The anticipation was of a traditional show for MPP 2019 N2 and, boy, I don't know if Phish could have done too much more to turn my expectations upside down. First of all, they went on at 7:27, the earliest I've seen them go on in the few short years I've been paying attention. Carini is always a solid opener and this one did not disappoint. There are few better songs that give Phish a chance to show off their old school blues chops like "My Soul," with a notably solid solo from Trey at the end. Rift has more coherent composed sections than ones in recent memory! Gumbo is such a classic Phish song that it could appear anywhere in a set and I would praise it. I was so confused at the pause, maybe I just haven't seen enough? Either way, the heavy funk vibes bode well. Speaking of another well executed Rift song I loved watching Trey's fingers weave up and down the fret board for It's Ice. This one has a cool little groove instead of the "tick tock" interlude on the album that I particularly Enjoyed.

I don't know if it was my position a few rows from the back of the lawn or the flow of the next few songs but I honestly felt the energy drop a little bit for the next few songs. I love Yarmouth, with it's unconventional chord structure and vocal sounding guitar hook, but I got the sense others (including tour buddy @Hambono) did not. I have a soft spot for soft songs but I think the placement after Yarmouth Road hurt this Winterqueen, but a little jam made my neck and shoulders start to sway. Shade also felt sort of off coming on the heels of another ballad, but it's always a quick one so I don't mind it. Half Way Home shows us Trey plans to continue pushing the GotF stuff hard, I won't say anything further given the current polarization on the .net. The Wedge is The Wedge, and this one serves to rope us back into some familiar territory, with some always welcome type I jamming around an old standby. At this point I'm amazed at the number of Rift songs that I've heard over the past 2 evenings, and wait for them to play Weigh. The antelope is solid. I was in St Louis when the Blues scored during the quiet part which turned the whole place electric, and this one wasn't quite as hot, but my tour buddy called it for set one closer so we enjoyed it nonetheless.

Cross-eyed! Here we go! The first set was slow and they reliably take Cross-eyed pretty deep so I get pumped. This one starts out strong but I feel it doesn't really go anywhere to impressive. Fishman agrees and drops it
Everything's Right also has acted as a reliable jam vehicle recently, with strong NYE and Mexico versions on my mind, I know this is the one. But it ain't. Not bad, just a jam that hasn't taken the heights I was expecting, knowing what the band has been doing this tour (read: BoaF @ Blossom on Wednesday). Then Ruby Waves starts and I toss of my hands in exasperation. I was waiting for this show to pick up and... Wait, what is this nasty Spacey drum and bass? This was the jam of the show in my opinion. Moments of space bliss, some harder rocking leanings and this well balanced JAM ends with Fishman playing the Twist beat! Check this out! How often does Fishman pick the next song in the middle of a jam? I'm not sure, but if he was feeling it then so am I! Twist to 2001 to Blaze on bring the energy back I had been hoping for, and although I had my doubts at first, the night is saved. You know Trey is feeling confident when they end N2S2 with Blaze On!

I have only one question as the encore looms, what is Trey "still waiting" for as he brings up this quote from jam to jam in the second set? Why the first ever Maze encore of course! Page really shines in this one. If I didn't tell you, I like slow songs, and took a best friend from college to his first show MPP night 1 this year, and we had been jamming Waste just prior to the show. Needless to say (even though it wasn't my first one this tour) we were elated to hear the song.

Now the special moment of the show for me: I got too shmucked up in Mexico N2S2 this year and passed out on the beach sometime during Mercury and woke up as the encore was closing. Upon my return to consciousness in the med tent, hooked up to a machine measuring my vital signs (thanks for all you guys who made way for EMS. I heard y'all parted like the Red Sea!) @Hambono informed me that they had played Sanity and I missed it! This was my one chance! In MEXICO! I'm only writing this review because I haven't done one yet and .net auto emailed me to write one based on my attendance listing (which I have never added until the next day up until yesterday), but Holy God Almighty those boys played Sanity for me. I was so hot for Wilson it hurt. I love Phish, and I love you!

Often I feel like set 1 is fire but then all the traveling catches up with me and I am not 100% there for set 2. Wow, talk about a not-traditional show. I'm writing to all you nuts from Tree House Brewery, enjoying a Haze, getting psyched for Bangor. See ya there!