PHISH, SATURDAY 04/20/2024
SPHERE
Las Vegas, NV

SET 1:

Set Your Soul Free: Solid jamming to open this show. Doesn’t necessarily have that signature moment. Still, strong opening to the show sans the actual song which is dreck. Typically yields good jams though.

Tube: Fairly upbeat and mellow. Not really what I am looking for in my Tubes.

Stash: Like SYSF this has a solid jam. Just doesn’t have that one moment or series of that makes you stand up and take notice. Nice workmanlike version though.

Pillow Jets: This jam grabbed my attention. Engaging and interesting the whole way through. Page and Trey specifically play off one another so well. Can barely hear Mike and this is a such a shame. Same with the first two shows also. Don’t understand how that is possible. Have only listened to the shows on my LivePhish app.

Steam: Again, good jam but nothing to really grab onto. There was a brief spacy section that I wish they would have explored at length, but it was not to be.

Mountains in the Mist: Will take this whenever, wherever. Love it. Good placement too.

Taste: Standard.

46 Days: Standard.

SET 2:

Sigma Oasis: Standard. >

Fuego: There is a ten minute or so section that is super repetitive and just sort of lays there. Very meh. Things pick up drastically/finally around the 23-minute mark. Trey soloing with assertiveness. It goes on in this vein for a good 3 and half minutes at which point Trey guides them slowly but surely back to the original theme. >

Golden Age: Yuck. We needed much more than this tired cover song. The segue into Twist is fantastic though. ->

Twist: Standard.

I Am Hydrogen: Wow. I hadn’t looked at the setlist before playing this show so when the first few notes hit my ears, I uttered a loud Holy Toledo! Great job Phish, keeping us on our toes. This tune has been played 347 times. Only 21 times has something other than Mike’s been played before it – 19 times as twice it was a set opener at 4.6.85 and 12.1.87. Only 13 times ever has something other than Weekapaug been played after Hydrogen. So, a very momentous occasion and very cool. >

Chalk Dust Torture: I appreciate the approach on this one, super chill, ambient and spacy out of the gate almost. Eventually lends itself to a subdued Trey led jam. Would recommend. >

Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S. - Standard.

ENCORE:

A Life Beyond The Dream[1] Standard outside of Trey starting it up on acoustic.

Tweezer Reprise: Very mild and dare I say – weak. Can’t hear Mike at all. Just seems listless and like they were tired. Holding back for the final night?

Summary: Review is purely based on the music, not on the visuals. Although there is a ton of jamming in this show, essentially very little is substantive enough to hold my attention. Would rate this as a 3.5/5.

Replay Value: Chalk Dust Torture.

[1] Began with Trey on acoustic guitar.

During Tube, the dome seemed to fill with soap bubbles which reflected the venue and drifted in front of a nebula of changing colors. During Pillow Jets, the view became that of a grassy path through a grove of trees under a starlit sky. Travelling down the path as the jam progressed, the grass and trees became tinged with glowing, multi-colored light, which periodically intensified and erupted from the ground through the branches, creating a firework effect. Mike and Trey teased Manteca during Steam. During Mountains in the Mist, the dome made it appear as if the venue was nestled in an evergreen-covered mountain range, with mist shrouding the sky from view. During Taste, the entire dome appeared to become covered in turning rings of Jim Pollock illustrations from the covers of the Live Phish CD releases, rendered in gold and black. During Sigma Oasis, the dome became a cloudscape, with trees, birds and sea creatures made out of bubbling clouds. During Fuego, a spotlight was used to create a silhouette of the band, with the image then recreated across the dome with effects added to make the band appear as flaming shadow people. During Twist, the dome became filled with multicolored letters tumbling before a backdrop of pulsing red circles. I Am Hydrogen was performed in a show without Mike's Song and Weekapaug Groove for the first time since October 31, 1987 (2,024 shows). A Life Beyond The Dream featured Trey on acoustic guitar. During Tweezer Reprise, the dome again displayed images of cars, this time tumbling into the distance. This show was connected to the other three with each night's setlist tied into a state of matter. This performance's matter type was gas.
TEASES
Manteca tease in Steam