That was a complete fucking blowout. Phish dropped the gauntlet on Sunday night in AC, staging a two-set musical showcase that put a indelible exclamation point on their first tour since Fall 2019. Carrying serious momentum from note one and strewn with improv from start to finish, Sunday night’s show was truly a night to remember. Played with purpose with two beautifully flowing sets of music, the tour closer on the beach illustrated what can happen when all the elements of a show fall into place. This night brought a crescendo to the weekend in in the beach, as Phish appears to be in a superb place as they look towards a brief leg two of summer and a longer fall tour down the road.

The centerpiece of Sunday’s show was the exquisitely flowing fifty-minute suite that kicked off the second set—“Carini > Set Your Soul Free > Beneath a Sea of Stars > Piper -> Carini.” The improv within these jams naturally moved from one to another, covering a vast amount of diverse musical ground. “Carini’s” jam ignited this run with a soaring trajectory, quickly modulating into an uplifting and celebratory plane. The interplay of Trey’s clean, sky-scraping melodies and Page’s triumphant grand piano work led Phish through this promised land. Following its peak, Trey smoothly switched guitar tones, and the rest of the band seamlessly followed him into a more modern section of music characterized by their Summer ’21 sound.

 “Set Your Soul Free” featured shreddy, atonal guitar leads laid over a swing beat from Fishman, that created a musical juxtaposition with the mellifluous “Carini” jam. Phish deconstructed the second piece of this improvisational puzzle towards its end, blending its quiet conclusion into “Beneath a Sea of Stars.” Throughout their career, Phish has always been masters at playing to their environment and this selection provided a lustrous example of this phenomenon. The delicate centerpiece of  Trey’s “Ghosts of the Forest” project fit perfectly on the beach, and even its lyrics, “The lights are flashing and the waves are crashing” depicted the boardwalk and the ocean that lined the two sides of the venue. This gentle passage provided a mellow interlude in the larger musical statement while keeping the improvisational vibes flowing.

However, the most forward-looking highlight of this extended combination began as Phish melted from “Sea of Stars” into “Piper.” Quickly building out of the song’s lyrical opening, the band crafted a high-intensity excursion into a dark, avant-garde frontier. This piece represents experimental Phish at its finest. Peppered with modern tones from Trey, Mike and Page, the jam was driven by Fishman’s uptempo, crash-cymbal-heavy rhythms. But when he subtly slipped into a groove adding a backbeat to his work, the music transformed into some abstract, psychotic Phish grooves—inject this stuff into my veins! The band wrapped up this musical package when Trey smoothly offered the “Carini” lick into this menacing mixture, and the band smoothly segued back into the set opener, completing a spectacular run of a multi-stage musical drama.

Phish continued with “Waves,” the third ocean-themed song in a row, but arguably added one too many songs to the end of the set, wedging “Simple” and “About to Run” in before “First Tube” closed the frame with vibes on high. Perhaps they could have eliminated “About to Run” and jammed “Waves” into “Simple,” adding a bit more cohesion to the back end of the set, but even as it stood, it was all but perfect.

And nothing could be finer than a “Fluffhead” encore, a choice that encapsulated the feeling of the entire evening.

Once again, the band absolutely crushed the opening set of the show, a trend of which I just can’t get enough. It seemed as though Trey wanted a d0-over for Saturday night’s botched version as he started the intro to “Scents and Subtle Sounds,” but as the song hit a point of transition, he faked everyone out by splashing into “Moma Dance,” immediately electrifying the show. Extending the funk number into an earnest, out-of-structure improvisation, Phish had clearly come to play in their concluding show of tour. “Moma’s” jam segued into “The Final Hurrah, before a nasty, mid-set “Mike’s Song” brought the second legitimate highlight of the night. This trio of songs comprised almost 35 minutes of standout, dance-based Phish‚ and the show had just started. And to close out this monster opening frame—”You Enjoy Myself.” A dead mint first set through and through.

I really hope that this Atlantic City beach party becomes a bi-annual affair, as the set up is just perfect and very hassle free. The sound is great throughout the massive venue and it seems that everyone found a spot that they liked. It really worked out great from all aspects.

And thus concludes leg one of Summer 2021. What a run it has been! When Phish announced this summer tour, I really hoped they would come out with a new sound to their improvisation. I had felt that 2019 had grown somewhat stagnant and they needed some sort of sonic shift to keep things moving forward—and, boy, did they bring one! The band sounds refreshed and rejuvenated from their forced time off and the rest of the year—pandemic provided—looks to contain quite a lot of musical adventure. Phish is back to pushing the envelope with fresh-sounding jams and breaking ground with experimental interplay—and this, my friends, is how we like IT.

I. The Landlady, Scents and Subtle Sounds > The Moma Dance > The Final Hurrah,  Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, The Sloth, Roggae, Back on the Train, You Enjoy Myself

II. Carini > Set Your Soul Free > Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1 > Piper -> Carini, Waves > Simple > About to Run, First Tube

E. Fluffhead, Backwards Down the Number Line

Phish came back to the beach on Saturday night and showcased the exploratory and innovative side of their improvisational game, veering from the groove-centric affair on Friday night. With abstract improvisation dispersed through both halves, Saturday night’s show became a playground of the mind, leading the audience down dark corridors in every major jam. Musical diversity is Phish’s calling card, and tonight they focused their lens firmly on experimental playing.

One of the best developments of this summer has been band’s substantive first sets. It really changes the dynamic of a show when Phish plays two halves of engaging music, and that’s what they did once again on Saturday. The opening set centered on two separate three-song sequences, the first coming right off the bat in the show-opening trio of slow “Llama,” “Tube,” and “Destiny Unbound.” This run ignited the show with a bevy of dance rhythms right off the bat, a trend that wouldn’t continue. The other trifecta that served to deepen the music came in the form of “Reba,” in which Trey unleashed a delectable solo, “Soul Shakedown Party,” and the unquestionable standout of the opening frame, “Split Open and Melt.”

Following up Nashville’s all-timer, Phish uncorked another mind-bending version on Saturday that saw an incredibly patient band cohere to sculpt a hypnotic experiment in sound. Although the band was clearly listening and responding to each other meticulously, the resulting conversation presented as a single piece of abstract art. This jam showcased Phish’s ability to play as a single entity, focusing less on melody and rhythm, but more exclusively on textures and layers that envelop the listener in a fully immersive sonic environment—some truly avant-garde music.

The second set centered on the superb sequence of “Drowned” > “Ghost” that saw Phish craft completely innovative and original jams out of both pieces. The band took The Who’s rock anthem on a wild ride that passed through its rock-based structured outro and modulated through a  melodic segment en route to a churning and mechanical musical space. In this astounding arrival, Trey favored repetition and darker tones in creating a drone-based and meditative mantra.

My favorite excursion of the night came next in an utterly original take on “Ghost.” This jam continued the trance-inducing improvisational vibe of the night, as the band crafted a slow-paced and menacing passage with each band member offering minimalist contributions that created a masterful whole. Fishman’s delicate cymbal work created a shimmering framework to the music, while his drumbeat formed a slow-burning backing groove that kept this piece glued together. And before one even realized what was happening, the band pulled off a seamlessly smooth segue into “Scents and Subtle Sounds.”

At this point in the set, much like when “Everything’s Right” started on Friday, it felt like we were on the verge of an all-time frame of Phish. But as the “Scents” jam started there seemed to be some miscommunication on stage. Even so, the jam was right there for the taking, but instead of righting the ship, Trey quickly grew impatient and bailed out hard into “Chalkdust” in an inexplicably jarring move that completely busted the flow of the set. Honestly, there are few decisions that would have made less sense at this juncture, and Fishman even called him out at the beginning of “Chalkdust” for the debacle.

The ensuing jam in “Chalkdust” actually got quite intricate and interesting, reprising the abstract feel of the “Split” jam from earlier in the show, but it certainly took some mental recalibration to get back into the flow of things. Blending this piece into “No Quarter,” the band recovered from the mid-set hiccup far better than they did on Friday night, continuing the set with high quality musicianship and not derailing into a string of disconnected songs. “Slave” put an exclamation point on the night before “Suzy” tacked on some extra fun to end of the set.

One night is left on the first leg of Phish’s mid-pandemic comeback tour, and the elusive fully flowing, complete set statement of Atlantic City still sits on the horizon. Whether or not it will transpire remains to be seen, but the past two shows have provided a plethora of extraordinary music and a whole lot of fun amidst a massive beach party down the shore. That said, I’m keeping the faith that tomorrow will be the night.

I. Llama, Tube, Destiny Unbound, Ya Mar, 46 Days, Reba, Soul Shakedown Party, Split Open and Melt, The Squirming Coil

II. I Never Needed You Like This Before, Drowned > Ghost -> Scents and Subtle Sounds > Chalk Dust Torture > No Quarter, Slave to the Traffic Light, Suzy Greenberg

E. A Life Beyond The Dream, Tweezer Reprise

Atlantic City has been a destination point for Phish throughout the 3.0 era. From Boardwalk Hall to Bader Field, from “Waiting For Columbus” to “Wingsuit,” the Jersey Shore has hosted its fair share of historic music from the Vermont quartet over the past decade. As the band descended upon A.C. to close out the opening leg of a torrid summer tour, one had to expect that another storied chapter of Boardwalk Phish would ensue.

Though part one of the weekend trifecta shaped up as a strong two-set affair, popping with highlights from start to finish, the lead actor in Friday night’s musical drama was unquestionably the multi-dimensional “Tweezer” that ignited set two in a blaze of glory. This jam touched on so many facets of the band’s musical repertoire, that when assembled as a single piece of music, it created quite a voyage through the galaxy of Phish. However, I have to highlight the journey’s initial section. The band laid waaay back as they dropped into the jam, creating an epically gooey, open air soundscape that I would pay good money to reside in. Fish and Mike lock into a filthy, spacious groove as Trey and Page slowly drip in sonic layers like food coloring slowly spinning into a glass of water. This section—before Trey even plays a lead melody—is the stuff of my Phish dreams. And then when Trey slides into the mix with perfectly calculating leads in his menacing, new-school tone—forget about it. Lemme mainline this shit forever.

“Tweezer’s” jam next progresses through a more conventional, blues-based build which Page continually pushes forward with his Summer ’21 lead synth melodies en route to third movement that brings the jam into quintessential, bliss-drenched Phish groove. At this juncture, Trey drops his modern effects and leads the troops to the top with gorgeous, dextrous soloing, thus completing a truly monumental version of the band’s most revered launchpad.

“Bathtub Gin” provided a strong follow up to “Tweezer’s” set-opening opus, forging a classic-sounding path of upbeat groove collaboration. This jam stretched the song’s boundaries just enough to create a gripping second act of the set. When the the band revved up “Everything’s Right,” it felt like we were on the verge of an epic stanza of music, but as the jam was developing a mesmerizing path, Trey had the out-of-left-field thought that “Possum” should be played right then and there. And so it was. And from that point forward, the set devolved into a hodgepodge of Phish songs that didn’t possess the flow that characterized the rest of the show.

Phish came out swinging to open the night with a high-energy, dance-based first set that was highlighted by the improvisational one-two punch of “Blaze On” and “Wolfman’s Brother.” Both of these jams popped significantly, “Blaze” moving out of structure into open waters while “Wolfman’s” remained anchored in infectious dance rhythms. Providing a near half-hour of top notch jamming at the onset of set one, this song pairing got the weekend underway quickly an illustrated both enthusiasm and intent on Phish’s behalf.

With one show down and two to go, I suspect the Atlantic City set we will be the buzz of the weekend is yet to unfold. As Phish settles into their novel beach environs, their comfort level will only increase, and if tonight’s “Tweezer” is any indication, there are a lot of Atlantic City memories left to be written.

I. Cars Trucks Buses, AC/DC Bag, Blaze On, Wolfman’s Brother, I Didn’t Know, Funky Bitch, Rift, Sand

II. Tweezer, Bathtub Gin > Everything’s Right > Possum, Also Sprach Zarathustra > Rise/Come Together, Harry Hood, More

E. Loving Cup

It was one of those nights. As if lifted from a fantasy, Phish played an impeccable show from start to finish dropping two sets drenched with improv that were each experiences unto themselves. It is very rare that the band comes out from note one and never lets up for the duration of an entire concert, but that is exactly what happened in Hershey tonight. Perfection is elusive in any human endeavor, especially one with so many variables as live improvisational music, but dare I say, that show was perfect.

It did not take long to realize that Phish meant business tonight. The opener of “You Sexy Thing” set the tone, but what delivered the message loud and clear was the astounding run of jams that followed. Significant takes on “Wombat,” “Free,” and “A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing” set up the unquestionable highlight of the first half in “Halley’s Comet.” “Halley’s” jams have become the white whale of the modern era, and tonight Phish dropped an all-timer, easily the most significant version in over two decades. The jam did not take long to launch into uncharted waters, as the entire band cohered in an incredible groove session that smoothly modulated into a blissful plane and absolutely took off in some of the most gorgeous and spiritually uplifting music of the summer.

The band followed up this extraordinary excursion with the debut of Trey’s “Lonley Trip,” a song I immediately fell in love with when it was released during the pandemic. I couldn’t wait for Phish to incorporate it into their repertoire and it, frankly, it was amazing. The delicate and introspective ballad worked especially well juxtaposed with the uptempo improv that surrounded it. The non-stop set concluded with on point versions of “Jibboo,” “Meat,” and “Maze,” which bled into a brief reprise of “You Sexy Thing.” When the band finally came up for air, the set was over and the crowd was left astonished at what had just gone down. And the story of the night had only half been told.

A colossal version of “Birds of a Feather” anchored the first half of set two in which Trey put on a jaw-dropping clinic in guitar tone. As if Merlin paging through an endless tome of guitar sorcery, Trey led this jam with playing that progressed through a myriad of mesmerizing sounds. Page complimented Trey’s outstanding work by weaving in his own arsenal of sonic color while Mike simultaneously synced up with both of them offering dynamic, shape-shifting bass lines. Fishman’s intricate rhythms gave the jam a breakbeat vibe which kept the intensity cranked up for its duration, completing the equation of a thoroughly experimental Phish jam.

Following an interlude of “Bug,” the second half of the set ignited with a fully locked “Light” jam that saw the band playing off each other subconsciously, moving as a single entity through a passage that seemed bound for big things. Instead, however, Trey opted to layer the “Party Time” lyrics over the groove in what has become a common segue over the past several years. The vibe stayed high as the band concluded this sequence and dropped into “Ruby Waves.”

Phish capped the night’s improv with a patiently building, emotionally reflective and rhythmically shimmering version of the “Ghosts of the Forest” crossover. Trey brought this piece to a climactic and rolling peak with emotive guitar theatrics that tied a bow on an astounding night of Phish jamming. “Chalkdust” would provide the cherry on top of a spectacular set of music.

During the encore of “Show of Life,” I was flooded with awe, surrounded by an extended crew of friends filling the spacious dance floor. It is peak nights like these, in which every aspect of the experience falls into place, that makes me step back and truly appreciate the the path we have traveled over so many years. I am eternally grateful that we have all found each other in this time, place and dimension and have been able to share in something so special for so long. It is like nothing else I know, and I can’t imagine life without it.

I. You Sexy Thing, Wombat, Free, A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing, Halley’s Comet > Lonely Trip, Gotta Jibboo, Meat, Maze

II. Theme From the Bottom, Birds of a Feather, Bug, Light -> Party Time > Ruby Waves > Chalk Dust Torture

E. Show of Life, Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.

Coming off a blistering weekend at Deer Creek, Phish landed for a midweek show in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a routing that brought back fond memories of Summer ’96 as the band worked their way across the country up to Plattsburgh, New York for their first-ever festival of the Clifford Ball. Twenty-five years later, tour ends a bit more south in Atlantic City, but the shows in Hershey represent a similar midpoint between two more high-key weekends. In ’96, the band crushed a criminally underrated show in Hersheypark Stadium, and based on the way the band has been playing this summer, everyone had high hopes for the band’s return to Chocolate Town, USA.

The show kicked off with the high-energy couplet of “First Tube” and “Axilla,” a pairing that was promptly followed up by the improvisational highlight of the first set in “Fuego.” The band built a slow and ominous jam from the song that lasted just long enough to satisfy before leading into “Runaway Jim.” The first set as a whole was highly enjoyable and flowed quite well with great song selection. I particularly dug the version of “Death Don’t Hurt Very Long” which featured more improv than usual and which set up a groovy, albeit brief, set-closing “Antelope.”

The second set featured two standout jams that had  markedly different feels to them. The set opening “No Man’s” expanded into an impressionistic experiment in soundscapes laced with a heavy amount of effects and tonal colors. Fishman’s drumming stood out in this excursion, as his driving rhythms anchored the direction of the band while Page and Trey used wide brush strokes to create varying textures over top. The subsequent jam in “Soul Planet,” my favorite of the night, had a much more directional quality. Led by Trey’s stellar lead playing, this piece was plot-driven with a clear progression of mini-movements that brought the listener on a complete journey before concluding with a seamless segue into “NICU.” Both of these jams were ultimately successful, but represented two very different improvisational approaches.

A mid-set version of “Joy” felt like it would bisect the stanza’s improvisational jaunts, but following the ballad, Trey, instead, decided to take the show on a song-based route. Everything was certainly well-played, but there was nothing of note to write home about. Many years ago, this type of turn in the second set might have soured me on the show, but I have reached a point in my Phish-going life where I simply enjoy whatever is presented each night to the fullest. As a wise man once said, “Ain’t no time to hate, barely time to wait…”

Throughout their history, Phish has always had a penchant for crushing shows that directly precede hyped destination weekends. They also have had propensity to follow up lighter shows with far heavier affairs. So considering both of these factors, be on the lookout for a heater tomorrow!

I. First Tube, Axilla, Fuego -> Runaway Jim, Gumbo, Sample in a Jar, Steam, Sugar Shack, Llama, Death Don’t Hurt Very Long > Run Like an Antelope

II. No Men In No Man’s Land > Soul Planet -> NICU, Joy, Scent of a Mule, Golden Age > Prince Caspian > Backwards Down the Number Line, The Lizards, Character Zero

E. Rock and Roll