, attached to 2022-02-26

Review by MrPalmers1000DollarQ

MrPalmers1000DollarQ IMO this show takes the cake as best of the Mexico '22 run. Felt that the jamming had a little more direction and inspiration than N2 (I know, burn me at the stake). Both sets demonstrated some great control over energy and harmonic direction, and a three-song encore like this just seals the envelope.

Setlist Thoughts
- Feel like it was only a matter of time before Axilla / Axilla II got combined like this. Fun opener
- Twist covers a fair amount of jam ground, plenty of which is blissfully beautiful and uplifting. Around 7:20 - 8:10, Mike and Page lay out some incredible harmonic movement and inject a drop of somberness into Trey's jam. This helps transition into a darker space for a few minutes before turning major again. I really appreciate moments like this where the static one-chord vamp gets broken up a bit more by the backing band.
- -> Your Pet Cat is nice and smooth. I haven't spent a ton of time with other YPC jams, but this one stood out to me on first listen. The last couple of minutes feature some dissonant build up from Trey/Page before releasing into a heightened reprise of the main theme. One of the best Chilling Thrilling performances I've heard
- Wish I had caught the video stream of this show, mostly just for Divided Sky. The re-entry after CK5 kills the lights is insanely delicate--one of the most convincing "Phish is still amazing" segments of 4.0 imo. Fishman is great in the rest of the jam.
- Mull brings that groovy, Destiny Unbound-esque dance groove for a nice reprieve before diving into the Set 1 behemoth Wolfman's Brother.
- Wolfman's Brother covers a lot of harmonic and textural ground, laden with synthy goodness from both Trey and Page. Energy level is fairly static for most of the jam, but the final minutes lead back to the main Wolfman's them for a nice peak moment. Standard Cavern closes an awesome Set 1.
- Massive Jam #2 of the evening, SYSF opens set 2 with a little more gusto than Wolfman's brings. Trey's fingers are loose and he's playing with some more swagger on this one imo, not to mention the more varied groove base covered in this 20-minute adventure. Page moves to the Meatstick synth for a bit and Fishman's drumming mixes in some nice, creative percussive elements around 16 mins in.
- Simple jam is another favorite for me. A gentle, Ionian Page piano solo gives way into a subdued Dorian/Mixolydian jam (as Phish loves to do). Less anticipated, though, is the 12-bar blues that emerges from here. Damn awesome playing--maybe my highlight of the evening.
- Transition into Scents and Subtle Sounds is a bit rough, but forgivable. The jam on this performance brings some great synced riffing, high energy soaring, and another beautiful harmonic moment in the final minute. Continues a very, very strong Set 2.
- Crosseyed and Painless brings back some more of the uplifting tone from earlier Twist. More great Type II jamming melts beautifully into Waste.
- I thought Blaze On was an interesting choice for the Set 2 closer (only done one other time before). Though it doesn't live up to the earlier great jamming imo, it's a nice Type I cap to a show full of highlights.
- Wedge, Monkey, and Slave cover a few different energies for a great, comprehensive encore. Appreciated the Shipwreck quote in Sleeping Monkey


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