occasions, including seeing them open for Santana there in 1992, which was my third show (hard to believe they opened one of their first ever New England shed shows with "All Things Reconsidered").

But despite being a frequent visitor in the 1990s, I hadn’t been to Great Woods in 15 years (wait… they filled half the lawn with seats?), and I was thrilled that my summer schedule aligned to make a quick trip to Mansfield viable. My friend Brad and I left Burlington, Vermont at 1:00 PM and were in Phish-world four hours later. To avoid the Great Woods traffic cluster, we parked about two miles from the venue and biked in. Temperatures were in the high 80s, which almost felt cool after the recent heat, and lots of fun was being had all around as we arrived on the lot just after 5:00.

We locked up the bikes amidst the trees (no bike racks anywhere WTF?) and took a quick run through a very narrow Shakedown Street (more like Shakedown Alley), which brought the heat wave right back. With other members of our crew still an hour away, we decided to head in early and benefit from some short entrance lines. But, short lines led directly to some very zealous security professionals, and we got a little extra scrutiny on the way in due to some of the bike gear we had.

By a little I mean a lot, with a short visit from actual law enforcement. It all worked out eventually, and I bounded up to the lawn to get my bearings. Smaller of course, but the vibe was serene and happy with an hour to go until the expected early start time of around 7:45 PM, and I was surrounded by groups of experienced and appreciative fans, settling in for the journey and excited to see Phish on the band’s home turf! We walked down to great seats in the back of section 2, Mike Side, and before we had too much time to speculate about the opener and other consequential matters, the lights dimmed at 7:33, and we were off and running. Guess that rumored 11:00 PM curfew is real!

The boys kicked things off with "Theme from the Bottom," always a welcome opener, and it felt like a throwback to summer 1997 when "Theme" opened five shows in three weeks. The place was less than half full when Page hit those opening piano notes, but it filled up fast, with waves of energetic fans pouring in. Overall the sound in our section was dialed in, and seemed like that “people for a louder Mike” campaign had found some success, as his fills and runs were coming in crystal clear.

"Theme" had a short jam with Trey and Page (on the grand) trading licks seamlessly, call and answer, before a high sustained note from Trey signaled it was time to move on, eventually into "Back on the Train," which was met with the first raucous cry of the night. This one was tight through the composed section, and picked up a bit at the end, with a "San-Ho-Zay" tease woven in along with some rhythmic head nods from Trey while he worked through some cool effects.

Up next was "Sand" in the three spot, which was a surprise, and I couldn’t figure out if this meant a set one launch pad or a shorter “in the box" "Sand.” The jam section got off to a slow and contemplative start with a tiny nod to the “munchkin-land” riff from last summer at SPAC. The playing began to build, and the Page on the grand – Trey soaring overhead connection carried on, giving us a pleasant jam, held up by a flawless rhythm section

About eight minutes in, the band modulated up, heightened the tempo a bit, and led by Trey, explored some new ground, but only briefly, and things meandered a bit before transitioning back into the main riff and rolling into "Bouncing Around the Room." Lots of memories from 1990s shows when this tune was a staple (and even some goosebumps), a time when we were all convinced that "Bouncing" was going to be Phish’s “Touch of Grey.” Never happened, keeping that superpower intact. Bubbles swirled all around Trey, which when backlit with some strobes was a cool visual accompaniment to a standard version of this happy throwback.

"Backwards Down the Number Line" was up next, a fitting tune for a venue that Phish has been playing in for 32 years with so many memories of good times with friends here. Once again, Page took to the keys of the grand, and he seemed to be winning the show MVP so far in early voting. But, Trey took over for the second half of this jam and carried “Number Line” to a raging finale with some purposeful note selection.

Five tunes in and we were off to a good start with great song selection, but I remember thinking “we need to get the energy levels up!” Darkening skies and a cool breeze under the roof provided some necessary ingredients, and we got the Phish debut of Mike's new tune off Evolve called "Human Nature." It was actually pretty cool. Mike’s bass was super audible throughout, and they really made the effort on the vocal harmonies. After the short, composed part, they turned on a dime and launched into a funky groove with Trey doing some Curtis Mayfield-like strumming while Mike hammered away through some gritty filters. Felt like the band sync’ed up nicely for this one, and I wish it lasted longer.

The playing, if not bursting with energy so far, was super tight, and I think the band may have felt the time was right for a challenging composition and they gave us "It's Ice." No major flubs to these ears, and as Kuroda bathed the stage in some blue lights, my mind wandered to the cover art from the album Rift. Page moved from his synth to the grand to get the band a great build back into the final chorus as the band closed out a technically proficient version of this tune.

But, there was still time for a set 1 statement, and the opening notes of "Wolfman’s Brother" provided the opportunity. A little funky rhythm guitar over a Mike bass solo got things going, and then Page switched to the clavinet briefly while Trey eased into a muscular lead riff that got everyone out of their seats and shaking their heads. Bright yellow strobes accompanied this jam at its peak, and the boys were busting with energy, more than compensating for the somewhat languorous start.

The shift into “Drift While you’re Sleeping” was curious, as the slow, contemplative beginning sucked some energy out of the room. Nevertheless Trey seemed really connected with this tune’s words and was dancing in sync with his playing during the “reggae” section. A standard version of “Drift” would close out this set, marked by excellent song selection, tight playing, and plenty of room for things to really get going in the second set

Set break gave me the chance to roam and catch up with some folks. Usually I have a decent internal clock to help guide me back to my seat before they come back on, but all of a sudden the lights went down and the opening arpeggios of "You Enjoy Myself" came out of nowhere. Mad rush back to the seats and as I settled back in, I was comparing the rich full band sound to the stripped-down version on Tiny Desk (which was cool but I think these guys are at their best with their full arsenal).

The short setbreak set the tone for this “efficient” "YEM." They ripped through all the opening changes, Boy-Man-God-Shit, Uffizi and Firenze, trampolines over keys and drums, short Trey solo and Bass & Drums, and we quickly landed into the vocal jam. A lot happened in those 14 minutes! But wait, quickly back into an instrumental jam, very cool, a platform for this version to take off? Not tonight, but instead a perhaps pre-planned segue into "Oblivion," which the band seemed very eager to play.

I love "Oblivion" and am fortunate to have caught a few phenomenal versions live since its debut. Tonight’s version got off to a slow start, and the band meandered into the jam section and never really got going to my ears and wrapped up after 11 minutes. Brad aptly coined the term “pseudo-ripcord” to describe how "Wolfman’s," "YEM," and "Oblivion" ended before really blasting off. But fortunately, we were about to get a dose of “quality over quantity” as the opening notes to a boisterous "No Men's in No Man's Land" rang out.

This was musically one of the highlights of the evening, and the jam smoothly moved into an up-tempo Trey-led funk groove with some inspired upper register major key playing that got stretched out just long enough. Page (I think) then came in with a ultra-soprano little riff over the top that helped push into the first darker and minor key section of the night, replete with some welcome cacophony and dissonance, rare on Saturdays!

A watery segue into "Monsters" followed, our third tune off the new album tonight, giving everyone a chance to exhale after a solid 40+ minute trio to open the second set. This tune felt like a power ballad, showcasing some passionate playing from Trey and some great fills from Fishman as the tune wound down. It will be fun to see how "Monsters" evolves over the years. After this breather, it was time for an energy boost. The band stepped up with a great two-tune combo to wrap things up.

The opening drum beat to "Also Sprach Zarathustra" got the place rocking, and the band found a tight dance groove and held it effortlessly throughout this crowd pleaser, big smiles and high-fives everywhere. Page was leading the “can you get down?” challenge early on, and Mike stepped up big time with a solid “hell yeah” in response. "Chalkdust Torture" then closed out set two with a blast of energy and fantastic ensemble playing. After Trey sang about “plugging the distress tube up tight,” he gave the crowd a huge smile, followed by a climb to a monstrous peak. I think the band really read the room well and brought the heat (that was a bit lacking earlier in the evening) to cap off a Saturday night show with the fire it deserved.

But wait, it’s not even 10:30 PM! So, hopefully a big encore remains in store. After all, they can play until 11, right? After some more “orange whip” effects from Fishman, Trey joked that encores had become pro-forma, and maybe they shouldn’t even play one (Note to self: cheer more loudly next time to make sure they really do come out!). But after threatening no encore, the band crushed a trio of "When the Circus Comes to Town," "David Bowie," and "Say It to Me S.A.N.T.O.S." Nothing more to say but WOW!

Overall, I think we got a slightly above average show, squarely in the rocking Saturday night category, with a few fantastic musical moments. Highlights for me were "Wolfman’s," "NMINML," and "CDT." And any concerns I had about the slight media overexposure taking away from the band’s superpower were long forgotten, easily counteracted by the power of another great night at Great Woods, the venue where Phish, as Mike sings in "Human Nature," has found a place “between the pines where a light shines.

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