Whelp, I tell ya hwhat: the rumors about them this tour are true. They are a band alight, fanning each other for the oxygen their respective fires need to keep going. An ageless tour de force locked in for its first show at a century-old tennis arena, the Vermonters not about to let us down. With the death of Ozzy Osbourne earlier in the day looming, the band took the stage.

With both of Trey and Fish sporting sunglasses, given the sun directly setting in their line of vision, the band set out for its maiden Forest Hills journey, nervous locals and overzealous balloon vendors be damned. Moma hit appropriately, with the following Rift cleaning up nicely as well; an expansive Sigma Oasis gave way to a Possum that lit the floor on fire, glow sticks shooting in every direction. Wolfman’s Brother featured some obligatory grooving, which the following Stash built upon in its several-minute samba around the climax. Blaze On and Monsters fit the bill well enough, but it felt like they were holding out for something. Ah, hmm, wut? “I Am The Walrus,” a marvelous pull of a cover to close the set (a slight nod to the recently-reunited Oasis, given they cover that song as well? Bucket hats of the world: unite!).

Following a roller coaster of a first set, there was no better to get people out of the seltzer line and back to their spot than with a nearly half-hour long “Carini.” When people joke about asking what song is even happening after eight or nine minutes of a particular band’s jam, it is typically derisive and reductive; that said, I’m here to tell you that I had to repeatedly remind myself what song was happening, or at least what its origin story was, in the best possible way. Top display out of that one.

Out of those ashes arose, after much teasing, there it was: “Tweezer.” I thought for sure that I was re-living several NYE runs and parts of others when they kept hinting at the monster in the first set, but then they broke it out of the box for a steamy spin. WGTYM and ALBTD felt like re-centering, a serve-and-volley rather than the full power. The set-closing, colossal Hood subverted that notion.

Slave->More->Tweeprise was a predictable yet enjoyable run for the encore; by my check, the band dutifully finished up a few minutes before 10 pm. Encountering the balloons right after one of the better shows in recent memory during one of the better nights weather-wise in recent memory: there’s gotta be something more than this.

What a debut. Can’t wait for night two.