[Recap of last night's show courtesy of user TwiceBitten, Nick Williams. Note that the opinions expressed by a recapper of a show on this blog are not necessarily shared by any volunteer who works on Phish.net, and there is no "official" Phish.net "take" of a show. We rely on volunteer fans like you to recap shows. -Ed.]

Blossom is perhaps the most beautiful traditional “shed” in the country. “The venue is located in Cuyahoga Valley National Park and is administered by the Cleveland Orchestra’s non profit organization,” I told my wife as we exited the highway and made our way towards the T.A.Z. Driving through a beautiful river valley to see Phish is a far cry from your usual trek through suburban sprawl. We arrived at a back entrance to the venue only to find it blocked by a Police barricade. I got out to ask the cop directions and he informed me that I was in luck because he was about to “open this b*tch right up.” Score. We quickly found our way in and were waltzing through security before we knew it.

What’s this here? A small black metallic object wrapped in electrical tape laying on the path in front of me. Can’t quite tell what it is but it looks like something someone would want to pay attention to. I want to pick this up and put it in my pocket, so I do.

We found friends, stopped and chatted, psyched-up a few first timers, made our way to the Phellowship table for our stickers, candy and good vibes and finally down towards the concessions for a snack, maybe some coffee, before taking our seats. It was somewhere between the top of the lawn and the pavilion when I remember that thing in my pocket.

Peeling off the tape, finding a moving part, unscrewing the top and revealing a not insignificant quantity of white powder. Uh oh. Time to put a lid back on that for now. Heightened heart rate, sudden nervousness, uncertainty. Should I keep this a secret? Throw it away immediately? Give it to a friend? I figured the best course of action was to tell my very sensible travel partner. While she could offer me some guidance, the choice was mine and mine alone. Back in my pocket it went, unwilling to take any definitive action.

I’d like to say that I could focus on the music during the first set but I tell ya, this thing was burning just a bit of hole into my normally steadfast resolve to abstain from booze and powders 365/24/7. I bopped from the pavillion to the lawn to the water fountain without much direction or focus. “Back on the Train” sparked my interest because it was the theme of the best print I saw on lot. Perhaps another theme was working its way into my subconscious: “Everything is Hollow,” “About to Run,” “Divided,” “I Didn’t Know.” This band has a strange way of speaking to you in not so uncertain terms. The less said the better. Perhaps at this point I was just playing a game with myself, testing my will power. Whatever it was, I was finally becoming more focused on the show. I found the perfect rage zone (the concrete walkway at the front of the lawn), and I was able to let go, dancing to “Walls of the Cave.” Then it was set break.

Thankfully a short one at that. Pleasantly spent up on the lawn schmoozing, trying to forget about my untasted mystery powder. Am I really going to keep holding onto this thing? Sure, I tell myself, you can hide it in the trunk, you can bring it home, you can bust it out just when the time is right, you surely have this under control by now. Time to make our way back down to the concrete and let the dance take us away. We’re deep into the spinner circle by the time “Birds of a Feather” starts.

This here is where I might go on at length about the quality of improvisation contained in this version. Perhaps if I were to listen to this “Birds” a handful of times I could analyze the various sections harmonically, or come up with some expressive poetic language to conjure up its musical prowess and send the reader off into equivalent flights of fancy. Instead, I will just say that this is “must listen” music. As good as these guys are, it is only on certain occasions that their muse beckons them so, pushing and pulling the sound in ways that perhaps surprise even the artists themselves. We’d all like to think there are still some places and spaces left undiscovered.

Excellent drop into my new favorite Mike song, “Crazy Sometimes.” Just like last Halloween, this version gets a little jam, but is benefited even more by its close proximity to a major heater. I could see this one going big eventually. Hopefully I’m not the only one. “Miss You” has appeared in a few excellent shows (10/30/16, 7/23/17, 7/22/18 and the somewhat underrated 8/7/18) and it is as a well earned cooldown song that it finds its most comfortable set placement. At this point I again remembered the illicit cannister in my pocket, and I knew what I had to do. As a number of fans began to file to the bathroom, I made a beeline for the trash can and tossed that sh*t where it belongs.

{Hey man I woulda taken that}

Sorry buddy, not tonight, we’re putting this one out to pasture.

I’m back in the dance mania as “Everything’s Right” smoothly slides into “Chalk Dust Torture.” This jam is cut from the same cloth as the “Birds” and deposits us into “Slave” to end the set. “Split Open and Melt” was exactly the right call as there were still some mighty murky depths to mine, and the turned-on and receptive crowd was ready to go there. I love what they’ve been doing with “Melt” lately. This is experimental rock at its finest. It’s great that Trey is getting into King Gizz and the Liz Wiz, Khruangbin and Kikagaku Moyo, but I sure hope all these young psychedelic upstarts are taking notes from the boys from Vermont because it’s nights like tonight that remind us all that they are still the undisputed masters. I’d been hoping that “A Life Beyond the Dream” would enter the rotation and I think this could be a great slot for it, but perhaps they should play it just a tad faster. Everyones a critic, I know...

Can’t say there’s really an “in conclusion” for this one...

There were 20,000 stories in the Phish City tonight.

This has been one of them.

Feel free to tell us yours.

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