Dear @twelvethousandmotherfker,

While your experience is indeed your own, which can never be taken from you, I feel bad that you had such a negative experience at this show. I am not sure your Phish history, and I will not check your "stats" to validate or invalidate anything you've written, but Phish has had a historical tendency of flubs, odd-looking setlists (on paper), and jams that seemingly come out of nowhere. In parallel, Phish has had a historical tendency where parts of the fanbase will seek out the inlet of negatives, amidst an ocean of positives. This is prevalent, in, literally, every year of Phish, and I would argue is the reason (minus flubs, but again, that is a normal part of the live music experience for a band that plays well over 200 songs in their "regular rotation") that fans see dozens and hundreds of shows -- to capture those positive moments that may not jump out "on paper."

Having said that, here is my take on the show, offered as a purposeful counterpoint to your experience.

Julius was a smokeshow. Jukius of late tend to feature more Page than Trey, but this was the opposite. A throwback version where Trey attacked the guitar and added a handful more measures of peaks. The Forum EXPLODED about 6 minutes into the song when we collectively realize Trey was "gonna go GIT IT!" And boy, did he ever git this version. Suzy was a textbook perfect follow up the surged with energy. Amplifying the rush that Julius ignited the fuse for what was a total dance party of a first set (minus one song, we'll get to that later). Timber was an absolutely treat. Fish's rolling toms and Trey, again, taking a defined lead role made this version the second of already two standout versions of songs (Julius being the other... so far). A near-perfect execution of one of Phish's historically great cover songs. Speaking of cover songs, Soul Shakedown garnered a thunderous applause from the crowd, who at this point is nearing total nakedness. A half funk, half reggae take on the Marley classic was the most enjoyable placement and performance.
Kill Devil Falls, for me, was the highlight of the first set. This version is a blitzkrieg of scale climbing and tension and release, again, with Trey taking a forward role in captaining the band in a version which explodes with joy and celebration. *this version* is why I, personally, go see Phish. This is exactly the type of playing and energy I am looking to capture. Moreover, Trey veyr clearly teases the same, blissful lick from BGCA Carini in the mid jam, as the tension is building. This is noteworthy because this lick signals confidence and conscious direction by the band and bandleader. 555 was played well enough, not my fav, but fit as a nice cool down. Ypur Pet Cat was a delightful dose of funk, perhaps just a minute too short, but acted as a primer for... oops. Tide Turns was the one "huh?" placement of the set, as it seemed we were primed for blastoff, but alas, Phish does what they want, and not 4 minutes later we were swept up in a sea of funk with NMINML... this is what YPC was buliding to. A rather normal, funky version slinks and struts its way with all sorts of shuffle before drifting into a thunderous, albeit, again "normal" Bathtub Gin. Reader, when I say, "normal" I use it not in a pejorative sense. Normal Phish is GREAT Phish. And Great Phish, 2.28.03, Magnaball, 11.17.97, ect... are so few and far between, that THAT (those shows) are the ultimate treasure of tour. And like all treasure, they are hard to find. Point being, there is absolutely nothing wrong with normal Phish, as it makes great Phish that much more special and unique and scarce.

Jibboo came out swinging. Lounge jazz be damned, as this version quickly, furiously took on a 2.20.03 Jibboo maneuver can raged through 11 minutes of climbing, peaking brilliance. Easily, the favorite version I have seen, above 12.31.17 and a handful of others. Fuego. Wow. This... THIS is GREAT PHISH. This is what I was talking about in my aforementioned paragraph. This is our treasure. Beautiful builds a la 7.2.97 Stash. Patient peaking a la 7.4.14 Fuego. Dreamlike melodies a la 7.21.99 My Left Toe. This version is a pinnacle moment in a short tour (so far). The chance they took to patiently stretch out Fuego, and let it unfold like ancient origami, so delicate, yet so complex, is astounding. I cannot overstate how transcendent and important this version is.

Birds was a short, fiery version that, ironically, acted more as a cool down than a heater, despite being red hot. No complaints here after that Fuego jam. Meatstick, I thought, was going to get jammed out into ambient groovescapes a la Gorge Wombat, but despite it being a very normal version, it set the table for an electric Soul Planet.

SOUL PLANET! Those listening closely will notice that Phish, *completely* changed key and pace as soon as the ending chorus of the song was done. This very well could be Soul Planet -> Jam. Unreal how well-rehearsed that sounded and was executed. This jam was snappy and peppy. Happy and energized. Slightly staccato and borderline bliss. A forage through lush green forest and bright blue water. A jam that, like Fuego, took time and patience to develop. To have two, no three, jams of superb quality in one set, especially considering said jams come from rather "non traditional" jam songs, is, again, the reason we go see Phish. You really never know what they are going to do, or how they are going to do it. Check your expectations at the door. Buy the ticket, take the ride.

Wingsuit kind of surprised me, as I was anticipating a homerun type of closing combo - but who am I to judge, especially considering my preceding sentence. Still a cerebral, patient song evolved into a scorching solo. Cavern made me laugh. Sure Trey had a senior moment, but he also has forgotten the lyrics to Cavern, in LITERALLY EVERY YEAR ITS BEEN PLAYED. I judge not.

Sparkle was, to me, an obvious nod to the hilarity of Cavern, and I love when the band can laugh at themselves. Zero destroyed. I mean just razed the arena. Having seen the song a dozen+ times, I can say with absolute certainty, that this was my favorite version I have experienced -- Trey came full circle and ended the show as on fire as he was form the very first song, through KDF, through Jibboo, Fuego, and Soul Planet.

The rich really do get richer.