Funny thing 2021 phish has done to us.
If they're not playing 4 song second sets or insert songs you don't think should be played its a 2 star show.
Lol same as it ever was!

Not the best show of the year but an average/great show with 4 really good renditions, some tour firsts, a debut and a very classy conversation about the San Fran tragedy.

I would describe 10/19/2021 as the not the show we wanted, but the show we needed. The vibe was spectacular in the venue, with everyone looking to heal from the tragedies in SF, and then Trey got up there and perfectly summed up what most of us are feeling. I know that the SF stories are far from over, but I - for one - feel that I'm ready to enjoy the rest of tour without the cloud hanging over us. I know that people get hurt, OD, and unfortunately pass away more frequently on tour than most of us know. But the way that things transpired in SF, coupled with this period of National sorrow and death that we are are trying to emerge from, made it particularly upsetting.

Anyways - about the music. I really wouldn't change anything about the first set. This was the first DWD of 4.0 that delivered an extended jam, Jim was a solid Set 1 version, Ocelot had a very nice Type 1 jam, Rift, Horn > Ya Mar was a great song-based segment, Stash delivered a really pretty extended Type 2 jam, Trey gave a 5-star speech, and Walls brought the set home with great energy. For a "normal" first-set from a setlist perspective, I would give this first set about 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Set 2 started off with a lot of promise. Twist started at a slow, swampy pace, giving way to a crunchy groove reminiscent of the 4.0-style jamming. Blaze On was a terrific choice for the second slot, and the jam started with tremendous promise. Then, it seemed like Mike and Fish pulled the ripcord into Plasma. I didn't even hear Trey punching that staccato rhythm before Fish started that unmistakable drumbeat. I love Plasma, but since Providence 2019, I feel it's gotten more than its fair share of play. I would have been perfectly happy if we got a monster version of Plasma, but this sub-7 minute version was a bit of a letdown. Leaves was VERY well played - probably my favorite live version yet. I really didn't think that I Never Left Home would be a good addition to the Phish live catalog, and after 1 performance I feel that thought was accurate. I like Sparkle more than most, but prefer it as a Set 1 ditty. 2001 was the best version I've seen in a while, but I wished that they would have just finished it and closed the set out on that note. Sigma Oasis is still trying to find its place in the setlist. Is it an opener? Jam vehicle? Set closer? I know that this song is going to be in our world for a while, and I hope they figure out its place. I don't think Set 2 closer is it. Although it started with great promise and included a super 2001, I'd say this set is in the 3.4 to 3.6 star range.

DWYS was exactly the encore I hoped they'd play. A lot of love was released during the refrain of that song. Everyone in the room was on their feet with their hands in the air, shouting "And LOVE will carry us through" at the top of their lungs. What an amazing sight. I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about that moment again. In the context of THIS tour, being in the room, and the show that I wanted tonight, I'd give this show a 4.8 out of 5 stars. In the context of the broader catalog of live phish shows, I'd put this show at 3.8 out of 5 stars, mostly due to the middle third of the second set.

As a born-and-raised Oregonian, these shows were obviously well received in person. The first concert I ever attended was Phish at Matt Knight (same arena) back in 2014, their first show in Oregon in 15 years. Seeing Bend the next year was a treat, but honestly I didn't expect them to ever come back here anytime soon, despite the huge jam scene here and lax drug attitudes, along with a friendly counter-culture. So I was very surprised when the FIRST shows back from the COVID pandemic were announced to be in Eugene, not one but TWO nights! So I bought tickets immediately, and living in Eugene, it was going to be no issue hitting these shows. However, after the tour postponement, it was stretched back a year, and then it was shuffled to the Fall Tour as Arkansas was going to be the first ones back. This move paid off though, with 2 hits into the Eugene barn in the middle of a HOT Fall tour proved to be special.

So while the boys were absolutely destroying Sacramento and San Fran, my old touring buddy and I prepped for the 2 day stay - I couldn't get off work either of the two days, but living in town proved to make it super fucking easy to get to the shows, a quick bus ride over and an Uber as the prep back. We swung it easily, pre-gamed with some pre-show shots just like the band in Bittersweet Motel, and headed down to the basketball arena. Now Matt Knight is relatively new, but in the time since its inception about a decade back, it's seen some great events (Phish killed it here 10/17/2014 as the Fall Tour Opener that year) and I've probably been to the venue 50+ times for basketball games, storming the court even a few times. So my familiarity with the venue was at an absolute high, and we made it in easily before showtime, left side towards the front of the stands.

Obviously, the elephant in the room was the jumper and the injured man from the show on Sunday night (which was just about one of the most surreal things I've ever felt watching from home and following online). We didn't know what to expect, but I certainly made sure that I wasn't going to fall myself (seriously, I was worried about that) so I stuck to just drinking. It was a fairly "odd" vibe for us personally but once we arrived at the show things kicked up a notch as we had a great time in line for the show and made it in about 10 minutes before start time. We were wondering if they were going to immediately address the tragedy, and heard the opening notes of the DWD. Well, that answered the question. On the jam proper, inside it felt like almost no time had passed, I was having that good of a time. It turned out later that we had stumbled into (literally) the longest opener in Phish history, clocking in at just under 26 minutes. Up until this point, it was the longest single Phish jam I'd seen in 11 shows

Amazing jam, it's a must hear for the Eugene run. It followed into a great segue towards Runaway Jim, which I'd seen a lot of people consistently call as an opener but to no avail. That might be the closest we'll get to one of those in a while. Ocelot had an extra kick, and it just displays that in Summer/Fall 2021 basically every song in the first sets are played extremely well, with lots of attention and given an extra kick. Rift was well done, with the crowd erupting at the "silence contagious in moments like these" which was a good moment. I wasn't sure if they were going to address the jumper at this point, rather instead just play a good show, but the vibe was one of warmth and love rather than eerie as expected.

I was excited to get Horn and Ya Mar live for the first times, and then the opening notes to Stash kicked in. This is a very good Stash and one that will likely go underrated for a while, but it's nearly 16-17 minutes of really airtight jamming, absolutely one of the highlights of this set and show. After Stash Trey finally took the mic and the place was dead silent, you could hear a pin drop when he was beginning to talk. It was really nice to see him give a heartfelt speech and sort of emotionally come full circle on what was obviously a traumatic event for all involved. Afterward, Page takes the lead into Walls, a song about loss, and they nail it. Another fantastic first set in a tour full of them.

Second set began with Twist, which I remember to be pretty good (there's a nice melodic jam in the last few minutes) and then a nice transition into Blaze On, which I really like that song. Unfortunately, this one doesn't quite go anywhere before a strong segue into Plasma, which reminded me of my very first show at Matt Knight back on 10/17/2014 where Plasma was debuted, also within a second set segue. Maybe that was a tribute to that show! I have no idea. I also had an amusing personal experience where a big New York/Jersey Italian guy ahead of us who was pretty wasted was screaming to everyone "STASH IS COMING BACK! THEY'RE PLAYING STASH AGAIN!" after the segue into Plasma. Leaves followed, for a slowdown song, I happen to like this one. The next song I didn't know and had to check the phone for (I was guessing it was one of Trey's quarantine songs, either I Never Left Home or And Flew Away, and was glad to see that one come. It wasn't bad - I need to give it some more listens and wouldn't be upset if it came in the first set in an upcoming show.

Next came Sparkle (which I like as a song, I'm a little confused at the placement), which did an OK job of bringing the energy back up. The next was 2001, which to me was the highlight of the night. 14 minutes of pure boogie funk dance party, that was a crowd favorite and a must hear. Sigma closed, which I like that song too. Drift While You're Sleeping was the encore, and probably a pretty good choice given the emotional situation of everyone.

The show did its job - there was exploration, there was happiness, there was some love and light, and the tragedies were addressed in a great way. At this point, this was musically the best show I've seen out of 11 (a bit of a low bar, but there hadn't been any heaters I've personally attended). Had a fantastic time and made it to work just fine the next morning.

Must Hear:

First set: DWD -> Jim, Stash, Trey's speech (unique)

Second set: Twist, 2001

I'm obviously a hometown "homer" given that I'm from Eugene but I don't think that was an "amazing" show, but it did its job and was the best one I've personally seen. DWD to open is a monster and the 2001 is great dance music. Left us very excited for the next night...

Definitely a sort of "breather" show from the absolute setlist and improvisational insanity that was the San Francisco weekend, but nonetheless pulled its own weight quite well. Ripping out of the gates with a 25-minute Disease is a good indicator of this, and honestly a return to some pedestrian first-set classics is a nice refresher after a murderer's row of improv. Keeps things interesting. Stash again was impressive, 2021 is no doubt an MVP year for Stash. Trey addressed the tragedy from Sunday night after Stash. No four song second set tonight, but that's perfectly fine. Twist was very good, and the first time they've stretched out that song this year I believe. A handful of standard renditions of Blaze On, Plasma, Leaves, and Sparkle, throw in a Lonely Trip debut, a killer 2001 and finally Sigma to close and you have a nicely-played second set format that looks pretty familiar to all the Set 2's in Atlantic City: a heavy hitter opener, some standard runthroughs of songs, maybe another jam or two, and a nice closer. I've seen some debate about a Drift encore, but for me it's a feel good sendoff to a pretty good show.

First set was good, and the start to the 2nd set was good (Twist was sick) .... however the 2nd set does fall apart here imo... we did not need more plasma, and what the heck is that sparkle doing here.... 2001 could not save this set. Also I like drift but its a pretty deflating encore. Going to give this show 3 stars but its not far from 2 stars. They all cant be amazing pholks

Was my first show since Bend 2015. Was that a loud show last night? Is that the new normal? I'm wearing ear protection tonight. Maybe I'm just old now.

Trey was really going for it in DWD and TWIST. Really out there stuff that didn't quite gel into something amazing (like 8-31-21 Stash) but I still love how Trey really stretches the band into new and weird spaces. It's why I see Phish. It won't work 100% of the time, but it is why I keep coming back to listen.

The show was very high energy, even the slow songs like Leaves (which had great placement) had a raging ending to them. It was like guitar god Trey was in the house. My favorite moment was when 2001 got slow and Trey's tone got really low. I didn't see how they could go back to 2001 and it was just an amazing full band exploration.

Also, Mike cannot be heard as clearly as earlier tours. Phish sound guy please fix this.

Was my first show since Bend 2015. Was that a loud show last night? Is that the new normal? I'm wearing ear protection tonight. Maybe I'm just old now.

Trey was really going for it in DWD and TWIST. Really out there stuff that didn't quite gel into something amazing (like 8-31-21 Stash) but I still love how Trey really stretches the band into new and weird spaces. It's why I see Phish. It won't work 100% of the time, but it is why I keep coming back to listen.

The show was very high energy, even the slow songs like Leaves (which had great placement) had a raging ending to them. It was like guitar god Trey was in the house. My favorite moment was when 2001 got slow and Trey's tone got really low. I didn't see how they could go back to 2001 and it was just an amazing full band exploration.

Also, Mike cannot be heard as clearly as earlier tours. Phish sound guy please fix this.

1st set was pure smoking hot flames. Incredible versions of Disease (longest show opener of all time!) and Stash.

2nd set had a good not amazing beginning but then was completely ruined by that Sparkle placement. Truly awful. The 2001 that followed was very, VERY good but they didn't really seem to know how to end it and Sigma just abruptly started. Very weird set, but it wasn't awful or anything. Definitely listen to 2001 and the Blaze On -> Plasma, maybe Twist as well.

I'd probably put this above Sacramento just because of the massive titans in the 1st set, but that might change because I feel like Sacramento will have more replay value over the years. Better luck next time.