This was, unfortunately, the only show I managed to catch this summer. I had planned to hit all 3 nights but I procrastinated on getting tickets and then funds didn't line up. To say I was kicking myself for missing night 3 is an understatement. Still, this show was a lot of fun, as they all are live. Not sure how much relisten value there is, but they took some risky set list choices, some payed off while others...not so much. Also, a side note, the friend I came to the show with had just gotten out of his sister-in-laws funeral (suicide at 21, very sad) so the KV stuff & GotF stuff was much more pertinent than it probably would have been if not for that. It was much easier to relate to where Trey has been coming from with his recent song writing style.

So we got stuck in line for Mike's, but I could hear it from outside the venue and it instantly got everyone pumped. A Mike's Groove opener is usually a sign they came to play (thinking 12/30/17). We got into the venue during Hydrogen (also when the party favors started to hit!) which is always such a beautiful song. I did notice they played a good amount of repeats from the 2 night stand last year. We were using the bathroom and finally got to our spot on the lawn (center, about 3 rows from the rail) during 'Paug. Pretty standard but well played. I always hope they take Weekapaug out (like they did at MSG last year) but it was not to be.

Divided Sky was its beautiful self, this song really has a much different feel outside than it does at indoor venues. I'd go as far as to say that it shouldn't be played if not outside. ER had an insane year in 2018, and while some of the versions this year were definitely very good, none really hit the heights of the previous year. Still, a nice groove developed and lasted about 10 minutes. It seemed there was a distinct intent to 'micro jam' this tour. Maybe because they were trying to shove so much new material into the sets. Sometimes the micro jamming was great, it's cool to hear songs go straight to type II. Guelah is always super hype, love this song like mad. Sparkle is fun (another one from last year) & roggae was also very pretty. 46 Days closed out set 1 just as it had the previous summer. Typical scorching rendition.

One of the people next to us must have eaten some stuff during set break because all during set 2 he was using me and my friend to jump up and down on & would literally grab every glow stick he could find and hurl them at the pavilion. It was funny at first but definitely got annoying after 30 minutes.

Anyway, Blaze On opens it up, my expectations were high, and while the jam was solid & the transition into NICU was interesting (as well as its placement in the show) it would start a trend of jams being cut far too short. This was a running theme during this tour. I'm not sure if, as I said before, Trey was rushing songs to their conclusions to make room for the new KV and Ghosts stuff, but for me personally it's frustrating to hear a ripcord just when the jam is starting to take off. Golden Age was an example of that. I adore the song and the jam was nice and funky and interesting but then got cut short for Ruby Waves.

A word on Ruby Waves; I LOVE this song ever since hearing it. The chorus was really impactful with my buddy's sister's funeral earlier in the day. I think I listened to the song on repeat for a few days after the show. The jam was pretty good as far as I remember & showed real promise for the future (which we didn't have to wait too long for at Alpine). DDHVL is a perfect example of another big issue I had this tour: they seemed to not want to jam the KV stuff at all this tour. For me, it makes more sense to showcase the music they made as a group last year and a good portion of the fan base loves. I do like the Ghosts stuff, but KV feels more at home in Phish than GotF. Unfortunately every version of DDHVL was sub 4 minutes this tour. They could do soo much more with these songs.

Rift was very confusing at this point in the show. I'm not a huge fan of it to begin with, but I know most are. Stars is a really sweet song, sorta like Terrapin & the jam on it was very interesting and experimental, with Mike whipping out the drill at the end. The playing here sounds a lot like a 70's era Dark Star. Then comes Waiting All Night, another song I like a lot, but not at this point in the show. They really lost a lot of momentum from Rift through WAN. Ghost picks it back up though and is going somewhere cool before... yup, another rough ripcord into SANTOS. I was at NYE last year so I dig the song a lot. It seems to be taking the place of Zero which I'm ok with, but they gotta let these songs come naturally if they want to win people over.

We got one of a very few encore YEMs, always a blast live. Nothing mind blowing outside of the encore spot though, but a tight version. We left during the vocal jam to beat the crowd since I thought that would close the show. I was a bit upset I missed Grind, but I'm glad it was that and not Space Oddity or something else a bit rarer.

Overall, I don't think it's a show most people will go back to much. It was a lot of fun live though, but they lost a lot of steam mid way through set 2 (another common theme this tour). I actually liked set 1 a bit more myself. I think N3 was the obvious best of the run, but N1 is pretty close to this show in terms of quality, if it didn't have that amazing Mercury in it. That alone makes that show a good bit better than this one. Not knocking this show at all though!!

Sorry for the loooong book I just wrote haha! I only review shows I go to so I had a lot to say about the only one I attended. Here's to hoping we get to go back to MSG for NYE again!