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, comment by funkbeard
funkbeard There is little that is standard about this show.

Mike is at his creative and brillianr best. Trey works hard to bring the synergy all night. Moma Dance Chalkdust Undermined is the most pumped up opener of the tour, and it's during Haler's Comet that Trey really steps up for the other guys in the band to hold an egalitarian type of role in the musoc. Even the standard fare is jacked up with firemost creative invention, and the whole set just crackles with life. Anypne calling this standard due to setlist concerns is typically jaded. This Toronto show contaims the triumphant spirit of a band that has finally made it through the worst summer storms in recent memory. This is a return to the solid musicianship we witnessed at Merriweather Post Pavilion, but with a greater strength and resilience from the first note.

Opening the second round with Down with Diseaae, Trey spends the first several minutes digging deeper than usual with each ensuing phrase, while laying back and working hard to allow the entire band's sound to emerge into that egalitarian focus. The ensuing jam is must-hear material. The following 2001 is a flawlessly executed, down and dirty dance party. The Free that follows is one of he most inventive in recent years, with Trey choosing a different-than-the-usual path through the composed parts, and Mike literally indulging in one of the finest nights of bass playing in his career.

Piper is another great version, a song the band has rediscovered this tour, figuring out how to bring its heat night after night. A hell of a lot of jamming is contained inthese five minutes, and the shift into Tweezer is turn-on-a-dime to a ridiculous degree. Those calling this Tweezer standard fail to see that this is the second great Tweezer of the year, and the first complete version in years, with a newly perfected better-than-old-school slow down ending. I can't relate the debauchery that goes down in thisjam. This is a headphones show, or the type of show you want to really pay attention to. The strength of the night is powerful, creative, integrated musicianship, and the band play it out to way above average results. The ensuing Silent in the Morning, in my opinion, is the first "nailed" version of the tour, with good pacing and delivery on all fronts, and Page offering the song a virtuostic piano part through the peak.

At this point, the band is tired, and they take a bit of a more standard approach on Number Pine through Cavern, playing with a lot of love but not necessarily going the extra mile. And yet, on Bowie, they go the extra mile once more. Trey plays the composition with extra care, once again, and opts for melodic phrases that bring out the band's uncanny improvisational potential through the well above average jam. Easily the finest Bowie delivered in 2013, thus far.

The encore boasts a great Lovin' Cup, a near perfect Coil, a shout out to the birth of the Prince, with Trey recommending the name "Prince Kong", and an abbreviated Tweezer Reprise ( probably due to time constraints).

Like Alpharetta 2, this show stands alone. Where Alpharetta 2's second set boasted a rock and roll symphony presentation, this shpw featured some of the finest spontanious improv contained within songs of recent years. Forget the setlist. Listen to these guys talk to each other with their instruments as they bring you a classic that won't soon be forgotten.

Quality-wise, this may be, overall, one of the finest Phish performances in recent years, a best of 3.0 contender, and even obliterates much of what the band has accomplished in the past. West Coast look out! A Phish is coming to a stage near you!


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