On our way from Baltimore to Pittsburgh, my buddies and I were playing a game. The game was to spot triple numbers on license plates. The goal was to get them all (000,111,222) etc. We almost got them all.

Show starts with 555. V cool.

Every song seemed to be played well in the first set with the highlight being the jam out of Halley's. It was an unexpected funk jam that had some cool parts. CTB was cool to hear. Victim was really cool and rockin. A buddy I met at the show thought it sounded like that song "feel like makin love," so we were improvising our own lyrics during some of it (not loudly to annoy anyone, I promise). Wolfman's and Antelope did there usual badassery. Strong first set.

It was hot in the 200 sections. I went to get some water during set break. I stood in two lines and they both had ran out of water. I was like "what the heck?" Luckily the 3rd line had water and a bottle was only $3.50. Better than Nassau's $7.00 bottles, in fact, 2 times better. I also saw a buddy of mine who I met at Baker's dozen in that 3rd line. We got to connect and want to meet up in Charleston. V cool.

The second set started after I met the other people next to me who were from Scranton and we talked about the Peach Fest. The lights go down.

Cavern was a cool way to open the set and you just knew they were gonna play a jammer after it. And they did! A sweet, groovin' Runaway Jim. It got dark and light in short periods of time. Phish is so good at packing great stuff into shorter amounts of time nowadays. CK5 was doing some master work last night and lit up the stands behind the stage during Runaway Jim. Someone back there was holding up a sign that read "CLIT." We all had a laugh. V cool.

Ghosts of the Forest was a cool debut and Jim melded nicely into it. The highlight of the second set for me was ASIHTOS. Phish went to several different sections in this song; apparently very quickly. I could not believe that it went for only 7:10 on livephish. This song was a splash of beauty; don't miss it because it was so short. Prince Caspian was a good ripper to ride the wave after ASIHTOS. I love it when they pair watery songs. After the water, they needed to balance it out with fire and we get Fuego (Faygo). Fuego had a cool quiet down jam after the heated type 1 journey. Typically YEM is always welcome. I was sad to get this one only because my friend is going to the Charleston run with us on Friday and she has never gotten a YEM. It appears as though Phish is not repeating a song this tour (knock on wood), so sorry friend :'(. GTBT was a treat. I love seeing a set not end with YEM.

HYHU is a great encore! I love seeing Fish jump around stage. And to get Terrapin made it that much better. First since 2004. V cool.

Julius? Sure! Send us out feeling even better.

It was a fun, snowy night in Pittsburgh with some great friends! Can't wait for Charleston!

This one was special for me.

Decided to go solo for this show since my buddies couldn’t swing a 5 hour trip to Pittsburgh on a Wednesday. Understandable, but something in my gut told me that I’d get something unique. I’m spoiled because MSG is my home venue so I was pretty stoked when I saw the prices for tickets. I ended up being Page side, in the corner, up close. Like closest I’ve been for a Phish show.

I could break down every song, but I’m not gonna do that. This was unique for me because I got to see these guys interact with each other. I got all giddy when I saw Trey flash Page a smile when the Chairman was killing it on the keys(something he did all night).

This is definitely one of my favorite shows in my short time of following Phish. Goddamn, I can’t wait for more moments like this.

My capsule review is this show was well worth the time and aggravation it took to find decent tix on COT long after the show went on sale, and the general difficulty of attending a not-exactly-hometown-but-definitely-regional weeknight show while not totally falling down on professional or parental duties.

This was my first time in the venue. It's a weird space, because it's smaller in horizontal dimensions than one would expect, but larger in terms of vertical dimension, giving the sense that everyone is stacked atop each other. We were halfway up the upper deck at what would be mid-court, and it still felt like we were high above the stage and almost on top of it. The initial sound by us was merely fair and quiet, but by Funky Bitch and especially the second set, the volume and clarity were much better.

I wouldn't be in my upper tier of attended shows, but of note, it was remarkably even, in that I never groaned at a song choice or thought the band made any real missteps. It was very enjoyable in the moment, and despite some of the song lengths, every jam launched very quickly and reliably. The type-I playing was fiery and tight, too.

I didn't pick up any new songs other than the two Phish debuts, but I did get my first YEM, Caspian, HYHU, Circus, and Sample in more than 10 years; first CTB, Water, and Bag in more than 15 years; and first Funky Bitch and Terrapin in close to 20 years. So I was quite satisfied with those replenishments. GTBT continues to be one of my great statistical outliers, with me improbably catching seven versions in 39 shows.

The lights were great to watch from our unique perspective, and I loved how Kuroda was able to use the new rig to add new elements to the YEM VJ, while still maintaining its spirit. Very wild and disorienting to see in person, for sure.

No black-letter, all-timer jams or versions here, but if you have the time, it wouldn't be wasted by checking out:
- Halley's
- Jim
- Ocean
- Fuego
- YEM

But my guess is if you start listening to this show or one of its sets, you'll let it play through due to the excellent song selection, nuanced playing and extra mustard, and brisk pace. Plus, it was obvious from both my in-person experience and relisten that the band was relaxed, confident, and was having a lot of fun.

Under a more refined rating system, it would merit a range of very good to excellent, so under the choices available to me, I'll give it a 4/5.

At some point in the recent history of the world, someone thought it was a good idea to create a full-sized, professionally crafted flag that said nothing but "CLIT" on it. Someone else thought it was a good idea to buy that flag and bring it to a Phish show. This same person, along with some neighbors in the seats next to them, directly behind the stage, had the brilliant idea of hoisting this flag at the sickest, spaciest moment of a beautiful Type II Runaway Jim jam, just when the stage lights were illuminating that section of the arena. The crowd roared and it wasn't quite clear whether they were cheering because we had all just collectively and suddenly found the CLIT or because Phish had just entered altogether new musical territory and was soaring into the night. Or maybe it was both.

But that's the kind of show it was.

Runaway Jim's jam was the best part of a very fun evening. But other highlights include:

Wolfman's Brother jam, which was like wading through gooey caramel
Halley's Comet jam
When the Circus Comes landing after the Halley's jam
Cavern set 2 opener - rocking
YEM vocal jam
Good Times Bad Times - rocking our faces off

Bonus show! Got to see the boys 5 times this year with bookends in Cleveland & Pittsburgh (which is great because I live near Youngstown).

On this frigid, flurry-filled, winter-coat-weakening evening, the Phish brought us the heat inside the Pete!

S1 was a typical high energy experience with lots of fun choices. Crowd was locked in early for BAG & CTB. Sample & Theme had some great interplay as well albeit nothing outside of the box. Wolfmans, Halleys (esp Halleys) and Antelope were the real fire of this set and everything felt nice and tight. Victim was a welcome addition to the Phish arsenal too!!

S2 was also a blast! No 20+ min monsters like Mr Completely a couple years ago. Really loved the work in Jim and thought it could’ve lasted a bit longer. > GOTF was ultimately the reason for this since they hadn’t played it yet in full artillery. Fuego > YEM was a great touch with again more thoughtful playing and a really cool vocal jam.

Encore was awesome!! First HYHU and boy did Fishman suck to blow. John Sullen Melancholy!! Julius sends everyone home happy.

Thanks Phish for stopping thru the Midwest on this brief late fall tour! See you this summer!!

Normally, I do enjoy rolling out a long review but I'll keep this one short. I cried twice during the show; during When The Circus Comes To Town and I'll let the second be a secret, but that's all you need to know. Quality at every turn... Oh and the Runaway>GOTF.....smooth as a baby's hiney. definitely a must-read listen.

I don't review very many shows.

Up and back from Fairmont, WV for this one, with my two mid-20's sons and a good buddy from a bit north. My biggest takeaway when sorting and cataloging the day's events in my head in the 30 seconds I had between hitting the sheets and falling asleep at 2:30am..."I'm too old for up and backs to the Burg for concerts...oh holy shit I have to do it again for Gordo on 1/19...zzzz". I did make it to work only 15 minutes late this morn.

We busted out of the Ft. Pitt. tunnel around 3:15pm, swung through the Strip District so my bud could pick up some of his favs from Penn Mac, and headed on to Oakland. Parked in the same garage as in '17. Sipped a few casually out of the back of the Sienna, shooting the shit and watching some profs and other faculty make their way to their cars for the commute home. The first car to park next to us happened to be people that live a mile from me back in Fairmont. Cool, small world. Getting a bit chilled and annoyed by the loud fan (like mechanical fan I mean, not phan) we decided it was time to eat. Down the hill and over a block to the Thirsty Scholar we went...it was more on the empty side when we got there but did get pretty packed. Service was as poor as it was in '17, but this time we actually did get food and a few more beers. Back to the garage for a couple more of those and some tunes before heading in...was playing Harry Hood from my second show (4/10/94) when it all of a sudden went quiet...yeah dead battery. Oops, and uh oh...no time to fuck with that now we locked up and headed to the venue.

Some great song selections...loved the debuts and the bust-outs. Really nothing that I didn't want to hear. I thought it was well played throughout and with high energy. A better show than '17 IMO of course, never mind the Caspian and Mr. C from that year. Crowd energy was high as well...and the dude in the aisle next to us in 6A was rocking his Guitar Hero prop like a pro. I enjoyed Fishman's encore antics and I'll take a Julius closer any day.

Only two or three times during the show did the dead battery come to mind and it was out of mind just as fast. I mean I was having too much fun to fret over anything. The van still would not start post show, the third group I asked about jumper cables actually had some and they were kind enough to drive over and give me a jump. Thanks much to you if you happen to read this!

The garage was pretty easy to get out of, though my bud did step out to stop the pedestrians pouring down the sidewalk so I could creep out into traffic. And street traffic was really minimal at that point, much to to my delight...given the 90+ minute drive. The dirve was still long, but blessedly uneventful.

Fun experience with my sons and friend, and so glad to be able to catch this show, my only one for the fall. Already looking ahead to my first ever MSG shows in just a few weeks!

This show was very good.

First review of a show and this one got me to post because I'm still giddy. It was a show of wild coincidences and gems. Best seats of my life in the first level of the stands just to the left of CK5 with some of the most fun and nice neighbors I've had the pleasure of grooving with. My sweet, not-heady-at-all girlfriend was with me for our first just us phish show and her 4th. We both are on water related fields so the loose water theme throughout was great.

All four band members seemed really on; all their licks and choices were falling just right.

555 opener; Friendly host at the bar fans were hanging out at pre-show announced over the PA 'Hey wooks its 5:55 2 hours til showtime!'. Great.

Said girlfriend partakes in experimentation with certain cabbages at the start of Theme and surrenders until the end of GTBT. So great.

Funky Bitch ripped a few steps harder than recent takes and it lit the place up with energy that was surfed for the remainder of the night.

Wolfman's was sick and slick, really catchy licks from Trey.

This Halley's jam may be the tightest little number in awhile. Straight 90's funk out of the gates into a very much appreciated favorite cover. Earlier and the day my girlfriend and I were talking about how funny it was that the Pittsburgh students dorms were so close to the show and lot and I say "Yea its crazy that the circus just rolls through their school". Another peculiar coincidence. Folks swaying and holding hands and such, wonderful.

Victim debut was fun and the antelope is short but supremely listenable, once again benefiting from great phrasing by all.

Cavern set 2 opener feels good.

Runaway Jim reaches that extremely exploratory space so quickly upon the jam starting. This should be called the Pitt Clit Jim because CK5 lit up the fans in behind the stage and then some people unfurled a large sign that had "CLIT" written on it. Everyone was going wild and the everyone saw it haha, band included (Page at the very least). You can hear this go down around 10:00 on the LivePhish recording. Runaway Jim also happened to be the song playing a the aforementioned bar when we walked in, strange. The jam is deep and segues into the debut of Ghost of the Forest which is beautiful. I saw one of the GOTF shows with my brother in DC and it was a really special time so this was awesome; sounded amazing played by phish in the big room.

Brief backstory to set up the biggest coincidence of the night: Earlier in the day we are walking around the Cathedral of Learning on Pitt's campus because it's an awesome building. We decide to go to the top floor for fun, I send a picture to my friends captioned 'Phish energy is here' looking out over the city. I sit by a bookshelf and there are all these fascinatingly thorough, old tombs detailing our anthropological periods and other encyclopedias, just standard fancy college collection stuff. One spine catches my eye titled "5 Years Before the Mast". I immediately think of A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing and look it up, the lyric in ASIHTOS is "10 Years Before the Mast". I make my only call of the night on the spot for an ASIHTOS.

The ASIHTOS was perfectly placed and the satisfaction of the call was immense. My dancing girlfriend really had her mind blown by that moment, very phishy. This may be the most densely packed 7 minute jam I've ever heard, so much going on.

Prince Caspian slips in smoothly and then the others drop out so the song can start in full, fun version keeps the jam feeling going.

Fuego is so fun live which is why I may tend to skip the composed part while listening to shows to preserve its enjoyability when I hear it at a show. This one had us rocking and singing and then the jam got Bakers Dozen deep in a great way.

YEM is my personal favorite phish song and this one was played really tightly and then blisteringly hot. Loved seeing my girl experience it. This is the most musical vocal jam I have ever heard and actually had the crowd rocking by the end.

So great to have another song to cleanse the palatte after that though and the Zeppelin worked well.

The encore was so fun, just added to the overall far reaching nature of this show. One of the highlights of the night was Fishman hitting a top tier bass bomb with his vacuum solo during Terrapin. The Julius was earned and like everything else tonight was played well and bursting with energy.

I will say that there was an opportunity to take this show from great to clearly epic: If they went into Drowned after the GOTF debut. But then maybe the awesome ASIHTOS wouldn't have happened. Who knows.

Holy shit! This set 2 is awesome! Set 1 had some pretty sick moments; Theme > Bitch, Halley's, Victim > Antelope, but those are all veggies compared to the meat in set 2.

Cavern is a perfect way to start a set, gets folks off their feetsies > This is probably the best Jim I've heard in a while. Trey and Mike lead the jam, but that's kind of normal for Jim. All-timer for sure > Ghosts of the Forest is a pretty cool debut, it's real hazy, and the sound fills in the space perfectly. I don't know why they haven't played it since, it could be fleshed out to some excellent places. Imagine it being the powerhouse of a second set, imagine what that jam would entail! In due time, we will get a type 2 GotF. ASIHTOS -> Caspian is a nice ocean adventure; serene but fierce, much like the sea herself. Ocean Song is patient and exploratory. I've always had a soft spot for 2.0 tunes. Caspian starts faster than it usually is, and I kinda wanted it to keep going like that, but we return to the normal formula. So be it, if that's what Caspian wants, then that's what he'll get. This one is pretty short, but they do a lot within that short time > Fuego, as the title suggests, is nothing but pure fire. Mike takes it in a really weird direction around 9 minutes in, and I honestly can't get enough of it. These last couple of minutes are pure gold, check it out > A perfect YEM. It's spooky in some places, funky in others; you've heard YEM before, what else can I say? It's just awesome. Mike and Trey kill it, especially in the end jam. GTBT is standard, but hot.

The encore is great, we get some Fishman antics with Terrapin as well as an energy jam with Julius. Good way to close!

Check out this second set, for sure. It's an adventure

Magical night. Went up to celebrate 30 years of seeing Phish and was rewarded with a retrospective of their career. 3 songs they played at my first show (ACDC, Antelope, YEM), some classics (CTB, Haley's), a Cavern opener for set 02, some choice covers, some new songs, and to top it all off Fish sang Terrapin in response to a sign that said "I really love you and I mean you"

Page and Trey play around with GOTF a bit toward the end of Jim. The debut of GOTF was a little rough and they seemed to be trying to run Trey's voice thru some effect.

I couldn't have asked for more if I had written the setlist myself. It was a beautiful train wreck, where chaos resolves into melody of love and life where for a few hours everything was right in the world..

Couch toured this one after attending both nights of Providence and Nassau. I thought this was the best show of the run up til this point, and it seems a little underrated to me at the moment. Tight playing in the 1st set with great takes on Theme, Wolfman's, and Halley's to anchor the affair.

Set 2 highlights are Jim, ASIHTOS, and Fuego > GTBT. The GotF debut was just lovely, too.

I'm a sucker for Fishman, so the antics of the encore definitely skew my rating. 4/5 show IMO nonetheless