The soundcheck was Funky Bitch, Breath and Burning, and Sleep Again.

It was a rough day - the heat index was off the charts, and the storms that delayed the start of the show by an hour and a half made for a long day. Very little that was notable about the show otherwise, pretty typical 3.0 stuff. Some flubs. Not many jams. Grab-bag song selection. Camel Walk and Tube were each slowed down to a shuffle. I really enjoyed the Theme because I hadn't heard it in a long time, and the First Tube had a decent, non-standard solo at the end. A flubbery PYITE. Nice Train. Light was the highlight of the show for me with segues into chunky versions of Golden Age and Boogie On. Don't care for Wingsuit, but the stripped-down Shade was a nice cool-down. Possum and Rock and Roll got the usual high-energy treatment. A good time but not an outstanding show.

The hype for this show was unreal. I got to go to my old home town and watch phish play 5 minutes from my doorstep. So when i got the chance to drive up from Texas for my first show, i took the opportunity and it was boy was it worth it! Of course the rain delay only made me more excited for what was to come...I got comfy in my seat ready for a heater of a set and the boys knew i would be there tonight. Started off with a My Friend and kept the first set going in an act of first settage i hadnt witnessed on couch tour previously...the Tubes, the debuts, a groovy camel walk and maze...set 1 killed. And when i made my migration out to the lawn to join my friends for a killer set two, they MORE than delivered! I anticipated a possum and called a Light>Golden Age in the parking lot before. It was everything i wanted and expected at Deer Creek and i can't wait to rage there again!

I couldn't disagree with Gravitys Rainbow more and so feel compelled to write a review. First, my caveat. I was on the rail for the whole show, which is absolutely amazing in its own right. With that said, I have been seeing shows routinely since 1994 and have seen many many epic shows. This show stands out to me as one of the best I have ever seen...especially the first set. From the thoughtful song placement in the setlist to the absolute tight and cohesive performance. Page's performance was no doubt stellar, but the star of the show my perspective was clearly Trey...and he set the tone early in the show opener grinding his guitar strings along his mic stand and then later playing with his new guitar and effects, echoing a delayed/looped pattern that emerged last year and continued in Chicago and again in Deer Creek. There were so many highlights in the first set...Camel Walk, Poor Heart, Theme, Saw it Again and a raucous First Tube to close the set. I love the PYITE 2nd set opener and was calling it as the show opener. Well played! The jam during GBOTT was fantastic and the vocal work during Light was outstanding. I, for one, love Shade and thought that it was extremely well played. I love the three part harmony vocal call and answer and Trey's soloing was amazing. Possum and Rock and Roll closers had the crowd bouncing!

For me, length of jamming is not a measure of a great Phish show. The jamming must go somewhere and have a purpose and I felt that this show did just that and wound up being an epic Deer Creek show. After all, it is Deer Creek!

This show could easily be the best show during any Phish tour and will no doubt be one of the best of the summer when the dust settles. With that being said, I think that they will continue to outdo themselves as the tour rolls onward!

4.8/5.0

It definitely was an odd night. The rain delay delayed the fun for only an hour and a half, and the band made up on lost time via a slightly shorter set break and the extension of the curfew until 12 am. All and all, the crowd looked ragged and tired after Chicago and the heat of the afternoon and the ups and downs of waiting out a rain delay.

Set 1: My Friend was great opener. Something special for the crowd. Its dark conclusion gestured towards things possibly to comes later in the set/show, but on the whole, the night was lighter, funkier, more upbeat. It is also worthy noting that the design of the first set (like in St. Paul) was thoughtful and decisive, modulating the energy flow expertly throughout. All versions of songs during this and the second set felt clipped or rushed to me, but each was incredibly tight, although never really breaking out the shell. The slower Camel Walk was nice, got people moving. Maze was easily the highlight of the first set. Page for President!!! Page was definitely the band and jam leader for the night. Was really hoping for a Melt to close the set, but as previously noted--things stayed relatively light on this night in humid Indiana.

Set 2: Second set was a bit a slow burn. In my opinion, PYITE never really lands solid as a second set opener, and then the shift into BOTT pretty much guaranteed the delay of deep jam for another song or two. Light marked the beginning of the show's short exploratory period (ending with Boogie). The jam was a little choppy, reminded me of some of the stops and starts in the long jams in early summer 2014 (Mann Feugo, CMAC Disease) before those Sunday shows really started to drop hard week after week. Golden Age, in my opinion, was the jam that really had some legs, but during a mid-jam band council of sorts, Mike abruptly shifted gears into Boogie. As has been previously noted, check out the Boogie outro jam. Funky breakdowns like this kept the show cohesive throughout, and hopefully foreshadow more funk to come in Philly etc. I hate to say it, but Shade was a bit of a downer. The intro sounds like Have Mercy, so I was really psyched for a moment, but then Shade started with its lyrics being unusually repetitive and the instrumentation not doing much for me. Possum was an attempt to recoup the energy, and did just fine in that role as always, but I think a Slave would have been more palatable at that point, given the relative lack of jam exploration throughout the night. Rock and Roll was probably all around the best delivered song of the night, and that of course bodes well for the Mann. Get ready, cuz Phish is going to burn that shed to ground by the end of Wednesday night.

But a great night all around. No regrets ever with this band. 3.5/5

This show kicked SO much ass.

My first time ever at Deer Creek and it was a blast. We're still pretty early in the tour, but Phish seems like they're on another level this year and it's the reason I drove like 650 miles to see them.

The doors were delayed by about an hour b/c of an incoming storm that only happened for about 15 minutes, but it didn't really matter since the band played well past curfew. I thought the first set was a rager, especially Maze, Saw It Again, and First Tube. I really enjoy the new song they debuted too, Breath and Burning.

Phish wasted no time showing us all that they're not just messing around. They mean BUSINESS.

This second set is honestly one of the most unique that I've seen thus far, PYITE opener was AWESOME and unexpected, Back On The Train sounded nice and funky, and then stuff started to get weird. The best kind of weird - Light > Golden Age -> Boogie On !!!

Mike dropped some SERIOUS bass bombs that sent shockwaves through the entire venue during that segment. I love Wingsuit every time they play it, Shade was cheesy (not a huge fan of the song... yet) but they CRUSHED it with Possum. Fast, blues-y and loud just like it should be with lots of cathartic Trey noodling.

Made my way back out of the pavilion during R&R. Got lost trying to figure out how to get back to the Orange lot and on-site camping (I exited through the wrong side) literally took me an entire hour... I was way too spun and like I mentioned it was my first time ever at the legendary Deer Creek.

I'm glad I went, the show did not disappoint, and the weather held up pretty nicely

Well to start off the Shakedown was all the rage as usual, minus the two jerk faced under covers in IU tees. Sherriffs came by around 6 and informed everyone there would be a delay of 90 mins. because of impending doom lurking in the clouds. It passed nothing major just some wind and light rain which continued all night. TO THE MUSIC ALREADY!. First set was nice, starting with a MYF opener , the set had a decidedly Rifty feel to it crisp and cleen very song oriented no much jamming just very solid versions Tube x tra slow, Maze, Saw iT Again, and the new tune. Set ended with a enegetic version of First Tube. SET TWO. Good all around. Punch started things off very nicely into BOTT also extended. Then Fat Fat meat. LIGHT GOLDEN AGE BOOGIE ON REGGAE WOMAN. This three song combo was on aboslute fire, Trey used the echoplex exquisitely into Boogie and carried it through the whole song. Let me tell you that this was the best Boogie i have seen ever! All that awesomeness gave way to a nicely placed Wingsuit and Shade. Then a Possum to end the set. Rock and Roll encore , short but love the placement! All in all this was a great show in will be near the top come the end of summer.

So it was great to see our guys back at DEER CREEK, as the last time I saw them at this venue was back in '04 right after I graduated high school... the year of my "First & Last" show (or so I thought) -- it was a very bittersweet time of my life. Though they had been back to The Creek between then and now, I admit that I fell off the train with a broken heart for a few years and I needed to have my trust earned back...it took me a while to get back on the train but now I'm gone (but really I mean ON) and I'll never look back again!!

Anyway, let's get down to the nitty gritty about this show...

Things got a little crazy with the weather delay, so we found ourselves marooned out in the lot for a little while...but not as long as we thought we would be.
Before the quoted 90 minute delay had elapsed, event staff came cruising around in golf carts to announce the gates were open! It turned into a mad dash to get into the venue and we all got crowded up at the front gates. But security was cool and got everyone in pretty quickly, even though they were tearing the tickets!
*Helping Friendly Hint: take a photo of your ticket when you get it so that if it happens to get torn at entry, you don't risk losing your download code.

Once inside, the first two merch booths were immediately sold out of posters but the one closest to the stage had a few left. I feel that the poster situation would be a lot less stressful and there MIGHT be enough to go around if it were legislated that each person can only buy one poster, cause you know they're just selling their extra posters online for an inflated price.
I missed the first two songs of Set I, but I was one of the lucky ones and got a poster then made it to my pav seat just in time for the start of Camel Walk (all us camels with our poster tube humps on our backs).
I had a spectacular pav view of the stage, but really I don't think there's a bad seat in the house there.

Soon after it began to rain a bit, but I don't think anyone on the lawn minded...it had been quite warm and humid outside all day (97 degrees-ish) so it was an inevitable cool break from the heat. Also it was nice that the venue allowed us to bring in sealed water jugs.

Of course both sets were fun, but the second set + encore was my favorite of the night. It just seemed to have a beautiful message built into the song selections.
The older I get, the more I hear the Universe speaking to me through music...

I'd like to point out that I think the new light rig is AWESOME!! What used to be the best light show in the business has now been elevated to a whole new psychedelic level!

I admit, I've become a "do-no-wrong" sort of fan over the past few years, but somehow I still always find myself pleasantly surprised and excited by the new cool stuff these guys throw our way....CAUSE IT WAS ALL RIGHT!!!

Because of the rain delay, our food situation was dire, all beer and pre-game favors had been devoured before we made our way to the gates the first time. We raged, we got wet, we danced.

After the show, we were crazy hungry and hung out at our car in the lot eating all of the snacks we had brought with us while we waited for traffic to clear. We cracked open hummus, carrots, pita chips, bell peppers, and cucumbers and thoroughly enjoying ourselves.

Soon after some spun wook after the show with half of a balloon in his hand zombie walks over to us:
"Hey, you guys got any beer?"
"No man, but we have some cucumbers..."

The wook stares beyond our eyes intensely, there's a brief moment of total confusion as he tried to put together the meaning of that sentence. The sadness that swells behind his confused eyes is palpable, he doesn't know what to make of this offer from strangers. Suddenly he lights up:

"Oh... ... cucumbers... ... ... well maybe I'll come back for them after I find a beer..." He mumbles in a barely coherent response.

At this point he circles around some cars that were still parked near to us, trying to find a beer. We meet eyes again and he looks so angry and upset that his mission has been futile up until this point. I wink at him and he darts his eyes away and wanders off into the night never to be seen again.

It's the little things...

"A new song with a line about Page in it," heh. I mentioned in the Forum Breath and Burning kind of makes me think of early Dave Matthews Band, maybe the song Recently in particular. I'm a fan of this new song. Not everything has to be like older Phish; I love the compositional epics and their combinations of intensity, virtuosity, and whimsy, but it's nice for Phish to have some just, I guess good-vibey, new material to reinvigorate their program. Ironically, because Phish is, well, Phishy, serious songwriting can be to their benefit or their detriment depending upon various factors, in my opinion. I personally think 3.0 represents a brighter and lighter Phish... no more burdens to bear, just doing it for the sheer love of the game. Skipping ahead, this Light has a jam that really interests me. Lots of movements and nooks and crannies to it, just utterly fascinating, if not as life-affirming--to me--as many Phish jams can be, but then again I am a Discerning customer. I don't really like Golden Age, but the Boogie On that follows it is as fun as ever. Wingsuit's up next, and is poignant rather than "fun," which is fine. We're really looking at some complex setlists this tour, as far as the range of emotional motifs on display. Far be it from me to tell the band what to do, but does anyone else think maybe they should plan setlists ahead again? I know recent interviews seem to indicate they're going for a more freeform agenda than that, but this show is kind of all over the place, I think... not too cohesive, but maybe it's just my state of mind. We're certainly dealing with a subjective experience when talking Phish.

Man the excitement of having phish at my home venue, to good to be true. I firgure their was going to be a delay, but when I was there it really didn't do nothing.anyway on to the show

Set 1
My my friend: was an awesome way to start a show my first one.

Kill devil falls: my second version a lot like my first

Camel walk: I did not see this one happening,but happy man I did.

Asihtos: wish this one would go out more, love the surprises in this set for me.

Poor heart: what would deer creek be without bluegrass, I just though it would of been old home place.

Tube: this one I felt was going to go longer, but can't complain awesome song

Halleys: why can't this jam again, my second version, same as last.

Maze: this maze was anotheir page rager for me, but I felt trey was no where on this

Lawn boy: let fun breather with my favorite member of the night.

Breathe and buring: not to bad of a new song, liked it more than miss you personally

Saw it again: made me go crazy, I love this song, and didn't see it coming.

Theme from the bottom: excited again, I've always wanted this song bad, glad I got it.

First tube: I thought this was going to be split open and melt, but I can't complain with them raging to this. What a rocking version

Overall: this set had a lot of surprise for me, and was really fun.I'm starting to get use to the non jamming first sets. Can't complain

Set 2:
Punch you in the eye: I was really calling crossed eye on this one, but getting pyite was wonderful, maybe not exactly a nailed version but I will take it.

Back on the train,: when looking at the Times of these 2nd set songs later I swear this was longer, this version was a ton of fun, and really is the better of the 2 I've seen.

Light: I was very excited about this, and this version will get underrated. Yeah it didn't go 20 minutes, but it sure did fit a lot of jamming styles in one, one of the songs of the night.

Golden age: this one I felt had a wonderful jam to it to, but I did feel this one had more room to jam, but we did get an amazing

Boogie on regga woman: this version smokes for being so short, but man this was amazing as hell to me.one of the best boogie I've listen to.

Wingsuit: I was not mad at all they went into this song, just breather and a beautiful song to me,except it segue into anotheir slower song

Shade: hate to say it but I was not a fan of this song nor that I felt it kind of messed up the energy of the set, I would have bee. Fine if they just went into possom after wingsuit.

Possom: this song follows me every time. I've bee. To three shows and hav had possom every time. This version is.my 2nd favorite behind the bloosom possom. And I was a little disappointed to get that, instead of you enjoy myself.

Encore: not a bad encore kind of wish their was a 2nd song but they did play til.midnight.

Overall: I loved how this set started up til boogie. But I felt like the wingsuit/ shade combo lost energy to me. And hearing posseum again was not my thing.

New songs I got: my friend my friend, camel walk,asihtos, poor heart,lawn boy, breathe song, saw it again , theme, first tube, punch you in the eye, golden age, boogie on, wingsuit, shade, rock and roll,

Repeats: kill devil falls, tube, halleys comet. Maze, back on the train, light.

Songs I wanted to hear: Reba, yem , mercury, cross eyed.

For a decent amount of time in my life I worked in a lumberyard. some of the things you sell are maybe not all standard lengths. Think mouldings and finished wood. It is not uncommon to end up with shorter pieces or something not EXACTLY to the foot. The rule, which seems simple, is it gets sold for the longest full foot that it is. So if something is 8'11" it is considered 8 feet. Because even though it is close, it is not 9'.

I like this show a lot. I was at this show. I think there is a lot of replay value in this show. But in a 5 star rating I give it 3 stars because it is not quite 4.

The rain and weather and delay did cause a sort of weird sequence at the beginning. I remember everyone queued up to get in. The whole crowd more or less just standing outside the gates waiting for them to open. People had been out in the lot in the heat unclear on the timing of what and when things were going to go down. But the crowd was AWESOME. We all waiting calmly for maybe 10 minutes for the gates to open. People could have gotten rowdy and maybe charged the gates or something, but it was very neighborly. A real tribute to the fan base.

Thought the first part of the first set was average great. Enjoyed Page acknowledging the crowd and the banter around Breath and Burning.

End of the first set is when the highlights kicked off.

Saw it Again brought some energy.
Theme was rocking. Thought it was going to end the set.
First Tube kicked it up a notch. Not a jam chart version but this run was a great way to end the set.

Punch is a great set opener. Kept the energy high.
BOTT is a grooving little guy.
Light>Golden Age->Boogie is a GREAT GREAT GREAT sequence. Very strong jamming interplay. An amazing segue. 2 covers I love. My first Light. Can't say enough about this sequence.

Like Wingsuit. Like Shade. But would have rather gotten 1 or the other. However a gentle moment well performed.

Possum kicked it back up and Rock and Roll brought it home.

TL/DR - Some 5 star playing/sequences mixed in with some average great playing. Just shy of a 4 star show. So it gets stuck on a 3.

My first show and, therefore, it holds a special place in my heart. I played it over and over, throughout the year, on days there weren’t new shows to listen to. Listening back now, I can see that it is a fairly average show, considering some of the monsters I saw in 2017. But the MFMF opener was well-played and KDF is always welcome. A fun, energetic way to start the show, after having to wait it out for the rain delay. Theme>First Tube was a great way to end a high-energy first set, with Lawn Boy as the lone breather.

I see some criticism for the PYITE set 2 opener and I can understand it. It’s not a jam vehicle like we tend to see in that slot and there were some mistakes. But the song’s intro has been a favorite of mine since early in my fandom, after watching Bittersweet Motel. So it got my blood pumping again. Check out Trey’s solo here- it worked for me at least. Light>Golden Age>Boogie On is the meat of the show. Light has awesome melodic soloing from Trey, bombs from Mike and a great groove from Page on the Clav to end it and segue into GA. Golden Age and Boogie On were soaring and funky, respectively. The show ends on another high-energy note with the Possum closer and RnR encore.

3.5/5 stars

We arrived in time to enjoy a bit of a delay in the lot. By we, I mean a friend, his daughter, & I. This provided time to drink a couple cheap beers from my cooler, listen to Live Bait 12, and let the rain drops cool us down.

Once the gates opened, expectations were high.

Myfe opener had energy. That carried into KDF.
Camel Walk was slower than I am used to, but it was in rhythm with the sparse raindrops visiting us on the lawn.
Poor Heart, Tube, & Halley's had me grinning in the rain.
Maze starts and the rain answers. I enjoyed this.
Lawn Boy. Ahhh. Time for a bit of ye olde fresh aire. Stupendous.
New song was a treat.
Saw it Again, Theme, & First Tube were a nice end to the 1st.

PYITE opener was a nice welcome back.
BotT was funky.
Light>Golden Age>Boogie On was also a highlight for me.
Wingsuit>Shade was a cool-off for me.
Possum was a nice closer.

We exited as the encore started & made the 5 hour drive home.

My friend's daughter kinda enjoyed her first Phish show, except for the rain. I was very impressed by the first set. There seemed to be a lot of response between band/crowd, energy-wise. I love this band.

My Friend was a crazy opener. The first set fell into type I flow throughout ina similar style to MX Saturday's set. Everyone is waiting for that First song second set warp 9 jam, but phish knows that and it seems when repetition starts to show up, they mix it up even further to keep you guessing. It lets us know that these jams come from a metaphysical place and is generated from the crowd's energy. That's why if you are in the pit or first couple of rows you have to go hard, and they will reciprocate!

Golden Age>Boogie is the highlight here! Great show, had fun. Anytime you get a Light and Shade in the same set is awesome. Reminiscent of shows past where they play those songs together.

This was my most highly anticipated Phish show for me in years. 4 year break from Deer Creek finally was over, when the summer tour was announced and I saw Deer Creek on there, I absolutely freaked out. I love seeing our band in my hometown venue, (a legendary one at that) Coming off of two nights at Wrigley, I was pretty beat from partying the entire weekend and lack of sleep, so we made the 3 hour trek from Chicago back home, but in this case, instead of relaxing after a run, we had another phish show to go to. Got home about 3 and tried to take a nap but couldn't contain my excitement. Went to pick up my buddy who was going to his first show, then halfway there, I realized I forgot the tickets, thank god DC Is about 10 minutes away so I could easily stop by the house and grab em and head out. I was running on fumes at this point but I didn't care, I knew there was going to be weather in the area heading down, It wouldn't be a real Deer Creek show if mother nature didn't make her way into the spotlight. I was running around the lot, seeing friends I haven't seen in a while, some I just saw the night before in Chicago, when the delay was announced. so the clouds rolled in and we headed back to the car to relax and ride it out. Security came around on golf carts with megaphones saying "The Gates are now open, if you wish to head inside, do it now" So we jumped at that chance and headed for in, Right as that happened the rain came down as we were getting through doors, a cheer came through the standing crowd and the energy level spiked up as everybody was ready for the VT boys back in the cornfields. Arrived at the spot in the lawn page side, it was the shortest time I've had to wait for lights. It was about 9PM when the lights went down and the band came on to a packed Deer Creek. No tuning, no talk on stage, My Friend chords struck 35 seconds after trey walked on stage, they were ready, as were we. I will say, the energy level was a bit weird, the delay had something to do with that i assume. the sound in the lawn on Page side was a bit off for the first couple of songs. adding to the weird energy and odd sound, camel walk was slowed down and trey had multiple flubs in the intro but finally got his mojo right at the breakdown. As trey finally got back into the groove and the band was on the same level, Mother Nature approved of the band getting tight so she opened the skies to show her appreciation and rained down on all that were in the lawn. It was welcoming as it was in the 90s prior.

All in all, the show was a good one, not the best of 3.0 but for a sunday night in Indiana, it was very well received with me. I was just happy to be back at Deer Creek with my favorite band.