Phish can’t be everything for everyone every night. That being said, if last night’s Phishiness is what you seek, your were rewarded many times over. It’s hard to review the music as it turns on a dime and switches up before a true musical statement, or even thought, can be established.

But what might have been a foregone conclusion for the rest of tour in years past, that you wouldn’t be seeing Sally, or Mercury, or Makisupa, or Ghost again, has been forcefully thrust out the window. Little musical nods like the Gin (waves) into Ghost highlight the intention the band makes whenever they play, are that inside joke they share with all who em one their sonic brilliance.

So, while there was not a massive Jam, there were a few notable segments, especially that Mike’s which stepped outside the box for a jaunt in Type 2 territory, before bursting into My Soul. Another awkward transition into Weekapaug reminds us that the band is human. Mercury really started to deliver a soupy texture before 46 Days consumed it. The areas between the mash up never had time to congeal but felt each as if they could have gone interstellar.

The fact is, this band that is so many things for so many people can’t always be all those things on a singular night (and I stress always, because on more occasion last than not, they can be.) Heavy layers of humor and playful attention to the nuances of their illustrious cannon of music shown through last night. Hopefully the segues they teased and played with will grow with them the rest of this tour. If one thing is clear, this band is…(insert your musings here)!

Mahalo Nui,
Matthew