Boy, I'd love to give you a frame-by-frame review on this one, but — alas! — I have to work tomorrow and LivePhish is telling me that my barcode is invalid. For shame! That means I am A) in bed, trying desperately to catch a few hours of shut-eye before my 7:30 alarm, and B) completely hamstrung when it comes to my ability to relisten to this curio of a Thursday night show — that is, at least, until LivePhish's helpdesk provides me with a new code.

(Incidentally, for the record, you'll catch me paying a subscription fee when I'm dead and someone has stolen my identity. If it's not free, I'm not interested!)

As such, this is all going to be from memory... which can be a funny thing if you've been seeing Phish for as long as I have. Memory itself, in fact, can be a funny thing. More construction than recollection. Unreliable at best. Highly subjective and sometimes suggestible. In other words, please bear with me!

Tonight felt a bit like an emotional catharsis. Frenchie and his antic, forever cemented in Phish lore, loomed large. But, also, for those in the know: the great James Casey.

Goddamn. Rest in Peace, you otherworldly musician! Hearts are heavy and emotions are high. And this show, to put it bluntly, is the best kind of emotional catastrophe. No real direction aside from INTENSE: intensely complex and intensely sad; intensely diffuse and intensely glad. Every song has a moment, every gesture a purpose. There's indeed a certain sort of catharsis at work tonight. It's chaotic and imprecise, but it scratches all the right itches at all the right times.

Highlights — again, from memory — include:

• an extremely balanced show, featuring one deep jam and 2 - 3 straightforward songs per quarter.

• a brilliant Carini — for Frenchie! — to kick things off. See my clunky, inelegant 4/17/23 write-up for more on his what his story means to me ♥️

• a wonderful Caspian outro jam that veers into ECM-style free improv territory.

• the first We Are Come to Outlive Our Brains since 2021 (if that means anything to you ????‍♂️).

• an excellent Ruby Waves featuring what seems like an excessive number of key changes. It's like four jams in one!

• a focused, productive Tweezer topping out well beyond the 20-min mark. Only about half as long as the first Frenchie 'memorial' Tweezer, this one is easily the more inspired of the two — and probably the best jam of the evening by conventional standards. A must-hear!

• a delightful open jam punctuating the end of Sea of Stars. Trey singlehandedly drags this one to the underworld, then plays Guitar Hero as he rescues it from the clutches of oblivion. You'll never be able to capture it in a recording, but there was a moment when Kuroda killed the lights and the band jammed entirely by the light of the full moon. It was absolutely sublime. (Incidentally, call me when the Trey/Dezron/Fish free improv record drops because that shit is going to be AMAZING!)

• a wild little Light that seems to wholesale replace the Oblivion jam. Something clearly wan't working for Trey, so he ripcords Oblivion HARD to more familiar terrain. It might not be the most popular corporate merger Phish setlist history, but I assure you this m'f'er pays some healthy dividends in the long run. What it lacks in length it makes up for in virtuosity. "Must hear" is an obligatory tag here.

• Finally, the Slave closer followed by the 1+ 2 punch of the Show of Life / S.A.N.T.O.S. encore. This little sequence reminds us that we are allowed to be heartfelt and ridiculous in the same breath. Laughter, after all, is the best medicine.

I hope you had as wonderful a night tonight as I had — whether you were deep into the forest of Dicks or positively supine at home on the couch. Was it an all-time classic? No, probably not. Was it a harmonically, rhythmically, and emotionally complex show with themes of hope, love, and redemption for those of us struggling to make sense of loss? Indeed, it was! It proved to be a deeply experimental, highly idiosyncratic effort from the most unique and rewarding band on the live circuit today.

So, do I recommend this show? YES! Without a doubt!

Is it, however, my favorite show EVER? No, and it's not even close! Sorry!

...but does it have to be?! The right medicine will do wonders toward curbing our most challenging of afflictions. The bottom line on tonight's show is that it felt like a healing experience. I'm grateful to have been there. Its replay value might be minimal, but the experience will be etched into my memory for some time. That has to be worth something, right?

I'm calling it a solid 4/5. Too emotionally raw to reach perfection, but not really interested in perfection anyway. This was a show with A PURPOSE! In the end, I'll take that over perfection any day.

The band came out fully locked in. Good first set, incredible second set. Fishman and Trey were animals tonight, dueling around each other for control, twisting the band around at their whims. BASOS was so beautiful, felt like James and Tony and all our friends were there too, and Trey was getting lost with them. Gonna be a great weekend!

An emotional night to kick off the closing run of an incredible 40th year summer tour extravaganza. Dicks is always a party but this one felt it was a celebration of life as well, the both ours and those beyond.

The Carini set the tone and made the first set feel like a second set. Halley’s Comet and Mercury played with the newly waning moon the background felt just right with Ruby Waves and a Character Zero to top it off.

Second set wasted no time either with a quick Set Your Soul Free into an explorative and exclamatory Tweezer! Beneath the Sea of Stars brought us back to the incredible back drop then launched us into Oblivion, only to finish with Light and then a comforting Slave send off.

Show of Life was the best way to describe the emotions I’m sure most of us had witnessing this at home and abroad. Just a tremendous amount of gratitude for this band and all they do for us!

SET 1:

Carini: Dedicated to Frenchie. They go for that canned bliss jam immediately. Last couple minutes are pretty good though. >

Halley's Comet: Standard. >

Blaze On: Standard.

Prince Caspian: Lots of effects (not the good old school ones though)

We Are Come to Outlive Our Brains: Oof.

Mercury: Standard, no jam. >

Ruby Waves: Canned bliss jam. 9:30 – 12:45 is solid. The last two and a half minutes Trey falls back on old tricks, repeated lame effects and peaks. >

Character Zero: Standard.

SET 2:

Set Your Soul Free: Standard, no jam.

Tweezer: Standard, canned bliss jam. The last three or four minutes are decent. - >

Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1: Nice! Just wish they would extend this. Has so much potential but it has been neutered almost every time they have played it since the CT show.

Oblivion: Meh. The jam is upbeat and it’s obvious for well over a minute that Trey wants to abort this for Light >

Light: The beginning of this is rough as hell. Slow. Decent jam held my interest for the most part. Nothing I would revisit. >

Slave to the Traffic Light: Another throwaway 3.0 Slave. Sad. Shelve this and figure out how to play this song – show it some respect and play it the way it is supposed to be played.

ENCORE:

Show of Life: LOL.

Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S. – LOL. Just played at SPAC.

Summary: Negative review? Yeah. I call ‘em like I see ‘em. This show was a far cry from the first night of SPAC. Would rate this a 3/5. Not a good show at all.

Replay Value: LOL.

The first night of Dicks is a reminder that context is important, and I will echo another reviewer who argues this show is underrated, likely due to the quantity of newer material in the setlist. The first show after James Casey's death seemed to find Trey in a reflective mood, with song selections that reflect celestial themes, spirituality and the fragility of life. The band achieved lift-off with the opening Carini, which was extended well beyond what would be expected for the first song of a four-night run. Blaze On lightened the mood, but with the reminder that we have but one life to live. While nothing else in the first set extended the boundaries of form, Mercury ("I look up at the night sky") and Ruby Waves ("When I die I'll turn into a tiny ball of energy And I'll go flippin' and floatin' up into the sky) extended the theme and were played with passion.

The second set was anchored by the Tweezer>Beneath a Sea of Stars combination. If the Tweezer never found the beauty of other versions, it was not for a lack of exploration. Oblivion may have been cut slightly short by a fan who got dragged away after jumping the wall due to overconsumption, but Light also found some unique spaces. Light>Slave or "double light" is a combination that hadn't shown up since 2011, and the Slave climax was extended a few extra bars and delivered with immense emotion. In-person, this was a highly satisfying emotional rollercoaster with enough risk taking to make for an interesting opening night of the run.

This was a solid show. By my estimation it's very close to a 4/5, so I am a little surprised to see the lack of love for it amongst the reviews I have read elsewhere.

While it opened with a great tribute to Frenchie, the overall tone of this show and some of the song selections more fittingly appeared to be a tribute to James. Trey seemed a bit more contemplative, as one might expect in the first show after losing a close friend and fellow band mate, and so it naturally followed that the energy was lower. But everything was beautifully played, and there were very few missteps.

Also hard to nitpick a show with 4 jam chart worthy songs (Carini, Ruby Waves, Tweezer, Light). I’ve had the privilege of hearing some great Carini work over the last few years, but this one was pipin’ hot coming straight out of the gate, ranking up there with the Bakers Dozen version for me. Prince Caspian was the first of the smoother melodies on the night that may have been lower energy but worth a re-listen. Ruby Waves was a solid venture and seemed sustained for just the right length of time before transitioning into a set closing Character Zero.

When set 2 opened with Set Your Soul Free, it had all the makings of an extended jam, but of course they flipped the script and blasted into an awesome Tweezer that was in perpetual motion for 20+ before sinking back into a serene quartet of songs. Light was excellent and cathartic for all who were present, and Slave to the Traffic Light was also worth a listen.

So, did I enjoy it as much as the other nights from this wonderful weekend? No. Swayed more than I would have liked to. But it was a meaningful show live, and I have already enjoyed re-listening to it.

SET 1:

Carini: Dedicated to Frenchie. They go for that canned bliss jam immediately. Last couple minutes are pretty good though. >

Halley's Comet: Standard. >

Blaze On: Standard.

Prince Caspian: Lots of effects (not the good old school ones though)

We Are Come to Outlive Our Brains: Oof.

Mercury: Standard, no jam. >

Ruby Waves: Canned bliss jam. 9:30 – 12:45 is solid. The last two and a half minutes Trey falls back on old tricks, repeated lame effects and peaks. >

Character Zero: Standard.

SET 2:

Set Your Soul Free: Standard, no jam.

Tweezer: Standard, canned bliss jam. The last three or four minutes are decent. - >

Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1: Nice! Just wish they would extend this. Has so much potential but it has been neutered almost every time they have played it since the CT show.

Oblivion: Meh. The jam is upbeat and it’s obvious for well over a minute that Trey wants to abort this for Light >

Light: The beginning of this is rough as hell. Slow. Decent jam held my interest for the most part. Nothing I would revisit. >

Slave to the Traffic Light: Another throwaway 3.0 Slave. Sad. Shelve this and figure out how to play this song – show it some respect and play it the way it is supposed to be played.

ENCORE:

Show of Life: LOL.

Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S. – LOL. Just played at SPAC.

Summary: Negative review? Yeah. I call ‘em like I see ‘em. This show was a far cry from the first night of SPAC. Would rate this a 3/5. Not a good show at all.

Replay Value: LOL.

Carini: for Frenchie. Love it. Big ol’ jam to start off the Dicks run, nothing unfamiliar here, but they work their way through for a long while and find a segue back into the song to end it off. Great way to begin the show

Halley’s Comet: standard

Blaze On: standard mid first set version

Prince Caspian: These mid to late first set placements have been spectacular since Pittsburgh 2017 and here’s another example. Nothing crazy but the jam gets out there for the last few minutes. Then it fades out and Trey starts up

We Are Come To Outlive Our Brains: 109 show bustout. Love the vibe of this song and glad they brought it back. Short version but after the songs played before there’s nothing wrong with it

Mercury: one of my faves from the 3.0 era. Composed parts are done perfectly and the Trey solo in the Red Queen part is very nice. They start to jam it out but after a short time Trey takes us into

Ruby Waves: another big exploratory jam in this first set. TBH I kinda zoned out a little during this, (not because of the song) but an enjoyable performance from what I remember. Trey as he always does now, takes us back into the chorus to end it off

Character Zero: rager to end the first set. Brief and not standout but high energy and fun as always

Set Your Soul Free: brief rendition to start the second set. No exploration due to Trey wanting to just get on to the next song, which had a fantastic year in 2023 so here we go…

Tweezer: 23 minute beast. Starts off with a few minutes of familiar playing then branches off with a blissy jam for a while. After that it grows a bit evil with Page moving to different synths and they lock into a solid groove. We then move onto a more psychedelic realm, containing Norwegian Wood-esque licks from Trey as they build to a glorious peak, but we’re not done yet. The peak settles down into a new spooky place with Trey utilizing the demon robot pedal and some Mike action. A little bit later they find a great groove which after only 30 seconds finds its way back into the Tweezer riff but they’re STILL not done. Page finds a nice sound and Fish is laying down a sick beat. After a minute or two of this Trey finds his way into

Beneath A Sea Of Stars Part 1: bringing the energy down for a bit after that outstanding Tweezer jam. Beautiful mid set cool off and it leads into a neat little buildup jam for a while then they finish it out

Oblivion: The great new jam vehicle of 2023. Once it gets past the barrier of Oblivionness, Trey switches the key and starts fumbling around a bit, but before we get anywhere interesting Trey leads a strange segue into

Light: I don’t mind this song but wish they had kept going with Oblivion. But let's see where this goes. After the main part concludes the jam starts by quieting down a little and it starts to remind me somewhat of early 3.0. Then continuing on with a Your Pet Cat tease and Fishman finding a nice rhythm involving some cowbell and they play around with that for a bit. Fishman is the MVP of the jam at this point as he goes through different enjoyable patterns. Trey starts building a peak which ends up breaking free again into a short moment of funky delay effects which segues into

Slave To The Traffic Light: standard ragey second set closer

Show Of Life: standard

Say It To Me SANTOS: always a great high energy closing song. Give me this over Cavern or Suzy any day of the week (sorry not sorry)

Awesome way to start the Dicks 2023 run. You could argue this show was just 2 second sets. Highlights are Carini, Ruby Waves, Tweezer, and Light. For me this is a 8/10 show

N1 was better than folks are rating it. I give this a solid 4. N2 was nowhere near as good as folks are rating it. It too, gets a 4, but N1 earned that 4. I know some who agree with me that N1 was better, but you can feel as you please. Antelope Greg once told me on FB that I suck at Phish, so take my opinions for what they are.

Shows not over, and I'm not there, nor am I watching it, but I have a few things to say... lol have fun out there and don't do anything trey wouldn't do, or you may end up naked in some boots doing something I wouldn't do... we hope you have a good time

Set 1 was probably good

Set 2 was also probably good

Good night

This was a fairly underwhelming show in my book, mostly due to the setlist. At this point I can do without Blaze On, Set Your Soul Free, Oblivion, and Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S., even though some of those do generally lead into good jams.

Tweezer was the highlight of the night, honorable mentions go to Ruby Waves and Carini.

I'm hoping this was a rusty warm-up after a long layoff from the regular tour. On to Night Two!