A hit & miss finale. Missed the .net pre-show gathering while completing a mission on my brother's behalf. Took longer than expected. Down to the front of the lawn, Cactus side.

First set kicked off with a righteous Crowd Control. One of the stronger versions that I have heard. Myfe made a welcome appearance, shook off some early rust, and rip-snarled as it should. Scent smelled good, luminous marimba and all. Undermind was straightforward and funkbouncy, with a humorously flubbed ending. ASIHTOS was a gnarly curveball, short but satisfying. IDK that "Moses Dewitt" could still play the electrolux so well after such a long hiatus. Welcome bac, vac! Foam was a crowd pleaser, but kinda rough. Divided Sky was extended, showing both rust and energetic intent. Wading was unexpected and beautifully cathartic. A fine, fine version. Bowie got effects-crazy and shredular at the end, after a constrained and quite short jam.

Switched sides for set deux - Page side = chatty side. (Grrrr!) Nice, aggressive start with Carini - wackadoo new effect employed by Trey on the "launch" part before the final chorus, quick redirect into a brief blissful stroll, and a nice little segue into Waves. This was a fine version, albeit truncated just when it seemed like it was ready to lift off at the end. Fizzle to a full stop, which means new album time. Wingsuit was decent enough, but to my ears the closing jam was like the Milennium Falcon trying to make the jump to light speed, but the hyperdrive is broken. Gordo pulls out the drill, and no sooner does he apply it to the strings than Trey starts aggressively strumming Piper. Jumpy and aggressive Piper, very well-jammed. Liquid fire, down to smoldering embers, and then a beautiful transition into...Flubhead?? This one was rusty, especially on the part of the rusty-haired axeman, but was salvaged by some interesting embellishments. Still not sure whether Trey stepped on an effects pedal or a puppy at one point. Huddle time - could we be heading semilunar? Nope - the joyous bounce of Heavy Things, oddly welcome to kick off the 4th quarter. No Trey solo (boo), but instead Leo went absolutely bonkers on the organ. Just him and Fishman at one point. Call it a "sound alike" version, and you declare your deafness to all of .netdom! Slave expectedly emerged next. Emphatic peakage, and a worthy version if one does not compare it to the majestic masterpiece version from 1 year prior. Not done yet. YEM!!! Scary moment early in the intro where it looked like Trey might have forgotten how to play the song. He recovered, and it was good. Downright dirty blues duel between Trey and Gordeaux. Funky finale with Trey going nuts like a wook in pajamas while Page and Fishman tore it up. Typically deranged vocal jam, and that's the set. I called the Suzy Greenberg encore as the took their bows, and that's what we got. Perfunctory, except for that screaming, drumming manimal named Fishman. He was absolutely on fire all weekend! Thanks to The Phish From Vermont for a fun holiday weekend at the SPAC from NY!!!