Thanks for the great recap @raidcehlalred -- one of my favorite parts of these recaps is when the author paints a fuller picture of the sets and setting at the show, filling me in on details I can't pick up listening to the audio or even watching the webcasts. You did just that, and you did it beautifully.

To my ears, this was one of if not the strongest first sets of this tour. I loved your line about the first set almost being an entire show in and of itself -- I feel it's especially important to recognize that for many touring acts, a ~90 minute set and a ~10 minute encore is the entirety of the show. Last night, Phish did that and more before even coming back on stage for the second time. All the mini-bustouts / rarities don't mean as much when they're rusty, but last night, they were crisp and more than welcome. How sweet was that Destiny Unbound?!

Regarding the second set, like other commenters, I too feel it didn't reach its potential. I'm not sure why Trey jumped to Twist so quickly, right when I felt Drowned was about to leave orbit. And at the time I was really frustrated with the move from Piper to Simple, as it did feel ripcord-y, but on second listen, I do hear what @raidcehlalred is referring to in terms of Trey fleshing out a few ideas, albeit in a compacted space. I would've loved Piper to be able to breathe some more though... so while the tour has gotten markedly better starting with Great Woods, there's still room for improvement -- and whaddya know, I'll be there next week!

One interesting musical tidbit -- for the longest time, ever since I learned to play guitar really, I've wanted to hear Waste -> Piper. The chords for the jam / outro for Waste are G-Am-C -- the first three chords in the Piper intro? G-Am-C! While they didn't pull off a segue proper (-> between the two last night, the songs did flow together well, and it's clear a little more thought is being put into which songs are played before / after others to optimize flow, match key, or contrast styles in cool ways. It was cool to hear Waste precede Piper for the first time since 5/23/00 (but that show had a pause between the two), and Timber x 3 also seemed to have had a bit of forethought put into it.

Here's hoping that things continue to trend in the right direction this tour, and that a short break and the beauty of the Gorge inspire them to play first sets like last night's and second sets with jams galore!