You know what..
This got me really pumped for summer tour 2014. Looks like the boys all had a blast on stage and all were killin' it. I much preferred this sort of introduction to the new songs intertwined amongst some regulars to see how they will feel within a set. I thought Phish did a great job and I can't wait to see what else is in store.

Really fun show! Couched toured, wasn't lucky enough to get in.

46 Days and Undermind was a nice way to start things up, with nice solos on each. Halfway to the Moon was the first new song of the night, and you can tell Page really loves singing this one. Carini was next, and let me say, I really wasn't expecting this one. Short, but packs a punch. Devotion to a Dream was the highlight for me. This has been my favorite of the new ones for a while now, and now I think I see some jamming potential on it! 555 was rocking, of course. The Twist that closed the set was nice, like Carini, packing a punch in a fairly short time(around 8 minutes I believe). Character Zero sent the crowd home happy.

Fun little show before summer tour kicks off. New albums awesome!

Wow, what a fantastic show! I streamed it online as it was happening, and I could easily feel the excitement from the band and audience (they both were raging!) The audio was also crystal clear on my end.

No one expected the 46 days opener after not hearing it for so long, and it didn't take long for people to start bobbing along, when then led to a very upbeat and bouncy Undermind! At this point, I'm already hearing every note each member is playing. There's so much to listen to from these guys, you can tell they've been playing a lot because it feels like they left straight from MSG. Undermind sped up during its run, either on purpose or from sheer excitement. Either way, Fishman was having fun, just check out his drum fills!

Page introduced Halfway, which was was polished with his strong vocals and jazzy keyboard solo (there was also quite a sparkle in his eye). Then, BAM! CARINI! The audience flipped out! Trey absorbed the energy and gave what some folks on twitter called a late 90s-esque mini-jam. They would have kept playing if they could and it was obvious that they wanted to, but Fishman had to musically tell them to move on, so they brought it down to Devotion. In my opinion, it was a downer from coming out of Carini, but it will find its place in the tour sets.

555 was funky and sung strongly and enthusiastically by Mike. (This is the point where all the females swoon). I got lost in the tune as I did in Carini because it could have gone on for some time with how good and crazy it was getting. Then, finally: Twist. Little plinky moments in the beginning and then followed with exciting audience "Woo's." Trey kept on with the plinky-ness and played with the audience. Mike played some nice arpeggio bits, too. The jam then rose in volume and activity from all and the people danced and cheered. Then, the boys walked said thank you and walked off stage like they usually do, and the audience cheered and danced, I think one girl was crying, and a few people yelled out "Fuego." I thought they were going to play Fuego for the encore, but they did Character Zero instead, which was fine, it's just as fun. Everyone raged.

You could tell the band had such a great time by way they played. Trey was often smiling and jumping up and down as he always does. Even Mike smiled more than usual.

All in all, the show was an accurate representation of the collaborative process that the band has recently gone through for the album, but also for the whole time they've been together. They played as if they hadn't taken a break at all, (which really they haven't, we just haven't seen them so really, its our break) and everyone was happy! They let us know that this summer tour's going to be a fun one!

I firmly believe that each show needs to be viewed in context and expectation. This show is a perfect example. What more could you expect from a "jam" band 30+ years old on the day their new album was released? How about one expected to fill a finite time? You got a handful of known sprinkled in with newer songs. You got some nice jamming without scary 20 min beasts loaded with HOSE. You saw the band happy and a crowd obviously engaged. This is no classic. But if you saw this show, you know how excited you are for summer. The band is too.

They could have just come on, played 3 or 4 new songs and we would have been happy. When we all heard of the Letterman appearance, most expected one song off the new album. But we really got so much more....and if this was a taste of what's to come this summer, please - bring it on. It sounds like Phish plans to pick up right where they left us after the emotional New Years run.

The most notable part of this show was watching the band smiling. Huge smiles....even occasionally from Mike, who went scarf-less. They were truly having fun. And it showed - it showed in Page's stage banter, it showed in the soul they sang with, and it showed with some funky jamming.

The first two songs sent a very strong message that they are wanting to groove and that they are thinking about how to continue growing as they work new songs into the mix. In fact, the first 3 songs kicked off a very fresh set list. We even got some nice outside the box playing with a minimalist Twist with yet another incredible intro and a Carini that I think even the most optimistic fans weren't expecting.

And the new songs shined. 555, almost lost in the excitement of the way songs got revised and polished in the studio, is going to be a masterpiece as they work it in more and more into sets.

Really, this performance made new fans tonight. Its really a glorious time to be a Phish fan.

This set is exactly what you think it is, except for the Twist. 2013 saw some fantastic open-ended Twists, but of all the type-I versions from recent years, this is actually one of the best. Here is hoping that they continue to jam a little during the opening section of this tune, because the sparseness of that section works perfectly with their current mastery of communication and ability to "share" the space.

Was hoping they would play a 45 minute Tweezer and one new song and call it a set

Jokes aside, I am stoked to see the boys at SPAC and very excited to hear some new material and jams. Really like Halfway to the Moon and 555 and hoping I see them in three night run (likely). Enjoy the summer everyone. Be safe, kind and have a blast!

I really didn't know what to expect with this, like was it going to be a bonus song or two post-taping of the show, or an actual set of music? It came closer to being an actual set of music, though obviously somewhat abbreviated.

With that in mind, I was somewhat perplexed by the 46 days then Undermind opening.

Halfway to the Moon has potential, and as someone already mentioned, you could tell Page was pumped about it.

Carini was the curveball, when they broke into that is when it finally hit me that they were treating it more like a mini-set of music. Not the best Carini ever, but I thought it was an awesome selection, because up to that point I couldn't help but be thinking "if you really didn't know phish, and you tuned into this, you could be forgiven for not understanding what all the hype is about."

I need to keep hearing the new songs and how they will fit into shows. I thought the transitions were decent, the selection of where the new songs went made sense with what they played around them.

All in all I thought it was great for what it was, my 3 stars above is basically rating it as if it were a set of phish music. Good but not great. Should be a great summer.