Incredible show. I’m still trying to put my head back together after getting back to the hotel.
Saturday set a pretty high bar for them to top and Party Time gave us a sign of what was to come. I felt like the set was a jukebox of songs they hadn’t played, and a couple of us mentioned the heavy use of past Halloween songs, a signpost for the monstrous Ghost in the second set. Nothing stands out too much from the first frame, but each song kept the pit engaged and dancing.

Much will be written about the second set. The Ghost took a little while to get going, but the motif king on guitar kept the melody flowing. As heard in the Alpine Ruby Waves, I loved how the Ghost jam nearly died and was patiently resurrected.

Soul Planet might have more immediate direction and focus, catching an insanely infectious groove halfway through and building to an absolutely euphoric peak. But wait, after a return to the head, Trey takes off AGAIN! God I’m so glad this practice is becoming commonplace.

Billy was the perfect breather, as we all needed it. The DC Melt topped the one from Alpine, nearly causing all of us to go into seizures. Slave was the only encore that could have ended this unbelievable show.

When I come to a Phish show, this is exactly what I hope will happen. Extended, engaging and creative exploration where I leave absolutely exhausted and wondering where my face went. I hope everyone else had as much fun as we did!! Thanks to the band, crew, staff and all those smiling faces who were able to share in such a magical evening.

- Craig

Face melter


Noun; plural "face melters"

1: 8/5/24 Split Open and Melt

absolute masterpiece of a show tonight. crazy 2nd set, fun bustouts, what more can you ask for? Fishman easily mvp of the night, crushed Ghost and Soul Planet and never missed a beat as the Melt dived into madness. 2024 is the real deal

starting with destiny unbound, the rest of this first set was nearly set 2 energy. The little dissonant descending chord progression funk jam in DU began a huge shift in crowd engagement, the entire lawn seemed focused and dancing, real grimy groove here. 46 days started off very patiently, broken down to a slow dark minor key psych jam that had the crowd anticipating hard, it quickly turned to a super slick major key modulation that had some above average first set major key jamming before heading back to the head. The very welcomed mcgrupp was a first for my whole crew, a lovely rarity that was very nice to hear live for the first time. The wingsuit is for sure above average, the unique jam structure kept people engaged and had some very pretty moments. Meatstick is always a great time and the groove felt a bit tighter than usual. Antelope also started off very patiently, my friend said to me "this antelope is taking his time, grazing" but of course he was running in no time. The fast shreddy line that trey plays to head towards the ending bit seemed to come a bit quicker than usual, but this whole jam was very effective, had some dissonant moments and the peak felt deserved which isn't always the case. I've heard antelopes where fish continues the fast drum part alone after the peak lands, I'd always assumed it was a mistake where fish didn't expect it to end, but in this moment it was clear to me that it's intentional. Had me wondering if this was always the case when he does this, or if he was riffing on the times he did miss the cue. Was my 11th antelope and the first time I'd seen him do this. Overall this set was a huge improvement from the first and second nights. Destiny unbound through antelope had no fucking around whatsoever.

set 2 is honestly pretty incredible. Ghost went through a number of distinctly different ideas before deciding what to run with for the main feature. A bunch of minor to major key modulations, starting with a unique sentimental feeling pretty part, back into some more typical slow minor key ghost moves. A climactic pretty section centered around one of trey's "magically pulled out of my ass" melodies that feels iconic from the first time you hear it, and eventually after several more ideas led to a genuinely HEAVY section that was basically on some stoner/doom metal levels. The crowd was losing their damn minds, saw many people straight up headbanging, several swells of crowd approval.

Soul planet quickly got to Trey's dissonant ring mod mode for a minute, but abandoned the descent into murky swamp world for some more attempts at different ideas. A major key switch that lasted for a majority of this jam contained some real classic feel-good high energy phish. Not the most unique section but was made up for by great execution. When that ended it felt like Trey was headed towards the head, but instead we got about 10 more minutes of improv that varied between some classic minor key phish jamming and some again near murky zones before peaking. Both the ghost and this soul planet took up roughly 30 minute slots and were full-on completely engaging and interesting throughout. There's always gonna be differences in taste between phans, but putting my personal desires aside I can't really ask for much more than a full damn hour of type 2 focused jamming that keeps the entire crowd engaged. It never felt like they were running out of steam, just new idea after new idea until they found somewhere to fully land.

Billy breathes was a first for me so maybe I'm biased, but this composed solo section felt much cleaner than usual, Trey was absolutely on it. The little 4-5-4 bend climax part gave me a huge wave of full body goosebumps, just gorgeous and a nice change after that hour of dead serious phish.

Now here I'm definitely biased because Melt is full stop my favorite phish song. If I could have a full set of phish jamming melt style it would be the best set I've ever seen. They nailed this melt. Constantly introducing new ideas, some straight up harsh noise, each member on their own damn planet, never felt lost in the slightest. Just a perfect melt jam to finally fry my brain for good before this show ends. I want to live in this zone.

Watched the slave encore from the back of the venue so we could be among the first out to watch the tour busses drive by and hopefully get a wave. Didn't get a wave this year but we did see mike and page. Good enough for me!

Straight up one of the best shows I've seen in 73 shows since 2010, don't sleep on this ripper, they delivered big time.

First set crate digging lead to some great tunes not normally, or I should say consistently, in rotation… though the 46 days and Antelope were solid exploratory adventures and fun. They were definitely having a great time as a band and that’s always a great time. I’m not a haterade Phan so I enjoy whatever is coming at me in the moment. Not every show is great/amazing in my book, but I also don’t walk out of most shows thinking they were bad. Not everyone will enjoy the first set like I did, and that’s okay.

Second set was a monster. The Ghost started smooth and low key, amplifying as they charged forward. Full type II dark wizard jam with some amazing twists and turns! Fantastic Ghost. Soul Planet was epic. Nine times out of ten I pick Ghost over Soul Planet but this jam was incredible. This was the highlight of second set for me.

***note to all who update show notes/teases***
Trey was very clearly, and for an extended period of time, teasing The Doors - Peace Frog around the 23 minute mark.

The Billy Breathes was the perfect cool down only to heat it all back up with a beautifully deconstructed and wild Melt. It knocked out last Sunday’s Melt which I thought was clearly the best part of night 3 Alpine.

A beautiful Slave to close out the weekend with the kindest regards about their love of Deer Creek.

Though the playing was solid, the 1st set didn’t really do it for me. I just wasn’t that into the song selection for the most part. I know it’s exciting to hear less played tunes though. I did experience a cool moment of Phish telepathy: earlier in the day I was washing dishes and suddenly started thinking/hearing the lyrics to Stealing Time- a song I probably hadn’t even thought about in over a year! It didn’t really get fun for me until Meatstick, and Antelope was great, and then the set was over.

2nd set was packed full of cool jams. Very dynamic, almost stopping, then they’d come raging back. So many awesome moments. I’d been hoping for Billy Breathes! Trey’s little message to the crowd and a beautiful Slave, what a sweet way to finish the run.

From the recliner, Soul Planet and Melt are the strong standouts of this night for me with the last jam "sequence" in a meandering Ghost deserving a mention also.
Absolutely love how Fishman almost immediately brings the jam alive during SP! Really gets Trey going which then gets Mike and and Page going.
Best SP ever??

The setlist is amazing, hitting some rarities while staying true to the OG's. Also, if any second set has less than 6 songs, we know what we're in for. Deer Creek usually gives us the goods, and the boys really delivered tonight.

Party Time! Excellent opener. The tone of Fishman's kit is one of the defining traits in the '24 sound, and I think this is a great example of him showing it off. Really fun. The Final Hurrah, the first of a few Halloween tunes in the first set, is just ok. I love this song, and the one from Sacramento '21 is a great example of where this tune can go, but this one falls short, literally; it just never really does anything. Not bad, but certainly not incredible. KBBA is cosmic-reggae at its finest. It's short, but I feel like the band goes to a lot of places in that short time. Pretty sweet. STFTFP, while usually being a pretty ok song, gets dirty really quick, and is definitely one of the better versions I’ve heard. Trey fuckin kills every second. The Dogs is so, so good. I love every Chilling Thrilling track deeply, so there could be a bit of bias, but I think this is a very solid, rocking version. Destiny Unbound is our Mike song of the set, a damn good choice, and this one takes no time to get funky. Page rocks the clav, and then Mike throws in his Meatball effects; it’s saucy stuff, for sure > Fish is really active (awesome cowbell action starting 3 minutes in!) in 46 Days, and this one also takes no time to get weird. They rock out for a while, with Trey and Mike controlling most of the jam. It gets pretty slow, and Trey starts up the iconic lick, but everyone else needs a second to catch up, yet they manage to finish it up in a fiery manner.
McGrupp is my favorite Phish tune, and Mike is my favorite musical contributor, and they both shine here. The first section is beautifully executed. Trey started singing this one strangely in recent shows, and I never really understood why, but we don’t get that here. Page kills it on the keys (as he usually does in this tune), his solos never fail to get me randy. Musically, of course. It ties up in a spectacular fashion, and McGrupp leaves to explore Gamehenge once more. Wingsuit is one the most beautiful Phish songs I can think of, and while the first half of this version is just meh, the latter half is just simply stunning. Truly makes you feel like you’re flying. The ending screech is awesome. Mike gets real funky on Meatstick. This version is pretty good, but not spectacular > Mike keeps up the good work in Antelope, but soon is taken over by Fish and Page, who team up to fight off Mike’s notes. But soon, Page, Trey, and Mike face each other in a quiet stand-off, they each play off of each other’s notes, until they all spread off into their own territory again. Fish then takes the lead, and charges forward, as if charging into battle. The peak here is epic, but Fish has trouble limiting his power at the stop. The ending section is oh-so satisfying, Page’s piano really ties it together. This Antelope is really good, guys.

This Ghost is easily in my the top 10 jams of the summer, without a doubt. The opening is quiet, slow, and cool. Very patient, very collected. It gives you time to adjust and get ready for what’s about to ensue. It feels like it starts to get really intense, but stays fairly light-hearted for a while, and starts to get into a really chill groove. Mike starts throwing in some awesome chunk effects around 13 minutes in. We start to pick up the pace, and the energy rises, giving us some epic rock n’ roll moments (Fish and Trey!!), but that doesn’t last long, as we start to slow down again, but then gain energy again, but then slow down again; this is a musical roller coaster, they weave seamlessly from slow to fast, retrospective to energized, as if the Ghost is flying in and out of the atmosphere, getting closer and closer to space each time. Eventually we get into a nice lil groove, with the guys just having a ball together, each one of them playing off of each other, as if they’re each thinking the same thoughts; they’re so connected to one another as people and musicians, it’s really beautiful. But then, in the last 5 minutes, they start to get really angry, and they raise hellfire from their fingertips. Real demonic shit. Black Sabbath couldn’t even make metal like this. It’s like if Sauron could talk. But then, the jam fizzles away, and the Ghost makes a final appearance to say goodbye.
Personally, I HATE Soul Planet as a song, but every jam from it that I’ve heard has been nothing but gold, so I suppose I can’t complain. This version in particular is excellent. The first 10 minutes or so are very fast-paced, some rock jamming at it’s finest, but then Trey takes the band in a different, more solemn direction, Mike and Page (he does some awesome stuff around 12 minutes in!) follow suit, and the jam gets incredibly cheerful. An AMAZING peak at 14 minutes, almost sounds like Number Line. Pure love right here. But eventually, we have to put on our mean face and get nasty, and Trey gets into rock mode. Page gives us an excellent blues solo, Mike turns on the quack, and Trey gives us a mean growl. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, Werewolf Trey! He’s on the prowl, and he’s coming to get you! The last 8 minutes or so of this jam is just awesome (as is the rest of it). I could listen to it for hours. Oozing with depth > a serene Billy Breathes to cool us down, we certainly needed it. Fish and Mike propel us into a very spooky Split Open and Melt, which can be best summed up as a wall of demonic, outer-wordly sound. It’s as if a tribe of black wizards are unleashing an evil spell from their tower atop the mountain into the unsuspecting village below. Mike (I think?) chants some strange spells near the end of the jam, so I suppose that’s what made them calm down and finish this monster. Top-tier shit.

Trey shares some words about the sentimental value of playing at Deer Creek, and they start up Slave, which is always a great encore choice. This version is very solid, great way to end a show.

This show is amazing. But, that doesn’t mean much because it’s one amazing show that’s swimming in a sea of other amazing shows, the sea being 2024. I would definitely come back to this one. Sorry about the long review, I had a lot to say. Highlights: 46 Days, McGrupp, Ghost, Soul Planet, SOAM