Phish in Albany - Oct. 17, 2018

I think I liked my seat in section 107 on Wednesday better than the floor ticket I had the previous night.

It also didn't hurt that this show did pretty much everything I love, with not one moment where I wished the band would have played something different or differently.

I'm not sure what the significance is, but it cannot be a coincidence that at the past three runs at the nearby Saratoga Performing Arts Center and now here in Albany, the great "Crowd Control" keeps showing up,  usually as an opener. I may not know what the connection is to that area of New York State, but boy do I love it.

After that the band was off and running with an incredible "Chalkdust Torture". Thanks to Zzyzyx's stats page, I know that is my most seen Phish song, but I am sure that this was the only one of the dozens I have seen that, after the second chorus, went like this: jam -> end-of-jam riff -> chorus -> jam -> chorus -> coda. It is a testament to Phish that they can continue to transform a 27-year-old song and keep things fresh and interesting.

As probably the biggest fan of the 'Round Room' ballads - "Anything But Me", "Friday" and "All of These Dreams" - I was thrilled to not only hear them perform the latter, but do it so beautifully that it almost brought me to tears. 

"Wolfman's Brother", "NICU", "Gumbo" and "Bathtub Gin" were all well-executed and featured some big, happy, major-key jams.  "I Didn't Know" included a vacuum-cleaner solo by Fishman (introduced as "Jezmund, the family berserker") and "Steam" was super-slinky and sexy.  

"Set Your Soul Free" started with a long, fun jam that got me thinking that it will be the centerpiece of this year's New Year's Eve show. "Birds of a Feather", "The Wedge" and "Wilson" were all fun, if not exceptional, but there were plenty of exceptional jams in "Mercury" (which, along with "Steam", makes a great case for the 3.0 era), a kick-ass "Light" and a set-ending "Slave to the Traffic Light". 

As an encore, the often disappointing "Julius" was at least swinging, if slow and decidedly not rocking; but when Trey calls an audible and whips out an impromptu "Rocky Top", you know that it is a sign that he had a great time and gave us a fantastic show.  It was a you-had-to-be-there encore at a show that otherwise will please the ears of those who only listen.