PHISH, TUESDAY 04/18/2023
WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST GREEK THEATRE, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
Berkeley, CA
Soundcheck: Jam

SET 1: Olivia's Pool: Great and unexpected opener >

Seven Below: Extremely well done! Thought every moment mattered in this jam, no wasted space >

Maze: Standard as she goes. I had read a couple of reports of it being better than average but after a close listen I can’t agree with that.

Mountains in the Mist: Lovely as always.

Bathtub Gin: Effects heavy through 12 minutes and at that point Trey takes over and steers it into the major chord bliss jam territory. >

555: Great micro jam! Best version ever? My vote is a yes. This thing cooks BIG TIME! Big, big fan! Heavy, heavy effects, but man – it really works for me here. Could see myself head banging like crazy and seriously getting down to this.

Possum: Trey basically doesn’t play a note for what seems to be close to a minute in the early part of the jam. Odd. Technical difficulties? Other than that, standard version.

SET 2: Don't Doubt Me: Heady jam, nice and psychedelic. Love this right out of the gate. Sends the right message and energy. >

Kill Devil Falls: Excellent jam, fun romp through this one – This one stays dark mostly throughout save a little major chord section in the 8 minute range, good stuff! >

Fuego: Super dark, I LOVE it. Mike singing over the top as the jam starts with the “Starts to levitate” stuff is haunting. This one is quite patient. They take their time with it and gradually build the intensity. Mike clobbering the fight bell late in this one indicates his affinity for the progress in this jam. >

Light: Band sounds amazing. Tons of great interplay, the beautiful soundboard doesn’t hurt in relaying this to my ears. Big, ‘ol peak and held note around the ten minute mark – lovely – and then hose! Crushed! >

Lonely Trip: Huge fan of this placement, I realize I may be in the minority but this fits oh so well!

The Howling: Fans were going off showing the band so much love after Lonely Trip. To play this – big swing and a miss. Major missed opportunity! >

Farmhouse: Don’t get me wrong, I am a Farmhouse fan. But not in this slot! Not to mention the current iteration of this tune is played as about Low T as you can imagine, totally neutered. I miss the old versions – see 9.28.99. Set is on life support now… >

Backwards Down the Number Line: LOL. Brutal.

ENCORE: Character Zero – LOL. No attempt to make up for that crap played in the second half of the second set.

Replay value: Bathtub Gin, 555, Don’t Doubt Me, Kill Devil Falls, Fuego, Light

Summary: Show was fine until The Howling and from there it just went downhill. Too bad. Tough to follow up on that second set the night before, but they were doing a great job of it until mid-second set when they just mailed it in. Super weird! I just don’t understand what the thought process is to play what they did after Lonely Trip – that second set was fantastic until then. Ugh. I would rate this show as a 3.4 out of 5.