Now that the smoke has cleared a little bit from the Dick's run, I think we can take a step back and see this show as probably the weakest of the 3 nights - which, hey, when I say "weakest" I mean that in the same sense as "weakest of the Island Tour" or "weakest of Hampton/Winston-Salem '97", that way in which one show of a run has to be weakest by default.

The first set leans more towards what we were getting in the first leg of 2012 - good energy, some nice versions of songs, basically Phish getting the crowd excited for the second set without blowing anyone away (which, of course, there's nothing wrong with - they don't play 8/31/12 I every day, you know!). The second set is the sort of set that would cause people to faint if they played it in 2009 (or maybe even 2000...???), with a sharp Golden Age (this has been a *good* year for Golden Age, hasn't it?), a surprisingly jammed out and dark Prince Caspian that justifies its weird set placement (and - gasp - ever so slightly echoes the Phish of '94/'95), and a monstrous, occasionally *weird* Light that most people consider the jam of the year (I don't, but it's not an outrageous assertion, y'know?) on one end and a nice Mike's Groove (including No Quarter, one of my favorite covers in Phish's 3.0 bag of tricks). This isn't a "you gotta hear this show *now*" deal like 8/31, nor is it a "you gotta hear this set *now*" deal like 9/2 II, but it certainly does not sully the greatest of Dick's 2012, and the second set is a truly enjoyable experience with a tour-defining jam. Ain't nothing wrong with that.