Set 1: Quite nice indeed; while lacking in exploration, the band decided to dust off some of their less-played tunes, played very nice versions of Fuego and Roggae, called back The Birds in BOAF (a thrilling moment that possibly suggests Phish isn't done with 10/31/14 II quite yet, and not the last!), and rip up Wingsuit as per usual now. Lots to like here for a Set 1.

Set 2: After getting the crowd going with Possum, C&P pops up for the 2nd time in the tour, and out of the typical Crosseyed jam the band drops to a low boil, Page and Trey melding with bubbling notes from each, Mike doing some fine work. Trey switches to stabbing chords as spaciness builds up and Fish switches up his beat, and out of the jam-ending fog Trey picks out the chords to Light, and instead of the usual jarring intro Light quietly builds out of that fog instead; if it's not a ->, it's darn close.

Light rocks along in the usual fine fashion, then they move to a dancier, bouncier rhythm, with Page clanking away on the piano and Mike flipping on the envelope filter while Trey goes to weird notes. It sounds like it might be revisiting the terrain of 10/29's version, but they quickly rebuild to usual Light territory...then a switch flips on somewhere, Trey and Fish start howling, and the band drops right into The Dogs, taken at a peppier tempo than on Halloween, for a few glorious minutes in a beautifully organic and thrilling segment. The jam then collapses into a wonderfully spooky space, and Fish clearly wants to keep jamming, but instead Trey coaxes him into Lengthwise, and we get a very charming version as the previous jam fades away behind them.

Twist pops up next, with some Lengthwise quotes for fun, and they sneakily wind into Manteca so smoothly I expected a full rendition (we only got a few repetitions of "crab in my shoe mouth", sadly), then rip through a nice version of the typical Twist jam before another fog creeps over everything (via Mike, I think) and the jam moves into a more deliberate pace before coming to a relaxed close via Page and moving into Velvet Sea. A pretty nice Hood, Golgi, and #L (the band having a victory lap, as Hood easily could have closed the set) wrap things up, and the encore is the encore (though the crowd was very excited for the Fuego songs, it needs to be said).

Final thoughts: a very fine show, with bustouts galore and a superb Crosseyed > Light -> Lengthwise > Twist sequence that stacks up with the best of this year (and some of last year, too...). Fall 2014 has really hit a new gear these last four shows, and here's hoping it stays in that gear for the grand finale.

When trying to decide on the MVP of this show I decided it goes to the audience. The vibe inside the arena was much more energetic than on Friday and I think the band fed off that energy to give us an amazing show. It was like the band used perfectly placed songs as logs for the ideal campfire. The set opener Fuego didn't kill the like earlier this year, but it was solid enough to get us going and helped act as a nice piece of fuelwood. The next 2 songs just kept building the fire that was soon to be ignited. Nothing out of the ordinary with these songs just dry and fluffy enough to secure the base of our fire acting like the much needed tinder. I think Trey subtlety lights the fire during 555 with a spot on solo. Next the boys start laying some kindling. They know that too much too fast on a freshly lit campfire can lead to disaster so they pull out some rare tunes. FYF really gets the crowd going because it seems like the band is not holding back and giving the band some nice leftover Halloween treats. My Friend my friend was the turning point in this show. The crowd got so loud near the end of this song, much louder than any point the night before. We were feeding the fish like pouring fuel on the fire. Unbelievable energy! The fire burned bright during the next 4 songs to end the set and I believe each was played better than average. Roggae was my favorite song in the first set and I don't think can get much better than this. When Trey brings back "They Attack" during BOAF the crowd goes nuts. And just like Oak Mt earlier this year Wingsuit perfectly closes the first set. Out of my 30 shows (all since 2009) this is my favorite 1st set and really gets me excited for what is about to go down in round 2. Possum was a great set opener but Crosseyed really started the set and started a must hear combination with the next few songs. The segue way into Lengthwise was awesome and worked perfectly going into a fun teasy Twist. The fire started going out with Wading in the Velvet Sea. And, I thought Hood would start us back up but it lacked the magic that we all know is possible with that song. Golgi and number line were very well played, but still not enough to feed the fire. My brother, John, called a 3 song encore and it think it goes to show that Phish know the rules about putting out campfires. Waiting All Night was beautiful. And, I knew that Sing Monica could not cap off this wonderful show. So, the boys get out their water to finally out out the fire and sing us a random, yet seemingly fitting a Capella Star Spangled Banner. I gave this 4 out of 5 stars mainly because I think all 5 star shows should have at least one big (15+ minute) jam song, but that's just my personal thought. I'm sure there are several must hear shows without any big jams, but for my perfect show I need to get lost in a long jam. I have high hopes for tonight and if the crowd continues to feed the Phish I think this could be the best night of an incredible Vegas run.

To me this show was an excellent counterpoint to Friday.

Going in, I knew (and you should have as well) that it would be near impossible to top the sheer energy and ridiculousness that was Halloween... Phish made the (absolutely brilliant IMO) move of not even trying to compete with that, deciding instead to take a left turn, ditching fire for laid-back, confident and at times, frankly wonderful, band-interplay. After about a hour and a half of sleep after Halloween I was pretty raged out, and consequently this show was right up my alley.

When leaving this show I remarked to my friends, "This show was as chill as Halloween was over the top". Immaculate song selection in the first set, and a lovely Crosseyed > Light > Lengthwise > Twist with a nice (but not sublime) Hood and #line to round out the second set left me in a great mood.

It's not the best show ever played, but it was somewhat unique in the laid-back jamming style that pervaded the entire show.

In any case, I left pretty happy. Definitely worth a listen

Final note, someone was handing out betting odds on hearing specific songs before the show. Both Fuck Your Face and a Manteca tease were on there, and I remarked something to the effect of "No fucking way." As always, I'm incredibly glad when Phish proves me to be dead wrong.

Nice review. The crowd was electric and certainly earned 12th man recognition. I thought the band really turned it around on 10/22, and have been having a blast with bustouts, particularly in the first
sets. And they are also taking jams into what feels
like territories untouched for awhile. This tour has been really intriguing, fun, sloppy, and cathartic. I'm loving it.

The entire weekend was historical without question. There are so many variables that constitute a good Phish show for each individual. The stars were in alignment this night for me.
Perhaps the best first set i have witnessed live, with the exception of 8/2/13, in the present era.
Every song seemed to be served on a plate for me to devour like someone who hasn't consumed sustenance in months.

When trying to decide on the MVP of this show I decided it goes to the audience. The vibe inside the arena was much more energetic than on Friday and I think the band fed off that energy to give us an amazing show. It was like the band used perfectly placed songs as logs for the ideal campfire. The set opener Fuego didn't kill the like earlier this year, but it was solid enough to get us going and helped act as a nice piece of fuelwood. The next 2 songs just kept building the fire that was soon to be ignited. Nothing out of the ordinary with these songs just dry and fluffy enough to secure the base of our fire acting like the much needed tinder. I think Trey subtlety lights the fire during 555 with a spot on solo. Next the boys start laying some kindling. They know that too much too fast on a freshly lit campfire can lead to disaster so they pull out some rare tunes. FYF really gets the crowd going because it seems like the band is not holding back and giving the band some nice leftover Halloween treats. My Friend my friend was the turning point in this show. The crowd got so loud near the end of this song, much louder than any point the night before. We were feeding the fish like pouring fuel on the fire. Unbelievable energy! The fire burned bright during the next 4 songs to end the set and I believe each was played better than average. Roggae was my favorite song in the first set and I don't think can get much better than this. When Trey brings back "They Attack" during BOAF the crowd goes nuts. And just like Oak Mt earlier this year Wingsuit perfectly closes the first set. Out of my 30 shows (all since 2009) this is my favorite 1st set and really gets me excited for what is about to go down in round 2. Possum was a great set opener but Crosseyed really started the set and started a must hear combination with the next few songs. The segue way into Lengthwise was awesome and worked perfectly going into a fun teasy Twist. The fire started going out with Wading in the Velvet Sea. And, I thought Hood would start us back up but it lacked the magic that we all know is possible with that song. Golgi and number line were very well played, but still not enough to feed the fire. My brother, John, called a 3 song encore and it think it goes to show that Phish know the rules about putting out campfires. Waiting All Night was beautiful. And, I knew that Sing Monica could not cap off this wonderful show. So, the boys get out their water to finally out out the fire and sing us a random, yet seemingly fitting a Capella Star Spangled Banner. I gave this show 4 out of 5 stars because I need a big (15+ minute) jam to complete my perfect show. Hopefully the crowd continues to feed the Phish tonight and we get a 5 star show. Feed The Phish!

After the previous night's show, everyone at the MGM Grand was still a little bit flabbergasted. A lot of questions were out there. Did they blow their load last night or is this going to be one of THOSE runs? What about the Halloween songs? Are these one and done are are they going to be back? Will Trey stay in the driver's seat or is he going to go back to the 2014/rhythm guitar norm? By the end of this evening, all of these questions would be answered.

Set 1:
We all knew Fuego was getting played this weekend, but no one saw it opening the show. Going off how the previous night played out, many were thinking that this would be the next big/jammed out one after the versions from SPAC, MANN, and Portsmouth the previous summer. It was not. It was still well-played and served as a great opener. Plus, I like to get the predictable out of the way early. My Soul, 555, and Back on the Train were all pretty straight forward, but they were playing well and these songs had good flow. Dog Faced Boy was the first of a few rare scores. Fuck Your Face got the crowd rowled up again, and horn kept the rock vibe going. Frankie Says felt a bit sudden, but hey, it's Frankie Says. It's just one of those songs I always feel like works best coming out of a spacey jam. It did lead nicely into MFMF, which sent the crowd into the stratosphere. I always feel like Roses is about to take off at the end. No matter how many times it doesn't, I always find myself saying, "Ah, I thought they were about to go for it..." Either way, this one fit well after MFMF. Roggae has been sounding pretty good the last few years, and this one kept that trend going. The set took on a mellow lean, and then they crank up BOAF. It was here that we got our first sign that "The Haunted House Songs" weren't going anywhere. They hit several "They Attack's" in the middle section. Musically, it didn't do anything spectacular, but it was fun none the less. I have become a big fan of the Wingsuit set closer. Trey's playing was very tasteful on this take, and at this point, I'll take this over another Antelope that just shoots from point a to point b.

After a set that couldn't decide if it was a rock set or a mellow set yet still flowed, no one really knew what to expect next.

Set 2:
I don't get all the possum hate, but personally, I love a good 2nd set Possum opener. I think it loosens the band up, and typically, big things follow. As this possum came to it's rousing conclusion, they crank up crosseyed. This has to be the best "party song" in Phish's catalog, and it worked perfectly on this crowd in Vegas, which was probably the most buzzed yet attentive audiences i've been a part of. This is version does not try to be very exploratory. It focuses on simply shredding over the crosseyed them. They accomplish exactly what they set out to do. As this version fades away, Trey actually transitions quite nicely into Light, which has proven tough for him the past. The band gets in sync right out of the gate on this light jam. They navigate several twists, turns, and narrow passage with ease covering a lot of ground in a relatively short amount of time. As they come out of the final twist, Gordo and Fish settle on a pretty rocking groove setting Trey up perfectly. He jumps on the opportunity and segues cleanly into The Dogs. Boom!! One night later and it appears the Halloween songs are going to be worked into the repertoire. This version is a bit more free-wheeling than the previous night's, and just for good mearuse, they keep rocking out of the back end. They eventually take their foot off the gas and slow it down. As Trey moves through the space, it sounds like "No Quarter" is poised to pop up, but then comes another major surprise, Lengthwise!! This song is about as rare as they come, and this is one of the few times that you actually find in an interesting spot. This seamless stretch comes to a close when Trey strums out Twist. Just to keep things spicey, they work in a fair amount of Manteca, including lyrics. Personally, I'd call it Twist w/ Manteca teases, but I can see how some would want to label it Twist->Manteca->Twist. Velvet Sea fit well, and I don't think I was the only one needing a quick breather.

This is the point in the show where I think Phish had definitely delivered enough to call this a great show. Everything beyond this point is house money. I don't think the rest of the show shined like the first 3/4's of the 2nd set, but it really didn't matter. After a massive resurgence in 2014, this version of Hood seemed pretty average. It would probably be looked upon more favorably if it had been played anytime between '09-'13, but in a year that brought us the Great Woods, Northerly Island, and BGCA Hoods, this just comes off as average. Being already very pleased with the night's performance, I was actually happy to see Golgi, Numberline, Monica, and Waiting All Night pop up. These aren't songs I aim to see, so it was a good time to cross them off the list of songs that could pop up tomorrow. The Star Spangled Banner was a great back drop as we eased out of the MGM and hit the Vegas night life hard again.....

They followed up a legendary Halloween show with a very strong outing. Everything between crosseyed and twist was gravy, but some will argue that the best of the 2014 Vegas run had yet to come.

On November 1st, 2014 I awoke with a bit of a fuzzy head. Sure I had gotten a little tipsy at Phish’s Hallowe’en show the night before, but really, isn’t every morning a little fuzzy when you wake up in Las Vegas?

(If you answered “no” to the previous question – which was meant to be rhetorical – then one of us ain’t doin’ Vegas right.)

Perhaps especially when you’re staying at The Flamingo (or as I typoed it once and have since and will forever call it: The Flaming O). Why? Because the Flaming O is kitschy, it’s classic, and it’s cheap, and as a result it attracts a fuzzier clientele than does, say, the Bellagio or The Venetian. Take, for example, yours truly from just a few nights previous. We had just checked in after a long day of airplaning and enjoyed a relaxing nightcap in our room – which was situated about thirty-seven acres from the nearest bank of elevators, which were themselves at least twenty-nine leagues from the front desk, to which I had to return twice upon arrival because the key kept not unlocking the freakin’ door – when I decided to spend an hour raking it in at the tables downstairs.

And I did quite well. So well in fact that I found I couldn’t leave the roulette table. Not when my chips stacked so high I could barely reach over them, not when the free-drinks ladies started calling me by name, not when my pile started diminishing at a steady and rapid rate, not when my dashes to the bathroom started coming with every spin, not even when in a fit of frustration I placed just one, single bet on the table, $10 on number 9, and lo, the little pea popped right into the #9 slot. No friends, I was fuzzy enough to sit at that table until I lost everything I had won and even the $100 I had started with (and maybe a wee bit more – I remain fuzzy on the actual figure). Had I left the table at exactly the right time I could have come back to the room and crawled into that king-sized coconut-scented bed with enough money sitting on the nightstand to pay for our entire trip, but of course I didn’t. Instead I arrived back at the room shocked to discover that not only was it daylight, but m’lady was awake, showered, and ready to meet some friends for brunch. I did my morning calisthenics and we got out of there.

And so, it is with admitted – nay, professed – fuzziness that I report that Phish delivered a solid middle-night show at the MGM Grand arena that evening (not the evening of my gradual roulette fiasco, but the evening that I am ostensibly writing about: November 1st). The first set was a rock and roll sandwich bunned by Fuego at the front and Wingsuit at the back, a clear nod to the previous year’s Hallowe’en show, a concert that premiered Phish’s new album Wingsuit, which was renamed Fuego when it was officially released.

The second set was even better. At one point the keyboardist played a few samples from the Chilling, Thrilling Disney album they had jammed along to during their musical costume the night before, snippets that were met with roars from the crowd. The writing was already on the wall, and Phish knows which side of the bread they are buttered on. The band would go on to play the heck out of Chilling, Thrilling tracks at their future shows, consistently to the ecstatic joy of approximately 95% of their fans (myself included) and the head-shaking chagrin of the other 10%.

And while my figures may be a little fuzzy and a lot made up, they are utterly consistent with the rest of this ticket story and, frankly, these write ups on-the-whole.

http://www.toddmanout.com

At the very least, this show boasts a top-tier version of Light... it's really an amazing jam that you should hear if you like that song. The rest of the show is played really well, but an interesting thing about it is that it seems almost "themed," in that Horn > Frankie Says initiates a sprinkling of laid-back and swirling psychedelia in the Type-I songs that can also be observed in Roggae, Wingsuit (and maybe the song preceding it, Birds of a Feather), Twist > Wading in the Velvet Sea, and Waiting All Night. The show feels very The-Story-of-the-Ghost to me, which is not to say that it feels very The-Siket-Disc, but there's 12/31/99 for that. Also notable are the rarities Dog Faced Boy, Fuck Your Face, and Lengthwise. Throw in an average-great Harry Hood and you're in cider town!

Set 2 set list includes The Dogs, which was debuted the night before during the Halloween musical costume. Actually, the boys played a very short portion of The Dogs during Light - more than a tease, but The Dogs certainly was not played in its entirety. If you download this show, you will not find The Dogs listed as a separate track.

The good/crazy: the entire first set
The 'not as good': the entire second set. When they ripcorded Harry Hood it just killed it for me.

Phish is always good, and with 10/31 in the background I wasn't expecting anything groundbreaking, but there was a lot of potential for greatness that was not quite realized.