Stop #4 of the Winter Tour and show #5 overall.

Rift gets the show rolling, a pretty rare opener, I think. Straight forward but well played version, minus a lyrical flub towards the end. Rock & Roll also takes a weird spot in the 2 slot for the night. I actually don't mind it being played in this spot because it sorta sets the tone for the night. As soon as the jam takes off here you can tell the band is on tonight. Just a tight, type I jam - no one sticks out in particular here, everyone sounds really good.

Guyute comes next. This is one of my favorite compositions by Phish and they do it justice here, like in R&R, all band members are on point. Not much else to say about this one. Driver comes next and seems to be played with a little more gusto than normal. I really like this song played electric as opposed to acoustic & wish they would play this song again.

Waves bats 5th & is a fast paced, up tempo rendition of this favorite Round Room song. A really soaring rendition, sparse on the spaciness, this one has a real hair raising peak to it. I wish they had let this jam go on for a bit more because the transition back into the song proper is a bit rushed, in my humble opinion. Still, this one is well worth a listen.

Simple comes up out of the water and what a glorious simple it is. The jam features some really nice, nimble & soft guitar work by trey, with a strong beat held down by Mike & Fish. Around 12 minutes in this one goes to deep space. Trey and Page add some really nice layers in this spaced-out segment that really keeps the jam interesting. Sometimes, for me, Simple jams can get kinda boring but this one definitely is not in that category. It sort of dissolves towards the end into a swirly mass of sound. This is the high point of the set so far & is must listen material.

Gotta Jibboo closes the set out in fine form. This song gets a bad rap sometimes, but I personally love the open endedness of the song. It reminds me a lot of Runaway Jim in the the jam segment is basically a repeating bass line and drum beat while page and trey add in noise at will. More nimble guitar work from trey here while Page adds some real nice splashes over top of everyone. This jam here has some real direction at about 7:30 in. Trey steps up to lead this one to the heavens and the peak here is sublime.It really picks up into full on rock star mode after 10 minutes or so. Fishman has some really sweet fills here and trey is just going off. Page switches over to a much more funky sound and switching the jam into a full on funk fest. I don't even know what else to say about this song. It's beautiful, funky & rocking. Just do yourself a favor and check it out.

Well that was a pretty incredible first set. Despite the seeming randomness of set list during this tour, this first set delivers. The R&R is a tight ass jam and Simple goes to deep space while Jibboo just tears the house down going into set break. The last two songs are simply A+ Phish.

Set 2 kicks off with a 20 minute, super dark Tweezer. This one doesn't go through too many changes in the jam. Trey has a nice moment around 15 minutes in with his wah pedal. Gordo really stands out towards this section of the jam as well. Trey goes into full on hose mode towards the end and the song peaks very nicely. There's not much particularly amazing or unique about this jam, it's just a really well played, tight and dark Tweezer. Nothing wrong with that.

PYITE is next. At first I thought it seemed like an odd song placement, but then I remembered its Punch & Punch at any point in a show is always welcome. Halfway through the song I changed my mind and decided that I actually really like the 1-2 punch (pun not intended) of these two songs. Well played rendition.

FEFY cools things down after that heater of a half hour to open the set. This is another song I wish they would play more these days, I really do love pretty much all Phish ballads.

Seven Below is the penultimate song of the set, and what a Seven Below it is. The tempo quickly builds up in the jam and there's some fine, full band communication going on here. It stays type I until about 11 minutes in, where it sounds like Mike tries bringing them back into the song but Trey resists a little and then Page, once again, takes the jam in a more funky direction, with Trey adding some real nice rhythmic work here.Page continues to be the MVP of this song as he adds some real nice piano work while

Trey keeps the jam moving in an upward trajectory towards the sky. 17 minutes in or so Trey and Page start to recede into the background a bit as Mike & Fish keep the beat rolling. There's some more nice, nimble guitar work by Trey in this section. The funk picks back up as the tempo continues to increase. Trey shines in this section. Gordon once again begins to reign the jam back into the song proper and this time the rest of the band obliges. This is easily, far and away, the best Seven Below up to this point.

Pebbles & Marbles delivers as the set closer. This is easily my favorite song from Round Room & has some of my favorite lyrics of any Phish song. It's both delicately beautiful & rocking. There's some real nice group interplay here, and while it's a long jam and is pretty strong, I wouldn't say it's overly interesting. A good rendition, for sure, but I'm a bit surprised this got a notation here and the Tweezer didn't. Either way, what an incredible set that was...

Golgi, Anything But Me & Tweeprise close the show out in fine form. You can never go wrong with a triple encore!

Overall, it seem's I chose a great show to write my first review for. From an unexpected Rift/R&R opener, to the spacey Simple & all time Jibboo, through the dark Tweezer and ridiculously funky & exploratory Seven Below, this show is straight A++ material & an easy 5/5 stars in my book.

Do yourself the favor and check out the Jibboo & -7 if nothing else.