Wow. Wow. Wow. Holy shit. I’m pretty speechless. No matter how many shows you go to, this is a band that will always find ways to blow your mind. I love everything about Phish and I’ll never forget how special it was being there tonight. Both sets were incredible and flowed so well. Thank you Phish for putting on a perfect fucking show.

Getting this down in the car on the way back from Jones Beach, a place I despise getting to as a Manhattan resident but love being at when the weather is good: That was something else. After a somewhat subdued and eclectic N1, perhaps at least partially the result of several outdoor shows in a row in wicked heat, the band turned it all the way up from the jump tonight.

It feels obligatory to note that one of the guys I went with called the Mike’s opener, and that I predicted the Antelope set 1 closer. But in between was some of the more powerful musical stylings of an explosive-bordering-on-vintage summer. The Wolfman’s was sublime, and Ya Mar was a perfect complement to Vacation Trey’s relaxed outfit. The 46 Days was a nice callback to the monsoon of 2013, maybe the worst rain I’ve ever experienced, but on this night the funk raged in almost picture-perfect weather. A nice It’s Ice followed, and the band brought the waves down a bit before unleashing an Axilla II where you could almost feel embers burning off the stage. When The Circus Comes was a welcome breather before a stunning Antelope.

Set II kept us guessing; a tasty NMINML gave way to a mega DWD, which went unfinished before the playful, enjoyable Don’t Doubt Me. Golden Age rose out of those ashes, another joyous cover after they hadn’t had any the night before. Lifeboy managed to land gently before an exquisite Fluffhead in which, to my ears live anyway, every note was where it should’ve been. Speculation over where the Groove would slot in ended with a marvelous set-closing rendition. The break between set II and the encore was essentially nonexistent, and Slave was the perfect bow on another wonderful present of an evening from Phish.

After everything I’ve seen and all I’ve heard, thank you phish for this one! I thought this set list was crafted perfectly and performed very very well. There are obvious crowd pleasers but please enjoy how pretty all of these dreams was right into something living here which was possibly my favorite groooove of the night. Paug might be my favorite phish song and I thought it could be the closer coming out of life boy but fluffhead was an absolute treat. They could have easily ended the set with fluff and the fact they went into a RIPPING paug right after is a reminder not to doubt them and was the cherry on top for me. The weather, the views, the sounds, the roars…I couldn’t ask for a better concert!

This show is close to a 5 for me. Top to bottom, great show that I will be listening to - all the way through - for a while. My wife and I flew up from Austin for this run, and night two takes the cake easy for me. This show is silky smooth, Aunt Jemima syrup. Not Friday night ragey, machine gun trey, super psychedelic/spacey, or a deep cut, bust out Sunday show, but rather a perfect blend of them all.

First set starts with a solid Mike's to set the tone. Quickly followed by a stretched Wolfman's, and very well played Ya Mar - with a bit of extra plinko sauce from Trey. 46 days had a raging peak, and Axilla had the belated Birthday shout out to CK5 - "Don't shine that in my eye man...Just cause it was your birthday yesterday.." Really enjoyed the two Sci Fi Soldier tunes, and they felt like they were jammed and both perfectly placed.

I will say all the ballads tonight were unique and well played. In particular Lifeboy.

Second set it just straight fire. They hose came out from NMINML all the way through Weekapaug. The NMINL really got it going and there is some interplay there were the boys were dancing on the notes. Down got spacey and the spaceship landed. Don't doubt me was a perfect choice next and the second jam ended up being really solid.

I dare say the highlight was the transition into Golden Age > Lifeboy > Fluff > Groove. Nothing wasted in this second set.

Could have used a Cavern or something to end after Slave, but it did feel right for the Wednesday night.

All in all this is in the top 10-20% of Phish shows I've seen and gets extra points for being amazing top to bottom.

Don't Doubt Me. Wth was that? That felt like a knockout punch. As those in Las Vegas are accustomed to watching at the same MGM Grand when the song was debuted Halloween '21. The trick, evidently, was to hold on to this delectable treat. Until tonight. Just another omg moment in a lifetime of omg moments.

Phish is about taste. We all have tongues. My tongue was more satisfied by the end of last night's 1st Set more that tonight's. And I was hoping that they would stick that taste right back in the 2nd Set "more" to my liking. And I liked it really good. Not to say that they did not accomplish a great set, imho they did, out of the box with a pretty fiery Mike's. It "felt" like the segue into Wolfman's was "unique" to itself but I have not done any due diligence to back that up. Regardless, Wolfman's was taken for a good 14 minute trot into a crowd pleasing Ya Mar, fitting in with the Jones Beach ambiance wonderfully. Then I admittedly screeched my delight at hearing the opening notes of 46 Days, of which was met with an accompanying amount of raging my designated area, which happened to be populated by folks that were enjoying themselves immensely in the best of ways. The segue into It's Ice was pretty cool, pun totally intended. Page seemed to enjoy his moment in the spotlight a little more than usual, adding some extra pizazzz to his tinkling.

I was at the last All of These Dreams, Dick's, last year. Who knew?

This was only the 2nd Something Living Here? Call Vegas, I apparently need to start to play the "numbers", lol.

Axilla raged then congealed into a psychedelic puddle of noise. I sat down, then stood right back up. The cool off song was just not any song, it was one of the songs that greeted me back onto the bus, Jones Beach 13 years ago, 6/2/09. Yes indeed, only Phish, only When The Circus Comes, is this good of a time. They ended with a pretty decent Antelope to gallop out of what was on its own a pretty terrific 1st Set. How did I find that not enough?

The answer apparently was awaiting me in a 2nd Set that once again left no doubt as to When The Circus Comes to this town there will be No Men In No Man's Land that could withstand both the audio and visual onslaught, the best of mind fucks. They're sounding rather "muscular" to these ears nowadays and this set got down and dirty as only DWD signaled its arrival. And then, after twenty five minutes of exquisite jamming between the two songs, they dropped the Vegas bomb and if there was any doubt as to who is the greatest fucking living rock and roll band, they collectively answered Don't Doubt Me. Ten minutes of wow! Still literally scratching my head over what i witnessed 'cause i never saw that musical left upper cut jab straight to the cranium, whew, left me in a doozy. And smiling uncontrollably. Like, uncontrollably. Moments like these are the ones that I feel most like a human being on this earth, put here to have good clean, errrrrrrrrr, well, fun!

And they figured out, for me at least, the perfect comedown song, that being Golden Age. 12 1/2 minutes of pure bliss to these ears. Trey really took this one out for a tender, heartfelt run, I was in tears during it.

Might have been my 1st Lifeboy (in attending 120 shows or so since JB '09), due diligence will reveal that later.

But one needs no due diligence to be a Fluffboy, does one? This was 15 minutes of Phish Fluffyness. And it tasted umm ummm good! Alas, all good things must come to and end and through I was not personally surprised I did see some had forgotten that the tasty Phish sandwich served tonight would not be complete with its Weekapaug Groove. And off we grooved into the night, returning to our general roles, Slave to the Traffic Lights of life.

Thank you Phish for an absolutely amazing two night run. Not sure where history might put this show and these two show but they should only add to their legacy, both locally here at Jones Beach, a home away from home for me since the 80's, have always loved shows here. And the legacy that a band that still gives a flying fuck about its fans, so much that they are busting their asses out at an age where most guys, all they would be doing at a comparable point in their careers would be to rock their rocking chairs! This is a band that is showing that they are the 0.010 of this world that will give equal to their fans who give it right back. This was an exciting two nights here under totally terrific weather for the brutal Summer we've had so far.

I didn't have to roll my dice as far as Vegas tonight. I got paid off, right here at home.