Phish just doesn't stop delivering this tour, its making me wish the tour was alot longer.

If one of your critiques were repeats last summer, this tour is turning out to be for you. Tons of dust being cleaned off night to night. Right in the first set you get the Spanish Moon, Devotion to a Dream, Final Hurrah, Minds got a mind of its own as rare-ish bustouts. Im pretty jealous of all of those.

As if that wasnt enough, the 2nd set opens with a slow llama..... and drifts into a 34 minute behemoth of a DWD.... fantastic jam here, one of the longer versions of the song I can remember. Sightless Escape has now been jammed out very well the last couple times, that song is very welcome to the setlist. Chalkdust and Suzy ripped to take us home

Even the encore had a nice re-appearance of Circus and topped off with a first tube. Once again I ask in summer 2025; What else do you want from a show?

Set One: B+
Set Two A-

Rating 4.35

Doozy of a show. The bustiest bust out of a night so far in this already bust out city of a tour! A handful of firsts for me which is always a bonus but there were jams aplenty to go along. First set eased in but Spanish Moon was a treat and Reba had some spice. Final Hurrah had some interesting moments and Walls had a more than solid finish.

On to the second set… The Disease was a bonafide roaster. Meandered at first but the band hooked up in a range of styles a bunch of times and the final peaks wouldn’t stop until the place was shaking towards the end. Ripping, heavy Mike bombs... After the monstrous, noisey, ambient Twist in Manchester.. could only match or top it with some extra spooky spaced out back and forth weirdness between Mike and Trey. Being right behind the stage to see the interplay up close was awesome. The Well continued the Evil. Sightless Escape went out there and adding on the ripping Chalkdust.. really can’t ask for much more… Fishman botched the segue (I could see him laughing) but who cares! Tonight was one of those lucky nights. Circus, First Tube all gravy bonuses… and it’s just night 1!

This show was kind of a mixed bag for me. I thought the first set was fun. The boys tore it up out of the gate with Free, Rift and an unexpected Spanish Moon that really landed well with the crowd. Followed by Reba that seemed to skip the final part due to overextended crowd screaming! 🤣 Devotion To A Dream, though long unplayed, seemed to flatten the mood. Things picked up immediately with Kasvot Vaxt Final Hurrah, MMGAMOIO which is one of my favorite bluegrass entries. Hey Stranger was a personal highlight for me. I love that tune! Followed by a pretty epic set closer Walls Of The Cave.

Set two, IMO, suffered from energy flow problems. The Slow Llama segued into DWD - but not all long jams are good jams - and although this 34:12 version had a nice payoff, it meandered through various, lifeless sections before finding its footing. Twist was fun, followed by The Well. Sadly, although this is one of my favorite new ones due to the "evil" minor key change at the end, it didn't seem to land well with the crowd. Likewise, GOTF tune Sightless Escape is an excellent tune - but the 17:03 version contained more listless jamming. The band knew what was up and went for crowd pleasers Chalk Dust and Suzy and much fun was had by all. Likewise, the encore of Los Lobos' When The Circus Comes got the crowd's heart strings tugging before dancing it out with a raucous First Tube that finally saw Trey get off his platform and ham it up at front of stage.

Expecting good things for the next two nights. Will I finally get a Spock's Brain? Who knows? That's why we go!!