I know, I know… on Phish.net we’re only supposed to post glowing reviews. Each show is the BEST CONCERT IN HISTORY. But In 200+ shows I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a delta between first and second set like 7/30/23. Did they know the show disintegrated after intermission? Is that why they played one of their shortest shows in recent memory? Honestly, the last time I saw that many people sitting during a Phish show was the NYE warm up at the (mercifully defunct) Capital Center in December 1997. It seemed like they knew they went off their rails and got off stage as fast as they could.

Life Saving Gun and parts of No Men were fine in Set 2, but what happened during the set break? Phish was spitting fire in Set 1: even though it was only 66 minutes, they played the living daylights out of each song. Super strong My Friend and Theme>Llama. It was the kind of set that keeps you on your toes, dancing, singing along…and then THUD. Set 2 crashed like a led zeppelin, and never found its footing. This is where I wish the band did post-“game” interviews like in sports. “Trey, you broke out zero songs in Set 2 that even your most casual fans could get excited about. The songs you did play were aimless and meandering…what did you want us to get out of that second set?”

As is always the case, I’m sure some people got something out of this show. But overall, everything after 9:15pm is perfectly skippable. Here’s hoping Tuesday is better…