As a born-and-raised Oregonian, these shows were obviously well received in person. The first concert I ever attended was Phish at Matt Knight (same arena) back in 2014, their first show in Oregon in 15 years. Seeing Bend the next year was a treat, but honestly I didn't expect them to ever come back here anytime soon, despite the huge jam scene here and lax drug attitudes, along with a friendly counter-culture. So I was very surprised when the FIRST shows back from the COVID pandemic were announced to be in Eugene, not one but TWO nights! So I bought tickets immediately, and living in Eugene, it was going to be no issue hitting these shows. However, after the tour postponement, it was stretched back a year, and then it was shuffled to the Fall Tour as Arkansas was going to be the first ones back. This move paid off though, with 2 hits into the Eugene barn in the middle of a HOT Fall tour proved to be special.

So while the boys were absolutely destroying Sacramento and San Fran, my old touring buddy and I prepped for the 2 day stay - I couldn't get off work either of the two days, but living in town proved to make it super fucking easy to get to the shows, a quick bus ride over and an Uber as the prep back. We swung it easily, pre-gamed with some pre-show shots just like the band in Bittersweet Motel, and headed down to the basketball arena. Now Matt Knight is relatively new, but in the time since its inception about a decade back, it's seen some great events (Phish killed it here 10/17/2014 as the Fall Tour Opener that year) and I've probably been to the venue 50+ times for basketball games, storming the court even a few times. So my familiarity with the venue was at an absolute high, and we made it in easily before showtime, left side towards the front of the stands.

Obviously, the elephant in the room was the jumper and the injured man from the show on Sunday night (which was just about one of the most surreal things I've ever felt watching from home and following online). We didn't know what to expect, but I certainly made sure that I wasn't going to fall myself (seriously, I was worried about that) so I stuck to just drinking. It was a fairly "odd" vibe for us personally but once we arrived at the show things kicked up a notch as we had a great time in line for the show and made it in about 10 minutes before start time. We were wondering if they were going to immediately address the tragedy, and heard the opening notes of the DWD. Well, that answered the question. On the jam proper, inside it felt like almost no time had passed, I was having that good of a time. It turned out later that we had stumbled into (literally) the longest opener in Phish history, clocking in at just under 26 minutes. Up until this point, it was the longest single Phish jam I'd seen in 11 shows

Amazing jam, it's a must hear for the Eugene run. It followed into a great segue towards Runaway Jim, which I'd seen a lot of people consistently call as an opener but to no avail. That might be the closest we'll get to one of those in a while. Ocelot had an extra kick, and it just displays that in Summer/Fall 2021 basically every song in the first sets are played extremely well, with lots of attention and given an extra kick. Rift was well done, with the crowd erupting at the "silence contagious in moments like these" which was a good moment. I wasn't sure if they were going to address the jumper at this point, rather instead just play a good show, but the vibe was one of warmth and love rather than eerie as expected.

I was excited to get Horn and Ya Mar live for the first times, and then the opening notes to Stash kicked in. This is a very good Stash and one that will likely go underrated for a while, but it's nearly 16-17 minutes of really airtight jamming, absolutely one of the highlights of this set and show. After Stash Trey finally took the mic and the place was dead silent, you could hear a pin drop when he was beginning to talk. It was really nice to see him give a heartfelt speech and sort of emotionally come full circle on what was obviously a traumatic event for all involved. Afterward, Page takes the lead into Walls, a song about loss, and they nail it. Another fantastic first set in a tour full of them.

Second set began with Twist, which I remember to be pretty good (there's a nice melodic jam in the last few minutes) and then a nice transition into Blaze On, which I really like that song. Unfortunately, this one doesn't quite go anywhere before a strong segue into Plasma, which reminded me of my very first show at Matt Knight back on 10/17/2014 where Plasma was debuted, also within a second set segue. Maybe that was a tribute to that show! I have no idea. I also had an amusing personal experience where a big New York/Jersey Italian guy ahead of us who was pretty wasted was screaming to everyone "STASH IS COMING BACK! THEY'RE PLAYING STASH AGAIN!" after the segue into Plasma. Leaves followed, for a slowdown song, I happen to like this one. The next song I didn't know and had to check the phone for (I was guessing it was one of Trey's quarantine songs, either I Never Left Home or And Flew Away, and was glad to see that one come. It wasn't bad - I need to give it some more listens and wouldn't be upset if it came in the first set in an upcoming show.

Next came Sparkle (which I like as a song, I'm a little confused at the placement), which did an OK job of bringing the energy back up. The next was 2001, which to me was the highlight of the night. 14 minutes of pure boogie funk dance party, that was a crowd favorite and a must hear. Sigma closed, which I like that song too. Drift While You're Sleeping was the encore, and probably a pretty good choice given the emotional situation of everyone.

The show did its job - there was exploration, there was happiness, there was some love and light, and the tragedies were addressed in a great way. At this point, this was musically the best show I've seen out of 11 (a bit of a low bar, but there hadn't been any heaters I've personally attended). Had a fantastic time and made it to work just fine the next morning.

Must Hear:

First set: DWD -> Jim, Stash, Trey's speech (unique)

Second set: Twist, 2001

I'm obviously a hometown "homer" given that I'm from Eugene but I don't think that was an "amazing" show, but it did its job and was the best one I've personally seen. DWD to open is a monster and the 2001 is great dance music. Left us very excited for the next night...