what an awesome cap to an absolutely incredible run and, in trey's words, an "unforgettable tour." unforgettable indeed! while the first set was not the behemoth that was friday's S1, it contained some awesome moments and another coveted ballad bustout. set 2 is, simply put, a monstrous phish set. let's get to the breakdown:

we start off standard with moma dance. while this song's opening notes don't necessarily excite everyone the way some other openers can, it's still a workhorse that always brings the heat, this version being no different. a similar story for KDF; one of my favorite 3.0 songs, this always raises the energy of a room. this version had a little extra heat, as well. roggae is always beautiful. water in the sky is a great song, but they had just played it in chicago. in my opinion, this one works better if it's a little rarer, but i love it just the same. speaking of things working better when they're rarer, next comes 555. i used to not be in love with this song when it seemed like they were playing it every night back in 2014, but now it's nice to hear. this version was tight. next comes one of the highlights of the set: tube! tube jams have been so great lately, and this is one of the best. exceeding 10 minutes, this version went type 2, exploring a beautiful major section before returning to funk and dropping into the blues. a must-hear for tube fans (meaning everyone). i won't lie, i wish that they had gone straight into mike's from tube, but farmhouse was a fine version, with some nice emotional playing from trey. a mike's groove to close the set is a great choice. this mike's jam, while not lengthy, raged very hard. it seemed like they were really enjoying ripping this one up. then the big treat of the set: lifeboy! like if i could, lifeboy is one my favorite songs that i'd never heard live before. so exciting. a ripping weekapaug closed out the set, with some excellent playing by trey.

set two was, again, just a phenomenal set of phish. every song was jammed well. carini kicks things off with a dark, minor key jam. this was excellent and very different from the more standard, major-key-leaning type 2 jams of the tour. while not the longest version of carini, it is definitely worth a listen. next comes 46 days, an interesting choice here considering the brevity of the carini jam. this served as another boost in energy; an absolutely ripping version, reminiscent of the sand from friday night, with trey leading the band through multiple massive peaks. at the end, it seemed like they were going to jam this one out, which would've been exciting, but instead trey led a transition into (sans intro) scents and subtle sounds. this is a stellar version of the song, with the jam featuring triumphant major key hose jamming. simply sublime improvisation, which is a phrase i could apply to the entire set. as scents died down, trey signaled something to fish. i thought we would get 2001 right there, but instead trey counted them into crosseyed! always love to hear this song, and this version was funked-out dance party. some really fantastic playing by fishman. the jam began to fizzle, and all signs pointed toward 2001. sure enough, fish began the iconic beat. nothing better than some good ol' 2001 funk. the band just kept pounding away, starting up possum right as 2001 finished up. there were zero breathers during this set; just straight fire from start to finish. possum raged as usual, with a great page solo. i thought that would end the set, but phish had other plans. they began SOAM, and it seemed like a little bonus cap on the set. little did we know that this would be - and i don't put this lightly - and all-time version of the song, at least for 3.0. exceeding 20 minutes, this jam went everywhere: standard soam dissonance, a near-silent exploratory jam, a build into a type 2 bliss-like jam, and finally a return to the soam outro. truly magnificent phish, and especially cool for this level of improv to happen during the set closer. phish left the stage to a massive ovation.

for the encore, the band opted for the breather they'd been withholding for all of set 2. always nice to hear wading. character zero to close; this one was a hugely energetic version, with some shredding from trey.

wow, what a tour. night after night, phish displayed incredible improvisational prowess, brilliant set crafting, and superb imagination. certainly one of the most consistently good tours of 3.0, truly thrilling to watch. been a pleasure to review them night after night. can't wait for the NYE run!

A note on the run: what great phish music. Consistent, focused, superb jamming all over the place. I was lucky enough to see seven shows of the fall tour, which has been my favorite tour of 3.0 behind summer 2015. For everyone who said they didn’t like the Halloween set, I honestly don’t know what to do with that. It was one of my favorite moments I’ve ever heard. Every show had dominating highlights. This band, after 35 years, is still setting the bar and then smashing it. Bravo, Phish

Tube was so much fun, Mike's Groove with Lifeboy I hadn't seen since Dear Creek 1996.08.03.

SCENTS>CROSSEYED >2001SUPERB STYLE!

SOAM MASTERPIECE!

Excellent way to drop a freak bomb on our way out!
A tour gem on the final night.
I like it alot!

I was finally able to convince the whole family to come see Phish in Vegas. It was either now or New Years in NY and with us planted on the West Coast, this certainly made the most sense. I must say that I was a little curious to see what four nights of playing at the MGM would bring. Q: Would these guys still have anything left to offer us on their last night? A: They did.

Both sets played very well together. Not one for the slower songs per se, for fear we'd lose momentum, but I was especially moved by the care Trey showed with the more delicate pieces. Roggae took on a surreal quality and both Water in the Sky and Lifeboy were great. My daughter kept asking to "name that tune" and I would call out the songs until I was stumped on Lifeboy. I was especially happy to catch that one after a ripping Mike's Song.

Set 2 smoked from start to finish. Watching the level of control these guys consistently displayed last night was mind blowing.. SASS was a huge surprise but I must say, with a set of highlights, SOAM stole the second set at the end! I honestly wasn't sure we were ever coming back to that one. I have been really enjoying the "industrial" tones I feel the guys have been adding to their sound lately and watching Trey sculpted noise was amazing. Not sure what Page was doing but I think those additions were "the drill" I've been hearing about. All in all an impressive show. A happy end to our Vegas show.

I worry that casual phans might just look at the jam charts and miss the Scents and Subtle jam here. The Scents jam drops into minor almost immediately and quietly builds. Up until the last 5 minutes, the band is shooting straight and incorporating so so much energy and intensity. I don't believe they know what the peak will be but treys mind has it handled (even if he doesn't know it consciously). They switch to major at the drop of a pen (pin?), page switches to baby grand and trey just spits fire at the feet of the people on the floor at MGM. Page hammers and pounds those keys in the holes where trey sustains. Similar to the vegas 16 Golden Age peak in a way. Mostly the intensity.

Throwing down a Moma, Tube, 555, and Mike’s in the first set definitely got the dance party going, with a beautiful (as always) Roggae to cool it down and a surprise Lifeboy. A note on the Tube, check it out! Some stomping bass work from Mike eventually breaks through to some super happy and blissy jamming before building to that inevitable bluesy comeback of Tube proper. In the second set, we get the Carini that we knew was coming all weekend, but check out that 46 Days for hard peaking and Scents for some space cruising. Xeyed was a great call for the “room’s” energy at that point. Never going to complain about a 2001. Big SOAM to finish things off, had a crowd neighbor ask about halfway through (you’ll hear why), “What song is this?”, with a huge smile when I reminded him we were still melting. Wading in the Zero encore, alright guys, but great show overall. Grateful to dance it out in Sin City.

The Tube was magnificent. The Lifeboy groove sandwich bustout was also niceto see. Rockin well played first set. Carini had a....nice crazy Fishman antic devilish quote from the Halloween show. The outro of cross-eyed into 2001was other worldly. CK's lights were astoundingly trippy here and during the mind bending parts of SOAM. Must see more Phish!

GREAT second set and overall excellent Phish music. Took my kids to their first show it was a fantastic introduction to the best band ever IMO. Loved it all but...the obvious is SOAM and I happen to be a great fan of Velvet encore. To me the greatest encore possible. I’m challenged Can’t make MSG but couch tour fo sho..Thanks Phish and Phish fans. SO grateful the band continues to deliver first class music beyond the drugs and challenges inherit to success in a rock band hello Jerry. Here’s to continuation of the same. Love Phish and Phish Phans. Go Fluffhead!!

LIFEBOY EMERGES ONCE AGAIN! easily one of the best ballads the band has and I wish it received more stage time. After 3 nights in Vegas phish sounded very comfortable from the very start. Tube had a fantastic jam and 2018 has proven that Tube is once again a consistent jammer, lets see if it will stay. Every version this year has found a nice pocket jam right off the bat and this is no exception, perfect transition into the blue section. Second set is amazing. SaSS appearing more frequently this year with a nice jam. This SOAM along with the Gorge version stand out as stellar versions above the rest. A nice jam that stayed connected and focused. I'm hardly ever a fan of hearing this song to be honest but when I'm impressed by it (to me) that says something about the quality.

This show definitely packs a fun punch to end this Vegas run. I remember being obviously very spent from 3 nights of Phish prior to this, but this show really brought the heat on the final night of what is a very strong 4-night Halloween run. The first set contains some pretty standard fare, with a few of my favorite tunes thrown in that add some extra replay value for me, mainly Roggae, Water in the Sky, TUBE, and the entire Mike's segment.

Highlights of the first set are definitely Tube and the Mike's Groove. Tube really helped the second half of the first set shine with it's funky energy to start the jam section followed by a triumphant bliss-driven peak to close it out. For sure a stand-out version among the many great Tubes of recent times. The Mike's segment gets a special boost for the Lifeboy bustout and is of course it's natural dance party to end the first set.

Second set is where the goods are at in this show. Carini is always a great set 2 opener and this is no slouch. Dark from the get-go, this jam takes on a hypnotic industrial sound at the end of the jam, with some expert DDHVL vocal quotes layered on by Fishman to add to its spookiness. 46 Days, although pretty straightforward, keeps things feeling dark and murky and ends with some nice ambient space leading into SaSS, where this set really picks up the momentum. Although I wish they would play the intro more often, this version still kicks ass without it. Dark, spooky, and industrial at the start of the jam, then giving way to some tropical sounding dance music, this jam showcases all that Phish has to offer.

Has anyone ever regretted seeing a mid-second set Crosseyed? Neither did anyone at this show. 2001 and Possum great energy boosts late in the second set, leading up to the big finale and showcase jam of this night, Split Open and Melt. This jam really does have it all, spread out over several very distinct jam segments. A lot of the same dark, industrial tones from earlier in the set, played to perfection. Minutes 9-15 of the jam are some of the finest in this Vegas run. Definitely the highlight of this show and possibly even of this entire run. Never miss a Saturday show…?