300-251:
300.
04-23-2022 I, Madison Square Garden, New York, NY (NR)
Kicking things off with (of course) an MSG set, and the first from the April 2022 "NYE" run. Several folks had stumped for this set in the previous list’s thread, and while I still don't think it's THAT great, I think the rest of the set holds up enough around the massive Simple -> Egg in a Hole -> Simple jam that it deserves a slot on here. Apologies to @andrewrose for not being able to find a spot for 6/19/19 II.
299.
07-09-2016 II, Xfinity Theatre, Hartford, CT (NR)
Inasmuch as anyone will say anything nice about a Summer 2016 show, this is one of the few shows people will say something nice about, as it's got a nice flow and a simmering DWD that might not go deep but explores every last bit of its chilled-out range. The rest of the set won't knock you on your ass or anything, but a jam as cool and unique as that Disease is worth celebrating, and Number Line in the closing spot has some real zazz to it.
298.
10-22-2021 II, Ak-Chin Pavilion, Phoenix, AZ (NR)
More of that Fall 2021 goodness, as even a show below the standards of what this tour set easily clears the bar of comparison for this era. The Everything's Right is a true monster jam from a tour larded with monster jams, and everything else is played strongly in that Fall 2021 manner. Needed just one more big jam (like, say, the Soul Planet in Set 1) to really push it up.
297.
08-02-2009 II, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO (NR)
Okay, so, look. While I agree that large swathes of Bill Kreutzmann's ill-fated sit-in are a total mess and we'd have been much better served with this happening with Fishman back to his usual self instead of the rusty 2009 Fish (or, y'know, a time machine depositing '73 Kreutzmann on that stage), the opening Boogie On is a dazzling jam that easily sits among the best of the year - I know, not a long list - and Also Sprach Zarathustra really does benefit from the fellas whaling away on their kits, so I'm perfectly fine having this set here. As long as you don't come in expecting the Bob Gullotti sit-ins or anything, you should be fine with it too.
296.
04-22-2023 I, Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA (NR)
The first show on this list I attended, and really an entry just for me^; aside from a superb Melt that blasts out of the muck Superman-style, nothing is particularly noteworthy or strong, but everything is played crisply and with a speed not always heard in this era. Hood and Bowie, in particular, felt like a butane torch had been lit under the band in their respective jams. Certainly a nice full-set listen, if nothing else, and an opportunity for everyone to yell "attendance bias!!!!!!!!" at me.
^ all of this is, but you know what I mean
295.
10-24-2018 II, Ascend Amphitheater, Nashville, TN (NR)
One of the reasons I enjoy doing this series is so that I can revisit sets I haven't heard or thought about in a hot minute, including this mostly-forgotten nugget from Fall 2018. I was on hiatus from the board at the time, but I do know people had a lot to say about the dreaded "r" word in this set^ and not a ton to say about the cool jams, most especially the Run Through The Jungle-inflected Scents. Fall 2018 is one of my favorite tours of this era, and this show serves as a good example of its baseline, which is quite high indeed.
^"ripcord", for those that might be new to my writing, a term many use and few really seem to grasp
294.
05-28-2011 I, Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Bethel Woods, NY (NR)
Set I from the "Mike's House" show, and one I'd figured would make it on here eventually. Did people REALLY call the Gin from this set the "GoldenGinTeca"? Is there a way I can go back in time and make sure people don’t do that?
293.
12-31-2017 II, Madison Square Garden, New York, NY (NR)
I waffled between Sets II and III for this list, and finally went with the set with the better jam - which, I am sad to say, is in Jibboo, easily my least liked Phish song, and that includes all the ones with "soul" in the title and all the shit people here would rather stab themselves in the eye with a fork over getting at one of their shows. I do also think the YEM is a sneaky good version, as well, and the set flows better than Set III does, so there's also that. The NYE 2017 run doesn't get a ton of love now (not even 12/30, a much beloved show at the time), but there's still quite a bit to like from it.
292.
11-25-2009 II, Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, PA (NR)
Just because I figured I needed a set with Time Turns Elastic on here. Actually, no, I went back to Fall 2009 after I did my updated Guide to the Modern Era and wondered if I was being too harsh on it, and while it would appear that I was not, this set did jump out to me more than it had before. That's the thing about 2009 - I'm never going to LOVE most of the shows, but I'm always going to LIKE what I hear, just because the circumstances practically dictate it. They had broken up and then reunited, how the hell can you NOT give them a pass for 2009???
291.
12-29-2016 II, MSG^, New York, NY (NR)
^ going to shorten venue names that appear multiple times to save some keystrokes and my sanity
Hey, speaking of NYE runs that don't get much love. The Disease -> WTU? combo is pretty neat, as all such combos are, but the real choice cut from this set is the 20YL -> Kung -> 20YL -> Makisupa stretch, a goofaround nearly as fun as the Martian Monster/Tweezer Reprise bit from the previous night. God bless, Trey sure did love that Marimba Lumina in 2016, didn't he?
290.
07-29-2017 I, MSG, New York, NY (NR)
And into the Baker's Dozen we go. A thing about the Dozen is that every first set had improv in it, and some first sets had improv in places you wouldn't expect, such as the nice bit of business in The Very Long Fuse on 7/26. This bad boy makes the list because there are *so* many sneaky little improvisational bits here, the best being in (of all things) Water In The Sky. One of the last three airings of The Line, as well, for those like myself that still have a soft spot for that most infamous of punching bags.
289.
06-22-2012 II, Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH (NR)
A thing that bums me out about the current incarnation of Phish (yes, there are things that bum me out about them) is how ruthlessly they've whittled down their venues from even the early days of this era; take a look at some of the places they played in the first 3-4 years and tell me what you think the odds are they'll ever come back there. One of my favorite jams from my early years as a Phish fan is the Twist from this show, a real dark mother that touches on a cool thematic theme in Heaven On Our Minds (and it does sound pretty close to it, tbh). The rest of the set's just fine, but this jam still stands out even over a decade later and helps get this bad boy on the list. Hopefully you folks dissatisfied because it seems like every modern era jam goes major key now will give this one a listen.
288.
07-08-2016 II, Xfinity Center, Mansfield, MA (NR)
Heading for a much higher spot on this list until the damn PA system went out and threw everything off, but what we did get in a sweet Ghost and deliciously odd Mike-driven Light is enough to put it here, plus I think they should get a little credit for having to deal with that horseshit. Think of this set like Pete Maravich's NBA career - it never got anywhere near where it should've gone because of his personal demons, but something like his otherworldly 68 point game against the Knicks showed what he could do when he had himself together, just like this Light showed that the band was on and ready for a great night before it was snatched out of their hands. I think that made sense. Don't tell me if it didn't.
287.
09-04-2021 II, Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO (NR)
Our first entry from the august Dick's Sporting Goods Park runs is best known for one jam, but what a hell of a jam it is - a juggernaut of an Everything's Right that is actually my second favorite jam from this outstanding year for Phish. No points on guessing what my first favorite is. Fun segue into -7 out of Mercury, as well; if Trey had done a better job incorporating the riff into the jam, it would've been a potential all-timer.
286.
10-30-2021 I, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, NV (NR)
Another example of a set that gets by on coolness as opposed to Teh H3tty Jamz, as the "animals" show's first set leans less on jams and more on the band cramming in as many songs as they can that fit the gimmick, with only a few choice picks left for the second set (which we'll get to in a bit). That said, there ARE some cool jams in Wombat and especially The Dogs - kinda sad none of the CTSOTHH songs ever got real jam vehicle status, tbh - and I Am The Walrus ends with a psychedelic freakout that throws back to the Baker's Dozen version. Fun fact: The Sloth's first airing after this was 12/31/23.
285.
08-06-2011 II, The Gorge, George, WA (NR)
Forever doomed to live in the shadow of 8/5's beloved Rock & Roll, but the Tweezer sandwich is a genuinely nice surprise and yet another jam that stands out in quality after many years of having forgotten that it existed. Summer 2011 might be a better tour than I give it credit for, as the first week of shows are quite good, and the quality doesn't fluctuate quite as much as other tours of the same period. Superball does kinda stand out like a sore thumb, though; it's not BAD or anything, but also Magnaball exists, y'know?
284.
08-26-2016 II, Oak Ridge Farm, Arrington, VA (NR)
AKA Night 1 of the 2016 Lockn' Festival, aka one of the last times Phish has played Virginia (the state I grew up in) outside the 2018 Hampton run. Perhaps a bit disappointing in that Phish didn't have any guests like just about all the other festival sets did, but still a pretty good piece of business that peaks with the Ghost -> Gin combo, the latter particularly a tension masterclass before exploding into a nice peak. The passage of time really messes with my head - I can't believe this is nearly EIGHT years ago now!
283.
06-26-2019 II, Darling's Waterfront Pavilion, Bangor, ME (NR)
The Bangor shows were much derided at the time and pretty much just ignored today, but both second sets have a decent amount to recommend them, enough so that if you melded the best of them together it'd easily make the top 100. I debated having the other set here because it has the last airing of my KV favorite Play By Play, but this devastating Fuego > horror-movie Cities -> The Final Hurrah stretch is just too good to ignore. I know people treat Summer 2019 like the high school crush that left you at home on prom night while they took a stretch limo to the dance and then partied all night without you, but like any tour people don't care for, you can find real gems if you look hard enough.
282.
05-31-2011 II, PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ (NR)
As noted elsewhere by me, Summer 2011 got off to a pretty darn hot start, and this show is most assuredly included in that hot start. The opening After Midnight (!) develops into a neat little jam, the mid-set Maze has got some real stank to it, and everything is played with the joyous energy that marks the early years of the modern era before they really started leaning into their improvisational chops. I know the jams from the first three years can be pretty short (some barely a third of the real big boys of the last few years), but there's a good amount of gold in them thar hills, promise.
281.
06-25-2016 II, Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL (NR)
It still doesn't feel real that Phish played Wrigley. A reasonably good set for a big stadium show, peaking with a fiery Piper that morphs into Steam, from the era where the two songs were seemingly joined at the hip (although, amusingly, usually in the opposite order). The comment I made about Summer 2019 also fits with Summer 2016, although I do think Summer 2019 is a stronger tour.
280.
07-14-2017 II, Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island, Chicago, IL (NR)
The start of Summer 2017, one of the most beloved of modern era tours, and honestly a pretty good opener by the standards of the era (higher than you'd think!). The NMINML has some real kick to it, and YPC -> Golden Age -> YPC is one of the great surprise jams and portended a tour with lots of cool jams in unexpected places. I was also thinking of including 7/16 II, with its gigantic AM rock Carini, but this one feels more like a full set.
279.
08-03-2014 II Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park, Alpharetta, GA (NR)
God, I really do hate when venues are named after their sponsors. From a tour opener to a tour closer, this one for the much less enjoyed Summer 2014, with one final nifty CDT from one of CDT's greatest tours and a truly unique Hood that involved Trey having little duets with his fellow band members. The sort of set you might have forgotten about even if you were there, but one that has its share of pleasures even if the playing is not quite where it would be even a few years later.
278.
08-04-2013 II, Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA (NR)
And now from 8/3/14 II to 8/4/13 II with another tour closer. The final show of Summer 2013 and one of the longest second sets the band has ever played (it's 100 minutes long; for reference, the entirety of 11/14/97 is about 130 minutes long), I've always enjoyed how down and dirty that Jim gets, a nice counterpoint to what was shaping up to be a pretty good Energy jam before Fish's kit needed repairing. The disappointed look on Fish's face when they had to move into Jim is the sort of thing that sticks in the brain after years of watching webcasts, especially as this would be the last show I'd watch online as someone that hadn't seen a Phish show (my first show was 8/5, renowned for its Hood).
277.
08-01-2023 I, MSG, New York, NY (NR)
The first representative of the MSG seven-show run of Summer 2023, aka This MSG's Gone To Seven (read that in Frank Black's voice). A typical lovely first-set Ghost kicks things off, and both Timber (Jerry) and Wolfman's have some real great jams, Wolfman's in particular a muscular and funky jam that would have been unimaginable in a year like 2013 where every Wolfman's felt pro forma. Might be kind of low, now that I'm thinking about it, but I do count setlist flow in where I have these sets, and this one's flow is kinda chunky more than anything else.
276.
07-04-2014 II, SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY (NR)
Phish's last July 4th show to date, and a well-liked show at the time, with a fabulous four-song opening sequenced headlined by one of Summer 2014's Three Big Fuegos (this, 7/8, and 7/30) and a nice sidecar in the hazy Light. Feels a bit quaint today a decade later, and that's something that makes me happy - a show this strong in Summer 2014 doesn't feel as strong when you compare it to shows being played a full decade later. This should be considered a good thing!
275.
08-11-2015 I, The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA (NR)
Summer 2015's first representative is really here because it's a charming bit of business thanks to the return of Skin It Back, which neatly melds itself into Martian Monster in one of the cooler first-set jams from before the pandemic. The ol' Monster would rear its ugly head several more times in this set, including most amusingly in Scent of a Mule (boy, talk about songs that have disappeared as of late...), and in a Bowie that shows that Bowie isn't just the band acting like Paul Rudd in Wet Hot American Summer whenever it's played. It's a first set with character, as Harvey Keitel in Pulp Fiction might say.
274.
09-01-2019 II, Dick's, Commerce City, CO (163)
I wanted to keep it on the list because I don't think Dick's 2019 should die in vain, but yeah, it doesn't particularly hold up anymore. It's going to be hard for a lot of sets before 2021 that aren't the cream of the crop to do so, honestly.
273.
12-31-2018 II, MSG, New York, NY (NR)
Mostly remembered, if at all, for the band rather unsuccessfully trying to wedge Passing Through into Hood (that's a thing you try on a summer stop in, like, Burgettstown, not NYE night), but should in my estimation be remembered for a great quicksilver Disease and powerful -7. http://phish.in/2018-12-31, I think, shrinks in the shadow of the two utterly titanic shows that preceded it, but it's still a darn fine show nevertheless.
272.
08-02-2015 II, Tuscaloosa Amphitheater, Tuscaloosa, AL (NR)
Widely seen as a disappointment after Phish had done a William Tecumseh Sherman and burned Atlanta down over the previous two shows, especially since it took place on a Sunday, but with many years removed now just feels like a pretty good set that would've been much more feted in different circumstances. The Disease here, in particular, is very good, if not quite as good as the 8/5 Disease from Kansas City (one of the most underrated great jams in the era, IMO). Camel Walk should get more second set airings, even if it's not gonna be 8/27/21's version.
271.
06-23-2019 II, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD (NR)
Another Little Set That Could, from one of the band's favorite sheds, with an opening triptych of jams that pack a lot of meat into relatively small frames. I've always wondered what it is about the "still waiting" tease that gets stuck in the band's heads, as seemingly every year or two they'll play a set where it gets teased all throughout, almost always in a fun manner as well. This is Ruby Waves' second appearance and thought of as a big step forward at the time; kinda funny now, given that it's secured a place as one of the band's major jam vehicles.
270.
07-28-2018 II, The Forum, Los Angeles, CA (NR)
Another set that I attended, and one I think will be less controversial than the first one I attended that's here. Fuego, in particular, climbs the ladder in truly magnificent fashion; I have a very fond memory of watching Kuroda's lights bathe the crowd in white as the band hit that peak. I also have fond memories of catching my straight on the river and getting max value while playing poker at the Hollywood Park casino prior to the show, but that wasn't part of my consideration for this list.
269.
08-13-2021 II, Atlantic City Beach, Atlantic City, NJ (NR)
The 2021 Atlantic City shows are generally seen as disappointments, explained in the moment as there being some issue with the lights that f***ed with the band onstage (and was apparently fixed in 2022, as that run is a good deal more consistent), but they did give us a quite good set here, especially with a really mighty Tweezer > Gin 1-2 punch to kick things off. The set kinda drops off from there, but damn, if they'd kept it up we'd be talking about this one in the same breath as the other great 2021 second sets. All of which are gonna show up here, just sos you know!
268.
02-22-2020 II, Moon Palace, Cancun, Quintana Roo, MX (NR)
The first set is more fun, but this one brings the heavier-duty improv, especially in that ferocious Waves. The Mexico 2020 run is quite good and should be remembered as such, and portended what might have been a genuinely strong year of Phish. And then Tom Hanks got sick and Rudy Gobert touched a bunch of microphones and history changed forever. What can you do, I guess.
267.
06-28-2019 II, BB&T Pavilion, Camden, NJ (NR)
I like night 3 more, but this one's got some juice to it too, with a big-boy Mercury from Mercury's last great tour as a jam vehicle and a strong NMINML following up, plus a wacky KV-inflected Light spitting out Antelope at the end in a nifty segue. While I still believe Summer 2019 is stronger than people will give it credit for, one issue I do agree with is that Trey really should have picked either KV or Ghosts of the Forest and incorporated them into setlists without trying to do both; that many new songs at once did throw off the balance a little bit. Of course, most of them are now gone from the songbook because *that always f***ing happens, of course*, but still, if Trey was trying an experiment here, the experiment failed.
266.
01-14-2017 II, Barcelo Maya Beach, Riviera Maya, Quintana Roo, MX (NR)
I've always felt bad not being able to get in any of the Mexico 2017 sets on any of the previous iterations of this list, and with the extra 100 spots to fill, this one made the cut with ease. Another really kickass Mercury for the ledger from its short-but-sweet prime, and the Light in particular has some nasty dissonance to it worth hearing. 1/13 II just missed the cut, for the record.
265.
10-25-2013 II, DCU Center, Worcester, MA (NR)
Another personal favorite I couldn't find room for in previous lists, one of those sets where they play a lot of songs but the improv is just as interesting as some sets with half the songs. The Carini is a jam I love so much I wrote an entire post about it , and even now I think it stands up as one of the great sub-ten-minute jams ever played. Fall 2013 is often considered the Rubicon crossing between the "let's have fun out there, gang!" modern era Phish and the "we're gonna blast your f***in' brains out of your f***in' skulls" modern era Phish^, and shows like this demonstrate how much power the band had in their hands on this tour.
^ (that or Dick’s 2012)
264.
12-29-2018 I, MSG, New York, NY (160)
This set has not held up well for me over the years. That's okay, the second set still has, and how.
263.
08-09-2011 II, Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harvey's, Stateline, NV (190)
Dropped it a good deal because I don't think it holds up as much anymore either, even compared to some of the sets that I've debuted on this list that came before it. The segue into Slave is quite lovely, though.
262.
10-31-2021 III, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, NV (NR)
An absolute hotbox of an arena, a lengthy musical costume just played, a four night run capping off one of the greatest tours in band history nearly completed - you could excuse the band for downshifting to first gear in this set, and there are indeed moments where the band sounds like they're playing just to get to the encore and go back to their hotel rooms and pass out for two days. But the fellas still rose to the occasion one more time, delivering a very nice (if kinda short - only 56 minutes!) set with a mean right hook of a Carini and a grotty Soul Planet sliding nicely into the second-to-last appearance of the much-missed Death Don't Hurt Very Long. Swap out the encore Hood with Drift While You're Sleeping, and now we're talking the lower 190s.
261.
06-19-2009 II, Deer Creek Music Center, Noblesville, IN (as always, using the real name and not whatever dipshit corporation is sponsoring the venue at that particular point in time) (NR)
Someone getting into the band right about now and dipping their toes into the early years of the era might get a form of culture shock at seeing all the 11-12 minute jams of 2009, but trust me when I say that you can still find some darn good music in those 11-12 minute jams. Some of that darn good music is located here, in the feathery improv of ASIHTOS, in Twist putting some pep in its step, and in Tweezer dying out into fogged-out ambiance and properly segueing into Also Sprach Zarathustra, a move Trey doesn't even really pull out today. Yet another pleasant surprise in the lower reaches of this set, and something that stands out after having heard, say, 8/6/21 II roughly 30,000 times.
260.
09-05-2015 II, Dick's, Commerce City, CO (NR)
Some magnificent jams here, with a quite strong CDT that melts neatly into Twist, a Mercury so air-tight it could've been the version on Sigma Oasis, and a personal underrated fav in the Light that retains some of that Drive-In Jam goopiness we all know and love. I know the Dick's 2015 run is treated like the vestigial tail to the majesty of Summer 2015, but there's certainly a good deal to like here.
259.
10-26-2021 I, Santa Barbara Bowl, Santa Barbara, CA (NR)
Would have been one of the finest second sets of Summer 2010, with an outstanding opener in Pebbles and Marbles that barely gets talked about because it's part of THIS tour, and the Oye Comet Va jam in Halley's is a hell of a lot of fun. A late addition that an argument could be made should be higher than this.
258.
07-17-2018 I, Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harvey's, Stateline, NV (200)
The first set here from the previous iteration of this list, which should tell you how many sets I've moved over it, including sets that have grown on me or I didn't give a fair shake last time around. I don't have a lot to say that I didn't say last time, so I'll say this - the second set put Slave to the Traffic Light mid-set, and that's something I think the band should do more often.
257. http://phish.in/2011-05-27, Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Bethel, NY (NR)
Known mainly for its Boogie On > Waves 1-2 punch, and that Waves is pretty darn good for being the second-best Waves played in Bethel, NY in May 2011. By the way, as a semi-quantifiable way of saying how good the 5/26/11 Waves tech rehearsal is, if you put it in any of the sets listed to this point, it'd instantly vault that set into at least the top 50.
256.
06-05-2022 II, Deer Creek, Noblesville, IN (NR)
AKA The One With The 34 Minute Sand In It. Now, as far as 30+ minute jams from this era go, I think folks would probably put this one on the lower tier (compared to, say, the Tahoe Tweezer or the 2/23/24 CDT), which is an opinion that I share, and thus I have it a good bit lower than some other sets dominated by one huge jam. That's 2022 in a nutshell for you - yes, there is quality in both tours and I'll never say different, but just how much quality will be quibbled over until the inevitable heat death of the universe.
255.
07-12-2013 II, Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, NY (NR)
Yes, there I am, with the top-rated review from the days when I wrote reviews. I still quite enjoy the meat of this second set, which to me is the Tweezer -> Cities -> The Wedge sequence, although I also like the R&R and miss the days R&R was a legit jam vehicle that could make or break a set. I also made sure to mention the rain that plagued this concert, and really the entire tour; I don't think any tour before or since was affected *that* much by weather, and I truly think that it affected the band to the point where it derailed any momentum they could've built up, to the point where it's entirely possible Summer 2013 could've been the tour we see Fall 2013 as if it'd been a little sunnier throughout.
254.
08-01-2014 II, Amphitheater at the Wharf, Orange Beach, AL (152)
Did some shuffling around of sets on the back half of the list, and this was one of the casualties. Worry not, though, this will not be the last time we will see Orange Beach on here.
253.
12-30-2017 I, MSG, New York, NY (143)
I also docked a number of sets that are really just one massive jam and not a ton surrounding this, including this one. Some of them have jams so good that I didn't dock them as much, but I think there are enough strong sets with multiple great jams in them now that it's not as big a deal to have one big jam as it was in, say, 2012. Time comes for us all.
252.
09-06-2015 II, Dick's, Commerce City, CO (199)
You have your choice of videos for the legendary 9/6/15 Disease, quite possibly the most beautiful jam the band has played in this or any other era: the official version with the official SBD mix and shots of the entire band, and the legendary Lazy Lightning's, with a more AUD-heavy mix and focused entirely on Trey. Me, I go with Lazy Lightning's.
251.
10-23-2013 II, Glens Falls Civic Center, Glens Falls, NY (NR)
God, that "Glens" instead of "Glen" trips me up every time. Maybe not the equivalent of any of the other Glens Falls Civic Center sets they've played in their career, but certainly an enjoyable time with the second of three excellent Twists in Fall 2013 (the first being 10/18's, forever overshadowed by the Carini, and the third being 11/1's nigh-unbeatable version) and a powerful Type I Hood that might be the finest Type I Hood played since 2009. I'm telling ya, kids, Fall 2013!
250.
10-07-2023 II, Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN (NR)
The first representative of Fall 2023, a tour that I've bought a ton of stock in and will be sitting on for when people catch up to its quality in five years. The band takes a little time getting warmed up improvisationally after a strong opening frame (with another monster Melt from the ongoing Meltaissance), but it's all worth it to hear that dazzling whacked-out Cities that slides gloriously into Lounge Llama and I Always Wanted It That Way dissolve into an eerie 2.0-esque fog of noise. A similar set to 12/1/09 II, another one I think is quite underrated by the community, and one that I could see rising in the future if I ever change my mind and do one of these again.^
^I very likely won't
249.
08-07-2010 II, Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA (135)
Another "one big jam" casualty. Good gravy, does this Slave have a peak on it, though.
248.
07-22-2017 II, MSG, New York, NY (198)
I use Phish.in a great deal every time I write up one of these lists, as you'd expect, and I was wryly amused to see that they've added a "Famous" tag for theme/gimmick shows (including 12/31/99, because, y'know, it was a gimmick), and that includes all thirteen of the Baker's Dozen shows. You're damn right, Phish.in programmers, these are some famous as hell shows!
247.
12-31-2015 III, MSG, New York, NY (197)
You really need to listen to this Twist again if you haven't in a hot minute, it will put some goddamn hair on your chest. It'd be the perfect soundtrack for the end of the Wachowski sisters' Speed Racer (I checked to make sure, thanks to the magic of multiple browser tabs).
246.
07-05-2019 II, Fenway Park, Boston, MA (196)
Not feeling so lonely now that the list has been expanded enough to include more of its Summer 2019 brethren - not much more, but more. I know the Fuego is no great shakes compared to some of the monster Fuegos of its lifetime, but this one is a good bit of fun and I really do enjoy the segue into SANTOS. They'd pull off some better segues into SANTOS later, but it's the thought that counts.
245.
08-01-2015 II, Aaron's Amphitheatre at Lakewood, Atlanta, GA (NR)
The thing about Summer 2015 is that I only added a few additional sets here because a) the lower-quality shows are just not particularly good (I think 7/29 Grand Prairie was the only other one I gave consideration to) and the higher-quality shows are of course already in the top 200. That said, I'm glad I was able to get this bad boy in, anchored by a gargantuan Tweezer many consider the best of the year. I don't, but it's not like it's not an argument for me, y'know?
244.
08-05-2018 II, Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park, Alpharetta, GA (194)
Same thing with the Alpharetta 2018 run - I gave a passing thought to 8/3/18 I and its megawatt Ghost, but ultimately, I'm comfortable with what's already here. Goddamn, what a run, though.
243.
10-28-2018 II, Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL (193)
Compare and contrast with 8/1/15 II and you can see that they tend to do a little more with their second sets after the one massive jam than they used to, at least in terms of improv. The ultimate example will be something like 230 sets in the future on this list. So, y'know, watch this space.
242.
07-21-2017 II, MSG, New York, NY (146)
Still a fine listen, if aging a bit the way something like 7/28/17 II isn't. Dick's 2012 is the first modern era run that held up both for historical and musical reasons, and I think the Dozen is holding up the same way, more or less.
241.
09-03-2021 II, Dick's, Commerce City, CO (192)
It might not scan as a great set just looking at the setlist, but believe you me, it's more damn fun than you can shake a stick at. That really describes all of Dick's 2021, to be honest - yes, there are some really fun moments throughout Summer 2021, but to me the greatest concentration of Phish Style Goofiness happened in the Dick's run.
240.
07-07-2012 II, SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY (191)
Kind of interesting to compare this seguefest with, say, 7/27/14's or either of the ones from 2021; this one feels so *different* from the later versions, and I can't really put my finger on why. Maybe someone else can. Comments are welcome below.
239.
10-16-2010 II, North Charleston Coliseum, North Charleston, SC (189)
Is there a way we can get the band to consider putting Tweezer back in the fourth quarter now and again without sacrificing the 20+ minute jams that are now de rigeur as Tweezer has reclaimed its Jam Vehicle King crown? Someone here's gotta know a band member and can pass this along, law of averages and all that.
238.
12-31-2022 III, MSG, New York, NY (NR)
AKA the time machine set. A joyous and joyful romp through Phish's august history of NYE gags, one that touched on Phish's past in a very fun way. Would probably be higher if they hadn't done another NYE gag that touched on Phish's past in a very fun way a year later.
237.
08-01-2009 II, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO (188)
It didn't really occur to me until doing this list just how much the Red Rocks run was really meant to be an event run, between the special guest (a thing they do with increasing infrequency now) and big ol' sets like this one and 7/31 II and the simple fact that it was four shows long, just like the Sphere run was. Obviously the Sphere run is more satisfying musically, but the 2009 Red Rocks run is also quite good and really shows the upward trend the band was on even in their first summer back. And, just between you and me and the rest of the forum here, I prefer Red Rocks as far as behind-the-stage ambiance goes.
236.
12-30-2009 II, American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL (187)
Because I still do not have a ton to say about this set, I will say that I've seen videos of the 2009 NYE gag (the full show and the gag and its "aftermath" here), and it does seem like a good old time. Really funny seeing Mike with his 1.0 hair before he apparently hired a fashion consultant.
235.
07-23-2022 II, Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Bethel Woods, MA (NR)
Some real strong jamming here from a summer tour that has a reputation somewhere in between "measles" and "hitting yourself square in the forehead with a ball peen hammer", with the C&P in particular one of the finest since 2018, if not the finest. That's not a high bar to clear, but you still gotta clear it. The encore is also a ton of fun.
234.
07-25-2014 II, PNC Music Pavilion, Charlotte, NC (NR)
I might get some pushback on this one, but that's okay, I'm a man, I'm 40, I can handle it. Come for another wonderful CDT from Summer 2014 (which, as noted, did not want for killer CDTs), stay for the outrageously good segue run from Fuego through When The Circus Comes (ESPECIALLY for Twist -> Circus, one of the best segues of the era). Learn to live with the not quite as good segue out of Piper into Rift.
233.
08-05-2017 II, MSG, New York, NY (185)
When the jam chart entry notes that people had been petitioning for this Ghost to make its chart for literal years, that is not an exaggeration. That you don't really hear a lot about the Ghost anymore, now that it is (rightfully) on its chart, probably says something about something.
232.
04-18-2023 I, William Randolph Hearst Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA (NR)
I always get a chuckle out of seeing Hearst's name in the venue name - there is a man, a certain man, whose name stands for a theater where this band has jammed. We've firmly entered the zone where first sets can stand up to second sets of yore, and this one in particular makes for a darn good first set, anchored with an all-star Gin that shows just how powerfully strong Gin has gotten in the last few years. Heck, I'd say that if Tweezer is the Godzilla of Phish jam vehicle kaijus in this era, Gin might well be the Mothra. I think that makes Set Your Soul Free the Jet Jaguar, might need to think some more about it.
231.
06-12-2019 II, Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis, MO (184)
Sadly, the late start to this year's summer tour means no possibility of this kind of serendipity; maybe someone will throw a no-hitter for the Cardinals on the same day they play Chaifetz this year. I kinda doubt it, the Cardinals are dogshit this season. Such is the nature of Phish fandom that I think Loving Cup got a bigger pop from the crowd than Gloria, the song *actually* associated with the Blues' Cup run.
230.
12-01-2019 II, Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY (182)
See #250. The ending to Everything's Right really fills me with great joy; that buzzing sound effect on Page's rig is one of my favorites (eg, for instance, the first half of the 8/6/17 Simple).
229.
12-31-2019 II, MSG, New York, NY (NR)
Maybe should be a tad higher; yes, the Wolfman's-through-Light stretch does not feature particularly long jams, but what we get here is so much fun (especially the calypso-y Light) that it more than makes up for the compression that often comes with NYE second sets. If nothing else, this show is a lesson to us all: make sure you stock up on WD-40.
228.
08-29-2014 II, Dick's, Commerce City, CO (117)
Yep, one big jam syndrome again. They'd have ended the set at Harry Hood in 2015, or in 2024 at least one more song would've had a killer jam in it. It's evolution, baby.
227.
09-05-2021 II, Dick's, Commerce City, CO (181)
I'd noted in the previous incarnation of this list that Sigma Oasis hadn't seen a jam after the one on this night; thankfully, that is no longer the case. The Reba here has also got some stank on it, so don't skip out on it.
226.
11-02-2013 II, Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ (180)
The Theme from Set I is such a funky good time; put it in this set and it's in the 150s. As a member emeritus of the august Jam Chart team, I have to confess that I've never really been able to parse the truly great Roggaes from the pretty good ones - to me, they're all pretty good - and a special place in Heaven is reserved for those that actually can. I do think this one's pretty darn good, all told.
225.
05-28-2011 II, Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Bethel Woods, NY (179)
God, this Makisupa is so f***in' goofy. For a song that's such a setlist mainstay, there have been some pretty large gaps in its history, of which the most recent one (64 between 10/26/21 and 7/11/23) is the third largest. They didn't play it for 323 shows between 1990 and 1993, how bonkers is that? Anyway, you want to hear a nice Hood from the modern era, you'd do worse than this one.
224.
02-26-2022 II, Moon Palace, Cancun, Quintana Roo, MX (NR)
The big ol' Wolfman's, part of the ongoing Wolfmanissaince, is the main event here, although the Twist -> Your Pet Cat (!) duo is pretty darn close. Mexico 2022 is a fabulous run, and it's something of a bummer it's been shunted aside in favor of 2024's even more fabulous run. But then that's just kinda how it goes with Mexico runs; it's just funny that nowadays the Mexico runs are being overshadowed by another Mexico run instead of everything else.
223.
07-30-2021 II, Oak Mountain Amphitheatre, Pelham, AL (178)
I still think my nickname for this Carini (Carimson Tide) is clever. Maybe that's just me. Honestly, it probably is.
222.
08-07-2021 II, Deer Creek, Noblesville, IN (NR)
Another set I'm really glad the extended version of this list gave me room to include, as it's one that's sort of shrunk between the totemic 8/6 on one side and the fun 8/8 seguefest on the other, and deserves attention on its own. It's not the sort of set that'll blow you away, but it's got strong jams and a hook in the WTU? > C&P > WTU? sandwich, plus the C&P tease works in Disease. One of those sets where you can throw it on from start to finish and have a real good time.
221.
06-28-2016 II, The Mann, Philadelphia, PA (not to be confused with The Man, Becky Lynch) (177)
Still holds up, to my delight. Another show I wrote a review for, and while my optimism in the last paragraph was dashed relatively quickly, I don't think I'd change anything else I wrote in it. And I do think the Rhythm-Off YEM can be more appreciated now that hearing the Marimba Lumina doesn't make everyone want to strangle Trey in his sleep.
220.
01-02-2015 II, American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL (176)
Much like how you might think a jam that went 25 minutes in person only went 15 minutes when you listen back, I was surprised to see how relatively short the jams here in this set are, given their quality. I was not surprised enough to bump it too much lower than where it's landed after placing new sets and moving some older ones around, but it did bear mentioning.
219.
07-23-2016 II, Sleep Train Amphitheatre, Chula Vista, CA (175)
This venue might have had the most sponsor name changes out of any Phish has played; the nu-Spectrum might also be up there. Another candidate for finest modern-era Harry Hood right here. It's always amusing to me that Phish has teased California Love, but not Woman To Woman, the Joe Cocker song California Love samples.
218.
10-31-2021 I, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, NV (195)
Maybe should've bumped this up a bit more, but I still do try and play it a bit more cautious when it comes to sets I've attended in person; even with 4/22/23 I, I made sure to give a few other first sets a listen to just to make sure I wasn't hearing things w/r/t how crisp and quickly the songs were played. Oh, would you look at that, another modern era Bowie that isn't just "here's the song, here's a jam, now will you shut up already".
217.
04-15-2023 I, Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, WA (NR)
I have been such a fan of the glorious space-rock Wolfman's -> killer segue into Izabella that I often forget that the rest of the set is also quite good, especially that driving and occasionally weird CDT at the end. Paste this set and 4/17/23 II together, and we're talking about one of the greatest shows of all time.
216.
08-10-2018 II, Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek, Raleigh, NC^ (174)
^ Jesus, what a cumbersome name; sorry to keep harping on this topic, but that shit is a mouthful and a half
As I do not have anything to say about this set that I haven't said before, I'll take this moment to shout out the tapers of the world, whose efforts to document the history of this band we all love and occasionally sorta tolerate. Thank you, friends. Extra special thanks to whoever taped 7/10/97, now that's what I call a damn Phish show.
215.
07-18-2014 II, Northerly Island, Chicago, IL (173)
I'd forgotten that this Wombat, the first jammed-out Wombat, arrived via segue. Wombat, currently on its longest hiatus at 68 shows, is an interesting song in that it doesn't really feel like a typical Phish jam vehicle (or a typical Phish song, honestly), and yet it does feel natural whenever it goes for a ride in a show, if that makes sense. I think 7/18/17's is the King of Wombats^, but if you argue for another one, including this one, I won't argue too hard.
^ (well, other than Abe Vigoda)
214.
02-21-2020 I, Moon Palace, Cancun, Quintana Roo, MX (172)
Exactly as fun as the setlist tells you it is. They should have played Sea and Sand in every Mexico run, if you ask me.
213.
06-25-2010 II, Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ (171)
Just for the sake of pulling back the curtain and also so I can have a good chuckle remembering this in 10 years' time - I type up the entries in the .net browser so I can format it easily and then cut and paste into a Word doc to save it, and I hit the "x" closing the browser tab on accident and lost several entries up to the Festival 8 acoustic set, including ones for sets I moved around later on^. So I'm now rewriting those entries from memory. Anyway, for this set I didn't have anything new to say about the set proper, so let me ask this: would Summer of '89, which appears to have been incredibly disliked and only got four airings before disappearing forever, really feel all that out of place today?
^ I actually did this two more times, which led me to write one entry at a time and then cut & paste, which was cumbersome but effective
212.
04-23-2022 II, MSG, New York, NY (NR)
Wasn't particularly far away from the 200-set iteration to begin with, and has grown on me over the last two years. Damn, is this NMINML some gnarly shit.
211.
10-19-2010 II, Augusta Civic Center, Augusta, ME (169)
See #213, as this is one of the Lost Entries mentioned in that entry. f*** Your Face is both such a goofy song to bring back and one of the 80s songs you'd most expect would be brought back if one had to be so exhumed; god, imagine Anarchy or Dear Mrs. Reagan at one of the Sphere shows?
210.
07-15-2016 II, The Gorge, George, WA (168)
Summer 2016, for those who don't remember it, was like having a rusted-out old lawnmower where you'd have to yank the cord 10 times for it to spark to life, only for it to die after about 2 minutes of mowing, necessitating you to yank the cord 10 more times. This was one of the tour's false dawns, and I think still holds up as a heck of a lot of fun. What a weird old tour, man.
209.
07-16-2013 II, Encore Park, Alpharetta, GA (166)
I have tried for many years to find an audio or video version of the Washington Post "if you don't get it, you don't get it" ad to post alongside a discussion of this, probably my favorite underrated set, and have been denied at every turn. Maybe a better Internet sleuth than I can find it. The truth is out there, as the saying goes.
208.
11-01-2009 I, Empire Polo Club, Indio, CA (165)
Video of the full set exists, and it's such an interesting time capsule - how young they all look, the one Mike song they debuted and never played again, that dazzling Curtain With, all the songs that get rarely played now. They should do another one sometime, they've certainly got more songs that would stand up to the acoustic format now.^ To the person that yelled out for Meatstick before Trey went into Wilson: grow up.
^neutral observation, mostly
207.
10-30-2021 II, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV (183)
Has aged better as time has gone on, both in terms of its charm and in terms of its YPC > Jim > Piper -> BOAF centerpiece. The Vegas 2021 run is not exactly unbeatable in terms of setlists, jams, and energy, but I do think it'll take a pretty heroic effort to top it in the years to come. I suppose I can talk about where it stacks up to commensurate runs of past eras, but I'm pretty much out of gas as far as that's concerned. You all have at it.
206.
06-07-2009 II, Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ (164)
Really stands out more and more like a sore thumb when taking in the first shows of 2009. It's always interesting seeing Horsilent in a second set, which led me to this wild fact: The Horse has only been uncoupled from Silent In The Morning twice in its history, once on 6/21/94 (when the fire alarm went off), and once on 6/16/12 (where Trey straight up blew it). That's not as wild as the Sphere's Hydrogen being the first outside a Groove since 1987 or 12/31/23's TMWSIY being the first *ever* uncoupled from Avenu Malkenu, but it's close!
205.
09-01-2019 II, The Comcast Theatre, Hartford, CT (162)
It is not in my nature to have a contretemps, even a mild one, with @waxbanks, but one thing I would say with regards to this show is that while *in general* I would prefer a 20 minute Ghost to "good 10-minute Ghost > 2-minute Psycho Killer > 7 minutes of Trey fooling around", we have enough of those all throughout their history and especially in the 15 proceeding years (yes, they did play shows in 2020, it counts) and I enjoy Icculus enough that this sort of goofaround is actually welcomed more than anything now. They'd only played 4 20 minute jams in 2009 to that point anyway (and would play 3 afterwards before the year ended), so it's not like that was likely going to be in the cards. I mean, it's been 15 years since Wally wrote that review, he might well agree with me now, but I figured it was worth the killing time for this entry discussion.
204.
08-12-2018 II, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD (161)
Possibly the most divisive show of one of the era's most divisive tours, Summer 2018. It's not what I would call one of the strongest shows of the era or anything, but there's some really good jamming in both sets and the Piper in particular holds up with some of the stronger Pipers of this era, if not quite the 11/2/14's and 10/23/21's of the world. But then not a lot of Pipers of any era stands up to 11/2/14's, y'know?
203.
10-20-2010 II, Utica Memorial Auditorium, Utica, NY (159)
I'm pretty sure I brought this up on a different version of this list, but I had asked what the reception to this show was like back in the day, and was assured that it was commensurate to, like, the reaction something like 7/31/15 or 8/6/21 got, with the added joy of having a smaller body of work to pull positive reactions from than further on in the era. That, I think, still counts for a lot - like, it's no wonder this got the DVD treatment, right? The Sand is still pretty neat, as well; I'd petition for it to go back on the jam chart if that was a thing I still did.
202.
07-05-2013 II, SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY (158)
The Light's Pool of Bliss jam is still one of the most blissful such jams of the era. Every time Energy makes one of its rare appearances, I keep thinking "oh boy, this might be the year they finally make it the jam vehicle Summer 2013 seemed to portend it becoming". As with 555, hope springs eternal.
201.
08-08-2021 II, Deer Creek, Noblesville, IN (157)
Yep, sorry, gang, I bumped 10/24/21 II (the show I was at and had an unpleasant time at - health-wise, I hasten to add) over 8/8/21 II (the show I was not at), feel free to take umbrage with that. I will say that the segue into Waste here is still utterly magical. The return to Twist out of that goofy ass Makisupa Policeman, maybe not as much.
200.
10-31-2014 III, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV (129)
Dropped it more from the last list; I think it's historic enough and has a good enough centerpiece jam in Sand -> Tweezer Reprise (god, that segue) to stay here, but it's fading a bit in terms of being a truly strong set. Major kudos to the band for giving it to us after the big production of that costume set, though.
199.
10-17-2014 II, Matthew Knight Arena, Eugene, OR (113)
Another one that doesn't really hold up a ton for me anymore. I still think Fall 2014 gets a reasonably bad rap because 2014 sits so oddly between two beloved tours AND because 10/21/14 is the most psychoanalyzed show of the era, but maybe not as bad as I originally thought.
198.
08-04-2018 II, Encore Park, Alpharetta, GA (156)
Ahhh, shortening that venue name this time around felt like sliding on a pair of basketball shorts after a day in the office (well, pre-pandemic, anyway). Another super Piper from the modern era, for the record. Alpharetta 2018 is maybe the finest modern era run that doesn't really get a lot of play, and I think Alpharetta 2021 has made it so that it'll never really get a lot of play. That's a good problem, in all honesty.
197.
09-02-2018 II, Dick's, Commerce City, CO (155)
I know it's particularly difficult for a Tweezer to stand out ever since the end of 2019, in which Tweezer has bestrode the modern era like a mighty colossus, but this is one hell of a damn good Tweezer. Sets like this where the good jams are strung together with segues tend to have jams that top out at "pretty good" and then the segue adds a little something, but this one I think should've gotten real 2018 JOTY consideration. Not, like, winning it or anything, but just in the way the JOTY tournament sheds light on less known jams.
196.
10-24-2021 II, The Forum, Los Angeles, CA (167)
See #201. When's SANTOS getting that second jam, fellas?
195.
06-28-2012 II, Deer Creek, Noblesville, IN (154)
I just noticed that I've bunched up some of the era's better seguefests into a ten-set or so range, showing that what they lack in big long jams, they make up for in shorter, punchier jams and cool antics. It's why I enjoy 8/10/18 II so much - instead of just giving up on firing the improv gun and playing Caspian > More or whatever, Trey started doing some goofy shit. He should do that more often. That, and play YEM mid-set.
194.
08-21-2015 I, Magnaball, Watkins Glen, NY (153)
Still a good old time, all these years later. Hopefully Mondegreen brings the same level of charm. I personally would lay a bet on it.
193.
02-23-2020 II, Moon Palace, Cancun, Quintana Roo, MX (151)
I still have a very soft spot in my heart for this set, and especially for the wonderful Golden Age that follows up the Under Pressure-inflected Simple. It has always been my feeling that 2020 would have been a very strong year if it'd actually happened. Maybe not as strong as the 2021 we got, but the conditions for that are...well, I won't say unrepeatable, let's go with undesirable.
192.
10-19-2018 II, Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA (121)
Dropped in the manner of other "one big jam" sets, held it in the top 200 because the Melt remains so good even in the face of six years of killer Melts and counting. The ending of this all-world Golden Age really does remind me of the IT Waves, in both the good (extremely odd) and bad (maybe a bit longer than it should be) ways; that we got a jam like it in the happy smiley Trey era and not the shambolic drugged-out zombie Trey era is to be celebrated, if you ask me.
191.
12-28-2019 II, MSG, New York, NY (150)
Just as much as it's a very Phish thing to replace "waste the day" with "Guy Forget" in Zero, it's a very Phish thing to not play the CDT Reprise for over 500 shows, and then play it in back-to-back shows. While I'm thinking about it, I would really love the 8/6/17 Lawn Boy Reprise to come back, it's so much funky-ass fun. I know it shouldn't because it should be special to the Dozen, but I'm the protagonist of reality here, I demand it!
190.
09-03-2016 II, Dick's, Commerce City, CO (149)
Put the encore Coil in here and it goes up 50 spots. This Simple probably remains the greatest Marimba Lumina-inflected jam, barely edging out the 1/2/15 Paug. Yes, not a high bar, etc.
189.
11-01-2018 II, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV (147)
11/1/18 is still in the upper half of shows that I've seen - I of course haven't seen a ton of shows (19, which is a ton for other bands but middling for this one), but it still needs to be said. I came up with the metaphor of Vegas 2018 as the 2004 Pistons in terms of underrated standing for this era, which would make Magnaball the 1996 Bulls and NYE 2011 the 2012 Bobcats.
188.
12-29-2029 II, MSG, New York, NY (145)
As with 12/28/19 II, the setlist looks like one from 2009, but the jams are a good deal stronger; that says a lot both about 2019 and about how the band has evolved since its return. Another wonderful Gin here, and the Harry Hood is also quite strong; the set also has an internal logic that I think belies how many songs are in it. NYE 2019 is really disappearing into the ether (outside 12/30), but there's some darn fine music all throughout, even if not as good as in the MSG runs that sandwich it (2018 and April 2022).
187.
07-12-2014 II, Randall's Island, New York, NY (144)
One more chance for me to extol the virtues of this set, which works wonderfully as a full set in a way not even 7/13/14 II totally does. I like the way this Carini ends, and always have.
186.
01-17-2016 II, Barcelo Maya Beach, Riviera Maya, Quintana Roo, MX (142)
Was going to drop this even more, but I've still got such a soft spot for it and the C&P still whips even after all these years. I think, at this point, Mexico 2016 might be the most ignored run in the modern era, even over runs from, like, Summer 2010, just because of how people feel about the Mexico runs. What can you do.
185.
10-20-2010 I, Utica Memorial Auditorium, Utica, NY (141)
I do enjoy that whenever they get into a particularly funky jam with a bit of an off-kilter beat, Trey's instinct occasionally steers him into Cities. See 10/7/23 II and 12/1/19 II for other good examples of this.
184.
10-06-2023 II, Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN (NR)
And so began Fall 2023, one of my favorite modern era tours, with one of the era's best tour openers. I despise Jibboo but do enjoy this Jibboo, and Oblivion makes a real big mark with a powerful and joyous jam, plus Light -> Fuego -> SANTOS packs some meat into smaller frames and all those segues are genuinely good. Honestly, any time Trey wants to end a set with a segue into SANTOS, the modern era's answer to Cavern, I think he should go right ahead and do that.
183.
12-29-2009 II, AAA, Miami, FL (140)
Another one of those sets I just have a soft spot for. Again, dislike Jibboo, but I enjoy what they did with Jibboo here (in this case, play another song in the middle of it). It is worth remembering here that Tweezer in 2009 was pretty darn good - this, 6/7's, 7/31's, etc. - and only shrinks in the face of the bigger Tweezer years (both lengthwise and girthwise), and it was only 2010 through Summer 2012 where Tweezer had ceded its Jam Vehicle King throne. That throne would be snatched back none too soon.
182.
01-02-2016 II, MSG, New York, NY (139)
I don't consider this a "one big jam" set because I really do still like that YEM. Hood is also an enjoyable just-off-chart version, though the return to the Hood finale really is kinda abrupt. In a certain sense, this run feels like the closing of one chapter of the modern era, as Mexico and Summer 2016 opened up the band to a host of new expectations that they couldn't quite meet. At first, anyway.
181.
12-28-2017 II, MSG, New York, NY (138)
Goddamn, so many MSG sets already, and so many more to go. Another Jam Chart member emeritus observation - people will often stump for the most recent Everything's Right played, and you gotta remember that the charts tend to hover around 40% of all jams played in that particular song, and because Everything's Right has been a major jam vehicle out of the gate and tends to get jammed just about every time it's played, it's already reached the point where they gotta play one heck of an ER for it to get chart consideration. That they occasionally still do that says a lot about where the band is now.
180.
09-01-2023 II, Dick's, Commerce City, CO (NR)
The first representative of the monster Dick's 2023 run, and one anchored with a big-time ever-driving Sand backed up with a wonderful double-time NMINML jam that slides very niftily into Classic Llama. Do wish the ungodly Melt in the encore was in the set proper; swap it out with Shine A Light, and this one might well be in the 120-130s range. Pretty damn cool that Melt has now acquired that kind of setmaking power.
179.
09-01-2022 II, Dick's, Commerce City, CO (NR)
You could probably flip-flop this and the previous set around, they're very close in terms of quality. I gave this one the slight edge because I think it hangs together slightly better as a full set, and the wonderful run from Ruby Waves through Piper gives a lot of sets a run for their money. Piper as set closer - what a concept!
178.
07-22-2015 II, Les Schwab Amphitheater, Bend, OR (137)
Maybe the most underrated set out there with five jam chart entries. While I'm here and still talking shop re: the charts, a thing worth remembering is that they are an incredible resource I am proud to have contributed to even in some small way, but they are just that - a resource. They are not canon. There are sets like this with multiple chart entries because there's a strong version of Farmhouse or some such that aren't exactly 8/22/15 II, and there are sets with maybe one chart entry that has multiple strong jams that just happen to be in Disease or Everything's Right or some song with way more strong jams than room on the chart for them. That said, you really should listen to this Wingsuit, it's great.
177.
07-24-2018 II, BGCA, San Francisco, CA (136)
Almost shortened it to "San Fran" just for fun, but I know actual residents of San Francisco hate that. I don't know that this is the finest version of Mercury (that's probably 11/2/18's), but this is one that hits my sweet spot the hardest, a real low-key version with some great work from Mike. The Carini is the real king of this set, but that Mercury isn't too far behind, and the setlist is IMO one of the best of the era.
176.
04-18-2024 II, The Sphere, Las Vegas, NV (NR)
And here it is, the first representative of the 2024 Sphere run. Sand > Tweezer -> MFMF is a sequence that would be outstanding in most earlier years of the era, but because it's not quite at the level of the best of the post-pandemic shows, plus the rest of the set doesn't have a ton to recommend it (the Lifeboy IS good, I'll say that), I'm putting it here to be safe. What the hell, Sphere 2025 might leave this in the shade. One hopes.
175.
08-31-2018 I, Dick's, Commerce City, CO (134)
A first set from before Summer 2021 that still holds up, alert the media. Very depressing to think that there might be a warehouse somewhere with a bunch of props and shit from Curveball that were never used. Might be this one, for all we know.
174.
10-14-2023 II, United Center, Chicago, IL (NR)
Kinda disappointed the band didn't come out to the Alan Parsons Project's Sirius for these shows. A very good sum of its parts set with some sparkling jamming, a fabulously played Fluffhead to close, and a centerpiece jam in a Melt that serves as even more of a Fishman showcase than Melt tends to be. I will grant a pass to sets without super-huge jams if the flow is good, and the flow here is utterly tremendous, as is the case with pretty much every Fall 2023 second set (even 10/15's, the only one I couldn't make room for here, though it was close).
173.
07-22-2017 I, MSG, New York, NY (133)
Thought about dropping this a little lower, then went back and listened to the acapella Strawberry Fields Forever, including Trey making the Mellotron noises at the end of the song, and decided to keep it where it was relative to last time around. While I’m here, I feel like folks have gotten a little too dismissive of the concept over the years; like, would you *really* rather have had a bunch of shit like Raspberry Beret or Blueberry Hill in Jam Night over the plethora of musical improvisations?
172.
11-30-2019 II, Dunkin' Donuts Center, Providence, RI
I used the Russian Doll clip here last time around, for the record; I have never and will never be afraid of ripping myself off. Another set where the sum of its parts outweighs the individual jams, even with the Plasma teases that apparently turned off a third of the band's fanbase forever, and this Hood kicks some serious ass. Now, with that out of the way – it's not Phish anymore...it's Dunk!
171.
12-06-2019 II, North Charleston Coliseum, North Charleston, SC (81)
Yeah, I prefer 12/7 II to it now. What can you do. This LxL is still so enjoyably weird.
170.
02-22-2019 II, Barcelo Maya Beach, Riviera Maya, Quintana Roo, MX (131)
Another contender for the GOAT Mercury here. Sanity used to pop up a lot more in the second set than it does now, to tell you something else about how older Phish differs from modern Phish, but I'll take it in any set at any time.
169.
09-01-2017 I, Dick's, Commerce City, CO (130)
Another wonderful first set from before post-pandemic Phish REALLY took first sets to a new level. I think a lot of folks, including myself, expected Dick's 2017 to compete with Dick's 2012 after this heater of a show. It didn't quite get there, but that's all right, no other Dick’s run has.
168.
04-19-2024 II, The Sphere, Las Vegas, NV
I believe this is the first set here that has zero jam chart entries, mainly because all the strong jams are in very well entrenched vehicles. With that said, the Ruby Waves is powerful and dramatic, the Ocean packs a wallop for its short time frame (before moving into Caspian neatly), and YEM has some real oomph behind it. The first set might have the slightly stronger jams, but this one hangs together better as a piece of music.
167.
12-07-2019 II, North Charleston, Coliseum, North Charleston, SC (170)
Weird, weird, weird, and more weird. I even moved it up a tick from last time, because that Melt is creepy and off-putting in a (good) way not even the current batch of Tokyo-destroying Melts tend to be. Cool Amber and Mercury really should be more of a Set II staple, as I think the finest of the KV set should be (Death Don't Hurt Very Long, We Are Come To Outlive Our Brains, SANTOS, Play By Play^).
^ he said with a tear in his eye
166.
07-08-2012 II, SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY (128)
Kung is currently on a 153-show gap, the third longest of its existence; this might be one of the most incongruous appearances for a song well noted for appearing incongruously, and that's just the way I like it. The funny thing is that its three appearances in 2019 is the most it's shown up in a year since 1995, when it was WAY closer to its debut than 2019 was. It also appears in 3/8/93, the show that came out in the first year of the pandemic that doesn't even have an AUD. Sorry, don't have anything to say about this set I haven't said already, so I'm premiering a list feature I’d like to call Kung Chat.
165.
10-18-2016 II, Ascend Amphitheater, Nashville, TN (127)
It would have been so funny if Playing In The Band became a jam vehicle mainstay after this show. There's still time, honestly, but they’d need to have Bob Weir come back every time they play it.
164.
08-15-2012 II, Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA (126)
Really curious as to what the story was behind Phish playing Long Beach instead of Los Angeles or San Diego, and why they've never gone back. Someone out there probably knows. Phone lines are open. For the record, I still think this Ghost has got some real juice.
163.
07-09-2019 II, Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT (125)
Thought about bumping this one up a bit, but the incoming sets took up too much space. They still haven't really played a BASOS like this, although 4/19/23's comes relatively close.
162.
04-20-2024 I, The Sphere, Las Vegas, NV (NR)
I'm sure I'll get some guff for how many sets from the Sphere run are here, but setting aside whatever bullshit about the visuals or your distaste for Jim Dolan (which probably matches mine) and all that, I truly think that *musically*, the Sphere run has a hell of a lot going for it. One thing I will say is that the Mexico jams tend to be more strange and challenging, and I know people (including me, again) would prefer that to the smoother upbeat jams we get more often in this era, but when the jams are *this* smooth and *this* fluid (eg the Stash and the - sigh - Pillow Jets here), I think that consideration has to be paid. Also, these are LONG sets, often pushing past the 90-minute mark, but they're so filled with strong music that it's easy to not notice that.
161.
06-21-2019 II, PNC Music Pavilion, Charlotte, NC (124)
This is the third highest set of Summer 2019 on this list, and while I really do like this show a lot, I think that says something about Summer 2019. The wonderful Have Mercy-inflected Possum is so great, though, that certainly bears pointing out.
160.
07-29-2017 II, MSG, New York, NY (123)
A particularly underrated Hood here; I think we’re now far enough away from the Dozen that we can call jams from it “underrated”. I like Alumni Blues > Letter to Jimmy Page > Alumni Blues in a Set II the same way I like Maze in a Set II, in that it keeps the energy going even without a jam in it. Random question: how bad must that brown acid at Woodstock have been that they had to make a damn PA announcement about it in the middle of the roughly 475,000 announcements asking people to get the hell off the camera towers?
159.
07-14-2013 II, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD (122)
Another set played in a rainstorm, if memory serves; it really is difficult to understate how much rain followed them around this summer. Light -> Boogie On remains a magical segue, and this Light in particular holds up as a great example of The Weirdness this band can truck in, the same way the 7/3/14 LxL does. Random first set note: I'd forgotten that the Marimba Lumina makes its debut in the Mule here, and if you want to hear an ideal example of how the Marimba Lumina can add rather than subtract from a jam, you can certainly do worse.
158.
09-01-2021 II, Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA (120)
Thought about moving this lower as well, but the Tweezer's just too damn good and too damn weird for that. The Piper is also nice and sweet, even if not quite jam chart material, and the setlist flow is well done. Man, I know we think of it primarily in terms of the music now, but have you sat back and thought about how f***ing strange Summer 2021, the actual tour itself, was?
157.
09-06-2015 Encore, Dick’s, Commerce City, CO (119)
If you haven’t listened to this in a while, I highly recommend it as a beautiful bookend to Summer 2015. People were so annoyed that Once In A Lifetime was kinda sloppy, man, it’s really funny to think about. Sometimes this band just can’t win for losing.
156.
04-18-2023 II, Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA (NR)
Utterly packed full of Pemmican improvisation, headlined by a truly wonderful Fuego that I’m sad to see didn’t get very far in the 2023 JOTY tournament. Spring 2023 was such a great tour, man, and a lot closer to a Fall tour than Summer in terms of its improv. Don’t Doubt Me appeared ready to be the next big jam vehicle for a hot minute last year, and it’s still got that spot warm and ready for it if it wants.
155.
08-23-2015 II, Magnaball, Watkins Glen, NY (116)
I counted and I've moved 37 new sets (and a few previously listed sets) past this one, which isn't all that bad considering how many great sets we've gotten since April 2022. This would be somewhere in the 80s if they'd actually gone into Immigrant Song instead of Paug.
154.
06-17-2011 II, Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Charlotte, NC (115)
The Rock & Roll here really is something special in terms of how delicate the jam gets, especially since that's not always something associated with the modern era (as opposed to, like, Fall 1999). The ending of Ghost is still a lot of fun, too. I was dryly amused to read my review and recall just how much people were annoyed by BDTNL in 2013, both due to a slight bit of overplaying and because like 15 other songs that have now overtaken it in the "most despised modern era song" sweepstakes didn’t exist yet.
153.
07-31-2013 II, Harvey's, Stateline, NV (114)
Now here's a set with one big jam I'm not going to drop too far anytime soon.
152.
04-19-2024 I, The Sphere, Las Vegas, NV (NR)
I forget if it’s The Sphere or just Sphere, I’m going to roll with the former and not worry about it. Anyway, this is a strong set with some super jams, with Axilla Pt. 2 one of my favorites of the entire run, although the DEG-inflected Theme isn’t too darn bad either. While I’m here, let me say this about the Sphere visuals: I didn’t attend any of the shows, but I saw my share of videos and photos, and while I don’t know that I particularly love the idea of playing to the visuals and not the other way around, I have enough disdain for AI (which would probably be what would make it work the other way around) and the visuals they DID program were cool enough that I think it was overall a visual success. I also get not wanting to go to another show, as I’ve seen folks say or have heard secondhand from their friends, but I imagine going the once is probably worth it. It’s probably not for me, though, I think my claustrophobia and anxiety would kick in something fierce. I get mild anxiety sitting in the middle of a row in a concert nowadays!
151.
09-05-2021 II, Dick’s, Commerce City, CO (112)
See #241. As always, much love to @zachyd and @meggieprice.
150.
04-22-2022 III, MSG, New York, NY (111)
Aha, now, you see, if the Sphere had included a damn whale flying over everyone's heads, we might have gotten somewhere!
149.
02-26-2022 II, Moon Palace, Cancun, Quintana Roo, MX (148)
Pushed this one past a bunch of older sets; it really has held up quite nicely, if not quite as nicely as the night before. That killer bluesy stomp in Simple -> PUNCH. THAT. SHIT. exploder of a Scents (and a segue into the Scents intro, no less!) remains a block of improv not common to the modern Phish arsenal, and SYSF holds up its end of the bargain as the opener to the set. And yes, that Scents remains damn good stuff, sir.
148.
12-28-2012 II, MSG, New York, NY (109)
Gotta say, it's around here where my decision to shorten venue names is really paying off for me. It's gotta be one motherfucker of a set from the first four years to keep swimming in the waters of the top 150 (roughly the top 11-12% of all sets of the era, based on very rudimentary calculating), and this one easily qualifies. Yes, that's right, this Bowie's pretty good too, so long as you're not expecting the 6/18/94 or 2/28/03 Bowie.^
^ the problem, of course, is that everyone seems to expect the 2/28/03 Bowie when they play it
147.
11-03-2018 II, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV (107)
Another quite good Scents here, even if it's not on the chart; Scents may not be the monster jam vehicle it was in 2.0, but it can give us a hell of a sidecar jam (your 8/12/15's here, your 7/15/17's there), and even something like 10/23/21's adds color to a set. I was supposed to attend this show but missed it due to family obligations; the community here banded together and bought my ticket from me to gift to someone else. Says a lot about this community, let me tell you.
146.
07-20-2014 II, Northerly Island, Chicago, IL (106)
We're in the midst of the longest stretch of sets without a new addition (I think there are around 15 more to go), which is mostly just luck of the draw than anything else, but might also be a clue into how I view some of the sets from the last two years I haven't mentioned yet. This one had a much stronger reputation when it was played (the second of the three-Sundays stretch that included 7/13 and 7/27) but is still a quite good listen today. I STILL think it's Ghost -> Paug -> Ghost, for the record – they just play the damn song! It's not a tease, Fish quite literally switches his beat to what he plays in Ghost before going back to the Paug beat!
145.
12-30-2015 II, MSG, New York, NY (105)
The Gin here was nicknamed the "MSGin" for a little while, which might tell you a little about how much less it was a true jam vehicle at that point in the modern era than any of the other two eras. Honestly, though, at this point I don't think they've played a finer one at MSG since. That segue into WTU? out of Paug still gives me the chills.
144.
09-01-2012 II, Dick's, Commerce City, CO (104)
Still hangs together enough as a strong full set that I didn't drop it like other "one big jam" sets. Dick’s 2012 is, I think, the one run from the first four years that everyone can agree is at least good, right?
143.
06-30-2019 II, BB&T Pavilion, Camden, NJ (103)
Big Black Furry Creature From Mars really should show up as the landing pad to a massive jam more often, if you ask me; listen to the crowd roar as this one starts up. For the record, my mental image of the big black furry creature from Mars is the Langoliers from Steven King's The Langoliers.
142.
07-23-2017 II, MSG, New York, NY (102)
Boogie On going somewhere would not only have pushed this set into the 70s or so, but also might well have changed the entire complexion of the Baker's Dozen; if you recall, the shows were not selling particularly quickly and Jam Night was not played to a packed house, and from thereon out tickets became scarce right quick. Imagine if they'd sold faster based on a particularly strong 7/23? I'm not saying 7/23 isn't a great show, but it's not quite 7/25, y'know?
141.
07-30-2014 II, nTelos Pavilion, Portsmouth, VA (101)
Gun to my head, this is probably my pick for the most underrated set of the era; I like 7/16/13 II more, but this one has better jamming in it. The Meatstick here is well worth the listen, and I say this about as often as Barry Bonds would swing at a fastball outside the zone.
140.
10-21-2016 II, Encore Park, Alpharetta, GA (140)
Pushed this one up relative to its previous spot on the list because the Disease really does have a brio to it that not even other great Diseases has. Heck, even the Marimba Lumina segment is pretty darn good. Winterqueen, I think, is finally edging towards "bustout" status after a couple years as a firmly entrenched part of the songbook, which is kind of a bummer because Winterqueen has a sort of psychedelia whimsy to it that only Mercury really comes close to in this era. I might not have said that in 2015, but such is life.
139.
10-30-2010 II, Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ (100)
An underrated example of the band knowing their audience to an absolute T. Set 1 just missed making its way on here, for the record. One can only imagine how many renditions of those tracks the fellas have bashed out in practice rooms and rehearsal halls over the year, I imagine it was quite the thrill busting them out in front of a rabid crowd (and that comes through on tape, too).
138.
08-09-2015 II, Alpine Valley, East Troy, WI (99)
I'm not going to go back and do this for every older set, but the first time this set appeared on one of these lists (seven and a half years ago, Christ), it was 55th. That should tell you a lot about this set's quality, given what the band has done in those seven and a half years.
137.
10-26-2013 II, DCU Center, Worcester, MA (98)
I have given respect to the weirdo Fish-driven Light in this set many times, so let me also say that the preceding Drowned has also got some real energy and balls behind it and is up there with some of the best of Fall 2013 (and there is a lot of "best of Fall 2013"). A very fine example of the 1-2 punch setlist construction, with two big jams and then very nice song selection the rest of the way, which still happens every so often.
136.
12-28-2016 II, MSG, New York, NY (97)
I waffled for a little while as to whether I prefer this exceptional Golden Age to the 10/28/16 behemoth, and while I ultimately went with 10/28's, I think this one is better than people give it credit for. A pretty good Wolfman's here, as well, if not quite as strong as something like 4/15/23's, and the Martian Monster/Tweeprise mashup is still as fun as ever^. NYE 2016 has sort of been memory-holed (even 12/30) because 12/29 isn't particularly beloved and most folks dislike the NYE gag, but the best of the run is enjoyable stuff.
^ I’ve listened to enough of Trey singing to know when he’s smiling or holding back a laugh when he’s singing, and you can DEFINITELY tell he’s got a mile-wide grin on his face when he sings “your trip is short” during the Tweeprise jam
135.
06-04-2011 II, Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH (96)
I have talked many, many times about how Fall 2010 is the closest the band has come to 1993 since 1993, but this show isn't too far behind as far as this goes. I think that that's something worth discussing - there's nothing intrinsically bad about a shorter jam, as there is no shortage of those in May or August 1993, but the perception that a shorter jam is automatically less worth your time remains and probably will remain so long as the band is a going concern. I generally prefer longer jams, but I think preferring longer jams and giving longer jams less weight are two different things. Like so many other things related to Phish, maybe that’s just me.
134.
10-26-2018 II, Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL (94)
This Tweezer is still the damn business. Fall 2018 really was a purple patch for the band, man.
133.
07-31-2009 II, Red Rocks, Morrison, CO (93)
See #237. Going back and listening to the Drowned again, you can tell that the band is setting up to go into C&P for about 30 seconds before the segue actually appears, but that doesn't make its now-you-see-me-now-you-don't nature any less impressive and cool.
132.
12-31-2010 II, MSG, New York, NY (92)
Ah, the days when this was only the fifth show played in MSG since 2009 and not, like, the three hundred and twelfth. A thing I'd forgotten is that the crowd goes utterly *batshit* when they swerve into Manteca, one presumes because it hadn't been played (as opposed to teased) since 1998 and hasn't really shown up much since. It's a nice reminder of how wide-ranging their jazz knowledge really is.
131.
10-10-2023 II, Ervin J. Nutter Center, Dayton, OH (NR)
Another fabulous set from Fall 2023, anchored by a gigantic Mike's Song, It's Ice mid-second set (always appreciated!), and a ferociously evil jam in (sigh) Pillow Jets that you definitely do not want to feed after midnight or get wet. I had this one in the 160s at my first pass at this, and repeated listens got me to push it up higher. Once again – if there are a million Fall 2023 fans, I am one of those million; if there are ten Fall 2023 fans, I am one of those ten; if there is one Fall 2023 fan, it is me; if there are zero Fall 2023 fans, then I am dead.
130.
04-20-2024 II, The Sphere, Las Vegas, NV (NR)
Another Sphere set, this one anchored by its massive and wide-ranging half-hour Fuego, although the CDT is also quite strong and there's a coolness factor with the first Hydrogen sans Mike's Groove in over 35 years. I would like to say that I prefer the CDT to the Fuego in this set just for the sake of contrarianism, but I can't, this Fuego really is the bee's knees. If I do have one regret about hanging up the ol' virtual pen, it'll be seeing how the Sphere run stacks up to the best of Summer 2026 or whatever; don't worry, I'll be doing that in my head anyway, as part of my ongoing process of determining what I love about this band (and not, as some folks think, just so I can make what is subjective objective like some kinda weirdo).
129.
07-27-2013 II, The Gorge, George, WA (91)
I think 8/31/12's is probably still the GOAT Undermind and will likely hold that title until the band hangs it up, but this version is close. Speaking of jam lengths, a fun thing worth noting: the lengthiest jam in this show is about 13 and a half minutes, and the lengthiest jam of the entire tour up to that point (outside YEM or the 7/21 Harpua, which of course has no jam other than "jam your fingers in your ears when the Second City guy starts rapping") was the 7/12 Rock & Roll, clocking in at just around 19 minutes. That, along with the rest of the era in general up to that point, should put the 7/31/13 II Tweezer into proper context.
128.
12-28-2023 II, MSG, New York, NY (NR)
Maybe forgotten a bit in the rest of the NYE run (some of which is still yet to come), but this set also delivers the goods with a massive wide-ranging AWOH (another song where the chart is being overrun by the number of jammed versions), a big old funky Mike's, and a Simple that traverses through both gently ambient and fiercely powerful waters in the manner of the best of the year. Bonus points for doing the 7/30/13 trick of Mike's in Set II and Paug in the encore, double bonus points because this Mike's is that much better than 7/30/13's.
127.
10-08-2023 II, Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN (NR)
The second of the two shows from Fall 2023's Nashville run, and a prototypical one for Fall 2023 - great jams (especially the Golden Age), out-of-nowhere songs with long gaps (Cinnamon Girl here), and a real weirdo streak, again with the Golden Age and how it ends before sliding into The Well. If you want to look for a direction Phish is hopefully going in through 2024, listen to this Golden Age and think about how it relates to, say, Mexico '24's killer jams. Fingers crossed!
126.
08-05-2011 II, The Gorge, George, WA (89)
I will never, ever lose my ardor for this utterly magical Rock & Roll, it has a real dark and gruesome energy that skirts the edge of what they did in 2.0 without, y'know, skirting the edges of other things they did in 2.0. It's so good that I even enjoy the Meatstick that comes afterwards; yes, the Meatstick itself is also pretty darn good, but c'mon, it's f***ing Meatstick!
125.
07-03-2011 II, Superball, Watkins Glen, NY (87)
I thought about including another Superball set on this list (probably 7/2 III), but decided against it in the end. @MiguelSanchez attended all 3 nights and provided day-after reviews, and those make for pretty good reading as far as the shows are concerned. Pretty wild that the same spot four years later gave us such a different experience.
124.
04-22-2023 II, Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA (NR)
People were really into this show when it was played, mainly because of the sharp playing in Set I and because this set is a straight up dance party from start to finish (give or take ALBTD), with the Also Sprach Zarathustra > Sally > BOTT sequence in particular full of ass-shaking joy and the CDT lots of fun if not particularly deep. I prefer the next night's second set, but that doesn't mean this one isn't well worth your while. Even now I'm thinking about my experience at the show, which was really great, outrageous concessions prices notwithstanding.
123.
08-11-2021 II, Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, PA (86)
Starting to recede a little bit faster in the public consciousness than other Summer 2021 sets, but still a damn fine piece of business. That Ruby Waves is very much the good stuff. I'd totally forgotten about the You Sexy Thing tease in CDT, those irrepressible scamps.
122.
10-26-2021 II, Santa Barbara Bowl, Santa Barbara, CA (186)
Gave it one heck of a bump from last time and am still not 100% sure it shouldn't be bumped up a little more than that. That BASOS really is a tremendously good psychedelic jam in the footsteps of 7/9/19's, and the Piper jam in Paug is inspired. The band simply could not lose in this month.
121.
04-21-2022 II, MSG, New York, NY (85)
The Zero -> Tweezer -> Zero sandwich is some darn cool stuff. I think the April 2022 run still holds up, serving as the proper epilogue to the majesty of 2021. 4/20 I just missed out on the list, I would note.
120.
02-24-2024 I, Moon Palace, Cancun, Quintana Roo, MX (NR)
The first representative of the outstanding Mexico 2024 run, capped off with a breathtaking Gin up there with the finest of this or any other era, and the show-opening Simple is also a blast. I gave the second set some consideration for this list, as well, and (the perfectly good 2/20 aside) it's hard to not be blown away by how strong these shows are from top to bottom. Not too shabby for their first run in Mexico, eh? [touching finger to earpiece] Sorry, what’s that?
119.
06-27-2010 I, Merriweather Post Pavilion (84)
Just too much goddamn fun, even nearly 14 (fourteen!!! Two and a half Presidential terms!) years on. Anybody else get WOTC vibes from this Piper in how many times Trey just keeps pushing the pedal to the metal?
118.
10-29-2021 I, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV (90)
Moved it up a bit relative to the last list, it's still one hell of a good time. When you get a first jam this good in Mike's Song, not going into a second jam can be forgiven. We need more Paugs like this one, if you ask me, especially if Mike's is finally returning full-time to the jam vehicle column (as it keeps teasing that it might).
117.
07-24-2022 II, Xfinity Theatre, Hartford, CT (NR)
This is about the range where the best of Summer 2022 starts piling up, because the best of that year really is quite good, and yet there's nothing I'd say matches up with the big boys of the best years, a rule of thumb when also stacking up tours against each other. That said, this is a darn fine set and the AWOH in particular is a real gruesome monster and the deserved runner-up for JOTY '22. Anybody else think the ASIHTOS here occasionally sounds like Genesis banger That's All?
116.
10-31-2021 II, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV (83)
The status of Sci-Fi Soldier in the current Phish songbook, as it stands: The Howling, Don’t Doubt Me, Clear Your Mind and Egg In A Hole the only songs to have been played more than 2 times, 3 of the songs never played since Halloween night. What a huge surprise!^
^ (obviously not a surprise)
115.
11-01-2014 II, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV (82)
The Dogs barreling out of Light remains a potent musical moment of the era; I would bet that, deep down, this is still Trey's favorite Halloween original costume. Really either this or KV.
114.
12-30-2018 I, MSG, New York, NY (95)
Another one moved up relative to where it was last time; you want to talk about a truly fun set, look no further. I am one of those folks that thinks 12/29 is superior to 12/30 because I like 12/29 II that much more, but I fully acknowledge I am in the minority on that one. 12/30 is such an outrageously good show.
113.
07-28-2023 I, MSG, New York, NY (NR)
One of the strongest sets from the strongest show of Summer 2023, with a great AWOH > Cities 1-2 punch. As with the tour itself, the MSG run got off to a very quick start, sagged in the middle, and then ended strong. We will see the second set relatively soon.
112.
08-04-2023 II, MSG, New York, NY (NR)
As noted in my Summer 2023 recap, the MSG run was heading towards indeterminate status before this and the next night's show steered it to "entirely a success"; I still consider the run a success (if not as good as, say, either 2024 run so far) and this show still greatly holds up. I have listened to this tremendous Mike's enough times now that I think there wasn't really a f***up and Trey had The Fabled Second Jam on his mind, and what a second jam we got, indeed. Man, does this C&P leave flaming tire tracks across the stage, too; it's practically screaming "I could not possibly f*** at this juncture" as it powerwalks into the zoo.
111.
06-03-2011 II, DTE Energy Music Theater, Clarkston, MI (80)
A fun thing to do: when Page plays the Acknowledgement tease, sing "Disease Supreme" to the tune of "A Love Supreme" in the selfsame Acknowledgement. Give it a try yourself, see how it feels.
110.
06-04-2022 II, Deer Creek, Noblesville, IN (NR)
The second of three representatives of Spring 2022, a tour that isn't so much debated with the Lincoln-Douglas fervor of Summer 2022 as it is ignored outside of the 6/5 Sand. This is a darn good set, though, with a nice internal logic, the jamming debut of AWOH, and YEM carrying forward the YEM Second Jam established at Rock Lilitz to give us the first of four top-notch YEMs from this year. A shame YEM has receded from those heights after Summer 2022 ended; you truly can see that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.
109.
08-03-2018 II, Encore Park, Alpharetta, GA (79)
This set still absolutely honks, make no mistake. Again, as with Alpharetta 2018 versus Alpharetta 2021 in general, I don't think this Tweezer gets quite the respect it deserves in comparison to 7/15/23's version. I think 7/15/23's version is better, I'm just saying.
108.
06-07-2012 II, DCU Center, Worcester, MA (78)
Why DID they play this venue in the summertime, anyway? There's gotta be a decent outdoor shed within 50 miles of Worcester, you'd think. I might have talked a set from that very venue and not even thought about it, this thing is approaching 900,000 words as it is.
107.
09-03-2022 II, Dick's, Commerce City, CO (NR)
So much to like here - cool jammed-out Moma, exceptional KDF, the return of Thunderhead. Dick's 2022 and 2023 have both had issues with rain that have necessitated longboi single-set shows, here's hoping that 2024 doesn't have the same issue. I will say that it’s honestly kinda surprising it took a decade for rain to be an issue.
106.
10-27-2013 II, XL Center, Hartford, CT (76)
It really is quite funny how much this Golden Age and the 10/20/13 Golden Age are yin and yang. 10/20's is one of the finest jams of the year, so that'd be my pick of the two, but 10/27's is a real fun time.
105.
06-23-2012 II, First Niagara Pavilion, Burgettstown, PA (68)
Moved it down some more; like I said, it's just hard for a set from the early days to hold its spot when you consider where the band is now. I'm still ride or die as far as this set being a classic, though.
104.
05-27-2022 II, The Wharf Amphitheater, Orange Beach, AL (NR)
My favorite set from Spring 2022, and I think the highest-ranked tour opener here. The stretch from Soul Planet through CDT is one of the highlights of the year, and Quadrophonic Toppling is an exceptionally wild surprise. I had a small smile at Trey quoting Hamilton in the soundcheck, because you could've given me 10,000 to one odds Trey was NOT a fan of Hamilton and I wouldn't have taken them.
103.
10-19-2016 II, Ascend Amphitheater, Nashville, TN (88)
Another set that rose relative to the last list. You want to talk about setlist flow, here's a set with some damn good setlist flow.
102.
12-30-2012 II, MSG, New York, NY (75)
Honestly can't believe this set isn't in my top 100; it's been there since the first time I did this bullshit back in October 2014^. George Burns was right, show business the passage of time really is a hideous bitch goddess.
^ note: it's not in the first post; I forgot about it and slotted it in at #20 later
101.
08-01-2017 II, MSG, New York, NY
Steep > 46 Days > Piper is still some real high-grade jamming concentrate. Tack on the 7/28 CDT instead of a perfectly good Golden Age, and this might be the best set of the entire Dozen.
100.
07-16-2022 II, Maine Savings Amphitheater, Bangor, ME (NR)
Sigma Oasis > a powerful and nasty Disease make for a potent set-opening duo, and the rest of the set is a good old time. What's The Use? as jam landing pad always works for me.
99.
08-28-2012 II, Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis, MO (73)
One of two notable instances of Frankie Says showing up in the second set. The second is yet to come. It's in a set that's already been listed, I don't know why I tried to play that up as a big spoiler. Maybe just because we've entered the final 100 sets at last. Can you tell I might be getting a bit loopy putting this together?
98.
11-02-2018 II, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV (72)
Kind of like Vegas 2018 in miniature, in which nothing absolutely stands out or blows you away, but the jams are all quite listenable and the flow is tremendous, so the overall experience is a cut above something that might have one great jam and nothing else out of the ordinary. That's why a lot of such sets are where they are, and this set is where it is.
97.
10-11-2023 II, Nutter Center, Dayton, OH (NR)
"Wait, doesn't this set have just one big jam in it?", I can hear you asking. Well, while it does have an utterly massive jam in the Harvey Dent style rockout-into-weirdness Ruby Waves, the set-opening Disease is also very good, the rest of the set is well chosen, and I'm always going to give a little extra for a crazed Walrus at the end. Always nice to have Lifeboy show up, as well.
96.
01-03-2015 II, AAA, Miami, FL (57)
Dropped it even more from last time but can't knock it out of the top 100 because this Disease is still strong enough to justify its mythos. Give it a listen if you haven’t done so recently. It’s such a wonderful piece of music.
95.
07-22-2018 II, The Gorge, George, WA (71)
This Xeyed really is the damn business; it wouldn't feel out of place in the Mexico '24 run, I'll say that. I keep hoping Twist will have a tour on the level of its Summer 2015, and while it hasn't happened yet, there have certainly been some wonderful versions in the nine (!) years since.
94.
08-02-2022 II, Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH (NR)
One of the major highlights of Summer 2022, anchored by a big-time Free that, if nothing else, should remind people that Free has never *really* been a big-time jam vehicle and only might have seemed that way because it went so long without ANY jam in the modern era. Kudos to @Pinhead_Larry for his description of this Melt as "My Bloody Valentine-esque"; it really fits the jam to a tee. Truly devastating Scents, on top; it’s never really been a set-making song (not even particularly in 2.0), but damned if it hasn’t dragged a ton of sets to the promised land.
93.
10-28-2021 II, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV (70)
I moved up a good number of Fall 2021 sets in this iteration of the list, but this one I decided to keep where it is. It's damned good, obviously, but does shrink a tiny bit in comparison to, say, the set played directly before it. That If 6 Was 9, though, is just as good as it was the night it was played, almost like Bullet Bill in terms of its implacable momentum.
92.
08-21-2015 II, Magnaball, Watkins Glen, NY (69)
It's not quite the 8/15/12 Rock & Roll, but this Rock & Roll drops into a neat little funk space that should not be ignored. Magnaball's sets, at this point, serve as something of gatekeepers in terms of this set, as in "this set really did something right to be considered over a set from Magnaball". That's about as high a compliment as I can give them, that they're now the greyhounds every set played in the nine years since must chase.
91.
07-16-2023 II, Ameris Bank Amphitheatre, Alpharetta, GA (NR)
The first representative of the utterly mightly Alpharetta '23 run, headlined by a Carini of indefatigable energy and a nice Sand > Reba 1-2 punch in the fourth quarter. That there are two second sets from this run coming up better than this one speaks a lot to this run's quality, and all three first sets also have some real treats. Wonder what it is that brings it out of them in Alpharetta; maybe Trey just really loves....um, hmm, let's see here.......the Simeon and Jane Rucker Log House?
90.
07-24-2015 II, Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA (67)
Shoreline had become such a settled Phish venue for a little while there, stretching over all three eras, that it's kind of surprising that they went 6 years between shows in '09 and this one, and then 6 more years between this one and 2021's, and of course 2021's were not originally scheduled for Shoreline. A show that serves as a good reminder to me to always try and pump the brakes a bit when they play a heater at the start of the tour, because if it's this good a show, there's a decent chance there will be multiple shows that tour that leave it in the shade (as there are with this tour, of course). I don't always heed that reminder, but I do acknowledge it!
89.
08-02-2017 II, MSG, New York, NY (66)
After many years of Mike's Groove languishing in semi-obscurity in this era (not that there haven't been fun versions, it's just that there are fun versions and then there's 12/1/95's or 7/17/98's or the one that got you into Phish or whatever), it's finally made something of a belated comeback since 8/4/15's surprise version. If you take in the meat of the set for considering finest Groove, I think it’s 10/23/18’s title to lose, but this one’s not too far behind. If you’re talking just straight up Mike’s and Paug, that’s 8/4/15’s, easily.
88.
07-15-2017 II, Northerly Island, Chicago, IL (65)
2021, I think, is the finest year of Simple in at least the modern era (and I would say it's better or at least equal to 1996), but 2017 had to plant the flag as far as Simple returning to premiere jam vehicle status. Another magnificent Scents here, as well, as part of the killer Light -> Scents -> Cities segment. The primary reason the first five shows before the Dozen won't be forgotten, although there are certainly fabulous jams in the other shows.
87.
12-31-2013 II, MSG, New York, NY (64)
My five favorite NYE gags of the modern era: 1) 12/31/23 (The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday); 2) 12/13/13 (JEMP Truck Set); 3) 12/31/22 (time machine); 4) 12/31/17 (pirate ship; it really was cool to look at, I must say); 5) 12/31/09 (cannonball/"Sarah from Pittsburgh"). Least favorite: 12/31/21 (by default). Underrated fun one: 12/31/18 (outer space - or, if you're Adam Driver, outer.............SPACE).
86.
08-05-2022 II, Atlantic City Beach, Atlantic City, NJ (NR)
See #269. I didn't give this a ton of run in my Summer 2022 recap, and the more I listened to it, the more I kept bumping it up, to the point where I bumped up other newer sets I think are better than this one just by dint of this one’s moving so far up. I can't say that for a lot of Summer 2022, to be honest. Trey slathers some Gulden’s on that return to DWD, it needs to be said.
85.
07-30-2017 II, MSG, New York, NY (63)
Yes, I agree with the jam chart entry for the ASIHTOS, that one bit sounds like the end of King Crimson's Moonchild. I still smile thinking about the band overlaughing at Page's dad jokes like they're on the set of The Tonight Show in 1976.
84.
02-25-2022 II, Moon Palace, Cancun, Quintana Roo, MX (110)
Bumped it way up from last time around, it's my last go-round with this list and I see no reason in arbitrarily docking a set this good points just because it came from a Mexico show and not, like, Dick's. ASIHTOS is the real standout here, but I also particularly enjoy the Disease, one of the stronger ones from after the pandemic. Good spot for Number Line, too, really IMO the best place for it (opening jam landing pad) other than at the end of a set.
83.
08-07-2009 II, The Gorge, George, WA (62)
Still one of the heartiest moments of Summer 2009, a set in which it became apparent the band had no interest in being a nostalgia act (which still gets thrown around with them every once in a while by people apparently not really sure what "nostalgia act" means) and wanted to remain an ongoing creative concern. There aren't a ton of them in Summer 2009, but when it happened, it was magical. Something like 7/31/09 II also speaks to that. The band is a lot more musically strong these days, but they don't have the same *joy* as they do in 2009; that's obviously for the best, given that the joy came from a five-year layoff and Trey almost killing himself via his awful addictions, but y'know.
82.
10-29-2016 II, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV (61)
A hidden strong set from the Vegas runs, and I'm not just saying that because I was there (I have 10/28 II and 10/30 II, neither of which I attended, higher), with a strong run from Mercury through Horsilent. I have noticed that quite good Pipers tend to follow me around; even 10/25/14, a show nobody would consider a particularly good one (least of all me) has a noteworthy Piper in it. There are worse fates in life!
81.
10-31-2013 III, Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ (47)
I still consider this Carini the finest of the era so far, and Carini has hardly been any sort of slouch in the decade-plus since. Dropped it some more because it's starting to show its age a bit, but still very much a proud representative of Fall 2013, the tour where everything changed.
80.
08-25-2023 II, SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY (NR)
Night 1 of the two-night SPAC 23 flood relief benefit, and the stronger one in terms of pure improv, highlighted by a pretty darn good AWOH, superb multi-part Simple (with one of the great "stop on a dime and PIVOT" moments in jam history), and a CDT with more tension than the Bullitt chase scene. How many people can truly say they clocked Fishman doing the munchkin thing with his hair during this set?
79.
08-27-2021 II (118)
Moved it up even higher for this iteration of the list; I don't think it'd go much higher than this if I ever did this again, but it's truly a set extremely uncommon to the modern era. When I talk about the capital V-Vibe that inhabits this set, the CDT is what most readily leaps to mind, but just about everything else is in that low-gear chilled-out space. Page's synths are all over this set, who doesn't like that?
78.
08-31-2018 II, Dick's, Commerce City, CO (54)
The Light in this set will absolutely suck the breath out of your lungs. I have said this before, but while I don't know that folks would've loved Curveball the way they do Magnaball if this had been its finest show, I do think people would've been satisfied if that'd been the case, so long as the other two shows were good as well. It's a bummer to think about, but enough time has passed where it’s not that much of a bummer, I think.
77.
02-24-2023 II, Moon Palace, Cancun, Quintana Roo, MX (NR)
Mexico 2023 is a bit of a hiccup in between the very strong 2022 and very, VERY strong 2024 runs, but they still played some darn fine music in that run, and this is the strongest set by a good distance. Waves > Ruby Waves is highly enjoyable, but my favorite jam of the set remains that fierce and occasionally quite dark Gin. I keep saying it, but Gin has been quite the monster these last few years, even though it often shows up in the first set.
76.
07-23-2023 II, St. Joseph's Health Amphitheater at Lakeview, Syracuse, NY (NR)
Maybe a bit of a wild card selection this high up, but this Tweezer really is goddamn good, and the Oblivion might be the strongest one so far, and that's a heck of a lot to fade. Oblivion has gotten off to a tremendously good start, if not the fast start as something like Ruby Waves, but then Ruby Waves has one of the finest jam vehicle starts *ever* (really only behind, like, Ghost), so it's a high bar to leap.
75.
07-18-2017 II, Nutter Center, Dayton, OH (58)
A truly lovely Disease here. Like with Scents, while Ghost is no longer the set maker it was in its pomp, it can still serve as a great sidecar jam, as with this version here.
74.
07-15-2023 II, Ameris Bank Amphitheatre, Alpharetta, GA (NR)
Good goddamn is this Tweezer the shit. It is truly wild that something like the exceptional 8/31/23 version has been left off the Tweezer chart, such is the incredible heater Tweezer is on right now. For the record, while I’m thinking recent Tweezers, I still don’t think 12/30/23 II is all that particularly bad, let alone the worst thing since HBO Max became Max; the Fuego, for one, has a real slick groove and is well worth your time.
73.
12-29-2023 II, MSG, New York, NY (NR)
Hey, speaking of the NYE '23 run. This CDT had a whole two months to garner attention for itself before being usurped by another, Oblivion impresses yet again with another nifty jam, and we get another great old-school Hood for the ledger. This and 12/28 would’ve put NYE ’23 in the top half of modern era NYE runs if 12/31 had been just a bog-standard NYE show like 2012’s; of course, 12/31 was very much not that.
72.
10-23-2021 I, North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, Chula Vista, CA (56)
Kept this one where it is relative to its spot on the last list. Fear not, though, folks looking to yell "attendance bias" at me, I cannot say that about the other set of this show.
71.
04-19-2023 II, Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA (NR)
Anchored by what I consider the strongest BASOS since its debut, and the 21 minute Set Your Soul Free in the latter half is nothing to sneeze at, either. Needed just one more strong jam to really make an impact on this list, but as far as what makes Spring 2023 so fabulous goes, you can do worse than spinning this set.
70.
12-30-2017 II, MSG, New York, NY (37)
Continues to not do it the same way for me anymore. C'est la vie.
69.
07-19-2016 II, BGCA, San Francisco, CA (55)
See #75. I looked at the photo for this show on the setlist page, and I was reminded of the LED light wall Kuroda had built for this year - I of course remember it from the 2016 show I attended – and how it was gone by the very next year. That should tell you what a transitional year 2016 was, where even Kuroda was experimenting!
68.
04-23-2023 II, Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA (NR)
Noteworthy as the show in which I met @FunkyCFunkyDo in person for the first time, and also for 50+ minutes of sick as hell improv from Mr. Completely through Ruby Waves, and that No Quarter is nothing to sneeze at, either. Spring 2023 is going to age truly immaculately, I think.
67.
07-28-2023 II, MSG, New York, NY (NR)
Never judge a book by its cover, and never judge a jam by its length. None of the jams in this second set crack the seventeen minute length, but all of them are uniformly wonderful, the segue into Plasma is top-notch, and Melt gets evil and *alien* in diving to depths not even 2.0 Phish would have dreamed to traverse.^ Mountains in the Mist is always a nice ballad spot choice, if you ask me.
^ well, maybe at IT
66.
08-31-2012 I, Dick's, Commerce City, CO (54)
Well, time makes you bolder / Even children get older / And this set's getting older, too. It still kicks ass, though, in case that needed to be said.
65.
10-20-2021 II, Matthew Knight Arena, Eugene, OR (77)
Another set I've moved up from Fall 2021; really, I don't think anyone's going to have too much of a problem with how many Fall 2021 sets I’ve bumped up. The last groove in Ruby Waves really must be heard to be believed. Listening to the Milestones tease in Golden Age again (11:55 to roughly 12:20, for those wondering), I find myself asking: hey, Phish, when the hell are you gonna start playing jazz standards again??? You just showed us that you can still do it!
64.
10-28-2016 II, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV (52)
If I had to guess, I would say this Golden Age is still the community's pick to click as far as Golden Age goes. I would take 10/19/18's, but it’s one heck of a contest. The Light still kicks ass, too, it's why I didn't move this down any further.
63.
10-31-2014 II, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV (51)
I think a lot of folks would say that this set has great historical importance; I happen to think it has both great historical importance and musical worth, especially in how earworm-y something like even The Unsafe Bridge (not played since) is, let alone the stalwarts like Martian Monster and The Dogs. Still not very cool of the band to tease Your Pet Cat as a jam vehicle and then shelve it for all of 2023-24 like that!
62.
08-04-2015 II, Ascend Amphitheater, Nashville, TN (50)
See #89. God, that segue into Paug is the business. Golden Age at the start of the set is reasonably enjoyable as well, if not quite 10/28/16's version.
61.
08-31-2021 II, Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA (48)
A bit more "one big jam" than I'd like this high up, but the jammed out Final Hurrah and segue into it IS neat, plus Tela sharing a set with two of the longest jams of the era is a lot of fun, so I'll let it ride. If memory serves, both this and 9/1 were relatively underattended shows, which is a bummer due to the situation leading to that, but at least we've got the music, y'know?
60.
08-07-2015 II, Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH (49)
I STILL think you can hear Psycho Killer teases in this Ghost (around the 8:55 mark), maybe not to the point where I want to stump for it, but enough that every time I hear this Ghost I go "I mean, I really do hear it...". Ah, well, I'm fine being on an island with that.
59.
08-01-2021 II, Ameris Bank Amphitheatre, Alpharetta, GA (53)
Bumped this one up a bit as well; the Twist is particularly good and doubly so after that astounding Tweezer. I noted it elsewhere and should note it here in a post more people will read: I would take the 9/1/21 Tweezer over the 8/1/21 Tweezer because the 9/1 Tweezer is weirder and the 8/1 Tweezer is more a good-time-Charlie party jam, but it should be remembered that the 8/1/21 Tweezer is maybe the greatest good-time-Charlie party jam they have ever played, so y'know, it's not like it's not close or anything.
58.
10-17-2021 II, Chase Center, San Francisco, CA (60)
Just a massive, wonderful set. Nothing else need be said.
57.
11-28-2009 II, Times Union Center, Albany, NY (46)
Really astounding even now and doubly so in the context of its own tour; the show href=https://phish.net/setlists/phish-november-27-2009-times-union-center-albany-ny-usa.html] the night before[/url] has the debut of Golden Age and not much else, and the night after has an acapella Free Bird for the first time since 1998 and a second set Crimes of the Mind and not much else. All these shows of the band still trying to find their footing in the reunion year, and then a setlist (and jams!) more akin to Fall 2013.
56.
10-31-2018 II, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV (45)
And now, a look at KV Through The Years: SANTOS obviously a mainstay, two of them (Stray Dog and, sigh, Play By Play) unseen since 2019, a few unseen since 2022 (including Death Don't Hurt Very Long, a songbook staple for a few years), and the rest played in 2023 (some after 100 show gaps!). Speaking of potential jam vehicles, here’s hoping The Final Hurrah finally gets that breakout year in 2024.
55.
09-02-2023 II, Dick's, Commerce City, CO (NR)
The standout set from the superb Dick's '23 run, with a neato jammed-out Bag and a 46 Days > Howling > Piper sequence with, as I said in my tour recap, a butt that just won't quit. Go through the reviews on the setlist page and see how many folks are going "don't judge the jam by its length", and I'd have to add my chorus to that list (see #67). The extended encore is a lot of fun as well, even without a jam.
54.
12-31-2023 II, MSG, New York, NY (NR)
AKA Part One of Phish Presents: The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday Live From New York (and not from Broadway, as Madison Square Garden is not located in the Theater District, for you Philistines out there). I have Set III higher because it's got more bang for your buck, but as far as jams go The March of the Multibeast (tm @johnnyd) in Bag is the main draw from either set, and I really would enjoy it if Divided Sky closed more sets from hereon out. One last thing about this: people like to sneer about “puppet shows” and “Broadway Trey” when they talk about this show as though Phish isn’t and hasn’t always been a very geeky and showoffy band, like there are other, hidden bands named Phish I don’t know about.
53.
10-23-2018 II, Ascend Amphitheater, Nashville, TN (43)
See #89 again. Truly can't get enough of this Ghost, it's quite good and might be the top dog of the set.
52.
11-02-2014 II, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV (42)
See #204. The CDT here is pretty good, for the record. Not going to say my usual spiel about The Line, I do kinda miss it. Maybe I’m the only person that does.
51.
11-01-2013 II, Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ (32)
Dropped a little bit because it's a bit busy compared to the elite sets, but still a real bucketful of fun. Really curious how Theme From Shaft got stuck in Trey's head over these shows.
50.
08-22-2015 III, Magnaball, Watkins Glen, NY (44)
A truly majestic Light here, from Light's true prime (2012-16). We're probably due for another Mind Left Body jam at this point, don't you think?
49.
10-29-2013 II, The Santander Arena, Reading, PA (40)
This and 7/14/13's YEMs are two of the three strongest of the era to me (along with 11/2/14's) until 2022 rolled around; it's not big and bold like the great YEMs of yore, instead more intricate and slinky like something out of the late 90s. I will say this about this Disease, which I know many love more than I do: that lick Trey plays gets stuck in my damn head all the time.
48.
12-30-2022 II, MSG, New York, NY (NR)
They saved the best of 2022 for last. I Always Wanted It This Way has been very inconsistent as a jam vehicle, but when they lock into a real good jam in one, look out.
47.
09-02-2012 II, Dick's, Commerce City, CO (33)
Starting to show its age a little bit. I stand by my review otherwise. I was more or less right about the stakes being raised after Dick's 2012, too.
46.
10-29-2021 II, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV (39)
One of my four favorite Rebas of the era, along with 10/19/10's (sick ass jam), 12/31/13's (a beautiful moment), and 7/31/15's (the closest in the modern era to a 90s version). They've treated the old gal with real respect in this era, it should be said.
45.
08-05-2023 II, MSG, New York, NY (NR)
A massive candy-coated extravaganza to end the MSG '23 run, with wild segues, neat jams, and a gargantuan Tweezer -> Guy Forget -> Tweezer sandwich that easily competes with some of the best jams of this entire era. Manteca came really close to popping out of Everything's Right, and I'd have this one in the top 25 or so if it had. Another great landing pad usage of WTU?, as well (see #100).
44.
07-25-2017 II, MSG, New York, NY (38)
I am very easily amused by myself, and I gave myself quite the chuckle when some fella in the setlist thread for 7/25/17 bemoaned Fuego as the opening song of this set (even more so when the Fuego turned out to be killer), letting me reference the only part of The Waterboy I like. I say "fella" and don't know for sure, just playing the percentages on that one.
43.
10-16-2021 II, Chase Center, San Francisco, CA (41)
Another one I pushed up relative to its place on the last set. It’s pretty difficult to say which of the three jams here is the finest of the set. Always a good problem to have.
42.
08-26-2023 II, SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY (NR)
AKA the Derek Trucks set. The Disease -> Ghost is relatively pleasant as well; one does wish Trucks had been onstage for them, but it's not like they *hurt* matters or anything. Probably the only version of A Life Beyond The Dream I have and will ever listen to twice.
41.
02-22-2024 II, Moon Palace, Cancun, Quintana Roo, MX (NR)
Another representative from Mexico 2024, and one of the sets with a big-time jammer in the monster AWOH. ASIHTOS is also superb and the Tube -> Jim -> Tube sandwich is a lot of fun, which is a lot for any set to go up against. I think I'm probably alone in preferring the next night's second set to this one, but I stand by it. No losers here either way.
40.
10-28-2014 II, BGCA, San Francisco, CA (36)
The previous list, written in May 2022, only listed four true Big Willies for Kill Devil Falls; 2022 would become inarguably KDF's strongest year, and the 7/23/23 version now makes five Big Willie KDFs. The power I wield.........we should all thank our lucky stars that I only use it for good..................
39.
12-31-2023 III, MSG, New York, NY (NR)
The second set of Phish Presents: The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday, along with some fabulous versions of Phish mainstays like YEM and Loving Cup, obviously benefitting from the energy of the band having gotten through the Gamehendge saga with no muss and very little fuss^. As with Divided Sky closing a set (see #54), I would have zero problem with McGrupp opening more sets. Maybe next time they play it, and a dog puppet wanders out on stage, Mike will give it more than one cursory pet.
^ if memory serves, some dipshit grabbed the Mockingbird and forced it down, which I think f***ed up the ending of the saga…imagine getting through nearly all of it and THAT happening
38.
09-04-2011 II, Dick's, Commerce City, CO (34)
As I get further and further towards the end of this list, I can't help but feel bursts of nostalgia for some of these older sets - where I was in my life when it was played, the forum reaction, and so on and so forth. That's one of the things I like the most about doing these lists and writing these recaps, freezing time, and going back and remembering what had been. It's also fun to do when the music is this good, and this set is still darn good. What a Piper this is, man.
37.
02-23-2024 II, Moon Palace, Cancun, Quintana Roo, MX (NR)
Before anyone asks: Blaze On is a nice enjoyable version even if it doesn't break new ground and BASOS is a welcome psychedelic workout even if it's a bit short, plus the set-closing Hood has some real sparkle to it, and that's why this doesn't constitute a "one big jam" set. That said, the one big jam is one *hell* of a jam, now my third favorite of the era (behind the Tahoe Tweezer and 8/6/21 Simple), the kind of jam something like 6/14/95 is revered for. As noted in #41, I know I'm in the minority in preferring this set, but that's totally fine, I'm good being on this jam's side.
36.
12-30-2018 II, MSG, New York, NY (35)
Pushed it up some more (relative to the last list) because it hasn’t really aged at all and because that Melt is still a thrilling piece of free improvisation.
12-28-2018 II…did not get consideration for this list, but the SYSF is worth a spin.
35.
07-14-2023 II, Ameris Bank Amphitheatre, Alpharetta, GA (NR)
Unrelenting creativity, dark nastiness in MFMF, and all within a 74-minute frame - that's 7/14/23 II, the king of Summer 2023 and the capper to the outstanding Alpharetta 2023 run. Not going to lie, I wouldn't have a problem seeing ...And Flew Away show up again sometime.
34.
10-26-2010 II, Verizon Wireless Arena, Manchester, NH (31)
While I am on record saying that I have zero problem with Lounge Llama (the band can experiment with 30+ year old songs as they please; it sounds a bit like Black-Eyed Katy, and there's nothing wrong with that), and it's even shown that you can get a good segue into it, you certainly can't get the sort of wild segue into it than the band pulls off on this night. A set that's impossible to dislike.
33.
07-28-2017 II, MSG, New York, NY (30)
It is only with Phish where you can write something like "the triumphant return of You Sexy Thing out of a pretty good Mercury jam" and it makes total sense.
32.
08-31-2012 II, Dick’s, Commerce City, CO (29)
My review of 12/2/99, written less than 2 months after this set was played and 8 years before the show saw archival release in the midst of the Pandemic Year, includes a wry joking reference to this set. I wonder if folks still get the joke now without prompting. I’d think so, I’m not THAT clever.
31.
12-30-2016 II, MSG, New York, NY (28)
There are a few 2016 sets I like than this one, but only a few. The Ghost is right up there with 12/31/10's, IMO, or at least close.
30.
10-13-2023 II, United Center, Chicago, IL (NR)
My pick to click from Fall 2023, and a set that just throws all sorts of cool Phish shit at you - hypnotic grooves in Sand, hyperdrive tempos in C&P, a very cool Harry Hood -> Talk -> Harry Hood sandwich, and "Tweezer" in Tweezer^, all thrown together in a pot and boiled up into a heady brew. Golgi is perhaps a bit superfluous, but everything else fits very neatly and the segue into Light is maybe the very best one they’ve played yet. I keep tell you, Fall 2023 is one hell of a goddamn tour!
^ as before, I leave you, the reader, to decide what I mean by that
29.
12-31-2015 III, MSG, New York, NY (27)
Yes, that’s right, yet another David Bowie that wasn’t performed like the band rubber-stamping a tax return with a reported income of $0. I of course have working ears and know that Bowie is not as strong as it was in either other era of the band, but not acknowledging they’ve played ANY good versions of Bowie in *sixteen years* seems like a real cut-off-nose-to-spite-face scenario to me.
28.
08-06-2017 II, MSG, New York, NY (26)
Underrated as a set with historical value - like, we all understand it's the final set of the Baker's Dozen, but don't quite grok the historical value of that - and still an enjoyable full-set listen, Rise/Come Together or not. Starman has not been seen since, and I kinda like that, they probably won't find a better time to play it ever again.
27.
10-30-2016 II, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV (25)
Still really holds up as a great full set. The longer time goes on, the more I am convinced that the band would have done another original musical costume on Halloween 2016 if David Bowie hadn't passed away. Boy, just think, maybe if Holger Czukay had held out for one more year, they might actually have played Can's Future Days instead of making up Kasvot Vaxt!^
^ (just having some fun)
26.
08-04-2017 II, MSG, New York, NY (22)
Reading over my review again, and now I'm wondering how the crowd would've reacted if they actually HAD played Everything In Its Right Place and then Alaska 12 times. Probably just a tick less upset than folks were about that Grand Prairie 2016 show, I'd guess.
25.
08-15-2015 II, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD (21)
Someone in one of the other lists used this set to show how post-pandemic Phish blows pre-pandemic Phish out of the water, and I'm sorry, but I just don't hear that. Yes, fine, either the 46 Days or Piper might have had ten more (exquisite) minutes of improv tacked onto them, but it's rare for ANY era to have a set with two song sandwiches or especially that deranged version of NO2. This set remains a true classic for me, and a highlight of the highlight-laden Summer 2015.
24.
09-04-2016 II, Dick's, Commerce City, CO (20)
As noted in my revised Guide to the Modern Era, I think Dick's 2016 and 2023 are neck and neck, but the reason I haven't put 2023's version over 2016's is this set, which still retains a great deal of power. This would've been a real good time to close a set out with The Lizards, but they don't really do stuff like that, so I get it.
23.
09-01-2017 II, Dick’s, Commerce City, CO (19)
It is still rare for them to play three jam vehicles all in a row like this. Usually, when they do, you’re in for a real good time.
22.
04-22-2022 II, MSG, New York, NY (24)
Kept it right where it was from last time; I prefer this Fuego even over the two ~30-minute killer versions, and the SYSF and Light ain’t too far behind. I’d have moved it even higher if the whale had appeared in this set, even though that wouldn’t have made any sense.
21.
08-19-2012 II, BGCA, San Francisco, CA (18)
Good Lord, the Sally here is so good. The swaggering power of this set has not diminished one iota in the decade plus since. They knew they were on a heater, and they were correct.
20.
12-29-2018 II, MSG, New York, NY (23)
Now we’re getting down to nut-cutting time, as the saying goes. And hey, speaking of swaggering power. Much like Wingsuit, No Quarter can really boost a set if it’s a strong version, and this is one hell of a strong version indeed.
19.
07-14-2019 II, Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI (17)
Still almost too much outlandish fun, even a half decade on. Trey muttering “read the f***in’ book, you’ll stop worrying” during the Icculus Reprise never fails to put a smile on my face. How do you think that couple that inspired them to pull out Contact is doing?
18.
08-15-2011 II, UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL (16)
At a certain point, it gets difficult to write about sets like these, where they've not only existed for over a decade, but I've been writing about them for nearly a decade. What else is there, really, to say about the fabled Elements set? They should've played Third Stone From The Sun and Bon Jovi's Blaze of Glory instead of Dirt and Fire?
17.
07-27-2014 II, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD (15)
Or this set, widely beloved from the moment the band stepped off stage that night and still beloved a decade on? People don't give enough credit to how good that Tweezer jam out of the second BOTT is? Come to think of it, people really don't give enough credit to that.
16.
07-26-2017 II, MSG, New York, NY (13)
I still think this Carini is one of the era's big boys, which is to say one of the greatest versions they've ever played. 1999 having a tremendous jam in this version, having a tremendous jam in 10/28/21's version, and then being a bog-standard version in its August 2022 airing really sums up Summer 2022 in relation to the rest of the era, doesn't it?
15.
04-17-2023 II, Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA (NR)
One of the two highest-ranked sets played after the last iteration of this list, and of course famous for its all-timer Tweezer -> even quite possibly better Simple 1-2 punch. I truly don't get the folks that think this Tweezer at all lacks creativity or momentum; I do absolutely get people that prefer the Simple to it, that Simple really is a damn fine piece of business. Set I is perfectly fine, as well, and nowhere near the toxic waste dump people were calling it at the time.
14.
12-29-2013 II, MSG, New York, NY (12)
My favorite Disease is either this one or 9/6/15's; I truly love how fluid and ethereal this version gets, and the return to Disease is as hearty a moment as any of the era. Enjoyable Bowie at the end here, as well.
13.
10-23-2021 II, North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, Chula Vista, CA (14)
Yeah, I bumped it up a tiny bit, sue me. The Free here gets better and better the more I hear it. Love to think about that stage bathed in red by Kuroda as Piper winds down to nothingness from its horror movie villain jam.
12.
12-30-2019 II, MSG, New York, NY (8)
Dropped it a little bit - not a lot, but a little bit - mainly out of personal preference. It's still an exceptional set. I thought about this Tweezer while Mike Sainristil ran back the interception that sealed his place in Michigan lore. Well, no, I didn’t, but I wish I had.
11.
08-12-2015 II, The Mann, Philadelphia, PA (11)
A fun moment here as Fish goes back to the regular beat in Twist before realizing the jam's not done yet; it's reminiscent to the 8/1/21 Tweezer continuing onwards even after Fish had wound the jam down to nothing. This is about where Summer 2015, already feted as possibly the greatest tour of the modern era to that point, would start getting feted as one of the greatest tours of any era.
10.
04-21-2024 II, The Sphere, Las Vegas, NV (NR)
Dealt with recency bias on this by leaving it at #10 and no higher; otherwise, I think this really is one motherfucker of a set. The Disease has already taken its place as one of the finest the band has ever played, and both an utterly outstanding Light and wonderful BASOS -> Also Sprach Zarathustra sequence would be standout moments of plenty of other sets. Nearly two hours on its own (longer than the entirety of 11/14/97!), and crammed stem to stern with wonderful music. Again, one can only hope the future Sphere runs can match this bad boy in the quality department.
9.
08-22-2015 II, Magnaball, Watkins Glen, NY (10)
It is going to have to be one damn hell of a good set to dislodge this from where it currently sits. Tweezer -> Caspian sounds quite good on wax as part of the (on hiatus?) LP on LP series and is really the sort of jam sequence the series should be highlighting. It should be highlighting more such from the other eras as well, for the record.
8.
07-25-2017 I, MSG, New York, NY (9)
Because I love using 11/14/97 as a measuring guide: the first three songs of this legendary set are about a minute less in length than 11/14/97 II, and pretty much on the same level jamming-wise. I love Fall 1997 more than any other tour, but I am entirely comfortable saying this.
7.
08-04-2021 II, Ascend Amphitheater, Nashville, TN (7)
Kept it right where it was from last time. Reminds me a lot of its sister set from this venue - 10/23/18 II - in that it's remarkably well assembled from start to finish, but this set has even better jams. I still enjoy Trey chortling at Fish squeezing in the Mr. Completely drum fill into Gin at one point.
6.
07-13-2014 II, Randall's Island, New York, NY (6)
Because everyone knows about the greatness of this set, I'll mention this: there's currently a thread on the forum about blissful Melts, and someone mentioned 8/14/93's tremendous Melt, and not only is it really quite blissful, the Melt that closes this Set 1 is considerably nastier!
5.
12-31-2014 II, AAA, Miami, FL (4)
Flip-flopped this set, which was my #1 favorite set for several iterations of this list, with the set right in front of it. The meat of this set is still gloriously listenable, though, make no mistake.
4.
10-28-2021 I, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV (5)
As noted above. I think, if so pressed, most folks would say the 1999 here is the belle of the ball, and I would agree with them, but the set-closing powerful Twenty Years Later is also right there for me. All we needed was a Strawberry Letter 23 like 7/30/22’s and this would’ve been #1 with a bullet. That reminds me, how funny is it that Summer 2022, above all else, is memorable for the number of songs that got jammed that otherwise never get jammed?
3.
08-06-2021 II, Deer Creek Music Center, Noblesville, IN (3)
Thought about Set I for this list as well. I invoked @waxbanks earlier in this marathon trek through 3.0's back pages and will do so again here: this set is, indeed, king shit.
2.
10-20-2013 II, Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA (2)
In a strange sense, this entire set works as a "darkness to light" kind of deal the same way a jam would, as the overwhelming Marianas Trench dives in Tweezer and Golden Age are counterbalanced with the hearty joyfulness of Piper -> Takin' Care of Business and Slave to the Traffic Light somehow works as an ideal closer for this set in a way something like, say, First Tube might not. It's still one of the very greatest this era has given us, and if you said it was the finest of the era, I wouldn't argue too hard.
1.
07-31-2015 II, Aaron's Amphitheatre at Lakewood, Atlanta, GA (1)
I have said before that 12/30/18 encapsulates the *entire* Phish experience as it stands while 12/29/18 encapsulates the *quintessential* Phish experience as it stands, and this truly monolithic masterpiece of a set somehow manages to do both. There is remarkable multi-part fluid jamming in KDF, The Big Weirdness in Martian Monster, Pool of Bliss upbeat major key improv in Twist, cool segues into BOTT and Reba, a magical mid-90s throwback in said Reba, and a runaway locomotive in the set-closing Gin, everything you could ask for in a Phish set and everything that makes this band what it is today. And that, to me, equals this set being the finest they've played since 2009, and one of the finest of all time.