Note: This review is my person experience of the show and not an analysis of the music itself. I think we all know how the music was.

What a show. Hands down the best show I have been in attendance for, and the circumstances could not have been better. My buddy has an in with a venue staffing company, and had called me the night before asking if I wanted to work the show. "Wait, so you're telling me that not only do I get to go for free, but you'll actually pay me to be there? Absolutely!"

I got there a 2pm to start working, which was very relaxed and mainly consisted of just sitting around until 4 when the doors opened. I was able to chill out and watch the soundcheck, which was Wombat played 3 or 4 times, one of which had Fish rapping over the jam part, not the normal Wombat rap but something else that I had never heard. Pretty terrible but pretty fun. He must have realized this because after they finished he proclaimed "That was my rapping debut, thank god it's over with." Also there was some decent banter between the band and the sound guys, something about how they were gonna just fuck with all the levels during the show to mess with the sound guys. The band seemed happy and relaxed, a good sign for the show to come

About an hour before showtime I got moved from the water tent right next to the stage where I had been working to one of the Beers of the Boroughs tents all the way in the back of the venue. It all worked out though, as I had I clear sightline to the stage and could still hear the music fine, and probably at a decibel level low enough to not give me tinnitus. Also I got to have a couple of beers for free; the Vlad the ImPale Ale was my favorite of what I had. Side note: it never ceases to amaze me how much beer phans can drink; at one point I poured basically an entire keg rapid fire without closing the tap once just to keep up with the sales.

First set was solid, nothing too mind-blowing but very well played with good song selection.

I worked out a deal with the tent I was at in which I would work with them through the set break rush and then they would set me free for the second set, as I had only gotten moved there to help out with the big rushes anyway. As Chalkdust started up I made the trek towards the stage, but not before grabbing one last beer. As the band started to go into the jam, I was feeling pretty tipsy, and got some random blunt passed to me. I don't do drug drugs, only booze and weed, so this put me in the absolute perfect mindset for what was to come. I decided early on in Chalkdust that I would check back in with the water tent to see if they needed me to do anything (I was working, after all) in 10 minutes...whenever they start the next song...guess its gonna be a half hour.

As Light started up I made my way to the tent; they were fine and knew that phish is my favorite band so they told me to just go have fun. Already feeling great from the epic Chalkdust, this made me absolutely euphoric. I made my way back into the crowd just in time for the Light jam to start. At this point it begins to fully hit me: not only am I seeing this set as if I had a ticket, but I'm still on the clock and getting paid for this. Holy shit Im literally living my dream right now. During the Tweezer everything fully came together: the circumstances of how I ended up there, the epicness of the set, the incredible hose peak that was taking place in front of me...I had never in my previous 41 shows shed a tear from sheer joy, but I guess theres a first time for everything. The rest of the set was the icing on the jam-cake that the band had just cooked up.

I left the show sober from substances but high as a kite on the music. Its funny, I remember thinking to myself on my way to NY, "maybe I listen to too much phish and I can't fully appreciate it in the moment anymore." Then this show happened.