This was a fun show, just a really fun show. This also holds the distinction of being my first show. I am grateful that I got to see a lot of these songs, though the bust outs the following night kind of tip the scales. The crew with me at this show were all seasoned veterans from 2.0 on, and so it was fun to see them calling songs (is Frankie Says or Shafty? Bowie or Maze?).

Set one was a solid bunch of tunes. No Men's got things started on a great dancy note, while Stealing Time brought out the rock. Poor Heart is always good, but then again, I like some bluegrass, and Cactus' ode to the stolen tape recorder was a clever follow up to Stealing Time while nicely fitting that bill. Mercury was a cool tune that I (like others) had never heard before this tour, and the way it built the crowd up for the one/two closer of Reba (really dug this jam at the time, need to pull out my recording) and Possum was nothing short of spectacular.

Set two, for me, seemed about positive, upward trajectory. DWD kicked it off, into the good timing feel of Halley's Comet. Twist and Light kept things going upward (CK5 was really having fun with the "light is growing brighter now" line this night). What's The Use? was an awesome tune, being previously unfamiliar with it, and it served as a plateau, a base camp where we could all catch our breath a little. Not a lot of people like Number Line, and that's okay, but this one hit as the show wound down and I was reminded of the camaraderie of the four guys I was watching this show with. And Slave. Man. Great way to end the set. Meatstick was a nice bouncy E1, and Character Zero was cool.

Here I was, walking out of Alpine thinking "How does it get any better than that?" As I lay awake in bed at the hotel that night, I had no idea what Trey and the boys had in store...