man festival 8 was so beautiful.

this is the last day of the festival and it began in the early morning or afternoon with this chilled out acoustic set on a sunday. i can't remember the set time, but seeing as they served coffee and donuts it must have been before noon. maybe not though considering the night before was halloween and they played pretty late.

i just wanted to say that i love this acoustic set. sure it could have been crazier, but let's focus on the gems that are here. "invisible" is a mike gordon & leo kottke tune that got the one and done treatment from phish here. too bad as this is a really fun tune, almost calypso. at the festival site the skyline was beautiful mountains so "mountains in the mist" was just perfect for this set and setting. "curtain with" is the highlight of the set. love how it is tucked into acoustic set considering the last time it was played at a festival (coventry). "sleep again" a trey solo tune sneaks into this set and is unique treat. "train song" acoustic is meant to be played this way along with the other "billy breathes" album era "talk" (a song that is rarely played and is perfect here). "mcgrupp and the watchful hosemasters" is the other huge highlight here, completely unexpected. while many of the songs in here are beautiful ballads "secret smile" is just absolutely gorgeous here and filled with brimming emotion.

set 3 "the burble" came out for "light", a very alien jam, but before that chris kuroda choreographed the ending of "mike's song" with a pyrotechnic show from the the huge tiki torches on the concert grounds. it was just a memorable moment seeing the phish crowd in being lit up each time a flame shot out with all the shadows and highlights that comes with being under giant balls of fire.

seeing as this was a halloween festival obviously in fall "esther" was the perfect encore to end the festival. "it was late one fall night, at a fairgrounds near ground..."