Tao of Pauly

Zobo sent me this e-mail:

"Thanks for hooking Jarad up with the tickets for Monday's show! Cincinnati was freakin' incredible. Here is a review of the weekend I wrote up!"

and now check out: Zobo's Cincy Phish review

I thought both shows were incredible. It is hard to say one was better than the other because they were a little different. Friday night seemed to be all about the heavy hitters (Mike's, 2001, Hood, etc.) and they were played really well. Saturday night was all about the jamming.

Friday night's highlights were Frankenstein, Antelope, and the entire second set except All of the These Dreams which I think might be the worst Phish song ever. Mike's was a great set opener and the Free was so funky in the middle. Waste had a nice little jam at the end and 2001 was much better than it was in Hampton. Hood was one of the best I have seen and the jam lasted longer than it did before the break. As they started to build up towards the lyrics at the end, they went right back into the jam for another few minutes and then built up again before finishing. Possum was so much fun and I love when they close a set with Cavern. I don't like Wading as an encore, but it didn't matter because the show was so awesome.

After passing out around 5:00 a.m. that night, we were awoken to this Fire! Possibly the worst morning of my entire life. Raf and I were on the 11th floor. We had 10th row seats on the floor Saturday night which added to the crazy excitement. Sloth opener kind of surprised me. Not a big fan of Dogs Stole Things. The show really got going with Piper into Weekapaug and the segue was so seemless, that I didn't notice it was coming until Chad and Raf started going crazy. A lot of people don't like Dirt, but I really enjoy that song because of the harmonies at the end and it was time for a break after the craziness that happened with Weekapaug. Mule was fun with some great stage antics by the boys. Wall of the Cave was ridiculous, great fifteen minute hard rocking jam that had a perfect buildup to the end of the song. I went to the bathroom during Mountains and also missed Sample.

Second set was unreal. Tube was one of my top Phish moments ever. So funky and the song is so much fun. I seriously felt like I was in a big tube filled with funk and I couldn't get out (and I was completely sober at the moment). Bathtub clocked in at close to a half hour and the jam never seemed to get lost. Incredible. Friday wasn't too bad, but wasn't good either. Needed to sit down after Bathtub. Bowie was fantastic as usual and I really like Bug because it brings back great memories from the shows I saw in Japan. A lot of people don't like that song, but it was great on Saturday. Suzy encore was a lot of fun as I can always listen to a song about a stupid Jewish chick!