Let me start by saying that I enjoy these “welcome” sets. It’s a great chance for the band to get their feet underneath them and for the fans to meet up with their friends and family - old and new- without the “stakes” of a full on two set show (and yes, I realize that in the grand scheme of what is going on in the world that a phish show has 0.00 stakes).

As the show started with “Lizards,” my head went to “if they play Tela after this, a lot of people are going to start getting very mad”. But alas, phish ducked from a nicely played taste of Gamehendge into a swampy “Moma.” After a ripping peak on the Moma, the drop straight into “Peaches” whipped the crowd into a frenzy. The energy continued with “INYLTB” and “Funky Bitch,” featuring Gord-side, Shore Side (at least I think that’s what I think Trey said, affirming my suspicion that he spends his time on the can like most of us do - surfing .net forum). The jam on Tweezer had an ambient quality that reminded me of the soundcheck jam from Wednesday, but at the same time was way more than just vamping on a single chord. This jam went places. It even took a stop in Gamehendge. The rest of the set took us to the Soul Planet, gave us some Meat on the Water, re-introduced is to the Sci-Fi Soldiers (loved that song, btw), and brought us back to the sand. While this set only had one major jam, that jam was a very good one. From my vantage point, the playing was pretty strong all set and the teases displayed their usual mastery of this music. Not a set I’ll listen to on repeat, but a very nice welcome to paradise.

Unfortunately for the 12/24/22 Tweezer, the encore will be what most people talk about today and beyond when they talk about this show. It was awesome to see Dave and Trey up there having a great time. There is clearly a mutual admiration between those two. I’m not a Dave-hater by any stretch, but I just don’t think the encore from last night is something I’ll listen to very often. It’s not that “So Damn Lucky” and “The Maker” aren’t good songs - they are - but they just didn’t give phish much to do. There are more musically interesting and high energy songs than those two. I loved watching Dave pound the acoustic through “Tweeprise”, and I left smiling as I walked swiftly back to my room to meet our room service order ????.

I think the current rating of 3.3 is pretty spot on. Really fun show for those of us lucky enough to be there, but it won’t be on anyone’s top 10 sets of 2022, in spite of the tremendous “Tweezer.”