Good review. I heard things much the way you did, though I think you were a little more generous with praise than I would have been. It was a great show. I think the boys definitely gave it an all-star effort. There were some unique and fine moments, a few good transitions and some nice cohesion, but there were also some not-so-good transitions, some incredibly botched playing and a couple of cover-your-eyes-awful moments. So, a typical night of Phish, you would say.

Overall I continue, as most of us, to be completely stoked about the state of the band and how they are playing generally. I was a little hopeful that they would be somewhat tighter by now, but they've been extremely inventive and playful and are playing with so much fire that it makes up for it. I think they are certainly more cohesive than last year. Trey has gotten more sloppy as the tour has progressed, which doesn't thrill me, but it is what it is.

The Rift was horrendous. Trey just couldn't play it at all. The Gin was so badly botched by Fishman I thought they'd restart the song. Really, I did, but then of course the jam started and all was forgotten a few minutes out of the song proper. Roggae was the same, with the timing completely off and Trey forgetting how to play the beginning riffs. Mike and Page kept chugging along until he got it, then, again, the peak of the song makes you forget the mistakes. It turned out to be a beautiful version in the end.

In the second set, I thought Ghost was a bad call coming out of that beautiful Chalk Dust. Really loved the space they found in the CDT and Ghost was not needed there. Nor did it go anywhere interesting.

But that would be the end of my negative criticisms, for sure. The rest was so enormously fantastic that it still ranked as a great show.

Loved TMWSTIY> Avenu Malkenu, which was really sweet. Of course I loved the Gin. It just wouldn't quit. As I said already, this Chalk Dust was really special. Love the space they found there. R&R was well-played and it was nice to see it get prominent 2nd set placement again. It's been missed.

As much as I thought Ghost was the wrong call, Waste PERFECT call, and beautifully delivered. Just the perfect cool-down there in that spot, and the Hood was epic. I loved the left turns this Hood takes, not once, but multiple times. Wasn't sure they would finish the song at one juncture. A couple of years ago, this Hood would've stolen the evening, but that's where we are now with these guys. The standard is HIGH.

No Man was an orgasmic type 1 peak, and then to close with Slave (and a great Slave it was), was pure gravy, as the reviewer correctly pointed out. And a LONG set it was. They could have ended with Hood> Cavern (which is what I expected actually), but to have an additional 24 minutes of high quality music after that Hood is extraordinary.

As @zzyzx correctly points out, if this is a warm up, then this may go down as the best festival of all time. What a tour. Best since '97.