Back to review the second night of Eugene - how special was it, again, that they played Oregon for TWO NIGHTS???

One thing that I want to mention before the show review was that it was fucking LOUD both nights. The Eugene crowd brought it and it was the loudest I've ever heard at a Phish concert! Matt Knight really boxes in the sound.

Anyway, we were hyped to go to our second show in a row without needing to even leave our beds. The energy was palpable before the show, and the vibe was a lot better than the night before given that Trey had already addressed the San Francisco shows yesterday.

We arrived just as Mr. Completely was starting. This is a great Phish song because it has a very short composed section, forcing them to jam almost immediately! And that is what they did - the STRONG opener - and really the strong opening trio (up there with the Carini > Maze > 46 Days from Gorge N2) of Mr. Completely > Energy -> Timber (great theme for Oregon, the trees and the Timbers soccer team!) with a great segue into Timber were absolutely fantastic and a must-hear. It was really cool seeing Timber live (the first 4 songs were my first time seeing each) because the Matt Knight court for Oregon Duck basketball games usually has Douglas Firs on it in a forest design, so seeing Phish play that song right there was special to me. Absolutely a BURNING way to start the show!!!

Next came Casual Enlightment, one of Mike's new songs since quarantine. I'd seen it before on stream, but this was the first time seeing it live. It was fine, Mike's songs are usually a little quirky, but I got the vibe that he wanted to take it further and Trey ended it pretty shortly into the jam, which Trey has kind of been doing lately to the others' songs. When is a Mike song going to go 20 minutes? But for real, It was nice just getting him involved early (that's usually a good sign).

Divided Sky was next and one of the highlights of the run for me. I've seen Divided Sky at a lot of my shows, but this may have been the best one of the year (that and the one at the Gorge!). The crowd was so FUCKING LOUD! during the pause, you could just feel the energy. One of the best moments of the Eugene run for me easily! It sounded like Trey nailed the composed section too.

After an average Farmhouse, Split Open and Melt comes and it just absolutely slayed! The ambience and dissonance was amazing live - one of the best & underrated jams of this little run. I heard Divided Sky for sure and remember telling my buddy. After the raucous close, they went into an instrumental-like trance song and I recognized it but couldn't place it, had to look online to see that it was End of Session! What a rarity, only the second time ever! They dropped back into the coda to close and the place erupted.

I feel like that is one of the best First Sets of the tour. Absolute bombs to begin and end, and a top shelf Divided Sky.

Second set - we were ready for everything with the way Phish has been playing. AC/DC to start and I was hoping it jammed, but Trey's been capping those lately (can't remember when the last jammed Bag was, but it's been too long!).

The highlight of potentially the whole run comes next with Ruby Waves (which I called). This nearly 30-minute behemoth of a Ruby was just about what everyone had been waiting for. It is a must hear, with great early rhythm sections, some hose, and the last 5 minutes just an absolute auditory pleasure chamber of "Run Like Hell" (Pink Floyd)-sounding drums, bass, and guitar. Had some thinking "The Wall" might be the Halloween choice for later in the year.

Ruby closes into Lonely Trip, which I was excited to see live (my opinion, Trey's best new song other than Evolve) and that was fun. Golden Age gets us back into the jamming mood, and don't sleep on this one, it gets to a great melodic peak.

Number Line came next, which honestly I was fine with. I used to be a Numberline hater, but that's stemming from more early 3.0 when I got into the band and BDTNL would routinely cut off jams, not jam itself, and just ruin set flows. That's really the only type of Phish songs I don't like (I like pretty much anything they play), where it just doesn't do anything and is actively negative to the setlist. However, as of recently, 4.0 included, it's a lot better placed and this was a pretty good spot for it. Don't sleep on the Number Line jam here though, which rages pretty hard. This would be the last Number Line until the "Numbers" gag to begin the Vegas run on 10/28/2021, so check that out for some juice and see if there are any clues.

Encore was fine, two show closers we all got to sing along to. What a fucking show! Easily the best out of 12 shows that I've personally attended. Eugene brought it, and so did the band!

Must hear:

First Set: Mr. Completely, Energy -> Timber, Divided Sky, SOAM > End of Session > SOAM

Second Set: Ruby Waves, Golden Age

5/5 for me, thank you Phish for making it such a great two days!