I can't really say much more than people have already said. 2004 is an extremely mixed bag, but as someone who never experienced it in person, I think it's the shit, and this show is easily the best of the year. I've listened to this Reba too many times. Mike fucking rules every second of this show. My only complaint is the Velvet Sea encore, what were they thinking?? It's such a bummer (but still badass). The Cavern is sloppy as hell, but still has some funky mustard in some places. My favorite show, would recommend to anyone who likes Phish. Ocean Piper '04

Another fantastic digital audience recording for this tour. Big thanks to the mystery taper and Arty for mastering this one. It sounds like he had his work cut out for him! Things start off with a pretty straightforward Chalk Dust. Reba soars! Solid Foam. TMWSIY pairs perfectly with the Buried Alive that follows. Train wreck nearly diverted in the Golgi set closer. Stash opens set 2 for the first time! Nice jam section in YEM. Solid B&D section with a little drum solo from Fish. Entertaining VJ with Manteca quotes throughout. Flat Fee offers a nice bridge to a fiery Bitch. Another fantastic Tweezer!! Tweezer fades out without returning to the Tweezer theme, instead they perform Sweet Adeline without mics. The band sings happy birthday to ck5 for his 26th bday and invites him to the stage to blowout the candles on his cake. Cool funky happy birthday groove with the horns! One of the highlights from this tour for sure! This transitions right into a fake out Tweezer->Tweezer Rep to wrap up the set. A nice Lawn Boy/Frankenstein for the first encore and a killer little Melt with a cool Munsters tease for good measure.

This almost sounds like it could be a Matrix recording but given the fact Phish Inc doesn’t have this show in their personal archive it’s most likely a beautiful FOB or an On Stage recording. I’d venture to guess the latter given the up front sound of the recording. There’s some weird hissing that pops up throughout the show here and there but is really only noticeable during Groove and Melt. A high energy MSO opener gets the show underway. Sloth and a nice Foam follow before the GCH enter for Suzy. Another fantastic version of Sky. Nice Bag jam that fades out into Adeline performed with no amplification. A fiery Antelope closes out set 1. Landlady starts off set 2 for the first time this tour which is kind of surprising given how well the horns work with this song. Rippin’ Llama. Poor Heart > Jesus Left makes for an interesting pairing. The Gumbo>Touch Me pairing is beyond predictable at this point. HYHU cuts and heads right into the midway point of Magilla. Not sure what happened there as this appears to be a digital source. Rock solid Mike’s Groove closer. Before the encore a fan can be heard saying “that was the best band I’ve ever seen!” ;) Despite the cries for Fee the band ends the evening with a raging Melt.

Back On the Train is a song I feel is criminally overlooked. Unless it's a MONSTER version (Japan in 2000, Nassau in 2003) it's just one people hardly ever talk about. To my ear, Fishman just always, always sounds so damn good on this tune, propelling the song along with such an infectious rhythm. And Trey's tone when playing this is spectacular. This version is no slouch. No, it's not a 20-minute rager, but not everything has to be; sometimes it's just perfectly good enough to be THIS band playing songs from all throughout their catalogue, and with aplomb. That's the case here. And then it's followed by Taste - the song that I feel showcases the 4-headed monster firing on all cylinders better than almost any other. Again, a "standard" version. But I think we've all been so spoiled that we forget that a "standard" version of a Phish song is still like 3000X better than most others. Enjoy this. Enjoy it in the moment, and listen & relive the splendor that is this band, because this sort of thing doesn't happen all the time. We're incredibly lucky to be sharing space with these guys. Appreciating the "standard" versions just makes those EPIC moments all that much better!

Another fantastic digital audience recording for this tour. Golgi closed out last nights show accompanied by the GCH and opened tonight’s show with Golgi sans the GCH. The start of Golgi is clipped on this recording. They follow this up with a standard Chalk Dust. Buried Alive transitions nicely out of Page’s Coil solo. The GCH join in for Buried Alive. Split Open was pretty straightforward for this tour but has an odd pause in the ‘Steam Dream’ section. The first Tela of the tour makes an appearance. Some noticeable rust present in sections. A solid YEM closes out the first half. Set 2 opens with a fiery Possum. Cool opening segment to Bowie with some teasing of The Asse Festival and the GCH teasing a number of songs. Killer little jam segment. The first Jesus Left of the tour provided a nice cool down. MSO seemed more up tempo than usual. First Funky Bitch of the tour rips with the GCH! Trey doesn’t introduce Fish for his vac solo in I Didn’t Know. After Fish’s solo Trey announces “Carl Gerhard on the vacuum cleaner ladies and gentlemen!” Inspired Suzy set closer with Trey saying “Have you seen juniors grades?” once again. At the start of the encore Fish asks the audience if they want some rock and roll. He says this once again during the opening to Contact. The audience gets some rock and roll during this super silly BBFCFM to end the show!

The source used on Relisten is incorrectly labeled as a SBD recording. This is in fact another fantastic digital audience recording from this tour. Things open up with a spunky Chalk Dust. A well played Foam follows. Trey says “Have you seen juniors grades?” during Suzy again. Solid Stash. Flat Fee was such a treat this tour! Spectacular Mike’s Groove to close set 1! A rippin’ Llama kicks off set 2. Well Reba. Nice work from Trey on the intro to Cavern. Another smokin’ version of Tweezer! Nice transition from DaaM to Gumbo. They seem to like pairing Touch Me up with Gumbo as this was the third time this tour. Atypical opening to a very fun Caravan to start off the encore. Golgi closes out the evening.

Crispy dSBD recording for this show. Things open up with a spunky Cavern. A flawless Divided Sky follows. Nice transition into Guelah. There’s a long pause after The Asse Festival. Caused from some technical difficulties. Fish says “anyone wanna buy some used equipment?” “We gotta fine boogie mason amplifier here!” This set was one of my first boots back in the day and I always got a kick out of that comment in the middle of Guelah! Afterwards Trey says “the extended dance version there!” Chunky Mike’s Groove to wrap up set 1! A gorgeous Tweezer kicks off the second half. The “Sultan of Swat”delivers a fun vac solo for I Didn’t Know. Solid Jim. I just love Lawn Boy with the trumpet! Sloth and Esther are played flawlessly. Bag has a fiery little jam that segues nicely into Contact. A high energy Tweezer Reprise closes out set 2. David Graham gets the crowd pumped up for more Phish before the encore. Trey takes a moment to plug the Trans Continental Bike Tour in support the Children’s Wish Foundation. He also invites everyone out to Amy’s Farm. “255 acres, swimming!” Gumbo features Steve-O on whatever you call that thing. Great version! Touch Me works great as a follow up. The Suzy to end the show is fantastic! Trey says “have you seen juniors grades?” again.

Holy smokes. Blistering 1st set. Awesome Divided Sky. Fun Harpua. Interesting early version of the Wedge, played differently then subsequent years. Antelope does not disappoint. Maybe my favorite slave ever? If you want to know what having a fever feels like listen to Slave into SOAM. SOAM is so demented and syncopated. Squirming coil has kind of a honkytonk yet psychedelic feel to it. Rest of set is shenanigans of course! Definitely a show worth hearing.

The Phish show on October 10, 2010, at the 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, CO, was an incredible experience that I'll cherish forever. Attending with my best friend and his wife, we made the trip from Chicago to Denver for a much-needed break. The previous night, we had a blast at the Four Mile Canyon benefit, where Phish’s Trey and Mike played acoustic sets alongside some amazing acts like Leftover Salmon, Yonder Mountain String Band (with Fish), Big Head Todd and The Monsters, and String Cheese Incident (with Trey). It was heartwarming to see the music community come together to support those affected by the Fourmile Canyon Fire. This show was the opening night of their fall tour, and the excitement in the venue was palpable. The setlist was a perfect mix of fan favorites and deep cuts. Kicking things off with "Chalk Dust Torture," the band set a high energy level that continued throughout the night. "Ocelot" was a particular highlight for me, with its beautiful melodies and lyrics resonating deeply. The second set was just as electrifying, featuring "Mike's Song" followed by "Simple" and "Ghost," showcasing Phish's ability to weave intricate jams. One standout moment was during "Fee," where Trey sang the verses through a megaphone, adding a fun twist to the classic. The seamless transition into "Makisupa Policeman" was another highlight, especially with Mike’s playful lyrics referencing waking up with an alien on his face, which really brought the crowd together in laughter. As the night progressed, we found ourselves moving around the venue, soaking in the atmosphere from different perspectives. Eventually, we ended up behind the stage, which offered a stunning view of the band and their interactions with each other. Watching Phish from that angle was a unique experience that made the night even more special. The encore of "Loving Cup" was the perfect way to close out the night, with the crowd singing along and celebrating the shared joy of live music. This show stands out not just for the music, but for the incredible memories made with friends, the beautiful Colorado scenery, and the warmth of the Phish community. I can’t wait to share more about these experiences, so be sure to like and subscribe for more Phish reviews. And stay tuned for my upcoming podcast, "Grateful Soup," where I'll explore more of my musical adventures and the stories that shape them!

In response to The Lot above on the anniversary of this show. It was definitely at Copperfield's. The one and only time they played there. Coppefield's and The Orange Grove are definitely not two names for the same establishment. Copperfieild's was in the commercial area near South Campus. The Orange Grove was on Westcott. Totally different part of town. This show was at Copperfields. I know because I was there and it was my first show, it was sparsely attended. Phish did play at least one (maybe two) show(s) earlier in 5/89 at The Grove (as it was called) but I didn't go. It was after school was out and I had left town. Both bars do seem to be gone. Maybe someone who is stillin Syracuse can weigh in if they see this on whether they are gone or what they are called now. The next show that Phish played and Syracuse was at Clement's Brewpub (in 1990). I was at that one too. This is another huge source of confusion as Clement's Brewpub was briefly the name of a vintage long time Syracuse establishment called Hungry Charlie's and which everybody who went to Syracuse at the time simply called Chuck's. Yes Hungry Charlie's, Chuck's and Clement's Brewpub are all the same venue with different names. I have seen that 1990 show listed in databases under all 3 names. For people who care about the historical record it goes like this -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5/89 - Orange Grove 10/89 - Copperfield's 11/90 - Clement's Brewpub (more commonly known as Hungry Charlie's / Chuck's) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- They didn't play again in Syracuse until 1992 at the Syracuse Armory by which time they were far to big to be playing in bars. Around 1990 Phish played Ithaca more frequently than Syracuse as they had a bigger fanbase there and its a short drive down from the 'Cuse. It has gottent o the point that the level of misinformation around these shows has become a source amusement for me. But I will say for the last time... I know this 10/13/89 show was at Copperfield's. It was my first Phish show. Sadly, I didn't know their music very well yet and certainly wasn't recording it so I have very little idea what they played. I mostly remember them practicing the whistling of Reba during soundcheck and Page telling Trey not to whistle directly into the mic to cut down on the unwanted blowing noise. There were just as many regulars around the bar as there were people there to see the show. It was a strange vibe.

Love is What We Are Summer of 89 Brian and Robert Come Together Back on the Train Strange Design Water in the Sky Everything's Right A Life Beyond the Dream More Amazing night w/ Trey playing an acoustic set and telling stories of hope and reccovery. Was a truly special evening ....................................................................................................................................................................................................

SET 1: Your Pet Cat: Fun show opener! Funky as ever, wish it were longer. AC/DC Bag: Very slow and a little uninspiring. Fun little loopy segue into… > NICU: standard but flubby towards the end. It’s Ice: nice, very old-school feel to the start of the show. Page’s voice is very coarse and aggressive during the verses, get the man a throat lozenge stat. There are worse renditions of the composed section out there but this one is not the greatest, especially at the end, though I appreciate the funky jam. Totally searing clav work. Horn: it’s like we’re at a ’93 show with this setlist. Better played than the last few but still not ideal. Needs some confidence. Divided Sky: that’s three pretty tough compositions in a row – appreciate the ambition for sure, but Trey really is missing the sauce so far. Rough until the solo section and then Trey comes into his own a little with some real nice licks. Good second half for sure. Axilla: Rough flub going into the verse riff but it’s corrected pretty quickly. Whole thing sounds a little dissonant somehow? Maze: old-school city! This is very strong actually. Page RIPS in his solo, and Trey does pretty well too (except for the end tag which he somehow plays in the wrong key.) Maze is one of those songs that almost always feels like it produces ‘above-average’ versions but I feel confident in saying this really is above average. Tight. Train Song: nice, love this one. Never not welcome. Band doesn’t sound very in sync though. Julius: once again I implore Page to take a throat lozenge or some tea. Surprisingly a really good Julius for the era though. I’m very protective of Julius performances because it was my first favourite Phish song and post-’94 performances feel like they’re missing the intensity that the song needs, but I’m a big fan of how they approach this rendition and would definitely recommend. Love that Fish briefly teases the La Grange beat in the jam. SET 2: Tweezer: funky from the very beginning though Trey still seems to be struggling a bit with articulating notes. These struggles vanish once the jam begins – this one is just awesome from the very beginning, with the full band riding a stormy funk groove that reminds me of real old Tweezers. Hard to give a play-by-play here because it runs through several tiny themes across its runtime but rest assured this is a Tweezer you HAVE to hear, a definite all-timer. Could it have used a slightly clearer peak? Sure. But the band falls back on very few crutches in this one. Just 22 minutes of mellow funk, sometimes happy, sometimes dark, almost always hose. WOW! Not many better jams from 2016. > Sand: awww hell yeah, funk city. This is another stellar version that gets as dirty as any other Sand they’ve played. Short but as sweet as wading through a sea of molasses. Fish is a total groove machine here and on Tweezer – in this whole set really. A+. > Limb By Limb: tasteful, well-placed and endearing. > Suzy Greenberg: bundles of fun. > Harry Hood: lmao @ Mike’s meatball tone in the intro. Composed section is very clean. Jam starts very mellow and even somewhat evil – funk central around 8 minutes in. Unfortunately doesn’t really transition convincingly into a peak and the outro sounds rushed. Would have been very relistenable if they had stuck the landing. > You Enjoy Myself: mostly strong composed section with a particularly nice pre-Nirvana. Jam section, like everything in this set, is largely funk-driven. Pretty great B&D too which benefits from the funk focus – WOW @ 15:25, Mike Gordon ladies and gents. ENCORE: The Lizards: now THAT’S an encore pick! No complaints here. Tweezer Reprise: standard, a little flubbed. —- OVERALL: not sure why some other reviews are touting this as a flub-free show because it most certainly is not, especially in the first set – great setlist but very hit-or-miss performances especially from Red. After setbreak they come out a transformed band, and Set 2 is pretty spotless to me outside of a weird Hood. Funk is everywhere here. Tweezer and Sand are both tremendous versions and deserve many relistens. However overall I do feel like this show doesn’t hold up too well as a complete product. Trey just sounds a little exhausted. 3.5 stars or maybe a bit above.

It’s amazing to me that few people seem to review the non-Phish shows. Listening to this Maze at present, I’m quite moved by the delicate interplay between Trey’s echo pedal looping, voice samples, and gentle nylon touch, acoustalectric. Elephants marching two by two kick up familiar dust tumbling within itself and reforming over and over again. What with the wheatgrass enema and all, this is the sublime to the ridiculous in one of the most beautiful and hushed music halls I’ve ever visited.

Nice audience recording available for this show. David Graham (Bill Graham’s son) introduces Phish to the stage. A lively Chalk Dust gets things underway. A well played Foam follows. Rippin’ Llama. Rene Lopez from The Authority sat in on percussion for the Landlady. Another Alone Again (Naturally)tease from Trey during the Bowie intro complete with a quote from Fishman. Solid version to close the set. David Graham joins Phish onstage again for an exit announcement leading into set break. Buried Alive cuts in to start set 2. Atypical ending to the Reba jam. Carl Gerhard helps out during the whistling portion of Reba. Beautiful version of Caravan. This version, like the others played on this tour, features Manteca teases. After Flat Fee Trey gives a little backstory of Flat Fee and the GCH. Flawless TMWSIY. The YEM intro is a little shaky. Boy, Man, “Have you seen juniors grades?”, Shit! Cheeseburger rap towards the end of VJ. Hearing Trey say things like “I hope everyone has a good night camping tonight” “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do…we’ll see how many of you make it ‘til tomorrow.” Sounds like something you’d hear at a festival. These Arrowhead shows must’ve been a blast! Solid Possum encore to wrap up the night.

dSBD official LivePhish Release. Golgi opens the show and features the GCH for the first time! Well played Bowie with a cool Jeopardy tease. The GCH sit out for the first Fee of the tour. Nice Page solo in Coil. Smooth transition into YEM. Decent jam section. The VJ features a little trumpet solo. Trey introduces the members of the GCH at the end of Gumbo. He includes Henrietta as the forth member of the GCH on trombone. Henrietta takes a little solo before the band segues into Touch Me. Afterwards Page mentions that they’ll be screening the Esther video in between sets. Set 2 kicks off with Suzy. Trey introduces the GCH as “GCH”. Well played Sky. Mimi Fishman joins Fish on stage for a little vac solo during I Didn’t Know. Great Tweezer! Grippo takes a nice extended solo before the Uncle Ebeneezer verse. The first Mango of the tour is up next and features the newly reworked mid-section. Grippo adds his talents to the closing section. They pair this up with a fun BBFCFM set closer. Lawn Boy sounds great with the trumpet. Runaway Yim? I wonder what the backstory is on that?

Nice digital audience recording. The acoustics of the Casino Ballroom leave a lot to be desired but what can you do. Things kick off with an appropriate Chalk Dust given the location and timing of the show. I can only imagine most of the people who attended the show that night spent the day on the beach across the street from the venue. Some funny audience banter during Page’s solo in Foam. It sounds like event staff is getting frustrated with a fan repeatedly telling him to “sit down!” Something not often heard at a Phish show! lol Trey introduces the GCH to the stage mid set. Beautiful Stash that pairs perfectly with an equally beautiful version of A-Train. Blistering Mike’s Groove to close the first half. Trey says they’ll be right back and warns everyone not to fall through the floor. lol Well played versions of Llama and Reba start off set 2. The first Poor Heart of the tour follows and features the GCH. Nice Melt. It almost sounds like the PA cut out for a bit during Landlady? Trey introduces the GCH and Henrietta on Vac during the I Didn’t Know breakdown. Awesome Possum featuring the GCH! Cool Alone Again (Naturally) tease from Trey. Back to back Alumni encores. The horn arrangement for Alumni works perfectly!

On July 28th, 2023 I woke up at 4:30am, twenty minutes before my alarm was set to go off. I always do that on travel days. Got up, brushed my teeth, dropped the cat at the neighbours, drove to St. John’s through seventy-five minutes of highway twilight, flew to Halifax and connected through Toronto Island to Newark. Waited in the Customs & Immigration line for ninety minutes before being waved through in less than sixty seconds, took the Skytrain to Penn Station, walked to our hotel on 36th and discovered that the hotel offered a free happy hour that whattya know, was starting just as we were checking in. Soon discovered that the happy hour entailed nothing but Bud and Bud Lite served in small sample-sized plastic cups, quit the bar in a huff and left m’lady to relax in our room while I went on a mission to find supplies. Upon my return we had a drink of Duty Free and went to a rather excellent pizza place on the corner of 36th & 9th where we filled our shockingly empty gullivers with piping hot pie. Then we went to the show. Of course the show was Phish, playing the first of their seven-night residency in The World’s Most Famous Arena™, Madison Square Garden (which is conspicuously round, and doesn’t have a garden). The last time they did something like this was their legendary Baker’s Dozen run of thirteen concerts at MSG back in 2017, when the band created special setlists each night based on a donut theme. M’lady and I were thrilled to have attended the last five of those shows and we were excited to be going to the first five of these ones. And while there had been significant online chatter speculating what sort of surprise theme the band might have in mind for this run - Seven Wonders of the World? Seven dwarfs? Seven deadly sins? - once we were actually in the building there was little talk or speculation about such trivialities as we busied ourselves catching up with far-flung friends, acquaintances, and the inevitable random run-in’s. In this case we incurred a random run-in that saw us getting yanked into the Chase Lounge where a private bar and free bottles of water awaited us as we and our crew took over a wing of barstools. (I actually pooh-poohed the free bottles of water until m’lady bought one the next night for $6 [plus a $1 tip that almost broke my brain].) So after a $20 beer and a lot of fun chatter we stuffed a couple of $6 waters into our pockets and headed to our seats. I was looking forward to enjoying all five shows from completely different vantage points, but I was probably most excited for our seats on this night, which were in a short row of bleachers set up at the back of the floor directly behind the lighting board. Which meant we were sitting directly behind CK5. If you know Phish then you know that CK5 is the nickname of the band’s longtime lighting tech/designer/guru Chris Kuroda, and if you know me you know that I am a huge CK5 fan*. The bleachers weren’t as close to CK5 as I had hoped. I could see him standing there at his massive console but I wasn’t nearly close enough to see him pushing buttons or sliding faders. But the main thing was our view of the stage. We were straight on and seeing pretty much exactly what Kuroda was seeing, and the show looked amazing! Good thing too. The girl who showed up late to the seat beside me danced and bumped around raising her arms in the air like a rabid orangutang the whole time, even for ballads like [i]Brian and Robert[/i] (for realz). So I was extra-appreciative of the massive distraction that is CK5’s lighting work. I mean he has these hanging trusses that have independent controls on each corner so he can move them up and down or hang them diagonally or what-have-you. And for this tour he added spinning light bars to the front of each one of these dangling glories of polychromatic light. Gosh, it all looked so amazing. Especially when m’lady reminded me to take my glasses off so I could see it all fuzzy. So, so awesome. I mean the lights in the first set Blew. My. Mind. For minutes on end I stood motionless gaping at the stage in wide-eyed wonder, only to break the trance with giggling fits that forced me to grip my head in my hands to keep it from exploding. I did this for at least fifteen minutes straight. I’m sure it must have looked like I was on all the drugs that I wasn’t. Unfortunately there was no light show to help distract me at setbreak, when the two couples sitting behind us began conversing so loudly amongst themselves that they were literally screaming. They were clearly having a blast, heck, they probably had a few blasts before they got there, but it was killing me. However, just like the whirling dervish flailing beside me for the whole first set, I said nothing. I ain’t here to step on anybody’s legitimate good time. Overall the show was very jammy ([i]Melt [/i]was a definite highlight) and the lights remained spectacular throughout. The [i]Good Times Bad Times[/i] encore was unquestionably a nod to it being the 50th anniversary of the middle night from Led Zeppelin’s three-night run at MSG that was recorded to create their iconic Song Remains the Same concert film. I only made this connection in retrospect, when I saw a meme about it the following morning. This tidbit led me to speculate that Phish might play the entirety of the movie’s setlist at their show the following night, which I had tickets for**! By the time the show ended our day had been pretty long and we were exhausted. When the house lights came up we found the nearest exit and bee-lined it back to our hotel, where we clamoured into bed as quickly as we could and fell fast asleep. *The three reasons why I go to see Phish all the time are: m’lady, CK5, and the band. In that order. **Spoiler: They didn’t. https://toddmanout.com/

Crispy dSBD available for this show. Nice segue from Landlady into DaaM. Solid second jam on Mike’s. Trey is en Fuego on Groove! After Groove Trey mentions that a lot of family are in attendance since they’re playing in NYC. He also takes this opportunity to introduce the GCH. Well played Flat Fee. Trey forgets the words to a section of Cavern and asks for some assistance from the audience. lol Before the encore Trey comments on how beautiful the room is and says he’s pretty sure they’ll be able to return and play a full two set show. That never happened, but Trey did return with the Surrender to the Flow project in ‘96 for two nights. The encore stars off with a beautiful Caravan. Like the version from last night this also has some Manteca teasing. Unfortunately the Alumni cuts out about a minute in.

This Chalk Dust is an indisputable masterpiece and remains uncontested as the Jam of the Year. The level of patience demonstrated by the band is unparalleled, no rushing through sections or constant key changes, which sometimes feels like a ripcord but without going for a different song if that makes sense. It’s been the only thing that’s sorta bothered me about a good amount of Phish’s jamming since 2022 especially, but none of those problems are present here. Everything here is fully fleshed out. The beginning section of the jam (6-18 mins) is like floating peacefully on a cloud that slowly builds into a raging thunderstorm. The middle section (18-27 mins) is groovy but has a darker sentiment to it and gradually breaks down into chaotic disarray, which bleeds into the final section (28-39 mins) of pure EVIL. Trey weaving hellacious licks between bubble effects with the M5 modeler is something only Trey can pull off, with Fish adding echoing drum fills. After a big pitch bend-laden peak Trey hits a cascading pitch sweep into a heavy metal-like riff and it all meshes together perfectly. The wind down and > into Beneath a Sea of Stars is impeccable. This is the Phish that I know, yet it sounds unlike any jam they have ever played, and I hate to say it but they didn’t come close to matching it all summer. Whatever you are looking for in a jam, it is here. Jam of the Year, and possibly the decade.

Crispy SBD available for this show. There’s also a beautiful matrix that was put together that’s worth seeking out. The recording starts off with Trey mentioning that he’s overdressed as the show took place during National Nudist Week. A really nice Reba gets the show underway. Llama rips per usual. Hank pulls out his bone for a nice solo in I Didn’t Know. Well played Possum to close the first set. Cool lazor gun sounds caused from a slinky thing pulled into the audience from the stage. Strong Suzy opener. The horns fit nicely in Caravan. The rest of the set is pretty standard fair for this tour. The Antelope closer is the clear highlight of set 2. Guest vocalist during the Marco section? Possibly one of the GCH members? A decent Bag kicks off set 3. The horns sit out during Esther and a lively Chalk Dust. The second jam in Mike’s seems to have improved the most with the addition of the horns. “Fish has gone to take a leak, when he returns he’ll be transformed into…” extended HYHU with horns. Mike teases Contact before launching into a gorgeous Hood set closer! Standard Contact>BBFCFM encore with some added GCH spice!

Beautiful audience recording available for night 3 of the GCH tour. Big thanks to John Redmond for another fantastic early NE recording! Nice Curtain>Jim pairing to get things underway. Solid Foam.Smokin’ Llama. Trey introduces the GCH to the stage for Suzy. Alumni is up next with a new horn arrangement! :) TMWSIY didn’t feature horns but Avenu did. The first Split Open of tour doesn’t disappoint. The horn arrangement is so spot on it felt like female vocalists were going to help out with the chorus. lol Frankenstein closes out a stellar first half. Well played versions of Chalk Dust and Guelah open the set before the GCH join the band for the first Sky of tour. During the mid section Trey says “that was the jazz version.” The levels overload for about a minute during the jam. No horns on Paul and Silas. Stash with the horns works beautifully! Fish wishes Erica a happy birthday. The GCH play happy birthday in her honor. Trey says “that was for Erica, you’ll never forget that!” Unfortunately there’s a tape flip at the start of Brain. :( Some music is missing. The horns play the Brain theme before Fish takes a vac solo. A tremendous YEM makes for a nice follow up and set closer. Juicy jam with the GCH teasing Chameleon. Gooey B&D section and an entertaining VJ! They don’t make ‘em like they use to! “Change the song!” They come back out for the encore and tease BBFCFM before launching into the very first Landlady encore to wrap up the night.

The audience recording on Relisten is decent but pales in comparison to the official LivePhish release. Ironically they patch a portion of Weekapaug with the circulating audience recording. Things kick off with a standard DaaM >Bouncin’ pairing. Buried Alive>Flat Fee work well together. Solid Reba. Fun version of Gin. Afterwards Trey introduces each GCH with Page offering different background music for each player. Solid versions of Donna Lee and Bag. An electric Bowie closes out the first half. Reba and Rocky Top don’t feature the GCH. Set 2 kicks off with a hornless Golgi. The GCH sat out for Coil as well. They join the band for a lively version of Moose the Mooche, last seen on 2/8/88. The horn arrangement for Tweezer fits perfectly! No horns on MSO. Interesting composed section added after the first chorus of Gumbo. Nice horn arrangement and jam during Mike’s. No horns for Hydrogen. Fantastic Groove! The Lizard Queen, Henrietta delivers another fine rendition of Touch Me. Henrietta’s bone sounds like an Elephant being tortured next to the pros! lol No horns on Oh Kee Pah. Fun Frankenstein closer complete with a mini VJ! Fee has no horns but the closing Tweezer Reprise does.

7/11 Crispy dSBD for night 1 of the GCH tour. Not much audience in the mix so it does come off a bit flat. DJ Mike Luoma from WIZN FM introduces the band to the stage. They get the tour underway with an Oh Kee Pa>Suzy opener. Trey introduces the GCH during Suzy. Beautiful Sky. The first Flat Fee in 3 years gets dusted off for the GCH tour. Stash and Lizards sound fantastic with horns. Fish starts up Cavern before the Landlady closer. DaaM starts off set 2. TMWSIY>Avenu>TMWSIY is well played. Mike’s has a short but sweet little second jam. The Lizard Queen treats the Burlington crowd to the debut of Touch Me. The first Frankenstein in a year and a half makes an appearance to wrap up set 2. Contact>BBFCFM ends the evening on a high note.

SET 1: Mike’s Song: nice, talk about declaring intent to rage the place! Pretty nondescript dark jam out of this one though. Painful whale call fail at 4:24, ooft. > I Am Hydrogen: a little rough in the second half but the beginning is beautiful. > Weekapaug Groove: Mike’s bass solo is unique here, would recommend. Tweezer: BOOM! Crowd goes absolutely bonkers at this! Trey cracks up in the second refrain, he’s clearly loving it. Funny effects in the section just before the jam where things fall apart. Page does some really interesting clavinet work at the start of the jam, louder and more melodic than usual. Trey’s really cleaned up his tone this run compared to Dick’s and you can hear it in the solo. Turns major key about halfway through and then gets mellow, Mike and Page do great in this section and there are some light Weekapaug teases from Trey. Builds to an okay peak, the best part of which is his chordal shredding just before the outro. Lots of length to this jam, especially for a first set, but not much relisten value IMO. Love the old-school slowdown at the end here! Sets things up very nicely into… -> Ass Handed: Hahahaha, too good! Probably the best version of this, with Fish absolutely bellowing out the lyrics at the start and then encouraging a crowd singalong. Kill Devil Falls: Great energy in this set so far and good placement of this. Strong type 1 playing. > Bathtub Gin: Slightly funkier jam than usual for Gin at the start. Really cool arpeggios from Trey at the 7 minute mark, great playing in general on this one. Slowly builds to a big peak! Lovely. Brother: Yessssss, great bustout and the song feels like it’s made for this arrangement, much more so than slow Llama or Maze. The crowd recognition when Trey’s riff comes in is great. Not the most whip-sharp they’ve ever played it but if you didn’t know the original song you wouldn’t know that anything was off. Even gets a smooth lil funk jam after the main theme, clav central. Awesome one-timer and arguably as good as the original; no idea why this one hasn’t made a return. More: standard. SET 2: Down With Disease: slightly unconventional full-band intro. Composed section is pretty poor, not much conviction. Things pick up real quick in the type 1 section of the jam though – Trey the guitar hero shines through big time. Things start changing around 7 minutes in and we get some awesome delay-led spy movie jamming (love the call and response between Page and Trey here.) Crowd senses something big coming around 9 minutes in. Mike is very high in the mix and takes the reins here – fuck yeah @ the clean melodic line he settles on at 10 minutes or so. Settles into a very contented atmospheric passage full of Trey effects soon after. Not quite blissy but definitely happy. Mood sours around 14:30. Mike once again impressing with the octave pedal around 16 minutes in, why doesn’t he use it as much these days? There’s a noticeable increase in intensity when Fish plays a bit louder at ~17:30 – Mike is LOUUUUUUUD, wow! Just searing through the mix. Then all of a sudden there’s a small transition section and Trey finds a confident chordal riff, we’re back to clean and happy. The blissy peak from here on out is well-earned, unlike the Tweezer from before, and Trey goes ham on his playing! Listen to the passage around 25 minutes in, that’s pure ’94 machine gun. Some stop-start ‘woo!’ encouragement in the wind-down section, which I’m a sucker for (and the way Trey weaves in and out of it reminds me of Tahoe Tweezer). Feel like there was an opportunity for a smoother segue here, but nevertheless we go into… > Steam: good placement of a song I’m indifferent on. Standard up until 8 minutes in when the song dies out and they enter some of the oddest, eeriest, most Eno-like ambient improv I’ve heard from this band since 2.0. Goes on for a solid 6 minutes – must’ve been crazy intense at the venue. What is with the glockenspiel-like sound nearish the end, marimba lumina I’m assuming? Not a whole lot of replay value, I suspect, but INCREDIBLY unique for the era, even with 2017 synthy-ness to compare against. Trey gears up for a segue with a few seconds left to go… > Light: love Fish’s latin-ish groove that he nudges the band to adopt 6 minutes in. Pleasant but sort of meandering jam. Gets a little weird towards the end, nothing particularly notable though. > Farmhouse: lovely. If you hate this song you have no soul. Run Like an Antelope: victory lap. Maybe slightly less confident en route to the peak than usual. Good end to a big set though. Encore: Sleeping Monkey: fitting! Tweezer Reprise: standard — OVERALL: legendary 3.0 show whose reputation obviously rests on a handful of big tentpole jams. Down With Disease maybe isn’t an all-timer but its reputation is totally deserved and there’s some awesome stuff in there especially from Mike, would recommend. Steam, (surprisingly) Farmhouse and the reworked Brother are for sure worth revisits too. Ultimately doesn’t eclipse Dick’s N1 and some of the BD stuff. 4 stars on the dot.

This is a fiery Trey Anastasio show. This band is absolutely phenomenal. The second half of 2006 has some great performances, but Asheville is probably the best single show of the 2nd half of 2006. This drummer and bassist don’t mess around. If you listen to Original Boardwalk Style, you’ll get a good taste of what Trey’s band was doing, although I found the band was overplaying during the New Years run. Not to mention Trey’s bust was shortly after the Asheville show I saw. But if you can find the audience recording of this, it sounds AMAZING, and trust me, the show is amazing as well. Highly recommended.

I was working and my fried Dan (Diga) called and said he heard a rumor about this show. His older brother was friends and Amy and gave her a call. I believe she said something along the lines of "I can't confirm or deny it, but they are recording in the area." I told my boss my mom needed me and went home then picked up Dan and drove from Nashua NH to Woodstock. We fond the bar and parked somewhere nearby and walked up to get a sense of the place. We could hear the soundcheck and sat on the curb just outside of the window along the driveway. We heard the zero and waste soundcheck and we're getting pretty stocked. Soundcheck ended and we just sat there for a bit. Then a Subaru drove past us and I think Brad was driving and Trey smiled at us from the back seat. We got in relatively early as the place opened to be sure we could get in. We watched the opening bad, which was kind of fun, but I don't remember much anymore, after nearly 30 years! I was so close for first set I could have grabbed Fish's goggles from his kit before the show started. Of course I did not. It was a great time, through and through. Yes, the rolling rock bottle on my friend was awesome (by second set, we found ourselves in the middle of the tiny room. It was awesome to see phish in a such a tiny place, especially considering that my first show was Greatwoods '93. This was my 44th show, I think. I was also fortunate enough to see them at the Lowell Auditorium in '95.

This was my third time seeing the band after catching them twice during Summer 2000 tour! I was 17 years old and living in Rapid City, SD-- we couldn't believe our favorite band was playing a mere 9-hour drive away! In the Midwest, that's basically neighbors! I remember a lot of hoodies and flannel in the lot-- the lot scene was a lot smaller than Alpine or Deer Creek, but it was still hopping. Our seats were all the way across the floor and halfway up the back stands, so this was a light-show only for us. Relistening to this one on it's 24th anniversary, I can't help but agree with a lot of the other reviews-- this show is solid, but there is not a lot of standout stuff in the first set. [i]Sloth[/i] is tight and energetic, [i]Divided Sky[/i] had a loooonnnnng pause while the band stopped to watch the glowstick war that I never see mentioned in the show notes (biggest glowstick war I personally have ever attended), and [i]Roggae[/i] really embellished the clash between mellow and loud sections. I remember [i]Roggae [/i]having almost a toy-like quality live, like a music box or a wind-up doll; listening to it again, a lot of that comes from Fishman's work on blocks and bells. Good stuff, but not much to write home about. Getting into the second set, the crowd is clearly ready for some shenanigans, and [i]Cities[/i] delivers with some Santana-inspired blues before dishing up a hearty helping of outer space. [i]Free[/i] stays grounded and a little spooky, with some nice work from Mike & Fish setting up a driving pace that keeps Trey really focused during the build. This was my first time hearing [i]Carini,[/i] and it definitely made an impression at the time. I remember everything from [i]Lawn Boy[/i] until [i]Cool it Down[/i] was very funny live, there was a lot of laughter in the crowd. Cool it Down has some fun exploration and a very tight but otherwise unremarkable David Bowie closes the set. The single-song encore of Fire was absolutely blistering live, and definitely left us all wanting more. This would be the last time I would see the band before the 2001 hiatus, and I still treasure the memory of this show. Of all the times I've seen Phish, this is the only show that has never had an SBD release or leak, so I am still out there chasing it every few years. Maybe some day!

This was an all time show for me. Maybe it was because the entire weekend was incredible but I couldn’t believe how hard I was continuing to dance and feel the energy through this entire Sunday funday. The music all weekend was incredible but this show really put the nail in the coffin. Peak Phish in my opinion! Extremely thankful to have been at these 3 shows. Thanks Phish!

Fantastic show that radiates joy bolstered by a fantastic AUD tape on the spreadsheet. Starting with BBFCFM sets the tone for a frisky evening. Delicate and beautiful Harry Hood in the middle of the second set starts off a great run with Wilson and a very cool Page-led It's Ice. Fluffhead it's a very clean and energetic version, Possum rages as usual. Cool show!

Great show with some odd song placements. Classic Mike’s Groove to open set 1, followed by Character Zero in the 3 hole. Closed out with I Didn’t Know, a gorgeous Reba, Izabella! Set 2 was about the teases. Apostrophe, Freeway Jam (Jeff Beck - 6:30 into Fuego), Johnny B. Goode. Slow Chalk Dust, Crosseyed/Forget, Fuego stand out. Full disclosure, I created this review mostly to get the Freeway Jam tease recognized…