after the previous night's show, which i thought was good, i thought phish would really step up and blow up this evening. i can't say they really hit that next level, but they put on a damn good show.

chalk dust got things started in typical fashion. they started to space out for a bit, but they quickly brought it back into familiar territory. papyrus was a very well-received treat. trey did botch parts of this tune, including missing his cue to start the vocals and a bit of the asse festival. either way, it was good to hear. my sweet one was sharp and got the crowd hopping. axilla brought the energy up another peg and trey appeared to be having fun rocking this one out. i didn't know was a nice juxtaposed nicely with axilla. it was good to see fishman back on the vacuum, and he laid down a nice solo. on the back end, page, trey, and gordo had some nice vocal harmonies behind over the vacuum. then they broke out wotc. this is not my favorite song, but it was well-played, especially since it had been shelved for awhile. it did provide the first jam of the night. fishman sounded really good here, and trey wailed over him. i thought the stash at telluride was a bit disjointed, but they played a conservative but much more cohesive version at deer creek. train song was a nice cool down and then they played number line again. i'm not a very big fan of this tune either. it just sounds cheesey to me. if you are a fan, well, this version is well-executed. good to hear in the first set and not the second. after they ripped ocelot in telluride, i was hoping they would bring it back out at deer creek. this song has come along very nicely. the telluride version had a slightly harder edge in the improv/jam portion of the tune. this one stayed mellow, and trey showed a lot of patience. both versions are good but they are quite different. curtis loew was a very pleasant surprise. page nailed the vocals, and trey really buried his solo here. wilson rowled up the crowd, and another very fine possum sent everyone into set break all smiles.

after the two nights in telluride, heavy travel, and a night and a half at deer creek, i was starting to drag ass a bit, but phish picked me right back up with the halley's comet opener. unfortunately, they still don't jam this tune out. they take it and just slam it into the next song. tonight it was light. i figured they would play this song, and i was hoping they would be feeling ambitious tonight. they quickly dipped into a nice, pleasant spacier jam. trey seemed to be leading this one, and while it was not as good as others from the summer, it still had its own unique twists and turns. eventually, they found their way into 46 days. the jam really crashed into the song nicely, picking the energy up immediately. the middle section was nice and thick with a good trey solo, but when they brought the song back around, it was quite a send up. good take of 46 days. after that, they went into one of my favorite songs being played in the 3.0 era. page and trey just destroy this maze, like they have so many times in the past one and half years. trey was really hot in the "dissodant" part of the song. i have never been a huge fan of the whole meatstick thing, but this song certainly better when the boys are focusing on the music and not leading the dance. also, it seems many in attendance have forgotten/did not know the dance. oh well, never was really fan of that either... while i'm not a huge meat stick fan, the transition from meatstick to mango song was remarkable. trey fucked up parts of the mango song, but like papyrus the night before, it was really nice to hear this one pop up again. the set us up for a massive fluff head. this might be the best one i've seen since i've been back. they really owned this version, and page was just beautiful on it. i'm not a big julius fan but this one did take off nicely, with good playing from page and trey.

like fee the night before, contact was completely under my radar. it was fun hearing this one again, and the crowd really got into it. i thought they might play something quick and easy after this but they dipped into one of the better slaves i've seen. in fact, it might have been the highlight of the show. trey and page weaved between each other beautiful while gordo and phish just laid down a gorgeous and subtle foundation. check out the slave. great way to close out another fine year at deer creek.

highlights:
set 1:
ocelot, curtis loew, wilson>possum

set 2:

light>46>maze, transition from meatstick into mango, slave!!