Stereotypical tour opener with a lot of mediocre and a few wow moments. In this case, the wow came in the form of an unexpected encore of rarities.
Not a great night for improv, but we’ll slot it in tier 3 on the back of the old school 2001 > DWD and wild encore.
Tier 1: <vacant>
Tier 2: <vacant>
Tier 3: MAGA Greek1
MAGA Greek 2
<big gap>
MAGA Greek 1
No tentpole jam, but so much great improv and fun playing throughout the night. Puts the lack of good improv on night 1 in perspective. Plus, another encore worth staying for (hope that trend keeps up). Even the Antelope seemed like it had one of the better peaks in recent memory.
GA1
<gap>
MAGA Greek 2
<big gap>
MAGA Greek 1
Great setlist. And while you can quibble that Ghost never quite got there and the first half of Ruby Waves wasn’t great, you’d have to contend with the second half of Ruby Waves, probably the 🐐 Myfe, top 3ish Tube since 2004, great NMINML, and a surprisingly exciting Caspian.
Ps - Another mid-second set debut. Could tonight be the night Perseid (aka Forward People) makes an appearance?
Tier 1: GA1
Tier 2a: AL2, GA2
Tier 2b: GA3
Tier 3: AL1
Switching to tiers bc there isn’t much differentiation. Phish has gotten very good in 4.0 at consistently delivering solid shows via a little of this & a little of that. The difference between the hits, the average, and the clunkers is not nearly as stark as it used to be.
Flubby and at times low energy night with a fairly forgettable 1st set, but then a largely dream setlist 2nd w/ great jams in Carini & Sand.
Tier 1: GA1
Tier 2a: AL2, GA2
Tier 2b: GA3
Tier 3: AL1
Tier 5: NC1
A brilliant ASIHTOS (🐐 candidate) complete with some mesmerizing drumming kept it off the level of Charleston3, Grand Prairie, and Hampton1 99.
Still, between the tepid first set, everything post-Light in the second, and some out-of-control Trey vocal stylings, it’s one of the weakest shows of 4.0, and I have no doubt it will be joked about for years to come.
Tier 1: GA1
Tier 2a: AL2, GA2
Tier 2b: GA3
Tier 3: AL1, NC2
Tier 5: NC1
Solid show with 3 nice jams and room for more until god—in an unprecedented move—made sure there wouldn’t be a repeat of the previous night’s fourth quarter by forcing the band to pull a Costanza and leave on the high note of Q3.
Tier 1: GA1
Tier 2: AL2, GA2, GA3, PIT1
Tier 3: AL1, NC2
Tier 5: NC1
Hard show to rank. No true tentpole jam, but a lot of “a little of this and and a little of that.” Not a classically great setlist, but it was interesting and unpredictable.
Special shout-out to one of the few interesting Bowies since 2009. It almost crossed over in to need-to-hear territory, but unfortunately the 3.0 and 4.0 kids still have giant goooose eggs next to their stats for Bowies seen.
Tier 1: GA1
Tier 2: GA2, GA3
Tier 3a: PIT2
Tier 3b: AL2, PIT1
Tier 4: AL1, NC2
Tier 6: NC1
Took a step back & reworked this a bit. The consistency of clear highlights each show combined with the consistency of not putting it all together each show is making this tour brutal to rank. All-time ER last night & rocking (if light on improv) Q4 but mostly lame S1 until Ass-handed. And while Tube & Ghost in the encore are exciting, each might be the weakest version of 4.0.
Tier 1b: Cuse
Tier 1c: GA1
T2: GA2, GA3
T3a: PIT2
T3b: AL2, PIT1
T4: AL1, NC2
T6: NC1
GA1 has the better S1. Cuse has the best S1 jam (KDF). Ruby Waves & Tweezer are close but one is Tweezer. Encores are even (though I’d take If I Could). GA1 doesn’t have Miss You so points there. That leaves Ghost, Flew Away, 🐐 Myfe & First Tube vs Suzy, 🐐 Oblivion, Wolfman’s & Possum. Probably give GA1 the edge there.
Going with Cuse #1 for now, but thinking it flips over time.
Tier 1b: Cuse
Tier 1c: GA1
T2: GA2, GA3
T3a: PIT2
T3b: AL2, PIT1, PH1
T4: AL1, NC2
T6: NC1
Gin covered a ton of ground quickly. Otherwise, lot of cringe (especially vocals) & not a lot of improv in S1.
Nothing in S2 got “there” except The Well which had a jam as good as the song is bad. More cringe vocals and several jams cut off as soon as they got going. Still, it’s hard to deny the blazing tempos and raucous energy as the band soared from ripcord to ripcord.
Tier 1b: Cuse
Tier 1c: GA1
T2: GA2, GA3
T3a: AL2, PIT2
T3b: PIT1, PH1, PH2
T4: AL1, NC2
T6: NC1
Man, I don’t know. The Carini was incredible and better than anything played Tuesday. But then the show kind of fell off a cliff (and even SYSF didn’t deliver a good jam). First set looks way better on paper than it is on tape. Show wasn’t nearly as spastic as Tues and had less vocal “stylings” but it was also way less exciting.
I don’t know. Nothing matters anyway.
I hope you find strength, legroom, and acceptance in this trying time, but I am not going to accept last night's T3b position.
Now, open up the in-flight magazine, flip to the page with the whiskey drinks, and engage.
Get your head right. I'm begging you.
I thought the Golgi Apparatus > Harry Hood was solid, but not exceptional, and the Antelope encore closer was high energy. Listen, any set with Joy in it is going to deflate like a lot nitrous balloon, but the Golden Shower was a good boost into the home stretch. As evidenced from my posts last week, I can be a harsh critic, and I enjoyed it...
All your other rankings are valid and perfectly placed!
Or, who knows, maybe I'm just in a better mood than I was last week.
@boelder @chopaganda Life Beyond a Dream was pain too. I enjoyed Antelope but I also had like 20 ft of dance space front of the lawn. Reslistening it was fairly pedestrian. As was Hood.
They sure crushed Fluffhead though.
Haven't given it a re-listen, so I'll see how that goes! Fluffhead is always fun (if Trey's sober).
@boelder Think of it this way. The Carini was surrounded by a lame SYSF, Joy, Golden Age (no jam), a basic Hood, and two first setty versions of LxL and Golgi.
The Well (song sucks but the jam is nearly as good) is surrounded by a DWD that’s better than SYSF, and then average to lame versions of NMINML, Sea of Sars, Crosseyed, and Chalkdust. Tuesday also had the best first set jam in Gin.
I get it, I appreciate your ear on it... I'm gonna let this marinate, Letterkenny-style... If I've got the time, I'll give last night another listen.
@chopaganda I like how the rankings are starting to look like a bell curve. With a "middle of the road" show being pretty darn good and a very good time for those in attendance.
You must be doing something right.
@chopaganda on point Chop!
Haven't disagreed with a single take so far this tour ranking for the first time.
Did you start to meditate or something?😉
@Bandino @Wolfenhaus @noahitall Going to dignify you with a response against my better judgement.
They’ve gotten very consistent in delivering B+ shows by mixing in the good with the bad. Though the good has come in different forms.
Chop
bobocubed
Seth
Wolf
neddyo
atownstyle
Forbin33
LevitatingYogi
Chungus
Curiously Looped
Chris
THE Bandino
Ryan
Todd
Stoney Takes
Mr. Completely
trenthfb
Pete ⭕️ 
Phish Just Jams
Evdude
Wojo
46 Days
Brad Solari