It seems crazy to me that with the quality and specialness that surrounded Weir'd in Nashville, I would be talking about it only 5 days later as a mere stepping stone for this tour. Then I would have told you after the second night in Nashville that I had seen the best set of the year, only to find myself believing after N1 in Alpharetta that it wasn't the case, and that THAT set was the best set of the year. By the time I woke up yesterday morning I was convinced of two things: 1) Phish is in a very, very good place right now, and 2) I had seen the mountain top, and there was
nowhere to go but staying put or heading down.

Which brings me now to last nights show.

I have seen 41 shows now which makes me no expert; I can only compare with what I've got. Something happened to me last night that I thought I surely must have experienced before, but in the moment I could think of nothing... no other show that this happened. The experience was sort of a mind-left body type trip. And I was sober, mind you...I'm always sober at shows these days. But I had a very strong connection from the back of the lawns to the band where I could almost see and hear everything slowed down, like Neo in The Matrix, and I knew intuitively where the music was going even before it happened. It was a true transcendental experience. At some point during Simple I half-expected Trey to start floating up into the air of the stage. It would not have shocked me if he did. That's how well they played last night. They used every tool in the shed and chose a vintner's selection of some of the finest songs to launch into the netherworld. A Groove that shook earth (seriously, that 'Paug), a Gin that was streamlining like a Japanese bullet train, a deep, dark, dirty Stash to remind us Halloween is only a week away, and you're gonna need something big to carry your treats. And then as if they needed to remind us at this point, they brought out another epic set 2 to the table. But this one was different than all the rest this year, and this is where I finally make my point. The setlist is even better than it looks on paper, and it looks like a classic. For me, it transcended (again that word) all forms of music and art (I loved the LED's last night), and for a mere 68 minutes that felt like a marathon, it became the benchmark for all 3.0 shows I have seen past and future.