Disclaimer: I watched the HD webcast. I've been a phan since 1994 but did not become obsessed until 2015. As my wife always tells me, nothing ruins one of my stories like an eye witness. Not to say I lie, I just tend to embellish. This is my first review ever for anything.

S1

- free: they come out firing, taking us back to the start of the tour and skips first song of the summer emerges again, mike leads the way in first part of jam, loving treys new fx, build to a sweet but subtle peak, come back to chorus and sing their hearts out. the boys are here to win back the hearts of their phans

- hood: mike is once again laying the thick gooey funk, trey starts laying down some gritty riffs with the new fx warming up, crowd is singing their asses off, trey looks directly into the web cam during hood jam and sees inside your soul (watch for it!), gentle trey solo with solid glow stick war, band trying to find their way a bit but you can tell they are all in and its going to be a fully committed and passionate night at the office, mike continues to shine, fishman is feeling it and page is absolutely killing it, builds to the second peak of the night, blissful and filled with love and positive energy, all you need to know about is you can feel good about hood, 2 for 2, solid start to the night

- what's the use: it's always a good sign for the night when what's the use appears in the first set, it's never been played this much in one tour, some are disappointed by that, I think they like it because they can gauge how fucking tight they are for the night and if each of them have it, well this night they most certainly have it, a few min in and we're going below ground, not necessarily dark, but more like entering outer space through a tunnel in the ground, it's minimal, cinematic, and comes back to the song as beautifully as it left, with trey luring in his target with gentle lullaby notes that silence talkers (his target)

- blaze: my friend at the show just commented that this set is very intentional and I must agree there is definitely a story unfolding, I'm just glad they wrote this song, it's a great first setter and has a super fun dad rock vibe, but the bottomline is the worst days are gone and the band plays on, and off they go on their third jam of the night, page sets the tone, hands off to trey who continues down a more sentimental path as the band for the first time tonight fully connects and shows what dad rock can and should be, trey continues to push, fishman pushes harder, first sick lights of the night, could go down as an all time great blaze, one that will definitely be referred to in years to come, mike talks to tech, trey od's on water, chats with fishman and page

- ghost: when I said a story was unfolding this is the one I was referring to, this could go really deep, some nice runs by page before the chorus but they are building this one slowly, as they enter the jam they feel connected right out of the gate with each of them going on their own lil journey before trey makes the first attempt to take them somewhere happy, mike and page want more spacey, fishman wants to push it and he does to some of the most unique sounds of the summer, until trey reels us back in with his patented sound of the last few summers, reminiscent of nminml 16, at this point they are firing on all cylinders and everyone is off and running on their own sick solo, trey breaks out the wah wah, mike and page take the lead and the first signs of BD17 emerge in Colorado, although new territory for sure, which I'm sure the boys found over the last few weeks knowing they needed to deliver a performance that soothed our souls, and boy have they, it is officially curvy dicks and the crowd is loving it, fuck I'm even loving it on this free (if you consider a grand in travel cost to curveball free) goddamn HD webcast

- crosseyed: and now a seamless transition into my all time favorite, this is too good not to be rehearsed but fuck who cares it is so good, fishman kills the vocals, trey loves what he is hearing, and after the first chorus the boys once again go somewhere special, first set is ratcheting up at a pace that is going to be tough to eclipse in the second half, but if there was ever a night when they were going to do it, it's tonight, after chorus two were hooked in again and this time their taking into the depths of the still waiting jams of gorge16, but super jazzadelic, kind of like a morphine drip after too much time in the sun drinking daiquiris and eating edibles, and then the first sign of hendrix appears, could an Izabella be on the horizon, we'll just have to wait and see as we're still waiting, after returning to the still waiting chorus for a few rounds we return to an upbeat jam that quickly plummets into the depths of our souls, trey is mike breaks out his noisemaker on the mic while trey, page and fish lay down minimal licks of the psych ward variety, until simple emerges out of the anxiety

- simple: the intention of this set is clear, we fucking get it but hey we're free, you can feel good, although what's the use, ah don't sweat it the worst days are gone, and we're going to blaze on motherfucker, right into the best jamming we have done all summer, but we're gonna keep you waiting for more because hey we're a band and we've got it simple, and now back to the sweetest, buttery jam of the night, the mix sounds fantastic and the boys are once again hooked in and firing on all cylinders, so good to have them back and all that curveball shit behind us, this group has a ton left in the tank and nobody is a better entertainer and ratcheting up the energy over the course of a tour than phish, I could've used another ten minutes of this but a seamless transition into cavern will finish off this set

- cavern: trey is getting pumped, dancing and jumping, and he should be because he just hit this first set song selection out of the park, or in tonight's case, the back of the net, slight flubb on the lyrics because he is so amped, but immediately locked back in and the wailing guitar licks begin to set the tone for where this is going, a brief dance by trey and mike lead us fishmans short solo, a pause and then we blast off into a hormone collector, for a tight emphatic effects filled close to the first set

- the best nights are when it just keeps getting better and that first set went nowhere but up, or maybe no mans land

S2

- NMINML: two years ago this was my favorite jam of the first night and still reference regularly, we're happy that they're here and if trey builds off the first set ghost effects, which he is, then we are in for a ride right out of the gate, here we go, immediately locked in, mike killing it, page layering away and fishman setting a blistering pace, trey turns around to adjust his effects and begins taking on a ride, page sets the tone, takes us to another dimension as he jumps between multiple boards, and now the eyeball lights make their first appearance, and here goes trey with his patented 16 dicks NMINML fx, patiently locking everyone into a groove, fishman keep s pushing, trey starts exploring new territory, as does page, and now the boys have decided to go somewhere a little darker for the first time this weekend, but fishman will not let the pace slow, he continues to push and it is magic, mike is killing it with spicy dark mustard, this is must re-listen shit, killer ending

- carini: at this point the crowd is going nuts, the band is all smiles and page and mike are once again laying down brand new licks that are delivering a very original carini, trey takes the lead with another original lead with which i do not have any past comparisons, all i can say is the crowd looks a lot shorter from the holes they are dance digging into the ground, fisherman refuses to letup, the rhythm section is in full control tonight and as they maintain the foundation page once again shines as trey weaves in and out of his runs, we're somewhere special now and it feels right, like a you a sexy thang is playing around in there, and now we've landed in a place where every member feels comfortable doing their thang, its a super happy carini and where they go from here doesn't really matter, this show has delivered everything you could ask for, even after a festival gets cancelled, this band genuinely loves their phans and at this point in their careers will not let them down, this is all about respect and gratitude and i guarantee no one there is talking right now, they heart is simply too filled with love, and then they deliver by building to the next peak of the night with a bit of machine gun trey and incredible page runs, while mike and jon absolutely kill the rhythm with solos of their own, another all time great carini, with a peak that all i can say is the best of the summer and should go down in the carini history books for originality, and although it might not burst with love and light it will remind you of one of your best whippet hits ever

- theme: it always takes me back to being front and center at the pepsi arena, in this version gordo is absolutely crushing it and taking us on a p funk ride through the galaxy, but when we return it always important to know who is your friend, because you're going to be with them your entire life, and you're going to have weekends like atl 18, curveball and curvy dicks, where the boys are absolutely shredding this evenings performance, not a single moment where you're like wtf, this has been a show for the ages and this theme reiterates that this band is as good today as they were 21 years ago, but more wise and caring, which is why mercury is the right ballad for tonight

- mercury: i was hoping for a dirt in this slot but anything will work at this point, what a show, fishman on the marimba is always a treat and tonight he absolutely nails it, they stick to the song structure but they are locked in again and after the nets unbreakable chorus they lock in on their next jam of the night, i have feeling this could be a real bust out, it starts with very simple patterns, fishman, pushes, page leads, mike and trey riff off each other until trey plays the nets unbreakable on his guitar and they set sail on what appears to be their way to the next peak of the night, but before we get there we get some of the dirtiest guitar work of the evening, and to no avail the peak never happens and ripcords into light

- light: light starts off a bit shaky compared to the rest of the show but they eventually settle into a light is growing brighter groove that has energy and passion, and as they slow it down to let each member's sensitivity shine, they eventually land in another new and original place where each member is offering something unique for the night and stretching what would be an ordinary ballad for any other band to a place of new discovery, reminiscent of 2012 light explorations, build to a solid peak with machine gun trey runs being driven by mike's killer bass licks, and if one peak wasn't enough you get two this night, and a 4th quarter light that delivers as you would hope any 4th quarter jam would, standout performance of this song is usually mike and tonight is no different, and of course you cannot forget about ck5 on light, his work is outstanding on this rendition, and that concludes set 2, the light certainly is growing brighter now

E

- martian monster: what could be better than phishs sense of humor. your trip is short. do not sleep on this jam. mike and page go next level and trey brings back the first set effects that are becoming a staple of dicks. highlighted by a mike trey dual solo slug fest, trey face fucks mike until gordo blows his load all over this dicks crowd, this is a special night for sure

- julius: looking at the stats the first show of summer started and ended the same as this one, free > julius, not sure what the message is there but they certainly left the crowd wanting more, as one phan (nagle) said "these fucking guys have never been more dialed in"