My second show and the second one in the Birmingham area that year. Oh how I yearn for the days when even a city Birmingham's size could possibly get two shows a year! They graduated from playing a thousand seat club in the spring to playing a 10,000 seat amphitheater in the fall. That's quite a leap in five months.

Show opens with "Wilson" and it's very peculiar to go back and hear a show without the crowd chanting "Wiiiiillllllsoooooooon" during the intro. "Maze," "Glide," "Reba," and "Down With Disease" were a hell of a four pack. You forget how satisfying a crisp "Glide" can be these days considering how seldom it's played. Really solid type 1 DWD too. It's grown up a lot since the spring already. First set was good, but nothing you'll be shouting from the roof tops about.

Second set is pretty happening and what you'll want to check out if you're a person that doesn't always listen to full shows. The 2001 > Runaway Jim and the Jim in particular really shine. Around the 7:00 minute mark of Jim it takes a hard turn and just gets nuts and is one you'll want to return to again and again. Halley's and Mule always put a smile on my face and then we get a YEM -> Catapult -> YEM that is an absolute delight. Super cool vocal jam too and I'm not typically a big fan of vocal jams. I always feel like the a cappella and bluegrass tunes of this era take the air out of a set and it was pretty quiet after YEM finished with Amazing Grace, Foreplay/Long Time and Bouncing Around the Room before ending the set fast and hard with Suzy Greenberg.

The encore was atypical in that it featured a Drums segment with Fishman and Carter Beauford and then went into a band jam before segueing into Daniel Lanois's "The Maker." It was played with all five members of DMB on stage too and is a great tune. Probably doesn't fit super well into the Phish world, but I'm glad I got to see it.

All in all, a solid show with a few stellar moments worth checking out.