Hard to believe it has been almost 6 years since I saw the boys in Hampton for my very first show. Didn't know what to expect, but looking back on it I don't think I realized how big the hype was to this late addition show in the Summer of '04. For one, it was their "last tour" and it was The Mothership. It was, and still is, one of the most Phistoric and Phishiest venues they play at. The experience of the show at the time was unlike anything I had seen. One of the most disappointing things now though is how much this show gets hated on by everybody, or at least forgotten. I have heard everything at Hampton (minus the post hiatus '03 run) and understand how read icculusly sick they all pretty much were, but if you go back and listen to this show, I think you'd enjoy it and give it some credit, at least for the first set. The one thing, listen to the second set first, and the first set second. It seems to me that they mixed up the sets because the first set is all jamming, and the second is more like what you'd expect a typical Phish first set to be. The Chalk Dust opener went for 20+ minutes, and gets Type II around the 7 or 8 minute mark. The play between all four members is just beautiful. Page and Trey are going note for note, and Mike and Fish hold down the backbeat perfectly. Probably the most underrated jam of '04/post hiatus #1. The 20+ minute Gin that follows gets off to a slow start, but really starts picking up when the jamming happens. Another Type II, it gets really good after 9 minutes, and Trey starts killing it a few minutes later. Gin segues into a short but sweet Runaway Jim before they start Walls of the Cave. This might be the best version they have done in the short history of the tune, but the jamming is really amazing, especially Trey, who is ripping at the peak of the jam. Loving Cup was a good high energy close to the set, well played, and a good fit to the rocking first set. The second is where people start to really hate on this show. All of These Dreams got the set off to a slow mellow start, followed by solid but standard versions of Limb by Limb and Lifeboy. Crowd Control was uninteresting, but a good song and short. The Seven Below went on for about 15 minutes, and had some goods moments in the jam until Trey had some tech problems. An unusually uneventful Stash followed, which seagued into the always fun NICU. A standard Bug slowed it down again, before Contact. I had never heard the song at the time, but I am big fan of the tune now. Just makes you feel good. Never really liked Character Zero, but it's a pretty rocking version to close out the set. The David Bowie encore was awesome. I think it was like the 2nd ever or something. This one might be my favorite version of the song. It rocks hard. To wrap, the guys played great all night, and the energy from the crowd was there especially in the first set, but the second set just got too mellow, and that's what killed the energy and led to a disappointing show overall for some. But I loved it when I saw it, and I think it gets better ever time you hear it. Only if they played the mellowed out second set in the first, and the jammed out first set second, and kept that Bowie encore, we might be talking about this show as the best of '04, and another classic night at The Mothership.