The one and only show I was able to attend on the Fall tour after the Denver's attended and before the MSG and I could not have asked anymore of it, the pre-show script fell into place perfectly. Get there on time: check. Hang out all together, all dozen plus of us, with my beloved Phriends and make an Phamily section out of the 2nd and 3rd rows of Section 105: check. Get a great view, perfect sound and CK5 dazzling us with a light show totally on-point and generally beyond belief: check. And, finally, get hosed down song after song after song by the boys in the band: check! Rock and Roll opening up the show took care of the memoriam right off the bat to the late and great Lou Reed and the moment of silence asked for by Trey and received was one of the most touching moments I've ever been a part of, the assembled masses quieting down as requested, not easy to do considering how ramped up the R and R left us at its conclusion. Next up was Ocelot, speaking directly to me and played to the hilt. Tube was totally funked-up, a harbinger of things to come. Halfway to the Moon was beautiful, a personal favorite and always welcomed by these ears. Fee was just fun fun fun and segued into Maze, and showcased Fishman as a force to be reckoned with on this evening as well as the obligatory hosing down first by Page and then Trey. Lawn Boy treated us with both Page and Mike working the stage from end to end, much to the delight of everybody in the building. Nellie Kane showcased Mike's vocal prowess, totally on this evening then the first NICU and the first A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing of the Fall tour, the latter being a particularly strong version before the final hose-down of the set, a wickedly great Walls of the Cave that left us buzzing with anticipation during intermission.

Chalk Dust Torture rocked and rolled out as the 2nd set opener and its relative brevity confirmed in my mind was I thought we were going to get afterwards and checking the freezer revealed Uncle Ebenezer was to be found in it as they unleashed the 2nd set funk with the Tweezer. Fishman was the MVP of this titanic version, the syncopation was simply stunning with the rest of the band playing within his beats provided, long and jammy and musically delicious. It came to a near total finish before Birds of a Feather furiously flew out of its conclusion, Trey totally nailed the mid-song jam. It came to a total stop and Trey signaled that we were, indeed, in a Golden Age of funk and roll, another totally satisfying hose-down before Mike clearly signaled and got us looking for and dancing to Halley's Comet and the fun factor in this version was clearly palpable, smiles abounded on stage and among my peeps as we were all singing along with it. That segued into the best 2001 I've ever been in the building for in the 3.0 era, the funk was totally laid down in this what-felt-to-my-ears unique version of an old standard, they played and played and played with it to the total amazement and delight of us dancing fools, the joint was jumping as one in unison and a marvel to behold from our great vantage point. That segued into the first Fluffhead of the Fall tour and they clearly enjoyed playing out the story before the segue into a majestic set-ending Slave to the Traffic Light, the light and sound and love showering us one last time before the first of their two bows of the latter part of the show. Before the encore, Page thanked us (shouldn't it be the other way aounnd!) for showing up and stated that the band had a lot of fun revisiting the venue and then Trey added that him and Mike had, not necessarily together, attended many great shows here in their youth at this venue and also thanked us for being a part of the evening festivities. At this point I was guessing that we'd get the Sleeping Monkey to awaken before the Tweeprise but, no, the first Loving Cup made its loving Fall Tour appearance before ripping into the Tweeprise, the final orgasmic hosing-down and thusly concluded an extremely satisfying show and had many reaching for a cigarette, either literally or virtually, afterwards as one would do after a night in the musical sack like this one. Phish wins. Again.

Peace,
Alex