First night in Charleston was a success. Inspired improvisation and a great setlist on paper mixing old classics and some newer favorites.

The Carolina opener was something I was really hoping for and I was pleased to see it. First set was compositionally heavy and ambitious in my opinion with my friend, divided sky, and David bowie. I thought they were all played very well. Destiny unbound was an extremely welcome addition, and the jam flirted with breaking through. Strawberry letter was a sweet treat as well.

Second set Axilla appears and continues to tease us all night, rocking start ! Scents and Subtle sounds had an exemplary outing, spreading and out and taking space and dissolving rather abruptly back into ether. First No Quarter of the year emerges from the ambiance another welcome surprise. Cats scream and mercury comes out at night with a some nice improv. We all saw it again as CK5 shines brightly with webs of mangled light trusses that continue to amaze. The most surprising highlight was possibly Limb by Limb, with its strongest outing in quite some time. Incredible jam. What a night.

Will we get repeats this tour? What's left? I think we will all be surprised.

I'm a big fan of this show. Phish played with a very fun, loose energy in this one. The Carolina and Party Time were a great opening combo to a three-night run and the crowd was loving it. Strawberry Letter was one of several excellent calls tonight. Undermind was stronger than usual. The Sloth and Destiny Unbound both had some noticeable flubs, but the song selection and the mini-jam (!) in Destiny Unbound kept the energy high and the flubs were forgiven. MFMF and About to Run pair well together. Bowie had some interesting moments and was an excellent way to close the first set. Great start.

The second set was fantastic. Axilla had the crowd raging and the teases later in the set were very fun. The Scents with the intro has to be my personal favorite jam of the tour. Trey seemed confident and in control throughout the jam, there were multiple Axilla teases, a section of dark funk (!), and what I thought sounded like a Mind Left Body type progression near the end of the jam. No Quarter was a perfect call after a jam like this. Your Pet Cat was spirited and funky with Page doing some funny and unique things with the cat samples for a bit of the jam. Mercury had a minimal funk jam turned tropical that was very enjoyable despite not peaking like I would have liked. Saw It Again was awesome and Trey was cracking up. Limb by Limb had a great jam that was really weird in a good way, especially when Fish started singing This Old Man. The next thing you know we're back in Gamehendge with my personal favorite highlight of the night in a great version of The Lizards. The floor was a party during this song with room to dance and people singing the lyrics but not too loud to take away from the band. Another solid call in Suzy Greenberg offers more Axilla teases and closes the set with a little more funk. Bittersweet Motel was a treat along with the funk/rock combo of DDHVL/Loving Cup. Overall, this was my favorite show of the weekend start to finish and I think it is slightly underrated. I'd give it a 4.2 or 4.3 max if it was up to me. What a beautiful buzz.

As of this post, the second Charleston show has a higher rating than this one. Personally I disagree, and the replay value for night 1 has been solid and consistent.

Many funky moments, many dark moments, and several meaty servings in set 2. Hell, I'd argue that there's alot you shouldn't sleep on in set 1 either.

My 12-year old daughter's first Phish show, and she enjoyed it (as well as night 2). She didn't dance or move around much, because in her words, she was ultra-focused on watching the lights complement the music. As long as she was having a good time, I don't care if she stands on her head during the show, lol...

Again, night 1 is my pick, mainly because I was digging the phunkiness... if you're into that, check it out! Even so-called bathroom songs like "Your Pet Cat" are performed with enough butt-shakin' groove that you may consider holding it in til later

Going into a show we assume that anything can happen. But somewhere between Charleston and Pittsburgh, we became reasonably sure of what wouldn’t happen in South Carolina. There would be no repeats and most jam vehicles, like Harry Hood and Tweezer, were off the table. Carolina opened and was followed by Party Time, which together confirmed that it was time to get down in the Palmetto State – setlist mainstays be damned. Strawberry Letter 23 came next with its plaintive yearning that was quickly soothed by the greasy swagger of Undermind. Phish leaned on the depth of their repertoire with a boisterous, bluesy rendering of I’ve Been Around, before breezing into the technical eloquence of Divided Sky, and then nailing the delightfully gritty rocker about everyone’s favorite nipple-slicer, The Sloth.

The first set could’ve gone anywhere next and to the joy of all, they launched full-throttle into Destiny Unbound. Destiny enjoys celebrity status in Phishdom, not only for the legendary Nassau bustout (02/28/03), but also because it is a righteously fun singalong. This Destiny veered off the map and cruised into uncharted territory adding a new dimension to an old favorite. The first set continued with serviceable takes on We are Come to Outlive Our Brains and My Friend, My Friend before plunging into the inky darkness of About to Run. They resurfaced with The Horse > Silent in the Morning and then closed with a frenetic David Bowie.

Set II blasted off with Axilla before locking into orbit around Scents and Subtle Sounds. Scents was conjoined with its oft omitted intro whose lyrics implore us to live one moment at a time, aligning with the ‘surrender to the flow’ theme that would be revisited later in the set. The Scents instrumental section began with explorations by Trey and Page while Fish and Mike supported patiently. The searching broke through and ballooned into an expansive, gooey pulse that Koruda bathed in strands of ultramarine and lavender. Each instrument urgently probed the ether until the music swirled into a heaving mass punctuated by peekaboo guitar licks and keyboard stabs, the latter entering the mix with the ferocity of a dropkicked hornet’s nest. Trey introduced a string of descending power chords that tumbled into a brief, but slinky start/stop section before easing into a plinko riff underpinned by Mike’s swooping bassline and Page’s lilting clavinet. The jam spilled out like a breached dam and collected into uneasy, shimmering pool. As the vapors of Scents ascended, the opening notes of No Quarter fluttered in like leaves on crisp fall breeze. The guy in front of me abandoned his row and sprang onto the handrail with the athleticism of a gymnast and the enthusiasm of a televangelist. With a fist raised he unleashed a primal, guttural howl essential to that moment, just as Page’s watery vocal launched the song’s explosion into buzzsaw psychedelia.

From there the second set sailed smoothly through the transient funk of Your Pet Cat, a fairly standard Mercury (minus a verse), and reached shore with The Lizards that again reminded us to surrender to the moment. Set II closed with a raging Suzy Greenberg and as midnight neared, Bittersweet Motel led the encore with Erie fittingly swapped out for Charleston. Death Don’t Hurt Very Long landed in the second slot. If cow funk describes the origins of Ghost and Moma Dance, then Death is the toadstool funk that cropped up after the cows left the pasture. The night ended ceremoniously with the sparkling glory of Loving Cup and Page brought us all back home spent, but eager and ready for night two.

It's unfortunate the teases in Scents is being marked as Mission Impossible and not as a Mind Left Body jam. My reason for marking it as an MLB jam is because Trey explicitly plays the first three notes in the 4 chord descending progression of MLB (in this case C#>C>B>Bb). The 4th chord is actually left out in Trey's playing, but is still implied because the final chord (Bb) is they key the band is jamming in.

Great start to a fun as fuck weekend. Never imagined they would drop 26 songs the first night of the final weekend of a no repeats tour. Really wanted to put it out there! I Been Around is a cool song I’d never witnessed. Fitting as a Folly Beach local, if you know. The Sloth is such a great tune. I could listen to that searing riff all night. Great jam in Destiny. I’m the glue in your magnet is sweet. About to Run is good gotf and carries some real grit. I always wish there was more to The Horse. If I were you and you were me... great lyric. Bowie for my daughter, complete with one last David Bowie lyrical refrain at the end.
Been singing Axilla all day of course so it appears. Creepy good lyrics in that one. Scents intro is fucking cool. Almost like The Who Sparks. Great type 2 jam. Damn shame they elected not to jam anything over 20 min this tour cause I could have taken 3 more min. To me the set kinda fizzled for a bit. No quarter didn’t really get the trippy context it needed and ypc is funky but if only we could lose half the sampling. Mercury and the cycles of life is a song that depends on the mood. LxL got into some really dark territory that had a silly This old man recitation where fishman skipped most of the numbers. I’m sure he regretted that one. Weird what will pop in your head I guess. Lizards poignant and exalted by the crowd. Reminds me a lot of the current political environment but I digress.
I’ve seen the last 2 bittersweet motels and that is tough song to hear in your hometown. Sort of a reflection. I used to rock the Homer Simpson the only tool you have is a hammer in the 90s. Death don’t hurt is my newest crush song and I’m not ashamed. Loving cup in chucktown? Damn the Boys will do you right.
Best show of weekend? Probably although I’m partial to a lot of night 2. But this setlist woah.
Still think n2 2010 phish Charleston is the bar for this town.