I also only did Hartford II and SPAC I.
First off, I thoroughly enjoyed both shows. I was fortunate to have a great crew with me for Friday and Saturday which really contributed to my enjoyment of the weekend.
Friday I was in the Pavillion. Section 500 row JJ (Middle pav, right center). The Fee > Rift first set Friday really kicked up the energy. 2 songs you don\'t really hear too often in the 3.0 era. It was my first Fee personally so I was lovining it. Wolfman\'s came next which has been one of the most consistent songs in the last 2 years. Not the most jammed out song, but usually about 10 minutes with some nice tight jamming without getting too far out there. Great song to have in the first set...this version was no different! I was really happy to get a Foam and Moma too! I thought Julius was going to end the set, but they kept it going with Reba (which is one of my favorite phish songs) and capped it off with a nice cavern.
I really liked the second set too. I won\'t break everything down, but I was happy to hear every song in that second set. I remember the Tweezer being particularly great. I love when they did that ambient finish to the song stretching it into Theme! Encore was really cool too. Really showed how much fun the guys were having on stage and the connection they have with the fans and the venue. Trey banter is usually a good sign that you got or are getting a great show! Oh yeah...I was very happy to get Sleeping Monkey! Love that song! Great crowd sing a long moment too
Saturday SPAC we didn\'t seem to encounter any of the problems many people had. We stayed in a hotel about 10 miles north of SPAC. We came down about 6:00pm and came in the back way on Route 50. Very little to no traffic to speak of...got right in. We parked at the VIP lot, but at this point they were letting people in for free and NO car search. We were able to hang around comfortably in the lots for almost 2 hrs before easily getting in.
I was on the lawn for SPAC. We were in the middle section 3/4 of the way up the lawn about 50 feet left of one of the walkways leading up to the balcony. First set\'s setlist had some of my ideal set I Phish songs (save Sample). Only complaint I really have is with Bathtub Gin. They were really smokin\' at this point and when Gin started I was ready for a 20 minute rager, unfortunately that didn\'t happen. After a slow start to the song, they really got it going in the last 3 or 4 minutes before settling into a nice groove. Then just as they were launching into Type II territory Trey decided to pull it back and abruptly end it for a Suzy set closer. It seemed really awkward. Suzy was a fun way to close the set, especially on the lawn. Easily the craziest glowstick war i\'ve seen since the band has come back. Always fun to see!
Second set was alright, but might have been my least favorite of the four I saw that weekend. Rock and Roll jam started off great, but again seemed abruptly ended to go into Free. BDTNL was just a straight forward run through. Halfway the moon was a great new song...and the jam out of it was really getting good. Got really dark with heavy bass and synth and could have easily carried on for another 5-10 minutes which would have completely made the set, but again Trey chose to cut off another sweet jam for Prince Caspian...PRINCE
**** CASPIAN!!! This was such a silly placement that I was laughing. Here you are in arguably the best jam of the night and you force the rest of the band to kill it. It sounded like Trey had to play the beginning chords 2 or 3 times before the rest of the band finally stopped that jam. Ugh! David Bowie was some nice redemption for me and I was very satisfied with the encore.
Overall I was very happy with both shows and they left me satisfied. I am a little jealous after looking at the setlist from Sunday, but ultimately PHish left me feeling even better than when I last left them after MSG in December. Even though Trey cut short a few well developing jams over both nights its clear that the band still has the potential to melt faces on a nightly basis. Maybe it is just Trey\'s reluctance to get into that really dark territory with the music so soon, but once he is ready Phish is going to become that band again that will make you want to travel 6 hrs to a show!
So overall i would give the sets:
Hrtfrd 2 set I: B+
Hrtfrd 2 set II + E: A
SPAC 1 set I: B+/A-
SPAC 1 set II: B/B-
And FWIW...I don\'t think I will be able to see another show on the lawn in Hartford again. I\'ve been spoiled the last 2 years by my pavillion seats!