Tonight's one word description is balance.

After Saturdays show, which tore a hole into the earth, expectations ran as hot as the summer air. The boys from Vermont came on stage once more in my new favorite menu that isn't the Mothership, and absolutely polished off one of the greatest weekends of 3.0.

Buried alive opener was not only buried alive opener, it was reassurance that all that angst would be relieved. Phish, yea I said their name, meant business. Again.

Wilson was Wilson, and we are pleased. NICU hit all the right spots, as we jumped on the turnstile and went round. The heater openers had been balanced out.

We took a familiar dive into the tub for what was a subliminal gin. I don't know the words that could describe it, so just listen and be soaked.

Gumbo. Funk fest. Slower than the average, bass enhanced. But the show continued to favor rage side.

The boys soon slid in to what I consider a staple of the ghost album, in limb by limb. Not many songs caputre this bands essence better. Great wordplay, great music, great energy. They people are pleased.

The well was something. For all the happiness we earned during LxL, the well snatched it all and torched it. Cool tune, fun gimmick style lyrical shit show. John Fishman makes himself known.

Mountains in the mist was perfect. It is perfect. The band was hot to touch, and this blessing of a tune cooled us down. Balance.

Halfway provided yet another board meeting. Maybe I'm weird, but this song has always really done it for me. The chairman was oozing with precision, rag, and soul.

Melt torched the whole damn place. Set closer took us into a dark, sinister, up tempo gospel of gloom... And then out again. The set was complete and Page is king.

Never been a fan of those lights.

Round 2 lead off with cactus getting the nod. Mikes ran amuck, and the feeling was.... This was going to be a set for Gordo to shine. Balance.

I won't attempt to describe Carini. It was violent. Then we were liberated. Hints of the 2013 Hampton lumpy head led the blissful jam. What a band. Groove provided a solid off ramp for an absolute slug fest turned dance party.

I met an awesome father son duo in the pit Friday. His son was witnessing his first show, and I asked him typical questions... What's your favorite tune, are you familiar with the stringent no deal policy on gas, do you have any clue what you are getting into. Ya know, basic shit. He was amped about sand, and I assured him.... You'll get it if you stick around for the weekend.

Sand.

My new friend got his tune. Sand ripped. Trey attempted to run the party, but Mike had us start to finish. Mikes set.

After all this madness, we scored another bombshell with a second set Reba. The butcher was hot. Boy do we love Reba.

More closed the set. Trey pushes this tune in spots of significance, and tonight it did not disappoint. The whole fan base was overjoyed. And likely overstimulated...

The encore provided more entertainment than anything. Earlier in the night page and big red played with one another lyrically, and now we have the best drummer on earth leading in some Reba.

Our bands namesake blessed us with bachelor party karaoke quality vocals, and a weekend of absolute malicious behavior was capped off with playful behavior. Balance yall.

I dont know or care about the history of how long its been since.... Yem.

Wow.

I must say, this venue, this band, that guy with the lights, everything about this weekend was perfect. A page driven first half, met by a space bass blasting second. Balance.

I've learned something this weekend that hit me like a ton of bricks. I love this band. I love the fans. The friends I've made this trip. But I also love my home. My wife. My unborn child, who isn't allowed to be named anything phish related (we shall see). My pets. My favorite band is my family. But outside of that, my identity is phish. I have my band, and I have my band. This is also home. Balance. Thank you, Phish, for one of the best 3 nights of the 21st century.

4.69 score. Yea

SET 1:

Buried Alive: Standard. >

Wilson: Standard. >

NICU: Standard.

Bathtub Gin: Goes to deep space in the late 11’s. Back to a celebratory, major mode jam in the late 13’s. Solid jam for sure, especially early in set one.

Gumbo: Standard.

Limb By Limb: Standard. >

The Well: Standard.

Mountains in the Mist: Standard.

Halfway to the Moon: Standard.

Split Open and Melt: Just noise and effects.

SET 2:

Mike's Song: Standard. >

Carini: starts out in a major mode space. Trey hits up a held note in the late 10’s and let’s Page go to town on the baby grand, very sweet! Big peak at 11:40. Not done yet though. Plenty of gas left in this tank. Gets a sort of Tweezer Reprise feel to it at 12:38. This slow burn continues to build and build. Pretty awesome. Trey starts to wrap it up around 15:24. I like my Carini’s dark and dirty, which this is not. But there is no denying that this jam is sick.
>

Weekapaug Groove: Standard.

Sand: Starts off fairly mellow and relatively upbeat with Trey and Mike leading the way. Around 9 and a half this starts getting spacy as Trey is implanting that reverse reverb/backwards effect and Page is laying on some very heavy effects – super cool. By the early 12’s this is certainly moving to a major mode jam with Trey hitting tons of repeating effects, enough to make one dizzy. This goes on through about 13 and a half when more heavy effects are implemented, and the jam gets sort of herky jerky. At about 15:15 Trey begins the process of wrapping this one up >

Reba: While not technically proficient this one has a ton of heart and a huge peak.

More: Standard.

ENCORE:

The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia: Funny. >

Hold Your Head Up: Standard.

You Enjoy Myself: Trey with a whole bunch of trouble with the beginning. Then the goof up in BMGS is seriously funny, cracked me up. Pretty raging Trey jam.

Summary: Really good show. Tons of bangers. They ended the run in style to the lament of all that were going to Wilmington and had not attended the Georgia run. Would rate this as a 4 out of 5.

Replay Value: Bathtub Gin, Carini, Sand, Reba

Night three was another resounding success for our favorite band at this seemingly special venue.

Buried Alive, Wilson, and NICU were all standard affairs, and all effectively set the stage for another great night of dancing and exuberance.

Bathtub elevated the party and brings the first significant jam of the night. At just over 17 minutes it takes multiple turns from joyous to dirty/semi-evil through major keys, minor keys, and everything in between. If there was doubt that the band would still have anything left in the tank after last night, this jam proved they were still raring to go.

I have been chasing a live/non-couch Gumbo since my first show (Dayton '97) and was delighted to get it. A standard "great" limb-by-limb follows.

Then came The Well. How was it? Wellll, it's unique to say the least. Modern Trey bubble-gum hippie-dippy lyrics drove many to sit down or hit the facilities. Then the band showed us what's at the bottom of the well and it was dark, dirty, and clearly up to no good, sounding similar to DDHVL to my ear. Within a few minutes of swimming in the putrid water and the crowd was back up, dancing, and going nuts.

MITM and Halfway were both well played and were a nice relief from the high energy of the past 2.25 nights.

I hadn't seen a SOAM since Deer Creek in 2000, and was pumped to hear Fishman drop the syncopated beat. After a very well executed composed section, this thing takes a major turn to a trance-inducing dark side. I have not yet re-listened and am not sure how if it will hold up outside of the live experience. *That Said* in person this was the highlight of the show for a clear reason: CK5. I attend these shows sober but was completely consumed and entranced by the constant movement, positioning, color changes, and visual effect created which was unlike anything I have ever seen, even by CK5's magic creation standards. I watched dumbfounded as images of menacing creatures that were invoked by my mind (perhaps like Stranger Things Demogorgans?) encompassed the band dropping low, morphing, spidering out, pulsing, and imparting an energy that simply had to be seen to understand. I highly doubt couch tour would have gotten the same effect. If LivePhish - or anyone else for that matter - has a 100% wide-angle version from center stage, I sincerely hope that they post it soon. It's magical.

Second set was fantastic, with each song worth a listen. Since this is the case and I have been long-winded already I'm going to leave it up to you to evaluate it. I will say that The Carini Jam is the best of the night, and one of the best in this 3-show run filled with all sorts of jammy-goodness, while Reba is extremely well played and a beautiful contrast to the dissonance we've been hearing all weekend. Seek these out.

The encore was funny, but Fishman does not need to pick up a guitar. Ever. I appreciate silliness, but I would have been happier to see him simply sing or grab his trusty Electrolux. YEM is great as aways, with a little extra flare on the second-half jam.

One final note that I would be remiss to not state: at all three shows the quality of the musicianship was outstanding. These guys are playing at a very high caliber right now with few (if any) flubs night after night. It's a great time to catch these guys!

All three Alpharetta 2023 shows are worth a listen. Cheers to an outstanding run!

Made the last minute call to drive down from Greenville, SC for my first show of the year and first ever Phish show in Georgia. Found my buddy Seanboy while wandering the fantastic Shakedown. The Georgia heat was no joke, but plenty of Gatorade and water let me buy a ten dollar Heady Topper without risk of dehydration. Was expecting a much bigger venue like Camden or whatever, but the venue felt small. Crowd had a great vibe all show, and I settled in to dance in the upper reaches of the pavilion.

First set was full of crowd favorites, and a random Trey debut.

Second set had first ever Mike's > Carini.

The crowd was casually batting beach balls into the air while Kuroda had star bursts behind the band as a fan held up a crutch over his head in victory during the crazy fantastic Carini jam.

I was over by the exit as the boys came back to encore and the crowd roared. Walked back in to see what the fuss was. Fishman on guitar for the Vicki Lawrence cover was tremendous. Highlight was when the band was playing Lights Went Out in the dark. Oh, and then they played the first YEM in Georgia in twenty years.

Absolutely tremendous show. This is why you go see live music.

4.9 / 5.0

Buried Alive: the best way to start a Phish show

Wilson: first one in a while with an extended middle section, pretty normal otherwise

NICU: standard

Bathtub Gin: great version that builds then breaks type 2, but stays high energy and finds its way to a peak and back into the song to end. Really good

Gumbo: nice Page clav before the usual piano ending

Limb By Limb: some problems with flubs, but the jam is solid

The Well: debut.This song fucks. It’s always fun to see the 1.0 oldheads get pissed and then realize its great and evil. Nothing notable yet here

Mountains In The Mist: I love this song so much. One of the best cooldown options for the second set, or in this case after The Evil Well

Halfway To The Moon: played well (haha get it?)

Split Open And Melt: (watch this) well, we still need more evil Phish (get it?), so SOAMelt is gonna close this first set. Very strange, spacey, exploratory, and a good example of what they’re going for with these 4.0 melts.

Mike’s Song: sick 1st jam and we go into

Carini: type 2 jam starts with Your Pet Cat teases and has the typical 2022-2023 Trey build and peak but instead of ending they break free again into more evil spacier territory. This section is really good. But it doesn’t last too long as Trey finds another peak, better this time, and he finds the route back into Carini to end it off

Weekapaug Groove: slight issue finding the tempo, but they do after a bit, and the jam gets funky immediately. Unusual ending but other than that pretty average version

Sand: another type 2 journey here, has a really nice Trey and Page section early on, Mike has some fun later as they get back to the Sand theme to finish

Reba: perhaps a hint of what’s to come in the encore? Composed parts are mostly played well and the jam is gorgeous as always

More: some people hate it, I think it’s a good closer

The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia: let Fish cook

Hold Your Head Up: hilarious

You Enjoy Myself: first performance in Georgia since 2003. Quick encore rendition, but still fun and I live for bass+drums

Very fun show to end the run in Alpharetta. The Well debut, along with the rest of the first set is great. Second set has some solid type 2 jamming in Carini and Sand. Encore is spectacular. This is a 8/10. Highlights are Gin, SOAMelt, Carini, Sand, Reba, TNTLWOIG>HYHU, and YEM

Wayyyy too many flubs and too much sloppy playing this year in ATL. Sunday was the worst of it though. Yikes! I haven’t seen them play that sloppily in years, so hopefully they’re good to go for Wilmington.

The jams were good when they got there, but they barely overcome the careless playing, IMO. It’s really hard listening back to a lot of this night. Huntsville was much better.

Sime