wow, after having had just written my review of the first night, i can tell you now, this will probably get long. first and foremost, we got a whole hell of a lot of phish on super ball-saturday. all in all, saturday was a mixed bag...

set 1:

tube: page rocks this one out. unfortunately, the highlight of this tube doesn't really transfer well to disc, the balls! the place was rocking, and there seemed to be almost as many inflatable things flying around as there were people between the sbd and the stage. crazy stuff...

kill devil falls: this song still strikes me as a watered down chalk dust torture, but hey, they rocked this one. it was not bethel, but hey, they kept the momentum going.

ocelot: they weren't getting as creative as yesterday's first set, but they were still playing very well. trey builds a great solo in this one.

lawnboy: go page!

divided sky: i was hoping this one would open up the skies. it was hotter than hell. either way. good version. nothing to out of the ordinary though.

boogie on>: as always, fish and gordo offer up a freaking funky foundation. the jam never fully takes off, but they opt to jump into...

camel walk: if you're not going to jam, you might as well play camel walk! nothing out of the ordinary, just a funktastic camel walk.

cities: i was hoping they would drift into some sort of jam here, but instead it dwindles off before trey starts up...

poor heart: after 3 straight funk songs, the boys avoid jamming and flip the vibe on its head. that said, i'll welcome a poor heart. it's always a nice way to get the place jumping, bluegrass style!

46 days>: good fiery climax, but not much out of the ordinary.

suskind hotel: i was shocked to hear this one pop up. great pick. well-played.

circus: one of my favorite slow tunes they do. great version. solid placement.

timber: this got the crowd jumping again. trey slashes through the middle section with nice flurries of notes before coming back into timber ho!. god, i love this song...

back on the train: standard

suzy: good energy. standard.

monkey man: i did not recognize this tune. i'm not much of a stones fan. my neighbor filled me in, and by the end of this one, i was really digging this tune. page gets real nasty, and he pretty much owned this one.

set 2:
first and foremost, this one had much more of a 1st set feel than a 2nd set feel. some what disappointing, but it's still a good set.

run away jim>: we didn't get much jamming here, but we did get a really cool moment with the 5k winners being introduced. good for them!

mcgrupp: i love me some mcgrupp, and i have a feeling a lot of cherries were popped on this one. page nailed a much lighter than normal mcgrupp solo. unfortunately, there were a decent number of trey flubs on this one. he seemed a bit lost at moments. for those of you hitting leg 2 shows, look for a well-rehearsed mcgrupp to come at you. trey will want redemption, like he got on peaches the night before!

axilla: this one seemed to mess with the mcgrupp vibe a bit, imo. maybe trey just wanted to rock after some troubles in mcgrupp. well, rock they did. good version.

boaf: here's another one that does not stray to far off the beaten path, but they really rip it within the framework of the song. this one builds to a fine climax.

stash: i was hoping this set would really turn it up a notch once we got to stash. unfortunately, the stash turned it up, but phish took their foot off the gas after. as for the stash, trey and page weave around each other in a slow but straight jaunt into a blazing stash closing section. not much in the weirdness category, but a blazing version none the less.

sample: ah, this set really starts to feel first set'ish here, and it keeps up for a while...

heavy things: i have really liked this song since they've been back. they seemed to be more willing to have some fun with it. unfortunately, this set needed it to have a bit more exploration, but it didn't...

horn>: like this song. not what i was looking for here.

it's ice>: good version. actually, i hadn't seen this one in a pretty freaking long time. standard/great it's ice.

the mango song>: i know many clamor for this tune, but i've always been a little luke-warm on this one. it was hard to get too fired up for this one. trey was a bit off...

rift: after missing on mango, i was really surprised to see rift, a song that trey has been very prone to wiffing on. well, tonight they nailed it. good version, but this set is way to first set like for my tastes.

scents: BOOM! i'd been wanting to see them tack the intro back on this song since they dropped into '04. that short passage of music makes a ton of difference. great version. passing on the old textured jams they used to play on this tune in '03, they strolled right through a nice ambient passage. they weaved around each other nicely before trey danced into....

antelope: this one does not take long to hit go-mode. they just climb from one level to the next, building to a typical antelope frenzy. the scents>antelope combo saved the set, providing the only real must-hear moment, unless you won the 5k.

set 3:

after a straight-forward second set, i was really waiting for them to cut loose...

golden age>: i was not a huge fan of this cover, until i saw this version. holy cow! outside of the storage jam, this was my favorite jam of the weekend. plinko stylings, or whatever you want to call them, were in full force as phish unloaded on us. leaving a serious funk groove, they travel into a more ambient passage. this finally gives way to...

prince c>: like bug the night before and number line later, this is a song i just plain don't like. they did take a different, interesting approach to this. instead of building to the typical climax, trey takes a more mellow approach to this one, allowing it to segue seamlessly into...

piper>: almost as if caspian was an accident, the boys show they can't wait to get rocking again! fishman really soars here, as he gets some bonham'esqu shit going. trey does not hesitate to throw down monster lick after monster lick. after a couple good minutes of solid rock, trey steers the boys into...

tweezer>: you can almost tell this one is going to rock right from the start. as they enter the jam, trey just finds some raunchy guitar leads. at one point, the band stops leaving trey with the spotlight on him just getting dirty. eventually, trey picks up on a more melodic but still funky solo. great, great version. a sure fire highlight of the festival. unfortunately, they cut this one off and trey drives into...

julius>: doh!

numberline: double doh!

twist>: this and jiboo are two songs i never really root for to hear, but once they are off and running, i'm always digging them. this one has some nice playing by trey, delivering some very well-choreographed flurries of notes. check out the vocal fun at the end of this one. good times...

2001>: they enjoy a moment of spaciness before fishman kicks this one off. this made sure to keep the energy going, but it offered zero in the ways of exploration. it did serve as a nice introduction to...

harry hood: good version, but not in the ball park of how the boys have been delivering on this tune recently. still solid jam. certainly worth a listen. as always, page shines.

cavern: well, i thought hood was the logical closer, but it looks like we get a bonus cavern. good rocking way to end a show, but wait...

golgi: now, if you're going to kick us bonus tunes, let's make them nifty. either way, bonus golgi...surely this is closing it...

aditl: good version, as always. standard. works well as a closer, but it's somewhat anticlimatic considering the last 4 songs could've closed the set. they sort of flat lined after hood, but hey, it all seemed to be bonus after harry...

enc:

cup>tweeprise: i don't even want to see how many cup encores or cup>tweeprise encores i've seen. too many. well-played though. they kept the rock vibe rolling

storage jam
i'll keep this one short...

jam: easily the most interesting thing phish did all week end. freaking awesome! this jam is, of course, loaded with tons of phish originality, but it also has flavors that resemble spacey led zeppelin and medeski martin and wood. eventually, you hear a familiar song being strummed...

sleepy monkey: certainly not one i root for, but this one was awesome. loaded with the vocal fun that from the end of twist in the 3rd set and general music mayhem from the boys. some went back to their tent grumbling. i heard one guy say, "if they're going to play shit like that, why even do a secret set?" well, it was right up my alley, and i was squinty eyed and glowing heading back to my tent....

overall:
you just can't complain about seeing soooo much phish, but it took them a good while to really hit full-throttle. when they did though....

highlights:

set 1: camel walk, timber ho!, monkey man

set 2: mcgrupp (for rarity song, not so much for quality), scents>antelope

set 3: golden age, piper>tweezer, twist

set 4: yeah, all of it...