Phish - August 9th, 2024

Trey augments his tone just so- a great nod to the song's roots- and wonderfully solos. There's a super, however subtle shift, following the 5:00 mark, and the jam assumes a different register. Blasts of sustain and more great Trey (nifty melodic and thematic variation) builds to bliss tinged with that "Allman's" twist which culminates in a fire conclusion offset by the song's vocal refrain.

Atoning for a somewhat ugly composed section, Trey slashes his way through a jam ignited by near full-band "Fuego" teasing, the four then yielding to a cool idea come 8:45, which builds to scattershot, yet engaging and musical improvisation, Trey finally finding a fun, atonal line before turning all "Crosseyed and Painless," which, bettered by Page on his piano, leads to raucous improv, all of this building to inform a fun, playful, 'What the hell was that?' conclusion. Maybe so? Why not.

Like a labyrinthine Hall of Mirrors, this "Tweezer" shifts through several moods and themes in impressionistic fashion. Fishman's cerebral, yet grounded grooving keeps the ship afloat as the band modulates between locked-in funk, abrasive dissonance, nearly rudderless psychedelia and finally a super catchy, Allman Brothers-inflected country rock section that turns anthemic. This then resolves back to the "Tweezer" theme and > a powerful "Pillow Jets".

> from "Tweezer". If you didn't know any better, you might think the beginning of this jam was out of "Melt" and not "Pillow Jets". Out of the muck, Trey leads the band into an upbeat, driving jam that oozes energy. Trey weaves his way back to a smooth segue -> "Tweezer".

-> from "Pillow Jets," Trey and Fish work their way into a snappy, musical and inventive "Tweezer" segment featuring rather cool contributions from Mike and Page. Fish is just fantastic and clearly having a blast, while Trey does his thing. A bit by way of noise drops; Trey strums; and the band -> into just what you'd want: "Piper." // Part "Piper" and "song-"outro, a return to the iconic "Tweezer" riff unquestionably caps this incendiary Summer 24 segment.

Led by Trey's relentless invention and energy, this version is all gas and absolutely no breaks. Fiery group play abstracts at will, downshifting and upshifting without ever sacrificing cohesion, coalescing into a breakneck psychedelic rock clinic with Trey's guitar practically shooting off sparks. A brief return to the "Tweezer" theme (albeit in a different key) provides a fitting reprieve, before finally cooling off for "Shine a Light".

Don't let the timing deceive you, as this "Chalk Dust" is packed to the brim with ideas and energy. Trey and Mike's inspired, high-energy interplay lead the band through multiple modulations, a "Yankee Doodle" tease, and finally a burn-down-the-house peak, closing up shop on a killer set 2.