[We would like to thank David Grossman (@first_tube_screamer) for recapping Sunday's show. -Ed.]

When ring leader @c_wallob's clarion call for the elect to assemble at Deer Creek (ermmm, Ruoff Music Center) went out shortly after the tour announcement, I waffled for a few months. There were closer venues, unvisited venues, and venues I would have preferred for various reasons. Only having caught one night at the Creek in ‘22 and nothing prior, c_wallob insisted I needed the full experience. Disaster struck a month prior to the shows when I was involved in a motor vehicle accident. Although frequent hospital trips and impaired mobility fettered me to either a couch or a gurney, I made the seemingly rash decision to take my flight out to corn-fed country. Let me tell you folks, St. Ernest rewards his faithful.

Having heard two teases during the two shows prior, longtime showbuddy @Hambono channeled his clairvoyance strongly enough to manifest a “Party Time.” The light-hearted romp took us straight down the middle of the road, very appropriately setting the tone for the first set. “Final Hurrah” steps up to the plate next, scoring a second base hit with its annual appearance and assuring us that while the band is feeling loose, they are going to take their time. “Knuckle Bone Broth Avenue” further cements this silly vibe, making a little less room for some improvisation than it's two previous jaunts, but still giving us the opportunity to get more down to Fishman's syncopated, funky cowbell rhythm. A perfunctory “Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan” follows, throwing a wrench into the narrative that I've been building in my head about how the band is feeling and what they might play next. This alteration in trajectory, however, is short-lived.

As the introductory sample to “The Dogs” plays, the audience, well rehearsed in the matter due to a certain sci-fi soldier song, happily submits our contribution to the spoopy with a big howl, as well as a big cheer. After a the first lap thru the song, Mike abandons his post holding down the rhythm and Trey gives up his sustained notes and ringing chords as they both take up lead, making for a delightfully engaging change in texture. The crowd feels it too and boogies their way thru this third different Halloween year song, not seen since pre-COVID days. Fitting in rather nicely with the theme they've been cultivating here in the first set, “Destiny Unbound” roars through to give everybody a chance to rage. The interlude jam gets swampy with some prominent envelope filter from Mike and clav from Page.

Entering the second quarter, Trey has a change of heart and decides the show needs to be staked down and deploys “46 Days" for the task, which starts as a brooding, minor key spacy exploration that hits the relative major key with a gentle build to a bliss peak before bringing it home.

Trey wastes no time getting his next selection, as the first few notes of “McGrupp” sneak by a still cheering audience. A quick hiccup at the beginning of the instrumental section mars this otherwise immaculate rendition, with the band tightly navigating the composition still fresh in the minds of phans after 12/31/23. Page happily grabbed the spotlight for a playful but slow (much like the entire first set heretofore) piano solo worth listening to.

I've never particularly understood the animus the fan base holds against "Wingsuit," and I'm glad the band keeps it in rotation as it works as a cool down song and as a bit of a spacey exploration. It was aptly placed as three hot air balloons (hehe) rose from the treeline underneath the sunset in the distance and received some attention from the camera team, with an interlude so tight at times I thought I was listening to the studio album. "Meatstick" is the penultimate selection this set, and while I'm more than happy to hear the song, I'm leaning really hard into the fact that I'm laid up as an excuse to cover up the fact that I don't know the dance. Spectating is certainly a lot of fun, but I'm gonna have to hammer it out for next time.

"Run Like an Antelope" is a safe call any time, anywhere in a setlist. Trey again returns the the Mary Tyler Moore theme tease during the initial build, eliciting a few cheers and laughs here and there from those who are old or cultured enough to appreciate it. I must admit that I am neither one of these. He continues with this theme briefly until turning towards the peak of this "Antelope" which in my estimation is a skosh rushed to get to the fun part, but every bit as fiery and cacophonous as any other "Antelope" you'd hear. For the first time in my experience with the band, Fishman misses the drop into the ska section from the peak, getting a cheer from the audience while the band patiently waits for him to catch up.

As "Antelope" swells to a close and we brace for a bit of inevitable friction while making brief contact with reality during set break, I consider my feelings on the first set and realize I don't know how I felt about it. I had initially thought the band may be trying to go the way of 7/14/19, with a random grab bag of rarities for us to leave or take and relying on the strength of the setlist on paper to make an impression, but to my ears in the almost exact center of the lawn and again on the recording, rarities like "McGrupp" and "Meatstick" didn't receive the royal welcomes I assumed they would get. The only thing I could gather is that it was Sunday night at Deer Creek and the fans wanted blood. Fortunately, they wouldn't have to wait very long.

"Ghost" starts out unassumingly enough, with a major key bliss jam that meanders without too much menace until Trey turns up the heat a little bit by switching to the minor key and and interspersing the theme with some variation before finding a four-on-the-floor riff to vamp with while Mike throws down some tasty leads. In the name of keeping things interesting, they release the tension again, backing way out to an ambient jam that Fishman isn't quite sure what to do with but settles in nicely once they abandon the space and Trey happily charges back towards a bliss peak with large solid colors from CK5 to back him up. To my untrained eye it doesn't look as if the light maestro has added any more lights, but he's clearly been practicing because the illusion of balls rolling through the lights, or the beams creating shapes like vases and waves certainly seems novel. Just after the 26 minute mark, Trey turns his overdrive on high to start a dirge and decides to let it out a little bit with his wah as Page supports with heavy acid synth. The boys enter some of the most heavy metal territory I've ever heard from them. Trey brings this back around home just shy of the half hour marl. People have been joking about a 40 minute jam all weekend but it's hard to feel left wanting more after that.

"Soul Planet," another 2024 debut that gets going with a type 1 jam that quickly finds its feet once Trey detunes with effects and Mike jars the crowd heavily with bombs and driving lines. Page plays off Trey for a bit before providing some scifi flanking maneuvers to clear a path through CK5's waves of lights, as it becomes clear that the very patient building of this jam is about to pay off in a big way, as Trey makes several paraphrases of the main riff he's been building around for the past few minutes. Just as I expected Trey to give us that big soaring note while bathed in white light, the band surprises us with a "ripcord" back to the "Soul Planet" theme at about 16 minutes. Orthodoxy might dictate that they're about to wrap it up with another chorus as Trey has been wont to due this tour, but they teeter back and forth between major and minor before a Mike firesale on effects slows us back down to some heavier terriritory. Jist a quick aside, whats with that cat meowing sound effect betweem 19:30-20:30? I suppose that it's just to remind us who Phish is. A big, fat, ballsy "Moby Dick"-esque riff emerging after 21 minutes sees Fishman lay down some punchy, lazily swung fills as if he has been possessed by John Bonham's spirit itself. Trey gives us that peak we didn't get earlier, and the band seizes the opportunity to slide into cool down mode.

Trey plays an unfamiliar riff, which my party misinterpreted as "mercy" but before we can sigh, it quickly becomes apparent that he's employed another fakeout as the band goes into "Billy Breathes," a song which c_wallob had said he wanted before Friday night. As somebody who sought acquaintance with Phish's catalogue with exhaustive listening to their studio albums, hearing Trey practically ace the solo was a moment of great significance. The improvement in the quality of Trey's voice given his life pursuit of lessons means this "Billy Breathes" may the most beautiful one I've heard.

"Split Open and Melt," as has been discussed on this board, has seen something of a renaissance in recent years. As it starts to slowly spin out of control, Page emerges as the MVP with broad sweeping strokes of synth that wouldn't sound out of place in an "Alien" or "Evil Dead" film. Tonight's rendition, while not the most out of control edition I've ever heard, was certainly made unique by Page's synth work and Fishman's slightly steadier approach. And that, my friends, was the set of the weekend.

Trey comes out to say a few words before the encore, including to thank us for Bearing with the Heat. The line gave me a little chuckle because although it was certainly warm, I could immediately think of several runs that were warmer and more humid. This leads me to believe that he was in fact referring to the heat he and his comrades were generating on stage. As further evidence, I was sweating more at 10:30p than I was at 6:30p. They choose "Slave to the Traffic Light" to bid us farewell. The familiarity and positive vibes of this song were exactly what I needed to be seen off this weekend. I'm finishing typing this up from the jet back across the country where I need surgery. Will I be in shape for Mondegreen? Will I be able to start school on time? I don't know, but desire to keep getting sweaty and bear the heat in front of four soon to be Social Security recipients is what has been and what will keep me going.

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