[Recap of last night’s show courtesy of longtime Mockingbird Foundation contributor, jaded vet, and serial ranker @chopaganda.]

Before we begin, I want to thank Steve Paolini for offering me his traditional Sunday Dick’s recap. Steve was one of many fans who thought Curveball would actually happen and missed this year’s Dick’s run in lieu of it. Sucker.

There are two ways we can look at last night’s show. On the one hand, it was incredibly fun, high-energy, and packed with moments that remind us why we love Phish. On the other hand, it was a big step back from Friday night and a somewhat tepid way to end a Summer tour following the cancelation of Curveball.

If we were to break down the Summer 2018 shows into tiers*****, it would look something like this:

Tier 1: Dicks1

Tier 2: Alpharetta1

Tier 3: Gorge3, Alpharetta2, Camden1, Merriweather2, Dicks3

Tier 4: San Francisco1, Alpharetta3, Forum1, Camden2, Dicks2

Tier 5: Gorge1, San Francisco2, Austin, Raleigh, Merriweather1

Tier 6: Tahoe1, Tahoe2, Gorge2, Forum2

*****This is specifically looking at the music that ends up on the recordings. It is not a ranking of good times and crowds going wild (e.g. even though Alpharetta night three was obviously one of the most fun shows of Summer, it’s also one of the weaker shows of Summer in terms of improv and flubs).

So which parts of last night's show (Sunday Dick's) elevated it to Tier 3?

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