As my life has changed dramatically, I wanted to couch tour this show. I had plans for an insanely nice Tahoe house with 4 other people that boiled down to 2 after a whole bunch of stupid drama. Then Shoreline was announced and somehow that crew is down to this lone wolf. So, Friday social plans ending early I decided I gotta warm up for Shoreline shows. They will be numbers 69 and 70, having started my live Phish obsession at that barn burner of a show on July 12, 1999 with the cover of Foreplay/Longtime in Boston.

All that being said, I saw this show from afar. I really love weird Phish moments like the banter between Trey and Fish before Melt started cuz Fish heard “Melt” and Trey was saying something else. “You can’t just play a song and then stop, Fish.” “I…CAN!” These guys are so fun together. They have such an unconditional sense of love for each other and the other band mates. A Phamily for sure. And the Melt ended up being vocally appropriate as Leaves with the refrain “Breathe” had just been played and Melt has “we breathe deep in a steam dream.” I love how Phish lines up accidentally. Tube was really funky and well placed by Trey. Alaska was an absolute blues throw down and, not really being a fan of that song, I really loved how deep Trey went with it. Golgi was a nice way to end the set. It was definitely getting weird with all the song placements and second set did something different, definitely.
Sigma Oasis was a very strange way to start set two. I don’t mind them doing this new short ditty song start before a second song liftoff, like in Alpharetta night one with More to Tweezer. So, when What’s the Use showed up, I was a bit surprised. And although WTU didn’t liftoff in a normal second set second song fashion, it went really dark and underworldly with that quiet almost ‘no-play’ section. From my view, the cameras kept moving towards the soundboard and some vendors, showing everyone just looking like they are in exactly the right place and Phish is doing them good. Such a great version. Really though. I woke up to listen to this again. It was especially good ‘live’ for me but even after second listen, it held power.
Then Blaze On came and we’re all thinking “here’s the first liftoff” but again, Phish was being extra weird and unanticipatable. I love it. They’re always going for the new and fresh and it usually works. They did a relatively short version and into Lifeboy. This was yet again a “what the hell are they doing” moment where they took it slow and ballady as the set should be taking off. THEN, Camel Walk took off and they fed everyone in an uncommonly jammed piece. And Chalk Dust was great too. The mid set double song jam was well worth the wait. Slave was a reliably great way to end the set.
And Drift is such a fun song with that reggae section coming out of nowhere but works really well. Nice Encore spot.

So, I’d say Phish is still on fire! This wasn’t an historical show by any means but there sure was a whole bunch of nectar in said songs (and others). I’m so grateful to be a Phish fan right now (and always). They are really pushing boundaries and new ideas and finding jems in the strangest of places. I am just so stoked for Shoreline. Speaking of weird ????