As far as first sets go, I was floored with this first set. Fluid, determined, and passionate are the words I would chose to describe it. 46 Days/Tube opener set an emphatic tone for the evening: dance. 46 Days raged. It really did. Love it in the opening slot. Within Tube's two minutes of improv, I probably tallied 10 minutes worth of hard cardio. The funky dance machine was revving, and when I see funky, I do funky. Train Song was a serene and welcomed transition song - executed beautifully - and set up a that first set Ghost. When Ghost hit, I freaked out. I was thinking, rather EXCLAIMING, that this would be the return of Set 1 Type 2. Apparently I am not Nostradamus, but damn it I tried. This Ghost is nothing special. A perfunctory funk/rock blend that was entertaining, but never gained traction to take it to the next level. Nonetheless, a first set Ghost is always welcomed. Sparkle/Sample brought serious "launchpad" energy - the crowd was dancing hard, ready to explode with anticipation and dance for what lay ahead. Divided Sky. Boom! Pow! Trey navigated this version brilliantly. It was so refreshing to hear the band's tightness, so refreshing to groove to. The jam was short, but above-standard and extremely satisfactory (if those two words are able to be combined together). The Line. I believe I made the loudest, most disappointed sigh of all time when I heard the opening bouncey rhythm of this song... I like that part, until the lyrics. Anyways...it was at that exact moment The Phish said, "You shut your mouth when you're talkin to me, @FunkyCFunkyDo!" They locked into a great rock groove. ::tips cap:: I gotta hand it to The Line, this version was good. This version, if you're a purest, should NOT be skipped when listening start-to-finish. I can't believe I wrote that... wait, yes I can, because I got down to The Line. After feeling quite impressed with what The Line offered, I was anxious to keep bringing the dance. I had emphatically declared earlier in the evening in the lot that we were due for a funked-out Ice (I had been listening to 6.18.94 Ice in the drive to the Forum). Well shit, Phish. Maybe I am Nostradamus after all (I was wearing my Dodgers/Divided Sky shirt too, fwiw). Phish brought the phunk during the breakdown.. Yowza. GET IT PAGE! Perspiration and palpitations a-plenty, I was so stoked with the first set at this point. When KDF hit, I thought, "Man, what a raging and appropriate closer/bookend to the set to compliment the 46 Days opener and the set in general." Trey blasted through this song, leaving smoldering remnants of fans in his wake. But wait, apparently Trey has a heart, because he decided to BRING THE HOSE to wash us all down for a set-closing, arena-rocking, heart-attacking, tease-dropping, dance marathoning Gin. Wow. I changed my underroos at setbreak.

555 opens set 2 and riding my Nostradamus wave of glory, I firmly proclaimed to @uctweezer that THIS would be the version that gets taken for a ride. Nope. A quality set 2 opener in my opinion, this version doesn't stray far from the norm, but sets the table nicely for a nasty jam vehicle. Whoops. Number Line. Not exactly the jam vehicle I had in mind, but you know what, despite it's highly abrasive opening chords this is a pretty dang good song. This version culminates to a blissful peak - just straight-up happy music. I was happy and ready to bring some more dance to the Forum, to shake my funky bad self to the eat of the second set. DWD starts to growl. It starts to grumble. Mike broods. Liftoff. As of today (10.27.14) this is hands down the jam of the tour and a likely top-7 or 8 jam of 2014. It storms out of tghe gates into a Trey-driven, rock groove. They lock into this progression for about two minutes and then dissolve into some dark, gritty space: dissonant and weird but extremely engaging. Then just when you thought it would dissolve into Piper or Carini Trey and Page pick it back up and the dance party explodes. If you like Reading 2013's DWD, this one will knock your socks off. I mean it really rages. You will get goosebumps. You will smile. You will start to dance. You will listen to it again and again. It is that good. It peaks in a triumphant 3-minute explosion of sound that lands, rather crashes (in a good way) -> to Fuego and ignites the crowd. Fuego gets into a short, mellow groove before evaporating into some scary, eerie space. Good stuff right there. Twist follows and is a standard version. Some latin/jazz fusion. You've heard it before. Bouncing is a perfect interlude to a gritty, sultry Bowie. Bowie menaces the unsuspecting LA crowd with some evil jamming interspersed with good old fashioned Bowie rage. What a cool juxtaposition this was to the overall upbeat-nature of the show. Such is the case with Phish: they know exactly how to take you on an emotional, spiritual, and psychological roller coaster during a show. They did so tonight. Character Zero put four more exclamation points on the evening. Rocky Top was bonus Phish.

Hood. Truly inspirational playing. It won't hit you like the Hoods of the mid-90s, but this jam will absolutely take you into a dream-like state before Trey reels in the band for an emphatic and passionate climax. Beautiful Hood. Grind. These guys... theeessseeee guys! After all that, let's sing some barbershop. They are just too cool.

Big hugs to @uctweezer. You were so much fun to talk to and see a show with. If our sweat is any evidence of the quality of the show, safe to say this was at least a Class 4. You survived the Thunderdome with the graceful elegance of a California Condor riding an updraft of phosphorescent rainbows. So stoked to have raged with you! Catch you in Vegas my man.