Phish at Randall's Island, July 11

After 105 Phish shows, it amazes and amuses me that there can be new experiences - Friday's 106th was my first time rolling up to a Phish show on a boat.

Randall's is a piece of parkland that sits in the East River between Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx. The Phish shows are sectioned off on a field at its southern end. Getting there is easy, if not exactly convenient. For me, it meant driving to a train to take to Penn Station, walking from Midtown to the pier on the East Side, then taking the ferry (which was fun, don't get me wrong) to the island. The whole trip from door to ticket-scan took two and a half hours. I made it to Philadelphia in less time, and this was only 17 miles away. Maybe I will run there today for my long run, though the logistics of that may not work.

It is possible that on my seventh show of the tour that I am a little more nonchalant about really paying attention. After all, at this point, Phish shows have become my daily routine. So if I spent "The Moma Dance", "Kill Devil Falls", "Rift", "Sample in a Jar" and "Waiting All Night" catching up with a friend and enjoying the company of actually hanging with someone at a show, well, I suppose I can be forgiven. Besides, the continually excellent "555", climactic "Stash" first-set closer, and the best "Bathtub Gin" since...oh, dare I say, the Great Went...certainly returned my focus sqaurely on the band.

The second set was fiery and steamy - kind of literally - with a rocking "Fuego" and a sexy "Steam". Though the former showed that not every version had to be like the previous two exploratory monsters to be good, the latter was the worst performance of the song ever. Trey Anastasio seemed to be forgetful of the words, and then during the jam, he tried to crowbar a fast rock riff into the slow-burn groove. Points for trying something new, but a fail nonetheless.

On the other hand, "Down With Disease" rocked out into bigness even as it strayed into familiar territory (the return of the audience "Woo", thanks to start-stop jamming), and was all the better for it. The booty-shaker "Golden Age" surprised the crowd again as another cover made its way into the set. I defy anyone to not dance to that one. Ah, memories of Super Ball IX.

Jon Fishman proved that each of his limbs has its own brain during the tight reading of the complex "Limb by Limb". And just in case we had not had enough of fiery, frentic jams, we were treated to a killer "David Bowie" before "Cavern" closed out the set in classic style.

A raucous (as usual) "Character Zero" as the encore made the show satisfying for the one-nighters (like my friend) and left the rest of us excited for more.

Getting home took forever - waiting in line for the ferry, walking back to Penn Station in Midtown, waiting for the train to New Jersey, then driving home from Secaucus. But Randall's Island is a unique New York City venue and well worth the experience.