As i listen to the show again(my ears are still ringing with bliss from being there), i realize I might have possibly seen the best Phish show to date, i know there are many to choose from, but the pure energy that was inside  "The Mothership" that night was amazing.  From wandering around the parking lot running into people selling goods, to standing in line talking with people about where me and my buddy were from, our jouney here,etc, etc, everything was positive. Actually, let me rewind a bit, as me and my friend first got into Virginia, we decided to stop at a rest stop to stretch, while eating some snacks and walking back to the car, a figure in the distance pulled off his sunglasses and approched us. We had  very nice disscussion, talked about where we were from, him pointing out my Steelers hat and figuring correctly we were from Pittsburgh, setting an omen for the day/night, "GO STEELERS",  "CHAMPS!",or simply "Nice Hat", with a coy grin was a sound i heard a lot. But, back to the show, everyone was extremely phriendly and it was by far the most positive concert experences i have had in my life. We stood in line at the gates for an hour and a half, waiting for the doors to open, talking to people, and buying beverages off of people walking by( 2 rum and cokes for 5 bucks, cant beat that!). I met a lot of entertaining people that i wish i could see more often, There were even people there from Japan...well..thats what the first show in 4 years will do, people flocked from across the country(and the globe) to take in this momentous occasion, and momentous it was.

The Setlist was amazing, i couldn't have asked for much more, Fluffhead, Divided Sky, Chalk Dust Torture, I Didn't Know, Oh-Kee-Pa Ceremony, Stash, Farmhouse, and thats just a few selections from the first set. By the 3rd song in i was dripping in sweat from dancing, but i couldn't help but keep going. By half-way through the first set, it felt like the collective energy of the band and crowd combined would blow the lid off of the Hampton Coliseum. Not one person was sitting in their seat, everyone was dancing and enjoying the great music. I was lucky was able to be so close to the stage, i was about "5 rows" of people back from the front for the first set, and for the 2nd i managed to weasel my way up 2 more "rows".  Seeing the expression on their faces while they were playing was amazing, they loved every second of it, as did the crowd. Trey was absorbed and Lip-Synching along with his guitar(as usual), Mike  bobbing his head, Page plinking away melodically on the keys, and Fish going crazy on the skins.  The First set clocked in around 2 hours and 10 miniutes(my math may be a bit off).

The Intermission was a godsend, i needed to use the restroom and i needed to sit  down, my legs and feet were killing me from all the dancing. I used this chance to grab some water for me and my buddy, and to buy a T-Shirt. We bought our water and sat down on the floor waiting for our chance to meld back into the crowd and prepare for the 2nd set. What a set it was, Tweezer, Theme From The Bottom, First Tube, Harry(HOOD!),Waste,and the Quintessential Phan Favorite, You Enjoy Myself. The Crowd goes crazy when Trey makes a minor flub and has to start over(gotta love fans who cheer your mistakes, lol).

Before i discuss the encore, let me talk about the the stage and arena set up.  The stage was set-up old school style, with the drum set on the right(from the crowd), Mike and Trey center stage, and Page set up to the left.  I was standing on the Page side, and was happy to cheer out every time the spotlight went on him. Lining the cieling of the Coliseum were many various-sized white balloons that had lights shone on them. 

 But now onto the Encore. for starters they came out with an acapella song, "Grind" off of Undermind, one of my sleeper favorite Phish tunes, I love the acapella stuff. Then They played "Bouncing Around The Room", and this is where the magic truly happened, at the 1 minute 20 second mark the bigger ballons drop from the cieling, and begin Bouncing Around the crowd. One slowly makes its way to the front, helped by the crowd(of course) wanting the guys to get in on the action, i'm sure. I watched this Balloon float slowly through the air to the stage, right at Page. The balloon floats gently to him, and (at the 2:08 mark on the recording,  you can hear the piano stop [Phish is letting people download these shows for free for a limited time at livephish.com, all you need to do is sign up]) Page and attempts to push the Balloon back to the crowd, but due to its large size all he can do is spin it perpetually above his head like a treadmill. Until it bursts, and the crowd goes nuts. 

 All in all, this was an amazing experence, the 6 hour drive both ways wasnt too bad, and the concert was well worth it. Now i just have to get tickets to the Pittsburgh show.