Three friends and I traveled to see the first night of Phish on Broad St. and I must say I am very pleased with what they threw down. I knew they had yet played a Reba or a Hood this tour,and voila. Some old classics were played that reminded me of why I love these songs and maybe evinced a few that I was neglecting.
Chalkdust opener always gets the crowd going although I would have liked something different. The Bathtub Gin was jammed out well. Not to long, not too trippy, just some good tight Gin. The Cities->Camel Walk is what we will call the "kick-down" of the first set, and it was SWEET. The Cities was not the Prague 98 Cities(or most Cities circa 97-98)but it was nailed and transitioned nicely into Camel Walk. One of the finest Camel Walk's I remember off-hand having witnessed. I thought the jam to end Camel Walk could have went on for another ten minutes and I would have loved every minute. It was rockin/funky/rip-roarin' Camel Walk!! ...but then it ended. Then came The Curtain With, a pleasant surprise, although it doesn't seem to be as rare as times past. The Wedge used to be a big one for me remembering when they brought it back out of a year-long retirement Red Rocks 95 but IMHO fits better at the beginning of a set rather than in the thick of it. The Moma Dance, good fun, saw the first one, and still enjoy thoroughly(miss Black-Eyed Katy though.)Reba, yes Reba. I needed this song, was looking for it, and got it. Just a Reba, but that jam in the middle is what my mind needed at that time. Soothing-to-the-soul type Phish, if ya know what I'm sayin'. Golgi- Yay. Now, here comes the first set kicker. MAN, do I DIG Stealin Time From the Faulty Plan. 'Twas my first and I sure did enjoy it. "Got a blank space where my mind should be." Heard that!!! Excellent set closer. It usually takes some time for me to warm up to a song. Not this one. Word UP. Must have been a good version cuz it kicked my ass.
Second set. Possum opener. I don't know, still smokin cigarettes in the conveniently located smoking lounge located behind section 109. I missed it, no biggy(reference 10/7/95 I)... I hope. Possum into DwD. Wow another DwD- they are flogging the proverbial dead horse with this one. Great song, but maybe it's time to go back into retirement with it for a while again. Just my thoughts, no hard feelins' all. Next my first Twenty Years Later. Would like to hear this more closely to figure it out. I kinda got out touch with checking setlists, staying in the know, etc. in 2004 as far as Phish goes. Undermind(2004) I admittedly is a weak spot in Phish wisdom. Anyways, it wasn't bad, wasn't "Wooh." It just was. A lot of people in my section were asking around for the song title. Next is the Hood which I predicted to be some of the "meat" of the second set. Harry Hood was Harry Hood. BUT THEN, Here it all comes in a blast of Sweet-Rock-n-Roll-Funk-Nasty-Mind-Blowing-Better-Recognize stuff we all love and hope for. Mango song was happy go lucky till the closing jam, and this jam was SICK. Page was smokin'!! Another jam that could have went another 10 minutes(like Sprach) and the house was on fire. Mike's was sickly good,tight,sweet and it transitioned into Simple. Now, I am usually not a big fan of this transition. But this one here changed my mind. And a friend with me was hoping for a Simple so that made it perfect. Slave, beautiful. Nuff said. Just beautiful. Then complete stop after Slave. Weekapaug. ON POINT. High energy, Trey and Mike groovin' together with Page and Fish right behind em'. Pure bliss from Mango on. A Day in the Life. A Day in the Life =} Good Stuff. Of course I will be back!!!