Hmmm - Four full days later and still no review for this seminal night. Maybe that's because @laudanum and @scissortail summed it up nicely in the blog reviews for Nights 3 & 4. This show/seismic event found itself worthy of discussion the next night by Trey himself in the lyrics to Chalk Dust Torture Reprise. And why not? The first set is loosey goosey yet still finds moments to dive into the effects laden jamming that will undoubtedly define this run and possibly the next year or more. 46 Days briefly divebombs into it but pulls up, KDF leans in hard for the last five minutes or so. Perhaps a harbinger for what is lurking after setbreak.

And eleven minutes into the Blaze On opener it feels like 2024 Evil Phish has arrived again - only to be ripchorded (ripriffed?) for CDT. And it is a glorious, multi-sectional CDT even BEFORE the earth opens up and swallows it at minute 22ish. Waves and waves of thick effects, pitch divebombs, growling rumble, synth corkscrews and tom rolling, cymbal crashing madness. And then.... well, if the video is still up, at 28:38 we reach sublime chaos at its apex and an inexplicable moment of musical hive mind. Trey mashes his expression pedal and what many folks have described as the "bubble effect" explodes into the Mexican night. It is out of left field, overbearing, and could have devolved the jam into ambient weirdness, but everyone adjusts - Trey starts a call/response with the effect, Fish finds the rhythm and mimics it with his China cymbal. It just shouldn't work, but of course it does, and it elevates the jam and sends it racing to a massive peak of power chording. At 30:00 in the video we humble viewers are presented with incontrovertible evidence that this new noise rock movement is here to stay - Trey's maniacal smile as he leans into that expression pedal over and over, bobbing his head, eyes cast to the floor.

The rest of the show? It was good/great Phishing - Hood has an excellent bliss peak and Zero never disappoints.

It looks like 2024 will be another titanic shift for the band - think '97 more groove/less peak meets the highlights of the oxy years ('04 SPAC Piper comes to mind) meets an expert command of a new cache of effects from both Trey and Page. I can't wait to see what CK5 can do with this new direction with the mother grid and his full lighting rig.

PHISH, FRIDAY 02/23/2024
MOON PALACE
Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico

SET 1:

Set Your Soul Free: Standard. Cool segue into Ghost. ->

Ghost: Standard. Interesting segue, would have been awesome but Fish got a little carried away and didn’t catch on as fast as his mates. ->

Fast Enough for You: Standard.

Evolve: Standard.

Mull: Fun little jam. Like this tune and feel it has potential. >

46 Days: Standard. >

Kill Devil Falls: This rocked. Mike dominates for a good portion. Lots of dark energy and intensity. Would recommend. >

Wading in the Velvet Sea: Perfect placement, sublime.

Sigma Oasis: Standard.

SET 2:

Blaze On: Has a bit of length and a solid enough jam to start off the set. >

Chalk Dust Torture[1] - Listened to this a couple of times last week on lengthy drives and both times just got absolutely lost in it. Not going to give a blow by blow on this one at all. What I will say that this is one of the best, long jams they have ever put together. It has been a while since Phish blew me away, but this did exactly that. This jam traverses so much time and space and what I really love is that they take you to some really dark spaces – some very intense spaces. So evil. Those that got to witness this in person are some lucky folks. This is magic. Easy, easy all timer and highly recommended. >

Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1: The old magic back on display. They literally couldn’t have picked a better follow up tune than this. I would have melted into the sand. >

Backwards Down the Number Line: LOL. They earned it. It’s fine. >

Harry Hood: Standard.

ENCORE:

When the Circus Comes: Standard.

Character Zero: Standard.

Summary: Not as good as 2.22, but it has the jam of the weekend. Would rate this as a 4.3/5.

Replay Value: Kill Devil Falls, Chalk Dust Torture

[1] Unfinished.

Trey teased Mull in 46 Days. Chalk Dust was unfinished and contained a Shipwreck quote. At the end of the show, Trey quoted Buffalo Bill from the film The Silence of the Lambs, saying "It puts the lotion on its skin."
SHOW RATING
Ratings are currently offline.
Overall: 4.667/5 (

This Chalk Dust is an indisputable masterpiece and remains uncontested as the Jam of the Year.

The level of patience demonstrated by the band is unparalleled, no rushing through sections or constant key changes, which sometimes feels like a ripcord but without going for a different song if that makes sense. It’s been the only thing that’s sorta bothered me about a good amount of Phish’s jamming since 2022 especially, but none of those problems are present here. Everything here is fully fleshed out.

The beginning section of the jam (6-18 mins) is like floating peacefully on a cloud that slowly builds into a raging thunderstorm. The middle section (18-27 mins) is groovy but has a darker sentiment to it and gradually breaks down into chaotic disarray, which bleeds into the final section (28-39 mins) of pure EVIL.

Trey weaving hellacious licks between bubble effects with the M5 modeler is something only Trey can pull off, with Fish adding echoing drum fills. After a big pitch bend-laden peak Trey hits a cascading pitch sweep into a heavy metal-like riff and it all meshes together perfectly. The wind down and > into Beneath a Sea of Stars is impeccable.

This is the Phish that I know, yet it sounds unlike any jam they have ever played, and I hate to say it but they didn’t come close to matching it all summer. Whatever you are looking for in a jam, it is here. Jam of the Year, and possibly the decade.