9/4-6 Phish @ Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City, CO

It's been over a month since the last run of the summer at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.  I've been to all five years at Dick's, having only missed two shows over that span.  As the years go on Colorado feels more like home.  I have a lot of friends on the front range and that appears to be a likely destination for me in the future.  I drove to Chicago on Friday morning and parked in my usual locale in Wicker Park near the Damen stop.  After a trip on the Blue Line out to O'Hare I encountered unbelievable amounts of people in the TSA checkpoint line.  It was obviously one of the busiest travel days of the entire year.  I barely made it through in time to get to the terminal but it all worked out.  There was a nice older lady next to me who was a pilot.  She lived in the mountains and had seen The Grateful Dead back in the 1970s.  We were off to a good start. 


My friend Shane from Ft. Collins picked me up at the airport in exchange for my extra.  I appreciated him helping me out.  He met his wife at the hotel and dropped me off near the campgrounds where I reunited with Team War Eagle minus Heather.  Also joining them this time was Travis from Iowa City someone I've known for 15 years.  I was staying with Bobbyluv.  They rented a spacious van.  In our crew from out of town was Doc, Joel, Shaggy, and Jay.  Bobby's new place near Red Rocks had a cool view looking south along the mountains.  We had a lot of the usual familiar faces from Colorado including Abby and Shawn park near us out by the Upstaging Trucking and Lighting rigs. 


I upgraded to a field ticket for Friday.  I watched the first set near the soundboard with Team War Eagle.  I was impressed with the energy and flow of the first stanza.  It was highlighted by decent versions of Ghost, Gin, and Antelope.  For the second I moved closer on the Gordo side with Bobby and his people.  This show was a victory because of the improvisation during an extended Wolfman's, the best Blaze On to date, and a jammed out Golden Age.  A uniquely placed Roses Are Free was brimming with energy before they finished the show with Fuego, a cooldown with Velvet Sea, and WOTC.  The Fishman antics plus Loving Cup capped off the most complete effort of the weekend in my opinion.  After the show we stopped at Abby's house for a nice gathering of folks. 


I slept most of the next day.  Doc brought me back a great breakfast burrito.  I watched the rest of the run with the Auburn guys.  On Saturday we were on the Gordo side in the stands.  For set two I was joined by my friend from Iowa State, Hildy.  I liked the song selection in this first set.  I hadn't heard Winterqueen the whole tour.  I preferred this version of Melt to the one I heard at Alpine.  it wsa disappointing that they didn't jam out ASIHTOS.  However, the 15 minute+ CDT was the obvious highlight of the show. There was a nice segue into a rather pedestrian Twist.  Mercury continues to slowly grow on me.  It's interesting how it references the car, the element, the Greek God, and the planet.  Wingsuit worked in this spot in the set.  When they ended the set with a short Rock and Roll I was a bit puzzled.  They made up for it with a generous encore. 


We all relaxed on the deck on Sunday afternoon and grilled.  Bobby made some delicious brats.  Thanks again for him and Erin having us stay.  I was a bit disappointed by this first set.  There wasn't much to write home about.  That all changed with a soul touching second set and an encore for the ages.  I liked the slow build of this DWD that was the improvisational highlight.  The flow of this second set was excellent.  During Piper Fish was yelling out some Doobie Bros. lyrics.  Tweezer led into Horse>SITM which was the cooldown break.  A poignant Slave ended the set.  What happened next will be talked about for years with the band spelling out THANKYOU with Tweezer Reprise, Harpua, After Midnight, N2o, Keyboard Cavalry, Your Pet Cat, Once in a Lifetime, and the finally that really captured the overall sentiment of the moment United We Stand.  It felt like the band really appreciated the situation they have. I no longer feel the need to be there every night.  After this I can be begin to scale back.  Most importantly I will begin to put my life and career ahead of Phish.  I made sure to thank some of my friends who helped make this journey possible.  It's been amazing.  As one chapter of my life comes to a close the next comes into view. 

8/21-23 Phish @ Watkins Glen International - Watkins Glen, NY

For over 16 years I've been seeing Phish.  This summer that journey led me back to a famous a sporting and music venue, Watkins Glen International in the Finger Lakes region of New York.  I last visited here for Superball in 2011 with my friend Doc.  This time I drove by myself to Pittsburgh, PA to visit my Aunt Irene and her daughters Traci and Robin.  I stayed with Robin at her apartment.  It was a pleasure talking with my second cousin Kenny who I hadn't seen since he was a baby.  Now he's in his twenties.  That type of thing makes me feel old.  Getting older was a theme of this trip.  Up until now seeing as much live music as possible has been my number one priority.  After this tour it's become clear that it's time to shift that priority into making a sustainable living.  I want to express my sincere gratitude to my parents for supporting me as I "searched for the sound" to quote Phil Lesh. At the end of the day its about so much more than music.  People ask me why I am so hooked (pun intended) on Phish even in my mid-30s.  It provides spirituality at its very core.  Dancing and fellowship are what makes it special.  In a world where there's so much negativity this is a bastion of positivity.  Phish gave me something to believe in.  That live energy was something unlike I'd ever felt.  I'm still in awe of it. 


However, all glory is fleeting.  I got into Phish in 99-00 and the hiatus was looming over the scene.  The post hiatus years were a flash in the pan in 03-04. The current era of Phish has taken some to develop.  09-10 they were largely getting their feet under them.  In Summer 2011 shows in Clarkston, MI and Watkins Glen, NY would reignite the magic as the band decided it was time to move forward with the improvisation.  Chicago, IL and Commerce City, CO saw the fruits of their labor later that summer.  2012 they took things a step further with the jamming with the Dick's run being the obvious highlight.  Fall 2013 had been the previous high point of 3.0 for me personally and the band.  My roadtrip through New England was exactly what I was supposed to be doing at that time.  The Fuego era and the Halloween 2014 show brought new material that the band badly needed.  This backstory is necessary because I feel like it wasn't until this summer that they finally returned to that aforementioned musical glory they achieved in the years where I first saw them in 99-00.  I think this summer tour was the best since summer 2000.  It can be attributed to the band's leader Trey Anastasio finally re-committing to his craft of guitar playing.  Earlier this year he brought his full touring rig and set it up in an apartment near where ne lives.  This "woodshedding" if you will was preparation for the GD50 shows which he showed an amazing amount of patience and humility.  The result of this was a magical summer Phish tour which was a sort of culmination of my life up until this point.




The drive to Finleyville, PA was uneventful.  Grannie would have been so happy to know we were all together.  Those relatives meant a lot to her and she meant a lot to me.  We all miss her dearly.  I watched the Cubs vs Tigers which was conveniently on ESPN.  Then I watched the penultimate episode of the first season of Mr. Robot.  The next day I drove up to the venue which took about 5 hours from the Pittsburgh area.  It rained which made the drive through the mountains in the mist a little stressful.  Upon arrival at the gates it was pouring down rain.  I felt bad for the guys doing security.  They were going to take my dad's ceramic coffee cup but ultimately were cool and let me keep it.  The wait in line and for the search was minimal.  They put me in Aladdin which was scenic and had a wooded trail to the track.  Unfortunately it was literally a country mile from the RV area where I was going to stay.  Since it was raining so hard I put up my tent which I had brought along and rode the storm out.  I did walk up to the venue for the end of the extremely psychedelic soundcheck.  Whether it was worth getting soaked is up for debate. Once it stopped raining I hung my soaking wet clothes in the tent and took what I needed for the weekend with me and set off on foot to the RV.  Pat, Ryan and Heather had picked up the RV along the way from Auburn.  Thanks again to Pat for getting the RV.  It really worked out well.  Heather was nice enough to cook breakfast burritos each morning.  I appreciate Ryan as a someone who knows his Phish.  I met them during the Miami NYE run and it was another really fun weekend. 




All things considered I feel like this was perhaps the best run festival I've been to.  The lights in the trees and the decorations really were top notch.  The food and beverages in the playing field were quality.  This wasn't Phish's first rodeo at putting one of these things on.  The Bunny provided great sounds to listen to all weekend long on 104.9 WNGZ.  The first night was my favorite musically.  It was my 125th time seeing Phish.  Simple was a symbolic choice to open their festival.  We've got a band.  The Dogs brought back the good memories of Las Vegas Halloween last year.  TMWSIY > Avenu > TMWSIY made me think of Alpine '99 my very first show.  I saw Mock Song at the Gorge in '03.  That was certainly out of nowhere.  Rift and Roggae kept this quality first set going nicely.  Bathtub Gin was the highlight of the whole show.  They really took this time tested jam vehicle for one hell of a ride. 




Chalkdust has been used as a jam vehicle in recent times and this was no exception.  The Ghost that came next was shorter in duration but I felt hit the target more so.  Rock and Roll served as a destination on this occasion but brought the energy per usual.  The kid behind us called the Harry Hood which had a bit more of a jam than usual. Waste served as a cool down ballad again reminding me of Alpine '99.  The placement of No Men from No Man's Land was a bit odd but it was extended a bit more than previous versions and set up the closing Slave to the Traffic Light which was a nod to all the driving we'd all done to get there.  This was not the best version of Farmhouse.  Trey didn't take any solo to speak of and Page had to carry the song.  First Tube sent the crowd off into the night happy and capped off one of the best shows I've seen this year.  Andy Gibb "Shadow Dancing" was the postshow PA music. 




It seemed like the second day the security was much slower about getting the crowd into the playing field.  The first set was very tame.  I ended up picking up two trash bags full of recyclables and got a shirt. I did like the choice of the Circus Comes to Town. The opening The Divided Sky with a very long pause and the closing Run Like an Antelope was really the only real highlights.


We grabbed some dinner and headed back to the playing field.  Wolfman's and Halley's were rather pedestrian.  46 Days was when things started to rev up a bit.  Trey's soloing during Number Line continued the energy before the climax of the entire festival of Tweezer > Prince Caspian.  In retrospect this was the high water mark of the tour for me.  They essentially start the Tweezer jam back up in Prince Caspian.  Gordo hits his fight bell about ten times at the end of the set.  There were some questionable calls in set III but overall it was a success highlighted by a choice version of Blaze On and the Cities > Light.  I had been tipped off as to the location of the "surprise" set which everyone was expecting.  By midnight I was very tired and ambient down tempo music was not going to keep me standing.  I ended up listening to the Drive-In set on my phone back at the RV because by that point all the driving and the limited amount of sleep was taking its toll.  Finally that night and much of the next day I was able to recover and got a lot of quality sleep. 




The final show ended up being a bit of a disappointment.  I loved the choice of PYITE to open but for the most part it was a rather standard 3.0 first set.  The second set was a Martian Monster sandwich and I liked the peak of the DWD.  It would have been nice to have heard the intro to SaSS but it was a well executed segue.  Another poignant Dirt was well placed.  Twist had an Immigrant Song tease and in the middle of the Mike's Groove.  The YEM encore was rather predictable.  Musically I'd say the version I saw in KC was better.  The sounds of Frank Sinatra "Summer Wind" as we watched a massive fireworks display sent us off into the night.  Magnaball had been an amazing experience.  I loved the cold brews from Recess Coffee from Syracuse, NY.  Those were my lifeline.  The aforementioned War Eagle crew of Pat, Ryan, and Heather were excellent companions for this spectacular ride.  I drove home the next day. It was nice being able to listen to the Cleveland Indians radio broadcast as they took on the Cubbies.  Kris Bryant hit the game winning home run. 

8/8-9 Phish @ Alpine Valley Music Theatre - East Troy, WI

Last weekend was my 13th and 14th Phish shows at Alpine Valley Music Theatre which is where I saw the band for the very first time on July 24th, 1999.  I was recovered from my trip to Missouri on Wednesday.  I got to the lodge in time to hear them soundcheck Esther which was a preview of the next night.  They also played Wombat which still hasn't been seen all summer.  The weather was overcast and particularly mild for an August show in Wisconsin.  It occurred to me that I've spent almost half my life seeing Phish.  This tour has been rewarding musically.  However, it feels like the right time for me personally to begin to think about scaling back on the traveling.  Before the show I walked all the way around the golf course and by the green lot through the woods and to the yellow and blue lots.  I sold my extra to a longtime friend of our family Ryan.  Then it was good to see my buddies from high school Frank and Sand.  My spot was toward the back of the pavilion on the Mike side. I moved down several rows and found Angelo from Ft. Collins and watched the show with him. 


I liked the No Men from No Men's Land opener with the Jerry MuTron III disco Dead tone.  Julius is a favorite of mine.  Frankie Says is rarely played and is one I enjoy.  This led into hot Maze.  That was my first time hearing Mercury which leaves a lot to be desired in the vocal and lyrical department.  Reba had Anastasio playing a few clunker notes before a blistering machine gun ending.  Possum capped off a rather uneventful first set. 


Another DWD so soon on the heels of the one I'd just heard in KC was a bit disappointing.  This version wasn't quite as successful either from a jamming standpoint.  I thought for a moment that this would be the Halley's that would again have a jam but alas it was not to be as Trey quickly aborted in favor of another Twist.  See my comments on DWD in KC.  The most redeeming part of this set for me was the What's the Use?  Trey's emotive playing was impressive at this juncture.  You could say the same for the way he slayed the set closing Slave to the Traffic Light.  This show was light in the way of improvisation.  I would say this is more a show that would excite a more casual fan on a Saturday night at a large venue.  Meatstick kept with that theme.  Trey loves playing Character Zero at Alpine Valley it seems.  Night 1 wasn't a total loss but it simply wasn't my style of Phish at this stage of the game. 


I spent most of Sunday relaxing in the room and mentally preparing for what I knew would be a more serious effort from Phish.  I cooked some grilled cheese sandwiches on the grittle and it reminded me of all the lot food I'd had over the years.  This run made me really nostalgic about Phish and what it's all meant and where it goes from here.  My problem with seeing shows at this point is that there is too much downtime.  I went into the venue early because I had a Pit ticket.  I found the spot I like between Trey and Page and stayed there for the whole show.  I met a nice father/son tandem from Elmhurst and a cool guy from Fond du Lac.  My focus these days is to impart whatever Phish knowledge I can to the younger fans and be less about commandeering space.  When I'm down close to the stage it seems like a lot of the so called hardcore fans don't really get it.  I loved the opening song from the Halloween set, The Very Long Fuse.  The rest of the set were rarities and capped off by the tour's only Split Open and Melt.  The scene down in the pit became chaotic during Melt and matched the music.  Esther made the set for me.  The story Trey told during Forbins/Mockingbird made me think that perhaps this was the final Alpine Valley show.  I'd heard from an employee at the lodge that ticket sales were poor. 


I loved the positioning of Run Like an Antelope to open set two.  Though this version stayed within the box the energy was amazing from close range.  Carini went from hard rock to blissful setting up a seamless transition into Waves.  This went into some deep space before some scratchy ambience became a spectacular segue into Tweezer.  I would say this was the clear cut highlight of the show.  What made this even better was the classy choice of Dirt as the cooldown song.  Mike's included the 2nd jam which reappeared also in Nashville.  Anastasio set up some loops which worked well for the segue into the summer's anthem, Blaze On.  A short Weekapaug Groove was unexpectedly followed up by Tweezer Reprise which was a choice way to end the set.  I went over on the side of the venue which was a great vantage point to watch the crowd wave during Contact.  Page brought out the keytar for Frankenstein.  This was a special show and I savored the view as I exited the venue.  Alpine Valley has been a special place for me over the years.  I drove home afterwards and got a slice of pepperoni pizza from Casey's in Prophetstown.  This was my 124th Phish show.

8/5/15 Phish @ Starlight Theatre - Kansas City, MO

Last Wednesday I worked in the morning for a few hours and then got on the road for Kansas City.  Half the trip was retracing my route to Des Moines where I saw Umphrey's McGee in late June.  Having gone to school in Ames I know this route pretty well.  The weather was in the low 70s.  I drove through a very brief thunderstorm in Missouri.  For dinner I stopped at Arthur Bryant's and had a pulled pork sandwich.  I found a spot in front of the soundboard in the middle of the venue.  The crowd was rather chatty.  This was an out of the way show to hit.  Many people "on tour" might be inclined to skip this one.  Starlight is a great venue.  I've seen a couple Panic shows and the Phish show in 2012.


From the start I was impressed with Anastasio's technical prowess.  It's clear that the practice he put in for the GD50 shows has carried over into this summer Phish tour.  He's playing with more confidence and is incorporating his loops and effects more effectively than any other point of the 3.0 era.  Things are good in the Phish world right now.  The first set really didn't have much in the way of jamming but was teeming with energy from start to finish.  The Divided Sky had a little extra gusto on this occasion.  Mike Gordon's solo tune The Last Step was played for the only time on the Phish stage during the first set. 


Some youngsters who were going to Iowa State University asked me what I thought they would open the second set with.  I answered with Gotta Jibboo.  Some shows you can feel the flow.  I loved this Farmhouse heavy second set.  DWD was 20 minutes and was clearly the improvisational highlight.  Joy was perfectly placed in the cooldown slot.  This was the type of second set where they cap it off with YEM.  This was the better of the two versions they've played this summer.  Bug was a great call for the encore.  I tend to get brought down by the minutia of life at times when in the end "it doesn't matter".  I made it up to Iowa before taking a nap for a few hours at a rest area.  As the sun came up I hit the road for home and arrived around 8 am. 

7/4/15 GD50: Fare Thee Well @ Soldier Field - Chicago, IL

After much fanfare and hype the long awaited 4th of July holiday was finally upon us on Saturday.  A few weeks ago during the Ticketmaster re-release I was able to procure two tickets for my buddy Craig and I.  He and I had gone to see some of our first shows together back in 99-00 so it made sense that he was my companion on this journey.  I picked him up at his brother's house around 10 am and we left shortly thereafter for Chicago.  By leaving earlier than usual I was able to beat the holiday traffic.  We parked in Wicker Park and had Big Al's #1 Italian Beef on Milwaukee Ave for lunch.  This brought back memories of seeing shows at my cousin Shawn's apartment on Taylor St. near UIC where I discovered Big Al's. 


A big part of this roadtrip was about looking back on what the music of The Grateful Dead has meant to me.  Seeing shows has been such a big part of my life the last 16+ years and The Grateful Dead set the foundation for all the bands that I enjoy.  More importantly collecting tapes was my gateway to the scene.  The 7/9/95 tapes from Soldier Field are ones that I listened to countless times.  We took the blue line to the south part of the loop and walked across Grant Park to the lakefront.  The circus atmosphere was just getting going around 3 pm when we arrived.  The sights, smells, and sounds of shakedown street let us know we had arrived.  It had been over 15 years since I'd last been to Soldier Field for DMB.  This was my first time in the new reconfiguration.  Our seats were on the bottom part of the upper level in section 336 about on the 50 yard line.  This turned out to be a great vantage point for the massive GD50 stage.  They gave us a program as we entered that was specifically made for that evening.  I saw some familiar faces from Decatur when we entered the venue.


They hit the stage around 7:35 and the opening tuning could be recognized as Shakedown Street which was a great start to the evening.  For me this show wasn't about being critical about the execution but rather celebrating the songs with a huge crowd one last time.  I saw The Dead play Liberty at Allstate Arena in 09 and it obviously was appropriate with it being the 4th of July. Standing on the Moon was placed unusually 3 songs into the show.  Trey did an amazing job on the heartfelt vocals.  I'm a big fan of the Bobby cowboy songs and Me and My Uncle was a highlight for me in the first set.  TN Jed featured Trey using some stock Ocelot/Alaska blues licks.  I was surprised they repeated Cumberland Blues from Santa Clara.  Little Red Rooster reminded me of those aforementioned 7/9/95 tapes.  Bobby was impressive on the slide guitar on his blues showcase.  Friend of the Devil had Phil on vocals.  It's Phil's band so I won't comment on his decision to sing on certain Garcia tunes.  Deal was a fiery way to end the first stanza.  Trey's solo hinted at what was to come in the second set.  The setbreak had cool neon blue lights that set an eerie vibe.  After an excessive hour long setbreak that reminded me of seeing Phish in 99/00 they finally returned to the stage. 


Bird Song isn't a song I would normally think of to open the second set.  Phil's vocals again were grating.  Golden Road saw Trey bringing the most Phish-y jam of the night.  Lost Sailor is a favorite Bobby song of mine from the Go to Heaven album.  I like the album cover with the band wearing white disco suits.  After seeing shows for so long and living life on my own terms you realize there is indeed "a price for being free".  It's a song about someone at a point where he's unsure of direction and that's kind of where I'm at right now in my life.  Lost Sailor was paired with its traditional partner Saint of Circumstance.  Bill Walton wrote in the program that they handed out that he needed these shows.  For me Phish is my favorite and has changed the game for me.  Trey being invited to play these shows is a very big deal and I couldn't have been more proud of his performance.  He obviously put in the necessary prep time.  The fluidity of his playing has me excited for Summer Tour.  This was unusual placement for West L.A. Fadeaway.  I've always enjoyed that one and Bruce Hornsby did a good job on the vocals.  When we arrived in the parking lot we heard them soundchecking Foolish Heart so that one wasn't a huge surprised.  Trey handled the vocal duties and I wouldn't mind seeing Phish try that one.  Drums was a major highlight of the night.  Mickey and Billy were really into it and you literally could feel the drums.  After a lengthy Space session they settled into Stella Blue.  Weir did a good job with this delicate Jerry ballad.  One More Saturday Night was a predictable way to end the set.  It was hard to believe this was the final Saturday night of their career as far as the core four performing together.  The even more predicable U.S. Blues was an appropriate song to proceed an impressive fireworks display with John Philip Sousa's "Stars and Strips Forever" on the PA system.  After that the massive crowd filtered out into the night to the sounds of Bob Dylan's "Tangled Up in the Blue". 


This show exceeded my expectations.  The production was very impressive.  I'm glad we were able to be a part of the final shows.  However, it was a rather obvious cash grab.  Let's call it what it was.  Trey Anastasio is taking pride in his craft of guitar playing again.  That has me optimistic about the future and specifically next month.  After the show we walked along the lake back to the blue line and my car in Wicker Park.  We stopped for McD breakfast in Utica on the way home and arrived back here about 4:30 am.  Overall, the weather was gorgeous and we had a fun experience.

6/28/15 Umphrey's McGee @ Limelight Eventplex - Peoria, IL

It's been two weeks since I saw Umphrey's McGee twice at the end of June.  The show in Des Moines was a smashing success.  However, this Sunday performance in a glorified pole barn known as Limelight Eventplex was somewhat forgettable.  The improvisation simply didn't seem quite as diverse as in Des Moines.  Overall, it was a heavier sound.  I made the short hour drive down to Peoria by myself on Sunday night.  The whole appeal of this show was seeing UM at the CEFCU Stage.  With the flooding the show was moved to the nearby James Baldwin Park.  The night before with the forecasts of imminent rain promoter Jay Goldberg moved the show to this new venue on the north side of Peoria.  I had to park down the road at a strip mall because the venue parking was full.  It was raining and the line of fans wrapped around the building.  I have no idea why they were wanding everyone in front of a sheriff.  They don't do that at the CEFCU Stage. 


The show started with a mult-layered Front Porch sandwich that included Resolution and a guest appearance by merch employee Steve on percussion.  Also, in this sandwich was only the second time played for the Root Beer Rag by Billy Joel.  2x2 had the best jam of the first set.  I liked the juxtaposition of the heavier Little Gift and then the softer song, The Pequod.  It was a treat to hear The Pequod.  A rocking Mulche's wrapped up the set.  This venue was crowded and dark.  It was lacking in any charm whatsoever. 


Dump City had some decent improvisation to get the second set started.  I was close to the stage at this point but had to move back because of the overcrowding.  The Linear was a good call a this juncture. The Bottom Half is a song I've heard too many times.  FF isn't one I normally get excited about but the jam out of it was probably the highlight of the night for me.  OoO is a song I always enjoy.  It was interesting to see them use the intro jam LeBlitz in the middle of the set and it worked well going into Domino Theory.  Yes bassist Chris Squire passed away that day so it was a classy tip of the hat to cover Roundabout.  UM does a great job with that song which I'd only seen once before at the NYE 2010 run.  They did a Front Porch fakeout before setting into a Thin Air encore.  I'm glad I went to this show but it was rather forgettable.

6/26/15 Umphrey's McGee @ Brenton Skating Plaza - Des Moines, IA

A couple weeks ago I went on a Friday afternoon to Des Moines to see Umphrey's McGee.  I've seen most of their shows in the state of Iowa over the years.  Simon Estes was underwater nearby so this time around they booked the new ice rink (sans ice) a block down the street.  It had a plastic covering over the floor which was a bit more comfortable than concrete.  The venue was covered by a large tent which Jeff Waful made good usage of with the lights.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous as I arrived and parked on the Locust St. bridge.  Temperatures were in the low 70s with clear skies.  It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since I moved home from Ames. (I eventually got my degree the next year).  It was good to see my old Umphrey's buddy Sarah.  She hadn't seen the band since 2007.  I also was glad to see some old familiar faces in the crowd i.e. Josh, Kenny, Maggie, and Bug. Rush "Hemispheres" was the preshow PA music. 


After a short intro jam known as Bathing Digits they went into a fairly standard Hurt Bird Bath. I've always enjoyed Words.  The first part of Bridgeless had a successful jam that segued into Mad Love.  With the gay marriage decision earlier in the day this was appropriate and featured Waful using rainbow colors.  Made To Measure was the highlight of the show for me.  The improvisation that spawned from this song took was other level stuff.  Remind Me was my first time hearing that developed stew.  This had a good amount of jamming before dropping into the end of Bridgeless to finish the set. 


I was really happy to hear Cut the Cable to open set two.  That's a rocking tune.  #5 was unsually placed but it worked on this occasion.  Let's Dance was well received by the central Iowa crowd.  Booth Love was the dance party portion of the show before transitioning into Spires.  This tune off Mantis is one that I really like.  They brought the song to a complete stop before tacking on a composed stew that eventually segued into another dance number Day Nurse.  Ocean Billy reminded me of seeing UM over the years at various venues in Iowa. This band has provided a lot of good experiences.  This show somewhat reaffirmed my belief in their music.  I heard the Puppet String encore with Jake on perc on my way to my vehicle.  You could hear the show really well out on the bridges going over the adjacent Des Moines River.  This was my 153rd time seeing Umphrey's McGee and it was a big victory for the band.  I stopped at the World's Largest Truckstop in Walcott, IA and ate at Wendy's on my way home.  Initially I wasn't planning on going to this show but it proved to be a great decision.