SET 1:

Sample in a Jar: classic. Well-played peaky standard version.

Chalk Dust Torture: rock’n’roll set incoming! Decent tempo compared to modern versions and Trey shreds a peak here. Old-school version, but a very standard old-school version - think a ‘94 Chalk Dust.

Martian Monster: rock central. Feels particularly funky with Page’s clav high in the mix. Spooky loops at the end build up anticipation for… >

Rift: talk about high energy! Trey is unrelenting with these calls. Very good tempo on this, though Trey’s vocals are pretty rough, he needs some tea. They may have bit off slightly more than they can chew with the pace here. Page with the ‘how about the Cubs this year, huh?’ afterwards, lol!

Yarmouth Road: this is one of the worst songs ever written. Like, not just for Mike or Phish. Ever. But it’s so bad that I find it entertaining to listen to. This sounds shakier even than the studio version because Trey doesn’t know what the fuck he’s supposed to play and Mike’s vocals are rough. Very funny song, love it and hate it.

Sand: now that’s how to get back to it! Good interesting placement. Mike’s bass sounds rounder and saucier than usual I want to say? Good licks starting at 5:30, rock god stuff from Trey. Like CDT it’s another good type 1 version with a guitar-driven rock peak. Probably the best in the set at that particular vibe. Lots of time after this one as they decide on a call.

Miss You: debut. Sweet little song, very uneven flow this set though. Trey tries to give it a bit of a rock peak at the end, not bad for sure.

The Wedge: standard. Fine.

Free: standard, Trey led, type 1. Plenty of dexterity in his playing but there’s some sort of melodicism being lost. Losing interest in this set.

Blaze On: well played, dextrous from Trey, but eh nonetheless.

SET 2:

Down With Disease: creative psychedelic/noisy guitar from Trey in the intro. Trey messes up a lyric in the second verse, no big deal though. Type 1 jamming goes into a lighter space around 10 mins in and then a really cool uneasy passage at 11:00, Page and Mike especially holding it down well (check out that bassline, and the clav!!!) All of a sudden at 11:50 - watch out, it’s rockout time! Killer licks from Trey at 13:30. Muted rock’n’roll that doesn’t fully peak from there to the end, winds down into an uneasy space at 16:00 before Page goes for Fuego. I like to describe this jam as a late 1.0 version at about 60% energy. Definitely not machine gun or anything, but it’s extremely solid and each member shines at various points. Good mostly vanilla space rocker DWD. >

Fuego: small flubs in the composed section. Trey does very well in the instrumental break. MASSIVE machine gun moment from Trey at about 9 minutes in, total flurry of notes, but it’s not enough to recommend this on the whole because it’s pretty standard otherwise. Dissolves >

Twist: funky 3.0 Twist jam starts up nearly straight away. Things become decidedly foreboding 6 minutes in and it almost sounds like Trey is going to start up Ghost before the darkness lifts and jazzier playing hits. Some of Fish’s drumming here is funky as all get out. Trey and Page really lock in at 10 minutes and a fantastic high intensity section follows with absolutely awesome delay from Trey, then the band turns on a dime into basically a Weekapaug jam, cool stuff!!!! Returns to a mellower feel very soon after but with Trey locking into a shreddy riff at 13:30 the energy is by no means gone. Great drumming here too for a bit. Very good Twist. I prefer more focus to my jams but plenty of sections here that make this worth revisiting. >

Twenty Years Later: I like this placement. Standard. >

Waste: hmmm, maybe a bit too low energy for this spot? Unless they follow it up with something big. To their credit this is a great Waste, Trey sounds so good. >

2001: let’s go!!! Great placement, and very solid for a short 3.0 version - there are a number of ideas here that make it worth a listen or two. >

Backwards Down the Number Line: haha. Probably not needed here.

Loving Cup: standard, set in the books.

ENCORE:

Space Oddity: haha! Wow! Talk about left field. You can tell they had a lot of fun rehearsing for this tour, so much bizarre stuff coming out these first couple nights. Full disclosure, I’m a dedicated David Bowie (the musician) hater but this is a super funny treat. Hilarious vocals from Trey and Fish and the crowd is dying laughing. Rest in peace Bowie.

Run Like an Antelope: standard. Trey has a bit of trouble with the trilling. Good end to the show though.

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Overall: solid, slightly-above-average 3.0 show to me. Set 1 is not great, lots of type 1 stuff that has Trey making earnest attempts to sit out in front and shred but ultimately not doing much of interest - some of the setlist calls were rough too. Set 2 however is much better. Very good Disease and Twist, solid flow, and a funny and surprising encore that feels earned. I'll be revisiting set 2 for sure.

3.7 stars.