Start to finish, this was one of the best shows I've ever seen. It was certainly as well as I've seen them play since '98. Both sets were full of the hits. The boys still sound like they're trying to figure out what to do with the jam on Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, but the rest of the first set was tight, and the streaker was classic. The vocal jam on Sneakin' Sally was short and sweet, and one of the better ones I've seen. Someone made and earlier comment that they were harmonzing well, and I'd agree with that, especailly considering they just got off three days at MSG. The jam on David Bowie was incredible. Bold as Love was a sweet way to wind down the action before intermission.

Although the Tweezer/Reprise endcaps have been played often throughout this tour, the jams were tight and it didn't sound stale at all, and I guess it was appropriate since it was snowing outside on Saturday. I was glad to see Golgi. It's my favorite song but this was only the third time I've seen it in 27 shows. I loved hearing Sweet Virginia and had a notion they'd play that. There's never a bad time for a Loving Cup encore.

This show had a few shenanigans but no gimmicks. I'm glad to hear the streaker didn't go to jail. John Paul Jones arena was small and fantastic, and I hope they return there. The sound there is great, the sightlines are great, and the staff was very pleasant. All in all, this was a great way to close the tour. Thanks boys.

A memorable and energetic show. The band and crowd fed off the naked guy's antics, cheering when he dashed onstage, and digging the chorus change - "you've got to run like a naked guy, out of control!" Lets hope naked guy didn't get in too much trouble. Somewhat Trey-heavy, which was cool with me. Unsurprisingly, Tweezer>Light>Piper>Free crushed, Sweet Virginia was a fitting breather, and the rest was fun climactic dancing. First time at John Paul Jones, a relatively new venue built for acoustics, and it didn't disappoint. Overall, couldn't have asked for more!

first show for me from the 09 tour. i must say, the BOYS ARE BACK and better than ever! Personal highlights: sneakin (with the vocal jam) was funked out...very nice. funky bitch was one i was dyin to hear....amazing. MIKE CRUSHED this whole show! axis bold as love, was the best i've ever heard!

set 2 was gnarly too.... highlights: tweezer,hood,suzy greenberg (page ripped) and the ANTELOPE melted my face. love "run like a NAKED GUY, outta contrOL" EPIC NIGHT.

This was my first show; I started listening to Phish when I moved to Maryland and met some new friends who were really into the band. I started with live at the Roxy. I must've listened to that first disc about 5 times in a row; from how ripping the Loving Cup opener was to the strange rocking music my ears have never heard. Ex. Rift, the intro blew me away and the composition of the song totally caught me off guard, "What a brilliant song" I must've said. I had heard SOAMelt studio version and to hear it live changed my perspective on music and how far away a band could get from a studio song. The first time I heard Maze, I fell in love with the song, how simple yet elaborate. I didnt know the name of the song and thought they were saying "when you're looking out of this face" instead of "you'll never get out of this maze" haha; regardless, I couldn't believe what I was hearing, so awesomely strange and rocking.... Then I fell in love with Phish with the sick composition and psychedelic narration of Col Forbin's into Mockingbird... Absolutely blown away and found the band that I'd been looking for my whole life.

So on with the show, this was my first as I've said. I bought the tickets the night before while I was drunk and my friend Austin said he'd go with me. So we're listenin to the Roxy on the way down trying to see what we're in for. We get to the hotel and are a little late to the show missing AC/DC Bag which I wasn't too familiar with, bummer. Oh well. I wasn't getting 'it' yet, just having a grand time listening to the music and feeling the vibes of the scene. I finally got it during Light > Piper. I got 'it,' without even knowing anything about an 'it'' ha. I couldn't believe 'it'; the improv, the psychadelic space, and most importantly the vibe that Phish was so easily able to bring about to every member of the audience in a single moment. This show changed my life, Phish has changed my life, my life has never been the same, in the best way.

So thank you Phish, I got it now

4 years later.... still amazing.

Well, I had tickets to Hampton but it was not in the cards. Luckily, still made the last show of the first tour back. Charlottesville is amazing. Went up with three buddies from Athens, GA and stayed with an old friend. Snow on the ground, great atmosphere, great set-up. Thanks Colin, Sam, Tyler, and Rob.

Walked into the show and could not have been happier. Not great seats but the venue is really great and sound was fine (they should really go back soon).

AC/DC>CDT was a great way to be introduced to live Phish. Rockin' all around. The Sky pause was mind-blowing, an affirmation of why I had listened for so many years and why I had come so far. Sally is spot on perfect.

What can be said for Naked Guy. I hope I meet him and get to buy him a beer one day. Energy never let up the rest of the show. That Ya Mar really pops. Best I have heard to the date and probably the most significant of 3.0 to this day. Soooounds great. Thanks dude.

Rest of the set is great. Charlottesville shout out in Old Home Place (really amazing town).

The second set really flows, that's all that needs to be said. Just have to listen. Great playing accompanied by great energy. The crowd and the band were together this show.

After four years seeing the band all over the country, this show seems like a precursor of things to come. A wide open Tweezer and a very good Light. Good transitions all around. A sweet, sweet, Sweet Virginia to melt the cold night allll together. Suzy>Golgi>Antelope is rock and roll glory. Trey felt like himself.

Good times had by all and, IMO, a top 3 show of 2009.

This show was out of control. I can't remember a show where the boys had such harmony in their singing. Page was on fire, Mike was on fire, Trey was shooting people with machine guns, and Fish laid a sick beat to it all.

NAKED GUY UPDATE: I somehow got naked guys phone number and talked to him via text message, he was NOT arrested, only cited for incident exposure.

New phans should keep in mind a few caveats about .Net show reviews: they're either coming from people who are still emphatically obsessed with everything about Phish (perhaps also known as noobs) or from phans who have been around the block a few times and tend to compare shows to one another (jaded vets.) This show is phun, for sure, but it's not especially noteworthy in the full view of Phishtory, and that's good to understand not necessarily in the moment in attendance, when perhaps such bias should be discarded, but in retrospect when considering which shows to revisit, or as in the old days, to trade for. It's a diminishing return that's happening now with the availability of each and every show near-immediately, because in bygones past we had to carefully review setlists and jam reviews to find out "where it was really at" in regards to shows or tours. I'm certainly glad that all shows are available in soundboard quality since 2002, but there tends to be a sort of inflation of acclaim for shows that years ago would've been swept under the rug. This is just an average-great show.

My second show of the 3.0 era - how did it hold up to Camden's springtime barnburner?

Pretty well.

This one felt like a bit of a hometown vibe for me. I was in school down 64 in colonial Williamsburg so a quick 2 hour jaunt had me and my crew in Cville. My brother had attended UVA so I was familiar with Charlottesville a bit, but mostly we just popped into the DoubleTree pounded some Budweisers and took a shuttle down to the venue since we got a little bit of a late start heading out.

I remember the lines for wristbands/beer being kind of annoying so we just cruised up to mikes side (pretty much directly to the side of the stage) and set up shop for the show.

AC/DC Bag kicked off the proceedings in capable style. Good start.

They kicked into Chalkdust, which kept the energy level high.

Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan was the Joy tune for the night and rocked pretty hard. Pretty darn high energy three song combo to kick things off on a cold Charlottesville night.

Divided Sky was a song I really wanted to hear at the time, and this version was great. It's such an awesome composition. Great stuff.

Ya Mar was a fun one, and watching the naked guy try to dodge security was amusing. Band took it in stride and gave him a shout out in the lyrics.

Sneaking Sally was awesome. Great choice and vocal breakdown was really cool. Gordo was tossing out some serious bombs.

Old Home Place was another one that I was happy to here, and of course the Charlottesville line elicited a nice cheer.

Cavern>Funky Bitch kept the relentless high energy vibe going. Both well played, both very fun.

I thought David Bowie would end the set in style. It had the style, but luckily for us we managed a couple more tunes. Good version, nothing out of the ordinary, but a standard Bowie is still an awesome showcase.

Wedge was played in set I at both the shows I saw in '09. One of my favorites. Lots of fun.

Bold As Love was absolutely awesome. They hammered this one home and finally gave everyone in the venue a chance to relax.

Overall Set I: So much fun. No groundbreaking exploration, but seriously great setlist construction without any lulls.
Highlights: Sneaking Sally (personal additional highlights - Divided Sky, Old Home Place, Bold As Love, Ya Mar)

Second set was primed to explode and they dropped into Tweezer to kick it off. This was the perfect opener and it was starting to get really neat towards to 10 minute mark. A good (although a bit truncated jam) found its way into Light.

The opening chords are a bit jarring, but soon the jam had me forgetting all about that. This one went deep and cosmic. Watching the lights across the crowd was really cool and this was really the first time I saw Phish go into the nether realms of outer-space. Lots of good effects work.

The found Piper and raced into this version. It was pretty rocking and a nice call. I really enjoyed it.

Free was next and was fun as always, good old rock and roll ending with Gordo applying some usual earth shattering playing throughout.

Sweet Virginia was a great cool down and another nod to the region. I am a big Stones fan, so this tune was a real treat to hear.

Harry Hood was another one I was really hoping to catch. It was awesome although it certainly won't touch any versions from further into the 3.0 era.

The Suzy>Golgi run was super fun high energy and for me felt like a good bookend between the set one energy and the first half of set II's jam heavy segment.

Antelope harkened back to the naked guy, which was a lot of fun and cranked the energy up. Nice version and great set closer.

Encore of Loving Cup was fun (more Stones for me). Tweezer Reprise brought the house down and concluded a really fine show.

Set II: Really fun set, a couple good bits of jamming, and more great song selection.
Highlights: Tweezer > Light, Sweet Virginia, Antelope (for the naked guy quotes)

Overall: This show was a ton of fun. I place it firmly in the above average category for 2009. This one (along with the rest of 09) will maybe be forgotten a bit by those who did not attend, but for me, plenty to take home. I'll always remember that jam in Light.
3/5 Good Stuff

First Phish show

Such a solid show. "Light" truly is one of the best things to come out of 3.0. Sweet Virginia was so welcome to the home crowd (myself included), but the highlight is the "trio" Golgi.

This was a damn good show. Mike's make-up solo was fantastic, and the crowd went nuts for Naked Guy! Everyone in my section was rooting for him to evade his captors. Chalkdust was awesome, one of my all time favorite songs. JPJ Arena didn't disappoint either. A great vibe, both from the band and the phans. I left with a smile on my face.

This was a very well played show with many bits of entertainment for the Audience as well. Phish has sliced in my soul since 93, and that night they brought the heat, the laughter, and the interwoven cohesiveness back around.

MeltMyFace.... incident exposure????? you mean INDECENT EXPOSURE....

This show as the first for me once I was a phan of the band. I saw them at Bonnaroo but had never listened to their music. This show was great. Ate 20 brownies before with a friend and got just barely front row. All i have to say is Antelope was shredfest 2009!