I'm writing this midafternoon on Halloween - meaning only these two of the weekend's eight(!!) sets have been played. People are dismissively calling these 'warmup' sets; if that's the case then festivalgoers need to be prepared to have their insides liquefied, because this is a *hot* show. There's a dramatic LxL-inflected Stash in the first set, along with (this is a weird thing to say) the best-ever performance of Time Turns Elastic, which finally got played in the same tight-loose fashion as tunes like Fluffhead and Hood. Swell take on Page's 'Beauty of a Broken Heart' to boot.

As for Set II, it's strong all the way through. Wolfman-lovers will want to pay particular attention to this thrilling version, which plays funny games with the song's chord progression, climaxes with some oxygen-deprivation psychedelia, and segues into the best Piper of 2009. Piper recalls the transcendent Light from this summer at the Gorge - high praise.

Disease dissipates just when it's achieving liftoff; typical '09 Disease in that regard. And this fine Bowie nonetheless does nothing to dispel the sense that the best Bowies mostly happened 15 years ago. But the set climaxes powerfully with Hood. We've had some interesting times with Harry Hood this year, and the Indio jam magically transforms into something new, reminiscent of the classic Jones Beach Hood from this summer yet possessed of its own unique energy. Following the song's recent trend, this Hood ends a little oddly, with a weirdly tentative approach to the closing chords in place of the trilling guitar heroics of old. But by that point you won't be complaining. The jam is just that good.

This will be a very, very good weekend.