"Damn Right!" When Trey hit the final riff of Tweeprise before the explosive finale, he nailed it with more confidence, conviction, and energy than I've ever seen, and I've been witnessing Tweeprise since '93. It sounded like he was declaring "Damn right!" through the strings of his guitar.

August 19, 2012. This was the Ode to Joy. The Buddhist held a huge culture festival in this room on Sunday August 19, 2001, and, given that that was a turning point for me, I was determined to manifest some results together with my favorite band.

My dearest friend miracled me a ticket, finding one miraculously at face value, and giving it to me. We shared the most spectacular time imaginable, a happy happy night. And the band definitely delivered. I kinda thought Crowd Control would be appropriate, and that was the choice. Some of the woofers on Fish's side blew out with the first chord, which lead to some sound issues in the room for round 1, but the crack team found a way to minimize the issue. Party Time was a release from the serious note of the opener, and Axilla was performed superior to any I've witnessed, possibly save Halloween '98, which had more insane crowd energy. Reba was really cool, colorful, wonderful, and the whistling brought the energy up a notch.

Free was relatively standard, although I found the Mike-> Trey instrumental segment to be very creative. Mound was a treat, and the crowd nearly hit that silent "Clap" in the intro, and that's something that doesn't happen often enough. Some call this version flubbed, but I don't agree. They've been exploring dynamics and orchestration lately, coming up with unique variations on many of their song, such as the guitar riff of NICU this evening. Walk Away impressed me on relistening. Back on the Train followed in the footsteps of 2/28/03 with a huge Trey solo. Jiboo was bubbly and psychedelic. Roggae deeply exploratory. And Bowie was just monsterous, despite a flubbed intro. Sounded like Trey tried an experiment by hitting the scratch early, leaving a pause, and they came in out of synch. Nonetheless, the jam is wild, chaotic, and highly entertaining, with some Fluff-ish rhythmic synchopations thrown into the chaos for good measure.

Set 2. It keeps growing on me. I loved it when I was there. It played out like an ode to my friend. Cross-eyed and Painless-- that's how I was feeling. Meditative jamming. Right on. Light, and Trey sings like he was really feeling it! The light jam morphs this way and that, growing more wonderful with each turn, and then comes this ascending mutation of the Mind Left Body theme that Trey likes to bring in San Francisco (see the YEM from 11/29/96 at the Cow Palace). Here, the band plays into the theme with such unity, presence, and thick thick groove, and out of nowhere... drop into Sally! The dance party is on! Meditation time is done, and it's time to throw down! Spectacular! Mike is in the lead now. And on a dime, the band begins singing, and on the very next dime, returns to the Cross-eyed groove along with the song.

The jam dies down into mud, but before we really jump in, Page turns to his piano and the notes sounded like ice crystals in winter. A most refreshing, purifying tone. A breath between phrases, and he introduces Theme. Trey nails the solo on his way into the instrumental break. Mighty fine majestic music! Rocky Top for my Tennessee friend, played with all the presence, perfection, drive and straight-up abandonment one could ever wish for.

And if you haven't danced enough, Mike starts up Boogie on Reggae Woman. For those who say Trey flubbed the words, he did it for Mike. Cactus was owning the song so hard that Trey just let him play through! The jam was short, but so rich that it felt like a 10 minute monster. And yet virtually no time passed at all. Meatstick next, and it was balls to the wall, san francisco style.

The band finally took a moment to breathe here. Hell, we were dancing in the back of the floor, around the corner in the walkway Fish side, and the sound was perfect! Further, there was more than plenty of room to dance, and we were throwing down. But now there was no music, we couldn't really see the band, and we didn't know it wasn't an encore break.

Bug started up, and it was performed to its full potential, each nuance handled with utmost consideration. Driven, yet sublime. And then we got the YEM. Not your old school powerhouse YEM, and not your New York City shake that building YEM. This YEM was a loving, warm, purifying endeavor. The full composition was glorious, and Trey's solo segment saw the band drop out while he quietly grooved to the united hand-clapping of the crowd. Rather than building a fire of intensity, this quiet solo brought everyone together with intimacy. Mike Gordon stepped up for his solo, bringing in quotes from Herbie Hancock's Chameleon, before going on his own gorgeous journey. In the spirit of the Grateful Dead, this performance relied less on flash, more on nuance, details, and the things you might not notice the first time you hear it. The vocal jam was also very well done, just enough, never over the top, not too long, and featured the sound of their voices moderately spinning around the room.

One point about the Chameleon reference: on the songs with Page solos, Trey called out in the effeminate way, "Play it, Leon!" Thinking of the Herbie quote, Chame-leon! Seems Mike threw in a prank under the radar right there.

Page introduces the encore by saying "We had a really fun time tonight." Ride Captain Ride. After the San Francisco Bay reference, I didn't pay much attention, I was dancing and thoroughly enjoying the show. Tweeprise came up, and there were clowsticks and streamers, lights and energy, a spectacular build up, the vocals, and that final refrain where the band slams the theme that one last time with rock solid confidence and unbreakable conviction. And the finale!

The fans walking the halls all seemed to have this peaceful, enchanted look on their faces. Few people were talking, although occasionally a pocket of crowd would start to cheer.

And for a very rare San Francisco event, stepping out into the Civic Center fog, the temperature was warm, pleasant, perfect. A sense of peace and happiness permeated everywhere.