Alllllright, woooooo!!!!!! So glad to be in the NC for this lovely evening of Phish. Never been to Raleigh before (had to get the shrimp and grits today.. tip of the cap to Tupelo Honey... Indeed)

ANYWAY... ... This show has been the highlight of the week (and I loved Camden more than most peeps did too!)

S1 starts just after 7:30 due to early curfew. Kinda weird on a Friday, but what do I know? I’ve never been here!!
STFTP. Cool
Funky Bitch. funky! bitchin! Hadn’t seen it since 2013 (and am still on a mission to see every song I haven’t seen since 2013)
Ocelot. This was played at my first 2 shows, Blossom 2010 & 2011, and was at one point (in my Phishie newness) by fav tune. Not anymore mind you, but I also got to see if for the first time since 2013.
The Wedge. Funky, always a treat
Wombat. Highlight of S1 w/ it’s jam. I’ve always defended a well jammed Wombat (I was at Dayton 17).
Guelah. Love this song. Trey, never sing this song in the higher octave again (unless u feel like puttin ur tight pants on). Love u, Big Red.
BOAF & Saw It Again. Lovely, always quite lovely.
Timber (Jerry... Ho... the Mule w/ a Scent). Band “pulled this Timber ‘fore the sun goes down” in fine fashion, what a lowcountry sky too. This was a classic version and beyond its norm. The song choices tonight were stellar.
LxL. Re-emerges post Tahoe 2. FINALLY! HOORAY!
Farmhouse.... awwwwwwwwwww
More. I was really looking forward to seeing this for the first time. Not because it’s full of deep dark grime and sludge.. but because it’s a solid S1 closer. Reminds me of Bowie. It made non believers jumping around celebrating their glorious splendor. Still, S1 in its songy “bobbing on the surface” left us wondering “there must be something more than this?”

So naturally, S2 was something more. A lot more and spontaneous as could be.

Meatstick opener. Woooo!!! More fun!! Frolicking!! Meatstick Dancing and resumed splendor!

Drowned was a welcome move here. Not seen since (my phav) BD Jimmies show. The longest jam in this show for those counting. Energy filled and always a fine jam for its spaceyness and variety.

> NICU was the first sign this set was gonna shine. Another 2013 revival for me only my first in S2. And this 9 minute version was arguably my favorite live microjam. Some weird BD Steep stuff here and me lovey.

Thread. Filthy and well placed. Welcome back!

Then the unthinkable happened. We learned not only that our dear friend Jim is actually an Antelope... but he’s also been running from the reggae Policeman for some time. In all seriousness (which isn’t saying much for tonight’s show) the interplay w Jim, Antelope and Makisupa was a goldmine of fun. Arguably as fun as Tweezerfest in 2014 (and nay do I forget MPP is upcoming now. Never been! Can’t wait!). BRAVO, BOYS!
The South needed a YEM. This one was a Gem of a YEM and the best I’ve seen live.
A Day In A Life sends us to a close at 10:45 curfew.

Again, best show this week. Deep and jammy? No, kinda like Camden N2. Worried? No.. that’s what shows like MPP, Curveball, Dicks, fall tour, NYE etc etc etc are for.

For now (ahem) let’s just have fun and enjoy the hell out of what they’re cooking up!!! And I’s love me some good Lowcountry phare!! ;-)

The first four songs are energetic rockers graced by great interplay, and some very nice type 1. There's nothing wrong in type 1, after all it's the basis of most jazz since bebop.

The second Wombat of this tour is as weird as the first, but it's cut short quite early. The band nailed the fugue in the first (and only?) Guelah of the year.

Solid BoaF and Saw it Again. Timber threatened to go spacey but stayed in course, leading to a nice LxL which led to a cute Farmhouse and then nothing More. That song is catchy as hell (are there still people out there thinking Phish can't do a song?) and sums up S1 pretty well: songy but very solid. Or the other way around.

There's no comma in S2, it's a segue-fest of sort. Meatstick opens funnily, Drowned follows strongly, and is actually the big jam of the night... despite its short length. It peaks in a typical Trey-in-high-register way, and - > exquisitely in NICU. Some spacey segment develops really nicely before Fish kills the beat and reinstates a more martial pattern, which dissolves into Trey's larsen and the mysterious riff of Thread, the third outing of this major new tune, only waiting for its extended jam in its the final segment, an eastern-sounding modal piece in a 15/16 SOaM-like meter.

But then Trey ripcords into a Runaway Antelope Policeman double sandwich. This is the truly fun part of the show. Musically, the focus is on the elegance of the segues, and the first coming of the Antelope is simple and effective : Trey just plays the riff and the whole band leaves Jim. So the band runs a bit and then Mike brings Jim back, quoting the bass riff like Trey quoted the guitar riff. Jim runs away and Trey calls the Antelope back and the whole band is in tune after a few bars, and runs to Trey's quote of the first bar of Makisupa, and then everybody is in uniform. Funny banter between Trey, Fish and Page. Trey sounds like a violin and Mike engages the super synth autowah machine... and this is the end of this policeman, with a final chord on which the Antelope's progression bounces back, and at last we're treated to the lyrics!

Trey launches the band into YEM. Solid, like most of this show. Strong bass synth from Mike again. Nice Beatles reprise to end this song-based concert.

I prefer the depths of the first night in Camden this week (a show I think is underrated), but the playing is strong here and there are some really cool Trey-and-his-amazing-rhythm-section moments and a few true liftoffs.

First off, I’d like to thank Phish for the free webcast. This show was a treat to watch and listen to from the couch and was full of emotions. I noticed after Wombat that Trey had broken silent suit and become very animated/talkative. This is always a fun turning point in the night when it happens because to me, is indicative of relaxed excitement and an eagerness to have fun with the music. The rest of the first set was full of fun and games, my favorites being Saw It Again and Limb By Limb.
Second set is a full on classic Phish rager. Opening the set with Meatstick, again, emphasized the silly and lighthearted vibe of the night. Drowned (while I’m not a huge fan of Trey ignoring the original introductory guitar work) lubed the bands gears and before long shifted smoothly into NICU. I love it when this song gets the a-typical treatment, and this version put us into some spacey type II territory before going into Thread. This is a cool song that I don’t know all that well, but found myself admiring the thought provoking lyrics time signiture changes. It gets really dark at the end of the song and the jam from this version definitely catapulted the band into some forgotton mental space because what they came tumbling out with next was some of the most fun Phish I’ve heard the band play since I became a fan in 2009. The first segue from Runaway Jim -> Run Like An Antelope (queued by trey) was the key that unlocked the door the next level. It was game on after that. It may not have been flawless throughout the experimentation of this sandwhich but it was pretty darn close. Besides, they don’t care if they miss a chord change.. it’s all about the energy. They had me giggling and grinning ear to ear which is why I listen to Phish. When they went into Makisupa Policeman on a drop of a dime where Antelope meets reggae I was completely floored. It was awkward and vulnerable and full of love. Yem had some nice alterations via Mike’s whammy bar which was panty dropping awesomeness, and Trey let loose some licks towards the end that had the shed on fire. The vocal jam completely silenced the crowd and I laughed seeing the audience all stand in attentive mind boggled silenced while the band wrapped up the package before sending it off with a stamp that read “A Day In The Life.”
Go Phish.

14th show...1st YEM = tears of joy. Oh yeah and there's also that Drowned->NICU and that little Runaway Antelope who almost got pulled over for running out of control. Still smiling. Very interesting first set banter and an unusually sung Guelah...and this review might be long enough to post now. Thanks Phish!

What a fun night! Having not seen Phish since Pittsburgh last summer, and having never seen them at Walnut Creek before, I was stoked for this show to get going.

Stealing Time - Got a blank space where my mind should be! Good opener, with good energy.
Funky B - This rocking/bluesy version got us dancing and shaking our bones quite early.
Ocelot/Wedge - Glad to hear these two, and they were well played throughout.
Wombat - Who doesn't love a good Wombat? Have that! The stage banter at the end was priceless, with Trey's "Gosh, we talking. This is so weird!" and then watching him dodging the bugs, while Mike talked about his pet locust, got pretty crazy.
Guelah Papyrus - Trey, don't sing this one in the higher octave anymore, lol. Totally dig the song, but dug it more when he returned to the lower octave for the end.
BOAF/Saw It Again - Birds was pretty cool, and my buddy Matt was hoping for a Saw It Again, so well met!
Timber - Ooooh yeah! Good energy and gets a little dark for a few.
Limb x Limb - Love love love this song, and was happy to hear it. Short, but well played.
Farmhouse - Ehh, the solo was pretty awesome. I do like Farmhouse though, so I appreciated hearing it.
More - Great way to end a crazy set. But the craziness was yet to come...

Set 2 opens with a playful Meatstick with Trey quoting and doing the Kiki dance, but Meatstick heads into the "jam" of the evening: Drowned. Great, but short, the Drowned jam evolves pretty seamlessly into a NICU that gets stretched out more than normal. Following a good jam out of NICU, they play the newer song Thread. Not really my cup of tea towards the end (only one man's opinion lol), but the real treat followed:

Runaway Jim > Antelope > Jim > Antelope > Makisupa > Antelope, YEM!
Jim got our butts boogying good, but there was a moment after they slid slick-as-you-please into the opening lick of Antelope where I looked at the setlist I keep on the back of my ticket stub and wondered "Did they really play Jim, or has it been Antelope the whole time?" A little disconcerting at first, but I resigned myself to having wrote it down wrong (y'all know how it gets about 2/3 the way through a show ;-) ). But then they swing hard back into Jim and I wonder if they even played Antelope at all, or was Jim playing tricks on me, haha. But it was soon apparent that shenanigans were afoot, and that the band was having a lot of fun! The Runaway Makisupa-Lope, or Jim-asupa-lope was a TON of fun! And then they cap off a fun set with a very well-played YEM and a scary vocal jam with crazy lights to send us into orbit, only to bring us down gently with a sweet Day in the Life.
Man, what a fun show! Our crew couldn't stop talking about the Jim-asupa-lope even early into the next morning. It was a good show with high energy, well-played music, and just enough silliness to keep us on our toes and giggling. This is why I love this band!

A blast of a show. From the stream it seemed that it was the abrupt ending to Wombat that lead both to the awkward yet flavorful banter, and to the subsequent EXTRA MUSTARD poured on the rest of the set. Trey seemed to have a certain swagger to him post-Wombat.

What can ya say about the second set other than Phish Phished. And I thought Thread was great to have around, particularly when they weave in the "You're alone" refrain like that. More songs about threads, maybe less about souls for now.