My Review:

SET 1:

AC/DC Bag: As early as 4:23 you can tell something is up with this one. What transpires is fantastic. Obviously practiced. Major goosebumps sitting here listening. ->

Psycho Killer: With 40 seconds left, Trey begins setting this up for a silky smooth segue into Jesus Just Left Chicago. Psycho Killer was unfinished and was performed for the first time since March 30, 1993 (413 shows). Unfinished. ->

Jesus Just Left Chicago: Page just crushes this one. So good on the baby grand! Trey smokes his solo as usual. Rocky Mountain Way tease by Joe Walsh.

My Mind's Got a Mind of its Own: Standard. >

It's Ice -> Swept Away > Steep > It's Ice: The jam in It’s Ice is pretty cool. The last 35 seconds or so of it are so pretty as Trey is gradually angling for Swept Away. Gorgeous. This was the first Swept Away > Steep of the tour. After they go back into Ice the composed piece that leads back to the lyrics is pretty rusty.

Theme From the Bottom: Solid version.

Tube: So loose and funky. Page and Mike tearing it up.

Jam: Page is super heavy on the synth to get this started, really sets the tone. You can hear Trey already feeling Slave as early as the late 3’s. His mates aren’t ready though. Really fun jam. Great segue into Slave! ->

Slave to the Traffic Light: That run of notes at 9:30 from Trey is the first salvo of many. 10:20 is when he begins his peak in earnest. Utterly awe inspiring. All of this amazing in itself but then he ramps it up even more at 11:15. As if that weren’t enough he lets loose AGAIN at 11:45. This is the most I had ever been moved at a Phish show. Moved me to tears. My most listened to live Phish tune ever, for sure. Best Slave of all time.

SET 2:

Timber (Jerry the Mule) - Packs a punch – not anywhere near what they threw down in Denver but still a good opener. >

Wolfman's Brother: Short and funky. Good version. Could have used something more here. ->

Boogie On Reggae Woman: Another enormous bustout, it was played for the first time since September 13, 1988 (989 shows). Jam is short and funky. >

Reba: They start this one off at the speed of light. Very interesting placement here. This set is really starting to feel more like a first set than a second set. Pretty average Reba right here guys.

Guyute: Another first setter. Huh, interesting. Not exactly a concise version either. >

Possum: Pretty rare for this to close a first set. As of 12.4.23 Possum had been played 566 times. 83 times it closed the second set so 15% of the time. Last time it held that spot was 8.12.96, coincidentally I was at that show too. They wouldn’t’ do it again until 7.13.99. This is a good version, but nothing stands out for me. Charge! by Tommy Walker tease at 1:04. We Will Rock You by Queen tease at 2:00

ENCORE:

A Day in the Life: Standard.

Replay Value: Theme From the Bottom, Tube, Slave to the Traffic Light, Possum

Summary: After seeing Cleveland and Detroit and having obligations at school on Monday morning, we considered skipping Dayton. Decided against that and made the drive south. So glad we did! After Possum, we made our way up to the concourse to watch the encore from the closest exit and then sprinted for the car to get home asap. Again, totally blown away by this show, especially that first set. Best first set ever for me. Slave and Tube were incredible. What a weekend run this was! I think Auburn Hills is the most complete of the three. Dayton is rated the highest on Phish.net shown currently as Overall: 4.61/5 (661 ratings). I would give it a 4 out of 5. I know I will get killed for this, but this show is overrated – and I have attendance bias too. It gets tons of hype for the bust outs, the Tube and the Slave. Nothing really hits in the second set. The first set was awesome though.

Replay Value: Tube, Slave to the Traffic Light, Possum