piggy-backing on the review above, I am listening to all the '96 shows. I just got to this one! In terms of the beginning of Phish really getting funky I say it was the week previous in Pittsburgh during Y.E.M......

but this is an interesting show to listen to for many reasons. The biggest one is the show last night at the Garden which was bananerrrrs!! I was at this show and it was a seminal moment of my life...

Before PYITE you can hear the energy of the crowd knowing what happened at the Garden. A great choice for opener in my humble opinion. Its always a harbinger of good shows, and Fall '96 gets forgotten about when phenomenal runs are talked about. it is...

the boys are in afterglow from the night before. very upbeat poor heart. bringing it all back home and intimate. the crowd goes berserk after and shuts up as soon as Trey touches the guitar.... Every note is anticipated. It does help the boys are in Connecticut.. but I think we are listening to a band that really now knows they are masters of the universe of good tidings.They knew this for sure just by booking MSG . But listening to these 96 shows in a row, you can hear the bounce from last night...No more opening for Santana like the lethargic summer tour.

AC/DC got heads bopping'!! a searching jam with trey out front delves into an ambient laid back electric monster. When Trey comes out front its with an atonal version of the them he was working then goes ambient ball of sound again. Page is really using that pedal well and filling out the sound.

You can probably argue that up to this point the boys have not played a bad set all tour. Depending how u feel about Foam, they are on , arguably a 3 show run of perfect song by song choices. great first set song and page vehicle. Did it bring the energy down? just a little. but hey, they're human ;-)

an acapella song, Hello My Baby, in the middle of a first set! nice

The arena monster Character Zero returns for the second night in a row. Why not ?? last nights was crazy. Trey gets out front from the get!! Awesome shredding. do you like guitar?!?!? lol

Rift follows and continues a tour of minimal covers. The boys were still dipping into their early 90's sets. but rift is an upbeat pace changer and a challenger for the boys.

The crowd , anxious to participate, claps the beat for Theme. Magic is happening.....This Them takes us on a floating musical orb of increasing greandeur. There are better themes but few that are transitioned into an ANTELOPE!!
The crowd doesn't react as crazy as it did for poor heart lol everyone is sorta gassed.... They are going to need to step it up..
trey doesn't lay back on this one. His guitar theme is present and able. Page's chords are haunting and massive. Fish is 97ish and Mike is ever-present...
AT the 4:20ish mark things get hairy lol we get a real Type II jam. Mike is just an animal and Trey follows. They alternate this until Trey takeover as he usually does in an entertaining fashion. well done , boys!!
Solid First Set. But for sure the weakest in a week. It's above average because of the energy of the crowd and the phenomenal second set at MSG the night before. The PYITE-> Character Zero were top notch.

The second set features a guest drummer, Bob Gullotti. And this a testament to Phish's self-awareness as a band. They knew they had to step it up after what they were going to do at MSG. could they have decided that day to play with gullotti an entire set? maybe. doubt it.
Brither is the opener. First time since Cilfford ball and that was the first time since like 91 ! This is a great minor exploration by Trey.
The extra drummer add extra muscle.
Ya MAr is a perfect vehicle for this set-up and get the good feeling swirling. really sick drum solo at the end.. awesome