An extraordinarily strong first set. Followed by an immaculate beginning to second set. The band was completely in sync and then the brought out Derek Trucks.

Credit to trey for letting Derek take the lead on several of the second set tunes in the second set. Derek let it all hang out and dueled with trey throughout a souring second set.

An all time night at SPAC, a great way to make it worth the price of admission to raise money for the victims of the flooding.

From the opening notes of "Free" it was evident this night was gonna be special. Man, even knowing that couldn't have prepared me for just what was in store. Raucous opening to the first set complete with a bananas "Wolf Man's Brother" and the best "Sigma Oasis" I've heard this tour. "Pillow Jets" had some really cool dark guitar stuff going on that took me by surprise. Definitely a sleeper song that came clutch with some odd vibes, but the right kind of strange for sure. End of set one was surreal. The motion was already trending exceptional and then they ended with "Harry Hood". Nuff said

Set Two didn't just deliver on the promise of set one, it exceeded it. A solid "Down with Disease" that melted into a remarkable "Ghost". At one point during the jam, someone turned to me mid-groove and said "This is why we Phish". True indeed, random beautiful person, true indeed. As if that was enough, the "2001" was absolutely blistering.

Then Derek Trucks. Stunning interplay between Trey and Derek. Trey really laid back and let Derek shine and it made Treys playing so much better when it was his turn to rip. Epic is an understatement. The "Golden Age" was killer, particularly Derek's initial solo, which was unreal. Heck, this show made me like "Everything's Right" AND "A Life Beyond the Dream " which is no small feat because normally those songs annoy the hell out of me. Not tonight. Tonight they were blissful and perfect. Not to mention a raging "First Tube" with guitar harmonies that sounded like Iron Maiden meets the Allman Brothers. Just crazy. And then a "Possum" to close things out, the perfect Phish song for Derek to join.

Bonus shout out to Gordo for performing particularly well this evening. He's always the glue, but tonight he was a little extra sticky.

First, let me say how appreciative I am to Phish and SPAC for having these benefit concerts. I think I read they raised over $2M for the flood victims of VT and Upstate NY (where I live).

The energy was a bit different from Friday from the get go. At least on the Lawn. It was more crowded and people didn't seem as into it as the previous night. But it wasn't going to stop me from having a great night. What almost did was some inconsiderate "dad" and his 2 kids that pulled up and stood directly in the dancing space in front of our chairs we had been sitting in for a hour. After politely asking if they wouldn't mind respecting my space and possibly relocating, he and his buddy used colorful abusive language towards me in front of their kids and didn't budge. This being my 248th Phish show I decided it was better to be the bigger person and accept that this guy was not gonna move and I wasn't gonna let it ruin my night. I definitely said something about being more respectful to strangers, especially in front of children, but then I let it go and moved away to a new spot. At setbreak I even apologized to him for the inconvenience, even though I had done nothing wrong but I wanted to give him an opportunity to "be a good dad" in front of his kids. He barely accepted my apology but again, I wasn't gonna let it ruin my night. It was probably his 2 teen sons first Phish show and I wanted them to enjoy it.

Musically, The show started out strong with great first set staples and a fine version of a newer Trey song. The Tube was short but sweet but led into a tasty Twist and terrific Hood. Not on the level of the N7 MSG Encore but I could still feel very good.

DWD 2nd set opener is almost always a good sign and tonight was no exception. The segue into Ghost was seamless and I could tell we were in for a good set of music. It was a solid version of one of my favorite songs with some nice major key bliss jamming. Good use of guitar looping and echoes, crystal clear tones on the baby grand, creative melodies from the low end and Fish was keeping it as tight as ever. The night air was cooling off and the band was heating up. When they dropped into 2001 I felt like I was back in 1998 for a moment. The lawn crowd finally seemed to start getting into the groove.

I had read there might be a special guest(s) and a setbreak tip from a local newspaper reporter fan tipped me off it was Derek Trucks. It wasn't my first time seeing them together though. I was lucky enough to attend a TAB show in 2001 or 2002 at a tiny festival in Angel's Camp CA. Both Derek and Les Claypool joined Trey on stage. This was an outstanding sit in and I enjoyed every minute of it.

It was one of the better versions of Golden Age I've heard, mainly because Derek's slinky blues riffs complementing the band's solid rendition. I had hoped to hear Everything's Right for the Flood Victims and this, another one of my (more recent) favorites, did not disappoint. It actually did feel like "It's Gonna Be Alright" again in our little corner of the world. Phish was here to see to that. The energy was high and positive and the interplay between the two guitarists was just right. The end of the jam before going back into the chorus even sounded a bit like like The Allman Brothers. They were on fire!

Which is why I thought this was a curious place for ALBTD. But no matter what I think about the band (Trey's) choices of songs I often have to remind myself that "they know what they're doing". This was a beautiful version that allowed for some time to cool down after dancing hard for the past 5 straight songs. It was also the point in which "dad of the year" and his 2 teen sons decided to finally make their exit. This allowed for my GF and I to finally have the space we had saved for an hour+ before the show back to ourselves and we made good use of it; Slow dancing and twirling to the sounds of "Love will carry us through".

I have mixed feelings about First Tube. Sure, it's a 'banger'. The crowd generally loves it and Trey sure seems to love playing it. I think maybe after seeing it played 62 times I'm a little over it. But this version was different. The harmonies between Trey and Derek made for some fantastic listening and dancing music. I still just kinda chuckle to myself a bit when he's lifting and moving the Laguadoc around like there's a secret theremin in it when in reality he's stepping on a pedal. But the crowd loves it and it's a great way to put an exclamation point on a terrific show. This version in particular was smoking.

I wasn't sure what they were going to pick for an encore. Might it be Funky Bitch like they've played together before or the My Soul from the previous night's soundcheck? The high energy Possum Encore fit the slot just perfectly. I loved how both guitarists patiently waited for Page to take the first solo before ripping into this one. There was no "I'll go high and you go low" here though. Both Trey and Derek seemed to want to go higher and higher and almost duel each other with their nearly piercingly high notes. It was pretty awesome actually and sounds even better on the recording. Trucks' bluesy style lends itself effortlessly to this 12 bar style number.

All in all Saturday's show had some solid versions of songs in the first set and even a first set closing Harry Hood. The second set starts off like a 1,2,3 punch straight out of the late '90's and it topped off by one of the best sit-ins I've seen Phish play. They don't do it often but when they do it's pretty much amazing! I personally liked the Friday show better but it's mostly because they played the first ever Simple at SPAC and it was glorious! It was an amazing weekend and I'm happy I could be a part of helping the fine people of VT and Upstate NY putting their lives back together. I love that my favorite band is so socially and environmentally conscious and spreads such joy while doing so.

50/10. Epic. Brilliant First set...that was as good as you get, while still keeping it a 1st set. Almost every song was a tight 8 minutes of goodness. But the Tube>Twist>Hood sent the message, that this was a show to be reckoned with. 3rd quarter jamming was very strong, top tier, must listen...but the 4th quarter....Trucks and Trey!!! ridiculous interplay. So psychedelic!!! Thank god this is recorded. Perfection for the world to enjoy for years to come. Best Possum I ever heard.

Free: Good opener, played well.

Wolfman's Brother: Strong as usual.

Maze: Fine version, keeps the energy going strong for sure.

Sigma Oasis: I groaned a bit as this started up, but Trey really crushes this one. Definitely worth a listen if you have not heard it.

Pillow Jets: I liked the jam in Star Lake. But the lyrics, woof. This one does nothing for me at all. Hope to not hear it again really.

Tube: Played too fast. Throw away version. >

Twist: Another throw away version. >

Harry Hood: And another throw away version, no patience. Three top shelf Phish songs played right in a row with no heart and no soul. What happened?

SET 2:

Down with Disease: Yikes, another throw away version. Straight up boring. ->

Ghost: Throwaway version. After the composed section they opt immediately for that canned bliss jam you have now heard hundreds of times. The last couple of minutes are decent.

Also Sprach Zarathustra: Short version. >

Golden Age: Derek Trucks nice, crowd goes nuts when he comes out. I thought, what a strange tune to collaborate on. But the jam is sick. Two legends trading licks and jamming like crazy. Great stuff, highly recommended. >

Everything's Right: Another awesome collaboration. Great, great stuff here. Highly recommended.

A Life Beyond The Dream: Good stuff.

First Tube: Like Golden Age, I thought this was such an odd choice. But again, they made it work and very, very well. When they team up and play the same ascending notes, it just sets SPAC on fire. Awesome!

ENCORE:

Possum: An obvious choice but strangely it wasn’t that energetic for some reason. Page’s solo was especially benign, and I don’t think I heard Derek play a rhythmic not during it.

Summary: The first half of the first set was good, but the second half was not. The first half of the second set was not good, quite vanilla and boring. Derek and Trey crushed Golden Age and Everything’s Right – awesome stuff, love it. First Tube too. The complete body of work of this show though doesn’t compete with the night before. The show is better than average because of the collaboration but the not by much. I would rate this show as a 3.7 out of 5.

Replay Value: Golden Age, Everything’s Right, First Tube.

This was no ordinary Saturday night. Building on the momentum from the previous night, the band blew the top off of SPAC, blasting straight into the stratosphere and leaving no doubt that when they aim to slay they simply don’t miss.

Set one begins with a an above average Free, Mike’s bass on full display. This is 8 minutes of pristine soulful Free and sets the tone for the evening: a tension snd release slug fest. Each song of the first set gets some TLC from the band and even the pillow jets, a somewhat awkward call, displays the bands patience and desire to elevate everything they come in contact with. Tube wins the first set MVP for me but mostly because, well, I love Tube. Hood rocks hard too to close the set and when the house lights are fired up for setbreak there are only smiles to be found.

34 minutes later the house lights drop and with opening growl of Down with Disease we are off to the races. Disease bleeds into a groove fest, delicately pushing from the peak of the outro into type II territory and the band locks in for another 10 minutes leaving the roughly 13 minute Disease unrecognizable toward the end. What was recognizable was the B+ segue into Ghost. Unlike the speed racer drive into Simple that lacked the delicate grace and patience, this Disease earned its sideways carrot and dash. Ghost haunts us for another 14 minutes and keeps the groove fest on track. A very welcome and surprising jam factoid, the band did not use the customary major key bliss bailout that has been a recent go to among a lot of jams. Instead, Ghost keeps the funk groove train rolling down the tracks so when 2001 is fired up, you know the next stop is funky town. Another concise and powerful 2001 delivers on the tension and release and foreshadows the onslaught of rageification that is about to ensue.

So, I tend to have my eyes everywhere but on the stage and even when I do take a moment to embrace the scene, it is short lived snd back to getting up to get down. As Golden Age launched I started getting these Allman Brothers vibes and clearly notated it in my set list tracker. I mean, it was full on Southern Rock and I made sure to let my neighbor know as much.

When Golden Age transitions to its improvised section, that Allman twang is front and center. I not it again. When the fire build and release of Golden Age bleeds into Everything’s Right the Allman influence is uncanny so I turn to face the stage and see a second guitarist on stage. WTF. I ask my neighbor who it is and when he tells me it’s Derrick Trucks so many light bulbs go off it could have been seen from space.

While the dueling guitars was spectacular the cohesiveness of the band blending another musician into their sound was what really stuck out (or didn’t stick out). Trucks stayed the course with the band though top notch renditions of ALBAD and First Tube. The possum encore ripped. shredded and built the crowd into a frenzy before releasing the energy back to its source.

We were left wanting more but in a way that accounts for the gratitude you have for having experienced a show like this one. Certainly worth a respin to ensure it holds up, but the “you had to be there” mentality was totally emanating through the pavilion. Blessed to have attended both nights and for a chance to really go next level with the band.

From my couch (in Baltimore), these shows really were something special. They were playing with a Super-ChunkyCrunchy-Dark-Loud-Phat-Funk sound, driven by Trey playing as if he was pissed off (imagine a pissed off Trey - weird!) ..and the rest of our boys from up north seemed to exert the same energy and devotion to musical bliss, or even perfection (dream). A lovely Harry Hood to close the first set (rare) was exactly what it's all about. As I imagined thousands and thousands of beautiful, colorful, psychedelic, neon, AND Non-Biodegradable glow sticks soaring through the SPAC air, I was lost thanking Mr. Minor, when it hit me - we still had another whole set!

Set 2 starts with a close, personal song - and really kicked it back off right ..(I'm down with disease now) Ghost = Phun. ...THEN... as the CK5 showoff session that was Phish's rendition of, Deodato's rendition of, the 2001 theme, was ringing it's last epic note - (and while I was still giggling over another Also Sprach Zarathustra mind-blow) - I look up and who is on stage with our fab 4??!!? ... DEREK Phucking TRUCKS!

The rest of the show is already in the top tier of 40 years worth of amazingness. MAGIC. ...My highlights >

Set 1: Free opener (for FREE webcasts!!) ...Tube>Twist>...HOOD [first set 1 closer since '99 or something]...
Set 2: DWD>Ghost>2001 > 'The Derek Trucks Set'' (just listen!)

Friday was crunchy phunky phun time. Saturday was one of the best shows The Phish has ever performed.

Thank you Phish

Last night was only my 21st show so I'm still working on getting my apprenticeship, but even I can recognize the fabulous musicianship on display this weekend.

Friday was extremely solid, the band was clearly rested and loose. Trey was on from the first note and it was evident from how tight the harmonies were that they were ready to rumble all weekend. Page and Fish locked in immediately and Mike was playing his fool head off.

Jumping to last night's show, it was the same thing. They came out strong and immediately amped the energy up with 'Free' and didn't look back. While speaking with my wife who has been attending since '98, we were both slightly surprised by the decision to go directly from the pandemic song to Pillow Jets (the only song this weekend that I hadn't seen previously) as the energy immediately dropped but they closed it out with a solid Tube > Twist > Hood which excited our 12 year old who was at his 3rd show and chasing glow sticks.

Going into the second half, they started off with a lively DWD and I had called a Ghost after Maze came out in the 1st set so that was fun. When ASZ started going you could see the crowd buzz building as everyone could feel the momentum starting to grow. Then Golden Age started up and the rest of the show blasted into the stratosphere for the remainder of the night.

At the end of the first set, I had texted our friend to check in since he couldn't make the shows and explained that everything so far had been tight but we were surprised by how close the song gap was with no real surprises.

When Derek Trucks hit the stage, none of that mattered any longer. The Allman Brothers are one of my all-time favorite bands, and to see DT join them on stage for the last quarter was truly a gift. When he started riffing the solo from Ramblin Man, I just about lost it.

We're grateful to the band for the opportunity to attend a wonderful charity event, as they had skipped the Midwest this summer and we decided to take a chance on getting tickets for SPAC in the lottery. Beautiful venue, great crowd and great vibes. Oh, and if you're looking for entertainment/food outside of the shows, Dock's Seaside Bar has PHENOMENAL lobster rolls.

Looking forward to listening to this one over and over on LP, we'll be there again in October at the Chicago shows. Furthur!