From start to finish...nothing but eternal sound! Patient and guided. Inspired and curvy!
An absolute blowout to an absolute blowout weekend!
I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to have been present.
Kuroda, my man, MVP!
If anyone finds my face in the clean up crew’s endeavors, please pm me.

Because I don't tour anymore, I only go to the Dick's shows because they're a 30 min drive from my place. I started to get this weird feeling that the band was playing a lot of the same songs year after year when they come here. I looked into it last year and, to my surprise, it seemed even more prevalent than I imagined. I compiled a list of how many times the most-played songs appeared at Dick's and posted it to the reviews under 9/3/17. I'm updating that list after their 8th consecutive run in Commerce City. I'm not adept at statistics and advanced probability, so if someone out there can speak to whether this falls within or beyond the bounds of expectation, especially the songs that have appeared at all 8 Dick's shows, I would be eager to hear from you. An asterisk denotes that the song was also played during Phish's 3-day run at 1st Bank Center in 2010.
Light (8)*
CDT (8)*
Ghost (8)*
Piper (8)*
Antelope (8)*
The Wedge (8)
Hood (8)
Tweezer (7)*
Moma (7)*
46 Days (7)*
Slave (7)*
DwD (7)
Sand (7)
Gin (7)
Free (6)*
Twist (6)*
Carini (6)
Suzy (6)
Steam (6)
- - Steam played only 32 times since it’s ’11 debut (almost 1 out of every 5 at Dick's)

Never miss a Sunday show. In this (first time) reviewers opinion, those words delivered on their promise. This was my first Dicks run and I held high expectations because of the history of the band in this venue. I was completely fulfilled by Sunday's show, with Phish seemingly influenced by the scale and presence of the Rocky Mountains. The first set was a deluge of music, with highlights that included a crowd bouncing Possum, sweet reggae groove Mellow Mood, a beautiful Ocelot, Phish showing that they are always Keepin' it Real, face melting triad of My Friend, Horn, and Maze, and finally a soulful rendition of Miss You, closing with a majestic Antelope.
The crowd needed that set break to ready themselves for one last push, which Phish then provided in the second set. Is hard to pick out a specific highlight from a second set that was a single, continuous flow of the finest music this reviewer than recall being a part of. I think the second set is best viewed as a single entity, a massive organism of music and energy, that gave the phans in attendance a transcendent experience. This colossal show was capped off by an emotional Horse/Silent in the Morning followed by the anticipated, and explosive Tweezer Reprise. I held high expectations for this run and this show, and those expectations were exceeded.

Another Dicks winner! I felt like the first two nights had a delicate, introspective precision to them. Last night the music had a great easy going flow from the stage to the crowd...Soul Planet was rockin and set a great tone for the evening...a lot of the songs had a deep psychedelic vibe which was on full display in the 46 days>Tweezer>Golden Age segment. It was wonky and bizarre yet totally worked...cheers to Phish on wrapping up a great tour and can’t wait for Albany!!!

WTF is wrong with Gotta Jibboo? I mean, it's fine if you don't like the tune, but don't accuse them of "mushing it all up" with a song that like 90% of the Phish crowd has no problem with. Phish has put together a lot of really good jams (even if some are only 12 minutes) with Gotta Jibboo, if you've listened to the Baker's Dozen version or Jibboo from 12/31/17 you know what I mean.

Anyway, I thought this show kicked ass. I liked the Soul Planet opener going straight into Possum, I liked the Mellow Mood bust-out, for the most part I really liked their song selection in the first set. Miss You isn't my favorite, but hey, it's still an original and if Antelope follows, I'm more than cool with it.

I didn't get to be there for this show, had to fly home but I think this is one of the greatest 2nd sets of the year. I'm extremely happy for all that were in attendance because I think the 46 Days -> Tweezer -> GA > Steam is top-shelf Phish. Sure, they could have picked other songs besides Suzy and Zero to close with but they opted to keep the energy high and rock out. Nothing wrong with that.

I'll be listening to this set 2 for quite some time, and I hope you do too. WE LOVE DICK'S!!

It's hard to compare this show to the other 2 played earlier this weekend. The energy inside the venue was incredible. Soul Planet wasn't the opener I was hoping for but the segue into Possum was nailed and the place went nuts. Mellow Mood was a great bust out and the Tube>Funky Bitch that followed got the place going crazy again. MFMF>Horn>Maze was a great Rift triplet and the Antelope was a fun way to close the set. The 46 Days->Tweezer->Golden Age was probably the best music of the entire weekend. The whole venue lost their mind when Tweezer started. The amount of glowsticks flying around was the most I've seen since Magnaball. Steam through Gotta Jibboo was good song selection but the closing Suzy and Zero was slightly disappointing cause I was looking for a YEM or Fluffhead but oh well. Overall this show was another winner and Dick's 2018 was a blast. I'll be listening to the 46 Days Tweezer Golden Age section of this show several times

In hindsight, 2018 was the best year for Phïsh since 1.0.
And there are a ton of stand out shows. Vegas. Yemsg. Sf. Chi1. ...do not sleep on this one. Although night one of dicks (8/31/18) was a touch better of a show, this night, 9/2/18, is a massive kickdown.
We are spoiled. And that’s ok.
This night deserves to be ranked in the 4.5-4.6 area. First set was extremely well played.
First 3 songs of the second are Phïsh are their highest playing.

Mandatory listening.

September 2nd, 2018 was the final night of Phish’s nearly-annual three-night run at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Denver, Colorado, of which I was in my sophomore season, having been to Dick’s once before.

Incidentally, we have a rule around our house when it comes to discussing this venue. More specifically, I have a rule around our house about it, and to put an even finer point upon it, the rule is particularly for when we are around our house, not in it.

Y’see, when we are at home sitting on our couches, I have no problem discussing with m’lady whether or not we should go to see Phish in their favourite Denver stadium. “Do you wanna do Dick’s?” “Oh, I don’t know. I mean I love Dick’s, but I’m not sure we should do it again.” “Oh come on, you know how much fun Dick’s can be.”

So, when we are within earshot of anyone who is not a rabid Phishhead I insist m’lady refer to the venue as “Denver”.

“Do you wanna do Denver?” “Oh, I don’t know. I mean I love Denver, but I’m not sure we should do it again.” “Oh come on, you know how much fun Denver can be.”

If you look really closely, I think you can see my reasoning.

Anyway, I really like Dick’s (errr…Denver) and this third night was chock-a-block with personal favourite songs. My Friend, My Friend, Tweezer, Maze, Character Zero, it was a great closing night to a great weekend of fun, friends, and music.

Thank ye lords that m’lady and I were unable to find a decent flight back from Denver on the Monday and had to book one for the Tuesday instead, affording us the entire next day to sit around and do absolutely nothing. I actually made a point of pouring myself a couple of drinks and sitting in the lobby right at noon so I could revel in watching a mile of tired souls check out of the hotel and leave for the airport.

I was subtle about it though; I’m not a jerk.

Later that following day an old Canadian friend who had moved to Denver got in touch and dropped by our hotel to say hello, only to announce as he walked through the door that he was probably in the throes of getting divorced from our other friend. Thus proceeded several hours watching him flip between blasé casual conversation and bombastic emotional tirades on our patio while m’lady and I sat by like deer in the headlights, sidelined by the acute cellphone drama that had descended upon us.

Eventually we encouraged him to go home and work things out. He did half of those things.

Great run of shows though. I love…Denver.

http://www.toddmanout.com

Wow. In the late haze of eastern time couch tour, these words spin forth.

I enjoyed the full weekend.

Friday was wonderful

Saturday was solid

Sunday was ethereal

I love this band, but i have one critique of the entire weekend. Pick any song but jiboo in that spot.

You literally had an all time show going and you mushed it all up with gotta jiboo.

Finish the fourth quarter.

Friday: 4.75
Saturday: 4.10
Sunday: 4.33