It's fall '97, we know what we're getting; the cream of the crop, intensity in ten cities, a little bit of all right. Every show in this tour is pure gold, as most phans know, and these Hampton shows might just be the best representation of this era. Emotional Rescue is a great Stones song, and an even better Phish song. I've listened to this Rescue too many times, and a long time before I ever even checked out the full show. Gordo is peak here, completely carrying the song and the following jam. Page also rages in the second half of the jam. It doesn't take long for us to get to the funk, which soon evolves into a patient, space-y jam; and, like always, when Mike starts throwing in his weird effects, the band knows it's time to move on > a hot, scary Split Open and Melt, once again led by our dearest Gordo and Leo. Beauty of My Dreams is standard, but a nice cool down. Dogs Stole Things is always fun, really. I'll never complain if it shows up in a setlist, and this version in particular is a highlight. BEST PUNCH EVER?? This was actually the first version of this song that I ever heard (a few years ago, of course) and it blew my mind. Trey and Page dominate this one, especially during the intro and the Landlady section. All-time punch here, truly. Scary outro -> hysterical Lawn Boy. I'm a big fan of the drum solo. Phish is jazz after all! > A non-stop fireball of sound, this Chalkdust doesn’t give you time to rest > A beautiful, if not standard Prince Caspian. I’ve never agreed with finishing a set with this one, but it was very effective after that raging Chalkdust. Some cool effects echo as the song fades into silence, waiting to emerge at another time. That’s the thing about Caspian, it doesn’t just start or end, but instead fades in and out of our perception, leaving for another adventure on the seas. We will meet again, Caspian. Ghost is amazing; funky as shit, and Gordo shows us some awesome tricks all throughout. I think ‘97 Ghosts are some of the best examples of what Phish can do -> Bag stays in type-1 territory for a while, and even turns into a Punch jam for a minute, but becomes something much more. The jam evolves into so many different sounds; it’s rock, it’s funky, it’s ambient, it has a little something for everyone. I really like this one. Maybe not as good as Coventry Bag, but very close. The end gets very slow and thoughtful, with Fish carrying the groove excellently, and everyone following with whatever sounds they have available, Trey and Page in particular. This jam is very akin to waves (not the song, the property of the ocean), in that it fluctuates from fast to slow seamlessly as the jam continues. It slows down for the final time, and we stay on the A to G progression, and you know what that means! -> Slave! A very pretty version, too. Everyone chips in here; Fish’s percussion rinse, Page’s raw piano tones, Mike’s bouncy reggae melodies, and Trey’s emotional guitar licks, it all adds up to a beautiful, patient conclusion. Patient is the perfect word to describe it; they don’t jump right ahead to the peaks and ride them, you have to put in the time and experience the ride to the top of the mountain with the band. It makes for a much more satisfying ending. Then we get our second Stones song of the night, Loving Cup, which is a unbeatable ending to a set. The song is both energetic and retrospective, which is exactly how a show should end. A perfectly executed Guyute for an encore, which is a great choice. It has a lot of different elements, as all the best Phish songs do, which is a great way to remember the show as a whole. Plus, it has one of the best peaks/endings to any Phish song, or show, for that matter. One of the best shows, nothing more to say, really. Listen to both Hampton shows if you want to better yourself.

On August 14th, 2009 I woke up at the EconoLodge in Darien Lake (probably early enough for the free breakfast if there was one. I’m a sucker for free breakfasts regardless of how meagre they may be - even to the point of setting the alarm after a late night - and at the EconoLodge it would have been pretty meagre indeed) and got on the road to Hartford for another night of Phish. I don’t remember anything about the six-hour drive so it must not have been very notable, which is how I generally prefer it. I also don’t remember where we stayed when we got to Hartford, or too much in particular about the show itself*, but I recall that it was another shed-type venue and although we were in the pavilion we were pretty far back. I remember those things because there is one single moment from this show that I do recall, and I recall it like crazy. Late in the second set the band had just finished up with [i]Ghost[/i] and Fishman counted in a quick four. I heard Mike play his low entrance and a split second later Trey and Page hit their first hits. Before the song was one second old it was already unmistakeable to me; I had caught it on literally the first beat. It could be nothing else. Jumping high in the air before the second beat fell, I turned in m’lady’s direction and screamed with joy, “They’re playing [i]Psycho Killer[/i]!” I don’t know what her reaction was - I was too busy with all that joyous jumping up and down - but I do know it took her a bar or two to buy what I was selling. After three or four bars the rest of the crowd caught up and everyone finally started jumping too. This was only the third time the band had played the Talking Heads classic, and the first time in a dozen years. As of this writing Phish has only played it once more after this show - three years later at SPAC in Saratoga Springs, New York - and I was there for that one as well, so like I say, it was kind of a special thing to have seen. It’s kind of like going to a hockey game and seeing Gretzky get into a fight; it’s just not something that happens every day. And then three years later you’re at another game and Gretzky goes and drops the gloves again?!? Crazy! And really, that’s one of the reasons Phish is such a great hobby-band. Because they are willing to throw out little treats like this to their fans and then hold these treats back almost (and often) indefinitely no matter how well they were received, people will inevitably start ‘chasing’ songs. I was chasing a song called [i]Llama[/i] for years, a song that isn’t that rare but I still somehow went thirty-one shows without hearing it. At my 32nd Phish show they opened with [i]Llama[/i], but I was stuck in a full-contact Lord Of The Flies-style bathroom lineup for almost the entire song. I would eventually go another thirty-eight shows before getting [i]Llama[/i] again, the last one I’ve heard. So you see what I mean. With all the stats and rarities going on Phish tour is almost like collecting baseball cards. Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if many long-standing Phish tour kids are very collection-oriented people, as I am. (Heck, as soon as I find myself in possession of two of anything all of a sudden I have a another collection. In addition to ticket stubs I also collect postcards, coins, miniature buildings, guitars, records, casino chips, and on and on and on…) Anyway, the internet tells me that the band jammed [i]Psycho Killer[/i] into [i]Catapult[/i] (the first time they had played that song in more than five years and the only time I’ve seen them play it) which in turn was jammed into [i]Icculus[/i] (another first for me. My second[i] Icculus[/i] would come thirty-five shows later on New Years Eve in 2013) before closing out the set with one of my all time faves (and my 17th most-seen song, having been played at 21% of my attended Phish concerts), [i]You Enjoy Myself[/i]. Turns out they encored with[i] While My Guitar Gently Weeps [/i](a song they’ve slotted in the encore position for two of the five times I’ve heard them play it), which is a pretty nice way to end a show. But what do I know? I don’t really remember. (Special mention must go to the fried cheese cheeseburger that I thoroughly enjoyed the next day at a place called Shady Glen a dozen miles east of downtown Hartford. If you are anywhere near this restaurant stop what you’re doing and go there; do not pass Go, do not collect $200.) *Though I know it was great because all the shows I saw in 2009 were great. https://toddmanout.com/

These Hampton shows are famous, but why? I got the CD box set when I was about 7 (thrift store find!), but never actually listened to it in full. So, I thought I would finally check them out. This isn't a bad show, not at all, I would rather listen to this show more than most of early 3.0, but it certainly isn't the best they can do. The setlist is fun, but that's coming from someone who loves covers. I thought set 1 was a perfectly appropriate opening set, it has everything you need from a first set; lots of energy, hectic type 1 jams, retrospective ballads, covers, everything. I loved the Fikus tease in Stash. Driver!! However, set 2 felt a little underwhelming, only because a lot of the best material here could've really been fleshed out (*cough* Piper *cough*); the whole thing kinda just felt like another set 1. Hood is one of the best, though, love Page in this one. The encore is fantastic, gotta love Gerhard. Overall, a classic show, but maybe just an eensy-weensy bit overrated. I know they can do better, especially when looking at other shows from this year, but, still a really fun listen. Just don't go in taking it too seriously. Check out the Stash, Gin, and Hood (or anything from Set 1, really).

SETLIST: 01 Bill Graham taped intro / Peace On Earth / Mother Earth/ Third Stone From The Sun 02 Somewhere In Heaven 03 Why Can't We Live Together 04 talk [David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas, Steve Berlin and Phish members' intros] 05 *Exodus 06 *Super Boogie / Hong Kong Blues 07 talk [thanks to David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas, Steve Berlin plus Trey, Page and Jonathan of Phish 08 Angels All Around Us / Spirits Dancing In The Flesh 09 **Make Somebody Happy 10 Get It In Your Soul / Walfredo De Los Reyes / Myron Dove 11 **Life Is For Living 12 Savor / Karl Perazzo / Raul Rekow 13 Wings Of Grace 14 Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen (Jorge Santana) 15 Oye Como Va 16 Toussaint L'Overture [cuts in RESTORED!!] encores: 17 ***Soul Sacrifice / A Love Supreme (Walfredo De Los Reyes) / Apache 18 Jingo / band intros Band: Carlos Santana, Alex Ligertwood, Chester Thompson, Myron Dove, Karl Perazzo, Raul Rekow, Walfredo de Los Reyes and Jorge Santana *with David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas, Steve Berlin plus Trey, Page & Jonathan of Phish **with Tony Lindsay ***extra guests on percussion ("The next generation" - Antony

I was expecting some funky shit when going into this, and I wasn't disappointed. Can't fail with '97, and you can't fail with a Colorado show. A perfect concoction. Possibly one of the top 5 best Tweezers ever to open; so, so funky, everyone gives it their best, and it's just a great time. They start to slow down (the tempo, not the funk, of course), and Page takes over, until the jam fizzles into silence. We're then hit by the in-mistakable opening notes to Reba, and Mike shows some great versatility with the notes in a very solid choreographed section, and what follows is one of the most patient, emotional Reba jams I've heard. It seems Trey didn't want to stop at the end lol. I would highly recommend it. Mike shows us his best singing voice in Train Song, which is beautiful, as always. Ghost is endlessly funky, an all-timer for sure. Page and Mike are really the powerhouses of this jam. I could listen to this one over and over again > A burning hot Fire. Fish rages. 97 really was the best year for Jimi covers. Down With DIsease is a great set 2 opener. It remains mostly type 1, but still rages -> A short, but sweet Olivia's Pool > This Johnny B. Goode is a jam that everyone should listen to. The first section is standard; some classic, angsty blues, but it quickly turns into a funk-fest that perfectly captures what Fall '97 is all about, and Mike is the conductor through most of it. The jam continues into a chill, serene soundscape; Mike has his reverb on, Trey with his octave, and Page laying down the prettiest piano lines I've heard in a while. Mike starts being creepy with his effects around the last minute, and that's when everyone knows it's time to move on -> Trey starts up JJLC, and Page takes the lead with some more excellent blues. When the Circus Comes is one of the best ballads in a Phish setlist, and this is a perfect placement for it. This YEM is iconic, and for a good reason, too. Mike fucking kills it the entire time. Trey goes full funk-mode through most of it. Page tests out his laser guns around 15 minutes in. The jam is just perfect, it's exactly what YEM should be. The vocal jam is amazing (with Mike carrying most of the it), one of the best ones out there. A perfect rendition. Character Zero is standard, but still very heated. One of the greatest shows I've ever heard. Really, it's one for the ages. A career defining performance. The whole show is full of highlights, not ONE flub. 10/10, Fall '97 never fails.

I admittedly haven't heard much from 95, mostly just because other years just have so much to offer, and are usually talked about much more. However, this show changed how I look at the year as a whole; it's very freeform (more so than Phish usually is), and I find that it's a perfect transition between the shred-filled barn burner 1994, and the serene, chill 1996. Chalkdust is an awesome fiery intro. Foam has some excellent Page work. Billy Breathes is just so beautiful; the harmonics in the intro, Page's soothing vocals, the oceanic atmosphere of it all, it's just amazing. Divided Sky is strangely eerie, with some sections that get fairly dissonant, and Mike (if you can hear him) throws down some amazing lines during the silent section, but it slowly returns into a bliss fest to finish it off. Esther is whimsical and creepy, in the best possible way > a scary Free jam, some really hazy Trey affects around 5 minutes in. A pretty standard Julius, but that’s not to say that it’s bad. We get some great banjo Mike with Blue & Lonesome, and Page gives it his all vocally. Cavern has some great energy, and Trey takes it in a very creepy direction. This is a perfect Maze; it’s not the best jam of the night, but it is a very, very solid version. Gumbo is standard. This Stash needs no introduction, it’s perfect in every way, and I would listen to it over and over again; Trey and Fish are really the highlights for me, they both put in so much creativity here -> a very funky Manteca, with Fish dominating the jam, and Mike stepping up to the plate for the first time in the second set. It gets very slow, and dissolves back into -> a quiet return to Stash, with Mike still in the lead. Trey starts using some chorus effects, and we get an excellent Esther jam, but this peaceful scene doesn’t last long, because the fury of Stash breaks through once again, and all hell breaks loose. The jam slowly evolves into an ambient soundscape, Fish starts fiddling with his tools, and the melancholy lyrics of Dog Faced Boy emerge, and it gives us a look into the psychological aspect of the band and the messages they try to represent with their music, and this version gives the song a whole new meaning. The noise builds up, however, and soon we are treated to the jazzy final return of Stash. We really needed this Strange Design to cool down after what just occurred, the brakes needed to be pumped, or a fire would break out. YEM is a great closer, and the Immigrant Song jam is one for the books, just perfection from every part of the stage. Fish proves that he’s the best drummer with a pleasant Wedge, and continues this point as we get a fast as fuck Rocky Top to end this near-perfect show. This is show is just spectacular, and deserves to be listened to by every Phish fan. It’s pretty creepy and uneasy in a lot of places, and it’s really a fun time. I love scary Phish. If you’re on this site, you’ve probably already heard this show, but listen to it again. I know I will.

the kill devil falls from this show is incredibly beautiful. Sometime around the 8 minute mark it starts to break free from a 'typical' kdf jam and remains interesting throughout. After about 10 minutes it starts wavering back and forth between a fast paced major key pentatonic jam and some really pretty ambient stuff, it sounds like somebody's got a volume fader on fishman and just keeps bringing his beat up/down to alternate between the two. 13:30 reaches a section that is heart achingly beautiful for just a few moments. Trey is overplaying quite a bit for a lot of this jam, but overall the whole thing feels super inspired and creative.

There was a phish.net forum thread going around the night before this show saying Phish setlists have become stale this year, despite the great improv happening. Posted by a user with a Gotta Jibboo reference in his user name. Now this show has a wacky set list with a Jibboo encore? Somebody in phish inc is listening to us nerds. Thank you. Great show.

I'll be completely honest, I don't remember this show very much, which means it must've been awesome, right? I can distinctly remember a couple of events, though. This was my first show as a citizen of Colorado, and it was much bigger than ANY show I'd seen in the south. Mellow Mood was an awesome bustout! My pop made a big deal about it, he hadn't seen it since 2003. To be completely honest, this My Friend, My Friend warped my fragile little mind, and showed me that Phish was more than just a jaded dad band. We were on the ground for the first set, but moved somewhere a bit higher afterwards. We sat next to a guy (who may or may not have known who or where he was), who had showed me a bracelet that he had made that had Tweezer written along the side. Needless to say, he was very satisfied early into set 2. Golden Age is just stellar no matter which show it's played at. All in all, a pretty awesome setlist, and an amazing venue. You can't really go wrong with Dicks shows.

Being a Deadhead, this band was on my radar but I had not seen them while Jerry was alive. Shortly after he passed, I was not in the mood to see any music, whatsoever. I was basically crushed beyond words and in hard mourning for an extended amount of time. Someone asked if I wanted to go see "Phish" and I decided to give it a go. From the 1st song, it all sounded like harsh noise. It was hard to listen to, hard to like and hard to deal. I was clearly not over Jerry (and I still am not, even after 29+ years). But looking back, I have to say I had a pretty good 1st show! I remember Fast Enough, the intro to the 2nd set Wilson opener, Scent and While My Guitar. But my head wasn't really ready until a year later when I caught 10/31/96 (Remain In Light costume) from the 3rd row, directly in front of Trey. At THAT point, my head flipped and I realized they were the new REAL DEAL.

I love mike, it's just an undeniable sound, and this one set alone is better than most music out there. Loved the Human Nature, didn't get many over the summer, but that's ok, if mike wants it to be a solo song, then so be it. I love all of the stuff from flying games, and clearly mike does too. He's been on this whole year, the sphere, vampire tour, summer, the bass bombs just won't stop, and I'm totally for it.

Granted, it would have been better (moving Blaze On) as Twist > Light > Blaze > Joy, but I am the only one that sees a theme progression here...? In any case, as with all theme sets, it seems to have a bit more than the average with the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. And really, any set that starts with back-to-back-to back 15 minute explorations works for me. Now, I could also, were I so inclined, try to link the last three songs as some sort of trip from the aforementioned theme - something like after the initial joy there is confusion (where did Harry go??), and an epic journey (what are they doing with Sue and where are my shoes??), resulting in the loss of ego in conclusion - a Character Zero, but I am not (so inclined...).

SET 1: Chalk Dust Torture: always down for this as an opener. Pretty slow tempo and very standard version. The Moma Dance: classic party-starter placement. A bit shaky from Trey early on but he settles in and this one ends up grooving nicely. Heavy Things: don’t care what people say, I love this song. No Trey solo here, Page tears it up on organ and makes this one feel extra rootsy. Very good. 555: standard. Trey takes a moment after the song to thank the crowd and talk about recording the song with the Muscle Schoals players. He seems chatty! First time in Alabama apparently, so makes sense. Rift: decent for a 3.0 version but Trey still struggles a bit. > 46 Days: standard. Tube: there is no such thing as a bad Tube, even if it’s totally meat-and-potatoes like this one. Devotion to a Dream: standard. Wolfman’s Brother: check out Mike’s playing during the jam! Slapping along like nobody’s business. Very cool as you don’t see him do that in jams much these days. Trey builds this one up to a great peak too! NICE. Very good Wolfman’s. The Ballad of Curtis Loew: cool, forgot this got played pretty often in early 3.0. Free: pretty icky bum note at 0:51 ish. Wish they’d done something more with this one. > Character Zero: standard. — SET 2: Down With Disease: outro riff before the jam is rough from Trey. Standard and blissful up through around 9:30 when Trey signals he wants to take things in a minor key direction. Fish keeps the same feel as Trey experiments with some cool effects jamming. Check out Mike on the wah-wah pedal @ 11:30, something else you don’t see him doing much these days. Trey takes them out of the minor key space at 13 minutes in. Is that Mike doing the burbly synth-ish thing around 14:00? Neat if so. Some more bliss jamming until the band enters a really cool tense space for a while with piano noises and more synthy Mike. That last 3 minutes is genuinely great and the best part of the jam. Otherwise a mostly standard, if pleasant, jammed out DWD. -> Theme From the Bottom: very suddenly appears out of Disease. Very standard with a nice washy outro out of which appears… > Tweezer: fuck yeah! Love the bit where Page starts TEARING it up on the clav at 3 minutes in out of nowhere. A pretty good, succinct, intense rendition that mellows out nicely around 8 minutes. Trey’s playing at the end is nice. Sounds like he’s playing with Piper or Tela for a bit, and then > Prince Caspian: this one weirdly has Trey’s most dextrous playing of the night… for about a minute. Tiny version. Fish starts up a fast beat right at the end and eggs Trey on to pounce on it. Trey declines, and instead we get… > Waiting All Night: good song, weird placement. Fuego: good song, VERY weird placement. Needed more after Caspian and WAN. Briefly turns into Tweezer at 8:20, before a cool transition into -> Slave to the Traffic Light: song is obviously a classic but set is all over the place at this point. > 2001: standard, short. > Boogie On Reggae Woman: fun, but there’s no real cohesiveness left. AWESOME transition into -> Run Like An Antelope: they mess around with the Boogie On feel constantly at the beginning here, the two songs basically meld into one for a bit a la Miami 2009. Then we get Munsters theme and Conga by Gloria Esteban teases – awesome. A big organic peak, some more Boogie On stuff in the Rye Rye Rocco section, and then a tight finish. Really great version of a song that I don’t always love. This one is top notch though. — ENCORE: Bouncing Around the Room: standard. Tweezer Reprise: standard, but watch out for the bass bomb at the start and Fish singing a song I can’t make out. — OVERALL: pretty nondescript, slightly above average show. Mike is the MVP all night. I want to say DWD is a big highlight, but it’s not really that interesting as a whole - maybe worth checking out though because your mileage might vary. Clear highlight overall is that Antelope which is fantastic for the era. Wolfman’s and Heavy Things are also worth relistens. 3.5 stars.

Extremely dark show, every jam here feels very eerie, a vast contrast to the joyful and solemn night before. Nothing was a cool surprise. Fuego > WTU? > Golden Age is pure evil... dark wizard magic for sure, really needed that Lonely Trip to cool down. Check it out, but be warned, set 2 is some real hazy shit

Just needed to add that this is an exceptional Taste and should be an entry on the jam chart. Page's solo is standard fare, but Trey starts in with the Whammy and floats over a loopy '99-style groove that, to my knowledge, is unique for them - I can't think of any other examples of triple-time songs they'd jammed like this on prior (please correct me if otherwise!). Trey ratchets up the energy starting around the 7:32 mark in a manner very reminiscent of the Prague 98 Ghost, then just gets to ripping and peaks smartly. Fish gets lost in the sauce and misses the song's ending but it's still super hot. Very cool jam, worth checking out.

On July 29th, 2023 I woke up in my Manhattan hotel room at 7:30am with the previous night’s Phish show still ringing softly in my ears.  Though I had no reason to wake up early there would be no sleeping in for me.  My inevitable early rise was due to a) the ninety minute time difference between NYC and NL that was still freshly tugging at my inner cuckoo clock, and b) feline conditioning (which is to say, on those rare occasions when my cat isn’t meowing me awake by 7:30 I wake up anyway and lie there wondering if he died in the night).   I managed to sneak myself out of the room without rousing m’lady and went downstairs to check out the free breakfast.  It was nothing to write home about but it sure beat the hell out of their free Happy Hour, which I had experienced the night before.  After making my way back upstairs laden with an armload of absconded coffees and muffins m’lady and I ended up spending the bulk of the day lounging lazily in our tiny hotel room.  It wasn’t until the late afternoon that we finally ventured out into the New York City bustle, when we hit the sidewalk and aimed ourselves towards some bar that was hosting a Phan Art expo. Along the way we stopped in at a dramatically flamboyant bar called Oscar Wilde’s.  The place was an absolute feast for the senses, with animatronic flowers winking from the ceiling, huge white rabbits scattered around, and general craziness at every turn of the head.  We met some friends there and had a few drinks and even more laughs, although we soon ducked out on the growing crowd of acquaintances so we could check out that Phan Art thing, which turned out being pretty lame. Then it was off to another bar - this one called American Whiskey - where even more friends and laughs awaited.  NYC Phish shows are great for this sort of thing.  During the hang m’lady and I slowly grazed through a pound of wings and finally it was off to the Chase Lounge, which is inside Madison Square Garden itself. We arrived to find the Chase Lounge was closed to the public until 7pm because of a Waterwheel thank-you party.  That was only ten minutes away so we lounged outside the Lounge until then.  When we got in we learned that the Chase Lounge wasn’t offering free anything on this evening so m’lady and I bailed and grabbed a pair of delicious spicy chicken sandwiches at a rather famous kiosk inside MSG called Fuku.  After poking around for a comfortable place to sit we decided to go back to the couches in front of the Chase Lounge and we ate them there. And thus concludes our pregame activities. For each of the five nights we’d be seeing Phish during this MSG run we were sitting in completely different areas of the arena, which offered five wholly different concert experiences.  And none so different as where we sat for this show: The Skybridge.   Ten years earlier Madison Square Garden had undergone a renovation that resulted in the Skybridge, two thin strips of bleachers (total capacity: 900) that are suspended from the ceiling of the cavernous venue, dangling ninety-four feet above ice level.  Our tickets were near the middle of the Skybridge in the front row of, was it maybe four rows total?  We got to our seats just a few minutes before the show began and I was really impressed with how unique a vista the Skybridge offered of The World’s Most Famous Arena.  We were essentially up in the rafters, and the only thing between our seats and the open air was a chest-high pane of ultra-clear glass, making it seem like we were almost floating up there. Unfortunately, just before the lights dimmed to start the show I happened to cast a glance over that pane of glass and straight down onto the crowded floor directly below me.  Craziness.    Now, if I am in an enclosed area then I am not afraid of heights in the least.  But get me on an open balcony or a Ferris wheel or anywhere else where I could conceivably succumb to a momentary impulse to jump and, well, I just get the willies.*   So when the band kicked into [i]Back on the Train[/i] to start the show I was gripping the top of that pane of glass pretty tightly and keeping my dancing footprint small.  I soon succumbed to my nerves and spent most of the first set sitting firmly in my seat.  Fortunately with that glass reaching all the way to the floor I still had a good view of the band (and more importantly, Chris Kuroda’s light show).  It sort of felt like being on couch tour, only live.  However, it was from this view that I realized that each pane of glass was completely independent from the others (or anything else); none of them were connected to anything except the thin brace that attached each pane of glass to the floor.  Well now, that didn’t look very sturdy. Midway through the set I cast a glance to my left and saw a young usher casually leaning backwards into one of these freestanding squares of glass.  Whenever someone came to the section he jumped up the steps and checked their tickets before returning to his spot and flopping back against the glass without a care in the world.  And to my absolute horror, whenever he did this that pane of glass would flex a good inch or two backwards.  It totally unnerved me, and to this day it turns my stomach to picture it. The dude sitting behind us was super-nervous.  He told me he was going to bail for the second set and try to find somewhere else - anywhere else to sit.   Personally, I was much better during the second set.  Dude did indeed bail, which afforded us a little extra room.  I’m not sure if not drinking during the show helped or hindered, but I didn’t, and I managed to remain standing up for most of the set.  I still kept my dancing to a minimum, but it was another pretty jammy show, so I didn’t really have to rein in my booty very much. It was pretty unique to see the light show from the Skybridge, though obviously not as good as seeing it straight-on like we had on the first night.  I was excited when Phish played their cover-of-a-cover [i]2001[/i], as the song always gives light-guru Chris a chance to shine but as cool as it was, I’m sure it would’ve been better with a straight-on view. I did notice that CK5 was controlling the venue’s house lights that ring the 200 level entryways.  I was pretty sure that he hadn’t been doing that the night before, or perhaps he had and it was just my bird’s eye view that allowed me to notice them on this night.  Either way, over the ensuing days I noted that he incorporated the house lights into his repertoire for all of the remaining shows. The band encored with [i]Farmhouse [/i]and then [i]First Tube[/i] which, together with the previous night’s [i]Good Times, Bad Times[/i] encore fuelled a rumour that the theme of this MSG run was going to be in the encores.  After ending the first night with one “G” song and the second with two “F” songs, clearly they were going to encore the third show with three “E” and next with four “D” songs etcetera, until they would finally close out the seven-night run with a marathon encore of seven songs that begin with the letter A.   Spoiler alert: they didn’t. Just like the night before, by the time the show was over so were m’lady and I.  With a repeat of my first paragraph (see above) surely in the cards, we once again bee-lined it back to our nearby hotel room and dove straight into bed. *I remember the first time it happened too.  My buddy John had a La-Z-Boy balanced atop a stack of milk crates out on the balcony of his 12th floor apartment so he could enjoy unimpeded views over the railing.  When I climbed up into that chair for the first time I experienced a gut-twisting urge to jump that persisted until I retreated back inside his apartment.  Ever since then I get the same feeling (to varying degrees) every time I am high up and unrestrained. https://toddmanout.com/

This show is a jamfest. You can tell the band is having a good time and well connected. Incredible, fun Wolfman. Spacey, exploratory Chalkdust. Must hear. Joy is a lovely song with great placement. Blaze on> No Man is a blast. Twist>Caspian>Twist is quite the ride. Bouncy, playful, easing going Hood. This must have been such a fun show to be in person for.

Going to be listening to all of Fall 98 in order - will be reviewing each show. Not much of a creative writer and these are mostly for me anyways. Set1: Pretty standard first set, not really anything special for the first half or so. Decent playing by Trey on Llama but then they slow it down into LXL, Driver, Sleep, Frankie Says....super weird song placement as another reviewer said. Standard BoaF which leads us to the best part of set 1. Super solid version of McGrupp that starts to get pretty creative towards the end jam. Zero closer to bring us into setbreak. Set2/encore: Starts off with a pretty standard Possum with some solid playing from Trey but next is where the magic starts to happen. Moma is awesome, super bouncy with Mike leading the charge. One of the better versions in my opinion from 98 (Gorge and Deer Creek better though IMO). Reba > Walk Away > Simple the highlight of the show - Reba starts with some ambient space and continues to build then finally releases towards the end. Super creative interplay from the whole band on this one then into a rockin Walk Away. Rest of the show is pretty standard IMO with a Beatles tune taboot for the encore (im a sucker for the fab 4). 3.5/5 for me

For as long as I’ve ever known anything about Phish, I’ve known that they have a tradition of donning a musical costume when they gig on Hallowe’en, which means they reserve the middle of three sets on the special night to perform an entire album by another artist. In the past they have done albums by The Beatles, The Talking Heads, The Velvet Underground, and several others. I had experienced this wonder once before, when Phish covered Exile On Main Street by The Rolling Stones at a blazing weekend retreat in Indio, California, and on October 31st, 2014 I had the great joy to do it again, this time in Las Vegas. As the calendar would have it, the Hallowe’en show was the first of Phish’s three-night Vegas run, and when the lights went down in the MGM Grand arena on that Friday evening the energy in the room was crispy. The room was littered with remarkable costumes - of course Phish fans do it up right for Hallowe’en - including m’lady and I who were a bona fide hit in our googly-eye covered formal wear. Our eyes certainly turned a lot of heads and it’s a good thing too; m’lady and I had spent countless hours sitting at our kitchen table glueing even more countless googly eyes of all sizes to pants, shirts, skirts, shoes, hats, and so much more. I mean we beat a path to Michael’s craft store and bought them clean out every time they received another shipment. In the end we looked spectacular, and every move we made sounded like the waves of the ocean. We posed for many pictures and didn’t even have to wear makeup or masks (always my primary goal in choosing a costume). I guess I should back up a little. Part of Phish’s Hallowe’en tradition is the Phishbill, a mockup of a Broadway handbill that is given out to fans when they enter the venue. The Phishbill is always full of weird inside jokes and funny oddities, but it’s main purpose is to tell everyone what album will be covered that evening, a secret that the band always manages to keep well under wraps until the doors open on the 31st. Now, these Hallowe’en shows are very, very special events for die-hard fans, each of whom spends months hoping and dreaming that their favourite band will cover an album by their other favourite band, (whomever that may be). And then there was this one time (in 2013, the year before this story) when Phish had either the clever idea or the unholy audacity to use their musical costume as an opportunity to debut their very own new and at-the-time still unreleased album, Wingsuit. And while some people liked the idea many others were downright pissed. I mean, you never saw people so angry at something they love so much. It was like watching your two year old spit up all over your favourite Pollock print. Anyway, the handout we had all been handed as we entered the MGM arena on this evening was pushing the idea that Phish would be covering something called The Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House, inciting much speculation amongst the pre-show crowd. I had never heard of this Chilling, Thrilling thing but by the time the band started their first set I had overheard and butted in to enough conversations to learn that it was a Walt Disney release from the ’60’s and it was a spoken word album meant to spook out children, if only a little. But from what I understood there was no actual music on the record… The band loaded the first set with Hallowe’en-y songs, starting with [i]Buried Alive[/i] into [i]Ghost[/i],[i] Big Black Furry Creatures From Mars[/i], [i]Lawn Boy[/i], and [i]Wolfman’s Brother[/i], though I suppose if it wasn’t Hallowe’en these rather standard plays wouldn’t have seemed particularly Hallowe’en-y at all. Regardless, during the setbreak the speculation over the pending set picked up where it had left off, amplified by the stage crew who busily cleared the band’s gear and set up an epic haunted stage complete with tombstones, crypts, and a haunted house. And it was from atop this haunted house (and while made up as well-dressed zombies) that Phish would deliver what would come to be one of their most-loved Hallowe’en sets of all, which was indeed a series of jams played along to keyboard-triggered samples of the Chilling, Thrilling Disney album, a soliloquative narrative delivered by a female voice reciting nearly-creepy monologues following such themes as [i]Your Pet Cat[/i], [i]Martian Monsters[/i], and[i] The Birds (They Attack!)[/i]. It’s odd that the band got so many cosmic high-fives for jamming grooves along to a record while getting dissed so hard the year before for presenting an entire album of original songs with well thought out arrangements, but really, the proof is in the puddin’: The Chilling Thrilling set truly is exponentially better than the Wingsuit set, and I ain’t no Wingsuit hater*. After all that it’s easy to forget (unless you were there) that there was an excellent third set taboot, one that was bursting with ragers, but the biggest joke of the whole affair actually came in the form of the first half of the two-song encore: Phish’s only time ever covering Leonard Cohen’s[i] Is This What You Wanted[/i], a song/question clearly aimed at all the Wingsuit critics from last year. And the other song of the encore? [i] Frankenstein[/i], obviously**. With keyboardist Page McConnell playing the keytar, obviously. What a cool band. Obviously. *Never mind that when they actually released the album they had changed the title to Fuego, and no, they weren’t fooling anybody. **Yet another hint of Hallowe’ening that doesn’t smell a whiff like Hallowe’en when it’s played on any other night. https://toddmanout.com/

Pretty straight forward first set where the CDT and Gin shine here. Felt like they had something decent going in SOAM but cut it short. The real highlight here though for S1 is the Gin. Major key jam into about the 10m mark where it really starts to pick up and catch some steam. As another reviewer mentioned, it reminds them of an early 3.0 Gin and I 100% share that sentiment. Last 5m or so has Trey leading the charge with some solid interplay between him and Page for the peak then fade out into S1 end. Not as killer as some of the Gins that came a month later, but 100% a solid version! S2 starts with Bouncing with a space like ending directly going into Bowie which is a pretty standard version IMO. Next up is Sand which is a pretty standard spacy version for this era. Mango Song sets the tone for the rest of the show, really awesome extended jam (something they started doing more this year I guess for this one) but next up is the meat of the show. Probably one of the best Ghosts ever performed and we luckily have an awesome SBD copy of it. Starts off with some spacy groove with Mike/Page taking the lead then at the 10m mark or so Trey finds the groove adding another layer onto the jam. Jam continues in an awesome groove and starts the switch into the peak around 18m. Super different Ghost and top 5 version for me, not a lot like the ones from 97/98, super different. Set end with a pretty standard RnR and standard encore as well. 4/5 show for me and one of my favorites from this year just from the Gin, Mango Song, and Ghost.

This was my 6th show, and I had been absolutely buzzing with anticipation for it. I couldn’t get my whole Phish crew to come with me, but I managed to drag along my friend for his first rodeo, which required pulling some teeth. This was the first of 9 shows I was going to this summer, and I had just quit my job a few days earlier(for unrelated reasons). Friday morning we packed everything into my dad’s Toyota Sienna and started the 2 ½ hour drive to Noblesville from my small town in Ohio. The journey was smooth sailing until we hit the Indiana border, where I quickly learned that the Indiana cops do not fuck around. I got pulled over for going a bit faster than the speed limit. I’ve always found that as long as you’re (mostly) honest with cops, they will let you off the hook more often than not. He asked us where we were headed, and I told him that we were headed to Phish. “Is there anything illegal in the car?” The cop asked me. “I know what happens at Phish concerts.” I laughed and said no, the cop told me to watch my speed and let us go. Phew. After that I rode the speed limit with cruise control the whole rest of the drive. I wasn’t gonna take any more chances, and we were in no hurry. Once we finally got to our campsite, about a mile and a half away from the venue, we set up camp and relaxed before the show. Around 4 o’clock we decided to head to the lot, aka the most magical place on earth. I was very excited to have my buddy experience shakedown for the first time, He could not believe his eyes. He’d never experienced anything like it, and he did something we all have done. Went absolutely off the rails on his first time. Before we went into the venue, he had drunk half a case of beer and a double vodka cran. I had to practically drag him into the venue proper, where we met up with a mutual friend and his mom, and settled into our spot for the show on the lawn. I decided I had a little time to go meet with one of my friends from a previous show. Shortly after the band finally came on. [b]PYITE[/b] lit me and the rest of the crowd up, I quite literally jumped up and down with excitement, high fived my friend, wished him a good show, and sprinted back to the spot where the rest of my crew was. The first set was fun, if not incredibly notable. [b]Heavy Things[/b] was cool to get, as it is rarer than I thought it was, and one I always liked. [b]LSG[/b] is one of my favorites of the new tracks, and we got a solid rendition here. [b]SOAMule[/b] was something I didn’t think I would ever catch, so that was a fun one. [b]Pillow Jets[/b] is a song I have a special connection to, as I caught the debut and the spectacular version at Dayton ‘23. This one always goes hard, and goes deep, and this version didn’t disappoint. After Pillow Jets we got [b]Jim[/b], and the first 4.0 [b]A Day in the Life[/b]. I’ve never been a huge Beatles fan, to be completely honest, so the covers don’t particularly excite me, but this was an exception. This version was well executed and dipped into Evil Phish territory, which I can never get enough of. Great way to end the set, and left everyone wanting more. After setbreak we get into the real meat of this show. Diseasefest. [b]Oh Kee Pah[/b] was incredibly fun for me, as I grew up listening to Lawn Boy in the car with my Dad. After the first ever Oh Kee Pah>[b]Axilla[/b], we are treated to a monster [b]Disease>Scents and Subtle Sounds[/b]. S&SS is one of my favorite Phish tracks, and I had only gotten a sample version at the previous year’s Star Lake. The first outing of this track at Deer Creek absolutely ripped, and ended up being the longest jam of the night. Then the Diseasefest began. Trey drops back into the Disease solo, and the crowd absolutely erupts with excitement. We are treated to an ethereal [b]What’s The Use?[/b] [b]I Always Wanted It This Way[/b] was a song I wasn’t familiar with, but provided a dance party nonetheless. Towards the end, Trey once again drops into the Disease solo, to everyone’s surprise, and we all erupt again. The band walks offstage, and we are all left asking each other: “What could they possibly encore with after that?” Of course, there was only one answer. [b]YEM[/b]. My first YEM, at that. And it did not disappoint. I was ecstatic that my friend got one on his first show as well. After the Sphere, the image of the dog licking the camera will forever be burned into my mind for YEM. The vocal jam descended back into the Disease solo one last time, and we all looked around thinking “There’s no way they’re gonna do it again…. Right?” And in classic Phish fashion, they did it again. Disease one final time. Shows like this are why I see this band. We all left satisfied. My friend was a little too drunk, but you gotta go hard on your first show. We headed back to the lot, but we stayed for a little too long, as the shuttle for our campsite had stopped running at midnight. (An oversight, if you ask me) We waited for 45 minutes before we finally got picked up, headed back to our tents, and got some rest for the shows ahead.

Awesome and straight forward first set, specifically high energy First Tube and Character Zero. Second set started off with a standard Jiboo which did pick up towards the end. DWD the high note of the show, really awesome jam starting around the 10m mark with some light funk around the 16/17m mark. Tasteful playing in Hood into Wading then a fun Guyute to round out the second set. 3/5 for me, nothing to write home about but will revisit the DwD more often.

SET 1: Sample in a Jar: nice, loose and anthemic. Page’s vocals are very high in the mix. Free: not crazy about this placement, but it gets a somewhat extended guitar-led jam with plenty of crazed runs – Trey sounds super pumped for these shows and you can hear it in his playing. Not quite a top-tier Free – I prefer it when they take this song to slightly odder places – but it’s a good one and sounds very old-school. Simple: once again a pretty unusual placement, but despite being short this one has the same swagger as the last two. Loose, jazzy and confident from all four members. Nice! With around 6 minutes to go it dives into some lovely space and it’s clear Trey is gearing up for a segue… > Back on the Train: exactly what the doctor ordered at this point in the show. Fourth song in a row that’s done very well, especially from our resident redhead. Guitar theatrics for days in a tight 7 minute package. Waiting All Night: love this song. So beautiful. This one is a little bit rough around the edges though. 555: the crowd noise dying off instantly when this starts up is very funny. Standard. Roggae: pretty mellow jam with a few odd moments from Trey. The Dogs: great way to get the energy up! Well done. 46 Days: raging end to a mostly raging set. Trey decides to go absolutely ham in the outro – awesome. SET 2: Chalk Dust Torture: slooooooow tempo at the beginning, Trey sounds great vocally though. Initial jam is pretty standard and tense. Then after the return to the head, something interesting happens – Trey unilaterally decides on a second jam which leaves the rest of the band (Fish especially) high and dry. After a minute they course correct and we’re into an awesome warbling krautrock-style jam. Love Mike and Trey settling on a theme around 9:30, leaving Page to solo on clav. From there on the rest is just utterly fascinating – psychedelic, drippy, Miles Davis-like one chord bliss that isn’t particularly smooth in how it transitions between sections and thus wouldn’t be considered one of my favourite 3.0 jams but it’s definitely a unique and awesome moment in their modern history. Weird, adventurous, experimental Phish. 10:00-15:00 is spine-tinglingly good especially, as is the mini After Midnight jam that starts at around 16 minutes in. Outro melts away into some crazy effects that remind me strongly of a Radiohead song I can’t place. Impeccable transition into… -> Ghost: another great choice. Long and patient intro. Seems like it’s just gearing up to get going and then… -> Can’t Always Listen: never heard this one before – sounds very 70s Lynyrd Skynyrd or Allman’s-like, almost to the point where I could be convinced it were a cover. Not a bad song but odd placement and amusing hearing the crowd perk up when they start this, thinking that the band just started up some crazy type 2 Ghost jam. > Ghost: comes back from the dead at the end of Can’t Always Listen and we get some ominous effects-driven band interplay that I’m a big fan of. Page high up on the keys adding washes of notes is just great. Pretty eh ripcord into > Waves: mostly standard but check out the droney outro! Reminds me of portions of the Chalk Dust jam and continues the experimentation of this set. > Bathtub Gin: woah, interesting placement. Fun mini vocal jam at the end of the verse going into the solo. Jam is very mellow until the last few minutes, not quite hose-y bliss jamming but pretty pleasant overall. Then Trey just fires out a ton of arpeggios reminiscent of the end of Bouncing and we get a big 2015-style uplifting peak. Doesn’t really do it for me as much as I expected but a very good Gin all told. Mike’s Song: awesome way to keep up the momentum. There’s a very nice, albeit short, funky jam in this one. Would recommend. > Bouncing Around the Room: cool choice for the meat of a Mike’s Groove! Trey obviously got the idea to play this from the Gin jam, funny. Not big on this placement though. Trey’s arpeggios are weirdly shaky here which is odd because he was playing them so well in Gin. > Weekapaug Groove: chugging along nicely, then all of a sudden Trey teases a familiar lick, and then… -> What’s the Use?: Wow, can’t imagine how much of a shock this was live! Literally just slams into this more or less out of nowhere. People seem to love this particular WTU? but it’s not especially standout to me outside of its placement – Trey attempts to give it a huge shreddy peak which to me feels a touch forced. Prefer my WTU?s mellow and contemplative. -> Weekapaug Groove: straight back into it. LOVE the Auld Lang Syne tease right at the beginning of the jam. They get down and dirty with the funk for a little bit and then return to the refrain to close out the set. ENCORE: Character Zero: standard with great Trey moments. — OVERALL: a weird show that feels a little bit to me like less than the sum of its parts. Looking at the above review it looks like the recipe for an all-timer but something about the show’s flow and smoothness is a bit lacking to me. I think Set 1 is actually a little underrated here and the loose playing helps there rather than detracts, but Set 2, while super interesting, is a bit all over the place. Similar story with Trey tonight. Many songs here have about 30 seconds to a minute of absolute masterclass playing from him surrounded by other parts that feel disjointed. The middle 5 minutes of CDT is one of my favourite bits of Phish in their entire history, though. Let’s say around 3.7 stars.

This was one of my favorite shows recently. It was dark in places, it was funky in places and the band was absolutely on fire with all members having some form of standout portion. The other major giveaway that this show was a banger were the vibes inside the venue. You could feel the energy and see the crowd absolutely rocking. There are too many call outs to pick from here but the surprise of my night was Most Events Aren't Planned. I've never really enjoyed this song previously but on this night, that song slapped! What a way to end the second set!

This one has a slightly odd looking setlist, it wasn't a four-on-the-floor dance party and there's no mind-blowing jam I would point to and say "you gotta hear this one" ... and yet this show [i]really[/i] cooked. Strong versions of a few songs, some fun mini-bustouts — never thought I'd get an "Access Me" on the heels of a "Nothing" — but to me the big takeaway was just how locked in the band sounded. They played cohesive and clean all weekend, but especially tonight. They were firing on all cylinders. The only downside to this one is that it closed out a three-show run instead of being a Fall Tour lead-up to Halloween. But when the band sounds this good, I truly have no complaints.

On August 2nd, 2015 I was in the middle of a little Phish run in the south. I had flown in for the shows and didn’t have a car to traverse between cities so I found myself a ride with a friend called Shark, who reminds me every bit of a young Hunter S. Thompson, but without the gunplay. This made for a lively drive along the southern Interstates and in short order we crossed into Alabama and found our way to the hotel in Tuscaloosa. We were staying at the brand new Embassy Hotel in Tuscaloosa and quickly found our way to the complimentary happy hour to fill up on libation. When it came time to go to the show we simply walked out the back door of the hotel, strolled down the graded back lawn and found ourselves in the lot. I bought a couple of drinks and some lot food for dinner and picked up a Frank Zappa poster that will never see the wall. The venue itself was a small bowl surrounded by bleachers – I don’t recall the place having a lawn section. I was high up in the bleachers close to dead centre. I ended up staying in my proper seat the whole night making friends with the neighbours and pounding back lime-a-ritas from the vendor just behind me. The show was a lot of fun if a bit standard, but there were plenty of my faves in there. [i]Sample[/i] opener is always good, it gives me a chance to wheel around and meet the people behind me, if ever so briefly. The first set also included [i]Maze[/i] and[i] My Friend, My Friend[/i], which makes for a good first set to me. The highlight of the second set was when all the vendors stopped selling alcohol en masse nice and early without any warning – something to do with dry counties, religion, and a No-Fun squad that was as effective as it was invisible. I suppose it could have been considered a lowlight, but it stands out as the most memorable event of the set. There was also a [i]Harry Hood [/i]in there somewhere. The band encored with [i]A Day in the Life[/i], proving they knew I was out there somewhere, and after a slow romp through the pop-up night market that is the post-show lot I climbed the lawn and went to bed. https://toddmanout.com/

Hard to quite put your finger on what made this show special. It was a home game, from my vantage point. Big celebratory energy inside this cramped, funny old venue. Ghosts of old show dozin in the rafters. Great, offbeat setlists. Little treats everywhere (Access Me(!)). Terrific, superlative jamming. They keep having their opportunity to phone one in this year. To play a ho-hum Sunday night on a strange, one-off “fall tour”. Not this year, apparently! 2024 still hasn’t something left to prove! Bravo.

[b]The Use of Keys to Every Door[/b] Once upon a time some late October shows in upstate New York might have meant Fall Tour, or, maybe if you were lucky going back thirty years, a Halloween Run. There was plenty of precedent leading up to this single three-night run to inform what to expect, though maybe the most relevant is the more recent duo of benefit shows at SPAC last summer following the devastating floods in the region. In this case the ‘hometown’ shows were in support of the Divided Sky Foundation, the residential recovery center in Vermont founded by Trey to help support others struggling with addiction. And before I go any further, let me first encourage anyone reading this recap to make a donation to the foundation if you haven’t already. Maybe more importantly, if you or anyone you love is struggling with addiction, please know that help is out there. “All you have to do,” Trey offers, “is walk in the door.” Whatever familiar precedent was hanging over these shows was completely thrown out the window yesterday afternoon when the news broke that Phil Lesh had passed away. Early in the day I had posted some ‘outrageous Albany asks’ on the Forum, enjoying some silly speculation and wishful thinking about what we might hear at these shows, including old Halloween throwbacks, Siket Disk rarities, and—the most outrageous of all—a version of the Dead’s “Wharf Rat” as a nod to the Divided Sky benefit. Mostly in jest. That is of course until the Phil news broke, and it became increasingly inconceivable that the band would open the run with anything other than “Box of Rain.” (For those that aren’t aware, “Box of Rain” was written by Phil with Robert Hunter at a time when his father was dying of cancer.) I had only planned to attend Saturday, a one-off coda to the Bethel run I had done with my friend in August—only this time we’d be bringing our teenaged sons along. I briefly entertained finding a ticket and white knuckling it down from Montreal in the four hours I had before showtime on Friday, but it was not in the cards—or the stars—so I was shedding my tears watching the webcast while our community did our part to see Phil through, thinking not just of him, but also my friend, Dead scholar, and notable long time Phish fan in his own right, Steve Silberman, who also passed away this year, at the end of August. But by the time we had settled into our seats on Saturday there was a sense of Phishy familiarity and equilibrium in the air, in contrast to the heavy anticipation the night previous. I hadn’t been to Albany in fifteen years, when I caught the first show of a two night run in late November (if you’re keeping score, yeah, I missed the wrong night). My only other occasion at the venue was during the 20th anniversary mini-tour in 2003. My show buddy had a more impressive track record (of which he was only too happy to remind me), with the October 99 shows twenty-five years back his last visit, and the 12/9/95 classic, where he lucked into first-row mail order tickets, back when they still put seats on the floor. Things certainly kicked off with an old school flavour, with a welcome and playful “Possum” warming up the room. “Sigma Oasis” and its “echo of home” followed and didn’t take long to offer the first exploration and highlight of the evening, settling effortlessly into a spacious and soulful interplay that felt like it could have really taken off and taken up some serious space in the set. Alas Trey and the band seemed content to tie a bow on it and bring it back to the “Sigma Oasis” theme just after 10 minutes, maybe not quite ready for take-off. Still, it’s worth checking out, especially for signs of a new sound possibly emerging as 2025 approaches. Instead the bluesy dance theme initiated with the “Possum” came back through the station with “Back on the Train,” a first set staple in the abbreviated songbook that the band has been playing from for most of the year. Indeed If I had any complaints about this otherwise strong year, it would be the dominance in setlists of a smaller rotation of songs, which can sometimes rob them of their immediate emotional impact. Tonight was as good (or as bad, depending on your point of view) an example as any of this trend. Still, that also means the band continues to sound tight and well rehearsed, Trey especially showing a kind of poise in composed classics that he hasn’t displayed with so much consistency in a very long time. This sixty-year-old guy is clearly still practicing a ton. The “Back on the Train” was easily an above-average version, with some variations on a theme at one point that the official setlist currently has tagged as a “Rainy Day Women #12 and 25” tease. I’m not convinced that what we heard here is anything other than basic and similar sounding riff—and not just because it might have been an odd choice to suggest “everybody must get stoned” at the recovery benefit show (whatever Dylan’s original intent of the lyric). As if to undermine my short songlist point, the Undermind rarity “Nothing” appeared for only the ninth time, the last performance having sprung from a five-year void in Charleston in June 2022. There’s something about this Anastasio/Marshall Amfibian original lyrically that captures the broader spirit of this show to me. The suggestion that “nothing’s ensconced, nothing’s entrenched,” is an interesting frame for the dark, deconstructed jamming that would highlight about half the night’s jams. The contrast of being in “one instance not quite alone,” but in the next left behind, with “you like my thoughts .. borne off by the wind” brings impermanence to the fore. Impermanence is hard, it asks us to look at loss as the companion of love and attachment. ‘Nothing’ doesn’t mean nihilism, though. Impermanence is also the seat of possibility and recovery, and the promise, that if we’re able to face it with courage, that change is possible. Indeed, change is inevitable. Might as well lean in. “When I die,” Steve Silberman said, “please don’t say that I’ve crossed over into the spirit realm, gone to the Other Side, moved on to a better place, rejoined my ancestors, or any other of those comforting fables. Just selfishly or selflessly use my own impermanence to [i]wake up[/i] to your own.” So “Stash” gave the band an opportunity to embrace it all and lean back into darker tones. We had revisited the excellent, unique version from 10/10/99 in Albany on the way down in the car, and while this one didn’t come close to that kind of exploration, it had some fiery bite and precision to it following a brief ‘woo!’-filled breakdown. “Bouncing Around the Room” followed in a decidedly 1.0 fashion, now countering darkness with light. Trey looked particularly happy as he effortlessly nailed the song’s signature trills in a more than satisfying fashion. Speaking of which, don’t skip this “Tube.” The stupendous service to science was even funkier and more satisfying than usual, concocting a chemical reaction that effectively blew the top off the experiment in the room in short order. The crowd was loud and appreciative all night, and I had a great view of the energy on the floor from the first couple rows in Section 119 right next to Mike (where some band family members were also in attendance). Mike led the way in this jam, dropping some unique and dare I say Phil-inspired bombs and melodic lines. My only complaint about the room unfortunately had to do with the sound in that particular spot, which was a little muddy and suffered from sound bouncing off the back of the venue. This made it harder to fully parse and appreciate some of the gnarlier dissonant explorations of the night. Case in point was the “Bathtub Gin” that followed, which seemed to want to make the case that it can just as easily play the role of noisy deconstructed evil set closer as its Lawn Boy studio companion “Split Open and Melt.” This was an aggressive and strange “Gin.” Not all of it was to my taste—certainly not up to the vintage recently imbibed on 8/11/24 at Bethel, but worth a listen all the same for the change brewing therein. It also wasn’t the actual set closer. “More” sprinkled a little love and light (and a more than fine Trey solo) back in for good measure, promising another set to come. “Prince Caspian” opened the second frame on a similar, if slightly more melancholic tone; six minutes of another Trey favourite with the opportunity for a soulful solo, before Mike laid down the familiar gurgle of a “Down with Disease” that I had a feeling was coming. Trey seemed to be struggling a bit with his rig at the start of the song, and while there were some interesting moments of patience and space, the band never seemed to really lock in in a meaningful way. Trey looked over at Mike a few times suggesting a quick transition, without getting much of an acknowledgment. So they lingered a little longer in somewhat awkward fashion, flirting ever so briefly with some ‘Can’t Turn You Loose’-esque notes before making their way into the recovery of “Ruby Waves.” I was a bit concerned about the show’s trajectory at this point, as if they had inadvertently taken a wrong turn and couldn’t figure out how to regroup, and that we would be treated with some more formulaic crowd-pleasing up and down play. I can’t say that the rest of the show was knocked out of the park with highlights to rival some of this year’s high-water marks (the 2/22 “A Wave of Hope” and 8/11 “AC DC Bag” come to mind). But whereas the setlist stayed a familiar course for the rest of the night, the jamming style and exploration that began to emerge in “Ruby Waves” was decidedly experimental, unafraid to get weird and try the handles on a myriad of doors, like so many stars in the song. If the “Ruby Waves” bravely navigated the darkness between those celestial bodies, the “Fuego” did it one better, drilling (in Mike’s case at one point literally) to the depths of the planet’s fiery core. Indeed if you’re looking for the show’s centerpiece, look no further. As much as I have to admit I’ve tired a little by how much “Fuego” seems to follow me around (maybe it’s because this Dad keeps taking his son to shows?), I can’t find fault with anything that emerged here, even if it might not have been the most accessible stuff for a couple of teens. At some point the molten dissonance of the jam melted everything in its wake and Mike was dropping Fikus-infused sonic bombs again, the rest of the band swirling and piercing the threat of nothingness with meaning and delicious, horrible purpose. There’s a point in this jam at which it’s hard to tell who, other than Fish, is responsible for what gnarly sound. It only made sense then that “What’s the Use?” would emerge from this space, coming up explicitly against the threat of nihilism with that familiar, mournful wail. I’ve often wondered— especially in these years that we’ve been blessed with as a result of Trey’s recovery, in the company of so many songs of hope and redemption—what use “What’s the Use?” serves. As the song progressed beautifully and slowed to a long and fully silent halt, the lights on stage and in the room completely darkened, and the cheers too yielded to silence, it began to dawn on me. It’s precisely the ability to come up against the whole spectrum of darkness and face it, fully, without resistance, that makes the long hard climb to redemption possible. And boy is there some powerful redemption on display here in the final string of notes Trey pulls out of the darkness. A box of rain to ease the pain straight from the heart. The “Golden Age” (which happened to debut in Albany on 11/27/09) that followed makes even more sense here in that context, as a celebration of having made it through the wringer, a promise of better days ahead, and an encouragement not to falter. Lest you get too comfortable and assume smooth sailing from here out though, the jam goes from in-the-box positivity right back into deconstructed absurdity before drifting into the uncertain waters of “Lonely Trip,” echoing the themes visited in the first set’s “Nothing.” Some very nice work by Page on this one as we’re again presented with impermanence “when water turns to sand,” and the alternating paradox of sailing alone, with “doors closed tightly” and of chance encounters with other vessels along the way, and words as keys. “Sink like a stone, or float like feather.” “Thank you Mr. Miner. Thank you Mr. Hood.” “Harry Hood” took us home fittingly then—washing the dissonance and darkness of the show in a shower of praise, and the conviction that yes, you can feel good about what’s behind all these doors. It was a very strong version of the peak-laden classic that would foreshadow an even stronger “Slave to the Traffic Light” in the encore, following everyone’s favourite song by a bunch of 8th graders, “Golgi Apparatus.” Yes, it was maybe a little odd to get a “Hood” and a “Slave” in such proximity, but such is the state of a Phish setlist in 2024. Hardly something to resist, especially with performances as strong as these. And it’s that resistance to reality, isn’t it, that ultimately does harm? That withdrawal into ourselves to not face whatever might come, whether it be light or dark. Not every show is going to offer a masterpiece jam, rarities, or a cathartic rope to passing generational ships. But if you’ve brave enough to go deep, and weather the tides of impermanence and change, and November and more, you might find that there’s an anchor there, at the end of an unbroken chain, holding it all down. It doesn’t promise safe shores anymore than it promises stormy seas. Just the ongoing secret of searching for sound, and maybe, if you’re lucky, direction around some corner, where it’s been waiting to meet you. All you have to do is walk in the door…

This second set has a lot of abstract, challenging jams. One of the spacey jams melted into What’s the Use? which Trey sadly starts in the wrong key, but then proceeds to play the most patient, melodic and beautiful version I have heard in a long time. The following Golden Age gets spacey again, but then climaxes with an exciting ascending motif by Trey that then dissipates to thin air. Not for everyone, but worth checking out if you are the type of person who reads phish show reviews. Don’t bring these jams home to mama

First and foremost, Rest in Peace Phil Lesh! We love you and you’ve had a profound impact on many of us in the Phish community. Set 1 highlights: Box of Rain, Free, Sand. Box of Rain is a beautiful tribute to Phil, you don’t get to see phish play the dead too often! Moma > Free seems like usual first set fare but Free really gets there. Dirt is a favorite of mine, but Wolfman’s through Steam lulls a little for me. Listen yourself, good jams but nothing out of the ordinary. Sand delivers an atmospheric, funky jam that builds to a great peak. Trey, thanks for bringing back the DM2000! Set 2 highlights: Piper, Light > Tweezer, Carini. Set 2 opens with an unusually chill Blaze On jam that transitions perfectly into a monster Piper. Trey picks up a melody from Mike and watches Fishman closely as they navigate their way through the coolest jam of the night. They land on Light seamlessly on the back end of a blistering peak. Light finds some dark atmosphere in its short run time before a whimsical > Tweezer. Tweezer does its usual 2024 thing (funk, bliss, transition) but it seems like the band is content with not challenging Piper as the centerpiece of tonight’s second set. The Wedge and the Howling sounded out of sync to me [shrug] see for yourself. Monsters gives us a little more guitar hero Trey. Tonight was the perfect night for Numberline, which made me tear up as I thought about Trey’s relationship with Phil. The set closes with a rager of a Carini, it just keeps on building! So good! I love Sleeping Monkey in the encore slot, I’ll just have to keep chasing it! I want to address another review and say maybe Trey mouthed “Ghost” to Mike before they played it? Either way, it hit just right for me. They tried Ghost -> Tweeprise in Bethel and didn’t quite nail it, I love that they tried it again in Albany and totally nailed it this time. Conclusion: This is a pretty good show with a couple great moments sprinkled in. I don’t think it quite reaches the highs of summer tour but it bodes well for the rest of the weekend. 4/5