Last night was my third time seeing Phish at MSG and again I had a really great time. I won't lead with a lengthy preamble - let's get into the music. I was very happy to hear a Carini opener but was dismayed when Plasma came next. But, despite my initial feeling, the song rose to beautiful heights; complete with a lot of sonic noise and a Carini reprise to boot. That was an awesome sandwich to start the night. I am unfamiliar with Quadrophonic Toppling, but it was cool to hear this for the first time since 2022 and only the 2nd time since Big Cypress. Odd song, but cool. The Curtain With was one I'd been thinking about all week and had fun singing along to this song. Bathtub Gin is amongst my favorite Phish songs. I was at the 12/29/24 show last year and unfortunately had to leave the show at set break and missed the Bathtub Gin that opened the 2nd set that night. This year, I was determined to take a bath, and the band delivered a high intensity rendition of this great song. This for me was the crown jewel of the first set tonight and perhaps for the entire show. Thanks, boys, for the Gin! NICU, Evolve, and Mountains in the Mist kind of just fell flat and lagged along. The latter is one of my least favorite Phish songs but one that I have good luck catching at shows. A well placed Fluffhead ended the first set on a high note. Woke a lot of people up after the three-pack lull-fest Set break was fun - spend a lot of time trying to convince my boyfriend, who is more of a Phish novice than I am, that Phish really is the real deal. He wasn't convinced after that first set. He is a work in progress, but a true sport for accompanying me this year and last. Mike's Song is fun enough and The Final Hurrah is not very noteworthy. Weekapaug Groove will always put the biggest smile on my face - if you can't grin ear to ear during that song, I'm not sure what could make you happy! A Wave of Hope was stretched out for close to 20 minutes which was cool and 20 Years Later just kind of came and went. Golden Age was the highlight of Set 2 and the perfunctory Character Zero was a nice way to close out the set. I loved the animal themed double encore of The Lizards and Possum. Four Highlights: Carini sandwich, Bathtub Gin, Weekapaug Groove, Golden age Honorable Mention: Curtain With, and both encore songs. Overall: 6.5/10. This is my only show for the NYE run this year. I feel like this show was a bit of a letdown. It wasn't a bad show, I just felt there was nothing entirely noteworthy about it. Still, there is nothing quite like a night with Phish at the best arena in the world! See you this summer...

Another great effort with some solid jams. First set highlights were Carini-Plasma sandwich, quadraphonic toppling bust out, and a very well executed Flufhead. And of course, I’d always opt for the curtain with, rather than without. Second set really didn’t miss a step and even 20 years later got some experimental work thrown in! Lizards and Possum imho the best 1-2 encore punch. Recommended jams: - Carini > Plasma > Carini - The Curtain With - Mike’s Groove with funky Final Hurrah - Wave of Hope - 20 years later Nothing earth shattering but definitely a great show!

Sometimes you need to see it from the band's perspective. Our seats for this show were caddy-corner behind Mike and Fishman. As I explained to my friend, there are two light shows: the light show Kuroda is composing for the audience, and the light show the band sees. Sitting behind you get the latter. And, fortunately, with the band's transition to a more sparse rig, there was very little in the way of watching from the bands perspective. Oh, and they played music. Much like the previous night, the boys from Vermont launched into it for the first set with a screaming Carini...into a subdued Plasma, but (for the viewers at home's free first song) back into Carini to get the place absolutely bubbling with anticipation. Take a breath during Quadrophonic Toppling, and back into the set, head first with a song I've only seen once before in my 67 shows: The Curtain With. (Note: Rift, played the previous night and TCW, have the same chord structure, so I'm fully expecting Trey and the band to find time for a Squirming Coil which also shares this progression, albeit at a different speed.) Time for a drink with several standards like Bathtub Gin and NICU...both performed punctually. From there the band slowed things down with Evolve into Mountains In The Mist, which was so dreamy and the vocal harmonies were on point. Finally, a solid 1.0 Fluffhead...the crowd goes nuts and the first set is done. Second set seemed to pick right up where the first left off with a solid Mike's Hurrah Groove? We got a wave of relaxation with a Wave of Hope into Twenty Years Later into Golden Age! They love this song by TV On The Radio and it was the only cover of the night. The clock hit 10:55pm and Trey was like, I'm not really done. Character Zero to finish out the set...Kuroda's lights screaming in the World's Most Famous Arena. The band took their bows and off before the encore. Of course we were wondering if they'd choose to come back with another cover like Loving Cup to quietly end the night...they were having none of it. Another 1.0 standard, Trey started the opening notes of The Lizards and caught the sound engineers off guard. Quickly they corrected and we were back at full blast. For some reason, this is one of their hardest songs, harder than Fluffhead. I've never seen it performed perfectly outside of Gamehenge in recent years. This was no exception. Mike missed a note, Trey missed a note. Fish flubbed a beat. The band rolled on...as if in an apologetic way, they finished the night with a song they couldn't not play perfectly: Possum. Its presence here means that the merch shirts were no indicator of the upcoming NYE stunt. Phish nailed this rock-a-billy standard to close the night and I was sated. Was this the best show I've seen. No, but it was a solid B. Come for the Carini, stay for everything else. Can't wait to see what they do the rest of the run, and NYE!

Just to add on my review above since the Edit feature doesn't seem to be working for me that I was referring to the MSG debut of A Wave of Hope '22, I know the actual debut of it was Summer '21 at Deer Creek. (Just typing in order to get this to the proper length to post as a "review"). (Just typing in order to get this to the proper length to post as a "review").

Attending the 1st three of four, last night left me wanting for more on a number of levels and whatever musical itches I had were definitely taken care of tonight. So many highlights, an embarrassment of riches and we in attendance were the grateful recipients. Section 217 at the world‘s most famous, and greatest, arena was shaking earthquake style at times, a testament to how moved we were by them. I personally love the behind the stage view of the love being reciprocated between the band and audience. Open with Carini into a on point segued Plasma back into nearly three minutes of balls to the walls Carini (Reprise)? Yes, please, thank you. The next three minutes was basically the exact opposite, to find out through this very website that it was called Quadrophonic Toppling. And that if you made the “Vegas bet” that it would be played at this MSG run that you might have felt like if you had struck gold. The Curtain and Bathtub Gin were exemplary versions, clocking in ‘round 13 minutes give or take. A cool down period of sorts with well played versions of NICU, Evolve and a very tenderly played Mountain in the Mist before allowing New York to welcome Fluffhead “back home”. The hour and twenty five flew by, always a good sign of a good time had. Mike’s Song to start the second stanza was a pretty ripping eleven minutes followed by an excellent The Third Hoorah into a typically rocking Weekapaug Groove. Then the centerpiece of this show and this run so far imho. A Wave of Hope. I was at its debut, the Earth Day show ‘22 and my oh my has its wings grown allowing it of fights of all sorts and tonight’s was a straight up 20 minutes of Trey shredding, wave after wave. After wave. Definitely three, maybe four, this relisten is going to be fun, with the band totally in lockstep with Trey. Mike was thumping hard, Fishman was being his usual self, imitating what an octopus might look like if they had drum sticks, and Page was ripping up whichever 88 keys he was choosing to play. One of the finest 20 minutes i’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing live. I totally love Twenty Years Later and Trey took it for an eleve minute psychedelia drenched ride, it was delivered with purpose. As was the Golden Age, it’s purpose ones to get everyone dancing and for the next 15 minutes, it just felt like a celebration of life, the releasing of one’s troubles through music. Character Zero ended the hour twenty five set on a Trey Rock God note, noted by the enthusiastic response to it during and after it. A double dose of The Lizards and Possum as the Encore and the night was done. For another twenty hours or so, bring it on. This was a great night of music, blessed to be surrounded by others that simply wanted to get down to the nitty gritty and focused on the musical conversation happening on stage and not otherwise. Night 3 awaits…

Really enjoying the N1 re-listen. Also, pretty sure this is my first ever review! Let's go!! Set 1 has energy, flow, and momentum - almost 12/29 scorcher vibes. As folks have said: when Trey opens a set with Buried Alive, he’s feeling it. Straight into AC/DC Bag - fun and dialed-in without letting up. Not “transcendent,” but that’s not the job description in this slot. High energy groovy openers. Then comes the real question: where are they taking us, and what kind of night is this? Roggae answers. Gorgeous and basically perfectly played. Tight and leisurely; confident and sublime. Also: one of my favorite Phish lyrics, which I’d quoted to friends earlier that day: “If life were easy and not so fast, I wouldn’t think about the past.” Every so often, Phish [i]is[/i] profound. This Roggae is mellow and peaky, a true both/and. Right out of the gate, it felt above-average N1 with that delicious sense that it could go anywhere just 3 great songs in. Rift was perfectly placed. And in this whole set I’m not clocking one band member more than another - it’s just Phish as a cohesive unit. My buddy had joked earlier about hating Rift (maybe exaggerated), but my other friend and I - 226 Row 8, aisle seats baby - are big bluegrass heads, so we start skipping like a rodeo. Anti-Rift bud in the aisle seat bails to find a different zone. I chuckled: we scared him away with that cowbell. He'll return soon enough. Okay, so the energy [b]continues[/b]: Wolfman’s!! I feel like there’s a history of great N1/N2 Set 1 YEMSG Wolfman’s, and this one is phat and full. The last several minutes are perfect. More energy and more bliss than we have any right to expect. Then: PYITE. Hot hot heat. Extended, punchy intro-jam. The building is moving. They simply haven’t let up - this Wolfman’s → Punch stretch is the highlight of the set, and it’s just ridiculously fun. Dialed in! Sigma keeps the current running, into Taste, which felt above average too. A friend at his first show actually named Taste as a highlight, which I love, mmm. And then: Trey grabs the acoustic. Interesting… a little cool-down in a set where we didn't get many, for a short, sweet rarity (Sleep). The closing Antelope felt like they were reaching for something slightly new-old - like a door they haven’t fully figured out how to open yet. It had some extra mustard, even if they fully missed the landing after the high-driving chaos peak. Still: listening back, I swear I can hear them trying to push Antelope somewhere beyond the “shell of its former self” it has basically become. Taken together: N1 S1 is a magnificent set of music, pretty much a perfect start to the run. The Garden energy felt a touch sleepier than I’m used to, it was a little hotter than usual in the room, and security snatched some joints from my buddy’s shoes - but none of that mattered by setbreak. This is my fucking holiday. Set 2 (briefer) Set 2 had a different vibe: mellower, sludgier, under-the-water — someone here called it “moodier” - that tracks. Whatever the merits of the first four tunes, they’re all ~10 minutes and it felt like they were searching for the sound. With the 24-minute Theme, they find it. That’s the jam of the night by far- it emerges and submerges, you get lost and found, and that’s what this whole thing is about. The return to Simple is a delight - almost like a statement to seal the deal, cream the theme. Everything’s Right is always fun, sweet, anthemic; I like it as a closer, even if this one didn’t drive as hard or fully as it can. Slave encore is beautiful and soaring, as always, if perfunctory as it has become. I didn’t get the sense - like with Antelope - that they were reaching for “more.” I got the sense Trey was totally present and grateful: this is exactly how I’m supposed to play this song right now. Not Machine Gun Trey - current day Trey. And if (WHEN!) they tear a hole in the ozone layer later this run, it’ll be current Trey doing it. Phish will still be the best living psychedelic rock band, and Phish at MSG will always be magic as long as we’re lucky enough to have this, have them. All told: above-average N1 with a nonstop, rip-roaring Set 1 and a Wolfman’s > PYITE peak. Set 2 is solid throughout, but the Theme is a triumphant revelation of improvisatory music. Three shows / seven sets left --- Anything can happen --- I'm feeling lucky, and excited for tonight.

Bag has a short but sweet jam. They went out there and took it back in Great roggae Could be the best Wolfman's and PYITE I’ve seen One of the best Antelope peaks I’ve seen Oblivion, DwD, and Simple were all really well played jams. They got out there. Def gonna give those a relisten. Great textured jamming but none went super long. Jibboo wasn’t my favorite version but it was decent Theme was the highlight of the show. An enormous groove! Trey played it patient in the beginning and I was questioning why he wasn’t playing guitar, but then it paid off with a huge ambient groove. I was super happy with this for a 12/28

[b]Gentle Parenting by the Band[/b] Remember being a kid, standing at the gates of the greatest amusement park you’d ever seen? You wanted to sprint through the turnstile, hit every thrill ride immediately, spin yourself dizzy, and not stop until you were dragged out at closing time. But then a gentle hand landed on your shoulder. “[i]Jimmy, we’re here for four days. You don’t have to rush. You’ve got time. Slow down. Enjoy it. Don’t just run from ride to ride.[/i]” Night One felt like that reminder. We have four days. We get to ride this roller coaster. We get to slow down and savor the moments instead of chasing them. We stepped through the gates buzzing with anticipation, pockets full of wish lists and must-ride dreams. And just like that, [i]Buried Alive[/i] kicked things off ... the perfect starter ride. Enough speed and motion to wake the senses without overwhelming them. A warm-up spin before the real thrills. [i]AC/DC Bag[/i] followed, immediately shutting down any Gamehendge speculation, stretching and building for ten patient minutes... that long, clacking climb up the first big hill. You know the drop is coming, but the suspense is the point. Hanging there, high above it all, we finally tipped over into [i]Roggae[/i]: the smooth, floating descent. A wide, scenic glide with the reminder, “If life were easy, and not so fast, I wouldn’t think about the past.” The lights softened, the pace eased, and everyone collectively caught their breath. Then the familiar click of the track pulling us forward again... [i]Rift[/i]. Tight harmonies, quick turns, controlled chaos. A reliable coaster that thrives on tension. Still not ready to stop moving, [i]Wolfman’s Brother[/i] beckoned like a winding dark ride, howling and grooving, promising something larger just ahead. No time to get comfortable ... [i]Punch You in the Eye[/i] shoved us forward into [i]Sigma Oasis[/i] and then [i]Taste[/i], each transition another sharp turn, another unexpected drop. Then came a rare moment of stillness: [i]Sleep[/i]. A quiet overlook tucked inside the park. Benches. Soft lights. A pause to take it all in. A core memory moment... peaceful, reflective, and grounding. Space held for the dreamers. Of course, the only way out of that calm was to bolt straight into Antelope, bursting back into motion like a runaway coaster screaming toward the exit gate. [b]Obligatory concessions break.[/b] Set Two was where we wandered into the Fun House... mirrors warped, colors brighter, rules a little looser. You don’t hop back on the biggest coaster right after snacks. You ease in. Oblivion and Disease felt intentionally restrained, stretching their legs and setting the tone. Then the real ride opened up: Simple → Jibboo → Bottom → Simple. Forty-seven minutes of curves, dips, grooves, and a few janky transitions that only added character. A ride so fun no one wanted to step off. But again, that gentle reminder arrived... Everything’s Right. A hug. A hand on the shoulder. “You did good, kid.” As the park lights began to glow and we drifted toward the exit, there was still time for one last classic attraction. Slave to the Traffic Light... reliable, familiar, and essential. A closing ride that doesn’t try to dazzle, just to remind you why you fell in love with the park in the first place. A soft promise whispered on the way out: Tomorrow is another day. If Night One is any indication of what the rest of this run holds, this is an amusement park I never want to leave.

What an excellent N1 of the run! Set highlights- Punch You in the Eye was incredible and had the crunchiest, funkiest opener I’ve heard, very 2001-esque. Definitely hitting the jam charts. Wolfman’s brother worth a listen Roggae and Taste were beautifully played and Sleep was a nice bust out with the acoustic. 1.5 hr 1st sets are always welcome!!! Set 2 they were searching for a great jam vehicle, and started with 2 reasonable choices where they pulled the chute early. DwD also started with some sloppy play but then, like a phoenix from the ashes, they hit it with Simple, taking it into a few new places, with a smooth transition to a very well played type 1 Jibboo into Theme, an absolute banger that never let up, the jam that they were searching for! They rode that all the way to the end. And a sweet encore with Slave. Theme to Everything’s Right and Punch You in the Eye are must listen material!

Theme from the Bottom: a view from the top. Scorching first set and a solid second. Weird show closer/encore. First set had some highlights, but PYITE coming mid set with a sick 6 minute intro was my peak. There was no failure to launch like last year’s run opener. They came to bang. Roggae was perfect to my ears. I’ve come to realize when Trey calls for Buried opener, he’s feeling himself and he did. Set 1 edged out set 2 IMO but set 2 was no sloth. Second set was a little more moody. Theme from the Bottom came in at 24 minutes, longest ever and definitely went type 2. I had to check the setlist to make sure it was still Theme, it was way out there like Sand or WGTYM of late. Theme has been getting its due the last few years and this was the pinnacle of that momentum. I feel strongly that Theme ate the second set and Everything’s Right was an accidental closer due to time. I bet Traffic Light was the planned closer. But you know how it goes: most events aren’t planned. 4 star show as there were some flubs(disease, composed section of Theme Trey tried and gave up on his signature solo). Definitely had 5 star potential and I feel like they’ll get there tonight as there is zero rust left on this Tinman.

My gf and I lived about 5 hours north in FL. Both young veterinarians in our 2nd year out of school. While I had been heavily into the Dead for many years and had a friend who kept urging me to turn on to Phish, it never happened. Then the Y2K NYE happened and we couldn’t decide what to do, especially when the world was thinking all tech on the planet might crash. Literally about 5 days beforehand I caught an ad for the Cypress shows and as we liked camping anyway, we decided what better way to spend the night and weekend than in a rural spot, in case of TEOTWAWKI. We both had to work late and this is our first Phish show ever, so what did we know about traffic jams? As it turned out we didn’t arrive that night until about 1 AM and it was perfect. We were [i]literally[/i] the only car on the road coming in. We had to honk a bit to even find security to ask where to park, the signs were useless. They just kept gesturing “further that way”. We drove through many lanes of completely full lots and then eventually I found a HUGE field well south of the stage that literally had not a car on it. We shrugged, pulled up as close towards the stage as we could, unloaded and set up. Wandered around for a bit and by the time we got back there were about a dozen other cars that also were in the field, all scattered around with hundreds of yards in between us. So we missed the soundcheck (didn’t know there would be one), missed all the traffic, were in a super-quiet mellow area which was fine with us (but about a mile walk to the stage), and it began what is still an obsession today that never gets old. Thank you everyone for making that weekend what it was!!! P.S.—my very strict and Christian boss sat me down the next week at work and asked me suspiciously, “The newspaper review said there was an enormous cloud of marijuana smoke over the crowd the entire time,” as he eyed me suspiciously. I shrugged and said that was just the media being the media, sure I saw a few people here and there who maybe were sharing something but “clouds of smoke?” Pah!!! Of course in the back of my head I’m remembering the time where we moved our listening spot because we could hardly see the stage from all the herb lighting off around us. ;-)

So I built this little [url=https://mgolia6.github.io/Phish_Scorecard/]Phishow Rater[/url] over the summer on GitHub but haven’t been to a show since to use it. Last night was my first chance to do so. I was tired of guessing on show ratings so this was my attempt to get more precision. (It’s in beta so only the rating functionality works, haven’t had time to go back and build out the log in UX, etc…). Show Rating: 3.65 Favorite Moment: Sleep on accoustic First Set Highlight: Wolfman’s Punch Second Set Highlight: Theme~>Simple Surprised the wife with a night out away from the kids for the holidays. Didn’t have plans and was playing it all by ear. Had sushi in Fairfield and Tycho came on the sound system. Checked ticket prices at 6p and too high, finished my sashimi and ooey gooey chocolate cake and rechecked prices: well below face value. Scored 100 section fish side behind stage. Raced into Manhattan with the wife and parked across the street. Didn’t miss a lick of music because of the Sirius stream but entered during wolfmans. Vibe was loose with a Sunday kinda of love. No expectations, like the day had played out; I was just grateful to be listening to my favorite band at one of my favorite venues. Aside from the bag and wolfmans, the acoustic sleep and raucous antelope were highlights even if they completely missed the landing after the crazy build up. Fever pitch. I sing Sleep (poorly) to my oldest at night so it was tender moment. Set two’s oblivion opener set the stage for some deep dives into Phish staples. While the first two segues left something to be desired(disease to simple and simple to jiboo), prior to the abrupt transition into Simple, Trey appeared to be trying to get fish’s attention for like a full minute, trying to make eye contact. His shift to Simple got his attention for sure. Probably not what actually transpired on stage but that is how it looked from 111 row 15. While the transition left something to be desired, the Simple that ensued was made up for it. Crowd pleasing owing to its mention of saxophones and sky scrappers, it devolved into a charcuterie of sonic effects fitting of a holiday fest. The next segue was equally as abrupt but landed in siren loop heaven with Jiboo, which became an after thought because of the subsequent Theme. This was THE Theme from Theme from the Bottom if there ever was one. The song melted to oblivion, cascaded though sonic landscapes fitting of the upside down and any grudges held by the not so smooth transitions and obvious flubs that abounded throughout the night were forgiven by the buttery slide back into simple. All Smiles! Alls well that ends simple. Everything’s Right rounded things out, my son’s second favorite Phish song (after Ghost) brought more tenderness and we were ushered into the midtown evening with Slave. I was excited to finally dust off the show rater and put it to good use to give me an accurate 3.65. Let me know if it works for you.

12/28 has historically been the warmup show. I’m sure many people skipped tonight, but as the rule goes… never miss a Sunday show. Buried Alive into AC/DC Bag had the crowd pumped up. Roggae, Rift, and Wolfman’s with some jamming were great 1.0 selections in the first set. Then… PYITE. Mid set. Hot damn. And they jam the intro too. Beautiful. Sigma and Taste were good. Trey wraps up Taste and takes his guitar off… “they can’t be done?” … picks up the acoustic guitar and then we get Sleep. Beautiful. I heard it once at SPAC ‘19. A welcome bustout. Antelope to close is classic. Truly an above average first set, especially for N1. Set 2 begins with Oblivion, DWD, Simple and damn, it got weird! 40 mins of jamming led to a little Jibboo cool down that wasn’t really a cool down, and then… Theme. I thought this was the part of the night where they just stop jamming and rattle off 4 more jukebox songs. WRONG. Instead? Longest Theme ever. Jesus Christ. I need to listen back, but I was grooving in the moment. Back into simple for good measure, then throw in an ER for the vibes. Great show. Slave in the encore slot is as predictable as the sun coming up every morning. Glad they got it over with night 1. TLDR: Shows like this are why we Phish. You never know when they’re going to happen, so that’s why you do the whole run. Fingers crossed they maintain this energy through the whole run.

I don’t say this lightly: last night reminded me exactly why I keep coming back. I was considering not attending initially (and breaking my streak of being at 100% of NYC shows since 12/31/19) as the past few 12/28’s I’ve been to have largely been the warm ups you might expect, but boy am I glad I didn’t miss the Sunday Phish! They just keep on surprising me, including a big bust out of Sleep, which I’ve been chasing for years! From the jump, the room felt locked in. Great song choices and jams front to back first set. Can’t wait to relisten!! Set two stretched out exactly when it needed to. My only slight criticism would be the weird aborting of disease. I thought they’d go the distance on that one but everything that followed was phenomenal. Can’t complain!! What a start to run, can’t wait to see y’all back at the Garden for round 2 tonight!

Oh Phish, welcome back to Madison Square Garden... you were missed. The expectations for 12/28 are usually lower. Its always seen as a "Warm up" show and could be missed. Something tells me that trend just got broken tonight. The vibe and theme of the 1st set was pretty old school. Lots of 1.0 tunes. (its literally just Sigma that isnt)The garden added another spectacular Bag to its resume in the 1st set and the rest of the set is well played and flows beautifully. My first ever sleep was cool to hear, gotta love getting a rare tune. Antelope, like usual, was an explosion of greatness. Right out of the gate the NYE run was going strong, the band in midseason form. 2nd set got nice and weird, as it should be. Oblivion Disease Simple Jibboo.. 4 fantastic choices there, all getting nice little jams. When theme came next, it perhaps felt a little out of place. But oh boy that thing went freaking deep ... it belonged right here in the meat of this show. Simple even made another appearance out of it. I was barely tripping but i definitely had to ask at a certain point if that mind bending jam was theme or simple at first.... Encore was a standard pick and the show ended earlier compared to years past i think, so i guess that would be my only nitpick. But holy balls that was such a fun show and I had a blast - I cannot wait to do it again tomorrow! Set One: A- Set Two: A- Score: 4.45

Coming off the buzz of Trey Anastasio Band’s fall tour opener in Bonner, MT the night before, this Marymoor Park show already felt like the second chapter of a story. After logging the 481-miles west on I-90 to make it back to Washington, the sense of momentum was building. TAB took the stage sounding loose, confident, and already dialed in—proof that this tour was finding its legs almost immediately. Marymoor’s open, familiar atmosphere made for an ideal setting, with the crowd fully locked into the band’s energy from the first notes. Song selection was a major highlight. “Alive Again” set a tone of optimism and drive, while the set-one closing “Carini” delivered a dark, gritty punch that pushed the band into heavier territory than usual for TAB—and it landed perfectly. “Simple Twist Up Dave” carried a celebratory warmth, unfolding with confidence and ease, while “Ether Sunday” stood out as a particularly moving moment, blending atmosphere and melody into something quietly transcendent. This show was also special for featuring James Casey on saxophone, whose presence added both fire and soul to the performance. His musical voice was unmistakable, elevating multiple moments throughout the night. In light of his passing, it’s impossible not to view this show as even more meaningful in hindsight. Trey’s admiration and closeness to James was evident—both musically and personally—and the reverence felt reminiscent of how Jerry Garcia was so deeply loved and respected by those around him. James Casey wasn’t just a sideman; he was a vital part of the emotional core of this band. Having seen the opener the night before, Marymoor felt like confirmation that TAB was already firing on all cylinders. The long drive back was more than worth it. This was a joyful, powerful performance—one that captured a band in motion, a tour just beginning, and a lineup that now feels especially precious in retrospect.

Dayton-Phish has been on my bucket-list since listening to the 12/07/97 performance on repeat for an entire summer - "psycho killer & dayton jam"!!!! Shakedown was solid, sound in the venue was crisp. At set break I felt like it could've been the end of night-1. There's a few points in "twist" where you can feel how intimate the size venue is. One thing worth noting here, during pillow-jets this dood totally tossed his arm-UP with a gigantic thumbs-DOWN .. ppl all around were incredibly confused.. like okay buddy, let's see you pick the set-list? Anyhoo I was on the floor pretty close to the guy, and Trey took notice.. then proceeded to f*cken rip open pillow jets via evil-phish and melted this guys arm back down, thank god! I also think this was the inspiration for Joy in the encore... "You can be happy" 1. COOL AMBER & MERCURY -- best version to date?? 2. Bathtub gin 3. CDT 4. Mike' Song 5. Pillow Jets->Weekapaug Groove, twist

The old saying of "never judge a book by its color" sure rings true for this show. I am a South Floridian and as a result have to travel across the country to see Phish do their thing. While I wish that the band would visit FL again soon, I like the opportunity to explore new cities, venues, and have new experiences all while on the road catching a Phish show. I found myself in Ocean City, NJ on a family reunion trip the week leading up to the Chicago run. The noticeable pep in my step that week on the shore was attributable to the fact that I was flying out of Philadelphia on Friday to head to meet with friends and catch the Saturday night show at the United Center. Friday night, my friend and I elected to drive to a Chicago suburb and catch a local jam band called "Mr. Blotto." While I was sad about missing N1 at the United Center, it was cool to catch some great local music. This band played Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley that night, possibly as a nod to the big show going on up the road. Some great Dead tunes and other songs carried us through that night. A nice warm up for another Saturday night with Phish. Saturday finally came but the day dragged on. The whole "a watched pot never boils" theory always holds true on show days for me. Time seems to stand still as the show grows nearer. After a walk-through a summer street fair in Streeterville and a couple (few, maybe more) cocktails at a local pub, my friend and I were in an Uber on our way to the United Center. There was a long line to get in, which I learned was similar to N1. We were on the floor, which I was really looking forward to. My last Phish show prior to this was at MSG on 12/29 where I mistakenly bought seats in a section which had an obstructed view thanks to the Chase Skybridge. Floor was essential at the United Center - redemption. Okay, enough of the preamble. On to what really matters - the music. Immediately, I knew we were in for a "box of chocolates" setlist. The Life Saving Gun opener was a bit of a surprise - FTP as an opener since Nashville in 2023. I thought very well played and cool to hear this song live. The Steam that followed was almost predictable, since my friend and I had heard that song on Ch. 29 about two or three times that weekend prior to the show. Cosmic coincidence, maybe. I really enjoyed the intro into McGrupp and was surprised to catch this one tonight. I've always been a fan on The Line, and it may have been played for the first time in ~8 years as a nod to the Chicago Bulls. Pretty cool to see this one make a return, despite the hate that this song gets. The instrumental Seven Below was interesting and unexpected, I believe this was the first time played as an instrumental. This was my first Phish show with my friend Jeff since 2023 at Star Lake. That night, they played Ocelot - a song that we always seemed to catch together. So, of course I predicted that we would get an Ocelot on this night and that obviously happened. Not my favorite Phish song, but always fun to hear. Ya Mar was welcomed and added a nice kind of reggae flair to the night. They can keep Mountains in the Mist. At this point during the show, I felt like the setlist was a bit of an uphill climb. Some clunkers, some odd choices, some odd placements; despite each song being well played. The crown jewel of the first set came late with the one-two punch of Golgi Apparatus and Most Events Aren't Planned. Golgi had the whole arena buzzing and the MEAP was shocking in how it brought the house down to end the set. I was blown away by these two songs, and it totally changed the vibe of the night for me heading into set break. During the break, my friend and I grabbed a table in the concourse and had a couple cocktails and shared our thoughts about the first set. There were grumblings around us "last night was better," "terrible setlist so far tonight," etc. Like I said, a box of chocolates! The second set got off to an immediately hot start with Tube. At this point, my friend and I had moved closer to the stage on the floor, and I noticed that the sound mix was just a little bit off for the first two minutes of Tube. It was rectified quickly and the rest of the song proceeded as normal. I really enjoyed ASIHTOS tonight. Perhaps a nod to me after spending the last week on the beach in Ocean City (ha)! The DWD>7B>DWD sandwich is the meat of the show, and boy is it some delicious meat. I could have left after this and been fully satisfied. I was especially happy that they finished DWD instead of leaving it unfinished and hearing the 7B reprise with lyrics was again a twist I was not expecting. Always on your toes. Pillow Jets was okay, kind of wished there was a stronger song in this slot. It just kind of meanders. My friend and I always joke about how we get 2001 when we are at shows together. Similar to Ocelot, we got 2001 at our last show together in 2023. So, of course we got it tonight deep into the second set. I really enjoy how they tear this song apart. This performance was no exception. The Chalk Dust was out of this world fun. I don't have many words other than "wow!" Trey went full rock star for the Gently Weeps into First Tube encore. At one point, he was using his guitar as a sword; holding it above his head, pointing it at the crowd, wielding it around as the final notes of the show came crashing down around him and the band. All the while, CK5 is blasting the entire arena with an incredible barege of lights, sending us home with stars in our eyes and ringing ears. What a fantastic show and what a way to end it. I stayed in Chicago the next night too and had a last-minute opportunity to go to the Sunday show. But, despite the odd setlist, I decided that I got everything I needed from the Saturday show. Some may look at this show and scoff at it. I truly believe this show is a collector's item, a "you had to be there" type of night. I am so glad I made the trip to Chicago to see them. And I am super excited to see my next show at MSG in 6 short days. All I can ask for Christmas this year is for the boys to do a FL run...

SET 1: Architect: very curious opener choice. I’m not as fiercely against this here as the crowd would’ve been but it’s definitely a very mellow vibe for an opener, I guess Trey was in his feels about something before the show? I appreciate the rare placement and I do like the song. Trey’s solo is pretty mediocre though. Definitely in the market for a rager after this. Golgi Apparatus: I like this placement. Surely swap around this and Architect though? Whatever. Played okay. The Curtain With: awesome! This during a Gorge sunset = perfection. Pretty flawless version to my ears - far from my favourite early tune but absolutely nobody can complain about this. Kill Devil Falls: good version, Trey rips it up. Show is warming up and more and more with every song. > The Moma Dance: LOVE LOVE LOVE this placement. Like seriously - mid set 1 after a raging rock song? It cannot get any better really. Standard version Maze: starting to look like a 2024 setlist with this run of songs, not against it though. This is an interesting version, Trey does the usual ripping that you’d expect at the end of the solo but the leadup to that is surprisingly jazzy and modal in a much more overt way than usual. Page’s organ solo leans much more towards jazz fusion-type playing than anything else. I’d recommend giving this version a go. Beauty of a Broken Heart: sure. Standard. Roses are Free: fun call for sure. Standard. Jam it! Say Something: hmm a little similar to the last two rhythm-wise for my liking. I guess this was when Trey bringing his solo stuff to Phish was still relatively rare so Trey allowed Mike to have a tune too lol. Can’t say I fuck with this one very much. Only got one more play later this tour and then was shelved permanently. Ocelot: rages hard as most Ocelots from this era do. This one definitely has some extra sauce though, the Trey peak is super confident and assertive. Recommended. After Midnight: WOOOOO!!!!! Fuck yes!!!!!! They had to do it in honour of Cale’s passing and I’m so glad they did because this one of my favourite covers that Phish does. Good version too although the outro jam (which I thought was awesome at first) seems to drag on a little long, it feels as if they’re unsure as to where to end it. Very cool set closer though. — Down With Disease: yep, that’s a second set opener alright. Composed section is what you would expect. Once the jam starts Trey immediately steps out in front to take a bright, energetic solo. Some real machine gun stuff between 7-8 mins, love to hear it. Sounds like a 3.0 take on the 94-95 approach to this song. I would recommend it for that reason. A brief hint at a funky space towards the end and then Trey finds a great -> into… Undermind: good placement and great transition. Trey laughs at a couple points during the verses (does anyone else think his voice sounds odd here in general?) Usual composed section and type 1 solos in the body of the song then they wander around in meditative space - kinda sounds like the buildup section of Hood or Slave at points here. Trey signals to bring it back up with a new riff at 8:00, but it goes mellow again soon after. Another new section around 9:40, a neat, droney, spacey thing led by a two-note riff. It lasts for about a minute then finally gives up the ghost and we get a properly spacey ambient outro with this huge, deep bass drone led by Fish on the marimba lumina. Sounds like sheets of metal whistling through space. Very cool ambient section! For me personally I won’t be putting this in my rotation because the jam that gets it there is very average and the section is only short. The phambience fans will love this one though. > Light: good call by Trey, definitely the best placement for this. Very standard composed section and standard moderately explorative jazzy space. Fucking fantastic transition though -> Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley: haha I loved that transition. Keep the party going! Funky as HELL in the composed section thanks to clav work from Page that sits right up at the front of the mix. Trey instantly takes the jam into plinko at the start at Page’s urging, and it’s a damn good plinko space at that. Fantastic fantastic funk jam for a good chunk of this - icky and sticky and humid. Then Trey indicates he wants to solo and oh boy does he solo! Rock god stuff, makes his guitar scream at 9:10 and does a Hendrix cosplay for the remainder. Once Trey has had his moment in the sun they fade into an outro section that sits just barely above total ambience, seems more jazzy to me with Page tearing it up on piano. It’s pretty clear for a minute or so that Trey is setting them up to play 2001 and they finally pull the trigger after 13 minutes. This is a fantastic Sally and has an argument to be the best of the era. Check it out! > 2001: man, I miss when this song sounded so crisp. Page rages in the intro with the same clav sound he employed on Sally. They enter into what almost sounds like an early Martian Monster jam around 3:00???? What the fuck????? It sounds great. Yeah wow this is definitely an early Martian Monster. A few flubs and miscues toward the end of this one as they shoot for the refrains, it sounds like Trey is distracted by how he’s gonna turn that jam into a new song LOL. Have heard that they played this jam a few times in other songs this tour and if so I need to hear that. Really recommend this 2001 even despite those flubs and the short length, super unique. > Walls of the Cave: can’t say I’m thrilled by this placement. This is pretty ripped though if Walls of the Cave is your vibe, Trey does very well. Uncommonly for the era they actually give this one a little bit of a type 2 jam at the very end and don’t finish it. Trey fades it out and they go > Fluffhead: ahhh yeah that’s the stuff. Does Trey say ‘pearlhead’ and ‘fluffhen’ at the end of the vocal section? Standard version outside of some small flubs/miscues. I’m really vibing with this here though. Run Like an Antelope: third set closer in a row! Standard version, maybe not the best peak. Trey thanks the crowd and talks about how jazzed he is to play at the Gorge afterwards (love his ‘WOW!’). Good set! — ENCORE: Show of Life: I’m absolutely not gonna be mad at Trey playing this here. He must have felt great about this run. Good Times Bad Times: standard. — Overall: really fun show, I’m happy with this one for sure. If you only look at the track lengths Set 2 doesn’t look impressive, but these jams pack a real punch and the flow is primo stuff. Best Sally of the era in there and great Disease + 2001 + a cool Undermind ambient jam to boot. First set is a mix of the usual setlist calls with some cool unique picks that spice it up enough for me. A good show to wrap up a great Gorge run. 3.9 stars.

A special night, indeed...I Miss Phil. Cried and cried for the Box of Rain opener. We discussed what the nod could be all the way to the venue, never dared ponder it would be That. Unbelievable moment, and a great show and a great weekend. I'm mostly chiming in here to say that I think that Mike wearing that wristband for the evening should be in the show notes :) Cool that you can see it in the featured photo for this show. I thought that that was a lovely tribute, too. Cheers, friends

Heading into the Saturday’s night show in Birmingham, I couldn’t help but notice an unmistakable energy in the air. It wasn’t just the normal pre show, giddy restlessness. This event had something else working for it. Something that Phish is known for embracing, this night just had an extra dose of the [b]unknown[/b]. You see, the Coca-Cola Amphitheater was brand spanking new, I mean [u]brand new[/u], having opened not even two months before. It’s safe to say the band were feeling this energy as well and decided to take full advantage of it. [u]Some Personal Highlights[/u] — I’m was happy to see they went ahead and played [b]Cities[/b] early and I was even happier that they [i]“went in”[/i] and jammed it out. — [b]Bathtub Gin[/b] was perhaps the deepest dive of the night. Jaw on floor. — As Gin was winding down, I was certain it was the end of the set, but lo and behold here comes [b]Runaway Jim[/b]. A++ — For the 2nd Set, it was time to push the petal to the floor. [b]Sigma Oasis>Down With Disease>Lifesaving Gun[/b] was a weird, scary, and beautiful stretch of music. — During the [b]LSG[/b] jam, I really thought we were going to make first contact with aliens right there in Birmingham. [i]Far Out[/i] indeed… —The [u]Encore[/u] was perfect. They tugged at my heart with their version of Shine a Light causing me to shed a tear or two. Then they brought the whole thing home with a high energy final wind up with [b]Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S[/b]. — During the PEAK of the final song, one last [b]jet airliner[/b] , flew directly over the venue, which raised the energy that much more. Oh I forgot to mention, the [b]unknown[/b] really did come into play that night in Alabama. To my surprise (and I’m sure many others), the venue was right beside the airport. So at least a dozen or so times through the night, a huge jet would fly (fairly low) right over us. This aspect will always make this show special to me. Oddly enough, even though the planes were pretty close to us, I couldn’t hear them at all so they didn’t affect the show negatively at all All in all, it was a great weekend in Birmingham and Sundays show the next night was no slouch (shout out [b]Fee[/b]), Saturday reached heights rarely seen. [b]5 Stars[/b].

My 34th birthday show and a great start of a four night run down to Hampton. Got off the plane, hopped in a taxi (wow remember those!?) and made it to the show with about a half hour to spare. Ran into DJ and several of my Phriends and the party started and didn’t stop until #rockytop. After having to skip most of the fall tour, it was awesome to be “back in the saddle for a short run.”

SET 1: Cars Trucks Buses: BIIIIIG fan of this as an opener! Time to get down! This is just a totally raging version too. You can tell Trey is chomping at the bit to take over during Page’s solo and then when he gets his chance he rips it to shreds, good stuff. Very good version – the show is ON! Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan: perfect follow up tune, really feeling this here. This one has another just totally ripping solo from Red. 4:00 and on is pure rockstar material. Maybe the best version of this song if you want the jam section to stick to the blues rock feel of the original, which this one very much does. Ginseng Sullivan: hahaha fucking hell I’m such a big fan of this setlist right now. Recently come from listening to a lot of summer 2014 and the setlist quality is just so high here in comparison. Tight version of one of my favourite bluegrass tunes. Wolfman’s Brother: fine by me, fun choice here. Clav-and-wah-heavy affair for quite a bit of time at the start of the jam, then Trey starts soloing but the other members stay in their funk bag for a little while longer. AWESOME held note from Trey in the six minute range, then when it ends they go into a typical short rock outro and then close. I enjoy most Wolfmans jams and this one is no exception, the peak isn’t special but everything leading up to it is primo stuff. They’re four for four so far. Page talks to the crowd after this song ends. Sparkle: sure, no issues with this here really. Standard. Page’s messy playing in his solo is cool. > Walk Away: there’s no way! Awesome! So much conviction from Trey with these calls! Page’s voice sounds good and outside of one or two eh moments from Trey in the song proper this is done well, good soloing as usual. Divided Sky: holy hell. As good as a 3.0 setlist can get really. Composed section pre-pause is spotless and fast. Enjoying the LivePhish mix having Page’s organ so high in the lead-up to the pause. Small Fish flub at 9:08, no biggie. Really lovely Trey solo and a good version all round. Not quite a highlight as is sometimes claimed but really no issues here at all. Split Open and Melt: great call again. Tight and energetic in the composed section. Rides standard 3.0 Melt territory for a lot of the jam but Trey’s playing is a lot more vaporous and sickly than usual especially in the section starting around 8:00, he starts messing around with his delay and loop pedals and creates a crazy droning soundscape for a while there. There’s a feeble attempt from Trey to push into the ending but the space has become so weird that he bails and Fish pretty much has to reform the jam from scratch. They ride some mellow space here then Trey hard ripcords > Julius. This is a super unique version in that Trey just has no idea how to land the (really fucking unnerving) jam and has to totally bail on the song altogether. I feel like 1.0 Trey would’ve worked out a way to put the pieces back together, but as it stands I’m a big fan of the risks the band took here and it sounds great while it lasts. Bizarre and recommended. > Julius: yeah I wasn’t crazy into this call when it started up but man Trey does everything he can to prove me wrong here. Very good soloing, ripped. Forgot how good this song could be in early 3.0. Great set closer to a real spotless set. — SET 2: Down With Disease: LOL @ Mike(?) playing Pop Goes the Weasel in the intro to this. Trey is unusually active in the intro too – something is up here. You can practically see the grin on his face, ready as he is to melt faces. Trey is immediately on top of the jam in the early going with spirited playing. The first 9 minutes of this goes past pretty quick, then things fade into a quieter, more contemplative section. Funky-ish motif from Trey at 10:30 that leads into the next phase of the jam and it’s a really solid, coherent, riff-based one. Trey takes the lead with a chordal riff that sounds great in his tone, bit mellower overall and a little dark. They then collectively bring the jam happier and bliss-ier but still mellow. Then around 14 mins in you can juuuuuust start to hear things ramping up. Full band upbeat Allmans jamming starts up here but not in the usual BD era way, this is REALLY good. God I’m just so in love with how full-bodied the jamming is at 16 mins in. So awesome, every member pulling their weight. Once Trey takes the lead it’s game on! He proceeds to play a gorgeous triumphant solo with a ton of defined melodies, really just fantastic bliss peak here – absolutely hosing down the audience. Love hearing the crowd explode at so many points here. Once they’ve finished laying waste to the venue they fade out into a fantastic outro full of psychedelic arpeggios, this bit is really underrated in discussions of this performance. Could have honestly sat in this space for a little while longer but Trey goes (smoothly, to his credit) -> Taste. This is fantastic stuff and one of the best DWDs you will ever hear and this includes ALL eras, with a peak that deserves all the hype it gets. An essential listen if you can only hear a few 3.0 jams – hose central. -> Taste: really solid follow up choice, would have actually loved more of a cooldown here but kudos to Trey for keeping the energy high. Solid and well-played version outside of the very end. Twenty Years Later: sure, if you’d like. Not my favourite song but it’s not like it isn’t earned here. Immediate thought to take this on a ride during the outro from Trey with his crazy ominous wah and delay. This combined with Page’s organ, extra funereal here, is an incredibly intimidating combo. Pretty sludgy for a while until it takes more of a rocking turn with some great bluesy playing and interplay between Page and Trey. Reminds me of one of those old Pink Floyd blues jams from the early 70s. God they’re really just perfectly locked in this set and show aren’t they? Then on a dime they move to a borderline plinko jam at 9:30, so incredibly percussive and funky. So sick and importantly very different to the DWD jam. What I wouldn’t give for Page to stay on the organ for this long these days. Trey’s chordal riffing at 12:00ish is so fire. Trey switches things up at 12:30 with some new chords and now we’re in a rocking Allmans type jam??? Big big fan of this outro, almost Camden CDT ish for a minute there. The move > Piper feels so logical and earned after that. What a journey. Very good jam, covers a lot of territory with very little in the way of aimless wandering. Recommended of course. > Piper: fast and driving out of the gate. Trey is on some FIRE cold green tea tonight. Upbeat jamming out of this is as you’d expect and then there’s a turn towards funk, LOTS of Page on organ. Love the organ chord he holds for a solid 20 seconds about six minutes in. Bit sparser than the funk jam in 20YL but still solid. Then Fish, with no warning at all, starts playing a bluegrass beat(???????) at 7 minutes in and for about a minute and a half we get this manic space jamming????? It’s really good????? Great stuff but such a tease, another 5 minutes of that would’ve been just fine for me. Instead Trey hits the only properly questionable song choice of the night by going > Backwards Down the Number Line: yeah I’m not sure about this here, and I DO like this song for the record. That Piper had gas left in the tank. Not that I’m complaining too much lol this show is primo and this isn’t a set-ruiner like some other bad calls can be. Anyway I hate to say it because it makes me sound like a fluffier but even this performance is great for the song! Trey just has a ridiculous amount of pep tonight. Check out the trills at 5:40 and then the effortless peak. It’s a good run-through. I’ve forgotten why I didn’t want him to play this. You Enjoy Myself: YES!! Bit of an awkward intro with the rest of the band seeming a bit unprepared to go into this, Fish and Mike especially. The whole composed section is kinda clumsy actually, just rough around the edges and sounds like they’re hanging on for dear life until they can hit the jam. Funny hearing Fish scream ‘motherfucker!’ in the Charge section though. Once the tramps section hits it’s like Trey and Mike get a moment to recalibrate and center themselves and then you can just tell the jam is going to be rock-solid. They sit on an ominous funk groove from minute one that sounds to me like Trey is messing around with some early Your Pet Cat ideas. God damn Mike is absolutely popping in this mix! They’re really firing on all cylinders here. So much confidence needed for Trey to hold back and throw out funky licks for minutes on end like he does. Great held note with whale call at 14:30 which signals to the band that a peak is coming. Page switches to the piano and a more traditional YEM peak is clearly incoming. Peak is below average but B&D has some uniquely frantic playing from Mike and is good. Vocal jam is equally frantic. I’m going to recommend giving this a listen but it sadly falls short of the true rager that this set deserves. The body of the jam is great and highly recommended, whenever I relisten to this I’ll be skipping straight here, but sadly the composed section is well below average and the peak is surprisingly timid considering the rest of the set. It’s still a good experience overall and a good call in this slot. Risks were taken. Grind: great end to the set. Very much into this placement for this show. It’s earned. — ENCORE: Bouncing Around the Room: standard. I honestly would’ve been fine with this as a solo encore, but then… > Reba: NO WAY! That’ll teach the people bitching about Bouncing! I wonder if Trey planned this with the others or if he called an audible here. Either way this is such a cool placement and I love this band. There’s like one small flub at the beginning of the instrumental composed parts and then from there on out it’s golden, no issues at all. Jam section is standard but peaks triumphantly and Trey plays well. Must have been a blast to be in the building while this was happening. Whistling et fin. Good Times Bad Times: ripped to absolute shreds by Trey. This is utterly demolished by 3.0 standards. Seriously. Fantastic end to the show. — OVERALL: absolutely fantastic show front-to-back. I’ve been working my way in reverse chronological order through the 3.0 live material on Apple Music and the sheer difference in the band’s – but especially Trey’s – energy in Fall ’13 and earlier compared to ’14 and later is pretty shocking. But even for the tour Trey really is in incredible form tonight. By the era’s standards he just crushes nearly every solo he gets a chance to play, so many coherent melodies and dextrous fast arpeggios and all-round brilliance that reminds me of an only-slightly diluted 1.0 Trey. When you add that to a great setlist (out of this entire setlist only Numberline feels even remotely out of place), an absolute all-timer DWD jam, probably the best 20 Years Later and a bonkers encore, it’s impossible to think of this show as anything but brilliant. The crown jewel of Fall ’13 I’d say. 4.4 stars. If YEM composed section wasn’t botched I’d be prepared to put it even higher. Up there with the best of the era.

SET 1: Farmhouse: LOL, what an opener for the big SPAC run. I like the song and actually prefer it as an opener to 555 which opened the following night. Obviously everyone would agree this is far from ideal though – can’t imagine how much kvetching there was over this one in the crowd. Gets a nice little rock’n’roll solo from Trey for its short (very short – this is the shortest version of 3.0 up to this point and possibly earlier) length. Wolfman’s Brother: still kind of a milquetoast start to the show even with this in the two. Jam gets funky immediately as is typical with Wolfman’s. The clav-heavy sound of Summer ’14 is apparent right off the bat, this exact jam style would pretty much define the tour. Good jam all round! It was clear from the Farmhouse that Trey wanted to play rock god tonight and that is proven in this Wolfman’s. Very solid raging solo with Mike slapping along and everything. Recommended. Maze: call Farmhouse a small lapse of judgement because we’re back in business now. Bass sounds nice and full from the start and in general this show is very well-mixed like the rest of the SPAC shows. Page rips on the organ to start and Trey is right there with him the whole time. The handover to Trey is smooth. Veeeery brief Munsters theme tease early on in his solo (later to be quoted in full in the (phenomenal) 8/1 Antelope). Trey’s solo is succinct and does everything it needs to. Only real flub is Trey playing the end tag in the wrong key, and you can hear him quietly replaying it after the song is done, LOL. Good Maze for sure. Yarmouth Road: honestly the most notable aspect of this playthrough is Fish doing a partial stick-count(!) to get this one going, how many instances of that are there???? Otherwise this is as standard as it gets for a Phish Yarmouth Road, including Trey forgetting parts and the whole song kind of just being all-round terrible. Sucks as much as you’d expect. Strange Design: would’ve worked awesome as a cooldown song out of Maze, why would you not just skip over Yarmouth? Doesn’t feel needed in this spot as it stands. Well-played and pretty though. Devotion to a Dream: much better. Haters BTFO. Ocelot: meh. Indifferent to this in this slot pretty much. This is an above average version though, I really enjoy Trey’s playing at 7 minutes in and onwards. In general there’s a rootsy crunchiness to his approach here that sounds very good. I’d give this a relisten when I’m in an Ocelot mood. Chalk Dust Torture: ooo nice! Good placement that compliments that Ocelot real well. Good tempo for the era. Average succinct jam. Mound: ooo interesting late set 1 spot for this. Little unconfident from Trey early on but corrected pretty quickly and then smooth sailing from that point onwards. Still not a favourite song of mine by any means but a good bone to throw the fans nonetheless. Roggae: works great out of Mound. Standard. Possum: standard. — SET 2: Bathtub Gin: cool second set opener! Builds anticipation for sure. Swims along in standard Gin space for a while (check out the cool little Trey riffs starting around 8:20) and reaches a decent peak before Trey starts slamming on the wah pedal at 11:00 and signals for a funky change. The funk doesn’t stick for long at all though, Trey and Page don’t latch onto anything in particular and the jam enters a wandering space with Trey chordal-riffing around in search of some inspiration. Eventually Fish cuts out and the other three play off each other for a while (not particularly coherently I might add.) Interestingly Trey offers up a darker rock direction at 14:00 with some very rhythmic playing but none of the others bite, wonder why Fish didn’t jump on that feel. I respect the intent to do something here but it’s a bit of a mediocre attempt to jam this one I’d say, below-average version. > Limb by Limb: hmmm, strange call I’d say – you’d think they’d reach for another jam vehicle after Gin fizzled. Composed section is strong and then you can hear Trey looking to push this one long as soon as 5:00. A touch of a calypso feel in the early going here that just gets stronger and more percussive by 7:00. Wow @ Fish’s on-the-fly new rhythm at 7:50, that’s my drummer right there! Really appreciating how slowly and subtly this jam is souring. Then Trey makes a real bold call and pushes this FULLY type II by playing a new riff at a different tempo, which Fish catches onto, and before you know it they’re in a super janky and cool jam that sounds like one of the funkier jams from ’94-’95 – the basic rhythms of funk music being thrown into a washing machine and spat out. For SURE check out the passage from 9-12 mins, or just listen to the full thing – it’s worth it for sure. Maybe the coolest 3.0 Limb there is. Fish offers up the LxL rhythm again at the end, but Trey doesn’t bite and instead goes > Winterqueen: let the melts begin. I like this placement! Carries the same sort of energy as Limb to me, works decent in this spot and they play this with enthusiasm (occasionally too much – Trey makes a couple little flubs.) An uncommon level of swing here to my ears for the song. Good, punchy Winterqueen. The Line: omg no absolutely not what the moment was asking for lol. Times like this I’m almost glad they have songs like No Man’s and Blaze On these days so they have an easy energetic jammer to reach for after cooldown tracks. This is not it in this spot. Tweezer: yeah Trey realised the set was on life support after The Line so had to reach for something of Tweezer proportions lol. Hopefully this’ll put things back on track, though similar to Yarmouth in set 1, why would you not just play this after Winterqueen???? A little faster than usual to my ears. Super assertive Mike at the start of the jam, with Trey providing some deep dark effects, that opens up into more standard Tweezer soloing soon after. Winds down into prettier piano-led jamming next (I quite enjoy Page’s work from the 9 minute mark on.) What’s Trey teasing at 10:30? I swear it’s from something I’ve heard. Love Mike at 11:45. Really this is quite a nice jam, nothing to write home about but definitely a bit underrated. It’s nice. > Prince Caspian: a logical enough choice out of that Tweezer jam I figure. Short, decently pretty jam. > Sparkle: maybe I’m just dumb but I’m enjoying these last couple choices. Coherent vibe and feels early 90s in its succinctness. Standard of course. > Run Like an Antelope: ha they’ve managed to make something out of this set at least, even if that something isn’t what we expected. This one takes a pretty tense and evil path at points en route to the peak. Decent Antelope, effective set closer. — ENCORE: Sing Monica: Page introduces this one with a nice little preamble. Pretty good soloing actually, don’t know if you’d need another version of this song really. Tweezer Reprise: standard. Charming. — Overall: arghhhh I don’t know I think I might actually be HIGHER on this show than the .net average, even if only very slightly. This show is weighed down by two particularly terrible song choices (Yarmouth after Maze and The Line after Winterqueen) and if they were omitted I’d be rating this even higher. The thing is I respect shows that take an ambitious swing with the setlist even if it’s a swing and a miss. The worst thing a Phish show can be is predictable BOTT > Moma > Stash > Wolfman’s type stuff and this one most certainly isn’t that. No real crazy bustouts but it’s ambitious with how it places the standards, which is something I appreciate. There are also some genuinely good versions of songs here. Check out Wolfman’s, Maze, Ocelot, Winterqueen and especially Limb, one of the more unique versions out there. 3.6 stars, about on par with the next night. Can’t place it higher with those few horrid placements in here.

I'm getting ready to release the 12 minutes of soundcheck audio I recorded of this show... in celebration of, after 35 years, I'm finally getting this recording out into the Phishosphere and it feels really good! So happy 35th anniversary... Oh and I've got a 45 minute interview too ... but I'm still figuring out the best way to line up my melons on the whole video release thing. Here's the track list 01 Bang a Gong dittles 02 Trey Diddles 03 Bang a Gong 04 Assecapella Festival 05 Have a Heart 06 It's No Good Trying 07 Sweet Adeline 08_Asse Festival 09 Pendulum Jam Stay tuned for the 12/7/25 please :) Tom, ReelifeProductions [url=https://youtu.be/FoOZK8OxM1M?si=9VRTZ12FWjBiMhHc]All My Plastic Melon Dreams playlist[/url] [url=http://www.ReelifeProductions.com]Reelife[/url]

There’s a segment in Ghost from 6-10:30 that recalls the Bag from 11/21 and *almost* takes off. Page gets on a serious piano run and injects the “sizzle” synth, Fish gets on the ride cymbal, Trey stays solid, Mike playing some lead bass, then we squash the beat harshly and never really get back to it. Julius and Simple rock, and as mentioned the Ghost has a good passage. Above a 3.9 overall, definitely.

30 years ago today I went to my first Phish show. I still have the ticket stub. Old and faded, you can not read anything on the stub. The price for the show was $19 and some odd cents. Driving from Indiana to Ohio, we were reading from what I think was a pre-release paper edition of The Phish Companion, or something very close to it. We were discussing what we wanted the band to play. Being a huge fan of Frank Zappa's album Joe's Garage, I was instantly hooked by the Gamehendge story. I had a copy of the 07/08/1994 GREAT WOODS Gamehendge show. I wanted to hear The Lizards. I did not care what else the band would play as long as I got that song. I had no idea what was in store for that evening. Brad, whom I bought the ticket from, told me Phish is gonna get you. He kept saying this the whole ride to Dayton. I asked him what he meant. He said at some point you are going to be standing there, mouth wide open, in pure amazement of what the band is doing. I scoffed at this. Took a hit of some dirty paper LSD and smoked on the nasty brown swag joints still not knowing what was coming. We get into the show, we are sitting in about half way up straight on with the stage. Sitting in front of us are 2 old ladies, totally out of place. The lights go down the swag lights up for us and the music starts. I am not astute enough to go into some elaborate breakdown of the music. I like Phish, I move the way the music makes my body move. Phish plays, I am standing there. looking down on the stage, I think Trey is running the light show with all his guitar pedals. I am 22 years old and have no clue what the hell these dudes are doing down there but it is bad ass. How can 4 people make so much noise? How can this sound like total insanity and then it instantly snaps into beautiful melodies. My mouth is hanging wide open, I am locked into the stage like a hawk, my brain is melting, Brad slaps my should and says "Phish just got you!". You mother phucker, you are right, Phish got me. The 2 old ladies sat thru all of this madness, swag smoke, screams of joy and elation, and musical bombardment. They did not look very happy. The last song of the second set, Phish sings Amazing Grace, a cappella. As the band closes the set. The 2 old ladies (Like in their 50's, i was 22, and now am 52 so....) give a standing ovation, both smiling, they look at each other and leave. Brad turns to me and says "See, Phish plays something for everyone." Mind blown again. 30 years later I echo those words, "Phish plays something for everyone." (I strongly remember this when the band plays The Line) I hate sports and that song. BUT Phish play something for everyone. Even that kid shooting phantom free throws in the row in front of me during The Line at NYE 2015 in Miami. It is his song too. I got everything I wanted and more than I ever expected from this show. 30 years and 174 shows later I still yearn for live music from Phish, the smells and community of the lot and the freedom of the road. I have not been to a show since 2021. Sadly my elder dog passed away 11/3/25. While I whisper his name every morning when I wake up, I am now free to travel again. I am doing the entire 2026 summer Phish tour, 30 years later I am still upside down.

SET 1: The Star Spangled Banner: perfect. Had to be done considering the date. Crowd gets really into this and leads a USA chant at the end. No better way to start up a Fourth of July show, it’s on! 555: not crazy about this placement. 7/4 and 7/18 are the only two times they tried 555 as an (in this case quasi-)opener and it just doesn’t have what I’m looking for here - a very rare instance of an opener choice that I struggle to get down to. Trey’s backing vocals are distractingly loud in the mix. Playing is good. Kill Devil Falls: eh, sure. Jam starts with Page on the organ and some light, patient playing from Trey. Slowly builds into a peak. Solid little Kill Devil Falls jam, typical of this era. Page wishes everyone a happy 4th after the song – something special next, hopefully… The Moma Dance: interesting placement. Swap this and 555 around and we’d be in business. Very standard take on this one, but I’m having a good time. Reba: now we’re getting this thing on the road! Decent tempo and great work in the composed section, only a few Fish(!) mistakes to speak of. Some lovely interplay starts up around 8:30, listen to Page tickling those keys. Pretty chill jam until Trey suddenly starts ripping it a new one at 10:40 and peaks the song nicely. Whistling and all that jazz to end. Nothing out of this world but no slouch either. Waiting All Night: chills. Much better versions of this out there though if you’re as big of a fan of it as I am. Runaway Jim: sure, good call to get things back on track here. The instrumental bridge here is notably long and turns into a cool plinko jam for a while. The jam proper is decent if a bit meandering. 46 Days: decent enough. Rages just like it should. Rift: little bit flubbed. Split Open and Melt: very nice! Would be happy with this and Slave swapping frequencies at this point in 3.0. Good composed section leads to a standard-for-3.0 jam that turns dark at 6:30ish and stays in that space for a while, then it turns pretty frantic and intense 9 minutes in and glides cleanly into the ending. Solid Melt. The Squirming Coil: valid, no complaints at all. Mike screaming in the final chorus, LMAO – check out the 7/18 version for another instance of this. Actually a really awesome Page solo on this one, not a whole lot longer than usual but every minute is put to good use. Bodes well for the next set. — SET 2: Fuego: most 2014 set opener of all time. Composed section is clean and you can hear from very early on in the jam that Trey is determined to take this somewhere. Floats into a jazzy, slightly tense space 10 minutes in, no clear direction yet. Very pretty playing at 12 minutes in - Mike’s tone is just outstanding here, does anyone know if he’s played with that tone before? Starts to sour at 13:30ish and seems ripe for a transition but Trey settles on a new progression soon after (sounds a little like WTU? to me, anyone else?) and we find ourselves launched into a more solid feel with effects-laden ‘phone ringing’ playing from Trey. We’re building into a peak. After lots of exploration Trey finally takes this jam by the balls at 16:50 and we’re off! Absolutely searing, raging playing here for a bit! Wish this went on for a little longer, but Trey tears it apart and leaves it in a big ol’ puddle quite soon after, from which we > DWD. Here’s the rub: this is a solid and lengthy Fuego, and it has some great passages and moments, particularly the end. But there is a good amount of meandering in order to get there. I’d say it’s worth a listen for the peak though, it’s real good. > Down With Disease: like this as a follow up. Small Under Pressure teases early in the jam, fun. Anticipatory start. Standard DWD jamming goes funky after a few minutes by decree of Trey. Very typical ’14 funk jam here with awesome Energizer Bunny playing from Fish. Some cool choices from everyone towards the end stretch, especially Mike’s atypically busy and dissonant playing and Page’s organ/Rhodes work. 12 minutes in sounds pretty much exactly like a King Crimson jam or maybe a transition period in a ’94 Phish jam. Then we get a vocal jam(!) with various percussive mouth sounds riiiiiiight at the end. Wish this lasted longer, but Trey goes > Twist after a little bit of vocal jamming. Very weird jam here, interesting stuff! > Twist: the mouth noises continue for a bit into Twist. Love the Santana-ish Trey and Page call-response at the start of the jam. Trey tries out some tenser playing at 6:00 but abandons it for chill Twist jamming soon after. BIG big fan of the super quiet space they arrive at with a minute left to go in the jam, just awesome spacey play from everyone and I wish it continued for a little bit longer. > Light: another really weird jam in which Trey, atypically, goes for more atonal playing. If anything this sounds more like a Stash jam than a Light one. The rest of the band doesn’t bite, but Page offers a minor key riff at 7:30 and things turn real stormy real fast, lots of effects-driven droney weirdness. Loving Fish’s dextrous Latin grooves here. An even MORE droney space at 10:30, Trey’s riffs and Page’s synth flowing into the abyss. > Theme From the Bottom: ha, I enjoy this placement actually – jells nicely with the tense weirdness of the rest of the set. Flubs galore from Trey in the ‘buildup’ section just prior to the jam. Suuuuuuper uninspired to be honest, only partially saved by the good placement and some unique delay effects prior to the final refrain. Backwards Down the Number Line: out of place here to say the least. I guess Trey was spooked by the Theme not going great and opted for this one as a safety net. Not really a hater of this song but doesn’t work at all in this spot. First Tube: veeeery lightly flubbed by Trey at points in the composed portion, but he hits us with some serious old-school riffing in the jam. Dang! Raged! — ENCORE: Character Zero: standard and really short. That’s all? — OVERALL: good show that lacks that one single highlight to bring it to the next level. Lots of cool stuff around here though, like the Reba, Melt, Coil, Fuego, First Tube and (if you’re brave) DWD. Set 2 falls apart right at the end but Fuego > DWD > Twist > Light is a really cool and WEIRD stretch of music that isn’t especially smooth or IT-filled but features lots of risk-taking from Trey – early-to-mid 3.0 is not really the place to go for janky dissonance but the guitarist sure does delve into it at various points here. Overall an interesting and good show. 3.6 stars.

I don’t know about an “off night;” this Wolfmans brought me back to Phish after, let’s say, losing interest for a couple of years. I’m a die hard v1 guy, but this Wolf and then the Sightless Escape in S2, listening via Phish Radio serendipitously in a rental car made me revisit it all. That’s how they get you dude, just that one groove Mike throws out at around 11 minutes deep into WB, classic stuff.

The Gin is solid, but overwhelmingly upbeat. The Mule may be the GOAT. But I’m just here for the Tweezer. Whatever settings/configuration/pedals Trey and Mike use in the Tweezer jam right off the bat…it’s like walking through electric syrup. The late 7s contains one of those 20 second “holy shit” musical phrases that only v1 badassery could produce. Top ten, definitely turn the bass up.