The Sandpoint shows were special, but this one in particular fulfilled all expectations, and then some.

An 18-minute opening Conduit with not one but two extended yams? Check. A five-song first set? Check. A songlist show? Check. An incredibly small, intimate venue with superb sound in a breathtakingly beautiful corner of this troubled planet? Check.

By set break, I was already satiated up to my eyeballs. And yet as such things go, I was still jonesing for more (never enough Umph!).

And as amazing as the first set was, the best was somehow still to come.

The second set is an amazing creation of perfect symmetry. The first three songs flow seamlessly (with Jake playing none other than Jerry Garcia's infamous Travis Bean 500 guitar!) into a long sought after Search 4 hinging into another continuous three-song tryptic of sonic wonder, and possibly my favorite combined moment of this show -- which already runneth over with riches. Which is to say that ITK- > No Comment > Rock the Casbah is the Real Deal. One heck of a party that.

And for good measure, the Plunger/ITK/Plunger sandwich encore sent us spinning out into the snowy night still dancing a perma-grin jig.

All in all, this show has it all. Perfect on-the-fly song selection, execution, and exploration. Could not have asked for more.