(Published in the second edition of The Phish Companion...)

This is for all you skeptics out there who think Phish has been over and done with since at least 1997. I was, until very recently, one of you. This show at Nassau was very simply as good, musically speaking, as any you'll find in any top ten all-time list. I remember telling someone at the Philly show (who had obviously had a fabulous time that night) that they had put on a fun show, but had a long, long way to go before it was like the old days again. Little did I know that that long journey was going to happen very quickly over the course of the two next shows (because, yes, Worcester was also phenomenal).
Setbreak saw me searching the halls for others who were aware of what had just gone down. I'm not one to scream things out in the lots, or whatever ... but I found myself yelling "Who has a ‘Destiny’? You all have a ‘Destiny’!" And, like inside, not everyone caught on. But what was special were the handfuls that did ... the hugs that were thrown around, the knowing looks ... the quiet "Dude, they PLAYED DESTINY" between strangers.
Forget for a moment that they played “Destiny Unbound”. Consider this: the twenty seven minute “Tweezer” rivals any jam Phish has ever put together. After a good five or six listens, I see it standing next to the 12/6/97 “Tweezer” and the 11/17/97 “Ghost” as one of my top two or three of all time.
Sure I would have loved to hear a “Piper”, a “2001”, a “Fluffhead”. But by the end of the second set, it just didn't matter. A shorter but beautifully executed “Hood” (a la Jersey) is fine with me. In all honesty, repeats didn't make me groan once on this tour. A flawless set. And a legendary show. Maybe everyone there didn't get it. But I did. And I know I wasn't the only one. I can't believe this is all happening again.