Holy smokes, what a way to end a tour opening three night run.

Three shows into the summer tour, and Phish are jamming as well as one would expect them to in the middle of a tour.

Last night was very, very good for the second show of the tour with a blissful Simple jam of the ages, and a terrific pairing of Cities > Slave to end the second set.

The bar was set high on Saturday, but tonight they might just have set the bar even higher. Never sleep on a Sunday show.

The first set was very good, with the highlights being excellent readings of Stash, Funky Bitch, and Run Like an Antelope.

Possum was a nice upbeat song to get things going, and I always enjoy hearing a Lawn Boy. "The Line" is a song that people love to hate, but I can't complain with a well played Line slotted (where it should be) in the first set.

The second set was remarkable.

It started with a gnarly 20 minute Carini that went from evil to joyful.

Out of Carini I heard what sounded like the beginning high notes of Piper, but the band settled into Twenty Years Later. I don't remember enjoying Twenty Years Later much when I got it on 12/29/16, but this one rocked. I dug the Zeppelin like riffing by Trey.

Then out of Twenty Years Later came the Piper that I thought I heard coming out of Carini. Piper was mellow and fun.

Bathtub Gin is always a welcome addition to any set, and this one did not disappoint. I wish they jammed it out a bit longer, but it was good none the less.

The 2001 that came out of Gin was funky and excellent from the get go. I bet people were dancing all over the place at Northerly. I definitely was dancing all over my basement floor. Trey threw some very nice James Brown teases in there, which were responded to by gleeful woos from the crowd.

Trey energetically dove into Cavern, which ended the set in a rocking fashion.

Wilson > Character Zero was an interesting choice for an encore, but high energy and fun nonetheless.

Anyway, tonight wrapped up the opening run of this tour terrifically, and I can't wait to hear what else these guys have in store for us.

I think the summer of 2017 is going to be one to remember.

I thought it was hilarious i got anotheir possom lol, its lile they knew i was there im four of four on possom, but as an opener its very fun. 555 was very nice to hear , has kind of a funky vibe. Tube was also prett good. I remember getting alittle lost during stash, so thats good, the line was okay, birds was fun because their were birds flying over the stadoum, loved funky bitch a ton of fun, and how can you not enjoy an anthelope.

This was funny set because my bloosom 2011 show was also animale theme show, but on to set 2.

I knoe i didnt get my dreweezer, but this carini made me forget i was wanting that, in truth this was my favorite phish jam ive seen live so far, i literally had my first out of body experience with, masterpiece, twenty years was a very nice surprise and i felt they took it out alittle bit, im always in a mood for a piper, even though i miss the slow patient beginning, this piper was very fun, the new song thread was very good also, the words really got to me cause of my.home situation.
I was so so excited to get bathtub gin, and i really enjoyes this version alot, packed alot.in for 11 minutes. I lost it when 2001 started, and this version did not let me down. I felt the cavern closer was rocking as fuck.

I have to say i loved the encore alot, wilson is always awesome to hear, and zero tonight had alittle extra mustard to it.

This is without doubt my favorite concert i have ever been to.

My favorite night of the run, full of classics (I feel a bit guilty to love a show partially because it contains so many old songs, but hey...).

The first set contains nothing outstanding, but it's very good music all along, especially with a Stash and an Antelope. And also 555. And The Line. I love The Line. Sorry about that. All in all, although on paper it doesn't seem particularly interesting, it is extremely well played. You can't help but feel good.

The second set is a massive Carini jam which dissolves into a darkly beautiful 20YLater, a twofold Piper jam with Page finally taking the spotlight on the B3, a great new tune with an intense solo from Trey (phrygian-ish mode on a 15/16 beat, it could be a great jam vehicle SOaM-like), a straightforward Gin, which is always a good thing, an extremely fun[n|k]y 2001 and powerful Cavern.

New songs, massive jams, great energy and a lot of fun: this opening run is no warm-up. Or if it is, well...

I was actually excited to see a Possum opener here (after, was it 2011? The year of Possum?) The first set didn't really get beyond average-great mode, except for the Stash, in my opinion. It seemed like the tempo was slower in some of the songs, and the execution was a little bit off. Carini has a good, long jam, but not one that breaks particularly new ground. Twenty Years Later and Piper both get extended a bit (well, comparatively, for Piper) leading into the debut of Thread. I like the new song, and I feel like it has potential as a jam vehicle. Gin takes a typically borderline-hose track, and you have a few standard versions to close out the show. This one gets 3 out of 5 from me (average-great.) The main things that really moved me about this show were the promising Carini jam and the debut of Thread.

So the third night at Northerly ends up in the middle slot performance wise. Much better than night 1, but not as good as night 2. It's probably easier to illustrate the "in between" nature of this show by pointing out two song runs:

Set 1: Stash, The Line, BOAF / Set 2: Carini (and what a fucking Carini!) > 20 Years > Piper

In both cases you can sense the inconsistency between the high end bookends and the filler in between.

With that being said, most of the show is solid though mostly unexceptional. The one huge standout being the monster sized Carini that they produced to accompany the massive Simple from the night before. This is a gorgeous, ambient-wandering shiny jewel of a Carini!

So there you have it... an inconsistent trio of shows with some super duper highlights that have already been added to my most coveted playlists.

Can't wait for Dayton!

On the third night of their tour opening Chicago run Phish delivered the best show of the run. This was a well rounded and tight gig. The unlikely "Possum" opener unleashed a great energy in the crowd which could only be matched by a raging "Antelope" to close the first set. This run was the first time that I saw Phish in concert and indeed this "Antelope" is among my strongest memories. Finally, on the third night, during this very "Antelope" several light-bulbs went off as I realised this is what they mean when they refer to "raging Phish" (i.e. in the 1990s). "Carini" had a good jam, but the typical placement in the third quarter spoiled the element of surprise. Luckily, as I write these notes in 2022, the band has gone back to unpredictably jamming at all points in the show. Debuting yet another song so late in the run came as a surprise and "Thread"'s proggy structure seemed promising at the time. Later in the set "2001" taught me another lesson, because this tune, which I hadn't held in high regard up to that point, turned out to be the biggest climax and dance party yet. Having listened to hundreds of recordings I still had no idea what function this song assumes until I saw 30.000 Phish fans with my own eyes groove with abandon to the song's baseline funk and explode like fireworks during its peaks. "Charakter Zero" closed out the show and run in big, rocking fashion. While the first night of the run was too cautious, the second night had a dissappointing first set, this third night left nothing to be desired!

On the third night of their tour opening Chicago run Phish delivered the best show of the run. This was a well rounded and tight gig. The unlikely "Possum" opener unleashed a great energy in the crowd which could only be matched by a raging "Antelope" to close the first set. This run was the first time that I saw Phish in concert and indeed this "Antelope" is among my strongest memories. Finally, on the third night, during this very "Antelope" several light-bulbs went off as I realised this is what they mean when they refer to "raging Phish" (i.e. in the 1990s). "Carini" had a good jam, but the typical placement in the third quarter spoiled the element of surprise. Luckily, as I write these notes in 2022, the band has gone back to unpredictably jamming at all points in the show. Debuting yet another song so late in the run came as a surprise and "Thread"'s proggy structure seemed promising at the time. Later in the set "2001" taught me another lesson, because this tune, which I hadn't held in high regard up to that point, turned out to be the biggest climax and dance party yet. Having listened to hundreds of recordings I still had no idea what function this song assumes until I saw 30.000 Phish fans with my own eyes groove with abandon to the song's baseline funk and explode like fireworks during its peaks. "Charakter Zero" closed out the show and run in big, rocking fashion. While the first night of the run was too cautious, the second night had a dissappointing first set, this third night left nothing to be desired!