Fri night kickoff show of this Camden weekend, thought we were going to get a Wipeout or at least a Drowned after getting drenched by windy rain that cleared the lawn not once but twice. Instead the weather references were (mostly) more subtle.

SYSF opener, crowd pops for the “feel a little rain” lyric, and then the band seems to immediately settle in for a nice short jam. Strawberry Letter 23 is a treat, more weather referenced as “blue flowers echo from a cherry cloud.”

MFMF keeps energy high, not perfectly played but Trey creates a searing, piercing, shrieking peak. Halfway to the Moon brought a few groans from my part of the lawn but I thought it was actually a nice version, nice interplay with Trey and Page. Old Home Place is a quick reminder that two of the guys on stage are Jersey boys. Train Song Trey seems to forget how to play, and Horn is a nice antidote albeit straight-forwardly played. Then we get the S1 highlight, Birds and Wolfman.

Birds starts out as The Birds, and I thought we were in for a mashup but instead it’s a wide open Type II space entered out of the Birds jam, relatively short lived but sonically deep. Trey returns to the Birds lyrics, lyrical returns being a recurring tendency these days. Then Wolfmans is funktastic, complete with a very nice peak. Weather gets another reference “like a cross between a hurricane.” This 22 min duo is worth a listen.

Wombat is fun but very short lived as Trey and Fish conspire to go directly into Timber, which has a short but fiery jam. Then it’s DWYS, which seems to have already settled into the first set closer slot. It really does seem like two songs with the reggae segment representing the dividing line. “We know that our days are few” “we dream and we struggle together” “but love will carry us through.” No you’re crying.

Very solid S1. Still moist from the hurricane.

S2 lights hit, and the guitar scratches sound like Mercury. Gotta watch the Mercury again tomorrow, supposed to be a hot one again. And the Mercury jam is a scorcher, another victory for this new jam vehicle, and another 20 min version. Big feel-good peaking sections. Hear at all costs.

No Mans emerges and is immediately taken to funky town, Mike crunching and bombing away. Taken into a huge white-light peak, this No Mans packs a real punch in only 11 min. The funk melts into WACTOOB, which is an extremely fun way to cool down.

About to Run is my GotF MVP thus far. Straight up shredder. This version is not long but is hot fire.

Light deep in an S2, yes please. Super fun Light jam, peaking with a WACTOOB reprise segment with Final Hurrah quotes. Light bleeds straight into Antelope which is its normal rocking self, a little extra mustard in the opening and pre-gearshift segments, and closes this 6-song S2 in fine style.

Excellent S2 with the Camden Mercury as your centerpiece and multiple other improvisational standout segments. Bra fucking vo.

Trey either gets a little teary trying to start Sleeping Monkey, or he swallowed one of the many bugs that were keeping us company on the lawn. He takes a sip of a beverage and he’s ok. Solid standard fun Monkey, and then a straight forward Quinn sends us out into the New Jersey night.

Great time tonight. S2 is a keeper. Can’t wait for night two.