Show Review - Phish 8/18/24 Dover, DE

Phish brought their Mondegreen festival to a close yesterday with a high-energy afternoon set, full of celebratory energy despite the looming weather that had forced a change in set time. With the announcement of a 1pm start time to Sunday’s show, fans swarmed into the concert grounds much earlier than normal to take their spots, though many more hung back under the Silent Trees to get some relief from the insane sun and heat.

While the conditions for the end of the festival weren’t ideal and didn’t pack the same punch as a proper two-set show would have, the forethought to move set times well in advance in order to avoid cancellation was a great move that allowed us to still see a couple of hours of music – though the worst of the weather missed Dover, there was a lot of lightning in the area during the normal showtime, which would have cancelled the show outright if they had stuck to the scheduled 6:30 start.

Still, with the absence of a Phish festival’s typical scheduled day set, it was nice to get the experience and the “Party Time” opener was appropriate to get the vibes going. Great solos from keyboardist Page McConnell and guitarist Trey Anastasio led into “Axilla I,” making its second appearance of the summer after being mostly shelved in favour of “Part II” in late 2021, but the band tacked on the signature jam of its counterpart – though there was an absence of the “don’t shine that thing in my face, man” lyric.

“Steam” threatened to escape its boundaries for several minutes of the jam, breaking into some brief major-key play before settling back into the song’s languid pace, building to a solid peak before closing into “Martian Monster.” The fun romp through the Chilling, Thrilling tune was doused in vocal samples from McConnell, making Anastasio laugh throughout while the guitarist tossed in wildly bent ring-modulator tones.

After last weekend’s massive performance in Bethel, “AC/DC Bag” had some big shoes to fill – and while it didn’t hit 20 minutes or really go Type II, the quick 9-minute rendition coloured a bit outside the lines with a breezy jam on “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” by Anastasio and McConnell before returning home to close.

“Sigma Oasis” similarly was treated to an all-too-brief foray into extended jamming, McConnell’s clavinet work shining on the choppy minor key work before Anastasio pulled the ripcord into “Rift.”

Coming in next with “Stash,” it started to become clear that we were only getting one longer set instead of two. This tune had one of my favourite pieces of music of the afternoon, another tiny pocket of blissful improv led by Anastasio’s looping tones and McConnell’s gentle Moog One textures – though it was not to last, as bassist Mike Gordon pulled Anastasio back into “Stash” proper before the major-key space could pick up steam.

Gordon fronted the band on a quick “Ya Mar” that led into “Timber,” then finally the long-awaited “Bathtub Gin.” Clocking in at a mere 12 minutes, this one packs a serious punch and ended up being one of the best moments of the set with a propulsive and deeply groovy funk jam that called to mind big Summer 1998 versions of “Gin” like Ventura and Riverport.

A surprise call of Jimi Hendrix’s “Izabella” rocked our faces off next with Anastasio’s incredible guitar work, the relative rarity making its second appearance of the tour and increasing its regularity in setlists – something I am absolutely HERE for.

“Simple” was quickly abandoned in favour of a set-closing “Golden Age,” entering some lovely Type II spaces and hitting a solid peak before the band closed out the main set after just over two hours.

Many of us were hoping for a lengthy encore due to the lack of rain or imminent weather – Anastasio commented on the lack of cloud cover on the concert field as the band returned for the encore – but we were instead treated to an excellent 17-minte “Fuego,” full of exuberance and joy as the band hit peak after peak before returning to the chorus at the end, smiles on each of their faces as they brought Mondegreen to a close.

While the final day of the festival wasn’t the most impressive musically, it was a blast to rage one more show with my friends as part of what was one of the best weekends and live music experiences I’ve ever been lucky enough to have. Thank you to Phish for putting on this event and allowing us all to share in the joy and community we cherish so much – may the next festival be less than nine years away!

See you at Dick’s!