Well here we go, 30 year anniversary kickoff in Maine. The downtown Bangor venue is basically right outside, and anyone strolling by during the long soundcheck was able to not only hear (well), but also make out the silhouette of the band's new setup, with Fish tucked in between Trey and Mike, a little to the back. I strolled up around the time they were getting down with a lovely reggae number, but it's the 15 minute jam to close the soundcheck that had me beside myself. I guess we'll have to wait for some audio to surface to confirm it, but it was one of the most dynamic, funky, and straight-up kickass jams I've heard the band do in the 3.0 years. Page was very involved in building the jam out, and Trey kept pushing it in new interesting directions every time the rest of the band would dip a bit. After the soundcheck Trey said something to the effects of "for those of you listening out there we've decided to reject the digital revolution. Phish has gone analog. We're using the analog board. Everything is analog. Hear the difference! You're hearing the show through vinyl. ... Seriously though, we did switch back to an analog board." Got my money's worth waiting in line, so there you go.

But there was also a show! The band seemed a bit tentative out of the gate to start the first set, feeling things out in the Stash a bit but not much doing otherwise. The NICU picked up the energy a bunch and made it clear Page was going to have a hot night (he did). Wolfman's is probably your set one highlight, which started nice and funky and eventually peaked pretty satisfactorily. Trey dove into the Chalk Dust head first, confirming that he felt like rocking out on this night--but I'd argue it also showcased a willingness on his part to pick his notes a bit more carefully. I think we might be seeing bit a more patient Trey this year, which bodes very well for the moments of exploration to come. And they will.

There were a few in Bangor, beyond the soundcheck. The Golden Age to open Set II was terrific. A wonderful, full band interplay funky jam that struck me as the Phish's first explicit nod to their 30th anniversary year. One can only hope that they continue to explore these retro 97-98, upbeat grooves in 2013. The jam melted nicely into Twist, and the sequence that followed through the Rock n Roll was pretty much that: Rock n Roll. But the energy was high, and again Trey exhibited a pretty deft combination of nimble fingers and well phrased solos, ala 94. Number Line in particular felt like a pretty notable, if in-the-box version. And it's funny, no matter how cheesy I feel the song itself is, whenever I see it live I can't help but enjoy it. Maybe that's because I only see the band a couple times a year now, but it felt especially poignant for the first show of 2013.

After playing on the old Languedoc for most of the night, Trey finally pulled out the Ocedoc for Ocelot's first ever second-set appearance. It didn't disappoint either, as far as versions go. Fish started hitting really hard and the band seemed content to play big and loud, opting for the Rock n Roll as a way to put an exclamation point on it all.

The Rock n Roll jam dissolved quickly into a spacey intro to 2001, which packed a short funky punch. The version seemed to echo its early 93-94 incarnations, and you could say the rest of the show followed suit, with the '94-style playbook offerings of 2001>Cavern>Antelope, Hood. The upside to that equation is that the band took Antelope OUT for a serious run, with a little Type II jam stashed in the middle. Very cool stuff, and don't be surprised if they do this again with the song, as early as SPAC. Mike was a rock all night as usual, but I found his influence on the Antelope, and then the Hood encore, to be his most significant contribution.

Page on the vocoder during the Hood intro was pretty fun, too.

I enjoyed this show as much as the summer opener on 6/7 last year, and I think we can take away as many keepers in terms of jams as that one, as well. And that's without considering the soundcheck. Kick that one down, will you boys?