@uctweezer Yeah from a technical standpoint, they did not seem polished... at all. Fish seemed way-too-excitedly all over the place (but I can't really blame him, knowing his 2020/21 personal stressors on top of the pandemic stressors - I am sure this was a huge 'blowing off steam' experience for him). Trey seemed almost timid, overthinking, perhaps - he forgot the closing trill to Bouncing and tried to cover it up, among the most obvious of many misses.

However, Trey's tone was top-notch. His sound and rig was dialed into perfection, and, to my ears, it sounded almost identical to his 1998 Island Tour tone: warm, soft, mellifluous. I hope this stays, because he has got a great sonic foundation with which to build and grow as the tour progresses.

Mike and Page, as always, were the stalwarts of the modern iteration of Phish. They both looked and sounded ready. I cannot overstate how their role has shifted from support to lead in the last decade, and they are embracing this with gusto and confidence.

From an improv standpoint, man, can't really ask for much more for the first show back in 17 months, especially with the pandemic still rampaging throughout the country, and more scarily, in this exact locale. 46 Days got really dense and thick - a morass of darkness. A midnight forest, right before a storm. Wolfman's toyed between getting fully extended and staying within its "usual" framework, and this duality worked well! Inventive, original, and playful! But the real treat was the later half of DWD and then its -> Simple > Fuego > Plasma. Simple, especially, featured eerily reminiscent styles of the Storage Jam, the 2014 Haunted House Set, and a touch of my favorite Summer 2003 ambience. Dark! Fuego and Plasma continued to rummage through the darkness with captivating tension, as did the back half of a fun-filled Jim.

Jamming-wise, the feel was a combo of Summer 98 and Summer 03... albeit with far less depth and exploration (it is just one show, their first show, after all). But, this courage to explore darkness feels all too right and necessary right now, and I am happy Phish is captaining our journey. Pretty stoked to see how this sound evolves.

Oh, the new LED strips/bars are a FANTASTIC addition to Kuroda's rig. The amount of moving parts... I mean, I was floored watching it from my couch. I cannot believe the three dimensional depth and patterns he creates with light. My eyeballs needed a cigarette after watching that thing.