As always with Mansfield, I was dreaming of something crazy to happen. Under the steel canopy of Great Woods, there is history rich in minerals- and rich in firth. Gamehendge has gone down here in the epic Gamehendge/Hoist show. I've seen Fish kill a Cracklin' Rosie and had my mind melted by the band on numerous occasions in this venue, where the energy is always high and hairy as a two-toned multibeast. This show did not disappoint... More specifically, the second set did not disappoint.

The song choices for the first set were pretty safe and I wasn't blown away by them, but I was impressed with how tight they sounded. I've been going to shows for 20 years and feel like they've had their ups and downs but I think they are better now than ever before.

Set I:

Stealing Time: I'm not going to lie when I hear Trey say "I got a Cliff bar and some cold green tea," I feel like I'm watching the biggest nerds in history and question whether he has an REI logo tramp stamp tattoo. I'm sure the folks at the Phellowship table appreciate his responsible snack time choices, but let's be honest that opening line would be more crowd appropriate if he said, "I got magic mushrooms and some stinky green trees."

Fuego: It was awesome to see the crowd get loud when the song started. You could see the smile on the faces of the band, they looked excited that the crowd was excited and singing along and it added to the energy.

Back on the Train: Pretty standard fare.

Halfway to the Moon: Cool Page tune. Mellowed everyone out.

The Wedge: I feel like this was their opportunity to pull out something rare or unique and we got The Wedge, which is cool but I'm a dreamer and was hoping for a little weirdness to ensue at this point.

555: It was apparent at this point that they are going Full Fuego this tour.

Stash: Finally an opportunity to get weird and they did. Great jam section, really picked up the energy and took us all for a ride.

Bouncing: How is this song in rotation ever? It's corny, sorry for the hate but it's not cool in any way, it's like them shaming us for liking them.

Birds: Got the crowd going again after clearing my section out with Bouncing.

Wingsuit: When this song started I'll admit I was a little annoyed at another new song. I really love the classics and expect set closers to give me that old time psychedelia I signed up for back in the 90's. The jam at the end was really killer though so I ended up coming around but I mean four Fuego songs in the first set? Was this a marketing decision? Do they have a PR team? Is someone doing Mike's hair and wardrobe? Thank Icculus Trey tore it up to close, at least he really tried anyway and I'll give him credit for that. When Mike pulled out the drill at the end I was like OH SHIT and thought it was about to get crazy- but no.

At the set-break I went an bought one of those collector coins which I got made fun of for later for spending $20 on, but I think they are awesome. It's cooler than a Ticketmaster print out ticket-stub.

Set II:

Mike's: Hell yes. I thought, "yay finally we're going on a little adventure." The little lyric flub at the beginning was cool, I like seeing the band laugh at themselves.

Simple: I knew there was no way this was going >H20 with the energy from the crowd. Mike's>Simple, an old school late 90's staple, was cool by me and the jam section was killer. I love when they find that awesome soft sound where you look around and see everyone mesmerized with a summer breeze passing through the air...

Free: Trey transitioned the quiet Simple jam into Free seamlessly, the crowd was really feeling it at this point. Great tune. I was assuming they'd go right into Weekapaug but they didn't.

The band stopped and talked for a few minutes, kind of killed the buzz. Maybe they're arthritis was acting up or Trey was out of breath, I don't know. In all fairness the temperature was rather high for people their age.

Waiting All Night: The 5th Fuego song. It's a cool song, I guess (kind of a downer lyric wise). I thought they missed an opportunity to keep the >>> going. I hope they don't force 5 Fuegos a night on people all tour...

Ghost: The band came back from they're Fuego commercial break with la fuerza! The jam section on this song was incredible, and the band built it into a frenzy that paid off when it segued into Weekapaug, the loudest the crowd got all night during a jam-

Weekapaug: With such an amazing transition into this song and the highest energy of the night, I'd say that Ghost>Weekapaug was the show highlight. I was def sharing in the groove.

Hood: Such a good Hood. This Hood was so good. Everyone is talking about this Hood. Have you heard this Hood? Check it out it was great. Still think the Ghost>Weekapaug was the killer jam of the night tho.

Cavern: It's Cavern. It's not the funked out '98 Providence Cavern but it'll do.

Julius: Eh whatever, Julius. Was hoping for a cover but YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT.

Overall grade: B+