After such a solid summer of shows, I decided to review this one out of the 23 I was fortunate enough to catch. This show gave me my long chased Pebbles and Marbles and was just a truly special night, even with the scorching temperature on that night! Well the boys came out as usual, with Trey sporting a Flyers shirt rather than one of his usual flannel shirts that he's been wearing the last few years. That was the first sign to me that this was going to be a special show, and when the guys walked up to the microphone set up they have to go acapella, I knew it was on.

Birdwatcher was a good, oddball opener that just kind of worked. I had no idea what it was at the time but was definitely enjoying it. The Curtain with to follow was a real treat, and definitely one of the most solid versions I can ever recall hearing... up there with the version from Camden last year. Solid start, to only be followed by Fuck Your Face! Nice, high energy start to the show. Followed by The Old Home Place!? Whatttt? When's the last time they even played that before this show? 09 i think.... but anyway what a treat. After OHP, the boys were talking and then I heard Trey tuning(?) his guitar and I just knew it. I said it immediately to my friends, "PEBBLES!" Then before I knew it, the glorious and beautiful intro to Pebbles and Marbles rang out onto the lawn from the speakers at Deer Creek. That was followed by the group of 15 or so friends I was with on the lawn running up me and giving me a hug. I was filled with joy, never thinking I would actually see the song. I have been dying to see this song since I got into the Phish, it was prime hooking material for me as it was on the IT DVD that my friend's older brother had. Anyway, it wasn't the most perfectly played version (I actually really prefer the version from Great Woods last year... just something about the way Page and Mike are on in that version that truly is something else) it still sufficed. Pure euphoria. After P&M was wrapped up, the boys bust into Weigh. I was verrrrry pleased to hear this, especially since it was my first because I missed UIC 1 and 3 last year Awesome Weigh on a very sunny day, to be followed by Chalk Dust. First "standard" song of the night was played pretty decently.... nothing that touches any of the versions played on Leg 2 after Charlotte though. Chalk Dust was followed by Wolfman's, and I remember that this version of Wolfman's was nice and smooth, nothing too crazy on this hot summer night. Just enoough to keep us all movin. Wolfman's broke into Cool It Down, the first of several VU covers that was played during this Deer Creek>Alpine run. This was a nice suprise, especially as I never actually heard this song before. I enjoyed it alot. Good solid playing by everyone in the band, and then before we knew it we > were in the funkland of Tweezer. After the song is over and the jam begins, Trey tears into some serious licks that really set this Tweezer jam above the Tweezer jam with all the antics from the previous show at Blossom. Trey just meant business from the get-go in this one, and the boys took it for a nice but short ride and then the old school ending a-kin to the album Picture of Nectar. Tela's up next and continued with the theme of the set, awesome songs. It was a great GREAT treat to finally get, been chasin this one for a while. The only Tela of the summer lead into the set closing STFTFP. Standardly awesome Faulty Plan that wrapped up the set. Great first set overall, and set the bar pretty high for the 2nd set.

House lights go down and we're off and into Mike's Song. This was a more or less standard version of Mike's, which means it was awesome and Trey threw it down. The > into McGrupp was extremely unexpected and well received. This is an awesome McGrupp, flawlessly played to this listener's ears and it featured quite a bit of extra mustard tonight. McGrupp actually > into BOTT. BOTT featured a mini-extended jam that lasted for 5 or so minutes, wrapping up around the 10 minute mark and actually featured a decently heavy Psycho Killer tease. I thought for a minute they were actually gonna go into it... but we had to wait to SPAC for that bad boy to be busted out BOTT -> into HYHU was funny, and that led to the first Bike in a while. After they wrapped up the HYHU segment, they lead into a Weekapaug. But this Weekapaug features Trey on drums and Fish on Guitar for the beginning!! Very cool and unique, but not ultimately pleasant to the ears ; ) lol but who cares when we're all having so much fun and laughing. Weekapaug was short and lead to an even shorter Prine Caspian, no complaints from this guy! Maybe could've jammed Weekapaug and went straight into Waves, but whatever. This Waves is the improvisational highlight of this set, IMHO. It's only a little over 12 minutes or so, but it's beauty. A very beautiful Waves leads into -> Bug. Bug was standard, featuring solid playing from all. Bug went into > a very solid David Bowie. This Bowie was very sharp and to the point, the band was firing on all cylinders. It was a great and high energy Bowie to end the set. The Show Of Life>Tweeprise encorce isn't too much, but it's just the cherry on the top to a great show.

This is one of my favorites the boys played all year IMHO. It's just a great, well played and clean Phish show. Great song selection and flow in the first set. A couple good jams in the second frame. I give this show a good solid 4/5.