Sunday predictably took a bit more energy to pull off. We were all tired, running an hour or so later than the day before. Thankfully the band never showed a single second of fatigue the entire weekend.

The first four songs could have been solid second set material. A ripping Maze, a very hyped BOTT and fireworks all over the Bathtub Gin. I told Bill, this was the night, forget the other two. Next came one for Mike and Page. I would love to see Halfway to the Moon opened up. The changes have a lot of possibilities. Most of the remaining set brought out first set tunes we all wanted to hear in rapid succession. Gumbo through Roses have all been seriously jammed a few times, so I always hold out hope it will happen again. Halley's into Tube gave the band some nice extra credit and Chalkdust finished off a fun first set.

Pausing only for a few seconds during the entire second set, the band played with passion all the way through. Rock and Roll indeed! (Come Together was, mmmm, I'll leave that one alone.)
Twist and Piper are both in my top 5, so I love to hear them on any night. I never dreamed of such a stellar transition from one song to the other. Patient is a word I keep using a lot. Roadrunner was a great ride and Page got another chance to wail on the theremin. The Hood is what I'll listen to the most from this show. The jam recalls Woosta in the first few minutes and then goes its own way. Less popcorn bounce, but adds in an endless amount of emotion. Multiple people around us were crying tears of joy, probably the most I've ever seen at a show. It makes sense that I saw the guy with a "Thank You" sign at some point.

Back at home, my wife was watching the webcast with a good friend. She saw her first shows at the Gorge this year and wasn't even sure if she would watch all 3 Denver shows. Roggae is her favorite Phish song and they gave her another spectacular version. Thanks for helping me get my wife hooked!

Dropping a Ghost towards the end of the weekend pumped us all up. The question was what type of beast would it be? By the time they stopped singing, we knew this one would jam. Guy Forget!? Totally insane.

If they're going to give a few signature songs a rest, Walls can fit in very well in their place. Denver's version brought the fire again to a set that overflowed with it. Backwards capped the night with a celebratory jam and a few hugs. I was totally spent, but I couldn't stand still during the last song of tour.

The only negative moment of the entire weekend was the post show music: 9 to 5. Do they really need to rub it in like that? Thankfully, Phish afterglow set in and I let the evening take me where it wanted.

For the third night in a row, Phish dropped an impressive second set. It is really hard to say which night was my favorite because of the band's consistency right now. They played song based shows in Denver, but threw in jams that got right to the essence. Amazingly efficient playing. The band's unity and sense of purpose right now is hard to ignore. I talked to a lot of locals who have been to a few shows or people who haven't seen the band in years. All of them were just as blown away as I was. Perfect and getting better. There's no place I'd rather be.

PS: Get the sound check. The 50 Ways Jam is amazing!