July 9th, 2025, is destined to go down as one of those great sleeper shows that find their way into discussions on most underrated Phish of "X" year or "X" tour or "X" point-o. On paper, some may scoff and dismiss the show as "meh" (which many have already done). However, this show has plenty to love. If they played this show during a lesser year, say 2016, it would easily be a top 5 contender. Unfortunately (or fortunately), in the year of our lord 2025, that ain't happening.

The setlist of this show is a controversial one, but I was certainly in favor. Before the show, I was listening to Fuego (the album, not the song) and thinking, "Wow, some of these songs are great and deserve to be played more often." Waiting All Night was chief among them, so I was delighted to get it tonight. Meanwhile, Petrichor was a song I loved when it first came out, but after missing it during its first few years of existence, I figured I missed the boat on seeing it. Needless to say, I was stoked when they started it. Lonely Trip is another newer song I had been casually chasing, so I was excited to see it as well. In other words, some of the songs that garnered complaints from others (and trust me, I heard the grumblings in the bathroom during setbreak and postshow), pleased me greatly. After last year's notable reliance on repeats, tonight's unpredictability was truly welcome.

Enough about setlist construction, what about the jams, man?! Were the A Wave of Hope and Piper as standard as they say? Well, yes and no. They were both bliss jams that relied on building toward a strong peak to get them going, but both got there in different ways. Piper, in my opinion, was the more standard of the two, but the energy in that room was pushing them towards that peak, and who were they to deny the fans what they craved? After all, they are masters of this sort of jam by now, and it's a pleasure to see them work their magic in person. Meanwhile, AWOH bobbed and weaved through various keys and threatened to break out of the blissful jamming into space multiple times. Although each time led them safely back into the main theme, there is plenty of unique play that I am sure will reward repeated listens. Mark my words, during the JOTY tournament, many are gonna be surprised by how much they like this jam, even if it doesn't make it past the first round (which, if they keep playing as good as they have been, is a real possibility).

Even if you cannot overcome your disdain for bliss jams, the Life Saving Gun must be heard to be believed. Easily the jam of the night. Wow!

I'd like to conclude by mentioning the lights. I had a glorious seat towards the back, and my-oh-my was it good to see CK5 work his magic. Since Deer Creek is my traditional stomping ground, I have had few opportunities to see the recent full rig in action (only the two nights in Dayton 2023), but boy, is it a joy when I do!