Heading into the Saturday’s night show in Birmingham, I couldn’t help but notice an unmistakable energy in the air. It wasn’t just the normal pre show, giddy restlessness. This event had something else working for it. Something that Phish is known for embracing, this night just had an extra dose of the unknown. You see, the Coca-Cola Amphitheater was brand spanking new, I mean brand new, having opened not even two months before. It’s safe to say the band were feeling this energy as well and decided to take full advantage of it.

Some Personal Highlights

— I’m was happy to see they went ahead and played Cities early and I was even happier that they “went in” and jammed it out.
— Bathtub Gin was perhaps the deepest dive of the night. Jaw on floor.
— As Gin was winding down, I was certain it was the end of the set, but lo and behold here comes Runaway Jim. A++
— For the 2nd Set, it was time to push the petal to the floor. Sigma Oasis>Down With Disease>Lifesaving Gun was a weird, scary, and beautiful stretch of music.
— During the LSG jam, I really thought we were going to make first contact with aliens right there in Birmingham. Far Out indeed…
—The Encore was perfect. They tugged at my heart with their version of Shine a Light causing me to shed a tear or two. Then they brought the whole thing home with a high energy final wind up with Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.
— During the PEAK of the final song, one last jet airliner , flew directly over the venue, which raised the energy that much more. Oh I forgot to mention, the unknown really did come into play that night in Alabama. To my surprise (and I’m sure many others), the venue was right beside the airport. So at least a dozen or so times through the night, a huge jet would fly (fairly low) right over us. This aspect will always make this show special to me. Oddly enough, even though the planes were pretty close to us, I couldn’t hear them at all so they didn’t affect the show negatively at all
All in all, it was a great weekend in Birmingham and Sundays show the next night was no slouch (shout out Fee), Saturday reached heights rarely seen. 5 Stars.