The first night at the Mann saw a show with a rather strange beginning, followed by a massive redemption in the second set’s Tweezerfest.

The acapella Space Oddity that opened was not the finest example of our beloved band’s barbershop prowess, but interesting- the Martian Monster and Stash that followed were noticeably flubby. The band seemed unable to hear themselves and/or each other and both Trey and Page made many gestures to the sound technicians to tweak the levels again and again. Treys playing felt faltering, and he forgot both composed sections and lyrics alike. I personally was a bit concerned and mystified, wondering what had changed since the very strong show in Bangor.

When the second set opened with More, I was about ready to throw in the towel for the night (I was couch touring this one), but was expecting a big Tweezer to make up for the roughness of the first set…. The band indeed delivered a Tweezer, which evolved into one of the best 2nd sets I’ve heard since… 12/30/19 perhaps? The upbeat Tweezer pushed into a gooey Cities that had me feeling Fukuoka vibes. Heading > Tweezer, the band sounded like a *completely* different organism than it was in set 1. Another buttery segue into Passing Through and the goodness continued… Izabella had everyone remembering the classic Auburn Hills Tweezabella, and Phish was sounding positively 1.0 as Trey shredded his way through the Jimi Tune. Mercury was brief which preserved the set flow - more tasty Tweezer Jamming, and then a Piper/2001/Zero that absolutely NAILED the landing pad on this second set.

Had the first set been on par with the second, we’d be talking about an all-timer kind of show here, but nevertheless the 2nd set was, as a stand-alone, one of the greatest powerhouse sets in recent memory, all the more remarkable because of what preceded it. It’s safe to say that the Mann Tweezerfest will be getting many, many relistens over the coming years, and joins a storied tradition of memorable shows at this Philly venue.