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

Phish is a protean music force whose creative genius is delivered in countless ways and in all shapes and sizes. For Deer Creek’s Sunday night finale, Phish applied their improvisational acumen over the course of the entire second set, crafting a unified musical statement that combined serious musicianship, trademark humor and a liquid flow. Seamlessly weaving one song into another with a couple of mashups along the way, the band creating a non-stop journey through the multiverse of Phish. Though the second set was underlined by fun, the music still got quite deep at several points, illustrating the yin and yang of a band that feels unstoppable right now.

A neon-futuristic dance club take on “Bathtub Gin” got the party started quickly after setbreak, as the band undertook an exercise in collaborative groove painted with their new-era sonic palette. As the jam approached the precipice of an ambient movement, instead it dissolved into “Waves.” A super thick groove emerged out of the post-hiatus piece, over which Trey spontaneously began singing the lyrics of “Ghost.” This slowed down, gooey take on the song seemed primed to launch into massive highlight, but at the break in the song before the jam, the band switched directly into the opening hit of “Sneaking Sally,” and this is where the zany mashup madness that would characterize the set began. Singing “Ghost” lyrics over a hyrbid “Ghost”-“Sally” groove the band, essentially, played two songs at once, reeling in an enraptured audience on their edge of their seats to see what would come next.

The deepest parts of the set came next, within a short but hypnotic ambient jam out of “Twenty Years Later,” and an absolutely menacing improvisational passage that emerged out of a late-set medley of “Twist” and “Makisupa.” Following Trey’s one man comedy act in “Makisupa” in which he created a lyrical mashup from all the songs in the set, the band took a left turn into the netherworld, building a dark and harrowing excursion that sounded like a summoning of demons and dark spirits of the occult. The abrupt change of vibe provided serious musical gravity to a lighter set of thoroughly entertaining hijinks-based Phish.

Sometimes when Phish rely on antics and comedy to carry a show, the musical experience can fall flat, but that was not the case on Sunday night, where the band’s musicianship and creativity remained on high throughout the show. The whole second set really felt like one piece of music from “Bathtub Gin” through the end of “Twist,” as the band never stopped playing and everything blended together seamlessly. And when they finally did stop to the roaring adoration of their audience, the band broke out a real treat in the Page-scribed rarity of “Most Events Aren’t Planned.” Capping the set with “More” which blended into the end of “Bathtub Gin,” Phish stamped a special set of musical theatre complete.

And while the second set provided the entertaining centerpiece of the night, the first set contained more than few musical highlights—first and foremost in the retro combination of “Curtain” > “Mike’s Song.” “Mike’s” has had a propensity for the generic in recent years, but this version broke the mold completely. As the band chugged through the well-loved jam, Trey and Page hit a point where they started to soar into major key territory. While Mike and Fish continued to hold down the infectious rhythmic pocket of “Mike’s,” Trey and Page took the top half of the jam to a heart-tugging, heavenly realm. This experiment in musical juxtaposition absolutely slayed and provided a slice of uplifting life music as the show had barely begun. From this point, it felt like it was going to be a special night in Phishland. Subsequent first half highlights came in an abbreviated but filthy “Mercury” jam, a funky and interesting new Mike song called “Casual Enlightenment,” and a ripping, on point set closer of “David Bowie.”

To end the night, Phish laid out a phenomenal version of “Slave to the Traffic Light” that summed up the emotional and communally appreciative vibe of the weekend in Indiana. Amidst pre-show rumors of the tour’s imminent cancellation, the crowd soaked up every last drop of Sunday night’s show, as the days of taking this all for granted are over and done. But this buzz seems to have been nothing more than white noise of the ever-churning rumor mill, as tour moves forth to Chocolate City tomorrow night. Hershey has had a small but special place in Phish history, and with Golden Tickets readily available for the undersold shows it certainly feels like the next two nights may add to its lore.

I. Sigma Oasis, The Curtain > Mike’s Song > My Soul, Weekapaug Groove, Mercury > 46 Days, Taste, Casual Enlightenment*, David Bowie

II. Bathtub Gin > Waves -> Ghost > Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley -> Twenty Years Later -> Waste > Twist -> Makisupa Policeman > Twist -> Makisupa Policeman -> Twist, Most Events Aren’t Planned, More > Bathtub Gin

E. Contact, Slave to the Traffic Light

After playing such a monumental concert on Friday night, one might have expected Phish to come out with a bit more contained affair on Saturday—aka the Saturday night special. But mellow doesn’t seem to be in this band’s vocabulary right now. Instead, they came correct with a Saturday night smoker held down by a well crafted second set that just wouldn’t quit. Flowing with jams of all shapes and styles, Phish displayed the breadth of their musical mastery to a raucous crowd at Deer Creek.

Kicking off the second set, the band dropped a groove leviathan in the form of “Everything’s Right.” After an initial segment that stayed fairly close to the vest, the highlight of this excursion came when Page led the band into into a darker lair that sonically depicted the underground dungeon of Super Mario Brothers. I can’t say enough about Page’s contributions to the improvisational mixture right now. His sounds, textures, and leadership have pushed the band into totally new places this tour, resulting in fresh sounding Phish jams of the likes that we have never heard before. One can find examples of his avant-garde contributions in each show of this summer, and even within every improvisational passage. Combined with Trey’s diverse arsenal of tones and effects, their synergy has been creating futuristic Phish jams. But the future is now.

The band emerged from this underworld into a cleaner improvisational place, finishing the jam with more conventional rock playing in which Trey teased “Simple,” giving a nod to the mind-bender from Friday night. The jam concluded with a sparser funk section that likened a “Moma” groove which bled seamlessly back into the song of “Everything’s Right.”

A vast and spacious take on “What’s the Use?” expanded throughout the amphitheatre, serving as an exhale from the set’s opening fire. This version really struck a chord with me, as the band allowed the music to breathe and swell as if it was its own organic entity. Really stunning stuff here, as the instrumental piece took on an enhanced vitality and provided a level artistry we don’t always see from this piece.

The set revved up again with a vigorous run through “Crosseyed” which featured some high octane playing Trey. His passionate leads drove the band through a triumphant improvisational mid-set frolic, which set up the most creative jam of the night in “Down With Disease.” Following the song’s composed jam, the band locked into a delicate conversation that saw Trey, Page and Mike tossing around ideas like a hot potato. This jam exemplifies one-minded Phish as it’s finest, where their listening and response time is all but non-existent—just a rolling, subconscious flow coming from all directions at once. And then amidst this supernatural exchange, Trey just held a note and the band built an astonishing crescendo around it leaving this audience member in awe.

Although I have focused exclusively on the second set, one of the sublime excursions of the night came in the first in an incandescent version of “Stash.” Phish blew out the borders of the usually structured jam into an awesome improvisational exercise that saw the band in lockstep forming a golden pathway of deliverance. Connecting a section of delicate, melody-driven interplay with one of exhilarating, hard-hitting groove, Phish sculpted the most memorable version of their early ’90s classic in quite some time.

I also wanted to mention the mid-first set coupling of  “Yamar” and “Roggae.” Both rarities were dusted off with particular zest. Trey’s “Yamar” solo really popped with creativity and flow and while his deeply expressive playing in”Roggae” surfed atop an oceanic tide from his bandmates. Both really standout versions.

The energy of Phish feels so pure right now. Perhaps it is that the pandemic has made them realize that nothing can be taken for granted at this point and the rug can be pulled out from under them at any time. It sure seems that they are savoring every moment on stage together and wasting none of them. If the past year and a half has taught us anything, it is that life is fragile, and with the earth continuing to march towards an unknown destiny, the time is now. Phish seems to be living this philosophy, and each and every one of us are blessed to be a part of the equation.

I. Crowd Control, Poor Heart, The Moma Dance, Back on the Train, Army of One, Bouncing Around the Room, Ya Mar, Roggae, A Wave of Hope*, Stash, Cavern

II. Everything’s Right, What’s the Use?, Crosseyed and Painless > What’s the Use? > Down with Disease > Wading in the Velvet Sea, Possum

E. Drift While You’re Sleeping

*debut