SET 1: Cars Trucks Buses: Great opener, was happy to hear this!

A Wave of Hope: The jam starts off with Page and Trey playing off one another and then moves into a very funky section full of effects. Love the them that Trey latches onto starting around the 12 minute mark. This probably lasted for about a minute and then for the next 6 minute this lands into upbeat, major mode territory.

Funky Bitch: I thought they tore this up!

hey stranger: First time seeing this. Definitely steals key elements from Camel Walk. I like it. Easy to get down and groove to. Keep playing this.

Lawn Boy: Very nice, always down for this on a nice, summer evening.

Back on the Train: Cool! This first set really has a 90’s feel to it.

When the Circus Comes: Nice! Old school feel continues. Goosebumps.

It's Ice: Old school keeps going, loving this!

Blaze On: Well, couldn’t last forever I guess. Good enough version, pretty good way to close out a very fun first set.

SET 2: Chalk Dust Torture: Very long set break as it had started raining. Started watching the radar, and oh uh – looks like we could get very wet. Oh well, let’s go! Trey’s playing here has an edge to it and a sense of urgency as they go into the last set of lyrics, bodes well for what’s to come! As the jam starts, it is nice and mellow – sort of introspective. Mike, Trey, and Page all playing off each other wonderfully and Fish driving the bus forward. Awesome back and forth between Mike and Trey in the late 12’s. Trey peaks this bad boy very well in the late 16’s and into the 17’s with some big time trilling. Fantastic Chalk Dust – not an all timer but it is very, very good – total groove monster that we got down to in a big, big way. Lots of fun and now into… >

Oblivion: I liked what I had heard from Huntsville so was interested to see where they could take this new tune. Let’s go! In a couple of spots in the composed section there are small snippets that – to me – sound a lot like A Real Hero from Electric Youth & College. Cool opening to the jam, Page is very heavy on the synth. All of this was going very well with the rain and they way it reflected in the light show, super cool. Trey steps up and takes the lead in the late 10’s and now we are really moving. But, I will say – that jam from the 7’s almost to the 11’s was mesmerizing. Trey doesn’t stay in the lead long as there is a hand off to Page as he is once again leaning heavily on the synth (I think). Nice, clean Trey leads over the last few minutes of this one to round it out. Fantastic jam, I loved every minute of it. No idea how they could be playing their instruments through this rain – they have absolutely no cover up on that stage. Crazy, crazy – starting to get concerned about the weather at this point.

The Wedge: The rain really starts picking up now, this is not good. I really do like The Wedge. But, for me; I just don’t get the mid second set placement and it seems like it has been placed here a lot over the years which is odd to me. How are they actually even still playing at this point. In retrospect, I wish I would have sought some kind of cover at this point, but hindsight is what it is.

Scents and Subtle Sounds: This is where things were getting really scary. Lightning all over. Trey’s speech was funny stuff. Fish pushing back hardcore with the Taylor Swift didn’t stop stuff. Wonder how that was all received back stage. Fishman, well I guess the gear has to get covered up, I forgot about that. LOL. And he appropriately hits the bah dum ching. And that was that. Things were super intense and scary at this point. I figured the bottleneck getting out of the venue would be even worse than Tuesday night. So, I hopped the ‘fence’ at the back of hill, trucked it down the back of the embankment managing not to wipe out, and proceeded to get out of there seeking shelter in a parking garage.

Summary: Really enjoyed that first set as A Wave of Hope was an anchor and the rest that surrounded it was a lot of fun. Two big jams to kick off the second set had me thinking this was going to be a monster set and encore. But it wasn’t meant to be. Still, that is 45 minutes of playing and the experience of it all is one I will never forget. Absolutely bonkers kind of night. I know Phish.net doesn’t allow ratings on incomplete shows such as this but I would rate this show as a 3.9 out of 5 – that feels about right to me. I got to hang with some Phookers and some PT’ers and you made my experience fantastic! The city of Wilmington is great, and I just had a ton of fun. Until next time!

Replay Value: A Wave of Hope, Chalk Dust Torture, Oblivion