I had committed to doing a huge chunk of Summer 2011 and heading up to Bethel woods to camp at the Equifunk campground was an amazing way to partake in a 3 show opening run.

They had music in afternoons and post show (Benevento, Heavy Pets among others) - which was amazing!

It had a festival vibe, except the campground was so small and cohesive that it made for just an unbelievable community. Plus they had school buses running everyone over to the shows!

We headed over early on night 1 and checked out the lot, which was a fun one and seemed pretty expansive. It was a beautiful venue, absolutely stunning, quite possibly my favorite.

Set I started with Tweezer! Hell yea! This was a compact version, but well-played and came to a fiery peak.

>MFMF wow, what an opening sequence. Good version coming on the heels of Tweezer. This is going to be a good run of shows.

Poor Heart was a bunch of fun.

Roses > Funky Bitch was a nice pairing of covers. Energy level was high for both and they both featured good playing. This show had really good flow at this point.

Wolfman's Brother was really solid, and actually took a nice deviation from the main theme. This was a unique version and carried a pretty cool --> Walk Away. Definitely worth a re-listen.

Oh yea and Walk Away was awesome!

They followed that up with Stash. It wasn't the best version, but it was good for sure and kept up the jamming/great song selection.

Bouncin' was well placed as a breather. A good chance to survey the venue and just soak it in.

Kill Devil Falls turned up as an all-time version. There's been a few notable versions of this tune, but this one clocked in at over 13 minutes I think and was a straight up blissful excursion. It had a similar sort of guitar climax to the Undermind from the Dick's FYF show. Go grab this version for sure.

Bold As Love capped off an unreal set I in style. Wow.

Overall Set I: Highlights abound and great song selection throughout. Absolutely nothing negative to note.
Highlights: Wolfman's->Walk Away, KDF

Set II opened with Carini, which was short but oh so sweet. Rocking.

Back on the Train was actually really well played. Trey took an inventive and rocking solo in this one. Heck I think this clocked in near 10 minutes.

Boogie On Reggae Woman was super fun and then they took this inventive approach to the outro jam, playing with effects and tempos. They were pushing and pulling and I think I heard a voice box being used. Space Age and segued beautifully into the show highlight.

Waves was tremendous. This was a multifaceted beast. The initial jam was awesome with good type one playing and interplay. They took this one out there and it clocked in at a more the respectable 15 minutes from what I recall. I remember Trey playing these nice downward flurries of notes before they melted into Caspain.

Well after that Caspian was actually a nice one, and this jam was actually pretty interesting (as I think is noted above). Oh and they make their way into a late set Crosseyed.

Crosseyed was the driving energetic rock that the delicate Waves was not. This was a great counterbalance, and energy was through the roof. The end of the jam culminated in some ascending snarling reminiscent of the Walnut Creek 97 Mike's song conclusion jam. Pure power!

Wading cooled everyone off.

Possum relit the fire!

Coil was a perfect way to soak in the beautiful spring night air.

Encore: Julius was another chance to dance before heading back to camp for more music (or sleep).

Set II: Great set. Two big jams in Waves and Crosseyed with a really cool Back on the Train and Boogie On as well. Even Caspian was interesting!
Highlights: Back On The Train, Boogie On>Waves>Caspian>Crosseyed

Overall: What a tour opener - up there as one of the best tour openers. The playing was super strong and there were some take home jams as well. Song selection/setlist flow was also great (especially set I).

4.1/5 Up there for sure.