Ah the mothership (ok it was my first Phish show there so I don't know if I can rightfully call it that).

I was super pumped to be able to catch the opening three shoes of Fall tour. I worked / lived in Charlottesville at the time and my good buddy was also in Virginia, so we were crashing nearby in Norfolk - a quick jaunt down the road from the venue.

Set I opened with Wolfman's, which was a nice signal of intent. This one didn't open up too much, but rocked nonetheless. Good start.

Runaway Jim was nice in the two spot. Fine version.

Mound was up next and this was a fun one. Nothing special but a good song.

Chalkdust was placed fourth in an interesting position. Kicked up the energy for sure. Band was definitely getting loose.

Army of One was for Page, and Nellie Kane was a nice nod to the southerners in attendance.

Stash had some good jamming, but they botched the ending, which led into a joke as Fishman had to redo it. Funny.

Ocelot was ok, loping along in typical fashion.

Rift and Bouncin' was exactly Rift and Bouncin'.

WOTC was a great closer and cranked up the energy before set-break.

Overall Set I: A good opening set, felt kind of like a warmup, which delivered some looseness, some fun, and a couple nice jamming moments in WOTC, Wolfman's and the Stash jam proper.

Set II opened with Twist. Twist was awesome. They took a good patient approach to the jam and found a nice peak then went straight ambient. Kuroda was lighting the back wall and it was really cool during the spacey ambient section of this one. I enjoyed this version.

I feel like I have seen Free in the second spot of the second set so often. This one was no different. (p.s. it's always fun)

Roggae was in the 3 hole and this one absolutely cruised into a beautiful peaking soaring space. Trey was unbelievable, but it should be mentioned the hole band kept driving him further and further to the top.

Sparkle was a brief and fun interlude before they kicked into Cavern and had me thinking a rock show.

Carini kicked in a destroyed all in it's path. This was a GREAT version. Dark rock, dancing funk, upbeat Trey. This had it all. Must hear Phish and foreshadowed the tour to come.

Numberline was a nice choice after that jam. This was a decent version.

20 Years and Wading were fine.

Antelope rocked, but didn't do anything too special.

Overall Set II: Good set, a couple really nice jams (count 3 - Twist, Roggae, Carini). There were some uneven moments, but overall a great first show.

Go get that Carini!

Overall: Good show, sort of felt like a tour opener get loose kind of show. Good songs mostly and one big jam that remained a tour highlight in a VERY strong tour.
3.75/5 Niiiiice.