I am ancient like the old growth forest (had a ticket to Woodstock). Had not seen the band since a benefit in 93. Been a collector on Dat and CD but this was my first full show. Drove down from Portland, alone, a little nervous. Found parking. Walked to the arena. Bought a lousy sausage and a cool shirt. Went upstairs. Last row. Last. I thought "this is going to s @k". A woman walked in with a flashing cowboy hat. Her guy had a huge hat that said "beer! that's why". My mood lightened. The lights went down, the crowd cheered. This amazing plume of Volcano smoke erupted around the arena. The guy on my right offered me a joint that had magically appeared in his hand. I said no thanks, am driving, but enjoy. I thought the opener nice, but not epic. He was passing his joint around. I was very happy with Free. It brought my energy up and the crowd. The guy next to me handed me two joints "for when you get home". Hmmmm. By the time Bouncing started, I turned to the guy on my left and asked if he smoked. He said yes. I gave him one of the joints. He's happy. I thought from Reba on the band cooked. At set break, our little group of strangers talked each other's ears off. Basketball, first set, football, ballot measures. Fun. The rest of the show was fantastic. The second set was just exactly perfect. I love Carini and thought it was great. From Twist on, the show killed. I'm not a Crosseyed fan until that version. It killed. I thought the Harry was great. Hey, what's with the glow sticks?? Awesome stuff. Sound from the very last row? Pretty darn good! Great sightlines. Did I mention Page was awesome in Maze? I thought the show excellent. In real life a 4.3-4.5. Really glad I went. Got home and downloaded it.

WOW. This was my first show since 4/17/04 (vegas - remember that weekend?!) and I was blown away.

They started with a nice mellow "waiting all night" which got everyone accustomed to the dark and the lights, the WHAM - FREE kicked in and everyone was feeling the vibe.

The "Matt Arena" is a very small affair, the sbd was at the back of the floor. Every seat in there was pretty damn good. We were sitting directly behind the stage, which is a really enjoyable place to see a show.

The first set got going with Reba, and it had the full whistling ending, then went into a rarity (for me) Roggae. This sound was beautiful in that arena, and the band pushed the outro jam for new sounds. Then MAZE started up and the place blew up. Trey and Page were facing each other and just egging each other on. This was a constant theme of this show, the Trey and Page ego duel. They were really hamming it up also, as evidenced later by the amazing "sleeping monkey" encore gag which Trey claimed was Page's favorite song, and Page always started to play it but was usually shot down. You got the feeling the opposite was true, but Page was a player and they had a bunch of fun with the encore.

Oh wait, set II started out kind of rough with Carini. I say that because the crowd was kind of sedated and the band just kicked that in. But soon everyone was moving, then I had a weird sensation, I knew the lyrics but I did not know the name of the song. It was Plasma, an old TAB song that Phish were playing, and playing very well. The song has kind of a pathos and a punk attitude that the band captured well.

we got a breather with Farmhouse and the new Halfway to the Moon, which has lyrics I want to hear again. Trey kind of stole this song from Page in the end, giving it a rock star ending. After all of these years Trey is still a freaking beast, just going full rockstar and basically playing like his Arnold S. quote from the movie "bittersweet motel." Sometimes his "going full rockstar" seemed to pull him away from the cohesion of the band. But other times, like in X eyed and PAINLESS, the band just went beyond the PALE and got to that amazing place that they can only get to after years of listening to each other and making space for each other. If you are going to only listen to one "jam" from this show, listen to what they do in X eyed. My girlfriend, who was attending her first show, said "this is the best they have done tonight" during the jam. The band really came together and made something beautiful.

Listen to this show, check out the funny banter in the encore, the band was having a great time and it was so nice to see them after 10 years!

This show is a trip, loved it. I'm still wearing my Wingsuit. Yes, I put my Wingsuit on last night. It's still on. I'm still wearing it. It's really one of those things where you go and find your Wingsuit and take a good look at it and then say to yourself, "you know what, I'm going to put this darn Wingsuit on and I'm going to wear it." And that's what happened. I put my Wingsuit on.

Context: Flew down from Seattle. Met fellow fans on the plane and split shuttle into town with them, undoubtedly bewildering the other strangers with whom we shared the van. It was my 23rd show in 20 years, and first indoors since 2003. I was most excited for the latter fact, but also for the likelihood, established by precedent, that Fall Tour would be better than Summer Tour, and perhaps even an improvement upon the great Fall 2013. Walked to the show with an old friend who lives a few blocks from venue, stumbling through Shakedown Street, remarkably located on residential lawns. Passed through wicked tight security and into the clean, modern and somewhat intimate venue. Located about halfway up, Page-side of the soundboard, I arrived to my seat early to take it all in. Was certain they'd open with The Old Home Place. Lights...

WAITING ALL NIGHT. Okay, I thought, I'm down for this. After all, ever since Northerly Island's version it's been my favorite Fuego track, notably for the direction in which Fishman has taken it. But in general I'm all for continued work on Fuego songs—I'm still spinning it regularly. First impression: they're tight; they must have practiced. This is a good thing. Moments later, was struck my another impression: they sound well balanced, another sign of practice, good venue acoustics, or both. Mike's Deep Impacts bombs strike me next. On the album track, they're awkward in my opinion, but they now fit live. That the smooth bombs don't elicit their typical Pavlovian crowd response also reinforces how well used effect is here, rather than being just an excuse for Mike to draw a cheer. Trey's sweet playing then jumped out to me. His relaxation is consistent with how I viewed his Seattle Symphony performance a month prior. Outstanding tone, too. As the jam progresses, it's softness reminds me of Fee. I yelled my first "yeah" of the night when they rounded the corner and began the final chorus. Great opener.

FREE. Fishman assaults the opening... Nice setlist placement. Given that they just opened with a new song, not to mention their tightness, Free in the second slot made it instantly feel like 1995 in the room. Quickly, Mike's Deep Impact comes into sharp focus, and once again its use is apt. Fishman wailing on his kick...this is good. I haven't heard be Free played this faithfully to the original in a while. Once again, it's as if they practiced. Landed well after the night's first little miscue. POOR HEART. Weird how they seemingly botch the intro these days on purpose, kind of the like the return in Ghost. But once it gets goings it's forceful and tight. And then Page steps up...slams the keys (with a yell from Fishman). Strong finish. SAMPLE. Relaxed. Trey is locked in, executing well. Another strong finish. STRANGE DESIGN. What!? What year is this? This is cool, I thought, and they delivered a smooth rendition. 555. Here it is, expected early by many, perhaps in its role as the new Moma. The sound still sounds well balanced...the bridge is played tastefully. Fishman's new toms are tuned nicely, almost as if for this very song. Conventional jam, builds nicely. BOUNCING. Ha! There have been so many nods already the era in which they last played Eugene, why not Bouncing? Played faithfully. REBA. Boom, down to business with back-to-back Lawn Boy songs. Very well paced, like many so far tonight, akin to when they were played early in their lives. Executed well. Trey's confident tone once again standing out. Page also confident sounding, as well as louder in the mix. ROGGAE. Sweetly and patiently introduced. Sounds great with Mike largely driving this version now memorialized in video. The jam quickly vaults into space. Fishman and Mike rise together and the crowd responds. And it's great when the crowd applauds the end of a jam and return to a chorus. When done I think it's clear that this version deserves a place among the best ever, right beside The Gorge 2011. SIMPLE. What is this 1994!? Flow. This set has it. Compact jam. Deep, Deep Impact ending. MAZE. Damn they're hot. Incidentally this is my 9th Maze, my new most-seen (39%) song. Seldom have I heard them listen to each other in this song, though. COIL. A statement of how they must be feeling. Relaxed and nostalgic—hell of a way to start a tour. Perfect close to a near perfect set. (Makes me wonder what would happen if we ranked sets and aggregated the scores.) Page teased something there just before the end... Page certainly continues to relieve Trey of some of his front-man duties, hasn't he?

Again, great set. Promising way to start a tour. My section mates concurred about the tightness and relaxed vibe. I stayed in my seat until lights...

CARINI. I'll take it. Not bold, but certainly apropos of the era. Smooth transition into the jam segment. Good texture. Up, not dark, and well executed. It's a solid version. At a point, notably with Fishman's ride bell rolls, I start to hear Bill Kreutzmann influence. Damn Halloween surprises! Wait, what are they doing? They're segueing into something... PLASMA. Nice! They nailed this debut. With the buttery segue and relatively clean vocals, it was obviously practiced (was sound-checked). At this point, it was clear that they had matched the trajectory of the first set, raising the energy further and cementing great show status. The melody as played by Phish is totally infectious. When it's over, the band pauses, allowing a grateful audience buzz to fill the room. That was special. FARMHOUSE. A breather. Understandable after such an energetic and focused debut. Flow be damned, it was played smoothly and sweetly like many songs had been all night. But alright, let's crank it back up... MOON. I like this song, but I feel like they have yet to play it live better than it was played in the studio. This one was reasonably well played, though. TWIST. In my persnickety opinion, Twist hasn't done much since 2000. But it's Fall 2014 and I'm I'm open, and lo, this jam goes to some pretty cool, fresh new places. It was simply well played, balanced, and exuding relaxation. CROSSEYED. Good placement...this might go somewhere. Great tempo, the band sounds recharged. Fishman hammering on the ride bell, sounds great. Textures, rhythms, and the return of plinko jamming! Then dark and type II, what sounded like a slow Fuego tease, echoplex/whale action, and then "still waiting" chants. Sublime. Even thought I heard Psycho Killer coming on...ends somewhat abruptly. HOOD. Seems right. Very 2013-14, but still right. Was that a Llama fake in there? Solidly played. ROCKYTOP. Continuing the odd 3.0 practice of pre-playing encores to end shows. They're happy but clearly tired.

Encore: WINGSUIT. Alright, yes, much better choice than most recent encores (looking at you Zero). Nice fills by Fishman. Jam gets blissful and I become more grateful for the encore selection. SLEEPING MONKEY. Laughing-out-loud, yes. Perfectly tying the sets together. Pretty hilarious ("for Page") banter, too. Another glimpse of Trey's great tone—sounds Fall 1997-like. QUINN. 3-song encore is feeling like a third set. Let's all sing along then... One of their more well played Quinns, too.

Great tour opener. Tight, relaxed, good flow, and nods to the last time they visited Eugene. Top moments: Roggae, Plasma, and Crosseyed. Straight to bed, prepared for a 6-hour drive back to Seattle...

This show will forever be described as Page's Monkey.

1st quarter was pretty well played but dubious song placements made for a somewhat disjointed set. 2nd quarter picked it up hard with an amazing stretch from Reba thru Coil (including a kinda sloppy but fun Simple). I thought the whole 2nd set was a monster.My phones gonna die. Farmhouse (which I like better than me lost others seem to) and Halfway kind of brought the energy down, but I thought it fit just fine between a great opening and a blazing Twist, C&P>Hood, Rocky Top. Hysterical banter about Page's Monkey and an always rousing Quinn to send us off. Show loses a star for the dubious Waiting All Night Opener and Wingsuit encore opener and the choppy 1st set list. But the playing was great, the venue is killer, I got to enjoy the show with a first-timer who loved it, and we were as close to the stage as I've ever been for Phish - 10 feet at most. Floor was nice and airy thanks to a hyper intense event staff focus on not letting people in the seats get stubbed down. I was bummed that I couldn't get some friends down there with us, but it made the front less of a crush than it would usually be. Great show, great time.

Highlights: Roggae, Maze, Coil, C&P>Hood.

And Page's Monkey.

This band just don't quit. Seattle tonight! Giddy up!

I’m blessed with good first sets. And I don’t say that in an ambivalent way at all. For me, the end-all be-all of Phish is not the 4 song second set. A solid song selection, clear flow, and direct, pointed jamming are far more important. These things can culminate in the form of a 4 song set, but they don’t have to.

Much like in the days of old when they’d open shows with Caspian (or just last year when Architect opened at the Gorge), Waiting All Night is somewhat of an anti-addundum, just a smattering of music before the *actual* show. To be fair, Waiting is a far better tune than Caspian, but still not much of a show opener. Any reasonable fan won’t have anything much more negative than that to say about this first set. Momentum builds toward Reba, the peak of the set, and proceeds to plateau for a solid 40 minutes with the closing Roggae > Simple -> Maze, Coil stretch. That’s some damn fine first-setiness goin on right there. There's some damn fine second-setiness here as well.

Big jam vehicles like Carini almost always have a “first jam”, the beginning of a jam directly following the conclusion of the song itself and directly preceding uncharted waters/abandonment. While this Carini doesn’t super out-there, the first jam is far and away my favorite one coming out of this particular song. Trey hits all the right melodies. Some super melodious; others more jagged. They’re all wonderful. Then Plasma appeared oh so smoothly, gleefully, and completely out of left field. It was awesome.

The set-breathers come early, though not necessarily unwarranted, this time around. The turns Twist takes heavily foreshadow the sublime transcendence that would go down ten days later in San Francisco. Crosseyed finds itself a rollicking little drone jam complete with “still waiting” quotes taboot. At one point Trey almost tries to go all 46 Days style rocking chunky-chunk all over the place, but it lands itself in the far more interesting drone-space. Hood continues down its path of renewed creativity and Rocky Top closes things out high-energy, if not a little off-kilter.

For me personally, this show was a major success. Show 20, a hometown show, and I added three songs to my never-before scene list. Plasma, of course, was one. Strange Design and Sleeping Monkey were the others. While this show never hits legendary territory, it hits its stride early and holds it more often than leaves room to complain. I recommend it.

This was my third show ever, first time seeing a tour opener, and my first indoor show.... and...holy fucking shit.

Just by the sheer fact that I'm working my way through a song chasing list of things I want to personally see live and got to cross off so many of my wants. Top that with the fact that the band locked into the groove early and kept it strong the whole night.

Admittadly Maze was probably my favorite, but more for personal reasons than anything else. Yeah, it wasn't the best song (I'll discuss in a minute), but it was top of my song chasing list tonight--and my lot cards reflected it. Not only did I get it, but I got against jammed out version too.

But honestly, the winner of the night goes to Carini > Plasma. Carini was just a sick way to open set two to begin with, and the boys brought the energy. But to then move seamlessly into Plasma?! Re listening to the set, it's funny to hear like the only 4 people in the crowd who recognized the song get excited, because certainly everyone else in the crowd had no idea what was coming until it got to the chorus. I even looked at my well seasoned friend and asked what the hell it was, and he replied, "I've only said this once before, but I have no idea." Ultimately it didn't matter. I have relistened to that part of this set countless times because I'm still amazed every time. I didn't even mind having Farmhouse after, because I needed a biting a cool down myself...and frankly, I may be a minority, but I like that sweet, simple song.

Cross eyed was a bit of a pleasant surprise. I don't think I've ever heard it with a cold start quite like this and the tempo seemed a bit different than other times, but it brought the rage, as it should.

Encore ended with Quinn that only left me wanting for more.

In terms of song choice, execution, and the maintaining of energy--at least thus far I feel good saying this was the best show I've seen in person to date. I'm fresh and new to this, so I'm sure I have apt of surprises awaiting me...but I couldn't have asked for a better third show, first tour opener, or first indoor show experience.

So I'll say my thoughts in just a few words. I thought the first set was pretty bland, very cookie-cutter. From Reba on they started to kick it into gear, though I thought they were going to take that Simple somewhere but it ended up fizzling.

Second set, however, in this poster's opinion, was one of the strongest tour opening second sets of 3.0. I thought each song was patient and beautiful and you could tell the crowd was digging it. I thought the fans were kind of flat-footed, not really giving the band the respect they were deserving, but we really showed em how much we appreciated it during that hood. I think that second set can hold up to any 3.0 second set ever. Definitely a must-listen.

This show absolutely rips. Songs like Free, Roggae, Carini and Wingsuit each feature guitar that shred my mind. As for jams, the Carini>Plasma will for sure go down as a big milestone of Fall '14.

A three-song encore to open the tour? Can't ask for much more than that! I love Quinn the Eskimo as a closer, but I really would have liked to have seen that Wingsuit as an anchor in the first set. I love a Coil as a set closer but what I would have liked even more than that would have been for Poor Heart to open the show. Waiting All Night has been my least favorite part of this year's shows so I definitely wasn't pumped to have it open the tour, but such is life!

Also, after going back and listening to the Crosseyed here, does anyone else get a hint of a "Your Pet Cat" tease at the 7:00 mark?

This was my first show of 2014, I had last seen the two Gorge shows. While not quite on the same level as those, this Eugene show had some great moments and cool jams.

The first set opened fine with Free, Bouncing>Reba being the highlights for me. Roggae and Maze were also well executed. SO the first set was enjoyable, though nothing too crazy.

Then the second set begins with one of the highlights of the show, Carini into PLASMA. The Plasma was awesome, and had many people asking each other what they had just witnessed. Farmhouse Halfway did seem to take some of the energy out of the place, and twist seemed to be a recharge of sorts. Then came the deepest jam of the show CrossEyed>Hood, with CrossEyed containing the jam. This was the other highlight for me, and just a great part of the night. RockyTop closed the set, and we get an encore wingsuit, monkey, Quinn. Wingsuit contained the neat of the encore and I thought was much better than the album version though I miss the backwards vocals and have yet to hear any other live versions of it.

In conclusion I thought this was a solid tour opener, loved Plasma and Crosseyed.

Crosseyed and -> Tomorrow Never Knows (tease) -> Painless.

Yeah, OK, maybe it's only Page playing around, but dang, it's there in my mind. This is a show filled with some very patient playing. I saw the Waiting All Night opener on the list and thought, Oooo. Interesting and groovy, perhaps. Of course, that could have gone in any number of directions, but listening to the recording, I can now agree: groovy. Very solid show. Even Halfway to the Moon has extra mustard and drift. (I don't understand the cheers in the middle of the first Hood instrumental section. Hmmm . . .)

I was less focused than usual during this show because I had my 8-year-old in tow and, well...parenting. We were top row--literally the furthest you could be--but the venue feels like a tiny little (steep) spaceship and I felt close to the band anyway. I couldn't feel much energy from the crowd way up there, though. All that said, I felt it was pretty strong for a tour opener. The Plasma, though a debut (not counting TAB) seemed to engage the crowd despite being new to most. I was totally stoked on the C&P since I hadn't seen once since '09 and this one is a great example, plus how can you go wrong with a segue into Hood! For me, the standout of the night was the encore. Wingsuit was slow and gorgeous, Monkey was hilarious, and Quinn was absolutely freakin' smokin! Probably best Quinn I've heard, certainly the best one I've seen in person.

Bonus: my 8-yr-old has been chasing Farmhouse so she was stoked to hear it.

Am I the only one who thinks they opened with Waiting All Night because security was so over-the-top that it took way longer than expected to get people into the venue? They had to notice how few people were in near the time they were scheduled to start. Anyone else get that?

Fun show to start the fall tour. Always great to get Reba and Hood in the same show.

solid show that bodes very well for what's to come. Plasma was a nice surprise and well played. Farmhouse placement a little wonky- and I like farmhouse. Nice high energy c&p but for me it was all about Page and his solo in maze. He threw down as hard as I've ever seen him throw down. Amazeballs. The coil was clearly his reward for blowing everybody off the stage. Can't wait for tonight. WOMBAT, FUEGO and WILSON.

This a good show ... Really strong opener .... Flew out from ny.... Sat the floor .... Sitting in Seattle reading reviews and writing this one and all I'm ghnna say is everything was tight with good flow .... Hard ever any forced jamming or sloppy power chord transitions from trey ..... I have no idea if everyone in matt knight last night had never seen a roggae before but guys.... That's as standard as standard as roggae gets so why the huge roar and why is everyone amount that one up .... Just confuses me :/ crowd went apeshit after it .... But really far better roggae a have been and will be .... That was pretty much right off the studio track .... Other than the roggae confusion though great night

Fall tour opener 2014!
Tour openers are mixed bags mostly, but I traveled so far and was so psyched for music that I came in ready for anything, with no expectations. That was a good thing for most of set 1. I like many of the songs in the first stanza but felt most were sloppy and Not Well Placed!
"Waiting all night" is a song I enjoy but not the ideal one to open a show.
Until the Simple>Maze, Coil the first set felt sponsored by the local Adult Contemporary Radio station, due to being Homecoming weekend here in Eugene.
The 20 minutes Carini>Plasma was really well played and high energy. Farmhouse is prob my least favorite Phish song ever and IMHO doesn't belong in a second set! The Adult Contempory radio station felt back for Farmhouse and Halfway to the Moon(another song I enjoy when placed properly)
C&P was fun but seemed a little slower than how PH usually plays it, being closer to the Talking Heads version. Hood was pretty standard awesome and Rocky Top ended a fun mostly well played set.
Wingsuit to open encore was another case of bad placement and so was the Sleeping Monkey that followed. Quinn is one of my favorite ways to end a show. Overall I enjoyed the show (except for these girls who talked the entire night, and got louder when we politely asked them to keep it down).
On to Seattle for a "Live stream" show that I expect will have more continuity.