First set was pretty standard fare until the Forbin > Mockingbird. During the narration (all perhaps 20 seconds of narration) Trey mentioned that he didn't want to give something away. Little did we know at that point what he was talking about, but it had something to do with these crazy bearded aliens that Mike and Trey were wearing on their t-shirts. Ok, hmmmm... Anyway, like I said Forbin > Mockingbird these days is a rare treat. First set award should go to Wolfman's though. It got into a sweet funky groove with exploration foreshadowing the second set. I really enjoyed this, but it wasn't too special. Scents duel seemed a bit perfunctory, but I guess is standard these days. Page blows anyone off the stage anyway, so what's the point of dueling, right? Both STFTFP and Axilla were played white hot and Faulty Plan had Trey echoing the refrain into a reverb echo that was downright scary.

Second set: Backwards Down the Number Line is a great happy opener. This was well-played, bright and colorful. The Rock and Roll that started afterwards was also upbeat, but once the jamming started (undoubtedly Charlotte Jam) it all got warm and fuzzy. Fairy dust was spotted. The jam opened up as Mike took us into some strange territory and then Page and Trey started trading some nice meaty chops. They were peaking for a while and took it down low. There seemed to be one part where they were all looking for where they would go next, but they seemed to realize they were where they were trying to really go and then took the time to let things flow. Damn! We were hosed here. It was really nice. I heard a beat that I swore was "Twist" but then there were growls and "Ghost" was just there in all its glory.

This was perhaps the brightest "Ghost" I have ever heard. It did start out somewhat dark, but once the jam got going it seemed to be very joyful, warm almost. This was my favorite part of the night, dancing to the ecstatic waves of phantasmal glee. Just blazing hot too. Trey was absolutely on fire here and the others were right there with him. What a band! They can still surprise me. Yummy.

Ok, Free that followed was standard 3.0 Free - that is, well-played but not jammed out nearly enough. It's still a great song though. Reba that followed was executed with ruthless precision in the composed part - ok, we get it, you guys still have it - and then the jam was beautifully mellifluous. I'm telling you, this was also really bright.

Bright, happy stuff tonight!

Icculus... Anything I say will diminish it. Hopefully they will make a video of this.

Bike was its usual craziness. Jon took lots of bows. "Best drummer in the world," my son said. "Best vacuum cleaner player too," I responded. The solo went a little longer than usual, but "Bike" is always welcome to me.

You Enjoy Myself that ended was its usual excellence. The jamming here did get pretty dark and the vocal jam had shades of mounting chaos, before it all dissipated.

Double encore: Wilson, Loving Cup

Lots of Gamehendge tonight. Good show. I think a little better than average but I do not think it's the best of the tour. It is an interesting show though.

Never been to this venue before, was told that it was both a bust by the local authorities and venue staff yet one of the mecca's of fine Phish shows. Well, none of the venues that I've been too so far have been a bust, maybe the band's staff had a back and forth with each individual venue? 'Cause for what was supposedly a bust last year all I saw was general pleasantness this year. And that was a good thing.

A great thing was our seats (Sec 2, Row T), the sound (best of the shows I've personally attended, I'm sure helped by the pristine location), and the performance. Though I had the best time@Sunday Merriweather, tonight was one of the shows that will be talked about at the end of the year as one of "those" shows, where the attack was relentless from first note to last. And where the improvisation was both passionate and inspired. Everything was sharp and crisp, I might have detected a slight flub in one of the songs and couldn't remember which song if I tried. Stonehedge was on the musical menu tonight and Trey and company gave the assembled masses a old-school gospel reading, traveling medicine show, The Gospel According to Phish.

It started with Trey asking for a sign that read Mike's House and that was answered by Mike's Song and the party was on. Things slowed up a bit with the dreamy I Am Hydrogen and then got funkalicious and groovy with Weekapaug then I happily ended up Bouncing Around the Room. NICU was happily frantic and led to a personal fave, Sample in a Jar. Then the show took on a different feel with the Colonel and the Mockingbird making a rare visit. Trey plus rock god aspirations = Axilla. Wolfman's Brother was a funky highlight, Scent of a Mule was frantically yet totally on point and Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan ALWAYS speaks to me, this one not being the exception.

Only question was: Would they repeat the excellence of Set 1. Well, didn't quite get much time to think about it as it definitely was the shortest set break of any of the shows I've attended. And then...

...it was one of the finest displays of music I've witnessed. BDtNL started it, my friends indeed. Rock and Roll displayed a very unlike R and R jam, it got very dark and spacy and was a thrill-ride. But the real thrill-ride was Ghost, I thought NYE's was damm good but this one was the beast totally unleashed, it was stunning in its execution and deep in its exploration. Free followed, freeing me to dance as hard as I could possibly dance. Reba was spot-on. Then Trey the Teacher reappeared with the story of Icculus. Read the damm book! A history lesson that apparently hasn't been taught enough over the years, making it all the more special when you just happen to be in the building when they're in a teaching mood.

Fishman plus vaccum = hilarity!

CDT = Wow!

YEM after CDT = double WOW!

YEM = a different approach, it got dark in many respects, it was beautiful in all respects.

Wilson>Loving Cup, could not have drawn it up any nicer. And Trey was as spunky on the Cup as he was in Mike's Song, perhaps even spunkier, he showed no sign of wear and tear, he mostly got stronger as the night wore on in what was a three hour plus extravaganza.

Fishman gets MVP, propulsive throughout. The rest of the band was excellent, Mike dropping bass-bombs at will, Paige wins the Oscar for Best Supporting Musician in a Progressive Jam Band. And Trey wins for Tastiest Funkiest Jammiest Rock God in a Progressive Jam Band. This was IMHO brilliance. 'Cause they really wanted us to be happy tonight. If you weren't there, you should get it and decide for yourself. But I give it a two thumbs up 'cause I don't think it has been or will get much better than this.

BTW, Trey thanked us at the end of the Cup. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around, LOL?!?!?!?!?!?

Peace,
Alex

My first show:

I use to HATE this band. No reason why, I jsut grew up listening to Ramones, Sex Pistols, and NY Dolls. Phish never really fit into that. A good friend of mine was in town from NY and he was a huge fan. I thought it would be cool to suprise him with tickets to the show. We went and I was changed forever. Plenty of people assume, it must have been something I was "on" or "took" to enhance my time. But I was honestly sober the entire time.

I think the thing that took over was the bond the fans had with the show. I had never seen the parking lot for this venue turn into the Shakedown Street, I was amazed. I remember someone lighting a lantern that floated away, but the crowd stopped with the glowstick war to let the light take off. Walking away with fireworks shooting off from the parking lot, and the smiles from everyone...I was SOLD! I have been a huge fan since and plan on it being one forver. Great show, great times, best of times!

I feel like Summer 2011 has kind of receded into the background after the titanic accomplishments of 2012 and 2013, but there's still some darn good music to be found, including in this show (which, in its own right, gets overshadowed a bit by 5/28, 6/3, and 6/4). The first set could easily have been plucked from a 1993 show up until Wolfman's and boasts a pretty sharp Mule at the end, along with a Mockingbird that Trey plays around with a bit in his solo. The second set kicks off with Number Line (back in the days when it was still a well-enjoyed new song and not The Bane Of All Phish Fans' Existence), then brings a damned fine Rock & Roll that slides into off-kilter atonal space before bubbling back to life (Page's electric organ work is real nice here) and fizzling out in a Mike-bomb haze. Ghost slides out of the muck, and this is also a quite good version, which features Trey dancing mischievously around Fish's backbeat and the band building to a ferocious Gin-esque climax not unlike the fabled Holy Ghost, except instead of Trey shoehorning in the Ghost finishing chords Page gets to rip off a parade of organ stings as a finale (quite frankly, I'd prefer the Holy Ghost ended that way, too). The rest of the set, Free nonwithstanding, could also have come out of 1992 - I mean, a second set Reba, Icculus!, a Fish number, and YEM is Classic Younger Phish. Give this show a listen - there's enough to satisfy every type of Phish fan, from jam hounds to old-school chasers to, I dunno, fans of Sample in a Jar.

i revisited this show the other day, so i thought i'd give my $.02. i've seen phish 29 times, dating back to 1995, and it'd be impossible to pick a singular "best" show.....there are about a half-dozen shows that i could make that argument for, and all for different reasons. however, if i had to pick a show that captured the entire spectrum of phish, i might be tempted to pick this particular night in charlotte. there truly was something for everyone, newbies and diehards alike....we got crowd pleasers ala "bouncin'" & "sample"; songs for hardliners ala "forbins>mockingbird" & "icculus" (throw in "wilson" and that makes FOUR gamehendge tunes for the evening); solid, disciplined jamming in songs such as "wolfman's", "rock and roll", "ghost", "reba", and "you enjoy myself"; levity in moments such as the "scent" jam, the trampolines in YEM, the goofy narration in "icculus", and last but not least fishman's rendition of "bike"; a beefy two sets of music (a running time of over 3 hours on my CDs....definitely got my money's worth & then some); oh, and did i mention NO ballads on this particular evening? it was my wife's first phish concert, and a buddy that also went with us had seen the band almost 200 times, and all three of us universally agreed we had just witnessed a heater of a show. nowadays i can only attend maybe one phish show a year due to other obligations taking center stage, so i'm sure glad i chose charlotte as the show to go to in 2011!

jonahc is right.... trey pointed at a bird flying thru the venue when he said "look, its the famous mocking bird."

Trey actually said in Mockingbird " Hey Look, Its the famous mockingbird", and pointed towards 2 birds flying in the air

Wow.

Mike's Groove Opener, forbin/mockingbird, and a big set closing Wolfman, SOAM, STFTFP
The entire second set is a freighttrain. Amazing song choices and the RnR->Ghost is one of the absolute best 20 minutes of the year. Reba is always welcome. Icculus. Wait a minute. Icculus!!!!??? Then a hold your head up sandwich with customary fishman antics with bike! YEM to to send em home smiling.

One of my absolute favorite shows of 3.0

Best show of the year in my opinion.

The idea that this Ghost doesn't even warrant a NOTE on the setlist is crazy. This is euphoria well beyond the pale of a normal Ghost jam -- it's a epic throw down of joy.

Put that on the jam chart and smoke it.

And the rest of the show is just a smoker -- long forgotten at this point, but so worth seeking out. The second set is the stuff Phish dreams are made of.

It's kinda killing me that this hasn't been changed in the show notes. Trey Does Not reference his T-Shirt as being the famous mocking bird... he points at a bird flying over the crowd. This vid clearly shows him pointing outward.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bfpNNZoNMI

finally got my col forbins>FFM plus what? ICCULUS?!?!?!
I can now die a happy man

This show was awesome from start to finish.. It was one of "Those Shows"... With full on Phish antics, and rare gamehendge songs it was straight awesome.. My friends and I had been waiting on a Ghost for a while as well as a YEM.. This will definitely be marked as one of the best shows from the first leg of tour.

It had a semi-Camden-esque feel to it in the First Set, and with Free in the second as well. I would however say that the songs that were repeated from Camden were all played better.. This phase of opening shows with Mikes>H20>Wikapaug, is kind of cool, (Tery has played I am Hydrogen how many times, and he still f%$s it up everytime these days) and This set the played that line up sweetly with the best versions of those songs being played this tour so far..(I do miss longer groovier weekapaugs .. but alas) Scent of a Mule was played better as well, than previously.. anyways enough on my vague Camden comparisons..

Colnol Forbins > Fly Famous Mockingbird .. Awesome !! just listen to it ..Wolfmans had a good peak in the jam .. Scent of a Mule was played well.. Catchin an Axilla was cool too.. How can you not hardcore rock out to that one??..

Found myself wondering how they were going to top the first set, and was a little worried they would come out for the second set and slow it down with mediocrity ... NOPE I WAS WRONG..

2nd set opened with Backwards down the number line.. Played well, and had me thinking mediocrity .. Rock and Roll .. here we go .. a sweet jam after it drifting us in a dark demented ambient jam headed toward a Ghost.. It seemed like Trey couldn't get his looper to work right and had to give up on it.. Ghost played well with a littel flubadub here and there.. mike funked it up.. something which is occasionally left out of ghost.. the jam ending Ghost was sick...bang Free .. rocked as usual.. I wish mike had funked it up a little harder on that new bass of his, but on we went into Reba.. (people stop marking Reba as "No Whistling" damn it.. that song ends with a bad momma of a jam now instead.. and that's what they gave us .. Icculus .. Fun Phish antics.. HYHU Trey on the drums fishman singing Bike... Sweet Sweet Sweet.. Then a Rockin CDT and a much anticipated YEM... Awesome but rather typical YEM..

Wilson Encore.. a little more gamehandge.. and a Loving Cup to end it .. wow Solid Stuff Through and Through .. Like I said earlier this will be marked as one of the best if not the best show of the first leg of tour IMO.. We still have 2 more to go.

Such a wildly different set structure than just 2 nights ago. I think this is where the creative meats are being set up, for gods sake they can pull close to 300 songs outta their ass at any given time and perform them flawlessly. Its almost to stupid to think about anyone being able to do that and then to actually attempt to make each song sound somewhat unique EVERY time you play it must be completely draining at times and yet every time i see them, this year especially, they seem to be having so much fun. Whether or not their going deep into songs or just firing them off one after another each set has a unique feel and the boys seem to be stoked that the crowds are into it and each gig this tour features some weird little part that makes it stand on its own. The 2nd set last night was ridiculous, most spontaneous YEM ive heard in a while, the Ghosts, R & R's (each one this tours been a great vehicle for them) and all the narrations were just such a treat to see and hear. It's clear that the boys have their own agenda this tour and that even when they drop an egg on us or chop Tweezers head in 2 with a rusty knife (alpharetta...) they can still do a complete 180 and melt our fucking faces 48 hrs later. Ups and downs have always been a part of bands who had the balls to try something new and interactive every night, sometimes we pay the price but more often than not we're rewared with a totally unique experience. Even when the bands in "nostaglia" mode or flubbin' shit the crowds and the friends are still worth the price of admission, phish is a bonus. Cant wait for Virginia.....and as long as their in request mode someone needs to get a sign that says Bathtub Gin > Stash. Fuck askin for song I want my dreams to come true dammit!!

There seems to be no audio or video of the banter Trey had right before the Wilson encore. He talked about his daughter beating him at Wilson on Guitar Hero.

This second set had it all: Great improv and segue between R & R and Ghost, natural flow, Phishy antics, and rockin' set closer and encore.

Opening with Mike's set the tone for the evening. Bouncin', NICU, and Sample were single-like, but the flow was sensible and patient. Forbin> Mockingbird and Wolfman's each had really great moments.

These sets will be listed with the best ones of this leg of summer 2011.

I love the shout out to Noda in Icculus.

I'm from the so-called 1.0 era (dumb labels), and this was my first show post-breakup/-hiatus/-whatever. My wife is 6 years younger than me, and this was her first show EVER. She had always viewed Phish through the lens of studio recordings with Billy Breathes and Farmhouse being her go-to favorites, but she was completely blown away by the boys and their ability to seemingly communicate telepathically. She later told me this show helped her to understand why I spent most of my youth doing whatever I could to make it to the next Phish gig.

SET 1:
This is a highlights-of rather than a play-by-play account, but I remember being surprised by the Mike's > Hydrogen > Weekapaug opener, as, in my estimation, this has not occurred often....? The obligatory Bouncing Around the Room followed; it was played well, of course, but I wish they would remove it from the rotation. Got some NICU love after, which is always welcome. Stealing Time contained some of that old masterful dissonance-to-resolution-and-release that I loved so much from the years previous - a really good version that's worth seeking out. [Oh. There's a Pro-Shot video of it HERE on YouTube]

SET 2:
Trey slayed Backwards, which served to energize the crowd for the rest of the show. Got my first Rock & Roll after Backwards; "and it was [better than] all right", as was the jam that followed.
Icculus? Yes, please!
Incomplete Syd Barrett song (a personal favorite) with a vacuum solo that teases Somewhere Over the Rainbow? Yes, again! You're killing me!
Chalk Dust was energetic, but I was at MSG for NYE in '95 and no CDT will ever come close to equaling that rendition. The YEM jam (starting around the ten-minute mark) was knocked out of the park. The Wilson and Loving Cup encore was fantastic.

It's been 11 years since the show and what I remember most is how appropriate the Mike's opener was as he was on fire all night, spewing funky bass lines into the crowd at a consistent pace (see Wolfman, Ghost, Free, YEM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpQ3G2NMV7g Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan

The show was on fire from start to finish. The boys never let up and I just want to thank them for once again throwing such a great party.

I'm sorry but this show was not as on fire as everyone seems to be posting the day after the show. It was an average show with a few treats. Of course everyone is going to rage becuase OMG they played Forbin's>Mockingbird, and Icculus.
Set I
Mikes>Hydrogen>Weekapaug opener was a nice treat pretty short average version.
Wolfman's - Average
Scent of a Mule - Average

Set II
Numberline - Aveage
Free - Average
Reba - Average

Okay so you noticed by now I'm sure, that I didn't say anything about
Rock and Roll>Ghost, or YEM. Well that is because they were the songs which I think stood out.
Like I said above average show, which is surprising because usually Charlotte is a show that is fire.

btw - Bike was a nice treat.
Hopefully we can reset the rating on this show and get it to the rating it needs to be.