After hearing the show, I'm really glad it isn't a paper tiger.

GBOTT absolutely smoked, Rift was crisp and Guelah featured some choice mustard in the intro as well as what seemed to be a slightly harder-edged rendition of the Asse Festival (Perhaps it was just confidence? None of the tenative feel that this section usually suffers from). Scent / JJLC looked like a possible lull but both versions were concise and powerful.
That 5 song segment makes a case for the way Phish has been treating their shows recently. Despite some seriously questionable setlist calls which dampen the enthusiasm, they've really been tearing up the songs lately. It's great to hear them sounding so inspired during a five song segment built of songs that aren't usually the first ones that people think of when they think of Phish ripping a new cornhole in the first set.
Wolfman's Brother featured some of that nice hybrid-plinko-funk where they don't all start plinking at once, but rather rotate in and out of it while they move the jam along and out of the staccato segment and into a lanky funk groove with Trey playing some sharp melodic riffs. As the jam proceeds, they toy with the Wolfman's theme quite nicely and Gordon just -powers- through the ending. Jam only lasted 6-7 minutes but featured 3 distinct looks. Solid Wolfman's Broh!

You could smell the cooldown coming a mile away. Personally love it when they utilize the lesser known latter-day ballads instead of the more obvious choices. Nice breather, but when Babylon Baby starts it feels like it would have fit masterfully right after Wolfman's. I might have to switch them up on my playlist from now on. Quick country fried rock jam that kind of felt like a cross between Sand and Back On The Train. Maybe just Destiny? I'd take it at my next show.

Reba seemed pretty clean and the jam had potential but seemed like it could have gone another few rounds before ending.
Alumni-> Page-> Alumni really smoked and made a case for being more than a rarity, it feels so much more at home in 2011 than it did in 1999.

I don't share the reviewer's ambivalence for the beginning of the second set. I thought it was great hearing FIshman drop out and the band continue playing for a few minutes after the end of a seriously active Sand jam. That extra few minutes made the Light feel much more natural than if they'd just slammed into it. And considering their recent batting average with segues involving drums, I'm all for a few minutes of pretty / trippy / spooky sizzle and fizzle while they get ready to drop the next tune in a good spot. While not as adventurous or long as the Tahoe or Superball Lights, I think its safe to say that the song has undergone a rennaisance as for the 3rd time in a row, they let Light breathe a little and the weird spiraling atonal funk jam that emerges is pure awesome.
Great placement on Dirt and the crowd seemed extremely appreciative. It's amazing what a sensible placement can do for the way a crowd receives something.

And then Waves? Wow. Looks like someone decided not to throw the setlist away tonight. Great way to move from the mellow Dirt back into something improvisatory and glorious. Waves has probably climbed quite high up a lot of people's "must hear" lists after the Bethel soundcheck was unleashed on the world and this version is just going to foster more desire for a dip in the Waves. They seem to tear through the composed section with glee and eagerly enter the jam segment. Gordon's bassline in the initial funk jam is a disgusting, disgusting thing and Trey just soars over it. Great acid drenched psychedelic rock. I love how when the jam shifts into each chord change, Fishman starts Undermining the beat a little bit more. I wonder how many people were thinking Bethel Soundcheck as soon as that first peak dropped into more wide-open sounding spaces? Instead we get a masterful segue into the more underrated soundcheck star of 2011, the future star Undermind. What's it going to take to make this song a 2nd set staple? I can picture it segueing into or out of such a huge range of songs. If this song took on a 'Light' type of role, I'd be happier than a wook in mahldawg. The jam out of Undermind is an amazing thing. Such a unique feel for a Phish jam. The theramin jam that follows is a perfect lead-in to Steam. What did we do for Phish for them to bless us with this set that revels in the potential of these songs? Steam packs a punch and fits perfectly into the slot. The solo gets better every time, even if this one doesn't feature the 2nd jam segment that MPP (at least?) hinted at.

Not to short-stack the greatest encore ever, but I absolutely -love- that the seperated that 'random' assortment of songs from that insanely cohesive second set. Guyute could have fit pretty perfectly, but I love it in the encore.

I can only hope that the 2nd set is a glimmer of the future. If Phish starts actively putting the improv in the hands of some new songs, the future is going to be extremely bright.

I just can't fathom why anyone could still think that a Tweezer/Bowie/YEM/Gin/ Ghost/Piper/Twist/etc could still have more potential as a jam-launchpad than a random assortment of other songs. Whereas those song have seemed to find a comfortable and whip-tight effective groove, who even knows where Undermind or Steam could go? Or Halfway To The Moon or The Wedge or Round Room or Vultures? I'm all ears for Phish 3.1 where they turn the catalouge inside out with sadistic glee and turn into some mutant hybrid of August 93 & June 97, playing their hearts out and blowing our freaking minds.