To put it bluntly, the boys are clearly back. Trey most certainly cares again, and they are playing as good as they have in the last 10-15 years. As for the shows I’ve caught so far here’s the story:

Hampton was too strange for me. I only caught the last show (sunday - chiochankitmun FTW - Sean I will never forget that miracle.) but it was honestly a little too bizzarre for me to fully enjoy. Don’t get me wrong…I danced my ass off… but I couldn’t believe I was standing there, seeing these guys, on that stage, playing those songs, a little under 5 years after I thought I’d never be feeling “IT” again. I only truly felt “IT” once that night, maybe twice, but certainly as welcome a feeling as I’ve ever had.

Jones Beach night 1 was an unexpected and enticing treat that made me really realize that the boys were serious. The Cities melted my body into one sweaty oblivion with the funk that it brought to my brain. Everything was played great and I was so excited to see great phamily again. It was a rough daytrip from my house because of NYC traffic, but who cares, it was completely worth the almost 10 hours of driving and 5 hours of sleeping I did over a 24 hour period.

Alpine Valley - Where to begin. My first time at the mighty midwestern venue. My wife’s first show ever, #28 for me. I will never ever miss alpine again. It’s a truly fantastic place that holds a shitload of people who are all there to dance their asses off. The energy there was almost like a festival there were so many people, but it was far more manageable with 1/2 the crowd.

Night 1 had an odd start for us in the lot because our friends didn’t make it out of the clusterfuck of Chicago in a timely manner due to traffic so we were left to make new friends with the guys next to us in the lot. Nice fellas for sure. We shared our beers because they left their cooler at the hotel by accident. They shared their spirit, stories, and other hospitalities. The show was a crowd pleaser to say the least, it was almost like Phish played every possible singalong song they had. I really enjoyed my first Ya Mar since IT, my first Makisupa and also the Fire encore. That was a great bust-out.

Night 2. Wow. This was a great day from start to finish. Finally had all my phamily to celebrate pre-show with in the lot. Great live bluegrass from the trio in the car next door, and a little cooler day. Then phish opens the show with Brother, plays Funky Bitch, TMSIY>Avenu>TMSIY, Crosseyed & Painless, then we get an acapella encore and a kick ass Frankenstein with Trey on a 5 neck guitar. I’ll say it again. Wow.

I can’t wait for Merriweather for #30.