I somehow managed to wake up early along w/ Tony so we could have the oil changed in our cars. This would be the first of four for me. We checked out of our hotel, got a bite at a Thai restaurant, and got in line for them to open up the lot. Met some cool people from L.A., Michigan, and Oregon. Also, a reporter for the Orange County Register briefly interviewed Tony,Lee and me for a spot in the Travel section. It is supposed to be 8/24 according to Tony. They opened the lots around 3:30. The weather was nice and sunny. I met Nestamarley and his girlfriend Kelly (hope I spelled that right Mike). It was really nice meeting him - I have been seeing his posts for a few years now . I'd be seeing Mike on and off all the way through Pittsburgh! Anyway, the cops/security seemed much cooler today for whatever reason. I managed to put a nice buzz on before heading off for the gates. I went in w/ Tony - we both had lawn tonight (my first of the tour) and got a good spot front and center. Problem is if you are that up front on the lawn it's tough to see the stage (yeah, it sounds strange but true).

SET 1: Spices: Well, Trey did promise to play this at Shoreline so there you go. ->

Waves: Standard.

Reba: Excellent version of Reba! Soaring. Would recommend.

Lawn Boy:

The Moma Dance: I really got a groove on during this one. It funked out for a good 12 and a half minutes. I especially enjoy the minimalistic nature of the last few minutes – very heady and ethereal. >

Run Like an Antelope: Trey is quite sloppy in most everything leading up to the jam. Jam is run of the mill – so it rocked just nothing out of the ordinary.

For set break Tony and I wandered up on the hill Page side and met up w/ a friend of his. You've got to be careful up there. If you lose your balance mid-dance, then you can tweak your ankle(s). Reminded me of Alpine in regard to how steep the lawn is.

SET 2: 46 Days: Pretty solid jam right here. Nothing that I would seek out but good way to come out of set break.

Divided Sky: Very, very good Sky. Would recommend. The Dave’s Energy Guide stuff starts around 15:45, love this – it is interwoven beautifully. Mike is really thumping here. Page lays down some interesting effects around 16:45.

Friday: Brutal, horrid placement. Why would you put this here? >

Free: Mike crushes his solo. Outside of that, not much to see here… >

Seven Below: Standard.

Wading in the Velvet Sea: Standard.

Also Sprach Zarathustra: This was a nice 2001. But really short. At just under 7 minutes, I think this well could be the shortest 2001 I had seen since the mid 90's. Segue into >

Down with Disease: Ripped, Type I face melter.

ENCORE: Rift - Minor flubs galore in this one. The one I saw in Rosemont in February seemed much tighter.

Character Zero:

Replay Value/Summary: Reba, The Moma Dance, Divided Sky. Not much to chew on here, folks. They fell flat after a very hot show the night before. Out of the first 4 shows of the summer tour, 3 of them were mediocre at best. What happened with band in between the winter and summer tour? Winter tour raged and now this? A head scratcher for sure. This is one of those rare Phish shows for me where the first set is better than the second set. Everything in the second set seemed to be slightly rushed with some sloppy playing taboot. The band could have been a bit tired after 4 straight nights on stage; especially after the heater that was the night before. I know I was tired and definitely not looking forward to the 16-hour drive to the Gorge. After the show we hit the road for the Gorge and pulled over about an hour later and grabbed a hotel. The next day would be a festival of driving - we would not pull into the Gorge's onsite camping until 2am.

Score: 3 out of 5.