You might not know it by looking at the setlist, but set 1 tonight was A+ phish. Loose and jammy with standout versions of Golgi, Sample and Gumbo. Segue into Saw it Again is about silky-smooth as it gets. As they continue to go "no reapeats" this tour the songs get longer and longer In the conversation for best set 1 of 4.0

Set 2 blasts off with Mr. Completely > YEM > Fuego, but never really gets going again after. Unlike Lonely Trip at the Mann which was the perfect pause before ripping a Bowie, things stalled a bit after Joy. Boogie on was great to hear, but was cut short for Scents. I'm a huge SSS fan, but tonight was more of a standard run through than a jam vehicle. Set 2 was well played and fun, but didn't quite live up to the buzz that was created after that first set. Still Phish is playing on another level right now. Another great show Friday night!

Angels Blowing Horns - I Saw You (Again)

Welcome to Woodstock! Well, technically Bethel Woods is not in Woodstock, but as the story goes, the site of the historic 69 festival wasn’t in Woodstock either—it was here. Either way, Woodstock’s angels weren’t far away on this night. I made the drive down to Woodstock proper from Montreal a couple days prior for work, and then over through the mountains to a friends place 15 minutes north of the venue. With all the chaos and the border closures that Covid has wrought these last few years this as my first post-pandemic show, and it did not disappoint.

The venue is lovely and way more intimate that I anticipated. No pit, small pavilion, nice looking lawn, and friendly easy going staff. I was in the upper pavilion and had great sight lines and sound. I don’t know why the band hasn’t been back since those first shows in 2011, but I hope it becomes a more regular stop going forward.

The crowd was abuzz from the get go, the band settling into that familiar Northeast home-turf energy. And Trey put us on notice early with the out-of-the gates Golgi. A welcome old-school opener to welcome all of us with ticket stubs—or, er, printouts—in our hands. At about the four minute mark where Trey usually leads the band quickly to the shuffling finale, he took a nimble detour into Spanish-jam territory, dancing with Mike through dark and light tones and hitting some sweet highs before bringing it back around to the finale. “I saw you!” And I saw what you did there. We like it.

It didn’t take long in Sample to realize that would be the rule, not the exception tonight. Again at the 4 minute mark, Trey signals he’s not really feeling like staying in the box, and they side-step. Things mellow, they lilt, and Mike and Page add some beautiful colour. It doesn’t last long, but the very first stretch of the jam has a gentleness and phrasing that reminds me a bit of the 8/1/15 Tweezer. Beautiful stuff.

Meanwhile Mike is grabbing as much space as he can get. I had opted to dust off my 1.0 Air Gordon T on this night. It’s pretty worn now but has been given new life recently after my girlfriend cut the sleeves off to make it more of a basketball tank that 90s Mike would no doubt approve of. It could not have been a more apt choice. I recall wearing that shirt to 2/26/03, which is probably the last show I saw that had Mike lifting the band up so beautifully with melodic muscle through both sets.

So Sample goes out for 15 minutes, the first (and only?) time they’ve done this other than Jam night at the Baker’s Dozen. (Speaking of which, this show had bit of a Baker’s Dozen feel, with the extra push, crowd energy, and was easily the best I’ve seen since the three I caught from 8/4-8/6 five year ago (!) now.) The jam builds up a for a moment and sounds like it’s going to go into Walk Away (that would happen later, instead), and then comes back around to Sample to close. Ok, they mean business tonight.

My Soul shows up in the three spot—one slot after where it appeared 25 years earlier to the day in Raleigh on 7/22/97 coming out of Runaway Jim. But if this was 7/22/22, I was fast forgetting; the ease and enthusiasm was straight-up 90s, and that would continue with entirely 1.0 selections through the rest of the set. Giving Trey a chance to sit back and chord change with Mike just walking that bass was welcome. If I was forced to air any (very minor) complaints on this night, it would be that Trey still seems sometimes like he’s in a hurry to get somewhere. The best moments were when he just dropped that urgency and gave room for the band to swell up in unison. Fortunately there were plenty of those. Anyway, the My Soul is worth hearing.

So is the Gumbo. Don’t be fooled by the shorter run times here. The Gumbo>Saw it Again>Timber>Meat combo is almost 30-minute nasty 98-style throw-down. By four minutes we’re in jam territory again and Trey and Page trade fun riffs and various effects, and suddenly we’re in one of those disco-calypso grooves (the Blossom Birds from 2019 comes to mind here) that’s flirting with Manteca. Instead Trey hints at Saw it Again and he and Fish kind of clumsily make their way into it for what (I think?) was the first repeat of the tour. “I saw it again!” I saw it again what you did there. Still liking it.

In no time we’re back in Timber, in what felt like an appropriate nod to the heavily wooded region. This one has a lot of gnarly, cool rumble from the outset. Another spot where Mike is able to take up lots of room. We’re in Type II territory at around 4:30, with Trey laying down quick riffs leaving room for Fish and Mike to lock up. Page starts layering nice too; he’d get better as the show went on and that starts to show up here. Back to Timber and then into a chunky Meat full of Fish-sample flavor. They have a lot of fun with this one and it’s worth hearing as they all trade off solos.

The My Friend, My Friend, Guelah Papyrus combo is decidedly old-school, with the latter’s “exponentially expanding virus” appearing for the first time in the post-Covid era. Both songs and their complexity could have offered plenty of opportunity for 2022 Trey to stumble (and he’s had a few rough moments this year), but I’m happy to report that was not the case here. This set also closed big song gaps for me personally, with 4 songs not seen since 99, including this Guelah (not seen since Oswego), and My Soul (since Big Cypress). The other two closed out the set, with Brian and Robert offering a touching breather before Walk Away brought the house down. This one went big for the set closer, almost Tweeprise-like, Trey channeling Jimi’s Woodstock ghost. And that was just Set 1.

Mr. Completely launches quickly into space-play, Trey with his repeating echo effect egging Page out into techno-territory before settling into ambient space and landing in YEM. (Side note, but noticing the trend with the short second set openers so far this tour … they’re not .. keeping them short for the set opener previews on the Live Phish stream, are they? Say it ain’t so.) This is a fantastic YEM and Mike absolutely slays the drum and bass section in a way I haven’t heard him do since the aforementioned 2/26/03. Back in the day I would have labelled this YEM->jam, as the band wraps the vocal jam (that felt like it was flirting with Clone for a second), and then just decides to ... keep jamming. It sounded like they were going to go in No Men in No Man’s Land, but Trey just pulls it into one his big major peaks for a 25 minute run time. It hits some of its most beautiful moments right before the Fuego.

Fuego, by the way, felt full of heavy purpose. Maybe it’s the undeniable heat that’s been gripping the world, but the first non 1.0 offering of the night landed differently than it usually does for me, which is a little goofy. Not tonight. “I see guilty people, angels blowing horns” felt serious and commanding and the jam mostly followed suit, with Page highlighting its best moments.

Joy brought the breather and some pretty soulful playing from Trey that Mike wasn’t shy about getting in on with melodic interplay. As if it was his song too..? In any case that seemed to beg the Boogie On, which though short, seemed like an inevitability given Mike’s dominance on this night.

Scents and Subtle Sounds offered the last late-set jam vehicle, the back half of which on second listen now might be my highlight of the show. Trey sounds patient and sure of himself here and the band emotionally in-step with nothing to prove. Tear-jerking stuff, if you’re into that kind of thing.

What is there to say about a Wilson>Possum>Cavern trio close the set? It might not call back to 1969, but that’s still a pretty nostalgic nod to this band’s roots, and I enjoyed ever minute of it. Oh, and yeah Mike dropped some big bombs in Cavern to close that you’ll probably want to hear, too.

A Life Beyond a Dream felt apt somehow, on a night that at times didn’t feel like it was of this era, like the world wasn’t on fire, and the ticket stub in your hand was all that mattered. I slipped out a couple minutes before the close and managed to beat the traffic, in bed just after midnight. Old guy’s got to get a good night’s sleep when you’re expected to do it again tomorrow. See you tonight for a big Waves?

I was born ten years before Bethel Woods, but grew up in the same place. Just shy of fifteen, I walked from home to my very first Phish show on 5/27/11 with my dad, brother, and two friends named Michael. It was the first of many unforgettable Phish experiences. Eleven years later, my dad and I walked there again, now for my 23rd show, but as my first since COVID, and the first one since it all began that Memorial Day weekend, it felt like discovering live Phish all over again.

That alone would have made it special. But it would have been special anyway, for so many reasons. Sample and Gumbo going deep. Perfect first set song selection that makes it a strong contender for favorite first set witnessed live. (Well, behind Strawberry Donut.) Four personal debuts (five if you count Life Beyond the Dream, which I’d heard with GotF). Guelah choreography and YEM trampolines. Trey’s joyfully ridiculous dancing during Mike’s YEM solo and then barely making his cue for the final Uffizi washing. Sure, things mostly settled into fun high-energy party mode after YEM when it could’ve stayed weirder and jammier. But who cares when the playing is tighter than Tuco Salamanca’s meth pretty much the whole night?

Truly, how lucky am I to get to come back home and full circle with this band after more than a decade? And by busting out both Walk Away and Boogie On just as they did at that first show, I think they showed that it was special to them too.

And the kicker? 5/28/11 was even better. Here’s hoping we manage to top this with night two again.

Funny - just two days after getting a spot-on primer on the different types of Phish shows in the Mann 1 review, https://phish.net/blog/1658342616/mann1-recap-mann-oh-mann-night-1-in-philly.html , our favorite band delivers a classic example of the "average-great" Saturday Night Special show on a warm Friday night in Bethel. The type 2 Sample and the YEM outro jam are not to be missed, and the entire first set is well worth the listen. Otherwise, a straightforward rocker party of a night that was an absolute blast for all in attendance.

This show was a party. This may end up being one of the shows most heavily influenced by attendance bias. In the room, such a blast, but there were a few opportunities for a jam to go deep where another song was inserted instead.

As other have said, the first set was just about the platonic ideal for a traditional first set in 2022 (or 1999?). Some light to medium jamming on Golgi(!), Sample, Gumbo, and Timber. Choreographed dancing in Guelah (first time played since Fall Tour 2019), and a few supremely Phishy songs with Saw It Again, Meat, Lawn Boy, and MyF.

Second set came around, and the air on the lawn was electric. A Mr. C opener typically bolds well, and the jam felt like it had legs before pulling the plug in favor of YEM.

Personal anecdote: I don't attend many shows, and I don't go out of my way to attend the big ones if they're not in the NY area, so I had resigned myself to never catching a YEM. I was elated when it came on and had so much fun with every note.

Back to the review: this YEM wasn't bad! Not a contender for best of all time by any stretch, but some good jamming in it, including a fat Mike solo and a perfect return from vocal to instrumental jam, which ended up being the jam of the night, imho. Like Mr. C, Fuego had legs but ultimately gave way to Joy. A nice version, just not what you're hoping for as the Fuego jam was starting to go "there." It felt like they couldn't decide what type of set to make it, as we then went to party anthem Boogie On, then another more solemn tune in Scents. The Scents jam followed the Mr. C and Fuego cue and started to develop before ultimately being ditched for another pivot into Phish party picks in Wilson, Possum, and Cavern.

It felt like the encore was intended to be ALBTD and then something more upbeat, but the band was bumping up against a curfew and had to call it after that. Still, while the song isn't held in the highest regard by the fanbase, this was a tender version with an emotional guitar solo. For better or worse, this song's on-the-nose lyrics force me to consider how lucky I am in life, and for that, I appreciate when they play it.

All things considered, a solid Phish show that was absolutely worth attending.

A Weekend in upstate New York And

Its going to be Hot !

First set melted with a old school flow. Great set list, A extended Golgi, moved into A serious Jam in Sample, this is some Check it out Stuff.My Soul is a perfect set up for Gumbo Baby! Served slow and Dark, jammed out and Into a smooth I Saw It Again>Timber ! First off a jammed gumbo haunts my dreams often, and this one must be tasted, then chased with a Timber jam. Timber has an extended Dark And Brooding Jam about 4 minutes worth in the center, then back into the ending very slow . Things are flowing well and It's one of those songs where I want them to go deep and explore ,this one is about 9 minutes and felt even longer. No sense of time out in the beautiful Lawn, Gumbo came in at about 10 min unfinished. I Saw It Again was nicely placed into the middle a freaking killer 25 minutes of music .I was the guy with the super sized shit eating grin at this point. MEAT > things got slow and funky with both Mike And Moby Dick taking turns weaving the center into a real nice pace for dancing, I looked around and saw people busting like its 1998! Fuck Yea ! Did I mention it was hot. Lawn Boy took a walk, Most appropriate. READY FOR IT BAMMM its 1994! time to Scare some people. Sry no love and light. My Friend takes control And the the show goes right into that place, this next duo may be my favorite songs to dance to. To say Trey is on point would an understatement at this point part. And Ohh They do read minds because every since covid a have been Chomping for a Guelah ! Like some reclusive
Virus. i' ts a guilty pleasure to watch people during My Friend its crazy town. A peaceful strumming emerges with a nice slow soft intro for Brian and Robert, and it is just fine with me, they eased into it with a puddle of a lawn catching our breath, then finishing with an absolute burner of a Walk Away. This First set is grade A for replay, front to back

Set 2
Mr Completely gets us going this was my first so i was very happy. It was solid and melted into a Monster YEM. this one for me especially on replay, and moves into my rotation. they go into the voice jam and come out with A jam Whole thing was extended-- Mike takes control and its lift off. if your looking for mike to lead with a thick deep bass this may be the YEM your looking for. What happens when you take a song like fuego and bring it down a couple of notches on the dark phish scale well you get mr mike who is using a different tone in the intro and this song morphs into its potential. Page is in a zone, really the whole night, and adds so much to each song . I hope they keep this tune going into that direction, I think its worth a listen,. A couple groans upon the opening of Joy. At this point the band wants you to be happy LOL it was my first joy so thanks guys, it made me Very happy. it was my song to catch my breath again grab a drink and get ready to Boogie. This boogie plus the heat took a couple of people down, not super long but at this point mike is MVP strong. Treys singing was on point from the start of the show. I have been waiting a long time for a Scents complete with intro. The scents intro adds that special element,and takes this song into the peak with purpose, this version is strait fire! not very long but has a blissful peek. when they are on they can make any song feel like next level also, I love when the crowds sings us away into the void. Wilson ripps through in 3 minutes,no fucking around. Possum has a great tone and trey is just toying with us. no crazy jam, none needed fun version. cavern finished strong and sounded very 97 ish. great way to end this set. This set was not as strong as the first for replay but had the jam of the night in Yem, my first Mr Completely and Joy and a ghoulish Fuego, super tight Scents. On to the

enc A Life Beyond the Dream. OK not my first choice however trey comes upon a lick that is strait Butter, he leaves it then finds it again. really a beautiful song.

Great venue, great crowd, great jams. Mike was MVP for me but any one of them could claim it tonight. locked in PHISH from front to back. On to night Two

First things first, Bethel absolutely rules. Best venue in the country and not afraid to say it. Blown away by the beauty. This was my first Phish show since 2019. And boy did I miss them. First set here was possibly the highlight of the 2 night run. Sample was a monster jamchart version. Timber was a great version as well. Such a nice Brian Robert and a scorching walk away - 1st set was A+ Phish guys.

2nd set the highlight was the YEM, which RIPPED, you must check it out. Boogie also found a very nice groove. Rest of 2nd set average but didn't hold up to that first set. I like Life Beyond the Dream, but not so much as an encore. Either way, bottom line. This was a really fun, slightly above average Phish show.

Not a fan of this show at all. . .the night to follow would be the best show of the tour only followed by Blossom the only show I got to see in person. . .but this show was not good or even great It reminded me of 8-15-2015 An AMAZING year no doubt The band became awake in 2015 like they became BORN in 1995 but still some shows in even 1995 and 1997 and 8 suck and that is why i remember that we are all human and need something more than even Phish and that is why they play the song we hate called MORE!!!! LOL and 8-14 MPP was great so of course i got the last show of the tour shit like people musta felt at Alpine OH 2022 wait all 3 nights at Alpine this year sucked cool i am glad i did not waste the Biden mileage thank you Jesus for telling me that when Trey does NOT play Jesus Just Left Chicago it means that I should not leave Chicago or in my case Blossom Cuyahoga Falls OH ever . . . Epic Legendary shit only happens once in a blue moon or in the case of Phish Big Cypress Halley's Comet 1997 The whole second Loaded Set is the best ever cover in my opinion followed closely by Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars but most disagree and say that the best ever is Thrilling Chilling Killing bs and i loved that one but compared to covers like Quadrophenia and the White Album and Ziggy Stardust i call bullshit I even prefer the fat man in the bathtub, time loves a hero, and the spanish (mexican cousin) sunrise. . .I mean there are so many better albums out there. . . .even Passing Through is better than Sci Fi Soldier so I digress it seems to be going from great covers to shitty Phish albums like Feugo to worse albums like Kasvot to even worse albums like Sci Fi Soldier but i actually like Phish making fun of itself realizing they are getting old and the effects NOW make them good and the ticket prices not actual talent anymore but i wish they would go back to their roots but they never will because LOVE OF MONEY not ROOTS is the root of all evil. . .they may PLAY possum and camel walk but they do not understand being born again like Jeff Holdsworth does just saying lol lol lol got one coach you piece of shit jokers i joke on my band until they come to their dumb ass senses and stop being Esther and Lifeboy and start being MORE and Miss you guy that inherits eternal life with humility grace and confidence but not like the pride that comes from 3 wrong turns that make a rockstar BLAZE ON idiot that keeps smoking weed but the kind of confidence that makes you humble UNLIKE a fucking retard rockstar This show sucked but they encored with something that makes me thing Trey has brain cells and wants to love his wife more than us the dumb ass fans