SET 1:

Architect: very curious opener choice. I’m not as fiercely against this here as the crowd would’ve been but it’s definitely a very mellow vibe for an opener, I guess Trey was in his feels about something before the show? I appreciate the rare placement and I do like the song. Trey’s solo is pretty mediocre though. Definitely in the market for a rager after this.

Golgi Apparatus: I like this placement. Surely swap around this and Architect though? Whatever. Played okay.

The Curtain With: awesome! This during a Gorge sunset = perfection. Pretty flawless version to my ears - far from my favourite early tune but absolutely nobody can complain about this.

Kill Devil Falls: good version, Trey rips it up. Show is warming up and more and more with every song. >

The Moma Dance: LOVE LOVE LOVE this placement. Like seriously - mid set 1 after a raging rock song? It cannot get any better really. Standard version

Maze: starting to look like a 2024 setlist with this run of songs, not against it though. This is an interesting version, Trey does the usual ripping that you’d expect at the end of the solo but the leadup to that is surprisingly jazzy and modal in a much more overt way than usual. Page’s organ solo leans much more towards jazz fusion-type playing than anything else. I’d recommend giving this version a go.

Beauty of a Broken Heart: sure. Standard.

Roses are Free: fun call for sure. Standard. Jam it!

Say Something: hmm a little similar to the last two rhythm-wise for my liking. I guess this was when Trey bringing his solo stuff to Phish was still relatively rare so Trey allowed Mike to have a tune too lol. Can’t say I fuck with this one very much. Only got one more play later this tour and then was shelved permanently.

Ocelot: rages hard as most Ocelots from this era do. This one definitely has some extra sauce though, the Trey peak is super confident and assertive. Recommended.

After Midnight: WOOOOO!!!!! Fuck yes!!!!!! They had to do it in honour of Cale’s passing and I’m so glad they did because this one of my favourite covers that Phish does. Good version too although the outro jam (which I thought was awesome at first) seems to drag on a little long, it feels as if they’re unsure as to where to end it. Very cool set closer though.

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Down With Disease: yep, that’s a second set opener alright. Composed section is what you would expect. Once the jam starts Trey immediately steps out in front to take a bright, energetic solo. Some real machine gun stuff between 7-8 mins, love to hear it. Sounds like a 3.0 take on the 94-95 approach to this song. I would recommend it for that reason. A brief hint at a funky space towards the end and then Trey finds a great -> into…

Undermind: good placement and great transition. Trey laughs at a couple points during the verses (does anyone else think his voice sounds odd here in general?) Usual composed section and type 1 solos in the body of the song then they wander around in meditative space - kinda sounds like the buildup section of Hood or Slave at points here. Trey signals to bring it back up with a new riff at 8:00, but it goes mellow again soon after. Another new section around 9:40, a neat, droney, spacey thing led by a two-note riff. It lasts for about a minute then finally gives up the ghost and we get a properly spacey ambient outro with this huge, deep bass drone led by Fish on the marimba lumina. Sounds like sheets of metal whistling through space. Very cool ambient section! For me personally I won’t be putting this in my rotation because the jam that gets it there is very average and the section is only short. The phambience fans will love this one though. >

Light: good call by Trey, definitely the best placement for this. Very standard composed section and standard moderately explorative jazzy space. Fucking fantastic transition though ->

Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley: haha I loved that transition. Keep the party going! Funky as HELL in the composed section thanks to clav work from Page that sits right up at the front of the mix. Trey instantly takes the jam into plinko at the start at Page’s urging, and it’s a damn good plinko space at that. Fantastic fantastic funk jam for a good chunk of this - icky and sticky and humid. Then Trey indicates he wants to solo and oh boy does he solo! Rock god stuff, makes his guitar scream at 9:10 and does a Hendrix cosplay for the remainder. Once Trey has had his moment in the sun they fade into an outro section that sits just barely above total ambience, seems more jazzy to me with Page tearing it up on piano. It’s pretty clear for a minute or so that Trey is setting them up to play 2001 and they finally pull the trigger after 13 minutes. This is a fantastic Sally and has an argument to be the best of the era. Check it out! >

2001: man, I miss when this song sounded so crisp. Page rages in the intro with the same clav sound he employed on Sally. They enter into what almost sounds like an early Martian Monster jam around 3:00???? What the fuck????? It sounds great. Yeah wow this is definitely an early Martian Monster. A few flubs and miscues toward the end of this one as they shoot for the refrains, it sounds like Trey is distracted by how he’s gonna turn that jam into a new song LOL. Have heard that they played this jam a few times in other songs this tour and if so I need to hear that. Really recommend this 2001 even despite those flubs and the short length, super unique. >

Walls of the Cave: can’t say I’m thrilled by this placement. This is pretty ripped though if Walls of the Cave is your vibe, Trey does very well. Uncommonly for the era they actually give this one a little bit of a type 2 jam at the very end and don’t finish it. Trey fades it out and they go >

Fluffhead: ahhh yeah that’s the stuff. Does Trey say ‘pearlhead’ and ‘fluffhen’ at the end of the vocal section? Standard version outside of some small flubs/miscues. I’m really vibing with this here though.

Run Like an Antelope: third set closer in a row! Standard version, maybe not the best peak. Trey thanks the crowd and talks about how jazzed he is to play at the Gorge afterwards (love his ‘WOW!’). Good set!

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ENCORE:

Show of Life: I’m absolutely not gonna be mad at Trey playing this here. He must have felt great about this run.

Good Times Bad Times: standard.

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Overall: really fun show, I’m happy with this one for sure. If you only look at the track lengths Set 2 doesn’t look impressive, but these jams pack a real punch and the flow is primo stuff. Best Sally of the era in there and great Disease + 2001 + a cool Undermind ambient jam to boot. First set is a mix of the usual setlist calls with some cool unique picks that spice it up enough for me. A good show to wrap up a great Gorge run.

3.9 stars.