To put last night's show into context, I encourage everyone to read these threads: Driver campaign.

The request made by a Phan to get the band to play Driver in honor of his deceased brother -- and getting the request granted -- is amazing. Not only did they get their request, they got an emotionally charged show full of songs that were undoubtedly part of the band’s response to an entire community of people doing their darnedest to make something happen.

If I were to break down this show purely by quality of the songs and level of jamming, then I’d say this show was probably just average, and a little below average for Phish 2013. But it wasn’t an average show if you consider the emotion and depth and rallying by so many Phans to get the band to honor one of our own. I am so proud to be part of the Phish community and this show was a special one because of what happened.

As for highlights, Driver certainly sits atop the list for all the reasons explained above. After that, the 2nd set opening sequence of Rock and Roll > Steam was pure adrenaline and I loved every second of it. Fluffhead was spot-on, with Trey absolutely NAILING all the composed sections. These days Trey messes up on Fluffhead A LOT, but not tonight, and it was an excellent version.

We also saw The Return of The Woo at various points, most notably during Weigh in the 1st set and 2001 in the 2nd set.

Fun times. I bet we’ll be hearing “woo” at every show for the remainder of the tour.

Here’s to the greatest band on earth.

I'm quite surprised this show is getting rated lower than the previous night. Of course, it is less than 24 hours after the show, but I felt this was obviously the better show. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

I think the current cause of the lower rating was the lack of big jams. Personally, I have no problem with their absence because the type-I playing is really really strong. The first set jams aren't that much to talk about; the songs that rock, rocked. The second set got a little exploration in Rock and Roll, which featured some stellar Gordo. Steam was awesome. It has a short littler funky post-jam that is notable too. Numberline was predictable: it was way overdue and Trey loves playing it in the second set. I was ready and I wasn't phased a bit. Plus, it rocked out pretty stinkin' hard.

Now Mike's. This is a very unique Mike's Song. Trey takes a back seat for most of the jam and Page proceeds to kill it hard. Seriously, it's all about Page. Yay! We finally got Hydrogen! Weekapaug isn't particularly great. Joy is Joy. At least it's only four and a half minutes. Fluffhead was much cleaner than the Gorge version, 2001 was good, as is the status quo, and Slave was super-duper patient. Someone seems to say it every time, but I feel like this is one of the better 3.0 versions. I'm not a Slave expert, but I'm confident in my assessment that the build and peak are absolutely nailed.

Encore was great! Love Waste in the encore slot, and Suzy was a fun bonus! If you're expecting a jammed out show, I can see how uou mght be dissapointed, but this is a good show regardless. My guess is this show's rating will rise with time.

In simple terms: this was one of the most raucous and fun start-to-finish phish show's I've enjoyed live, but if there wasn't a free MP3 I'm not sure I'd bother to collect it for closer inspection based solely on the Rock and Roll.

This show features great setlist flow, a few rare tunes like Weigh and Hyrogen along with my first Alumni-LTJP-Alumni and Lengthwise ever, tons great soloing from Page and Trey, and few compositional miscues. Maze, 1st Tube, JJLC, Fluffhead and Suzy rawked, the Fluffhead far superior to the Gorge's version.

The lack of type II might make some people grumpy, but if you let yourself be disappointed after typical versions of Mike's and Week indicated a Saturday night blowout then you must have been watching the webcast, or need to ask yourself if you can still have fun.

I'm a very critical Phish fan, and this show still passed every great test.
Big jammers, breathers, good pace, Etc. perhaps the most important quality of a show is to turn that dud song they KNOW you don't want to hear into a set highlight (see: bug). This show has it all. Listen.

This was a tremendous show, and anyone who says otherwise has too much time on their hands. Page has been killing it... I personally think his work with the Metermen has given him all sorts of new funky groove-time energy. It's nice to see the balance between Trey and Page, it's a real give-and-take out there in the jamscape.

Okay, first set highlights: Maze, Timber, playing Driver on a particularly emotional request (because that's how dedicated this band is to their fans), and First Tube (watch this one on YouTube if you want to see Trey pretending to be a rock star... it's awesome). I thought Bug was a weird choice, kinda dropped all the frantic energy after Axilla, but it's a nice song and, by the end, I was happy to see it. Was it just me, or did this set feel really long? In a good way, of course.

The whole second set was one big highlight for me. RnR was the big type-II jammer of the night, getting deep into space before bringing it back down for some funky Steam. I'm personally thankful that this song is back in the rotation for this summer tour, because it rocks! Other highlights: Hydrogen, Fluffhead>2001>Slave. It was my first Mike's Groove and Fluffhead of the summer (this was my 5th show of the tour), definitely nice to hear the classic I Am Hydrogen in that trio of tunes. And Slave was just brilliant. The tension and release in that final progression is a force of unstoppable sonic power.

I could brood about hearing Backwards Down the Number Line for the umpteenth time, but my dad put it best. "It may be overplayed, but, when it comes down to it, it's still fucking Phish." I'll leave it at that.

Encore was great, definitely not expecting either of those tunes. I love Waste (I'm pretty sure every guitarist loves this song). Neurologist? AAAAAAAAAAAAH!

I had a great time. See you there tonight!

Had a late night webcast get together with a few friends and had a blast. My neighbors probably hats me this morning but they'll get over it. While this show is a bit light on the improv, the playing is spectacular. Fluffhead and slave are must hear versions. Slave especially. Rock and Roll>steam serves as the cut loose portion of the show and the first set was a lot of fun.

Phish is doing there thing pretty effen well right now.

Hydrogen, the San Francisco treat.
Ok Sofa toured this one as well.

SET 1- Grind ( interesting little number, could tell it was going to be played as they huddled around one mic, very old school barber shop style, phish doing what they do). Weigh ( wow, forgot about this one, Mike doing his vocals). Alumni > Jimmy Page > Alumni again ( like it was the mid 80's and we were in Nectar's). Lengthwise ( Fishman's vocals were great, sounded like they just released this one, although it is a rare gem) straight into Maze ( like that thunderous bass during the intro). Sample, NICU ( standard). Mound ( the show of Rift it seems, enjoyable, and love this one). Jesus left Chicago ( un shelved yet, again the first set has a lot of throwbacks). Driver ( campaign for driver was going strong, glad it was played, love Phish for doing this). Timber Ho > Axilla (was a good energy builder). Possum > First Tube got the set concluded and it was a enjoyable first set.

SET 2- Rock and Roll > Steam ( glad that steam was played seemed like a ghost tease during the end of Rock and Roll). BDTNL ( eh, overplayed but Trey loves it). Mikes ( good version) > Hydrogen ( love this, glad it came back, seemed like it was long overdue). Weekapaug ( always a staple in the 1,2,3, punch of Mikes > ? > Weekapaug). Joy, (nice little breather). Fluffhead ( very unique, Trey nailed all the parts and this one is a monster to play live). 2001 ( thought this was the closer). Slave ended the show, (very defined Phish song to conclude the evening)

ENCORE- Waste (standard) Suzy (enjoyable)

After listening to Phish for roughly 15 years, I finally went to my first show! I don't know why it took me so long, I go to shows regularly. This show kind of fell in my lap and I am so glad I went along for the ride!

Their musicianship and the overall atmosphere greatly surpassed my expectations, both of which were high to begin with. Highlights for me definitely include Rock and Roll and Waste, which is my favorite Phish song! After hearing about this site and clicking around, I feel so lucky to have seen them play Waste on Saturday!

Thanks to the community for making me feel welcomed and to Phish for putting on an amazing show!! I'm definitely not waiting another 15 years to go to my next one.

All in all a good rock setlist. Nothing all that experimental, but the playin was generally very good. Weigh was flubbed a bit, but the first set was chock full of songs we've all missed. The second set certainly didn't flow as well as Friday's did... Sing placement notwithstanding, don't sleep on this Rock and Roll. Some interesting themes develop early. I have a feeling tonight will be the most experimental BGCA 2013 show - let's hope so.

I spent the first half of August 3rd, 2013 touring the most famous prison in the world – Alcatraz – satisfying an itch I’ve had since my pre-teen obsession with prison-break non-fiction. Then, after a quick stop at our hotel for drinks I spent the rest of the evening fulfilling a promise I made to myself when I was fourteen years old.

I was in San Francisco (of course) to see Phish (of course) with m’lady (of course). It was the middle night of a three-show run at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium close to the end of what had been a heck of a tour following Phish down the western side of the continent, and as I sat in the Hilton or the Marriott or wherever (it was a nice place, I remember that) and cheersed my plastic cup of Jack and Coke against m’lady’s cup of the same I pointed out that it was also the thirtieth anniversary of my first ever concert: The Headpins opening for Loverboy at the Moncton Coliseum.

I had spent that night back in 1983 pressed into the rail at the front of the stage and had my life changed. I walked out of that show drenched in sweat, clutching a drumstick I had plucked out of midair and a setlist peeled from a monitor and swearing that I was going to attend every single concert I possibly could for the rest of my life.

And now here I was finishing up my drink and chasing down a bus headed towards my sixtieth Phish concert. Thank you very much Mike Reno, Darby Mills, et al.

We arrived at the venue too late to find any bleacher seats. We discovered that they get swallowed up fast and we realized just how lucky we had been to find friends with extra sit-down space for us the previous night. Instead, we found a different friend on the floor not too far back from the stage, a guy named Todd who I had first met in and around a Phish concert in Massachusetts. He had brought a friend to the show who was wholly unfamiliar with Phish beyond their reputation as a Dead-like hippie band and I had a lot of fun getting his fresh impressions throughout the set.

M’lady and I soon threw caution entirely to the wind when it came to overspending on pricey in-show drinks and we ended up inching pretty close to the stage on Page side. I somehow got lost in the crowd for a while but once I reoriented myself I discovered a portal that allowed for easy bar access even at such close stage proximity. I quickly rediscovered m’lady and we ended up whooping things up pretty good, right up to and including the Suzy Greenberg encore.

After the show we ran into a new friend that we had made a week before at the Gorge up in Washington and we brought him and his lady to our buddy Frank’s place where a rather epic afterparty ensued. How good was the party? At one point I approached m’lady who was dancing in a blissful frenzy, pumping her fists and her eyes slammed tightly shut. “I’m thinking about leaving,” I asked/told her.

“Are you crazy?!?” she responded, still dancing and not opening her eyes. “This party is raging!!!!” I pointed out to her that everyone had long ago moved into the kitchen and that she was in fact dancing in the living all alone, facing into the corner. She opened her eyes, looked around, took stock of the situation, closed her eyes tight again and went back to dancing with the wall. “You’re crazy,” she concluded, “This party is raging…” I went back to the kitchen and begged another beer.

Around 4:30am someone changed the music in the middle of a Neil Young song to some horrible dance music and that was it for me. I pounded my beer, flung my arms into the air, threw m’lady over my shoulder, flagged a cab and got us out of there. There are limits.

Meanwhile, somewhere out/in there in/out the space-time continuum a forty-five-year-old me is high-fiving a fifteen-year-old me. I suspect the younger me is confused and is awkwardly trying to find a way to hippie-handshake back.

(By the way, I am well aware that my first concert took place not on August 3rd, but rather on August 19th, 1983. But for some reason I had been confused back in 2013 and I did indeed celebrate my first-show anniversary at this concert. Must’ve been something in the San Francisco water.)

http://www.toddmanout.com

Shouldn't it be Fluffhead -> Also Sprach Zarathustra? I thought this was one of the best improvised transitions of the weekend, definitely meriting it a -> rather than a >, just sayin.

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Other than that, hearing Weigh for the 2nd time ever was nice, albeit sloppy. Lengthwise -> Maze was a trip, I loved it. Another 3.0, SF, first set Mound, should've seen that one coming. Timber was my favorite 1st set jam and featured some excellent CK5. During Axilla, the dude next to me pulled me aside to say, "this is the best Trey coke song ever!" whatever the hell that meant but it was funny so I just kept dancing. The guitar riffs of First Tube echoed beautifully inside the confines of the BGCA as the set closer (I couldn't help but think of the First Tube shirt I'd seen the night before with the Graffix jester on it). Aside from what I've mentioned it was definitely a very bluesy 1st set which was a nice contrast to the "fogfunk" from last year (i.e. Alumni>Letter>Alumni... Jesus).

I called the Rock and Roll 2nd set opener as they walked out. Must've been that first set Mound like Outside Lands. It was excellent and I prefer it to the praised, ambient Long Beach version. I couldn't put my finger on that Jessica tease live, it drove me nuts. My guitar playing friend nailed it and definitely let me know about it after my R&R call that's for sure. BDTNL & Joy were misplaced "vibe killers" but the latter bothered me more. Fluffhead was damn near perfect and again, the transition into 2001 was sick and I think underrated with a simple > and that's all I have to say about that. Slave was very good but I wish they'd just segued 2001 into a 2nd set SOAM. They're the same tempo! Oh well...

In conclusion R&R and Fluffhead->2001 take the cake for me amidst another peaks and valleys 2nd set at BGCA. It was a fun evening nonetheless. Btw, that Brett Favre look-alike in the Favre Vikings jersey that nonchalantly walked through the crowd kept tripping me and everybody out all show! I was laughing my ass off every time he walked by!

Tonight did not compare musically to Friday. There was just no real risk taking to speak of (other than RnR). And nothing really gelled until some point in Jesus Left Chicago, after which the first set continued to serve hot and cold. Great job with Bug (haters, please check out 2/22/03!).

On the upside, if you were there to dance (we were!) there was plenty of sexy groove, heartfelt anthem, and highly-charged boogie in the second set and encore.

3 (on the Phish scale)
5 (on the dance-filled-celebration scale!)

Very much enjoyed this show... many highlights...

Incredibly powerful and interesting chord work by Trey in Maze...

Trey's blues soloing in Jesus Left Chicago is really pretty smokin' - makes you realize what a great blues guitarist he can be when he has a chance to show it off...

Beautiful and sweet Driver...

As others have said, Page remains on FIRE. Every show I have listened to of this tour, there are always several points where I think 'How does he just keep getting better???'

As far as the 'Woooo' thing - people are still riding high on the Tahoe show. I doubt it will last. Then again, I was there to see the first ever glow stick war at the Went, and it was *magical*, *transfixing*.... even the band was in awe... Never expected to see it at every show from that point on, or see it devolve into something where meatheads chucked sticks at the band members.... grrrrrrrrrrrr Who knows. My guess, a passing phase, but it sure sounds like the band is encouraging and having fun with it by employing the start/stop...

After Grind, the begininning was rough until they/Trey slayed Maze! The encore of Waste and Suzy was mind blowing and between Waste and Bug...there were a few tears of "Joy" shed throughout the nigh. Too many high points to touch them all. I will say that I hope, with every ounce of my soul, and nearly 90 shows under my belt, that the band puts an end to the "woooo" movement. I hate to sound curmudgeonly, but I don't need sorority row "wooo-ing" throughout a show as if the whole crowd was collectively doing a round of pucker shots. I realize the band is taunting the crowd...and I hope making fun a little bit. It was special at Lake Tweezer...but it's run it's course and I hope it loses steam soon...as in last night! I thought the show was spectacular and the boys seem to have more fun and get tighter with each passing stop on Tour 30. Can't wait to see what they have in store for us tonight (from my couch). And I can't wait to catch 3 nights at Dick's and the Halloween run in AC (hopefully "wooo" free)!

p.s. Happy Birthday, Anne Delaney! A sweet kind soul celebrating #40 tonight in style!