I don’t get all the hate for this show. I couch toured it, and I thought their playing was some of the tightest and most energetic I’ve heard this year. Segues were smooth and seamless. Was the setlist “songy” and were the jams not particularly deep? Yes. So maybe they were short on improvisational ideas. Would you rather that they try to jam longer and then complain about the quality of the jams??

The claims that they ran out of energy are particularly puzzling. The ending of everything’s right was exceptionally energetic. Complain all you want about the placement of rift, but it was played with a lot more fire and accuracy than is standard these days. And Trey nailed sugar shack for once! Fishman was literally running around the stage during HYHU and Trey was jumping all over the place during first tube.

Oh, and we got a brand new song with a vacuum solo taboot??

Clear your minds and surrender to the flow, folks. Phish shows are rarely what you expect or want them to be, and there are certainly times when the playing feels tired, sloppy, and out of sync. Last night was not one of them.

Please stop hating on shows that don’t fit your narrow definition of good/great!

This show is bound to be completely forgotten by time, but I want to say that I absolutely loved this second set. I feel like Trey really wanted the Energy to be the """Ruby Waves""" of the weekend and put a lot of pressure on himself and the band to deliver a big jam out of an unexpected track (a move they had been pulling all weekend with Fluffhead, Number Line, Ass Handed, Moma), and it wasn't quite connecting. Instead of trying to blow the roof off, he just decided to have take off the pressure and have some well-earned fun. That Jibboo was among the most perfectly placed of all time, and completely re-built the band's mojo. Soul Planet was rapturous. The compound bend riff that Trey makes up, then re-interpolates into a non-bendy version is sublime. The rest of the set felt like a 1992 set 20 years later. Reba had everyone in my section of the lawn crying. Martian Monster > Broken Heart Attack > HYHU > Martian Monster was as old school antic fun as it gets. Possum > Slave was a perfect cap. Not a jam-filled donut kind of set, but an incredibly unique set to see in 2022.

Well, I guess it is ok to miss a Sunday show every once in a while. The band just seemed a bit rundown. The entire first set really lacked any sort of flow, and frankly, was not well played. No energy at all. Which is ironic, because “Energy “ to open the second set was further indication that this wasn’t going to get better. I try to never bash this band, because they have given me so much joy in my life, but sometimes you have to call it like it is. This show was a dud, nothing I will come back and listen to. Can’t recall a tour in their entire career where the last show of the tour was the worst one played, but here we are. Some awesome music this summer, just not last night in East Troy. I’m sure I will receive hate for these comments, but they are true. On to Dicks!

This is one of those shows that makes the Phish fan answer a difficult question: Do I want 1-2 BIG jams that goes through multiple parts and never has any intention of returning to the song(s) proper or do I want several (3+) jams sprinkled throughout the show, but nothing that touches the fabled "20 minute mark"?

I still don't know the answer, but the below tunes are what I come to shows

46 Days - you know Trey wants to jam this, and jam they do, but it doesn't go to outer space. Well settle down, it's song 4 and they've got more to play! Still 8m worth of solid material "jam" material here.

Everything's Right - Band crushes this. Peaky as possible, seamless return to the song proper at the end. Love this capstone to Set 1.

Energy - Weakest of the 3-song jam triforce to start this set. I'm spoiled by the 10/20/21 version of this song, which is what I believe Trey wanted to do here but it just didn't land. Not every musical idea is a good one. Still worth a listen but 10/20/21 is the definitive version of this song for me.

Gotta Jibboo - Nailed, absolutely nailed. There is classic jibboo licks, there is Trey "twang" (you could smell the Possum in this Jibboo), and then there is a nice little jammy jam tucked away in the middle before it melts down into what I initially thought was going to be Walk Away but then takes a sharp turn to...

Soul Planet - Jam of the run. Go back and relisten. Trey gets on a little theme here and rides it all the way to the approaching Rift...which is MOSTLY nailed. The Soul Planet jam theme had run its course though and the plug was pulled at the appropriate time.

Rest of set 2 is the reason you started coming to Phish shows in the first place.. Rift > Reba > Phishy Shenanigans > Possum > Slave

Maybe you had to be there, but if you weren't and you are ignoring this for one reason or another, give the above 5 songs a listen. Each have there own unique jam that doesn't feel "mailed in". You may have heard them all before on this tour, but they were played with intent on this Sunday night.

First review, I don't know how to format apparently.

When Phish gave the nod to the famous Alpine ‘99 show on Saturday, I was really hoping they’d give a nod to the famous Alpine ‘19 show tonight, but alas they had other plans. And plus I’ve often found that when you put something that *you* want from them in the universe, 9/10 times it works the opposite. Well anyway, Phish have given us so many good shows this summer that one of them was bound to be a fizzle. Highlights? Well there really isn’t any, but there’s also nothing really bad except for frustrating set list calls. There’s nothing “technically” bad with this show except that it felt more like a good TAB show than a good Phish show. All of this to say that you really aren’t missing anything if you wanna skip this one.

Overall, I had a fun experience at Alpine Valley and I’d likely make the trek back for another 3-nighter. It really is a beautiful venue and the weather was perfect. I just hope the talkers got their fill of Phish because I could not seem to shake them all 3 nights!

Plenty of complaints about setlists for this Alpine run. If you attended, it was hard to miss all the good vibe, positive energy, sing-along songs especially Friday and Sunday (eg. Clear your Mind, Set your Soul Free, More, Energy, Soul Planet, etc.). Going out on a bit of a limb here, but I'm nearly certain we may have received 3 nights of songs All in a Major key. That might mean little to many, and nothing to plenty, but Phish (and most bands actually) have oodles of songs in Minor keys. To avoid them completely would be not coincidental IMO. I think we got Majorly punked by the band, and I for one, feel like the positivity that gave us to take back to the world was a gift.

I've been thinking a lot about this show. About critics, about ratings, about setlists. What I've come to really realize is that ratings and criticisms covering any media really don't mean anything at all. It's so subjective and what one person consisers as quality, another considers as trash.

This show is Phish in spectacular fashion. It has epic peaking rock and roll insanity, some flubs, and a hilariously awesome second set gag with an included Hold your Head Up. I'm not sure what anyone is actually looking for with this band, but if this isn't it, you might want to look elsewhere for your musical fix.

Landlady through 46 days is typical awesome Phish. This Landlady in particular is slow, but also relatively flawless. Go back and listen to one from last Alpine...it is ROUGH. To be honest, the 1st set trouble started at the flub into Stealing Time and it was pretty off putting. Similar to the Stash at the Mann. Following up with Shack and Shade was not my favorite calls(however beautiful Shade is) ,but this is not my band and I don't call the shots. I love halfway to the moon though and this where, in my opinion, this show got right back on track.

The 2nd set....does it really need an explanation? This set is absolute perfection.
Energy is a fun rarity. The Jibboo was fucking incredible. Absolute rock and roll beast with peaks taboot, this is the Jibboo of the summer. Soul Planet gets so much hate for being a 60 second song with a ridiculous jam vehicle attached to it. Never understood why people don't like this song. If it came out that P-Funk actually wrote the song, it would be adored by everyone. (Likewise if Phish had written Strawberry Letter, people would hate it as much as they hate Soul Planet). Rift, a really tough song that I am so happy they still play. Really special song to me. Is this a stand out version? In it's own way.

Reba was emotional and just a masterful expression of guitar work from Trey and playing in general by everyone. Is the composed part perfect? No. Is it ever REALLY perfect? No. Is Reba the perfect song? Yes. Yes, even in the 90's it was rarely flawless except for that one show you play all the time to prove they "used to play it perfectly".

Then the best part of the show happens and it is magnificent and silly and just pure nostalgia. Martian Monster and onward is a rare look into 90's Phish but in 2022. This is why I love this band. Again, if this doesn't get you off then you are probably missing a lot more of why this band is so dearly loved.

The Possum > Slave that followed is just plain awesome. Savage and beautiful. Beast and the Beauty.

Encore speaks for itself. Again, if there's one thing I've realized about criticism (.Net in particular)...it doesn't mean much. Some of my favorite movies are rated poorly. Are they objectively bad? Absolutely not. Are they Subjectively bad? Yes, literally everything is subjectively bad (or good).

Look, if you want to see a bunch of old men play the same songs the same way for 30 years without changing anything....go see the Red Hot Chilli Peppers or something. They will fill that whatever desire of needing everything to be perfect in order for it to be enjoyable. If you want high risk, high reward....keep on Phishin'. (Also there is a reason it's called "phishing" and not "catching".