Sneaky-good goods, this one.

Bobbing and weaving (Bob Weavering?) in and out 1.0 - 4.0 with the nimbleness of an ocelot is, for this guy, what is making this tour so rich.

Dense set one but good flow and major bonus points for both Kasvot and SciFi getting good turns. Slightly jammy little jungle cat handed, gnarly Saw It Again, some quick ass-handing, and a wall of sound Sand closer? Yes please, thank you please.

Everything’s Right through Twist was a low-key time stitch where each song felt the same sort of untimed elastic. We just smiled and danced as they dished the meat. Big, big fan of the Trey debuts getting set two placement and treatment. Monsters is up there with Oblivion as best of the lot, I think.

Fourth quarter was a saucy send-em-home-with-a-smile situation. Same as the Sand placement, I loved Ghost in the closer spot; helps to keep the big trucks fresh for the next journey.

This was my surly, pre-teen son’s second show and the fact he was only on his phone for a handful of songs in the first set should tell you something about the sweetness of the night’s juice.

Very song-heavy first set, and Phish takes the risk and brings out a lot of newer material. I thought the execution was great. When Phish delivers, they deliver big.
I Never Needed You Like This Before was about to wrap up when Trey gave Fish the look and kept it going for another few minutes, letting it breathe some. Band sounds great. Off to a good start already.

Turtle in the Clouds is always a fun one to hear. Placed well, played well.

Fast Llama got the crowd raging, with a hilarious Henrietta introduction to kick it off. Trey was rather talkative during the first quarter of the set.

Clear Your Mind I kind of expected. I stood at the gate and listened to the entire soundcheck 3-4 hours prior to the show where the band worked on this one for about an hour. I thought the payoff during the show was great. Really satisfying.

Sample through Sparkle were welcome selections, all of them played with confidence and without noticeable flub.

Ass Handed? Why not? We’re 11 songs deep at this point. Perfect buildup for a raging Sand closer that sent everyone to setbreak satisfied.

Opening a second set with Everything’s Right > Soul Planet is the perfect recipe for buzzkill, but buzzkill this was not.

Everything’s Right moved fluidly from section to section, Trey remaining patient throughout. I thought this was great. Resurfaces and > Soul Planet, and while I initially scratched my head at the call for Soul Planet, I was beyond satisfied by the end.

I really appreciate how Trey didn’t bother modulating keys early on, he let the initial Soul Planet jam ride out into ambient space. Rather than cue up another song Trey keeps playing and Fish slowly resurrects a beat, and the train is moving once again. Moved into an outstanding back half, bookended with really cool high-octave Trey soloing and into Twist. When I go to a Phish show, this is the kind of creativity I love to hear. The ER was longer but I thought this was the jam of the night.

After Twist and Most Events Aren’t Planned came Monsters. I think the song itself is actually really good. Shows some serious potential for a jam vehicle as well. I hope they keep this one around.

2001 > Rock and Roll, well, there are very few ways to close a set that will beat this pairing.

Grind, Tube, Ghost encore was a lot of fun. A capella, dance party, RAGER.

Back to back heaters at Star Lake, solid playing everywhere, really unique setlists and some great improv. What a weekend. 4.1/5

What makes a Phish show good?

Look no further than night 2 of Star Lake. A show where the band was all locked in and sounding great from the get go, ready to grab you for a high energy ride for an evening and not let go until we all had to go home.

You may look at the first set and pass on it because it lacks rarities or extended jams, but doing so would mean losing out on understanding why the roof blew off when the second set culminated in the Rock and Roll closer. Which, I’m not sure if R&R is the best jam of the night in isolation (I’ll probably give that nod to Soul Planet), but it is the stamp on the night and what I will remember the show for. For two sets this energy was building and bursting at the seams, and when we get to the R&R peak and close, all that we’d been feeling inside came out in triumphant fashion.

That we get a 3 song encore that kept that feeling going and ending the show with a quick but very good Ghost… yeah, we all experienced the same thing and know exactly what we saw.

Press play on this show from the beginning and listen all the way through. I don’t think you’ll find a dull moment. I do think you might join me in saying Star Lake night 2 is an early contender for show of the year in what has already been a hot start to the summer. It was certainly ALRIGHT. ALRIGHT. ALRIGHTALRIGHTALRIGHT.

I thought night one was off at star lake compared to night 2 but seems like that opinion might be divisive, so figured it might be time for my first review in many years.

Set 1:

Sometimes I like when they open with a newer high energy song rather than a more tread opener. Trey pushing for early extra mustard had me into it early .

Turtle was a cool version. I’m okay without the dancing. I LOVE fast llama, it has a special place, and I love that fishman didn’t drop the tempo when Trey started his solo after page raged. I felt Trey was a little lost on ideas N1 and this reassured me yes , he still has it . I liked clear your mind and the practice was evident as it sounded sparklier than most kasvot/sci-fi dust offs.

Sample through the rest of the set were played very well, at the right tempos and with intention. I love Sand but feel like I’ve caught it a lot over the last few years. Still a good version and I like how this one has settled into a let’s rage it out set closer.

Set 2:
I’m sure setlist hunters hate this opening combo but the energy was sublime for both of these songs. Id way rather hear a deeply jammed ER>soul planet than a Bowie with a major key shift that goes nowhere.

The show had a great energy, but I think anything truly memorable kind of goes after that. Twist wasn’t ripcorded but did seem to have the Trey plug pulled when new ideas didn’t surface.

I found Monsters to be a bloated hunk of broadway trey. I hated it less than pillow jets. Not a show killer though, it did mix it up .

Great to hear Rock & Roll, this was a ripping version and was tight with good page vocals.

Encore—meh. Felt like tube and ghost just didn’t scratch my itch. Always great tunes and happy to hear them.

Overall this was the kind of show with great energy and enough potential in the jamming that I’m confident some classics are lurking in this tour, even if this is seen as middle
Off the road by end of tour . The kind of show that keeps me coming back to seek out that crazy energy release I didn’t have on night 1. Thanks !

Trey is unusually chatty this show, and that should have been my first hint that we were in for a treat later on in the evening. Look, I won’t lie to, the first set is perfectly fine, but if you’ve heard these songs before in any other show or capacity, you’re totally fine skipping it. In fact, I’ll say Taste was a bit rough. Eh, actually, Llama was fire. Trey informs us that he didn’t feel like dancing for Turtle, but he clearly got his pent up energy out for Llama because this one is a throwback to 1992 Llamas. But, I’ve always likened first sets to being “the warmup” anyway, so even if the first set is largely unremarkable, it’s no love lost to me.

I want to say a lot about this second set, but honestly I only need to tell you this; I’ve been to now 22 Phish shows since 2011 (yeah yeah “you gotta pump those numbers up”), but I’ve never once been to a show where those who couldn’t get into the show were shooting off fireworks during the show. There’s always someone or multiple people shooting them off after the show, but tonight, midway through ER, they were clearly feeling IT and firing them off almost in synchronicity with the jam. It was one of the most organic and surreal experiences I’ve had at a show! They didn’t stop until (I believe) Twist was done.

By the time the show was done and we were all stumbling to our cars, the lot was a smoky haze. No one is in a rush after the show, there was nonstop chatter about what we’d all just experienced, and the good times continued through the night.

By all accounts, this is one of my favorite Phish experiences ever. Trey called it the best day of his life (I’m a bit hazy on the quote, but you get the idea) after Grind. Who am I to disagree?

I'm tasked with writing a 500-word review for STTF, but I came up with 1600 words... so the full thing is going here, and the truncated review will appear in the next STTF.
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After three shows that felt a bit off to me, I’m ready for my fourth and final show of the summer to bring the heat.
The show opens with a fluid I Never Needed You Like This Before. The band looks and sounds as comfortable off the bat tonight as they did during set two last night after shaking off Wilmington’s damp. The smooth playing tells me it’s safe to say the band has shaken off the heebie jeebies. Turtle in the Clouds was clean, and it’s the first I’ve seen since Dicks 2019. I like it. There’s lots of stage banter between band members, telling me the guys on stage are having a swell time. Everyone else in the audience seems to get it, and the fact that I’m not hearing enough to understand reminds me how young the crowd seems to be compared to this jaded vet. By the third song, the band was more than warmed up, and a zippy version of Llama was welcomed by everyone in attendance. Yes, the band is having fun up there, making jokes and doing schtick. This version of Llama is clean, and its organ-driven hammering home the point that this band is charged up, especially for those of us raging Page side. People have been talking up slow Llama, and I’ve seen that variant a few times, but if anything this one felt sped up past the norm, with Trey smashing those machine-gun notes, very much in form. No trouble keeping pace from anyone in the band tonight, and they leave us breathless at full-stop.

This is one of those shows replete with banter (was that a Sprocket SNL joke, Trey?)... I don’t recognize this newer tune (first time played, Fall Tour 2021, MSG), Clear Your Mind, but I like it, too. Key changes, calls and responses, and harmonies with an underlying bed undulating in funky rhythm, its groove forcing me into motion. Take us to church, CK! Lights steepled in temple formation above the band, and I’m feeling this light show (maybe the best I’ve seen in my twenty+ years of seeing this band).

At this point, I meditate on the clouds covering the sun in just such a way that its rays cast a glow like the penumbra of the moon, except it hangs like this over the west parking lot at a middle-of-nowhere Phish concert, just for us.
Sample in a Jar is next. What I’m thinking throughout this set is the same: “Wow. This band is really together.” The crowd is feeling it and is chatty (summer shows, right?). I am dialed in. Trey hits the high notes, and Fishman drives home the point.

Then comes Taste, and the piano oozes reminiscence of those Billy Breathes years—the first Phish album I heard back when my best friend’s older brother lent it to us and I found it to be too far afield from the alt-rock I was listening to at the time. It reminds me of experimentation without the heavy burden of loss in the years since. And I love those high hats. I smile, and it’d be tough to wipe it from my face. The band follows Page, who is guiding this ship of memory. Page does not noodle here. He commands. He carries the flow through the middle build and on toward the end of this tune, and his playing is exquisite. When Trey takes the lead, listening for Page’s cues, he connects those licks with soaring tones of climbing scales. The climb back out of the jam hits me in my checks and tingles my toes.

The sun dips below the clouds, and Fish plays the off-beat. After this, Ocelot is fun. No faltering from anyone playing an instrument, and the team behind the scenes is holding it down, holding everything together. Trey takes those whinnying and wailing notes for a walk, hitting that whammy to bring us along with him. What we have here is a case of mass communication—of communion. The build here is neatly constructed and features multiple breakdowns through the bars, nicely wrapping up in the standard manner.

And next: Julius! I love it. Trey’s singing in that higher octave I heard in Wilmington a few days back, and it works. This bouncing treat is high-tempo, as hoped for, and raucous.

Saw It Again brings the first spontaneous “yeeeowwww!” from somewhere in my belly, spilling out of me outside my control.

The sun is nearly set, and the band gets dark. No hesitation from any member on stage, and CK + Giffin duo continue to blow minds. This is the rock music our parents warned us about, people. It lures us into dark regions, the band playing the piper’s role in our descent. The song breaks until nothing remains but our gritty gut feelings.
Sparkle is quietly energetic today. Purple is the vibe of the song, thanks to our lighting team. Red accents.
The silliness continues with Ass Handed, which straight slaps while bringing the laughs. It’s a fun song that totally fits the band’s vibe today. We’re laughing right along with the fellas on stage.

Sand. Fuck yeah. I cannot ever say no to this tune, and this version doesn’t disappoint. The crowd is younger tonight than it was last night, and I find myself glancing around while I boogie, appreciating that there are new fans here getting a sample of what’s driven the rest of us to come back time and again. Trey is absolutely ripping it for the last third of this one. It started with a flow and ended with a crash—not with a whimper but with a bang!

The second set opens with my wife Sara’s favorite newer Phish song, Everything’s Right, and it’s tough not to join her in loving it. Here’s a song that has been used as a breather that often turns into jam city, and that’s the job it does here.

Throughout the second set, the upper sections of the lawn are treated to a near-continuous stream of fireworks blasting off from the shakedown lot. Something about summer shows under dark skies. Everything feels louder, seems closer, and the light and sound washes over the whole crowd.

Everything’s Right takes a turn about six minutes in—it’s dark. It’s sensuous and fluid. Low and slow. Progressive, twangy, bordering on funky. Is that Manteca I keep hearing? They’re listening to each other so well. Mike slaps the base as Trey picks through a happy ditty while lights tinkle above (is that a Cities tease?), and there’s that thunder crash cymbal effect, Page accenting with high notes. In a moment, Page cues Trey to change keys. Mike keeps things flowing, and, all the while, Fish’s fills excite! Titillate! Arouse? At fifteen or sixteen minutes in, clear Slave to the Traffic Light progression. A bit later, Trey is flying high before bringing the band back `round to the refrain. Twenty three minutes of excellence.

Soul Planet opens up. The snob in me woulda preferred Vultures or Guyute, but this place is rocking, and by the slow breakdown a few minutes later, I’m feeling it. Six minutes in, the band is about to blast off. From the seventh minute onward, the familiarity melts away into something more porous, tinkling, dipping in and out of rhythms Fishman holds onto for the foursome. Mike explores the scale, and Trey follows his lead. Somehow, Page and Trey wind up climbing the same scale without clear signals or repetition. Their communication stands out again here. By the ten-minute mark, Soul Planet is more compelling than I give it credit for. By the time they head back toward the main theme, it’s a rip-roaring, singing and soaring good time.

I think they’re winding up for a full pause, but they keep up the energy and catapult us into Twist. Placed as a third song some thirty-five minutes into a set, I love it! I hear cowbell, organ, and Mike’s stair-climbing bass. This really is a feel-good song. Stevie Ray Vaughn teases in there, right? Kuroda’s lighting-in-motion is doing its work here, synchronous with the song’s turns. The band continues tinkering with that Stevie Ray Vauhgn sound.
Most Events Aren’t Planned follows Twist. This is a nice breather. The change of pace and timing mid-song is a welcome surprise. I’ve seen this song a few times, but I don’t really *know* it yet and don’t have a feeling for it. It shows off Phish’s prog-rock tendencies.

Next up is a debut. Monsters! This one may as well be a Pink Floyd song, and I’m in love. I can’t wait to hear this one again.

2001 is a good follow up to Monsters. I boogie my brains out, knowing that this show is nearing its end. This is a solid and enveloping version of this funk beast. What a heater! After this one, Rock `n Roll closes the set. Amazing. Such smooth playing from all and fantastic singing from our man on the keys. They’re back out for Grind, which they practiced at soundcheck earlier today. Next we get a Tube and Ghost (first time as an encore!). Love em both, and recall them closing that show twenty years ago at this venue with a Farmhouse encore. What a far cry away. There’s nothing fancy either of these closers—but hey, who doesn’t love a funky beat? It’s a party here in Burgettstown, despite what the notorious local PD have to say about it. The lights come up, and I’m done on this tour. Four shows in five days plus a single-day 650 mile drive is tough for these old bones. Headed back to higher ground in Utah in a few days.

To those who are about to rock in Syracuse, I salute you.

SET 1:

I Never Needed You Like This Before: Good opener, well jammed. Ending a little sloppy?

Turtle in the Clouds: Standard.

Llama: Nice banter before this kicks off, Trey seemingly in a good mood. This is ripped. Trey employs that ’99 reverse reverb/backwards effect perfectly. Well done sir! I will say something audibly seems off with Fishman during this version.

Clear Your Mind: Seems they are really enjoying themselves. Sign of good things to come? >

Sample in a Jar: Standard.

Taste: Body of work is fine, ending is sloppy (Trey).

Ocelot: Nicely jammed. Trey rips it up at the end.

Julius: Broadway Trey to the max. Embarrassing. Jam is fine, nice trills. Sloppy ending.

Saw It Again: Standard. This tune has always had so much unrealized potential outside of 12.12.97, so strange to me. >

Sparkle: Standard.

Ass Handed: Standard.

Sand: Gets a bit whale call ‘ish around the 6 minute mark. Big peak at 9:35.

SET 2:

Everything's Right: Trey playing nice clean, leads through about the early part of the nine minute range. He lets it breathe momentarily, Page striking some beautiful stuff on the baby grand. Trey jumps back in is building some tension, very nice. From here, they employ some effects that are spacey. The next 7 minutes or so are heavily influenced by effects, pretty gnarly in here. The echoing effects that start around the 10 minute mark are especially psychedelic. At 16:05, Trey drags the band out of these murky depths and is headed for a major mode jam. It stays in this vein for the remainder of the jam. Check out the Slave type jam that *I believe* starts at 18:48, really sweet – this goes through 22:01! This is an all timer jam! The re-entry into the vocals was slightly jarring but who cares after all of that! >

Soul Planet: The jam kicks off at a breakneck pace with Trey “Screaming through space”. Things start to get nice and weird at 6:14, love this sound right here – absolutely love it. Wish they would have stayed in this space longer. At about 7:14 it drifts into an ambient space, ethereal. Beautiful. By 8:22 they are moving out of this. It’s still mellow but Mike is urging the band to pick up the pace. 10:25 – a very pretty note sustained by Trey and then it seems to be game on from here – the pace is definitely ratcheting up. Another long, held note from Trey from 11:42 to 11:59 – it’s fantastic. From 12:35 and for the next minute and a half there is a neat little jam going on with Trey and that high pitched guitar effect out front – this allows them to sneak through the backdoor into… ->

Twist: Completely standard. Surprising, after the last two sweet jams I would have thought they would have pushed this to the max. Wonder who in the band was not feeling this one? >

Most Events Aren't Planned: Standard, played close to the vest. Seemed like this would have been a great opportunity to take this for a ride?

Monsters: Decent enough song, would think this has some potential.

Also Sprach Zarathustra: Does what it usually does, no more, no less. >

Rock and Roll: Standard face melter.

ENCORE:

Grind: Standard.

Tube: Interesting how Tube in the E slot is almost exclusively a 3.0 thing. Only once did that happen in 1.0 (6.26.94) and 9 times in 3.0. This is a standard version. >

Ghost: I don’t understand this in the encore slot at less than 8 minutes. You just burned this tune for the next however many shows so you could play it for 7 + minutes? Why? Frustrating.

Summary: First set is solid, nothing to really write home about but that’s fine. Everything’s Right is flat out very special. Soul Planet, while not that long, goes many places and all of them engaging. So, what happened after that? This had the makings of a set two for the ages, it was set up to be just that. But for whatever reason, they just didn’t want to go there? It’s really too bad. I would rate this show as a 3.8 out of 5.

Replay Value: Everything’s Right, Soul Planet.