This was a show that may not be up there from the sound board, but it was unique and memorable, if nothing else.

Context: Night one they literally evacuated the venue. Never had that happen before. All the sudden we emerged from a mindful DWD and then they're all "so... you are in grave danger if you remain on the peninsula." So we moo-ed to the tunnel and enjoyed an extremely talented sax performer with lightening crashing around.

Then on humid Saturday, we had a tinge of rain which everyone freaked about, and then they played 3-sets. There were a good number of after-parties, and my buddy and I ran the "unofficial phish 5k" to navy pier to catch Orchard Lounge and Dr Fameus. I will never feel that motivated again to run.

So then Sunday happened. The crowd thinned as it does on Sundays at times. It was the right crowd.

They were still running the Disneyland Jungle Cruise ferrys to the venue over the harbor which we opted for this show, which was great. The 20 minute line got a bit stare-y at times, but we all got there okay.

Dinner and a movie was the perfect cloudy sky-phan request. It felt right. Now that I know what happened later, I wonder if it was planned. Dinner and a movie was the right call.

AC/DC was what it was, no one complained because it was a segue into Maze, which was a good Maze, though very slow starting and not big building. Then it is just a generally good time.

Funky Bitch made us want to move to our GA seats, then security took form of buzz-killington. They kept us in the entry shoot for the entire funky, and even into Bathtub Gin. It started to rain during Bathtub, and for whatever reason (not the guy behind me who wanted to rush the gates without a GA ticket), they let us all though. Probably a "whatever guys, we are just here to manage, if you want to be soaked and watch some music than we will let you through."

And we did.

Wilson is when it starts pouring. End the debate, it was heavy, sharp, 45 degree rain daring you to have a good time. Were it not for the Friday cancellation, the Sunday show may have been different. Everyone was ready for this rain. Then it got heavier.

It was painful and aggressive, pools already around the feet. So we are here already and wet, what else? Then they drove Wilson "Can you still have fun????" It was dishearteningly hard rain and at the same time an epic challenge. If we were staying, they were staying. That was it. We were not leaving this time.

Then, hilariously, they play Water in the Sky. We were being pelted by sideways rain, not really rain anymore, sleet. People were sprinting for cover under the bleachers, and they roll through this jam all smiley.

Then they realize people are going to get hypothermic, so they play a super sassy Boogie on Reggae Woman. We are getting soaked so hilariously hard, its unimaginable. You can hear the electricity cracking in the audio. It is still somewhat light outside, we are just soaked to the bone, no solace, no chance anything on you will ever be dry again, and a collective "f***-it" is experienced by the crowed as soon as Mike takes charge in the jam. No one is leaving dry, most of the crowd gets ponchos or goes for cover, a large number of the crowd uses the wetness to dig harder into the ground and doesn't move for the next few hours, crossing their arms to try to save vital heat in a t-shirt to their vital organs.

It got dire. After the dunkin munchkins cleared the stage, there were survivors on the floor, so we just move forward 40 steps to the stage, or didn't move a single inch for 3 hours. One phan asked me for my GA ticket to try to get her friend up in the area, and I reached in my pocket to find literal unrecognizable paper pulp that was at one point a ticket. I gave it to her and wished her luck. I saw a guy in a hoodie try to light a wet cigarette for 45 minutes. My wallet, phone, and anything of material value were meant to be forgotten.

So then the second set started.

Energy was a good song to get us back, and the jam made it. The light show was the highlight of this this jam, with the first squiggles of the weekend. I remember a really spread out, loose crowd by the time Ghost hit because of the storms. I saw more than one phan start stretching their quads, shoulders, and triceps on the floor when the first chords of Ghost hit. And there we went from there.

The transition into Lizards we heard coming, and were hoping would come. We heard it, and were hoping it was what it was. Lizards? Deserved after the monsoon. Beautiful experience in the wet, no longer raining, humid Chicago outdoor venue. Then it got really quiet for a while. There were people screaming for Harpua, more than usual. Collectively, a lot of people felt that they deserved it. They raised their core body temperature high enough not to move 2 inches in a severe whether event with sleet, rain, 40 mph winds, why not Harpua?

Then they played it. It was exactly what we were looking for. It got weird with Second City, but the initial awkwardness was overlooked but the "they got us" vibe. We got that it was a gag not too long into it. So they played it out and it was funny. We just went through the first set, we were locked into the 2nd set, and they just shaked out us out of the grove. It was kind of like bringing a friend to phish and telling them "this is where they are going to tell an 7 minute story about a dog and cat and stuff and its going to be funny." They played the part and then let Mike tell the funny Harpua story to finish the job. It was funny, awkward, and disruptive, which is what made it great. We all thought we were going to dive into some unknown jam tunnel and then they did an Al Gore rap. That is all I have to say about that.

Happy phan for a great, wet, weekend.