Phish in Holmdel, July 10

My early 10-miler (hey, 9 a.m. is early on the day after a Phish show!) in Colonie, N.Y., was rough-going, and another hard week of training had begun.  The fact that two more Phish shows landed square in the middle of the second-hardest week on the schedule was a test of my Phish-phan/marathon-running mettle. Never has juggling the two been so difficult.

Somehow, I managed to kick some butt on the Wednesday hill training, even adding one more upward interval, as I averaged around 2:10 for each uphill on the 1/3-mile hill. 

That night was the fifth show of Phish tour, and my fourth of five in a row.  I will admit that I got pretty soused on vodka that evening because I showed up very early and decided to get nice and toasty in the parking lot...and in the venue, too, where a double-on-the-rocks put me right into dance-the-night-away mode.  The fact that it was my first time in an ampitheater pavilion since Bethel 2011 made me even happier.

I was in the back of the pav where the sound was great, the sight-line was perfect and the dancing room was plentiful.  And dance I did to the standard but rocking selections for the first set.  A mid-set "Julius" was strange, yet it totally worked; and who does not love a good, lounge-y "Lawn Boy"?  When Page acknowledged his and Trey's New Jersey heritage (as well as the "Jersey Strong" and "Stronger Than the Storm" catchphrases), you can imagine how the place reacted.

Question about "Ya Mar" - when and why did the drop the "He was a no good pa" part in the middle?

As good as the first set was, the second set really blew the roof off the place.  They brought out five - count them, five - big jam guns: "Crosseyed and Painless", "Harry Hood", "Sand", "Light" (my favorite 3.0 jam vehicle), and a gorgeous "Slave to the Traffic Light".  The fact that "Sand" felt cut short was forgivable because it was followed by "Light".

They peppered the rest of the set with rockers like "Axilla" (please bring back "Part II", or at least the ending!) and "Good Times Bad Times" (like "Julius", in a strange but welcome mid-set placement); concluding it with "Rocky Top" and "Cavern", leaving the crowd thoroughly satisfied, though I am not sure what was up with all of the "Maria" (from West Side Story) teases.

The "Possum" encore was superfluous.  I read a lot on Twitter about how everyone is sick of "Possum" (myself included), but at the shows, people are singing along with bursting energy.  So I guess the "Possums" will keep on coming.

I keep a setlist journal, and every time they play a song that I had not previously seen them do, I write it in purple.  Sometimes I get a little upset when there is no purple.  For this show, I would not have had it any other way.