This show is a great example of how the ratings may skew potential listeners' perceptions before they listen to one note ... As I write this review the show's rating is a 3.5ish, something or other, but in my opinion is every bit of a 4.0 (perhaps a tad higher, 4.155ish maybe) show.

HIGH, FRICKIN' HIGHHHH energy from beginning to end, with the Mike's Groove starting the show to kick off an energetic first set (that Possum is a (sort of old) diamond (with rough edges, haha) in the ruff! (rough?)) ... Anyhoot, the second set is also really, REALLY special, and for me is what brings it to (or above) a 4.0 rating. Those segues are the real frickin' deal, especially the one between Twist and Circus (but that Piper -> Rift segue toooo!) ... AWESOME jamming in the Chalkdust of course, but the entire Fuego -> Twist -> Circus segment is just superb and I feel gets often overlooked when people see the Live PHiSH oPHiSHal track lengths at 10:03 and 7:06 respectively. Do not be deterred - this segment is NOT only EXCEPTIONAL (and I don't use that term for anything other than legitimacy (lol what?) for the segues - Fuego and Twist both include jams worthy of more than one listen, for surely.

I feel as though I've used too many capital letters and parentheses, but bottom line is that the band was cookin' in Charlotte on this night and I hope no phans are discouraged from listening to this show due to its ratings. Again, the band WAS ABSOLUTELY COOOOOOKIN' (A.K.A. ON FRICKIN' FIRE), as many of us will recall, for the next two nights in Maryland. Those shows produced absolute PHiSH fire (7/26&27/14), the second night of which was (is) an all-time favorite (Tweezerfest) amongst phans and the first of which is a sick-ill-nasty show consistent with the 2013/14 extended/cohesive-jam-through-a-set theme.

I get on these tangents, but ...

tl;dr :: 7/27/14 is a show remembered by all, for sure, but 7/25 (Charlotte) & 7/26&27 (Merritweather) should be looked at as one STELLAR (and interstellar) weekend of PHiSH.

(Writer's note: This coming from a guy that did not attend this 7/25/14 Charlotte show, but did attend the following two nights in Columbia, MD. A guy that was so curious where and how that Merriweather performance grew up and came to be ... Where it went to high school ... Where it cut its teeth ... Where it shat ... Where it slept ... Who its prom date was and who its friends were ... And, as a self-proclaimed PHiSH detective, the first place I'd checked was, sensibly, the previous show.)