This show is a prime example for why you shouldn't judge a show just by how it looks on paper (or judge a book by its cover if you will). I did the two Mansfield shows and last night and this show was easily my favorite of the three. The two Mansfield shows seemed to have the opposite "problem" of last night: the song selection was super spot on but none of the jams went particularly deep (or at least deep for more than a minute or two). While last night's setlist seems meh when looking at just the songs played, it doesn't tell the whole story by a long shot. Sigma Oasis and A Wave of Hope > ASIHTOS > Blaze On was 100% grade A top tier top shelf Phish that I will definitely be revisiting for future listens. In terms of non festival/non MSG shows, it was some of the best jamming I've heard in person to date. It's a shame how these highlights get overlooked in favor of nitpicking the song selection.

Sure, the back half of that second set was admittedly pretty rough, but the Tube > First Tube encore made up for it. Others here have said that people leaving early was proof that the show sucked but it was definitely to beat the terrible traffic getting out of the venue on a Sunday night, plus it was possible to still hear the show on the walk out. Some of the worst traffic I've ever experienced coming into a show, and I thought Mansfield was bad!

The song selection outside of the big jam songs take this out of 5 star territory, but on the strength of the good stuff alone I feel like a solid 4 is warranted. IMO I'd take a show with "questionable" song selection but top tier long/deep jamming over a show with "great" song selection but with little jamming any day.

Exceptional show.

“But the song selection was bad”

{Batman smacks Robin}

“Silence chad, Phish is working their magic”

The three songs and 55 minutes of music that make up the beginning of set two is one of the longest stretches of sustained jamming by the band in recent memory. The Sigma Oasis in set one is also right up there with the best first set segments of this or any recent tour.

Phish know what they were doing, it’s Sunday, we’re in New England. The band was playing with fierce energy and taking no prisoners. We were treated to more of the inter dimensional vortex jams that showed up in Night2 of Philly (underrated) and Night2 of Bethel (overrated but still cool). Hartford was the culmination (so far) of what they’ve been developing improvisationally this summer.

Still plenty more to go and room for development. If you are upset with what the band did during this show, you should consider finding a new band. Perhaps Goose will be less challenging and maybe it’s where your custy ass belongs anyway

Listen to this show before judging it on the basis of the setlist, the early reviews, etc. This show, starting with the Plasma > Sigma Oasis, goes DEEP. Such delightful, deep jamming. I really thought this show might be a trainwreck, just based on all of the logistical hurdles on the front end (navigating through the insane police blockades to get to the venue, dealing with the slowest merch lines I've ever seen [it took us over 45 minutes to get through a line of like 20 people - we ended up missing the first three songs of Set I], and having to get past rude venue/Live Nation employees), but all of that was forgotten by set break. Don't sleep on this one - give it a good, honest listen, without judgment based on the Farmhouse > Number Line of the setlist, or whatever. Lay aside your biases, and just LISTEN - this was an outstanding show. For me, it's easily a 4.5/5.

An absolutely beautiful show in some of the swampiest humidity that southern New England has to offer. Forget the day of the week. Sunday, Tuesday, Friday, it matters not. Think of the moment and the preceding days for the band. Leaving the bucolic fields, forests and mountains of southern New York for the roiling asphalt expanse of greater Hartford during a blistering stretch of heat. The juxtaposition of sites could not be starker.

The song selection was deeply introspective and my mind was swimming with thoughts of where we’ve been over last few years and how we arrived at this place. The theme was nihilistic but far from defeated. Instead, I felt the band was demonstrating a resolute fortitude to ask the dark questions, to acknowledge the days gone past, but not with despair. Trey set the hook deep and I was on a string from the end of his guitar the whole night. This was undoubtedly a Trey show, in both song and solo all night long.

“What does it matter, if the nightmares all come true?” – B&B
“I don't think that when I depart I'll be close to where I start.” – Plasma
“You’re already there.” – Sigma
“This too shall pass, this too shall pass” – WoH
“How can I answer questions I’ve known?” – ASIHTOS

This was not happy, silly Phish. This was a band capable of taking us down a dark tunnel into the frightening and foreboding frailties of life. The first set was all about patient jam construction with plenty of cathartic crescendos that left me deeply satisfied. The second set trio of WoH > ASIHTOHS > Blaze On carried that same patience, but with jams that descended into total song deconstruction, creating an unrecognizable, dissonant soundscape that was both menacing and stunning. Farmhouse, the quiet jam out of this tune hit so well in the shed swamp that just would not fade. Backwards, an increasingly favorite sing along, and I felt zero shame indulging in the cliché that everyone in house is indeed a phriend. Zero, caps off a show just fine in my book. The Tube > First Tube? Come on now, even for the haters that’s Phish gravy in all forms.

It was hot. Even the wind was hot. And so was the playing! The first half of the first set was pedestrian after the very nice cars trucks buses opener. That is until they kicked off the jam in sigma Oasis. When they started the jam portion after the composed section of sigma Oasis, I turned to my friend and said this is the first time they've taken this show seriously, and it just got incredible after that. The jam in sigma Oasis went so many incredible happy places, it brought tears to this listeners eyes. The sand although somewhat short and fairly standard was superb and crisp. The second set was just wonderful, wave of hope/asihtos/blaze on were all jam vehicles that explored their own space and time and grove, Happy, Evil, and Guitar Rock Phish all got their places in those jams... This is truly peak Phish! I very much enjoyed the tube/tube close. Out of hundreds of different shows I've seen, of various acts, tonight's hit something special. Something really special. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have been there and gotten to share that space with so many other like-minded people.

This show was magical.

Sigma Oasis caps set I in thunderous form and is the best first set jam of the tour. A Wave of Hope > A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing > Blaze On is some of the best Phish I've ever witnessed live. Trey was something to behold. He was not holding back at all, sending us deep into dark, chaotic jams. You know the band is locked in thing when they won't move at all, heads down in focus. In these jams they were steering us through the universe.

This show deserves a much higher rating than it currently has. A lot have complained about the song choices elsewhere in the show besides for the 4 big jams. In my opinion, if they are going give us jams of this caliber, they can play whatever they want for the rest of the show.

Song selection matters, but the quality of the jamming is what is most important to me. I go to Phish to be sent into outer space, not to see the songs I want to see. You never know what song is going to get you to that place.

This was my very first Phish show. I attended with two buddies who are long time phans. In preparation for the show, I've spent the last two months really digging into the archives, familiarizing myself with the catalogue. My knowledge of 1.0 and 2.0 tunes is pretty strong, though I'm still weak with 3.0+. As we settled into our seats, I joked with one of my friends that it would be funny if, after all my research, Phish played a setlist of completely unfamiliar songs. Well... they did. Far from disappointed, however, I was very impressed with the show. The Sigma Oasis, Wave of Hope and ASIHTOS jams were as good as everyone's already said, and on the whole the show taught me a valuable lesson: don't judge a show by its setlist. Regardless of what they're playing the boys were able to put together an awesome performance. Can't wait for my next show!

Never miss a Sunday show, sort of?

The good: Sigma Oasis, Sand, Wave of Hope, ASIHTOS, Tube Encore

The bad: Wow, that setlist was awful. For a pretty well jammed show, the song choice was perplexingly poor. It’s rare that a show with this many duds has such quality jams.

I really don’t know what to think. The crowd was visibly turned off when 90% of these songs started, it was only when things went Type II that people got amped. I appreciate that the band is constantly trying to break their own rules, and break the expectations that Phans have come to bestow upon them. However, song placement is crucial. I’m all for cool down songs, but The Wedge, Farmhouse > BDTNL was painful. CTB, Breath & Burning and The Final Hurrah was also a tough look. And for what it’s worth, I thought both B&B and Hurrah had some decent jamming going. It just felt like the crowd never clicked and became one with the band tonight.

The Sigma Oasis jam was tight as all hell, I love seeing it get the jam treatment and going deep recently. Sand set closer was gold, but why not play that Sand earlier and close out with something different? A Wave of Hope went the distance tonight, and so did ASIHTOS, but the placement for these, and just about everything else felt so off. Good setlists on paper with no jamming is the same as bad setlists on paper with jamming as far as I’m concerned. The shows need to have a flow and rhythm to them.

In the end, it’s all good. Just happy to be seeing this band doing what they do. See y’all at the next one.

I will preface this review with the fact that this was my 13th show.

With that being said, this is perhaps the most joy I’ve experienced at a Phish show. The day started with an early morning departure from Philadelphia. When it came time to enter the NJ Turnpike, I opted for Cars, Trucks, Buses, telling my fiancée I was manifesting. During lunch at Black Eyed Sally’s, I speculated that maybe tonight was the night the band would sneak Sally through the alley. Or maybe it would be a Moma Dance.

You can imagine my enthusiasm when the band opened with Cars, Trucks, Buses. Would we get the Sally, too? The anticipation of the following song continued throughout the first set, much as it had through my first dozen shows.

Breath and Burning followed, and the reggae made me ask “Will it be a Makisupa night?” This was a song I was not at all familiar with, but I’m always down to rage with Page, and I felt the band showed some patience with the way they stretched out the second song of the night. On a listen back, Trey’s tone seemed locked in early, as well. On to The Final Hurrah. Again, not something I was looking forward to hearing, but it was fun and, following the early theme, stretched itself out. Free next. I’ll take that every show. Yarmouth followed and got me thinking more about the possible Makisupa. Plasma was a first for me, and I was really enjoying Fish’s work. With the start of Sigma Oasis, I thought maybe it was time to go to bathroom. Boy, am I glad I didn’t do that. Incredibly patient jamming was making me be believe the band felt they were, in fact, already there. This was a theme that seemed to develop early on and was expanded upon during the first hour of the second set.

Wave of Hope, another song not on my radar, blew me away. I had to ask a neighbor what it was. During ASITHOS, I thought to myself, “I hope they don’t play anything else this set.” Trey let us know in the previous song that this, too, shall pass, but I was really hoping that it wouldn’t. I mean, what could possibly improve upon that playing?

That was when I realized things had changed. Up to that point, I had constantly thought about what was next. After my first show (8/7/18), I dove headfirst into this band’s catalogue. Doing so led me to deciding favorite songs, songs I wanted to see live, etc. Whenever I entered a show, I’d ask a friend to call the opener, or ask them what they wanted to hear that night, or tell them what song I thought would make an appearance. So, when I found myself thinking, “I hope they don’t play another song,” I knew something had changed. In Hartford on 7/24/22, I feel like I entered a new level of Phish fandom. For the first time, not only was I not thinking about what song was next, I even thought that I did not want the current song to end! And, the best part, I didn’t even know what song it was!

The rest of the set was great. Trey’s tone was beautiful on The Wedge. Farmhouse Number Line back to back is a live Phish I’ve never experienced. I never would have drawn that up on a dream setlist, but I got it and I enjoyed it.

At this point in the night, I was thinking of a trip to Suarez Family Brewery in the Hudson Valley earlier in the summer. Their tap room, at the time, was a patio that was open for a 3 hour window one day a week with only one beer on tap. I loved the idea. You want our beer? Well we’ll tell you what you’re having. I had one and I enjoyed it. I was ready for another and it was nice to trust that I was going to enjoy the next one just as much.

On 7/24/22, I learned to let Phish call the shots. I learned that, once the show starts, I’m already there. There is nothing to look forward to. The song I’m listening to is the reason I’m there.

Also, how about those lights?

It was a scorcher on Sunday down in Hartford! At least it was throughout the pre-show routines in the various parking lots that surround the Meadows.

The show starts off with Cars Trucks Buses, which is usually a fun warm-up song. The first set was a collection of newer songs and while they were played well and had some good groove to them, they did not seem to excite the crowd into a frenzy. The Sand set closer was probably my highlight of this set. This is my second show of the tour and this is the second show in which they went into some cool electronic-sounding style grooves. This isn't a complete throwback to their trance-like grooves of 1999, but it is something I haven't heard them do too much of throughout the 3.0-present era.

The second set provided some very good and deep jams through A Wave of Hope - ASIHTOS - Blaze On. These three songs provide about an hour's worth of Set 2 Phish. The actual song selections were kind of all over the place, with hardly any of the old school "fan favorites". I was at Great Woods N2 and also caught A Wave of Hope and Blaze On there. A Wave of Hope seems to be one of the newer songs they are still toying around with for using as a mega-jam vehicle. Blaze On has already cemented itself as one of these types of songs, whether you really love it or are "meh" about it. Get used to it because it's taking up the space in the setlists where we would see more DwD, Tweezer, and some of the older tunes. I'm not totally sold on A Wave of Hope just yet. There is something about the song-part of the newer songs that are a bit cheesy to me. That being said, this version of it provides some very deep and spacey jams that you should check out.

Like other commenters said, the setlist was kind of all over the place and if you're an old school Phish fan that wants a healthy dose of the classics like Antelope, Hood, Mike's/Weekapaug, Divided Sky, Reba, etc. then this show might either bore you a bit or give you a good jumping off point for Phish 4.0.

The encore was solid. Tube is always a fun and funky jam and First Tube is a classic, high-energy set or show closer. I never tire of that simple guitar riff and bouncy bass line in First Tube.

After living in the past and feeling like my dad at Woodstock the night before, I got to Hartford in time to ask the traffic cop if there was any free parking left and he said, "what do you think? there's 40k people here!" I thought to myself wow that's a big venue and wondered if I looked like I hadn't been to a concert before. He quickly told me some team wasn't in town so there should be parking in that lot, and he pointed up a hill. I'd never been to Hartford before so I felt lost, but when i got to the top of the hill i saw the lot- about 13 cars parked in an area ripe for what looked like easy stealin's. But I went ahead and left my car I'd driven up from Chattanooga with all my stuff cuz the show was starting very soon. I'm often late. Born 3 weeks late. Not my fault.
As I walked from my car I crossed the street, saw a cop at the red light, then a brazen calvary of 4 wheelers ran the red light, turning left towards me and whipping by my sight in a slaloming formation! I was worried. But nothin' happened, and the cop didn't give a shit.
Making the long walk in I talked to a fan going to her first show, which is usually a wonderful conversation. And this one was no different. Then Santa Claus's slightly younger brother bonged along towards us and with pure eyes asked spritely if we needed any molly or doses. We said no thanks, but i bet that guy had some good stuff. I laughed heartily as the newcomer was entering culture shock. She cracked a smile too.
Anyway, I got a lawn ticket at the box office for $50 and went on in.
The heat seemed to inspire Breathe & Burning, a song i loathed for a year or so, before my profoundly autistic brother heard it come on my shuffle (even if i don't like some songs i have'em in my phone cuz phish music helps me breath) and he began to smile, shuffle, and sway to the breezy tune with the Dylan Thomas reference, which in turn made me smile with an older brothers love for his younger brother and now i will forever have a spot in my heart for the song.
The jam in Sigma was an oasis of a ton of new phishness. Great stuff. I love how they're jamming. I always have. It's like Trey said in that snippet of the Rockpalast show back in '97, "well, Phish is about change and process. and what i mean by that is that once we figure out how to play a certain way, we realize that's a bad thing and it's time to change."
That was somewhat paraphrased as I haven't seen the interviews since I lost the VHS back in like 2005.

So, since I'm no musician, but i do know how to improvise regarding storytelling, white lying to cops, and, yes, actual improv shows like the Second City Chicago folks who tried pulling off that Harpua, I'm forever hungry for newness in a world of repeats.
Sometimes I wanna move to Wakaliwood to audition for their wicked funny action movies, or some rural European town and take the train to soccer games, or the patagonia of Argentina to kick it with llamas and hike breathtaking mountains- BUT PHISH DOESN'T PLAY IN ANY OF THOSE PLACES. So, I'm stayin in the States until Phish stops or time ends.
I like being anywhere inside a phish show, and here i was in the back of the lawn since i was late and i also wanted the feeling of looking around a city and its citizens grooving to new grooves. This was a very interesting show!

But no peace for Jezmund tonight
I plug the distress TUBE>FIRST TUBE up tight!

As I walked with some fairly mild temped fatties, I found a tree and sat and enjoyed the rush.
"Ya gotta sit down so you don't fall down!" I offered to walking huffers.
"He's read the book!" said a funny fan to me from her car. I guess that would be in the book...
whawhawhawhaaaaaa the line to get up to the road back was a 40k person pileup, so i waited, And all i could do was laugh and holler, "THE LINES, RUSTY, THE LINES!"

So I flew out to my hometown in Connecticut from Mi on a whim to go to Hartford with my brother and friends. And man was I disappointed. I see a fair amount of shoes and there really isn’t any bad shows. But this one was a def turd. I was hoping after the Mann shows they would of carried that drive into Hartford but it did not happen. But the wave of hope and the song I heard the ocean sing to me was the biggest highlights for sure. WOH went the distance and got really dark & evil and I love me some evil phish. So the 2nd set had some real potential till they farm housed us right into number line. And wash wah wah ???? ???? wah totally killed the set imho. I live phish and my next show is blossom, then pine knob. So hopefully the redeem themselves on those early weekday shows! All in all I give the show 2 stars and def won’t be going back to Relisten Anytime soon.