Phish at the Mann Center, Philadelphia, June 29

The floor literally shook under my feet as soon as Phish came out swinging with an excellent "Wolfman's Brother".

The Mann has quite an interesting look from the outside - all funky corners and odd angles.  And that was mostly how I had seen the venue until June 29.  This night, however, was to be even more interesting. 

There is a small balcony section - only 13 rows deep - bringing a couple hundred lucky audience members closer to the unique wood ceiling and providing an incredible view of the stage, excellent sound and the aforementioned floor-shaking.  I was among those few for this show and the experience was like no other.

The rocking (figurative and literally) continued with recent favorites "Your Pet Cat" and "Blaze On" as well as a brand new, first-time-played tune called "Waking Up Dead", a strange Mike Gordon number with a fun fast-riffing middle section.  And though the tempo was brought down for "Llama" (played in the slow funky style as in Raleigh last year), the fun continued, right through "Devotion to a Dream" during which I can not help but join in for the "It's today!" chorus.  There was some serious energy in the room.

However, there was a downside.  As we all know, smoke rises; and Phish phans, as lovely and friendly as many may be, tend not to have any regard for the fact that indoor venues are supposed to be smoke-free (not to mention the basic decency to care whether those above them are unhappily breathing in their smoke, regardless of the law).  It was so bad up there that during "Slow Llama" (as I like to call it), I had to go outside for a while.  I had to pee anyway, and the completely mangled and slow-moving "Reba", made it as good a time as any to get out of the smokehouse.  "Mike's Song" started while I was still out, but that, too, was slow and underwhelming (though Fish was deliberately messing with the tempo at first, which was funny).

Back in the balcony for a "Horn" and "Farmhouse" that were just OK, I was feeling a bit down about this show, which had started so promising but deteriorated quickly.  And though the set-closing "Weekapaug Groove" had some good energy, things did not feel right.  While laying on the lawn during set break (trying to get some more fresh air), I called my girlfriend, Gloria, and wondered aloud to her whether this whole Phish thing was losing its luster after 122 shows.

Phish has a knack for turning things around, though, and the second set (plus encore) of this show easily became the best set of the tour up to that point.  It was clearly headed that direction from the start with a huge (16 minutes!) and positively awesome "Crosseyed and Painless" which segued seamlessly into the debut of the brand new Fishman-penned "Friends", which led to another bananaballs jam in "Down With Disease", which led to a gorgeously amazing "What's the Use", which led to a fun "Meatstick" (to which no one does the special dance anymore - what's up with that?!  Was our World Record attempt at Camp Oswego in 1999 for nothing??), which brought us to a spirited version of "The Line". 

After finally taking a breather, another brand new song, "Tide Turns", was unveiled.  It is a pretty little number and I have been singing its catchy chorus endlessly since then.  "Backwards Down the Number Line" brought the set to its climax, but a barbershop version of "Dem Bones" (only the second performance since New Year's Eve 2014!) provided a nice button.

For the encore, who could have expected a "Dear Prudence" after its first bust-out since Halloween 1994 only five shows prior?  As if that was not enough of a treat, they kicked out a version of the now 30-year-old "Harry Hood" that was up there with the best.  It was so good, in fact, that I turned to the kids behind me who had only been to a handful of shows, and told them how amazing it was that after 122 shows, Phish can still amaze me.

So much for losing the luster!