Great show! I think now that time has passed since I got back from Colorado, and a couple of re-listens in between, I will admit that the spectacle of the Encore did cause me initially to over-value the concert. But, and I will come back to that in a second, it truly did feel like the cherry on top for an overall awesome show.

Set 1 was very good overall. As is becoming all too common nowadays, it bucks our traditional expectations of a toe-dipping excursion.
Fluffhead was the obvious stand-out, and I am so glad I got to hear a 20+ min version of this one. Its composed section was tight, with nice little interludes throughout, and some solid jammin' to close it out. Reba was well done, and the final quartet of songs had great energy and nice transitions, seeing the band members work so well and patiently together in spite of the shorter type I jams. My buddy posed an astute observation/question at the end of this set, "how would this band function if just 1 of the members was down with disease?"

As if to defiantly refute that thought, an amazing Set 2 emerged. Typically, one would expect an amazing set 2 to include bust-outs and/or extended songs, and this set had neither. However, it traded in 1-2 show stoppers for 4 great type I-II jams, broken up only by an energy lifting CDT and a briefly calming Ether Edge interlude. The fire was burning from the 1-2 punch of AC/DC->CDT, and we were all feeling it. 46 Days was great, full stop. Having been at 10.31.2021, my wife found the musical costume to be bland. I told her it is hard to hear 90 minutes of new music, but that there were going to be some good jam vehicles coming from this work, and lo and behold, the Howling was probably the unexpected highlight. 30,000 adults howling in unison was hilariously incredible, and Page and co. really got everyone's feet moving. It was, I guess, predominantly type I (if you believe there is any structure to these songs to begin with...), but incredibly funky. Leading into a 2nd straight year of a Dick's Set 2 closing Piper, and another worthy jam.

K, Encore time. I will start by saying that I have always craved a solid encore. The typical 2 songs for an encore often feels limiting for them, and I always feel like if they could, they would (play longer), but they don't know how... Every now and then we get a barn burner of an encore, and I already felt fortunate to have just experienced it the prior night with SOAM. I am standing next to a newly made friend from Denver and a veteran at Dick's, whose expectations for this Encore were low (as he felt the band would be building, as usual, to a bigger finale on Sunday).

Well, things start out very nicely with a Theme that may well be considered jam chart worthy (as an aside, check out 08/10/22 version for those who love this song) when all is said and done after the powers that be review this tour. Beautifully played with a nice solo. Mango Song follows and is a pleasant surprise. As the song ends they hold those final notes and everyone, me included, thinks they're packing it in. But still, a glimmer of hope, and I shout "keep going!" The Denverite taps me on the shoulder, as if to suggest, "don't be greedy, young man..." We all know what happens next, they launch into Don't Doubt Me, followed by Evolve. Neither of which, admittedly are my favourite songs, and seemingly weird choices to close on. At the end of each of these, I again yell, "keep going!" People in front of us have left, such that we now find ourselves several feet closer to the action by the time Evolve has ended. Golgi starts, and we are all smiling ear to ear, half-bewildered and looking at one another in disbelief, and half-ecstatic. A high energy Golgi, and we will all happily vacate the arena with a 30+ min encore in the books and a story to tell, right? Or, maybe....? By the end of Golgi, everyone around is cheering and yelling with anticipation, and an even more perfect set closing Antelope ensues. The crowd is in a frenzy by the time Trey speaks the name "Marco Esquandolas," and there is no doubt that each of our souls are in high gear.

Over 3 hours of delectable music, great song choices, great jams, and the longest encore in Phishtory all makes for an excellent event!

Other notes:
1) From the rhythm crew, Fishman gets a lot of love and deservedly so, but this was Mike's most outstanding show of the weekend (continuing from the great work in SOAM the night before)
2) IMO, Jam Chart songs - Fluffhead, AC/DC Bag, 46 Days, The Howling, Piper, Theme(?)