I’ve only seen this band at a handful of venues throughout the Midwest and east coast, but Blossom is just a different feeling. Maybe I’m biased because it’s my hometown venue, but there’s something truly enchanting about it. Maybe it’s the fact that Blossom is tucked away deep in the woods that it feels like Phish is playing a secret party that you’re invited to, or maybe it’s the fact that I happened to pop my cherry 11 years and 2 months ago. Whatever it is, I think it’s safe to say that Phish feels something special about Blossom as well, and this show has to be some kind of reflection on how much they love Northeast Ohio.

My dad and girlfriend were both present tonight; their 4th and 11th shows, respectively. My dad, who dragged me to my first, only wanted one song: YEM. Well, this man also happens to be the worlds foremost authority on The Beatles, so an a cappella rendition on Strawberry Fields Forever to open the show felt like a sign that this set was for him. YEM came later on as another sign for that. Whatever it was, the stars were aligned and did not suck tonight!

The second set brought down the house. Free reached multiple peaks before settling to Esther. The second set opener (which felt more like a Free>jam because the song portion ended quite early) would go on to be the longest Free since 1995; quite a feat for the Billy Breathes single! Blaze On jam was starting to feel like another jam like Deer Creek ‘21, but they shoehorned it in for S&SS. I certainly can’t complain because a). I love the song, b). They played the intro, and c). they jammed the fuck out of it! This one is all peak, with Trey at the helm. (There also seemed to be a start/stop section at the beginning of the jam with wooing, but from way out in the lawn it sounded like PA troubles. Some hippie chick behind me kept asking if their CD was skipping lol). 2001 brought us back down to earth (ironic) before a classic SOAMelt closer. I know a common complaint with this jam lately is that they turn it into a noisy/effects jam. As a hardcore My Bloody Valentine fan, I certainly don’t share that complaint. This Melt was actually kind of scary and reminded me of my first Melt at Blossom ‘19. Except back then the lawn was drenched in blood red lights, whereas this time the lights were much more colorful.

They come out for one encore of Bathtub Gin and the rest is history. Like I said, there are otherworldly forces at play in these woods, and they love Phish! Well, alright, Phish probably are just that good by themselves. But still, you just gotta be here to feel the magic and electricity in the air at a Blossom Phish show.

Thank you Phish!