Nice, crispy DAT audience source available for this show—my birthday show! Big thanks to the mystery taper for making an incredible recording. Things kick off with a well-played Landlady, followed by solid versions of Jim and Foam. Melt is decent, and after Silent, Trey mentions how happy he is to finally be playing Philly. The recording really picks up the crowd’s ooo’s and aaahh’s during DaaM. MSO features an inspired, extended intro, and the audience claps along enthusiastically during Stash. Set two starts with a tease of the Ferris Bueller song that leads into a tight Buried Alive. Suzy is strong, with some extra percussion added during Page’s B3 solo—possibly Trey? A flawless All Things smashes into a ripping mid-set Bowie, complete with cool All Things teases during the intro. Fish also slips in a Long Tall Glasses quote. The Crazy Train suggestions from the crowd crack me up, but instead, Fish treats everyone to his new Neil Diamond number. He even brings out the Bag-Vac for Rosie! Tight YEM closer with Mike or Fish dropping a “saay what?!?” in reference to Wash Ufizi, plus a fun Three Blind Mice tease in the vocal jam that wraps up with the Lights Out.

SET 1: Crowd Control: cool. Forgot Trey used to call for this one a good amount in early 3.0. No complaints here, feel-good opener for this summer show. My Friend, My Friend: perfect follow up, feels good in this spot. Give us some dirt, boys! > Scent of a Mule: yee fuckin ha! This explodes out of the end of MFMF in style. No rest for the wicked so far! Raging klezmer section leads into some marimba lumina playing that almost sounds like an acid bassline, would go hard at a Shpongle show. The audience starts a clap-along, funny. To be honest this is a pretty uneventful Mule breakdown, pretty much just a marimba bassline with no accompaniment. They would go on to perfect the marimba-led Mule breakdown on 7/20, but I respect the attempt to do something different here. Undermind: cool. A little funkier than usual in the composed section. Standard version otherwise. Fish is good at this whole drumming thing, eh? So good that Trey introduces ‘Moses Heaps!’ after the song finishes. Naturally they have to go into a Fish-led song next… A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing: the 2.0 songs keep on coming. My opinion: don’t play this one unless you are willing to jam it. Doesn’t fully work as a type 1 tune IMO. This one has some good rage from Trey though. I Didn’t Know: Trey highlighting Fish again! Cool. Fish is introduced as Moses DeWitt. Foam: very nice. Another Fish-led song. Let’s see how they do. The answer is: very well! A little on the slower side but not many flubs to my ears. Wombat: nice call, they’re having fun. Super tight, SUPER funky version. Good stuff - recommended. Divided Sky: yesssss. I’m grinning ear to ear. Tight composed section, well done. The jam portion and ending are much less inspired. It’s still Divided Sky so who cares. Wading in the Velvet Sea: okay cooldown placement. Good solo. David Bowie: great way to end a set. Concise, raging, rocking Bowie. Good. — SET 2: Carini: the ol’ 3.0 reliable. After the (slightly shaky) composed section, jam starts out in a typical rocking, tense zone, but very quickly moves to quiet major key playing around 5:30. Cute little space here especially with Trey’s strummy riff that starts up soon after. Good playing from Fish. Trey darkens it slightly a couple mins later and then commits to a rock-adjacent space at 9:30. Sounds like it’s gonna enter a cool Camden CDT-ish jam with whale call, but Trey abruptly aborts it for > Waves: it was a solid Carini but they didn’t land on anything particularly special so I understand this call. Surprisingly nice major key peaks from Trey before they return to the head, then Page pushes a very pleasant droney ambient jam with fluttery Fish and plenty of Mike bombs. Remains me strangely of a Necks jam. Trey’s loops starting at 8:45 - lovely. I’m floating in the sea at night. Fades out naturally, no ripcord. Nice Waves here! Recommended. They found what they were looking for in Carini. Wingsuit: biiiiig fan of this placement after the end of that Waves ambience. Nearly any song can be redeemed by a good placement - exhibit A here. Piper: fast as hell to start. This is like an ‘00 Piper in the early going, minus the long intro of course. Trey is out for blood at the beginning of the jam with some aggressive playing but then he hits the wah pedal and we’re in funk zone. Holy clav @ 5 minutes! Really is the instrument of the tour. Back to rock at 6:30, then back to funk at 7:20. This section is awesome and sounds a good bit like the Fuego break, Page ripping the organ and all. Back to rock once again at 9m and with Page plonking those heavy rhythm chords we’re on the way to some nice hose. Totally shreds from here on out. Sounds exactly like a post-BD bliss jam but with that extra edge of a slightly younger Trey’s dexterity and Page’s swaggering confidence. You don’t hear too many jams like these in the first half of 3.0 so this is very cool. Good stuff, check it out! > Fluffhead: wow, Trey’s feeling brave if he’s going for this here (and it’s fast too!) Interesting placement. Yep lol this is flubbed by Trey almost immediately after the vocals - figured this was a bit ambitious. Nothing irreparable. Pretty mundane version from there on out. Heavy Things: Trey is for sure in a good mood if he wants to play this here. Kinda strange spot but I adore this tune. Page gets some time to shine on the organ here, the band (save Fish) cuts out for a portion. Cute. > Slave to the Traffic Light: yesssss. Sometimes this can feel tacked on but I’m feeling this placement big time. Set ender? Standard, though I kinda enjoy some of Trey’s low-end work in the jam. Obviously not an all timer but this peaks convincingly. Nice Slave. You think the set is done and then… You Enjoy Myself: hahahahahaha there’s no way. Fluff, DSky, Bowie, Foam, YEM and Slave in the same show - 1989 called and they want their setlist back! So cool. Opening arpeggios are majorly flubbed by Trey. A couple more light flubs later on in the composed section. A shame! Jam goes quiet almost immediately and the crowd claps along. Very funky Mike and Trey interplay here - reminds me of Khruangbin for some reason. Extremely cool stuff. Man if only Trey hadn’t fucked the composed section so badly. Mike is EVERYWHERE here. Gets dissonant and goofy at 14 mins in, Fish on the cowbell. Then Trey teases Wombat lightly at 15 mins and begins to angle towards a peak, but there isn’t much of one. Bass + drums with Mike’s crazy effects pedals and then a funny, weird vocal jam. Give this one a listen, but the flubs unfortunately preclude the listenability here. ENCORE: Suzy Greenberg: standard. Vibes. — OVERALL: don’t have too much bad to say about this show. Does it lack a ‘big moment’ or two typically present in the greats from this era? Sure - it’s a little vanilla. But there isn’t really a slow stretch here and the setlist is remarkably solid. Maybe not quite as relistenable as some other shows but that set 2 is pretty damn good, I’d be pumped after seeing that. Waves and Piper are quality as fuck, Wombat, Slave and Bowie aren’t too far behind. Check it out. 3.8 stars.

My first show, and this was a lot of fun. Julius and Loving Cup set openers were both great surprises. Soul Planet and Martian Monster are two of my favorites and it was great hearing them back-to-back. The Mikes/Hydroden/Weekapaug leading into a 26 minute Everything's Right in set two was perfect. Everything's Right kicked my Phish Phandom into high gear in March of 2020 and was such an emotional lift during shutdown, so hearing a great version live in my first show was a priceless life experience. This may not be the best show ever (or the best show that week for that matter), but definitely a great first show for me.

Amazing digital audience source available on streaming platforms for this show! It really captures the sound of the Broome County Forum perfectly. Definitely not a SBD as reported. There are a few digi zaps in Reba, Brother, Sloth, and Fire, but the rest of the show is clean. Huge thanks to Mr. Mystery taper! They hit the ground running right out of the gate with a tight Wilson flowing into a fantastic Reba. Trey introduces the alligator pit and references it throughout a red-hot Brother. Every song from Glide through Mound is flawless. The Antelope closer strikes the perfect balance of soft and loud in the jam. Fish even pulls out his bone during the Marco section to top it all off. What a first set! Trey teases Roundabout at the start of the second set, then things explode with a ferocious Mike’s Groove. The Groove is absolutely killer!! There have been some outstanding Weekapaugs recently (ie 11/8, 11/21), but this one is easily the cream of the crop up to this point. “Make!!!” Make turns into Mike, which leads to the band rolling through the crew roster in an absolutely wild version of Sanity. The Hood that follows is beautiful. At the start of Foreigner’s Cold as Ice, Trey drops the fun tidbit that the last rock band to play the Broome County Forum was indeed Foreigner. A fantastic Possum closes out set two. “This is a song about brutal death!” Trey teaches the Secret Language for the third time this tour. There’s a micro Bowie jam baked into the opening of Possum to give an example of how the Secret Language works. Fantastic way to end an incredible night of music!

First rail show for me!!! Right in front of Trey!!! In the Seahawks Wilson jersey. Got a Trey point+laugh after Julius. What a night [b]Boogie On Reggae Woman:[/b] Starting off with some funk and a nice solo by Trey [b]Undermind:[/b] Good work from Page and Trey [b]Bouncing Around The Room:[/b] Standard [b]Birds Of A Feather:[/b] Huuuuge type 1 feel good version [b]Esther:[/b] Couple rough spots but good to hear as always [b]Funky Bitch:[/b] rager [b]It’s Ice:[/b] not perfect put nice Page clav during the short jam section [b]Ether Edge:[/b] jam starts quiet and pretty, then grows in intensity before breaking completely free into the first type 2 of the night and after a couple minutes peaks [b]Moonage Daydream:[/b] One of my most wanted not seen songs at the time. Absolutely incredible smoking version to close the set [b]Everything’s Right:[/b] Jam gets off to a slow start and didn't get anywhere too interesting before segueing into [b]Simple:[/b] Nice Trey soloing to begin the jam and a few beautiful minutes emerge before Trey pushes on. Jam ends in a great peak [b]A Wave Of Hope:[/b] Fun effects usage from Trey and another pretty jam for a bit [b]Simple:[/b] Sandwich!! [b]Beneath A Sea Of Stars Part 1:[/b] really cool no lights moment. Gets weird which is good [b]Gotta Jibboo:[/b] really great energized version especially Trey [b]Suzy Greenburg:[/b] Page’s house [b]Julius: [/b]another set closing rocker. (Trey point!!) [b]Izabella:[/b] cool cover [b]Possum:[/b] ending the show in appropriate fashion Solid show with not a ton of creative jamming in my opinion but solid performances throughout. This is a 6.5/10 show. Highlights are Boogie On, Birds, Ether Edge, Moonage, Simple, Wave Of Hope-> Simple, Beneath A Sea Of Stars, and Julius

Waiting all night with my friend Jason on Alligator Alley listening to West Palm 96 on repeat seemed fitting. I also remember a State trooper and a megaphone yelling at the vehicle in front of us that's how you drive in Arkansas you don't get out of the way when police have lights on not sure what was going on there might have been a band member punking him. He got out of the car was like this is rental I'm not even from Arkansas. I remember walking backwards down the Alligator Alley just to get out and move around and some yelled Possum at me and I was like weird but no there was a dead possum on the side of the highway I almost stepped on. I also remembered some older folks maybe in there 80's just kind of distraught from be stuck in traffic with a bunch crazy's lol. Sun has risen we have not made much progress in traffic overnight couple kids who walked from Ft Lauderdale Airport have shown up and would like to hitch a ride. So finally I looked at Jason I said let hit the breakdown lanes and find out what is going on we make our way to the front a Sheriff is giving us a boat load of shit for having to passengers in the bed of the truck but they let us pass. We make our way to the country store/ gas station at the Big Cypress exit I said to Jason we better fill the truck up with fuel before we get in. I walk into this country store it has been rampaged not much left. I did see a disposable camera one left I should have bought but on our very limited budget we decided against "regret". We make our way to the gate security mirrors under the truck they looked through everything found my marsh mellow sling shot no big loss there. Looked over at the mountain of tanks they acquired probably the largest stack I had ever seen. Now it's off to park and camp made our way onto 8th ave or st what ever it was. Find a spot next to some Florida cats who had a giant light up Santa on a pole which made for easier navigation for the weekend. Time to boogie hour before first set Night One made our way to the field security checking people stuff to get on the field. Walk to empty line with a Rasta dready guy just kept on going not sure why no one was in that line had nothing to declare just walked in. Caught the first set Chief Jim Billy some cheesy Alligator song at this point I need a nap so off to crash for minute. I half a sleep and I hear Wilson from what felt like a mile away. Time to get moving again really just need little pick me up after that don't really remember to much from night one. NYE so lets get this party stated middle afternoon pretty warm out but not crazy for Florida so Spit Open and Melt comes on I decide this is a good time to melt. Things hit me little hard I'm now in the field inventing the Tebow my friend goes and grabs me a lemonade for the rescue and I catapult back on the train funky after midnight jam and now I'm hungry back to camp for some roman and summer sausage that was a holiday gift which was only source of food do to bad planning and traffic. NYE set I'm flying pretty high anticipation got the fther time guy peddling moving a clock that seemed to be for ever cheers to all it's all little meatstick dance and balls flying everywhere I get nailed in the head by a 8ft ball little whiplash no big deal balloons popping disease insanity has erupted at this point. Know I have to take a piss I look at Jason I'll be right back he was like yeah right 80k plus you find this spot I was like no worries I'll be back look around seen some shoes on the person next to me light up Jordan for reference easy. I venture all the way across the field hugged some people drank some champaign make over to the wooden back stage fence to piss with a hundred phans smell was ripe. Then walked back throught the 80k folks in the dark to my friend. Rock and Roll guess everything on outside was alright. Yem and cheesecake just insane probably still the best one I remember brain melted on the ground into this amazing crosseyed that is up their as one of the best but still have the 96 west palm in my head at the time honestly nothing touches that version. I'm full dance vibe through sand and into quadrophonic which would echoe throught the forest and just amazing experience of sound not sure how to explain this but it was pure bliss and enjoyment. Slave comes on and its quite could probably here a pin drop then Trey goes into Albuquerque yells out some random States North Dakota which was funny Jason yells being born there we get a little laugh. Then its reba time fun with some plaster mix. David Bowie always amazing piece. I'm just in the groove at this point until sometime around the horse and Silent in the Morning just quite and making me little emotional at this point probably through bitter sweet motel. Piper comes on and we jamming again free then Lawn Boy emontional again just enjoying the monument. Then hyu and the most insane vacuum echoes through the forest and back to us a sound that is hard to put into words. 2001 into wading in the velvet I believe I'm still wading in that velvet sea. Meatstick still wading the velvet sea lol Then here Comes the sun as they walk of my friend Jason pokes me and he is like its over I laughed no it just began. Still really high feet need a good scrubbing. Some interesting memories like looking at the mercury floating in the canals Giant Paper Airplane the guy dressed as a jester who I though was the devil for a minute. Some nice young lady who was picking ground scores after the show she was cute never got her name but she invited me back to camp way to spun for that. The lovely lady who gave me a single match to light my cig after the show and honestly was probably checking on my well being . The Seminole who told me we where leaving with more garbage than we brought in. The cheesecake light setup made me hungry ck5 Yvonne for giving a burrito love you Vonnie. Captian Cosmo and his boat car.

This show features a decent SBD source for the soundcheck, though the pitch is a touch sharp. The audience recording is clean but a bit muddy. Huge thanks to John Redmond for capturing this one! The soundcheck kicks off with a fun Shaggy Dog that flows into a really cool jam. They briefly hit the Chalk Dust reprise before delivering the first full performance of Lullaby of Birdland, which had only been teased during the Providence Creaturelope. Mound and a smokin’ Maze round out the soundcheck nicely. Set one opens with Trey introducing a celebrity in the front row, Mr. Bruce Burgess, before firing off a Landlady/Rift combo. Melt holds its own, and the DaaM/Forbin pairing lands well. The story is more straightforward than the last Forbin/Mockingbird sequence in Portsmouth. All Things shows a few shaky spots, but a beautifully chaotic Bowie closes out the set. Set two kicks off with Glide and immediately launches into a raging Chalk Dust. NICU features another satisfying jam, while MSO comes across supercharged. Stash is well executed, and Coil showcases a beautiful Page solo. The YEM closer delivers from start to finish. Before diving into Sleeping Monkey, Trey playfully mocks part of the vocal jam.

Decent SBD source here (with some cassette hiss) up through Tweezer, where it switches over to a clean digital audience source. Big thanks to the mystery taper with the B&K 4011s for capturing this one. Things get rolling with a Buried Alive > Possum 1–2 punch. Possum features some secret language but no instructions, and Trey absolutely tears into it. Henrietta breaks out the vacuum during I Didn’t Know. Trey hits a few sour notes in Sky but quickly recovers and takes it home strong. There’s a tape flip following the Asse Festival section of Guelah, then it’s straight into Rift. Trey takes nice solo in Rift—good stuff. While this Antelope doesn’t quite reach the heights of the Creaturelope from Providence, it’s still a tight and fiery closer to set one. A very enjoyable Jim opens the second half. Trey sends out a St. Patty’s Day greeting before launching into Glide. Poor Heart gets teased before they sneak through the back door into Sloth. A lively Poor Heart follows, complete with some funny banter about Cactus—“the man with the hair!” The SBD fades out as Tweezer begins, then returns with a strong audience patch. This is a thunderous Tweezer, pairing beautifully with Esther. Mike’s Groove may be pint-sized, but it hits hard. Fish introduces the whole band during Love You, along with his new toy, before a blazing Llama shuts down set two. For the encore, Trey mentions, “this is a pretty big room but we’re gonna try this anyway,” before the band delivers lovely mic-less versions of Memories and Sweet Adeline. Both come through surprisingly well considering the setup. The taper didn’t even need to bump the levels.

“What songs are you hoping to hear tonight?”, my friend asked from the passenger seat on our drive from Michigan to Columbus. As Keller Williams’ acoustic cover of Run Like An Antelope blasted from the stereo, I replied that I’ve reached a point in my Phish fandom where I’m looking more for variety and surprise than for replication of any specific endorphin rush from my past… “But I sure wouldn’t mind getting an Antelope!” A scan of recent setlists revealed that none of summer tour’s nine previous shows had been graced by the presence of the swift herbivore. I began to sense a tiny thrill of anticipation, that feeling I forgot. Columbus had hosted several memorable moments in Phish history, including the phenomenal Polaris ’99 Birds Of A Feather selected for a “Dinner and a Movie” webcast and the legendary 1994 performance memorialized on Live Phish Volume 10. Tonight marked the band’s first appearance in Ohio’s capital in 25 years, and its first at Ohio State University’s indoor basketball arena. It turned out to be a show full of interesting song choices, quirky setlist construction, and big jams in surprising places. AC/DC Bag kicked things off with 5 minutes of Bag and 6 minutes of stellar improv, a clear sign the band came to play. Next, Roggae scattered into a tumble of major-key sunbeams, and the first Vultures of 2025 offered the crowd a chance to woo Trey into a broad smile. Martian Monster’s trip was short indeed. Mull, a Mike Gordon original debuted in 2021, delivered a jam so deep and intricate it seemed to surprise even the musicians themselves. Quick takes on Strawberry Letter 23 and Undermind then led to the first Petrichor in three years. I’m a big fan of “Broadway Phish,” and the many musical themes in this 14-minute piece were delivered crisply and cleanly. First set ended with a swirling, stomping, dark and dirty Life Saving Gun, almost 20 minutes’ worth. Very impressive. To everyone’s surprise, Sample In A Jar opened set two, followed by a 26-minute Wave of Hope. Distinctly different jam segments cascaded one after another until a screaming guitar peak crashed back into the chorus and the crowd erupted into a several-minute ovation. We were hushed by the atmospheric intro to Waiting All Night, a gorgeous ballad from the original Wingsuit suite not played live since 2021. Every member executed the song’s layered vocal parts so sharply, you’d never have guessed it. The pranksters onstage immediately swerved into the metallic crunch of Axilla (Part II), whose drippy outro bled directly into the musical centerpiece of the evening: A fire-breathing red worm named Piper. Tonight’s performance of the late-‘90s classic was its longest and finest since the band’s reunion in 2009, and the jam maintained explosive momentum across its entire 22 minutes, driven by Jon “The Machine” Fishman’s hairpin rollercoaster percussion. This was Phish at its antigravitational psychic-network best, the kind of playing that recently has so many jaded veterans shaking their heads and admitting the band might be better now than ever. Brisk jaunts through Lonely Trip, Number Line, and Loving Cup felt like a victory lap. With dopamine surging, I could feel the hooves of my Antelope encore approaching from a mile away, but the band had two more surprises beforehand in the form of Bug and The Mango Song. Finally, Rocco and Marco made their triumphant appearance and carried us across the evening’s finish line at a dead sprint. What a show. Phish wins again! We emerged into the humid summer night completely satisfied, reassured that Phish *always* wins, and our favorite band’s intent is *still* all for our delight.

Crispy dSBD source for this one, with vocals sitting extra high in the mix. Things get rolling with a tight Jim > Cavern combo. Trey’s guitar is a bit buried early on, but the balance gets sorted out soon enough. Reba is smooth and well-paced, and Stash brings the fire as expected. Chalk Dust finds a nice little pocket before easing into an appropriate A-Train. They wrap up the first set with a clean, albeit standard Mike’s Groove. Set two kicks off with a straight-ahead Golgi before bursting into an explosive Llama. Trey blanks on the opening verse of Melt but quickly finds his footing, leading the band through a strong version. Excellent version of Hood — the extended intro alone is worth the listen, and there’s a neat Off to See the Wizard tease tucked into the opening of the jam. After a fun Cracklin’ Rosie, Trey introduces “the man who only sings songs from the two greatest artists of our time, Syd Barrett and Neil Diamond.” lol. Possum closes the set in fiery fashion, peppered with some secret language signals but no explanations. Sleeping Monkey opens the encore, and hometown hero John Popper jumps in during the Let It Be section. He sticks around for a blistering GXBX to cap the night.

Just noticed that David Bowie was performing on this same night at The Starplex Amphitheater in nearby Dallas, TX (a recording of which was released and titled OUVREZ LE CHIEN). Maybe an impetus for the debut of Life on Mars? or just a coincidence. Either way, glad that song joined the Phish catalog, eventually leading to the Halloween performance of Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and Spiders from Mars.

Crispy SBD source available for this show. Big thanks to Arty for remastering this classic performance! They kick things off with a solid Curtain>Melt combo. Melt features a killer little jam. Page takes a B3 solo for the first time, having used his electric piano during the solo section in the first three versions of Maze. Still no tension and release during Trey’s solo. The Sky that follows is blistering. Fluffhead is well played, with a cool Follow the Yellow Brick Road tease during the arrival section. This leads straight into the best Antelope up to this point, and arguably one of the best Antelope’s of their career. This Antelope is absolutely bananas! An inspired Wilson opens set two with fun Somewhere Over the Rainbow teases in the intro. A solid Brother follows. Horse>Silent is still a work in progress, lacking Trey’s guitar trills at the end. Landlady>Lizards makes for an interesting pairing, as does the My Mind>Sloth that follows. Henrietta treats the audience to two solos — one from his new Bag-Vac and the second from his vacuum. The Possum set closer includes another Secret Language lesson, as Trey notes “word has not spread yet since the Portsmouth shows.” Solid but fairly straightforward version. At the start of the encore, Mike says, “I’ve never played one of these before, it’s high time I start,” referring to his new accordion. Beautiful opening to Contact, and Fire rips to wrap up the evening.

SET 1: 555: not thrilled about this as an opener. Don’t mind opening with new songs but this doesn’t do it for me in this slot. Kill Devil Falls: sure, that’s more like it. Decent type 1 peak, sticks to the standard formula. Bouncing Around the Room: meh. Weird flow to start the set. Reba: sure. Fast by 3.0 standards! Pretty nailed composition too, considering the pace. They practiced this one. Jam section is vanilla but very well done from Trey especially. Ripping end with a big guitar peak, then whistling and so on. Quality vanilla Reba, nothing exceptional but very clean. Waiting All Night: big fan of this straight after a Reba jam. Great version. Clean, with organ high in the mix and some Mike bombs that get a cheer. They take some time after to decide on a call. Birds of a Feather: god, I wish I could drum half as well as Fish does on the verses of this one. Below average version. Halfway to the Moon: oof, this doesn’t add much to the set. > Sparkle: not the smoothest version. > Sample in the Jar: yeah, not into this flow at all. A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing: too little too late. Trey develops one or two interesting ideas in his solo but it is short. Stash: maybe we’ll get something going here? Well played composed section outside of one small mistake from Trey after the ‘woah’s, nice and fast too. Jam starts in a jazzy space, nice playing from Page here and in the whole jam really. Trey and Page build up some really solid old school tension and then peak it. The peak is so close to being great but Trey misses a few notes and then is way off at the very end. Close to being a great version but unfortunately isn’t quite one. The Squirming Coil: looooool at Mike’s high pitched screaming during the final chorus. Good solo from Page, nice and lengthy. Ever the MVP of 2014. Page dedicates the song to Pollack at the end. — SET 2: Golden Age: an… interesting choice to have this open set 2, but I prefer it here than ripcording a jam later on. Trey forgets a few lyrics, film at 11. Keep an eye out for Trey playing one (1) chord with wah at 6:30 and the rest of the band changing course on a dime within a literal second. These guys know each other so well. Funky jam finally picks up a fun riff at 9:20ish and becomes groovy as hell - total four headed monster 10 minutes in. Page is a funk machine! Crowd loves the direction things are going at 11:30 and roars its approval. Totally searing clav at 12:50, jeeeesus - this becomes a theme of the ‘14 Northerly run. All of a sudden Fish moves to end the jam and collapses into freeform chaos as 14:30, while Page lays down some g funk synths and Trey loops some effects. Then - bam, all of a sudden Fish reforms the jam at 15:30! Trey signals to bring things quieter again, there’s a brief move into a slow feel, and then the jam falls apart once more into synths and space. Funk fans should definitely check this one out! Great set opener. Crazy that all this is accomplished in a hair over 17 minutes. > The Mango Song: yes!!!!!!! Wow!!!! What a call from Trey. That’s ballsy. Love this song and it’s done well. Sand: cool spot for this. But this Sand is extremely short and is aborted within 6 and a half minutes - it grinds to a total halt with the ripcord into Piper. You can tell Trey is checked out of the jam by the 5 minute mark. What gives? Disappointing. > Piper: well, here’s hoping this is good enough to justify that ripcord. They speed through the lyrics and get into typical fast-paced old school jamming, kind of like a 2000 Piper but with less Trey shredding. Some stop-start work at around 6:30 and the move to funk is inevitable from that point onwards. They lock in on a percussive feel at 7:30, good stuff. Listen to Mike shredding it up with those fast runs! Trey lays down some effects at 8:40 and Fish, just like in Golden Age, takes this as a cue to end. Not sure if it was indeed a cue to end or if Fish misinterpreted Trey’s intentions, but again just like in Golden Age Fish starts up a new beat at a different tempo. Seems like it’s gonna get really interesting with Trey’s delay-based playing and fiery Page piano, true type 2 stuff - but Trey has other ideas, moving -> Halley’s Comet: I mean sure, solid transition. Not crazy about the placement though. Mike doesn’t come in with the ‘doop joop’ vocals until the ‘what would you do’ verse. Song feels incomplete without them! Kinda awkward and uncertain version. At the end Trey is clearly angling towards some other funk tune, and then -> Wombat: lol at this point why not. Love this song and the weird vibes of this set suit it here somehow. There’s clear intent to take this one for a ride very early on after the composed section. Meatball tone from Mike at 4:30 leads to a flurry of Trey and Page interplay at 5:00 – feels uncertain until 6:00, when the rhythm section locks in on a beat and suddenly we’re off. MASSIVE Mike bomb at 6:40. Sort of airy and indifferent space with fluttery guitar for a couple mins, pretty pleasant. Trey pushes for something faster at 8:30, and soon after we’re in a shuffling space with Fish hitting a great beat that reminds me of Jim a little. Unfortunately the guitarist can’t find inspiration here and once again hard rips > Chalk Dust. There’s length to this Wombat but unfortunately not a ton of substance. > Chalk Dust Torture: okay. Man Fish really wants to make this show something - listen to his kick drum work at 5:30ish - WOW. Actually a pretty good type 1 rager here, Trey sounds more comfortable with type 1 playing this show than with boundary-less improv. Slave to the Traffic Light: standard. — ENCORE: Julius: Page out on the organ to start the jam. Fun. Trey’s solo is standard and then it’s over. Low-key version to close the night. — OVERALL: the flow is just all over the place tonight. One or two good highlights in isolation - mostly that Golden Age really - and then a whole lot of meh. The momentum shifts and abrupt transitions between energies in both sets really sink this show for me. I’m a lot lower on it than .net is it seems. Check out Golden Age>Mango>Sand and maybe Reba and Waiting All Night. 3.2 stars.

Who voted this show down? This was the beauty and majesty of this band at full force. A true classic. It doesn't matter, I know but for gods sake this was monumental and the people who shoved this down the stream are jaded. The whole show was beautiful from front to back. I have to type more to qualify for a real review. The Phish cant stop and they wont stop.

If you can make it through Buried > Bag without wincing, you are likely also a fan of 85-86 era Phish. The entire show is way off, and it’s not just Trey; Mike and Page are wild throughout, and Fish, from the recording, sounds like he might be frustrated with the other guys in the first set, to the point in Bag where I thought he really might stop playing. A bunch of short, flubby tunes put this set out of its misery. Set 2, if you are a fan of the IT 46 Days, offers a little more than the first. DWD is a solid, dark, rhythmic version that will make you wonder, perhaps aloud, “is this from the same show?” Indeed it is, and trash immediately follows. But the Disease is pretty freaking good.

I'm noticing these show reviews are of the SBD / tapes audio. I was actually AT this show. I'm that old. I remember the covers most, and the fact that there was a keg just outside the door behind the stage. The band and 1-2 crew were just hanging out there drinking and smoking with us like regular Joes. Kinda funny to think about that these days. Trey was a big fan of sleeveless cutoff T-shirts and white basketball sneakers with the tongue sticking out back then. Also Fish with the long hair and racquetball goggles was a fun look. ~Nigel

Decent audience source for this show, with just a touch of cassette hiss. Big thanks to Dave Shanker for pulling this one down and Todd and Arty for getting it into circulation! Things kick off with a nice Runaway/Foam combo. Stash slays. Showboat Gertrude’s bag-vac is barely audible during I Didn’t Know, which Trey dedicates to Nectar himself, somewhere out in the audience. Solid Reba. I’m loving Page and Trey’s solos in the newer reworked version of Rift! Page takes the spotlight during Magilla, and Llama rips per usual. A solid YEM closes out the first half, with the first extended nirvana section. Set two opens with a standard Golgi. Tweezer is fairly straightforward but rocks hard, and Eliza provides a nice landing pad. Some tasty B3 action from Page in Ice’s midsection, followed by another pretty Coil solo. Page kicks off Bowie with a shoutout to Matt DeCorletto and friends, sending them to the Flynn Box Office, while Mike has fun deconstructing Matt’s name. lol The band goes backwards down the setlist line during the hi-hat hijinx, teasing every song that came before Bowie up to the first set-closing YEM. Rippin’ version all around. Cracklin’ Rosie ends with a big atypical flourish, MSO closes with an extra-long pause, and Cavern wraps up set two. The encore starts with Sweet Adeline coming through loud and clear, followed by a well-played Weigh and Tweezer Reprise.

Absolute barn burner of a show! Wolfman, like Buried Alive the night before, is such a classic show opener. I must admit I was wearing my Llama shirt so I was pretty stoked to hear a nice FAST Llama in the 2 hole, even if Trey flubbed the opening bit at first. The Martian Monster was funky af, Trey had a lot of fun with the crowd during that long pause in the middle of a beautiful Divided Sky, and the Axilla was fun and rockin! I've always thought that Taste is [b]way[/b] underrated and they gave us a good one to end the first set. But the 2nd set is really where it REALLY took off. The Carini/Light sandwich was over 30 minutes long and melted my face clean off; everyone was screaming when they went back into Carini!!! It was one of those evil Phish jams where they get so far away from the song during the jam, almost to the point of leaving the audience confused, and somehow bring it back without any pointless noodling in a way only these four can. This gave way to Sand, which they once again used as an extended jam vehicle that got weird but funky. This was my first Lizards and they rocked it the fuck out, and the YEM to end the set had it all: Trampolines, the vocal jam, and more importantly, they came out of the vocal jam with more instrumental jamming that brought down the house. I don't care what anyone says, that YEM holds its own against any 1.0 YEM, and I confirmed that listening to the soundboard recording a week after the show, so don't tell me it's attendance bias! Finally, the closing Encore was, I believe, the 2nd longest Meatstick ever played. Boy did it get funky and jammy, all 12,000 of us were dancing our asses off like we weren't tired from 2 straight nights of dancing. Definitely their best show of September, and that 2nd set may be the best set from 2025. Killer show, blew the first night out of the water.

The audience source for this one is pretty rough, you can tell it’s been passed through a few cassette generations. The show kicks off with Page thanking the crowd for not smoking while Trey noodles Smoke on the Water in the background. Seems like Page always ends up being the guy stuck making those announcements. lol Suzy gets things moving and Trey drops the proper name of My Friend after it wraps up. He even shouts out a fan, Steve E, for driving 18 hours to be there—then cracks a joke about having the bouncers toss him out “just to make it a night he’ll never forget.” Haha Reba is gorgeous as always. Page has to step in again before Maze with another no-smoking warning, saying the venue might shut it all down if people don’t cut it out. Melt keeps things tight, and Trey makes sure to reveal the name of Mound this time, something he skipped back at the Portsmouth debut. During the pause in Divided Sky, Trey clowns a fan by yelling out “Possum!”. lol Set two comes out swinging with a ripping Llama. The In an Intensive Care Unit jam is playful and even drops a Simpsons signal for good measure. Both Gin and Brother hit solid, and then Fish breaks out the bagpipes along with another Syd Barrett number, Baby Lemonade. There’s even a little Sanity tease slipped in after that. Before All Things, Trey takes a moment to talk about how much he digs the tune and where it came from, and they roll it into a sweet Hood. Rocky Top slams the door shut on the second frame with plenty of energy. The encore is a treat. Sanity makes a return after almost three years and they even bring it back at the original slower tempo. Memories and Carolina close things out, and considering they’re sung without microphones, they actually come through surprisingly clear on tape.

Amazing show, and an absolutely special weekend. So glad I flew out from Portland for these shows, it was one of the best weekends of my life! Our crew, that I have known most online for many years posting together in the Phish Discord, had a grilled cheese bar and more taco fixings in the Williamsburg Airbnb. Great setup and it elevated the run for sure. We arrived early for the Sunday Show and cruised the lot a bit, but mostly wanted to get in early for the long security lines. That was a fun adventure in itself, trying to decide when to drop the beans. Made it in and started the show on the floor, right hand side in the middle. Hopes were high for the opener, and they were rewarded when we got a First Tube. Among songs that regularly get played a good amount, this is up there for best opener choice. Super solid stuff and there was a neat little groove in there at one point. Twenty Years Later was an interesting choice for next, didn't expect it. My first version live. I wonder if that was a reference to the 2004 shows or something similar. Bag next was nice and then I was surprised to see Foam next, again my first version! Was super hyped to catch that. Prior to this run, I had checked my stats and this was the most likely song that I hadn't seen, so happy to finally achieve that! The Gun next was a blast. I was getting a beer in the concession stands when it started and then was lost trying to find my way back to the people I was next to, so I was just floating around lol during this time. Really good jam on this LSG, one of my favorite recent tunes and one that I am always happy to catch a version of. This one ROCKS. This is where the first set starts to pick up, as then they go into a killer Roggae. Everything is played so well lately but this song's batting average is like, superhuman. I would take a 2001 at every show I attend. It's the perfect dance song. The crowd especially was on top of this song, and you can hear it even on the SBDs. Meat was great, giving the crowd even more by playing a nod to the sign that was up all weekend. Hampton definitely seems to be the best venue for banners as it's all GA and then you can easily get to a rail, vs another venue where you have to be lucky or spend extra money to get a seat on a rail. Anyways, that was a great Meat and I was pumped to see Melt, was hoping it was coming all weekend. I recall getting lost in the sauce for this one and needed to get some water but that goes to show, it was powerful and upon relisten, there's this nice minor-key ending jam to it that is worth a listen. I have grown to really like Golgi and it was just as powerful as the MSG version I saw last year. MEAP was a nice call, I thought the set was over but it is also a fun dance party. As others have said, great first set with LSG through Melt being the highlights for sure. I finally found the rest of my crew during setbreak and enjoyed the rest of the show with them. This set may contain one of the best stretches of the run (Weekapaug Groove through Scents and Subtle Sounds). Mike's Song continues the banger opener streak - crowd went nuts and there was a really cool jam with the Mike's. There is also a bit in there that sounds like a Macarena riff, so perhaps that will be on the notes someday. Hydrogen is the sandwich, the second time that I've gotten that (4/22 BGCA). The Groove is perfect next, this might be my favorite all-time Phish song. The WGTYM -> Scents is 40 minutes of prime Phish. It used to be, say, prior to 2021, that two 20-minute jams in a show was basically unheard of. Now, they're back to back and it's just another example of this band hitting these highs so consistently. This pairing has everything. Hose with the WGTYM, a fantastic jam on that, and then a clean -> Scents, another of my all-time favorite songs. The part where they go "Scents Scents Subtle, Scents Scents Subtle Sounds" in vocal round is one of the best Phish moments out of all of them. There is not only a great beginning initial jam, but then there's a moment here that goes almost completely quiet, and then they rebuild into this great minimalist ambient space. It's quite wonderful. Of course, it's a must hear. Lonely Trip is a perfect placement afterward, that song is absolutely incredible and mesmerizing. Some of Trey's best work. Ghost and CDT - two classic ragers to close, the CDT especially. A nice way to end the show... can't I live while I'm young! I like Life Beyond the Dream if it's placed well and this one is, definitely earned by Trey. The Hood to close is of course, spectacular. It was a shame the run was over because it was so much fun. Super cool to see the "21" idea, didn't even catch that live and if so, that's absolutely wild. Great times, great people, great food, and great shows. That is what a vacation is all about, and this was a perfect one. Thank you Phish for an incredible weekend! As of writing this, I hit the lottery for a 4-day pass for MSG, so... Clearly Phish Inc. wants me broke, and most likely I will see you all there at MSG! Life is good!

This show was INCREDIBLE!! Full ENERGY throughout!!! Day 2 in Hampton was lots of fun. Crew had an Airbnb up by Williamsburg where we made breakfast tacos. Was settling into the time zone difference. Hampton is such a weird place, it's not really right next to either of the main cities on either side of it, and it's kind of in the middle of just flat suburban land. The venue sticks out like a gem and that's what we're all there for. I suppose Hampton would be a nice little vacation trek/destination to someone who lived in NYC, Boston or Philly, and for that I can see the charm it probably had in the 1990s and 2000s. I was just happy to be there, really. On lot I met up with some folks that I had only known online through the Phish contingent on Bluesky. We got in early and sat down in the back right of the venue, seats this time. Not like I was going to be sitting down at any moment during this show, of course. Lines were longer this time around to get in. Anticipation was building for the show to start, and when it finally did, I couldn't imagine a much cooler opener choice. Boogie On, opening a show for just the second time ever! (Mexico 2017 being the other.) That was so hype and so cool and I knew we were in for a banger. Always loved Bouncing, that song got me into Phish. I was excited when the Birds of a Feather came - this was my first live version (this would occur like 6 times this show!). Not only was it my first ever live, but it was actually a really good version. This was the first jamming surprise of the night and it has a nice energetic jam. Was loving things for sure. Esther was next - always a cool rarity. Had seen it up at the Gorge 2021 (come back there, please!) and I remember going nuts and no one else knew what was happening. This time around, this was a "home" crowd that knew Phish, similarly to MSG crowds, and so they were right on top of it. I read somewhere that 91% of tickets were from people not in the VA area, which is wild. Esther was well played and a nice slowdown of sorts. Re-listened prior to writing this and everything is just at such a high level. My first Funky Bitch was next and love a good Mike tune. He gets off a nice yell in this one. First It's Ice (abolish ICE!) next and that was cool. The ETHER EDGE is one of the highlights for me of this set and run. It really kills listening back. I could have sworn they were going to go into Good Lovin' or La Bamba lol but it was just a similar chord progression. Was cheering loud when they went into Ether Edge and it was rewarded with a 15+ excursion into hose territory, there is a really good jam on this Edge. Frenzied guitar from Mr. Trey on this one. Hope they play it more in following shows. Anything could have ended the set after that, but we hit the jackpot here, with Moonage. A continued quest to take the set to the next level and a song that I had really wanted to see live. Finally got the wish and they absolutely killed it. Crowd not only right on top of the band throughout the song, but I will never forget Trey with a shit-eating grin singing "Press your SPACE face close to mine" in the Mothership.. that was special. The solo on this absolutely rips and there was that Hampton roar of energy. IMO this had the best crowd energy out of 3 (hard bar to top, to be fair, all were killers). The way it just kept building was incredible and CK5 also killed it with the shining red and white. Money first set! I had guessed that Everything's Right was going to be played this night as a response to the killing outside of the show on N1. It was great to sing along at full blast to the song, I love ER and always have. That one has gotten me out of some dark places. A nice jam for sure and Trey leads us into Simple, a real nice segue and the crowd went ballistic, definitely a must-hear, as is really the entire S2. This Simple could possibly be worth the price of admission alone. Mind-blowing stuff there. A great jam and the energy continues into Wave of Hope, another good version of that and then back into Simple for the final ribbon on top. One of the most memorable moments of the run, and easily one of the most unique, happens next when they go into Beneath a Sea of Stars. I LOVE BASOS and versions like this are exactly why. This evokes the primordial psychic soup of some of the greatest Dark Stars. The lights were turned off inside of the Mothership during this, and it was just like a fat slab of pure psychadelic jamming. Straight to my veins. This was so so so good. I will slurp up the BASOS soup all day. The decision to go into Jibboo after the ambience was diabolical, LMAO. Trey and the guys are so fucking funny. I was cackling in the moment, it was gold. This is like the Phish version of Dark Star -> El Paso. Also, it was my first Jibboo and it was a good one - similar to the BOAF earlier! This has a real solid jam to it as well and it peaks quite nicely. In my mind I was thinking this moment would be perfect for a Suzy, so I actually wasn't surprised when it happened. The energy was ELECTRIC around this time - just pure pleasure for all involved. I was sweating dancing my ass off to this Suzy, rhythmic as always. Thought that could have ended the set but then they went into Julius after, another banger, perfect selection. My first live Julius as well. They were just showing off for this "home" crowd and delivering the goods. Words cannot really describe the pure power of how much energy was in the room during the Suzy through Possum stretch, that was just electric. Always nice to catch an Izabella and Possum to close. My favorite show of the run, just because of the almost otherworldly force of the way that both sets ended. That was Phish magic and why you go to these shows.... After the encore ended we walked out and the arena was so hot and so much energy was expelled that it was WET everywhere. The ground was wet, there was condensation in the air, and I nearly slipped a few times just getting out of there. Never seen anything like that at any show. I suppose that's Hampton for ya. My crew bought a nitrous tank for at-home usage and although I didn't partake in that, I did with other things, and continued the party into the wee hours of the night. What a night and what a show. 10/10

To me, this was a pretty incredible show overall, that fell just short of truly being flawless. Set 1 was damn near perfect, and focused more on the classic early 90s phish tightness style over exploratory jamming. Possum>Wolfmans>Lengthwise>Maze>Theme was such a fantastic start, each version absolutely ripping and none overstayed their welcome. More isn't my favorite, but it was a tight version that set the stage for Divided Sky very well. And as good as the first half of set 1 was, the second half was even better. An epic Sky, followed by impeccably tight renditions of NMINML and MEAP. (Is No Man's better as a tight energy filled jam rather than an exploratory jam vehicle?) And that would have been a pretty perfect set... But Trey just plays straight into an impeccable version of Fluffhead instead... Most Fluffheads Aren't Planned? A perfect way to close. Set 2 starts with Hey Stranger, which I felt could have gone in an interesting direction, but they cut it short instead of jamming it out. (Was it an intentional warmup? Did they try to jam it out and decide... Nah, let's just segue into Disease instead?). That said, Disease gets spacey, jazzy, deep, and weird, and was the top jam of set 2 imo. Winterqueen was a pleasant cooldown, if not my favorite ballad. Energy goes straight back to 10/10 again when Tweezer starts, which was a ton of fun as Tweezer always is, even if imo this Tweezer was fun but nothing truly special. Still, it's Tweezer - some of them have to be only great. Then, the set loses energy. Seven Below could have stayed exploratory, but was cut short. (I think set flow would have been better with a Mondegreen-esque ~50-60 minute 1-2-3 punch of Disease>Tweezer>Seven Below without the Winterqueen cooldown, but alas). Short versions of Piper and 2001 were nothing special, even though 2001 always gets the crowd going. Then, a pleasant Everything's Right to close it out. (Not a big fan of the sappy Trey songs, but this one had some solid juice). Makes me think - Did the band plan to close out set 2 with Fluffhead, but Trey knew in the moment that set 1 was really special so he played it there instead? Speaking of sappy Trey songs, we get A Life Beyond the Dream in the encore slot... Kinda kills the energy imo but this was a well-played version of the song with a great Trey solo. Anyway. That's not what we care about. This show had perhaps the greatest Hood of 4.0 to close everything out. I'm still thinking about Trey's note held for about a minute and a half... leading up to a magical peak. It's just that good. So yeah, a pretty perfect extended first set, we got a nasty Disease and a fun Tweezer in an up and down second set, and then got one of the greatest Hoods in recent memory. Gotta give this show an A-, but it's about as strong of an A- as possible.

Decent audience source for set one, but it suffers from multiple cassette generations and the pitch runs a hair sharp. Set two’s source, though, is a crispy dSBD. Trey slips in the Star Trek theme before launching into a rippin’ Brother. They follow that with the debut of My Mind. Foam features Trey dropping an infectious little solo. Afterwards he checks in with the crowd saying, “do you guys remember the language? Just checking!” lol. During Jim’s breakdown Trey tests the audience with a Simpsons signal, and the version absolutely scorches. They cool it down with the debut of Horse > Silent. I love the original placement of Matilda in between. Trey introduces it simply as Silent in the Morning, calling it “a debut of sorts” lol. He also jokes, “I hope you don’t mind that we’re playing so much new stuff,” before kicking into another Maze. No audience clap-along on the intro this time. Mango is solid but sadly the ending is cut, and the tape jumps into Landlady. Rift makes another appearance. The Antelope intro has Trey testing the crowd with both an All Fall Down and a Random Note signal, and the jam that follows just slays. The Marco section is filled with more signals, though the audience only seems to catch Me and My Arrow and the Simpsons one. Set two opens with Trey explaining the name of the bluegrass tune from the first set and how they stumbled on it. A fun MSO kicks things off, rolling right into a delicious Tweezer that picks up where the monster NYE version left off. The debut of Weigh gets no fanfare, and instead they barrel straight into a rippin’ Chalk Dust. Mike’s Song is strong, and Weekapaug, though short, is pure ear candy. They slam into Henrietta’s new theme, Cold as Ice, and Fish gets inspired with his Ba Ba’s during the debut of Cracklin’ Rosie lol. Afterwards Trey mentions how they switched Henrietta’s theme to one he really digs. Tweezer Reprise caps a rock-solid second set. Before Sweet Adeline, Trey jokes about Page wearing the finest shoes in the room. They wrap up the two-night stand at the Music Hall with Golgi, punctuated by one last Simpsons signal.

Outstanding show with a fantastic Tweezer that has an absolutely haunting Manteca tease/4 bar jam that calls back to the rest of 98 where many Tweezers after Lemonwheel featured a Manteca quote/tease/jam (10/30, 11/14, 11/24, 11/28). Albeit somewhat generic, the emotion in the jam puts it at #2 for the year behind Alpine in my 100% objective Tweezer Evaluation System (TwESys).

I come back to this show frequently for this definitive version of “Mull.” Sick Mike effects the whole jam, then around 8:40 we get dark and heavy with outstanding Trey FX, Fishman keeps the beat strong all the way with no 4.0 octopus clanging. The next two minutes are like peak early 90s Wrestlemania, you’ll see (hear and visualize) what I mean.

The sound quality leaves a lot to be desired—the band sounds like Alvin and the Chipmunks. lol I’m sure they’re sitting on some crispy tapes of this one. Definitely would make for a cool release. The tape starts off with a solid Maze for a rehearsal. Cool original version of Weigh. Rift has an impressive midsection with both Page and Trey taking fire solos. Love how they rehearse Cold as Ice right after Cracklin’ Rosie. lol Interesting Horse into Silent with Digi-Farts present throughout Silent. The original version of NICU, or “In an Intensive Care Unit” as Trey introduces it, is really fun—nice micro jam in the midsection.

Nice audience recording available for this show. The Nice audience recording available for this show. The source info lists it as a purported SBD, but it’s pretty clear that’s not accurate. There’s a bit of tape warble throughout, but it’s barely noticeable. The tour kicks off with a newly reworked version of Rift. Even though Rift had been played a few times in early 1990, Trey introduces it as a debut. Ice features a groovy midsection, and the pairing of Oh Kee Pa into Divided Sky is just beautiful. Tape flip occurs before Guelah, but no music is lost. The start of Maze has a fun audience clap-along. Page plays his electric piano instead of the B3 during his solo in the debut of Maze. Trey delivers a solid solo, though this early version doesn’t reach the big peak yet. Reba is gorgeous! The near-flawless debut of All Things Reconsidered follows. Trey introduces it at the start of the Bowie set closer, noting it’s a variation on All Things Considered and that they’ll be playing it on VPR. The hi-hat antics continue with plenty of secret language tricks as well as fun Jeopardy and Star Trek teases. Rock-solid jam with more secret language sprinkled throughout. The debut of My Friend is cut at the start, with Trey introducing it as Knife. After Poor Heart, he reveals the secret language the band had been using for a few years without the audience knowing. He walks the crowd through the Simpson’s signal, Turn, Turn, Turn signal, Random Note signal, and the All Fall Down signal, which he makes up on the spot—definitely a memorable moment. Stash features the audience clapping along during Fish’s wood block section, leading into a nice little jam. The debut of Mound comes next, unannounced by Trey, flowing seamlessly into a well-played Llama. Some tape warble appears at the start of the NICU debut, where Trey introduces it as In an Intensive Care Unit, noting the name might change and thanking the crowd for putting up with all the new material. Set 2 closes with a rippin’ Possum, and the encore delivers the debut of Sleeping Monkey, though the recording cuts off at the conclusion of the song. On a personal note, this was my very first bootleg when I started listening to Phish. Those secret language instructions alone sparked a lifelong obsession with the band.

This was a FANTASTIC run of three shows and one of the best weekends of my life! Such a good time, and now I want to go to MSG! My Phish experience has leveled up lately upon meeting and coordinating with a wonderful crew from the Phish Discord (the "Phishcord") and it has made things so much more easy to go to shows and have an amazing time and amazing people. Once Fall Tour was announced, the destination for most of the folks was Hampton, and for me, this was going to accomplish a dream of mine, ever since I got into Phish for the first time over a decade ago. Hampton Coliseum has been this mythical place full of history and wonder. The Formerly the Warlocks shows. The Hampton Halleys. Hampton Comes Alive. The Return (2003). The Actual Return (2009). The incredible runs in 2013 & 2018, especially listening to the 2013 run many times when I had first become a Phan. So much amazing history in this place. I'm sure Harpua from a decade ago would have been proud of me going there, and I'm definitely proud of going there for this run. This was SPECIAL! Such a fun time! I started off taking an overnight flight from Portland to Baltimore. I had never taken an overnight flight before, and so I tried to sleep. Maybe got a couple hours tops, lol. Woke up and we were landing in Baltimore and I met up with the first member of our crew, and we took the short hop into Norfolk. There, we met up with more folks, and the fun was on. We rented an Airbnb collectively on the far side of Hampton - Williamsburg. It was in this really cool resort and we had a full two-room, two story experience, where we set up and had a blast doing so. The music was top-tier, we ordered groceries and cooked up a storm, and folks were having such a good time. I was so excited for these shows - I had recently went to Dicks 2024, MSG 2024, and the first 5 of Spring Tour on the west coast, all complete fire. Phish is just playing so well right now - I couldn't miss Hampton - who knows when they would return (if they return?), so it had to happen. Worth every penny. We shuttled into the show and the visual of Hampton Coliseum is AWESOME. That place is a post-modern masterpiece. So funny that it isn't really used that much because it's so out of the way and in a random location, but the architects for that KILLED.. they understood the assignment and made a distinct, memorable place. It felt like walking up to a church or cathedral. Took a ton of great photos and we enjoyed the lot. Upon entry our crew went to the floor. It was so much fun to take in the arena - it's got a bit of magic to it. We ended up about 10-15 rows back on Mike Side. Fantastic visuals. Folks knew we were in for the takeoff in the mothership when... Booooom! Fluffhead! Everyone knew exactly what it was referencing. Me, the crew, and the crowd went ballistic. Such a classy touch, just so exclamatory and positive and it was the first of many "next-level" moments in the run. They nailed the Fluff and it was a great peak in that. On to 46 Days which rocked hard, and then they kept the juice going with My Friend, My Friend - one of the best breakouts in the last year. This was no exception - immediately a really great jam and things have just begun. Must hear for sure. Rift next was a fantastic choice to keep the energy going, thought that was a great setlist decision from Trey (an old school "slowdown" that wasn't much of a slowdown) - it was played well and set the tone for Gumbo, which was AWESOME! I had gotten an incredible Gumbo jam in San Francisco in April and this kept that going - another banger Gumbo. This song is possibly on the rise as a vehicle yet again. Pebbles is always welcome, love when this song gets played. Army of One was a true slowdown spot (and an earned one), this was my first live version of it. Cool stuff. I will always take a Ya Mar - one of my longtime favorites. Enjoyed the Wedge and Walls to close Set 1. Barn-burner for sure, and a really strong start to the run, especially Fluff through Gumbo. Energy! What a choice to start Set 2 - hadn't been played since Summer 2023. I caught one in Eugene 2021. A neat song, always love when they play covers, and this one has a nice jam. In my mind it was a nod to the Hampton crowd, perhaps? Solid tune and version. Of course, with it not being played the first 5 shows of the mini-Fall Tour, you had to expect it: Tweezer! God damn this was so good and so fun. They are just so good right now. A 28-minute Tweezer with so many different themes and all of them thrilling and engaging. Straight cash, homie. Ruby Waves and No Men keep the jamming going, and there was just such a classy and well-done segue back into Tweezer to cap of 71+ minutes of exploration to start Set 2. I mean, that was worth the price of admission right there. Waste, a perfect slowdown - this was also paired with a tasty Ruby 12/29/2024 and 4/22/2025.. it all just works and flows so wonderfully. A nice rager Rock and Roll to close, I hadn't seen that song live since 2015. Cute little encore to close and the Reprise hit well - I recall just being so sad the show was ending because I was having such a good time. Lmao. We made it outside and heard the news from the lot outside - there were so many cops around and it felt like we needed to get out of there. Thankfully we did. I didn't let that stuff affect me and was just having a great time overall, so things just kept rolling. Unbelievable that there were still two more nights of the band performing at this high of a level and at this cool of a venue! It's also really cool that they've been at such a high for so long that the Debbie Downers in the community have largely been stifled and it's way for the better. I love this band more than basically anything else in my life. Personally, this is what I dreamed of as a kid - seeing such amazing Phish shows in these cool historical venues. What more is life about?

Now this is a Trey show I certainly won't forget. Me and my mother had two tickets for the very last row in the theater, acquired for face on CoT. This didn't hamper my enjoyment of the show, a wonderful acoustic performance, one bit. Trey went out and played a great variety of songs, toplined by the first acoustic WGTYM (love that song, as a jam vehicle or otherwise) and "Valdese". Jeff Tanski's involvement also gave the songs some extra punch, even if it threw me off to not have this totally be a [i]solo[/i] performance. And were there jams? You bet. Trey got up to a nice groove thang during "Blaze On", but for the most part the proggier material stood out. I think I was slouching in my seat during the "Fluffhead" closer, but that's okay. As tends to happen on concert Sundays, it was a long day for me. I should download a recording of this one...

So I guess this is going to count for reviewing my "first show" on .Net? Okay. The fall of 2022 provided some high times in local hockey arenas, and this was perhaps the headiest of them, augmented by, well, me. If you like music that sounds like Mario Kart, TAB is your jam, and this show certainly provided them. Highlights: "Ghost", the big-band rearrangement of "Camel Walk", and "Dark and Down", right before the Goose guys come on and make everything a streaming hot mess of a superjam. I also dig the only acoustic encore of the tour, Trey hearkening back to Phish's show in this town in '95, even if he seems to think they were playing on the [i]exact day[/i] of said show. Come on man, you were in Atlanta that day! At least it made up nicely for having to miss what would've been my first Phish show in July due to a COVID disaster. Thankfully I haven't had to go through that since, but I've gotten more than enough gigs with Trey to lessen the sting of that. So yeah, TABoose in Lowell: cool venue, fun show.