Hello Philly police?? I’d like to report 14,000 stolen and/or melted faces. Yes, I can describe the suspects, they are four 55-60 year old white dudes who conjured a Lumpy Headed monster. These guys obviously take sick pleasure in the face extraction process, particularly the ginger with glasses and a goofy grin. Can your sketch artist draw a combination of light and sound that caused my brain to detach entirely from the space-time continuum? Yes, I’ll hold.

My friends: Mann 2 Was a Good Show. Really, really good. Mike’s > Boogie On back into Mike’s again to get us started?? Are you kidding?? Moma and Caspian were both taken for proverbial rides, happy bday #Line to CK5, Hendrix-ian licks from About to Run; and then a first set closing Fluffhead??? Check please.

SYSF, it did feel like a spirit family in the Mann. Treys soul songs are consistently creating great improv, deal with it. Instead of blowing the SYSF jam wide open the barn doors get kicked open with the Carini chords, and where do I start with this unreal piece of music?? It seemed to me like they were toying with both Cities and Man(n)teca at various points but they refused easy exit ramps to keep pushing new ideas. Peaks for days, multiple deep segments, I can’t wait to relisten to this complete beast of a jam. Joy a well deserved breather after the Lumpy Headed monster finally leaves. GA seemed poised to go deep but they unexpectedly opt for LxL, which was pretty tightly played to my ears, concise and beautiful. Golgi was VERY well-played IMO, can we recognize when these older compositions are played well and accurately please, if we’re going to pick out all the faults too?? And then a really satisfying Hood caps the set, complete with big rave-up ending. Turn out the lights and put me to bed, but not before an Antelope encore which turns the dial back up to the 10 one more time before finally ending this stellar performance in a sweaty wooden lodge in West Philadelphia.

Folks we have an extant Phish about to complete its 40th year of existence, and they continue to produce music at this level. How unbelievably lucky are we ??

Coming into the show, I was concerned that the MSG run might have the band a little distracted or wanting to take it easy and switch into energy saver mode. After spending the first half of today chipping burnt cheesy bits off the casserole dish that was my brainpan until 8 p.m. yesterday, I realize I didn't need to worry. The first set was high energy with excellent song placement - blending dance party vibes (Mikes, Boogie On, Weekapaug, Moma) with some pretty breathers, a shreddy About to Run and some fun, well played classics like Mound and Fluffhead. Having seen several shows this tour where there was an imbalance in first set/second set consistency, I hoped there was still some gas in the tank for the "after sundown" set. Set Your Soul Free seemed like it was gonna get taken for the long walk tonight... then they transitioned to Carini. Side note: My first show (12/28/1998) features an all-timer Carini - very much a slimy, lurking, space cave beast that has given me periodic cold sweats ever since. This Carini rivals that one...a jam that evolves and is turns patient and electrifying. Relistened on the way home and Trey's playing and tone is so tight. Again song placement for the rest of the set was great and Hood is always the way to close things out. Antelope Encore was all killer no filler. This band is locked in and listening to each other so well right now and it shows in the playing Great crowd, staff, weather and shakedown. What's not to like?

Phish > Philly

Glad the band openly enjoys playing at Mann so much cause it helps make running the gauntlet Philly gauntlet worth it. Projecting my N1 impressions, it felt like Trey took the stage with Serious Face for most of S1 in response to the cues and sound challenges that plagued yesterday's Walls and Coil. High energy, proper flow, and a you-will-enjoy-yourself vibe from the guys overall. The opening Mike's sequence is as good as it looks on paper and the 'Paug had some extra jam slathered on the end. So did the Moma, to the point I forgot how we got there.

Second set is the real goods here, with a subtly powerful SYSF and a sparse but clever segue into the mastodon-sized Carini. Spoiler: I cried a bit under the pavilion lights (see below) at just how pure, powerful, and even joyful it was. Joy was a great call and the saucy microjams in GA, LxL, and Hood made a brilliant fourth quarter. Encore was pretty until the Antelope decided to peak and become a baby mastodon itself.

Top-shelf show - recommend spending your time on this one. Prolly deserves a 4.3 or slightly under but will get bot- bombed down to sub-4.0 because we can't have nice things now.

A note on Philly: The city is gritty and offers no excuse. Lot is a raw dog; this is the one stop I'd be hesitant about bringing kids or the Pope. (On brand, gnarly dude rolled up nest to me on lawn for second half S1 and sells all the drugs, chomps and makes non-stop fusses, takes pictures of himself with his giant wad of stacked, sweaty dollars, then flips me off when I nicely asked him to stop using the flash on his phone. Phucking Philly, mann.)

A note on the venue: The Mann is a tale of two experiences - Pav and Not Pav. Sound is great on lawn (kinda murky in terrace, though) and it's still a Phish show and everything's right. However, for much of terrace and all of lawn, the low-ass overhang of the sky seats eats up the CK5 canvas view to the point where you only get the floor level, stationary row of lights. The Carini and Antelope peaks just don't top the same elevation without Kuroda as Sherpa to get all our butts to the true summit. It's one thing to not be *under* the lights, but to not even see 80% of the rig is a real jerk move of architecture and profit maximization. That limits the "real" experience to pavilion seats if sound *and* light is important to you.

That said, props to the venue for its woods-inside-a-city character with early shade as the sun starts to go down. The food trucks, Adirondack chars, and grassy plaza behind the lawn is rad and allows folks to spread out and enjoy the show in whatever way the like.

Apologies in advance for squeezing both Mann shows in here, still processing. These were my second and third shows (three for three for shows I've attended vs missed out on after having a ticket, fucking covid). I wasn't quite ready for my first show (2016, Mann 1) and I suppose that my obsessive listening in the seven years that have passed set me up well for this week. I went in with hopes, some LONGSHOT hopes, and got every single fucking one. Fluffhead and Waste - you gotta be kidding me. I thought it might be easy to get either a Carini or a Hood or Antelope or Disease - maybe one of the four if I was lucky. Really wanted Army Of One and About To Run, but both in one set? Come on. The Well sounded promising on first outing and I'm glad that's the new tune they brought us and it went to places I hoped it would. Even the cool down songs were, for me, all completely right. Some odd placements (Coil) but some surprises (wait, this isn't the end of the set???) I loved the fuck out of night one, the feeling of knowing you're doing it again had me floaty all day before show 2 - and when Mike's came back out of Boogie On I knew special things were gonna happen tonight. I temper expectations as a dude who got into Phish around '14 and lives pretty much for couch tour and watching the vintage stuff. These nights were so indescribably great that here I am trying to find the words. What a special two nights, happy happy oh my friends. The transition into CDT from C+P is the stuff I live for.

...and that Carini. Face melted.

Mike's Song: Awesome opener, band shows intent to crush it tonight. Tough to segue out of this and into Boogie, but thought they did an admirable job – not easy to do! >

Boogie On Reggae Woman: Ahh, very nice. ->

Mike's Song: Pretty cool going back into this. >

I Am Hydrogen: Yes, love this. Nicely done. >

Weekapaug Groove: Pretty strong groove right here, solid jamming!

Army of One: Nice! I like this tune. Great placement, and nice bust out as LTP was 4.22.22.

Mound: Awesome! Another bust out, LTP 7.14.22.

The Moma Dance: This one had legs, seriously. Not sure why but Trey aborted it for… >

Prince Caspian: Oof. That hurt. >

Backwards Down the Number Line: Oof. Another punisher. Happy birthday CK5.

About to Run: Nice! Good tune. Love the dark undertones.

Fluffhead: This was absolutely RIPPED. Outstanding version for any era. Way to go Phish!!!

SET 2: Set Your Soul Free: Strong jam to open the set. Surprisingly, this is not a major mode dominated jam. Trey rips this one up in the last couple of minutes. >

Carini: This jam starts off for a few minutes in a fairly quiet place, it seems as though they were going to settle in – take their time and dig in. Really pretty passage in the mid 8’s and beyond. Very beautiful. Nice SYSF teases in the mid 12’s. Raging peak in the late 17’s and into the 18’s. Page just killing that poor baby grand. You would think that this would settle down after this, but it really didn’t. It just went on to consistently groove for another few minutes. Extremely impressive jam, an all timer and this one smokes the Alpharetta one. >

Joy: They earned the right to play this after that Carini was just amazing. >

Golden Age: Just not a fan. Sorry… >

Limb By Limb: Not played deep in a second set since 12.6.19 Trey rips this one at the end. >

Golgi Apparatus: Standard. Gets seriously Broadway Trey'd.>

Harry Hood: Run of the mill Hood. What is that at about 7:55 that Trey is playing around with in Hood? I have heard it multiple times this tour. Heard it in Light at Wilmington and I am sure it's not this, but it seems to have similarities to Gloria in excelsis Deo. Can someone please help me out on this?

ENCORE:

A Life Beyond The Dream: Trey destroys that solo in A Life Beyond the Dream. Very nice.

Run Like an Antelope: Seemed rushed? Still, it’s Antelope so it’s all good for the most part.

Summary: Very, very good first set – definitely a fan! Then the first half of the second set was fantastic. They ran out of steam after Carini. They just did. But, as a whole; this show rocks. It’s right up there with the best this tour has had to offer thus far. 4.2/5.

Replay Value: Fluffhead, Carini.