Wow. Felt like stepping back in time walking into the BlueCross Arena last night! Awesome feeling and good vibes all around. But a different era it truly is... on a tough early weeknight following a throw down in Hampton, the boys showed a little fatigue, having a tough time rallying mentally despite surely being pumped to be there. Disconnected is probably the right word, as it was a show of individual highlights. The show kind of played out in reverse - with the energy and throw down coming early, with second set that seemed to lose momentum and come apart towards the end, performance wise. Whatever though, not hear to gripe about all that...

The day, the reunions with old friends in my hometown, the vibe... that's what is priceless. This band is straight up killing it right now - and the best is yet to come for this Fall run.

I'll just call myself lucky they made the stop here, and in doing so took me back in time, while at the same time - leaving me anxious for what's ahead... rock on boys.

That was one of the best 1st sets I can remember. Moma dance, Kill Devil Falls, Timber Ho, Halfway to the Moon and Maze were all extraordinary.

They were having a lot of fun in the 2nd set and playing good music. Wish they would have stretched Light or Possum out more, but it was such a great time last night and a lot of energy at the show.

Great way to spend a Tuesday night (....and my Dinosaur dinner was off the hook, too!)

The review's might not be kind to this show, but they are right that it was an exhale of a show after 3 sick nights of Hampton. To be perfectly honest, people who were at this show will tell you it was a ton of fun, and it was. Trey might have slips here and there, but considering how on fire they have been lately, even a slip here and there is nothing in the grand scheme of the show. I had never had so much fun in my life and I really can't complain about not getting certain songs or getting ones I don't like; everything was killing it!

Moral of the story? They took an exhale from a 10, but that doesn't mean this show dropped to a 1, I'd say a 7/10 is very fair considering the Maze, C&P, and YEM were beyond stellar. Oh, and did anyone mention the Meatstick batting cleanup in the 1st set?

This isn't a boring show, as some have claimed, but IMO it's on the tepid side for Phish. Set 1 is fairly strong, with fun little twists (e.g. Fishman's marimbic luminosity on Scent, and the downright constipated-sounding feedback squeal at the end of My Friend My Friend), bizarre banter, a joyous mid-set Meatstick, and hard-chargers like KDF, Maze, and Character Zero.

Set 2 is oddly relaxed, especially for a setlist that doesn't exactly beg for such an approach. Crosseyed is Painless, but that's about it. Light transitions neatly into Goldenage, but again that's about it. Nice chill guitar solo on Possum, but the rest of the band basically deflates underneath it. BOAF and Bug are full-bore versions, albeit straightforward. YEM is a bit rocky, but the odd vocal jam redeems it. The encore at least brings a potent pair of contrasting styles, executed in phine phashion.

Oh my, Rachacha was my only show of the Fall tour and having been to the other Rochester shows back in the day i was hoping for the goods. Ouch. First off, i'm about 6'5 and after settling in straight back in the first few seating sections one thing was clear, there was no way in hell my knees were going to fit. So i grabbed my wife and hit page side up in the corner where the arena turns. Great space but good god the sound was awful. I've heard better phone streams from the early days of streaming. At least we met some great folks up there! This show was a bummer musically. No energy, going through the motions, and i think Mike was sick, taboot. We had a great time all in all but this is far and away the worst show I've been to. The highlight was hitting the bathroom, seeing the standard absurd line, and then noticing a family bathroom
right there.....! No lines,, lockable door, no vomit all over! It was great! Lucky for us it's our hometown show (20 mins) so there wasn't a 4 hour drive home to think about it! In the end I'd rather be at a below average show than none at all. The attempt to save the show with the YEM was unsuccessful in my opinion. Lastly, obvious subjectiveness clouds all reviews, i spoke with a friend who was there, his opinion mirrored mine and most other fans, but he took a new fan with him to see his first show. That guy was blown away and loved it to death. Thought it was the best concert he ever saw! That fact kind of reminds me how high this band has set the bar!

I have seen all three shows Phish has played at Blue Cross Arena (1997, 1999 & 2013). This was the worst of the three. That's saying a lot, because in 1999 they debuted their worst song ever in Rochester - Jennifer Dances. Tuesday was the first time I have heard Halfway to the Moon, and I think it might be their 2nd worst song.

This is the first bad show review I have posted. I've loved this band for over 20 years now but I was very disappointed with this show. It seemed like they were just going through the motions and there was nothing spectacular about anything they played. Once they started playing Golden Age.......yet again......I sat down and never stood back up until it was time to go. Plus, Possum and Heavy Things late in the 2nd set and Joy as an encore didn't help at all.

Sorry to be Rochester's Capt. Bringdown, but I have to call 'em like I see 'em.

My first show...Sophomore year of college at the University at Buffalo me and a few friends made the short trip to Rochester. The other guys had seen the band a few times before, and I had been looking forward to seeing Phish live for almost a year at this point. Anywho, lots of good memories from this show. One of my buddies correctly called meatstick on the ride over. I ran into a high school friend on lot who made the trek from SUNY Fredonia. Looking back, this was musically a pretty solid show. Nothing in terms of the jam quality of the Hampton shows that proceeded it, but the band was fairly tight without any noteworthy flubs. Looking back 20-something shows later, and I couldn't be happier that I was in attendance for a rare Western New York Phish show.

I finally gave this show a listen for the first time yesterday. I can't remember ever hearing a show where the first set was better than the second. Great playing and no complaints here.

But the second set...
In spite of what others have said, I found the segue into Golden Age extremely forced and unnatural, led to an extremely downtempo and poorly played version of an already so-so song, and the fact that none of the band members seemed to make any attempt to get it up to proper speed at any point spoke volumes. It really killed the flow for me. I actually skipped to the next song, which I don't think I have ever done before. The rest of the set was adequate but I can't get over that deplorable Golden Age. Not trying to poop on anyone's parade but I just don't understand how anyone can hear it and think it was a good segue, let alone a great one.

Set I:

Bag opener was standard but rocking. A nice way to lead off the show. Ditto for Moma. Ditto for Axilla. Ditto for Meatstick, although I was pleasantly surprised at its appearance this early in the show. Although I'm not going into much detail for each of these tunes - there was nothing really unusual or extraordinary about any of them - they were all performed well and were energetic. Kill Devil Falls was a first-set highlight. It was spirited and on-point. SOAMule was excellent. Nice to see Fish on the marimba. Page, though, was the real star here. His contribution on keys was strong. Timber>My Friend was fantastic. Halfway was a nice breather. Maze was ridiculous. Character Zero was standard.

Set II:

I was proud to call the Crosseyed opener. It was a superb version, although the transition into this rendition's second "movement" was a bit shaky. The segue to Light also seemed forced at the time, but I'll have to re-listen to verify. I was very pleased by the segue into Golden Age. It was nice to see them take that song into a (hopefully) new direction. Birds was also performed well. I'm always excited to hear Halley's, but like many phans, I'm constantly hoping for the band to do something different with it - that is, jam. Possum was my predicted show opener, and I was happy to see it tonight. The audience was obviously excited, too. Bug was performed very well, as was Heavy Things, although the latter's position in the show was strange. I felt YEM coming as the set closer. Some flubs in the composed section, although Trey hit The Notes strongly. The instrumental jam was average, but the vocal jam was superior.

Encore:

Standard Joy. Strong First Tube, which was a perfect way to send us out into the cold Rochester night.

I think orangeman91's score of 7/10 is fair. The first set was mostly above average. Second set and encore were average.

This show changed my perspective on life a little.

Got to the show late with a friend. Couldnt find a seat close pageside as it was GA. We stood in the isle. Usher lady instructed us to come down and move over the barrier into the pit.
I couldnt, so she picked me up.
Brain short circuits from this
Lights immediately turn down and the band goes on stage

Anyway, performance wise this was the most average Phish show Ive ever been to

All in all, this show was a fun time. Not sure if it was because of the room, or the fact that it had been since July that I had seen the boys.

First set was for sure the highlight in my eyes. Axilla, Mule, and Timber had some particularly hot moments. Same holds true for My Friend My Friend.

Set II was pretty good, although I am not keen on Light and Golden Age. Crosseyed had some potential reach some good places but ended too soon.

Very fun overall and worth the drive from VT.

One last review / comment..(sorry to all that dont want to hear this) and please chime if you were there...(Page side) maybe the second-third section away, half way (ish) down the section, had to deal with the 21-28 year old aggressive drunk? The one that so desperatly wanted to make sure "your not a fag are you?" and loved to get RIGHT in your personal space... Hey kid....

"I lay this hate on you!!!" and honestly hope you either freaked out or for those around you passed out. Oh one more thing...
PS....Fuck you...
mmbyem

If you want the specifics you can get them, if you were present, you know them..
Peace!

I agree much with dsScott....and now after reading tripps86 agree, disagree, have more to add***. My thoughts in short..
First three songs ...off....(blame to the baseline :-) just say'n)
I enjoyed the Golden move, LOVED the Bug, Heavy THINGs. ...as my neighbor said.."Perfect">(I agree and Thanks Page....Keep going!!!)> YEM!!
I did however fall in my seat during First Tube...*Horizontal Ligt with delay either F'd me up of y'all f-up? Wasn't with ya...
Regardless.... fell down laughing while all Smiles =). That said and Ill quote it again, "A mistake can turn into the most beautiful thing!"
Thanks for taking chances and keep "bringing the heat!"
mmbyem

more to add is ..... Page when given the time, space, and something to feed him, "brings the heat"...don't cut him short!!!
With Love!

I agree much with dsScott. My thoughts in short..
First three songs ...off....(blame to the baseline :-) just say'n)
I enjoyed the Golden move, LOVED the Bug, Heavy THINGs. ...as my neighbor said.."Perfect">(I agree and Thanks Page....Keep going!!!)> YEM!!
I did however fall in my seat during First Tube...*Horizontal Ligt with delay either F'd me up of y'all f-up? Wasn't with ya...
Regardless.... fell down laughing while all Smiles =). That said and Ill quote it again, "A mistake can turn into the most beautiful thing!"
Thanks for taking chances and keep "bringing the heat!"
mmbyem