A bit of an unconventional show, with lots of great moments and a few headscratchers. Fluffhead in the 3 spot signaled good things to come, with a run of 1.0/2.0 songs filling out the rest of Set 1. The Gumbo was spicy with a great jam out of it before letting Page get his ragtime on at the end. Pebbles is always welcome, and Roggae was exactly what I needed on a hot sweaty night. The interplay between all four of them during the jam as they kept changing the key was really something to behold. Ginseng was rusty, Geulah was fun, Julius kicked up the energy quite a bit, though with some flubs it seemed Trey didn't want to end the set on that note, and so a truly demented Melt was the proper closer. It felt like it could completely spin out of control at any moment as the alien noisescape overwhelmed the crowd, barely kept in place by Fish's drums, until they brought it back to its usual end.

Set 2...was very bipolar. Getting a Curtain With, a song I've been chasing for 22 years, as a 2nd set opener for the first time since 1988 was a treat, and was played excellently. Once AWOH started up, I knew we were in for a good jam. Churning and pulsating, I was wondering if it was going to approach the previous night's Sand in length, but unfortunately came down into what seemed like 20 Years Later, though Trey shook it off to play Mercy. Nice song...wrong moment. Thankfully Simple picked it back up and went big. The crowd seemingly caught the Macarena tease all at once, and thus ensured this version will be remembered for a long time. Ether Edge followed as another cool down moment initially with a nice jam that dropped perfectly into a blistering Maze with some extra mustard during Page and Trey's solos. Trey seemed determined to play 20 Years Later so that he could make the lyric change, I guess. Another decent jam that melted into a rip-roaring Antelope to close out the set.

By this point I was worried about the thunderstorms moving into the area, but they showed no such concerns, encoring with YEM to close out the night in a positive way. It was wild to watch as Trey's guitar dropped out at exactly the moment when the First Note should have been hit, as he and his tech frantically tried to figure out what went wrong. Maybe they were always planning to do the extra jam at the end, but maybe the guitar issues made Trey want to do it. Either way, a phenomenal conclusion to the night, and a solid show overall.

Sometimes we blow our wad the first night; I mean, did you see that shakedown? Old timers can remember being hustled by the cops for selling a lot tee; 30 years later, good to see Philly's finest has relaxed a bit.

This show might be standard on paper, but there are people that would argue that N2 is a better show than N1. I don't know those people, but you can at least admire and maybe understand their interest in hearing more song, some greats, and wanting a rock concert and not a jam fest. So for this review, let's not compare and rather look at it as a pairing. Like a fine wine pairs with a porterhouse… N2 is a perfect complement to N1, giving us an all around wonderful two days.

Another hot and fun night at the Mann. Really great venue, both inside and out. Easy parking, perfect pre-show hang spots in the shade, and a boisterous shakedown.

First set had great flow, song selection and a few tight and creative jams. Fluffhead in the three spot was a treat, as well as a beautiful Pebbles, but the Gumbo, Roggae, and Melt were the musical highlights. Always love a funky jammed out Gumbo and the Roggae saw some patient and melodic interplay. Melt quickly got weird, with all kinds of chunky effects.

Set 2 had some exploratory jamming but nothing that went super deep and a few head scratchers on song selection. A bit up and down. Loved the opening 1-2 punch of Curtain -> Wave of Hope but energy dissipated after we got “Mercy’ed.” Simple -> Ether Edge also worth a listen, but wouldn’t have called 20 years later next. We needed a strong finish and the Antelope closer plus YEM Encore delivered. The rain started late in set 2 to cool things off a bit, and just an abundance of positive energy floating around the venue during a very groovy YEM.

Thanks Phish and thanks to a great crowd at the Mann for a memorable night.