Another night in Grand Rapids, and another stellar performance from the four boys that traveled far and the one that's formerly local.

Just like last night, the show can be broken up into three segments: set I, set II Phish, and set II/e with Billy.

Set I is fantastic. My Soul and Undermind are standard here, but quickly picked the energy back up from the previous night. Oblivion goes deep into an excellent type-II jam that exceeded the minimal type-II from the previous night. I never would have predicted Driver, but I was very excited to get it - the arena turned into an epic singalong to this lovely tune for Trey's young daughter. 555 and BOAF were both rolicking, rocking, and at times funky. The place was getting hot. While Ether edge starts slow, it ended in a great jam that Trey masterfully slides into It's Ice - a treat to any fan. About To Run allowed Trey to absolutely rip (and affirm the title of being the best guitarist in the house?), and Walls of the Cave kept the energy high going into set break, as its want to do.

The entire set is worth listening to - it demonstrates Phish - and Fishman in particular - at its finest. Oblivion, It's Ice, and About To Run are absolute standouts.

The Phish portion of set II continues right where set I left off and brings in more stretched out jamming. SANTOS is fairly standard (if that's possible) before they take A Wave of Hope out for a welcome extended ride. Prince Caspian kept the show rolling and allowed all four band members to settle into a nice groove. Light pretty quickly goes dark and is the highlight of the Phish portion of the set.

Billy rejoined the band with one of Trey's new songs: What's Going Through Your Mind. This song is a groove and has really fun lyrics. I loved it and look forward to hearing it more often.

As with the previous night, Billy and Trey continued to feed off of each other, almost in a Duane/Dickey manner through the first three songs. To my ears DDHVL wasn't intentional (nor was it musically correct) but Trey found an opportunity to sing it over their jam and it's delightful.

I like Evolve and love Mist, and they were both played very well, but the odd placement brought the energy down a lot. Blaze on brought it back up, the bluegrass was fun, and Frankenstein put an exclamation point on the two night run.

Both sit ins were excellent, though if I had to pick, night 1 was superior. Thankfully I didn't have to pick and got both.

As of this writing, the rating of this show sits at an average 3.9 score, which of course is laughable to anyone who actually attended this show or watched the webcast in real time. I mean, we know what we saw and heard, and it's your loss if you're too hung up on the "But, but, Billy Strings was onstage for a wHoLe hOuR!!" narrative. Chew on this: It's true Billy played for an hour, but both nights in Grand Rapids clocked in at an impressive 3.25 hours, so you still got more than 2 hours of alone time with Phish. And not to be overshadowed by the Billy guest appearance, Phish's performance up to that point was mostly clicking too.

Believe it or not, I do sympathize with those naysayers somewhat, because I'm of a similar mindset when it comes to sit-ins... but in this case, Billy jumped into the Phish tank and helped create a monster hybrid with the boys. These weren't "Freebird"-type extended wank fests, but a 5-headed Phish still taking risks, many of those risks a rousing success.

Personally, I think this show (and the night before, definitely) is essential listening. Of course, it's already being drowned out by chatter about other shows at the usual "sexier" venues, so this has quickly become an overlooked stop on the tour. Many of us who attended will tell you Grand Rapids was the stop of the summer, so I guess it's up to you to see for yourself, and see for yourself without prejudice...

i do genuinely think this is the bets show of the summer.

1st set was almost perfect. my soul into undermind was pretty good. oblivion was a monster and easily a top song on the night for me. Driver was cool and then 555 was good. Good birds as well. ether edge was boring but it always is tbh. Its ice was awesome. About to run was a rock show and i was a huge fan. walls of the cave was absolutely perfect and that completes an awesome 1st set.

2nd set was insane. santos>a wave of hope>caspian>light>loving cup was insane. whats going through your mind has been on repeat and i will always stand by it as the best sing of the night. wolfmans was cool. death dont hurt very long was an awesome and so was evolve. mountains in the mist was cool. blaze on as well. best encore ever tbh.

phish forever.

From the very nice GQ article on Billy Strings:

"In early August, Strings found himself with a rare week off.

He was going to be in Western Michigan rather than at home in Nashville, so he could be closer to Ally’s family as they awaited their son’s birth. There were bassinets to build, cradles to construct. He remembered that Phish were coming to Van Andel Arena, a relatively small room in Grand Rapids, for two nights for the first time since 1998. He sent Anastasio a text: “You think you could float me a couple guest spots?”

Anastasio misread Strings’ request for the guest list as an ask to sit in. “Let’s dooo it!” Anastasio responded immediately, and then: “Talking to the guys right now! Excited!” When, a month later, I told Anastasio about his mistake, he laughed a long time. “He didn’t think he was going to play with us?” says Anastasio, pulling up his text thread with “Billy Strings Real.” “I thought he meant come in for a guest spot.”

The morning of that first show, Anastasio dispatched a list of 16 potential songs for the next two nights, so Strings worked doggedly to learn them all until the moment he walked onstage. By the time he began playing, his left hand was already aching from all that solo rehearsal. He knew he was joining one of the tightest jam bands in history, with 40 years of experience; with that old self-doubt creeping in, he didn’t want to flub it.

“I didn’t want to piss Phish fans off, you know? I didn’t want to go out there and play a big wrong chord, which I probably did several,” he says, chuckling. “But at least I practiced.”