, attached to 2023-08-01

Review by TRob_93

TRob_93 Some shows, you hear the opener and you know - sure as anything, you know it - that it's going to be a really special show. Tonight was that kind of night - kicked off by an S-tier "Ghost" that has no 4.0 rival, save perhaps the monster Halloween 2021 iteration - and followed by a "Reba" that, though perfunctory for most of the composed portions, featured a sick, psychedelic jam. If the "Ghost" didn't firmly convince you, the "Reba" jam sure did. I'm way too wiped out to go through and recount every song from here on in, save to say that you'd be hard-pressed to identify any significant misstep anywhere in the show. Long before they followed a mid-encore "Sanity" bustout with a friggin' "David Bowie", the night's legacy was cemented.

As a Midwestern Phan who hasn't had the chance to attend as many shows as I'd like, I'm relegated to couch tour for most of these shows. While that is a bummer in many respects, I do think it perhaps grants one a greater ability to hear the show, albeit at the cost of sensing and perceiving much of the live event's vibe. The vibe, alas, needs nary a second thought at an MSG show, so all that really remains up for speculation - the only material variable factor - is, "Will this be a good night, a great night, or one of those kind of nights?" Well, musically at least, this one - as adjudged from a decidedly tarped couch cushion - is my pick, effective immediately, for the best overall, start-to-finish show of the year to date, taking the torch from either that Hollywood Bowl show, or maybe one of their Alpharetta dates.

If you're scanning the comments to find gripes and complaints, I have nothing for you. But if you're reading this in order to suss out and identify the good stuff, congratulations - you found it.


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