Night Two. My buddy Matt and I marveled, often, at how freaking lucky we were to have scored all 3 nights via the lottery. So many people seemed to have a hodge podge of tickets. Super cool. Again, the vibe in lot was quite subdued, the local constibullory seemed intent on making sure a full fledged Shakedown never materialized but everyone was vibing in a majorly positive way. It had happened. Phish was back. Now we can enjoy it.

Right off the bat this show was a lot looser than the first. BOTT was great, Runaway Jim was tight and solid. I love Brian and Robert and wish they would play some of the songs off of Story of the Ghost more often. Split Open and Melt tore the roff off the room and Heavy Things has a sweet bulbous jam waiting in there somewhere. The PYITE featured what turned out to be a 2009-themed rust that never, truly was removed from this tune. Gumbo(like Halley's Comet) is a song I could probably hear at every show and not be the least bit bummed.

A word on this Reba. I'm writing this after I had a chance to go back and listen to the show and this Reba absolutely soars. Everyone onstage is locked in and feeding off one another. The jamming in this song is like a snap shot of how the band played all year. After years of playing in the murkier waters of their musical journey, Phish 3.0 is as light as air and loves touching the clouds. Soaring is truly the only word that describes how you feel listening to this Reba.

I had been wondering if any songs would be off limits to Phish 3.0, but when the tequilla inspired 'Mexican Cousin' started, I had a feeling that the whole catalog was open for business. I think this was to re-assure the party people that partying wasn't going to be squelched now that Trey had been to rehab and was clean. It also showed the internal strength and fortitude of the whole band to play a song obviously inspired by the same elements that helped drag them down in the first place. Not that we ended up with a slew of Mexican Cousins in '09, but it was nice to hear and I love singin' along to this ditty.

It's Ice featured some missed moments, but this tune simply rocks. Halley's got the joint movin' and was abrubttly abandoned in favor of Beayty of a Broken Heart. They nailed this Page penned tune this night and the crowd really got into it. Now if Phish would just play 'Andelman's yard' off Mike's album, The Green Sparrow!

My first Guleah was epic with a lovely, kinda emotional even