well, this one is a doozy. after 60+ shows, this one, from top to bottom, is still my favorite. coming off a very good first night, as phish seems to do, they found a way to top that. the first set is loaded with nice rare treats and excellent playing, and well, the second set, it's just a monster.

the divided sky: this was a very cool opener. the band came out in sync and flying high right off the bat. one of the better versions of this song that i have seen.

tube: bam! the first of many treats in the set. sure, these 96 versions arent quite as good as what would come in the next couple of years, but back then, this was damn good fun!

tela: ah, us indiana folk getting dropped tela 2yrs running. another fine version, and this one led into....

maze: here we go... back in serious rocking mode! page and trey kill this maze. there are some very hot licks on this one.

fefy: not my favorite song, but it was a decent mid set slow down tune. it seemed to work well in this slot.

old home place: some nice snappy bluegrass to get everyone going again. nice to get gordo back in the game too.

pyite: like tube, i prefer the versions that would come in the next couple years, but there is a fun simplicity to these shorter versions. not to mention, they always nailed the "landlady" portion of the song, which i have seen them flub pretty badly the last 2 times i've seen them play it in 09. anyway, this was a nice sharp 96 punch. good solid key work by page.

llama: as always, this one was hot from start to finish. once again, page was strong on the keys.

glide: another nice rare treat. this fit in this slot really well coming up right before...

slave!: very good slave. maybe the best i've seen. i've heard many say that this one has dark star teases all over it, but personally, i don't hear it. there are a few very brief passage where i could say maybe, but all in all, i just don't hear it. i do hear a damn fine slave.

set 2
ac/dc bag: a nice rowdy version of bag got the crowd moving in the second set. like pyite and tube, this one was not quite a monster jammer yet, but the boys sounded nice and tight on this one before it gave way to a snappy version of...

lizards: this one fit well out of bag, and was, like everything else this night, played very sharp. it was a last bit of breathing room before they drop a monster on us...

mike's song: this is my all time favorite straight up mike's songs. you get those with all the teases and dipping in out of mike's, but for a straight up jammer, this one takes the cake. after they weaved through a few different "mike's song" style climaxes, gordon and fishman led them into a very dark and exploratory groove. trey and page found there were through this groove and both had some really hot licks before trey moved to the wood blocks. this is also one of my favorite "trey on percussion jams." page had some hot and heavy licks while trey/fish/gordo layed it down. after a good 20+ minutes of jamming they eerily gave way to...

life boy: this one seemed a little darker than normal....

weekapaugh's groove: gordon came out of this one humming and the rest of the band caught on quickly. very good versiion, one of my favorites of the year behind msg in the fall....

sotr: here came the deer creek audience's first taste of the theremin... it would be back next year in a big way..

(acoustic mini set): this is one of 3 outings, along with red rocks and the clifford ball, for the acoustic mini stage. it was a good way to introduce some of the newer billy breathes material. strange design was familiar, but waste and train were hot off the presses. out of the 3, i found train song to be the most interesting.

adeline: a quick accapella number before we do one more quick tune and hit the road right....

david bowie: woah nelly... we already had gotten our money's worth out of this show, but phish threw on a monster bowie closer. they took this one to some deep spacey realm before driving back to the triumphant bowie outro. great set.

enc:

sleeping monkey: quick and easy
rocky top: ditto

overall:

must hear. great show from start to finish

highlights:
set 1: the divided sky, tube, tela>maze, llama, glide>slave (yeah pretty much the whole thing)
set 2: mike's>life>paugh (probably a top 5 mike's groove), david bowie