Twenty-two years ago tonight at Great Woods, Phish played a legendary show that contained the final live performance of the complete Gamehendge saga. While the 2016 summer tour so far has not come close to living up to that level, the memory of that night and many other amazing nights in Mansfield had fans hopeful that this would be the show to turn it all around.

And it was. Phish played two sets replete with compelling jams that easily made this the show of the tour so far.

A relatively standard “Party Time” opened, letting the crowd know that it was indeed party time. “46 Days” followed, played at a slightly slower tempo than usual, but with an inspired, bluesy solo from Trey. The band then took a quick jaunt through “Poor Heart” and a surprisingly fierce “The Dogs” to tie a bow on the warm-up portion of the show.

“Bathtub Gin” is where things got serious. The band slowly eased into the jam, but driven by a relentless attack on the drums by Fishman, quickly reached an anthemic peak. Trey then switched to a lower more growling tone on his guitar to back off a bit, letting Page poke his head up, but then reasserted himself, grabbing the reins and driving to another peak to wrap up the jam. After the energy expended dancing to “Gin,” “Fast Enough for You” was a beautiful cooldown.

“How Many People Are You” is a great rocker that they should play more, in my opinion. Page absolutely slayed his organ solo, and the final jam segment had Trey playing with his effects for a bit until locking in towards a fiery finish. “Strange Design” was comfort food, and I always think about the alternate title of “Ahh, Page Sings” and chuckle. “Fuego” was not terribly extended, but a roaring type-I version that featured Trey playing off the main riff a bit. A bass bomb from Mike signaled a downshift into the chill coda.

I expected a first set “Cities” to be a straightforward version; I was happy to be reminded Phish exists to defy expectations. It opened with a rousing sing-a-long, and then Trey broke a guitar string. Brian Brown, Trey’s guitar tech, brought out another guitar and then was lovingly introduced by Trey. The early part of the jam was led by Mike on bass and Page on the clavinet; then Trey moved to the Marimba Lumina and things got weird and spacy. Soon after, Mike put down his bass and picked up Trey’s guitar, adding a couple rock riffs. Once everyone got back to their original instruments, the jam kicked into an upbeat tempo that had almost a Caribbean feel to it. Fantastic. After “Cities” came the extremely fun a capella “Space Oddity.” A very good set closer to close the best first set of tour.

“Ghost” opened set two with a jam that started with Trey leaning heavily on effects. Mike found a driving bass line that laid a foundation for some Trey/Page interplay, with each of them copying riffs from one another, almost hitting upon a “Norwegian Wood” tease (or was it “What’s the Use?”). Mike’s rumbling bass signaled a turn into darker territory that found Trey grasping for and finding the opening riff of “Light.” This epic “Light” (after a slight and commented-upon vocal flub from Trey) contained dozens of unique ideas from the band. Not all of them worked for me, but one is sure to find a portion that speaks to them. The opening of the jam stayed in the rough framework of “Light” for a good bit, transitioning to some cool riffing from Trey about eight minutes in, leading to a “Woo” segment at eleven minutes. Trey then switched to some higher registered improv that had a melody close to “Manteca.” By 16 minutes, “Light” was firmly in deep space, and threatened to consume the greater Mansfield area, but after a portion where it sounded as if an “NO2” segue was imminent, the band found their way to “Wolfman’s Brother.”

While on tape, this “Wolfman’s” has a very cool Page-led jam, the situation at the venue was not cool. The PA cut out, and the jam was cut down cruelly in its prime. The band actually left the stage much to the confusion of everyone in attendance – while the set had been amazing thus far, that couldn’t be it, right? When they reappeared several minutes later and began playing a rocking “Chalk Dust Torture,” everything was sounding good in the pavilion where I was sitting. Unfortunately, I understand that the lawn PA was not fixed until later. This sucks for the fans who were back there, and in my opinion they should have waited until the PA was fixed everywhere before resuming.

“Saw it Again” is a polarizing song among fans that I know – some people absolutely hate it, but I’m not one of them. And judging by the reaction of the Mansfield crowd, very few who dislike it were in attendance last evening. There was a Chilling Thrilling scream sample used in place of some of the usual “Saw it Again” screams, but other than that it was a fairly standard version. “Back on the Train” was an excellent pick for a 4th quarter tune, and featured an echoey effects laden layered jam. To close the set, “Slave to the Traffic Light” featured some beautiful and uplifting work first from Mike and Trey, making my heart explode with happiness. A seemingly never-ending rave-up in the “I Am the Walrus” encore sadly did have to end, and we were sent to bed (well, to the parking lot to wait an hour to leave) with visions of a truly amazing Phish show in our heads.

Summer 2016 has been a bit of a mixed bag so far. Not to say the shows haven’t been fun to attend (they always are!), but none have truly crackled with the end-to-end magic that we know Phish is capable of. Last night changed that. From the opening notes the band played like they had something to prove, and the willingness to take chances and push forward continued throughout the show. The nature of improvisational music by a band with a huge catalog means that not every show can be this good. But, man, when they are, there is nothing better in the world.

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