A stellar end to a very, very solid run. Very little to complain about all weekend.

Set 1: Absolutely fire. Loved the troll job by the band to play the Scents intro and take it right into one of the best Moma’s in recent memory. Type II Moma Dance? Well okay! Transition to Final Hurrah was nice (and admittedly I thought Trey was going into Blaze On again!). This is one of my favorite KV tunes. Awesome proper Mikes Groove, hearing Hydrogen with the breeze on the beach was breathtaking. The Sloth! Not perfect but I’ll always take it. Roggae was blissful, BOTT funky, but the highlight of Q2 was the YEM. To my ears, the best in a while. Trey sounded awesome and didn’t phone it in. Seemed like he was really dialed in. What a set!

Set 2: OK, this was one of the coolest sets I’ve seen and I’m not too sure how to explain it. I’ll preface it with the fact that I do Phish sober. IMO it’s the best way to experience Phish. But this set followed a storyline throughout for me. I’ll try to lay it out as I followed it live:

Carini: Set opens with an absolute ripper of a Carini. Dark yet blissful, not quite reaching a peak but some incredible playing throughout. Here’s where the journey begins for whoever the protagonist is. Something is happening, changing for them. They’re not sure what it is but they’re struggling with it, haunted by its existence.

SYSF: The protagonist decides to venture out, setting themself free of whatever is haunting them. It’s an uplifting song and whatever is around the corner is exciting. They decide to take to the water.

BSoS: The protagonist heads out on the ocean, starting their journey to solve whatever it is that’s holding them back. They look up at the stars and begin to gaze and dream, drifting off in the ocean’s current. This song is spectacular. Such a treat to hear live and another one that was breathtaking in that environment.

Piper: As the protagonist drifts, a storm approaches. It slowly builds in the distance and eventually brings a raging storm. This was the highlight of the set for me. The best Piper I’ve seen in the last few year. Just unreal stuff even thought it’s not a huge time stamp.

Waves: The storm passes and the protagonist is weary, but he treads on. They continue to drift in the Waves in the wake of the storm. Was hoping for something more for my first Waves, but a treat to hear nonetheless.

Simple: The protagonist has a breakthrough. It’s joyous, fun, and promising. They’re coming to understand the pleasures in life.

About to Run: But not without some second guessing first. They start to re-think everything and their journey thus far. They’re struggling with their inner self.

First Tube: The final leg of the journey, to wherever they’re heading. It’s the end of a long journey but they’re successful in overcoming the obstacle in the end. It’s a happy ending. I’ll never get tired of hearing this one live.

Encore: Fluffhead is the credits. Maybe this was Fluff’s journey (travels?). Either way, a great selection that was met with many cheers. And BDTNL is one of my favorites to hear when it’s in the right spot. Not a popular take but nobody was standing still tonight. A 25 minute encore? Don’t mind if I do. Trey sent us all dancing onto the boardwalk and into the night with a rippin’ version.

This was my favorite show of the run. Up there with Hershey N2. No crazy long jams, but it’s all packed in there. Set 2 for me was more like one long jam with songs intertwined. I’m not sure what made me think of all this, but I like to think it was the muse. There was something a bit magical about tonight, from my perspective anyway. This is one show I will revisit from top to bottom fairly often.