.net wouldn't let me format this the way I wanted to, but I'm throwing together reviews of every show this tour, structured from my ADHD mind. let me know if there's anything I can change for next time.

set 1

INNYLTB: good chill meaningful opener, some tight playing, and great transition into

Tube: some harmonies that you rarely hear on this one between trey and page, and right to the funk. a first taste of the quack trey that is very prevalent the rest of the tour. crazy trey page interplay going into some repeating lines, almost a call and response between the two. rhythmic interplay between trey mike and fish leading into a perfect transition into the tube blues section.

Free: great song choice for this one, page is doing something a little different here that feels really nice, just bouncing around the chords. mike tone is flimsy, on point, wish trey would give him some more space here. trey creates a little space and let’s mike develop a little idea, and then begins this ascending idea that mike catches onto. trey begins highlighting the the chord change here and they all drop right into it pretty smoothly without too much rush that’s typical with the 3.0 frees. If this jam was a little more cohesive the vocals would’ve hit a little harder, but a solid version nonetheless. Trey then thanks the crowd

Bouncing around the Room: standard version, a little bit rusty

46 days: solid and tight funky jam comes out. hearing the delay from trey for the first time this tour. some great mike and page interplay, then fish and trey get locked in on a groove and mike and page converge with them to create a nice and tight funk groove. trey and page start formulating a peak and fish and mike build with them. they build a progression that works and stays cohesive, then seamlessly drop back into 46 days proper. kind of a sloppy slow down but they finish.

limb by limb: a little rusty, but the song is tricky. jam moves like a river though, flowing right to the peak with little exploration but creates a really beautiful feeling as the whole band is moving very tightly together

wolfmans brother: funky as always ???????? picks up with a cool slappy chop groove with all the band mates filling in where they can. now a tensiony groove forms with a repeating line from trey mike and page. fishman is holding it the fuck down. Page starts giving it a bathtub gin feel, and trey catches on. They are now settled into a groove with trey playing rhythm. mike and fish are hopelessly tight as trey let’s it all hang out and page is doing whatever the fuck he wants to bouncing and building to a pretty epic peak, although a little mistimed. after the peak fizzles, trey and page hunt another one down, where fish and mike immediately catch on, fish hits the gas fill and this one really connects back into the wolfmans theme.

NICU: pretty tight 3.0 version, chorus doesn’t hit quite as hard as usual, sounds a bit uncomfortable

Drift while you’re sleeping: i’ve always felt like the band hasn’t cohesively played this song yet, but this version is tight and full of feeling, seems like everyone finally knows their parts, it sounds much more thoroughly practiced. the main line “we move through stormy weather...” when they all sing it together it feels so meaningful to them ???? so beautiful. The jam at the end ebbs and flows and is very cohesive, rides off of the emotions from the verses, and culminates into the chorus once more.

set 2

dWd: a little sloppy at first but mikes tone soundin like a damn swamp in all the best ways. trey starts makin it slower (don’t blame him) page and mike interplay goin really dumb crazy. fishman is leading everyone around, he’s got them all on some dog leashes and he’s showing them the way to salvation. trey and page then connect the cerebral link and hop right back on that gin wave that’s not quite gin. the band is adapting very quickly to each other’s interactions. they work their way up to a small peak like this, and then mike and trey start implying a minor feel, to which page responds. trey turns on the quacker and then shit starts getting a little spacey despite fish holding it down, as page also hops on spooky synth. all of the sudden, mike trey and page all catch the major root out of thin air and run with it, while trey starts using his digitech to small effect. trey and fish get locked in on a rhythmic groove that page catches on to, then mike rapidly rejoins the fold in this rhythm which is growing and expanding by the second. page starts laying down some spooky chords which trey and mike perfectly paint over. fishman rapidly shifting grooves and leading the band in different rhythmic directions, and that’s when the envelope filter gets pushed on and everything ebbs down again. trey calls back to the earlier rhythm and everyone catches on to the ascending line he’s playing, and then fish and mike start slowing everything down a little, giving a laggy feel to trey and pages line. and then out of fucking thin air, so fucking tight

SIMPLE: god damnit. so tight. the band sounds so comfortable on this song. the jam starts typically, and beautifully with some great exchanges from trey and page. they hang on to the second chord after a little bouncing around, and fully emphasize it, instantly type 2, with some really spacey mike effects giving the groove a beautiful soundscape. trey and page in perfect sync with page adding a new chord to the equation to instantly take it away. trey pulls a melody right out of his ass that is so beautiful. page and mike find the perfect chords to accompany it as trey slows it down. trey dissolves into a reverse delay effect that moves the jam into a minor feel, where page brings in the ambient synth. trey calls back the melody with a minor feel as fishman starts getting crazy with the groove he’s been holding down. page brings a bluesy idea into the fold while mike and trey start bouncing with fishman as he changes the feel. then out of nowhere another chord enters and the band takes off with it, with trey calling the same melody back again. trey gives it the harmonic minor feel (don’t quote me if my ear is wrong here), and everyone starts falling into that feel with a new groove implemented by fishman, where he mocks treys melody and just carries everyone. page bring the spooky low end to accompany mike as trey continues to get more atonal and spooky. now they are all playing the same rhythm with fishman still absolutely carrying this jam as everyone else plays whatever the fuck they want to as long as it’s within the rhythm. sounds like alarms are going off and something is wrong ????. this is where summer 21 starts, this is a window into how the rest of the year will go, super innovative and back to spooky and spontaneous playing that phish is known for.

Fuego: a little sloppy transition at first, but once it gets going it is a really spooky sounding version, all band members keeping their simple jam tones going at the start :$). the mike tone in this middle section is iconicly soupy and spooky. jam starts out pretty typically, maybe with a little more finesse and less intensity. page and trey seem a little too linked up this show, as do mike and fish. it’s like they are both separately tightly linked and then they have a dongle to connect each group together. trey introduces a spookier line and begins ripping like there’s no tomorrow, which fishman takes as his opportunity to drive everyone else forward rapidly, which everyone feels, especially page who is just drilling away at chord after chord. peak!!! second peak? with spooky trey omg yes peak yes ahhhhhhhhhhh spooky peak. page doing whatever he wants towards ANOTHER PEAK!!!! mike still isn’t wanting this peak to happen as it delves into the abyss where mike has been painting around for a while. it’s nothing but abyss playing now, with screeching sounds coming in from all band member to lead to

Plasma: pretty groovy version. with the jam getting pretty atonal right from the start, but peaking pretty quick, the band is still right on grabbing onto little key center ideas, and quickly shifting back to the original.

Runaway Jim: partial to this tune, first long jam i ever witnessed. this version is a little bit sloppy, but at this point after all of that fire i accept. all of the sudden,

weekapaug groove: emerges ), not even in the setlist on livephish . very silly and so smooth, adds something new into this set for sure

Runaway jim: instantly called back into jim by mike and trey. this jim, besides the weekapaug segway, stays pretty standard and just spaces out with some gentle page and mike playing at the end, accompanied by masterful fish cymbal swells. trey provides the ambiance and as you think it’s about to take off into space town, trey comes in with the

Rift: kind of an odd placement for this one and a bit rusty but pretty solid version.

If I could: one of my favorite slow phish songs. this one is definitely rusty but besides some missed chords it sounds beautiful. i don’t know what’s up with mikes vocals, he’s pretty flat or sharp or something. melody jam starts rusty but shifts into beauty. finally comes together at the end, mike and trey just can’t hang during this song i guess.

rise/come together: never liked this song that much. not much cohesion, just don’t have a good outlook on this one so i can’t really say much good lol. some nice sounds from page during the build. rise up!!! lol here we go

Slave: here we go baby. cohesive and gorgeous. everyone finally listening to fish during this one. trey has his tone dialed in now, sitting back a little more so you can hear the whole band contribution here. we finally get the first taste of fishmans midi here ????????. interesting placement at the quiet part of slave. it feels like mike is really holding this one down, finally somewhat locked in since the first run of the set. nice slow build here, not missing many beats, definitely not the tightest slave. trey starts holding out a note while page and mike build the tension. fishman continuing to use the midi very liberally. trey comes in with a melody line that page follows really well, while mike and fish build tension. trey is now highlighting the changes and playing quicker lines, building the peak with page. mike starts filling more space with fishman and every member takes up more and more space, with more fish midi. some unreal fishman moments happening while page is really carrying the fuck out of this jam. trey let’s the note out, and page changes ideas completely with mike hitting the right spots right on with fish. page finally hitting some organ here as the peak continues and dies down a little bit. fishman signals the end, and it’s over. not the tightest slave, but a great ender to a pretty solid set.

E: Say it to me S.A.N.T.O.S.: some great banter before this one about arkansas and calling mike ????. still don’t get the hype of this song, it’s fun though, and best for the encore slot if it goes anywhere. solid finish.

final rating: 3.5/5
great tour opener, some awesome jams that have great movement. some of the setlist choices were kind of questionable, and there was some sloppy playing, but overall a really fun show with plenty of moments. definitely worth a full listen to feel what started one of the best years in recent memory.

jam highlights: wolfmans; dwd -> simple
runners up: 46 days, fuego, runaway groove , slave