I was hoping there'd be no "gag" this year, just a straight up fuck your face show. And I feel I got what I was looking for. Another Birthday/Belated Birthday show in the books and it was a beautiful experience. With best friends in da house and a 2nd song Ghost, nothing but good, especially after the extra funky Tube opener. It sounded like everybody was singing along to the Halley's and into an Undermind that was great on its own but merely hinted of the '12 version. It was a very solid 1st set throughout but Horn was especially well played, the sweet/bittersweet counterpoint was pretty staggering. Antelope sounded a bit like it staggered out of the starting gate but Fish brought everybody back around eventually and it roared out like a set ender should.

The buzz in the air during intermission was very palpable.

The 2nd set felt like one lonnnnnnnggggggg song. I was fried by the 2nd song into the set. That it was a 1/2 hour into the set might have figured in the translation. We were asking ourselves if they had/we missed "the next song". Nope it was still Blaze On, continuing to blaze new musical horizons.

We of the NYC contingent really were wanting and enjoyed Golden Age. Then another shoutout from the musical heavens to the Ween brothers and a Fuego that followed that I danced my ass off too.

Damm if I didn't totally choke up during Wading Sea. Didn't quite see that coming but it totally felt like the right song at the right time. Pretty good version, too. Walls felt like their Led Zeppelin moment to me, the rock gods giving it one more good pelvic thrust, a fuck you face if you will, and without downloading it yet I'm guessing it will be one of the longer versions of recent history, though who's really looking at their watch for it. WTH, it is Walls Of The Caves.

What to say about the vacuum cleaner encore?. Someone apparently asked for it according to Fish and we got it, with Jon swinging his vacuum hose around just like Robert Plant did with his, um, microphone. The Loving Cup, one of my favorite encores, left me with a beautiful buzz.

All I saw afterwards were smiles. Ultimately, Phish won. Again. These moments are to be savored and treasured. The circus is in town. I love Dick's. To be continued. Happy Happy! Thanks to my peeps surrounding me last night for another great bash.