WATKINS GLEN, NY – Before we get to the action, a moment of congratulations to the winners of the 420^th running of the second Runaway Jim 5K: 1. Ethan McBrien 15:23 / 1. Katie Harrington 17:19 / 2. David Cook 15.35 / 3. Finn McCool 15:55. Queue “Chariots of Fire"! Congrats to everyone who ran and came out to support the runners!

First set kicked off with “Tube” at 3:30 amid hot but otherwise perfect weather with hundreds of beach balls rocking the field. Short but sweet as has been the recent trend, but no less punchy. A standard reading of “Kill Devil Falls” keeps the energy meter pegged before settling in the new first-set workhorse, “Ocelot.” The 32^nd performance of this tune with every one to date occurring in the first set, was any song more of a lock for the afternoon frame? Nothing earth-shattering but a perfectly groovy, languid version.

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WATKINS GLEN, NY – Would “Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!” be trite? Yeah, sorry. SBIX. Three days. Great spot. Typical Phish festival goodies at every turn. A stunningly beautiful day with most everyone settled in camp, while later arrivals and day-parking folks navigated a sometimes thorough and laborious intake process.

By all accounts SBIX has attracted a significantly smaller crowd than the then-lowest attended Phish Festival 8 (initial estimates are hovering between 25 - 30,000; no official word yet). The excitement and enthusiasm of those who did make the trek more than compensated for the smaller numbers, spirits lifted further by the spacious and easy accommodations once inside. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of fans are tuned in to the action virtually via the The Bunny on SiriusXM and livephish.com as legit couch tour kicks into high gear. Ball. All. The. Time.

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