Very song-heavy first set, and Phish takes the risk and brings out a lot of newer material. I thought the execution was great. When Phish delivers, they deliver big.
I Never Needed You Like This Before was about to wrap up when Trey gave Fish the look and kept it going for another few minutes, letting it breathe some. Band sounds great. Off to a good start already.

Turtle in the Clouds is always a fun one to hear. Placed well, played well.

Fast Llama got the crowd raging, with a hilarious Henrietta introduction to kick it off. Trey was rather talkative during the first quarter of the set.

Clear Your Mind I kind of expected. I stood at the gate and listened to the entire soundcheck 3-4 hours prior to the show where the band worked on this one for about an hour. I thought the payoff during the show was great. Really satisfying.

Sample through Sparkle were welcome selections, all of them played with confidence and without noticeable flub.

Ass Handed? Why not? We’re 11 songs deep at this point. Perfect buildup for a raging Sand closer that sent everyone to setbreak satisfied.

Opening a second set with Everything’s Right > Soul Planet is the perfect recipe for buzzkill, but buzzkill this was not.

Everything’s Right moved fluidly from section to section, Trey remaining patient throughout. I thought this was great. Resurfaces and > Soul Planet, and while I initially scratched my head at the call for Soul Planet, I was beyond satisfied by the end.

I really appreciate how Trey didn’t bother modulating keys early on, he let the initial Soul Planet jam ride out into ambient space. Rather than cue up another song Trey keeps playing and Fish slowly resurrects a beat, and the train is moving once again. Moved into an outstanding back half, bookended with really cool high-octave Trey soloing and into Twist. When I go to a Phish show, this is the kind of creativity I love to hear. The ER was longer but I thought this was the jam of the night.

After Twist and Most Events Aren’t Planned came Monsters. I think the song itself is actually really good. Shows some serious potential for a jam vehicle as well. I hope they keep this one around.

2001 > Rock and Roll, well, there are very few ways to close a set that will beat this pairing.

Grind, Tube, Ghost encore was a lot of fun. A capella, dance party, RAGER.

Back to back heaters at Star Lake, solid playing everywhere, really unique setlists and some great improv. What a weekend. 4.1/5