I was not there for this show but just listened to the first set on live phish. I never write anything here but frequent the site..however I felt so moved I just had to add a comment here. That first set was absolutely the best I have heard as far as cohesion, song selection, flow and execution. If it sounded this good recorded what it must have sounded like at Alpine, congratulations happy happy o my friend! I had my only show at a Alpine Valley for that summer '99 show(and caught that first 1999 cover the previous NYE) and it was massy (as my ol tour buddy used to say), so that was pretty cool to hear the nod to that very formative year of shows for me.

To hear something so well put together 23 years later is astonishing . There were a couple "sour" notes from Trey but it got me thinking about how critical I can get (and hear others do the same) of our coveted favorite band. To stand before that big of a crowd, playing such intricate, delicate and complex music night after night..well, as a guitarist it terrifies me to the bone to think about that many people hanging on my every note. Anyways, my point being that all four of these guys have balls of steel to have ever have pulled off what they do over and over again. So I for one, I will be a bit more forgiving if there a couple of notes played..shall we say..not as planned (besides there are no "wrong" note right?).

This set though, they played all the right notes. Peace and love y'all!

Last night was my kind of show, and I'll tell you why.

1999 opener to start things off (the first time they played it without a gimmick, fun fact) immediately followed by Fluffhead and the hype was off the charts for this motherfucker. And then Fluffhead starts getting out there and Trey lays down the funk siren like it's 1997 again!?!?! Hell yeah! The Fluff jam trucks along going in lots of satisfying places, and gives way to Saw It Again, which is as evil as it should be. An amazing opening sequence. Leaves gets its second Type 2 version and quickly goes into a patient segue into BOTT. Taste made me extremely happy, being one of my all-time favorite Phish songs, and this version was a definite improvement over MPP's.

And then, the crutch to many. Petrichor makes its return for the first time since COVID hit. I don't care. This was a good spot for it, and it was well played. You can tell by how much they were soundchecking it the extent of them wanting to get it down, and it payed off. If you let it ruin the entire show, then well, that's on you. Coil then comes bringing a gorgeous close to the end of the 1st (was also super excited, Coil being my favorite set closer ever).

Set 2 opens with the first #L since 2011. And it's pretty good. Just like Fluff, it goes through a bunch of satisfying places until a great transition into Maze. Maze tears it up, probably the best one I've heard all year, and then we get to the song of the night for me, this Mr. Completely. Wades through the darkness (shoutouts to Page), then ascends to the light by way of a Crazy Train tease, with an excellently executed return to the song and a big rock ending. Immediately has become one of my all-time favorite versions of the song.

4th quarter keeps it up despite looking weird, with Roggae and ATR being some of the best versions I've heard of those songs in a hot minute (ESPECIALLY ATR), then Waves does its thing well before slamming right into Undermind (I'd like to think they were tributing 8/15/11). Phenomenal Undermind, and it closes the set especially well for a song that doesn't close sets (outside of that famous one we all know). Trey takes an especially long time introducing the band (he even said "I'm Trey, I play guitar" again!), and a solid Blaze On encore sends us home.

It really might not look like that much, but personally, Phish absolutely killed it last night, and is one where I would highly advise playing back again if you're skeptical. Just don't let Petrichor ruin your whole night, ok?

I really hope you can hear the audience cheers and whistles during Petrichor because this is just one of those rare moments where nature and Phish are in synch. I was in the bathroom during the opening notes of it (I left a few songs earlier) and when I came out to find my spot Trey is belting out “and the RAAAAIIIINNNN” right as the rain had picked up. It was completely dry when I left so it was very surreal to come out to come out to that; almost like Phish was strong enough to command the weather. It’s just something that isn’t going to translate on tape, but hopefully given this context you’ll understand exactly why Petrichor was perfect as the penultimate song in the first set.

Second set is quite odd, but looks are deceiving. Give it a chance and realize that BDTNL is actually a banger of an opener. Mr. Completely>Roggae is probably the highlight IMO, mostly because they settle on a tight groove and let it air out before a seamless Roggae transition.

The other cool thing is when someone talks about the Alpine Fluffhead, we now get to say “which one?”

Alpine 2

(View from the couch) they say that if you ride the ski lifts of Alpine valley on a foggy night you can hear the wailing of Stevie Ray Vaughn’s guitar accompanied by the strained whirring of propellers. While this is compelling it offers little relief for the weary traveler as they trek to this Mecca of rock folklore, though for a brief moment, if you are lucky, you can hear that signature tone of SRV melt into the Wisconsin evening.

Whether or not the folklore is true Alpine a valley itself, is legendary. “The Fastest Way to Fun” as the slopes boast, has brought many of treat as well as many a controversy. But tonight was about Treat. The musical nod to the 99 32 minute fluff apparent from the get with the opening triplet of 1999, Fluffhead, and Saw it again. The only thing better would have been to drop a Hahahaha right afterwards.

The fluff went deep and before the ethereal glide into Saw it Again it had some heavy metal trodding licks which were reminiscent of Free (think MOMA->Free from Key-Span). A pass through leaves and then smoking type 1 takes on BOTT and Taste led to Petrichor. Rounding out set one is a flourishing Coil with a boyish page left to greet the crowd after his solo outro. Early indications

Number Line ushers in set two with gusto and continues the band’s clinic on whole band interplay. The maze is melds into was seemingly tee’d up high and ready to be driven to the motherland but this Maze stayed succinctly in its type 2 majesty which gave the subsequent Mr Completely a chance to stretch its legs. Proficient playing followed with tight composition and tendencies towards otherworldly jams but never quite went outside the realm of great. And after a beautifully played Roggae, the closing triplet had no chance stacking up against the opening three songs. A tame blaze on sent the crowd shuffling back to their vehicles and another tight well played show notched its mark on this summer’s tour.

Methinks that such an amazing run as this tour has been, that great night of music are the norm, so no complaints here. Just not a crazy stunner on night 2 in Wisconsin. Here is hoping some of the SRV mojo weaves its way down hill for Sunday.

Mahalo Nui,
Matthew

I’ve seen some MetaPhish ® over the years, including the the backwards set at Dick’s 2013 and the explanation during a Forbin’s narration Super Ball day 3 that Phish could control the weather. The set list play from the former found wonderfully meta expression in the opening 1999 Fluff reference, while the meteorological manipulation came only a few short songs later in a Petrichor > Coil coda. Emotions flowed into set 2 as I experienced the weight of my fifth Alpine run sans wife, the first such glaring absence from the times we shared together in SE Wisconsin. Numberline poetically confounded it’s critics, a choice itself self-reflective and even meta. Once the Maze is traversed, one feels completely (gender neutral) in IT. If life were easy, this Roggae wouldn’t slap so hard.
Fighting the nervous need to start running again, we’re overcome by Waves, undermining any need to continue. Not mistaken.

Nice shades certainly required here to bluff your way around maintaining this show as being accurately rated as it stands. To my ears the third best show of summer, behind only Blossom and Bethel 1. Blessed to be a witness.

I thought this show was a lot better than it seems most ppl do. Set I particularly well played & excellent song placement. The gag had me????‍???? bc walking in, I was telling my wife about the last time I saw Ph @ AV, 7/24/99. And the 20+ min Fluff being the second song in! & how rare it was. Leaves, Taste & Petrichor were played very well. Coil is the one of the best set I closers.

Set II started slow w a meh Number Line. Then a 2nd set Maze was????Mr. C w a nice jam. I will take About to Run in ballad spot all day. It was powerful, Trey killed it. Waves>Undermined was kinda cool & Blaze On with a nice jam is a perfect encore.

Playing. B
Song Sel/Placement A
Sound. A
Overall 4.23

First Set - yes please! Best Fluffhead ever?!! Possibly. Chula Fluffhead > NICU > bye bye foot still my favorite. Chula is probably my favorite show post 2000.

Second set - Meh. Weird flow. About to run raged as always.

Overall, 7.2. 5.1 without the Fluffhead and I saw it again.

More words. Is this long enough yet. You can’t post a review that’s not really long so I’m typing more weirds to make it longer. Apparently length does matter.