This show was the real deal. A young band on the up, developing themselves in real time before our eyes. Almost a full hour of Billy MF Strings in the flesh. And Trey leading the most talented circus this side of MSG on NYE.

First, to address the 800 pound bird in the room: Goose is a good band and Trey picked them for a reason. I'm dying to hear about all the bands you may like better in the thread speculating on the next TAB tour. Get off the grump train and live in the now, cause they're touring with one of your favorite acts and no grousing is going to change that. I admit I deployed the old man "what's this new thing" kneejerk when I did a bit of diving into the Goose catalog and their live stuff to prep myself. It didn't pull me in right away and I was on the fence of even making the 30 minute drive from DC to see the show. I'd have been a crusty fart that lost out on the party had I kept that attitude. If you insist on wearing This Is Not My Preferred Band earplugs in you're only hurting yourself.

I'm glad I made the call to show up early for posters because I snagged a sweet, sweet event foil version + the tour Pollock + the Dave Kloc charity version. Even better was getting great seats Rage Side in section 116 with close proximity to the stage and sight and sound lines. Goose put on a show for my first experience. They brought energy and fire. Two major jam vehicles (Arrow and, I think, Arcadia) with some real sauce on the buildups were my highlights before Trey came on. The double lead guitar weaving and peaking was fun and the last song, Tumble, really moved and you could tell Trey didn't want it to end. As a critique of a new-to-me band, sure, they're a little peaky for the sake of it. To my ears, some of the verses could use more melodic intrigue. Maybe I'd have a hard time picking them out of a lineup of Lettuce, Eggy, moe., and so on. That's fine, genres sound like genres for a reason. But there were more moments of stoke than anything else and it was worth the price of admission. So there you go, fowl hunters.

Some 70 stage hands later, TAB's gear was ready to go and your favorite band's other band kicked off with a sweet First Tube. Could have gone deeper for me, but it felt like a statement. Curlew's Call and Magilla featured solos bouncing around the stage, About to Run did its red light shredding to perfection.... solid TAB fare.

AND THEN....

Sir Billy sauntered out. We kinda knew he would, given the Anthem shows the next two nights, but seeing is believing. Among the loudest I've heard a Phish-universe crowd. And man, when he showed up he showed out. Meet me at the Creek was the perfect ease in. Possum was made for a Billy collab and having Trey, Billy, and Rick on Moma was just wild. I've never seen Jiboo stretched out like this and it just worked. Trey actively passed the baton to Billy and Rick whenever he could to let them take the solos and the bouncing and weaving between the three of them was just priceless.

The encore was even heavier with a stunningly reserved and gorgeous Love and Regret with just Trey and Billy on acoustic. Same with a pared down, wistful Water in the Sky. What a unique version. Rick came back for a bouncing Train. and then we were blessed with a 13-person version of Carini. As Trey said, the only thing better than one bass is two basses. And two keys. And three horns. And three guitars. And four drummers. For me, that blew the roof off and knocked the house down.

Never miss a Thursday show, friends. And don't sleep on this tour.