This show was exactly what phish phans deserved on a 30th Anniversary NYE show. There was a lot of consideration and thought behind the setlist and how consistent the show was.

Set 1: This was the ultimate opening set. We got an above average but standard opener in Bag. SIHTOS was a great choice for the 2nd slot and well played. When the Wilson cue popped up I was expecting to hear Gamehenge the rest of the set. What I ended up hearing was a perfectly woven setlist from an epic divided sky to a fire Sugar Shack (a welcome bustout) to one of my favorite halfway to the moon's. And then after all that what do I hear? The intro to fluffhead which was one of the most well played I've heard in a very long time.

Set 2 (Truck/Rarities Set): This set was constructed with phish phans best wishes in mind. The band knows how much people want to hear rarities and feel their anticipation. Well, this set they gave it to us. Glide was great to hear as an opener and set the tone for a surprising setlist. Then the kick you in the face drums came in and it was all to obvious that Llama was afoot. I saw on message boards all year people wanting to hear a Llama opener or hear it period. Well, they held off all year to throw it in this set, and that makes it all the better. Then came the big one. Col Forbin came in like a ton of bricks and I was locked in. It was so well played you'd think they play it often. Then Mockingbird. I do have to admit I was disappointed there was no spoken word story. But then that is not uncommon in 3.0 it was cool to hear Trey's comment about the mockingbird still flying after 30 years. Mockingbird was solid and like Forbin extremely well played. FYF was as always entertaining and always a great bustout. Reba is one of those songs that is always fantastic on big shows and this one is no different the mid section is so gorgeous. Icculus? Yes, please at this point I was riding on this wave of excitement from this constant barrage of rarities I always hope to see. But what more can you say? Icculus was entertaining. Lizards was great! I mean great the guys harmonized Page's solo was fantastic and man I was dancing! As you should would with a good Lizards. Then SOAM was a great set closer great little jam at the end. Basically this was the Phish Phan set perfectly calculated and placed.

Set 3: Now I got a little confused here. After all these years we expect a kind of gag for new years. About 6 minutes or so till the guys come on and start Character Zero. Anyone that can do the math can realize thats only enough time to hear the song played and no props or anything going on throughout the whole song. But I understood once they hit this incredible peak at the end I mean one that all Character Zero's can be measured to it was HUGE! It got so loud then the count down proceeded and as usual Auld Lang Syne was played. Then Fuego came on and I have to admit I kind of expected this. It was great though so much fun to get the new year going. Got me excited to see where it's going to go in the future. Then Light came on and had a very beautiful Jam arguably the Jam of the night it wasn't the longest but it was solid. Twenty Years Later was the best I've ever heard it was gorgeous! Bouncing was standard but appreciated it always keeps things moving. Then a perfectly placed YEM well played got the trampolines it was fun. Standard vocal Jam. Always good to get a New Years YEM.

Encore: Grind was great for a 30th anniversary NYE show and calculating the days to their 60th anniversary show was great. Show of life? Not my favorite song but it served its purpose to thank fans and celebrate this epic night.

All in all one of the best NYE shows in Phish history it's no NYE 95 or Big Cypress but it was better then all the rest in my opinion. Why? This show was not just the NYE show it was the 30th anniversary show that they were not able to play this year. And proves the inevitable when the pressure is on. Phish prevails.