This was my first NYE run since 2015, and this remarkable show hit the mark completely. Reading the first reactions, forum posts, and reviews, one thing stands out to me: so many people are responding to this show in terms of their personal Phish memories. Many are framing their remarks in terms of their 60 or 100 or more shows, their ten or twenty or thirty years of seeing the band live. I don’t think it’s so much a matter of comparing this show to 1997 or whatever, but rather a way of saying that this show brought home in a holistic, joyful way just what the band means to us.

So what was it about this show? It wasn’t a show of moments or individual songs or jams for me. In fact, the most memorable part of the show was the communal Antelope roar. It wasn’t a visit to the high peaks region, there wasn’t any banter or gags, no spacey jazz-jams, no major-league bust-outs, no 59-minute songs and no comic relief songs. It was the band playing *music* like no one else can, all heart and soul and muscle. No nonsense, all focus. Often, the end of a big second-set song leaves me grateful but a little sad that the creative reach of the show might have peaked. On Friday night, the end of each major journey (take your pick in that second set) left me catching my breath, smiling, and ready for the next one. And every time … the next one found its own groove and its own bliss.

One small note: the only minor criticism I’ve read is that at times Trey was working hard to find his way. I think that’s true (I felt it first in the Moma Dance) but that was one of my favorite parts of the show. It’s so cool to see the greatest guitar player since Jerry patiently finding his way, staying with the brilliantly played rhythms of Mike and Fishman, maybe struggling at times but persevering and abiding. What a treat!!!!