A *fantastic* final show to an absolutely life-changing weekend!

Flying in from PDX to these shows was a leap of faith for me - I didn't know what to expect other than a great time at Dicks, but what I ended up finding was a great Colorado exploration PLUS a reinforcement of the Phish community and catching lightning in a bottle for one of the best runs I've seen since I've been a fan, couch or otherwise.

During the day prior to this show I sludged my way to some brunch and passed by an education location in Denver called the Goddard School. One of my Phishcord buddies uploaded a picture of themselves doing a tank inside their Hampton Inn hallway (without a silencer). We met up with some more crew and attended the Rockies vs Orioles day game at Coors Field in the early afternoon. That was fun, perfect weather (as was the whole weekend) and had a nice vegan hot dog and a brew while watching the Orioles win in convincing fashion. Some other folks in the center field bleachers were also Phish fans and one of them had a "Lucy" Cardinals jersey lol. We recharged up at a buddy's hotel for a while and then walked in towards the lot early - I saw a nice sticker with the Charli XCX "brat" flavoring but it said "evolve" instead, that was super cool. Lots of fun, beans were taken, and me and the Phishcord crew on soundboard left were ready to FUCK for Night 4.

I just relistened to this show last night and this morning so I have a fresh ear for the sound. Almost immediately things get off to a good start with the opening notes of Dog Log - this was completely unexpected. I never thought I would get one of these ever - it continued the streak of getting a first-set new song for me and it was super fun to sing along. Not a ton of the crowd recognized it around us except for us weirdos. I wonder if they were focusing a little extra on the soundchecks this run because of the whole "Bruno" bit in the earlier shows and then were just like "let's give them a Dog Log as a treat:. First time it had been played live while I was a fan of the band (since around late 2013).

Of course, the answer to where has our dog gone is that it ran away. The Runaway Jim quasi-opener that follows is actually very strong and has some extra oomph in it - it has a nice tasty jam relative to its runtime. By the way, I didn't mention it yet, but the whole first set here is start-to-end incredible. One of the best first sets of the year. Moma Dance is next and it's always welcome to me in the first sets, I really enjoy Moma. One of the highlights of the entire run comes next with My Friend, My Friend. Me and some others were expecting this during this show as The Knife Song had really exploded over the summer with quality jams, it has definitely reached a new plateau in 2024. This is another standout version. It eschews the previously consistent murky waters to reach a more rhythmic, hose-like plateau, and then a fantastic danceable peak, that ends up with Trey even peaking MFMF towards the end. If you want a good laugh, check out the way they sing "My Friend, My Friend, he's got a knife!" in major key bliss mode. Really unexpected and enjoyable and continued the trend of them giving us a nice exploration in the first set as well during this run.

Tube was a nice choice to follow. It didn't have an extended jam, but it did have Trey yelling Science at the end. I did immediately on the ground think about She Blinded Me With Science but I didn't remember the part where it was just "Science", but figured it was a reference to that. It sounded a bit like that song so it could have reminded Trey about it. Clearly he was giving us a message to prioritize science and health care over disinformation. The inspired song selection continues with Fluffhead - I had only seen this once before, Seattle 2023, and it was a treat then and a treat now. This one brought the goods to the crowd as it always does, there's even a nice held note from Trey that caps off the peak in a great way.

I felt like the set could have ended there and it would have been fantastic. But the drive to create keeps going, and they lead into Stash. Always welcome for more exploration and this is a nice version. Was absolutely overjoyed to get a Life Saving Gun, which I was hoping for. Anything off the new album was going to be welcome to me during this run, and this one in particular I wanted to see a killer version of. And honestly, this isn't too far away from that expectation. There is a wonderful rhythmic jam in the LSG that Trey settles upon at about 4:20 into the song and they hold and build off of that, it's really nice. I see now in the jam charts that it seems like there was a similar theme in the MFMF - I definitely buy that, whatever it is it's a gorgeous jam and it provides the finishing touch on a nice set. This is a really really good first set and maybe even the best first set of the run.

Was just super happy already with how the weekend had gone and so anything they played in Set 2 would make me elated. Prince Caspian opened, which I assume was for the YouTube crowd, and then the real meat of the set comes up next with Set Your Soul Free. I love this song and was so pumped to get it - my first live! This was also its first time being played in 18 shows - the longest gap it's ever had. Nevertheless, it showed its recurring power as a jam vehicle and goes nearly 25 minutes, there is a fantastic darker section towards the end of the jam that shows the quality of their play right now - a must-hear for anyone who is a fan of "dark" Phish. A nice little segue into Tweezer follows and this was expected as we were waiting for it all 4 nights. Of course, always welcome. This version is not extremely notable but it continues some of the themes they were exploring in the SYSF. Light emerges from the fold and is also taken for a nice little right. I really like Light - the only other time I had seen it was at Dicks 9 years prior (9/5/2015). As previously stated, the SYSF > Tweezer > Light is the jamming meat of the set and can be effectively sought out by itself.

There is a nice change of direction in the set here with A Life Beyond the Dream. There's a very nice solo by Trey in this and I've heard a lot of these - this might be in the upper echelon of Lives Beyond the Dream. Howling is nice to pick us up - was overjoyed to catch one of these life. I LOVE anything Sci-Fi Soldier and they need to play more songs from that album, they are all good. I will never forgive some of you for relentlessly shitting on it when it came out - easily the most creative stuff they've done in ages. This gets down to a nice boogie and it was very fun to do the in-person Howling as well, even at points in the song where it wasn't prompted. That was a great memory from this show.

More is an incredible song. It's great because it's a a 1-to-1 lyrical and thematical connection to a specific type of postmodern metaphysical/nihilistic idea that there's nothing else to life than just connecting with one another and there is a reasonable amount of optimism (of the will, rather than the intellect) for a better alternative but there is really no way to tell, so instead fuck it we ball.

Especially if Trey was writing about a daughter with More in mind. If it was Bella (born 1997) and it debuted in 2016, she was 18 or 19 when it was written, so writing about her future. Regardless of circumstance, I think that More is just more than the obvious positivity but more importantly it acknowledges the idea that things are not good, rather than the uninhibited growth mentality of Trey's formative 1980s and 1990s, the bubble has burst and the material world is actually reeling from the designs and decisions from back then, and it says that despite everything there is something to look forward to. It echoes religious motifs with the whole sequence. For Trey who has had life as his religion since 2007, it tracks.

That was my first More in person and it was a treat. Would later get one at MSG and that one was also good. Character Zero came next and it was a fine version but then the real closer comes, a very solid version of ST3L to close out the run. I'm not upset at the idea of this closing a run like this (or any run).

The final Shock and Awe comes in the encore. Obviously Reprise was coming, so the question was what was coming before it. Never did I ever EVER expect them to play Sabotage again... much less to CATCH ONE live... oh man was this an incredible experience. Perhaps the highest high of so many highs during the run! It was like a fucking mosh pit. Everyone was screaming, jumping, hands waving, just delirium. Listen up y'all... That was the Good Stuff. I could not believe my eyes and ears. I've read about events like this, most similarly the Killing in the Name at Atlanta 2010.. This is probably the closest we've had to that in a long while. Of course it also had to happen at Dicks, where the original bustout happened in the encore at the "S" show in 2011. If for some reason they go to Folsom this year instead of Dicks, or have some kind of contract expiration with them (god forbid), then at least that is a fitting cap to their Dicks story - starting the madness in 2011 with the spelling, finishing with a callback to that very same encore in the same spot 13 years later.

Three minutes of absolute serotonin and bliss were then doubled with the expected Tweezer Reprise. Regardless of whether or not you expect Tweezer Reprise to come, it hits just the same - just an electrified send-off into the night. That was an incredible finish to an incredible run, and holy shit did my gamble to fly in for these shows pay off. Definitely one of the best weekends of my life, meeting up with so many people pre-show and post-show, having the time of my life. Definitely considering another Dicks run in the future if I can afford it...

Enjoyed the celebratory atmosphere in the lot after the show and when it finally closed down I retreated to my rent-a-car and slept the night before getting up in the morning for a flight back to PDX. I made a few pages on the "white courtesy phone" at the airport, including Suzy Greenberg - hope a few heads caught that one. What a fun time, seriously one of the best ever.

In terms of Dicks runs - This is up there with the best of them. 2012, 2017, and 2024? I was lucky enough to be at the T-H-A-N-K Y-O-U encore in 2015, my last Dicks run and that was one of the best moments of my llfe, but then again so were the Sabotage and N2... I hate to compare and I think that ruins the vibe but I do seriously think that this is up there with one of the best 3 or 4 day runs from all of Phish in a long time... Certainly one of the best Dicks runs, just sustained brilliance with gems in literally every set and the majority of encores... What more could you ask for? Everything about this was just so much *fun*, they are playing at such a high level right now. After this, I HAD to go to MSG and that also paid off hugely. The community is incredible and so was the music. Again, one of the best weekends of my life there in Colorado from 8/29 to 9/2. T-H-A-N-K Y-O-U - PHISH!