The Chalkdust is bursting at the seams, and Trey pulls the trick he has done in a few recent Kill Devil Falls' and tries to jam past the ending. Unfortunately the rest of the band wasn't on board for a measure, but they make a quick recovery and turn the outro jam into gold in record time. This is the glory of 3.0. As much of a 97-03 fluffier as I am, I know this move would have taken a lot longer to gel during that improvisational heyday. I think "didn't tell the band they were doing an outro jam" is way more appropriate than "forgot how to play the ending"

Mike is excellent in the segue into Frankie Says, as all 4 guys feed off each other while pushing the jam with clear focus and precision. After the major tease at a leg 1 show, I'm really glad to know this one wasn't forgotten. One of the best played versions I've ever heard, dripping with its strange mix of arrogance and glassy eyed paranoia. This is the song the Sun Kings sang into the ruby eyes of a golden jaguar skull, locked in a gilded palace and deep into their cups of ayahuasca.

Some truly excellent improvisation occurs coming out of Frankie, as Fishman ramps up the polyrhythms and Page adds dark strokes to the canvas. Trey drops some Sand teases, Fishman employs one of the coolest drum fills I've ever heard and suddenly we're in that Timber/Taste/Vultures/Undermind space that I personally love more than anything. Fish had teased Undermind earlier though, and again the band moves as one unit into a perfect segue. Clear contenders for the most underrated songs of the 1.0 and 2.0 eras, respectively. They fit like a glove and equate to pure black magic. I love how is Undermind flirts with plinko-space while splitting the difference between Timber and Ya Mar.
The outro veers into the bizarre. Almost reminiscent of the ending of the Bethel Boogie On or MPP 2011 Rock And Roll with their weird cascading drum rolls and atonal skronk.

2 songs after the most underrated song from the late 90s, the most overrated one fades into the mix. Sand was great on paper when it stretched out into 15 minute grooves, but not even Fela handcuffed his bass player the way Trey did back then. Sand has been an outright revelation the past few years. The jam has kept its propulsive nature, but Mike leads the band now, and he's out for blood. Making up for lost time with this beat. This is yet another pristine 2012 Sand that ebbs and flows while constantly staying on its forward motion. Some awesome stuff in here. A very inspired peak. What happens next is even better.
Once again, Phish decides to not let a song end. Using the post-peak reprise to make an absolutely perfect segue into the bridge of Walk Away. I stead of hammering those intro chords, they weaves them into the preceding jam and then came together on the bridge. Not convincing? How about insanely unique and inspired? Walk Away crushes as it is won't to do. This venue must have exploded, then apparently Phish froze time, used telekinesis to pull the pieces back together and continued. Apparently, as the venue needed to exist I order to implode during this Limb.

At this point, this is already one of the most well put together sets of the past few years. Reminiscent of Bethel or the Elemental show from Chicago. Dropping this Limb puts it over the top though.

It isn't perfect. But it is inspired, exploratory, unique and eventually destructive. There are points where Trey seems to have a clear idea of where this is going and everyone else wishes he clued them in. But this is Phish. And if Trey wants to get weird, they're up to the challenge. His slow spacey notes with increased volume are the first hint that we are leaving Limb's local space. Soon after, we're treated to a wholly original jam still floating on the framework of Limb. Everyone finds their place and we weave through several movements before charging to a rousing crescendo reminiscent of millennial Pipers.
The return to alimb is somewhat jarring, but not as much as if they had attempted to return to the Limb jam first, I would think. A completely satisfying segment of music. Up there with the best stuff they've ever played.

Congratulations, Phish.