Tonight’s second set was like the universe exploded and we all traveled through space shattered to bits along with everyone and everything else just spinning and splitting into smaller and smaller pieces until we’re all just space dust, like a cloud of space dust blowing through the universe—and then somehow, with an encore Lizards, everything came back together again and there we were, on the concrete floor of the Hampton Colleseum, still burning and pulsating from the obliterated trip through space.

*from the couch* so I can only imagine how much fun this show must've been at the coliseum, but oh man was it something to behold.

Opening with an another BD call back, this Strawberry letter 23 was executed superbly and supplied some novelty to the show from the start. The Blaze On to follow felt perfect to keep the fun loving energy going and gave us another excellent first set jam in 2018. Mock Song was a tongue-in-cheek treat being the 3rd time ever played and the Divided Sky to follow had Trey douse the crowd in flawless execution coupled with classic tone and it is not one to be skipped upon relisten.

A well placed Roggae opened up in the jam section to deliver an affirming peak that seem to settle the crowd into a brooding expectation for speed on which Sparkle delivered. I always love this song wherever it shows up in a set and I certainly loved it here.

The song selection to finish out the first set was lovely and everything was played near perfectly - even Rift! And the Walk Away to finish was a rager to say the least.

The second set... I'm still processing. I'll leave that for someone else to unpack.

Final word: wow I'm so excited for the rest of fall tour

Top to Bottom complete fire show. Strawberry letter 23 second time played, surprise repeat from Strawberry BD night opens the Hampton weekend. Crowd goes wild. Blaze On immediately sends the show into Type II territory and rewards with a serious outro jam taking it past the 13 min mark. Smoothly seg-ing into the third Mock Song ever played (with Mike ensuring he does not butcher the lyrics by having a girl hold up cue cards for him). Divided Sky little rough through composed section pre- “pause” , but Hampton fills with lighters and ecstatic screams during the pause, and the band rewards us with a very nice build and peak. Energy stays up for slowed down Roggae which delivers its own satisfying peak, we laugh and laugh and fall apart in a quick well-played Sparkle, and then Undermind delivers a funk injection which carries over to a very funky Meat complete with Mike / Trey close-up duel and what I’m assuming was the most intentionally arrhythmic drum solo of all time. Rift keeps the energy dialed up even if not perfectly played and then Walk Away *blows the doors off* as a head-banging set closer.

What a first set and what a fantastic start to the Hampton weekend.

Trey shreds the Carini chords to open second set, and it is a powerfully rocking Carini jam that emerges, albeit a relatively brief one, similar (actually v close timing?) to its outing at Camden N2. 2013 Hampton Carini is still champ, but in 2018 we go into a Sand dance party. Straight forward rocking Sand has Hampton moving. And then Golden Age takes the Mothership into space, and our trip is not short, 23 min jam / alien abduction containing dark symphonic beauty and we have our centerpiece jam of the evening and hopefully a sign of further deep jamming this run and this tour. Twist like Carini packs a very solid jam into a shorter package, dissolving into the relatively rare Mountains in the Mist, which is an extremely well deserved and very nice played breather. And then, after a short late-set funky dance party in Meatstick, everyone’s favorite song about *doin’ it*, Phish seals the deal with a Melt closer reaching mind melting dissonant heights before coming to a final triumphant peak and return.

Unreal 2nd set, and Hampton pops yet again as Trey strums the opening chords to your The Lizards encore. Trey’s solo was unusually delicate, quieting the crowd and having us savor the moment together, before building to its usual beautiful melodic peak.

I could not possibly be more excited for what is in store for the remainder of this weekend and the remainder of this Fall Tour.

jumping off of @vinsanity46 i will try to unpack that second set. (i was in attendance.)

first of all, it was my first time at the mothership. wow. what an absolutely perfect venue. sound was unreal, crowd was going nuts, kuroda is the king of kings. anyway, to the set.

carini gets us started. begins to turn into some type ii, but was quickly abandoned. this was unfortunate, or so we thought. was worried that there wouldn't be deep jamming this set, especially when reminiscing about the Hampton 2013 Carini. Sand follows, and it's a heater. no real type ii until the very end, again a surprise. would it ever come? little did we know...

golden age emerges after a brief sand jam. this jam was, in a word, nuts. i haven't had the chance to relisten, but here is what i can remember:
at the start, it seemed like fishman was moving toward just stopping, but trey kept pushing it forward. ultimately, fishman began a syncopated, mostly cymbal-less beat, with the rest of the band building insane noise over the top. ultimately, this rose into a massive wall of sound, with fishman still driving beneath. page began to play some Thrilling, Chilling quotes (shipwreck and unsafe bridge i believe) underneath the noise. all the while, some of kuroda's finest work that i've seen in person.

i am unsure how this will hold up on relisten. unlike some of the huge jams we've been getting of late --where it seems like the band is in absolute control-- during this jam the band seemed to allow themselves to lose control. at various points it was unclear if it would fizzle out, continue, segue or build to a peak. ultimately, none of those things happened, as the jam somehow smoothly came to its own end and slid into twist. it was a joy to watch the boys really let one loose. truly electric phish.

anyway, the twist was solid, nice MitM to follow. love to hear meatstick, and it was a necessary dose of major key joy for this set. SOAM to close--this found the band picking up where the left off in the golden age, really letting it loose. a quality rendition, especially by 3.0 standards.

lizards encore is the best. overall fantastic show, awesome start to the run. can't wait to see what they have in store the next two shows!

Tonight’s show was an absolute heater, top to bottom. Excellent song selection, inspired jams, and incredible energy. The return of Strawberry Letter 23 ignited the crowd right at the jump and the band never let up. Blaze On went deep in the two hole and while Mock Song caught everyone by surprise a bit, it was an unexpected treat, not to mention fun watching Mike read the lyrics off cue cards on the side of the stage.

Divided Sky, Roggae and Meat were clear highlights of the first set before Walk Away nearly brought the whole place to the ground. The crowd was just erupting at that point.

And then the second set. Boy, oh boy, that second set. An inspired section of improv that felt like nearly an hour, with the 20+ minute Golden Age serving as the biggest launchpad in a string of outstanding jams. Carini > Sand > Golden Age > Twist was the stuff dreams are made of last night. The Shipwreck quotes late in the Golden Age jam transported the mothership to a different dimension.

When we are all ready for a breather, Mountains in the Mist did the trick and was played beautifully before Split closed the set with a fiery, psychedelic journey.

And if all that wasn’t enough, a pristine Lizards encore showed the crowd that the band was as happy with the first night of this run as the fans were. Incredible show!

5/5

This was my first time at the mothership and I was un sure as what to expect but now I know why they call it the Mothership. I left there with the biggest contact high that I've ever had at a show I woke up with a hangover and I barely even partook myself.
The other reviewers did an absolute fabulous job recapturing the Lift-Off and the transportation that I also felt so I will just leave you with my couple of tidbits from my experience.

And the best part is I have two more nights to look forward to.

I actually had the “official” review for this show.
Suffice it to say that housing arrangements did not allow me adequate time for reflection. I pretty clearly remember some guy saying “you spent less than a paragraph on the golden age. Kiss my ass.”
And kiss his ass i shall, at least In hindsight, because that jam is the one of the show, and also one of the darkest, nastiest jams of the entire 2018 fall tour, which is one of my favorite tours ever.
Lotsa motion, dodging and weaving. Trey plays rhythm master to page’s plinko. Mike makes an issue out of all of it. Then comes the shipwrecked quotes. And then page starts doing them in reverse. Which is against the rules. And when all of the sanity left the room.
Total melt of a show.

This one is dedicated to Richie and Miranda!

So I found out my phish bro, who I have seen more shows with then anybody, was inviting a girl to run with us for the Hampton shows.
It turned out to be one of the best runs of my life. And I made a friend for ever it was her first show and you know how it works it got crazy.
This show is what dreams are made of it has it all. First set is on point the Strawberry letter 23 is trey vocals at its best. the blaze on is bliss jam 98 style and we get top version of Meat and Undermind !
Second Set and encore need no explanation, if you listen get ready to be lost, thus the shipwreck quotes! my first night at Hampton and the mother ship delivered big time. go to this place to see Phish!

Wowzers, whatta show! This was my maiden voyage in Mothership Hampton, and the energy outside was palpable. The security check was smooth and easy, and as we entered the inner sanctum of the coliseum, the floor was less than half-filled, so my buddy and I got about 50 feet back from the stage between Page and Trey. Sweet place to get our groove on! A great Strawberry Letter 23 opened the show in a surprising way and soon gives way to the first exploration of the night: Blaze On. After a nice jam leads back into the lyrics, it's like they decide it wasn't enough and goes on to jam for another 3 or 4 minutes. Tasty stuff! The rest of the set is well played as well, getting the 3rd ever Mock Song was a treat and Divided Sky was well played and pretty peaky at the end. Roggae fits in just right, and the Walk Away to end it got us all jumping and raging going into the break.
Set II was just right. Carini got us started heavy with some good jamming that all-too-quickly led into Sand. Sand's jam was short but hot, and that led into a Golden Age for the ages. Soooo spacey and free, from the floor looking up at the ceiling it felt like we were being lifted off into the stratosphere in the Mothership. The Golden Age jam meandered through many phases and explored many places in it's 23+ minutes, from tasty licks to ambient spaces and gradually found its way into Twist. Twist was well played and led into a Mountains in the Mist that was so delicate and sweet, it was just what we needed to cool down and catch our breath. Meatstick was another appreciated song, and the SOAMelt that ended the set reprized the dark jammy themes from earlier in the set. Lizards sent us home with gigantic smiles on our faces, and as we all realized on the way out: the trick was to surrender to the flow.

I love this venue. That said, I had never chosen to sit behind the stage in my 6 previous ventures inside. This was my vantage point and, as the 55 mgs of 4-AcO-DMT was kicking in and the opening notes of Strawberry Letter 23 wrapped around Mothership and slammed the right side of my head, I knew this last second choice was the right one for this evening. That's all I got from a revue standpoint. I do know this was yet another night to remember in Hampton, VA. In my most favorite venue. Thanks.