A bitter cold storm moved into Ames Thursday night, with freezing rain and slick streets.

But like the US Postal Service, fans were not about to let a little inclement weather keep them from doing their job of going to see their demigods play at Hilton coliseum.

Along with the weather came the music of Phish, and with that all the ingredients of a typical Phish show; extended jams, on stage improvisation, and simple band-made theatrics. But because of the weather, all of these aspects were seemingly thrown into a quick little package.

Close to 8 p.m., Phish finally took the stage. With the exception of drummer Jon Fishman’s comical-looking pop-bottle glasses and polka-dotted sun dress, Phish was donned in their usual simple attire of jeans and flannels.

After a few gratifying waves to the enthusiastic audience, Phish exploded into their first set with the funky tune “AC/DC Bag.”

“Uncle Pen” came after, flavoring the set with Phish’s country-western influences and bassist Mike Gordon’s whining enunciations.

The rest of the first set consisted mostly of songs taken from their last two releases, Hoist and Billy Breathes. Included were the jazzy “Wolfman’s Brother,” Page McConnell’s slick keyboard instrumental, “Cars, Trucks and Buses,” and the new radio hit “Free,” which was extended from its simple three-minute version to almost 12 minutes with guitarist Trey Anastasio’s psychedelic interlude.

Giving the audience a chance to twist and gyrate their limbs in every fashion, Phish jammed out the rocking “Bathtub Gin,” complete with McConnell’s intoxicating piano solos with a bit of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody In Blue.”

Anastasio dropped his electric guitar to pick up an acoustic for the sweet ballad, “Talk,” but flowed back with the electric to end the brief set with the swinging “Julius.”

During the 40 minute break (Anastasio promised only fifteen), the crowd was given a chance to breathe while some late comers still filed into the show.

Phish returned to the stage with an almost full coliseum, and after working out a few technical quirks with Anastasio’s set-up, Fishman began his rocking solo into the almost heavy-metal song, “Llama.”

The crowd pleasing “Sample In A Jar” and technically challenging “Taste,” came after, leading to what was to be the more interesting sequence of the evening.

The heavenly melodic “Swept Away” led into a screaming end in “Steep.”

The chaotic noise from the speakers soon ended with the beginning chords to the quirky bluegrass tune, “Scent Of A Mule.”

Included was a series of solos the band has aptly named the “Mule Duel.” This contained McConnell and Anastasio musically “fighting” for the audience’s appreciation with the twinkling of the piano and the clap-a-long beat-driven guitar solos.

A rising change in tempo then lead Anastasio and Gordon to literally dance into the last, body swinging verse of “Mule.”

The second set began to come to a close with the jogging melodies of “Run Like An Antelope,” complete with the Anastasio’s crowd cheering line, “Set the gearshift for the high gear of your soul.”

To finish set two came The Beatles’s “A Day In The Life,” concluded with a heavier sing-along that lasted right up until the very last piano chord.

With the illumination of cigarette lighters filling the coliseum, the radiant audience was not about to let Phish leave without giving them a decent encore.

After 10 minutes of cheering and stomping, the band returned to play a fairly unexpected double encore. Which started with the mysterious “Stash,” done with the audience’s participation of clapping Fishman’s drum fills.

The extended “Stash” jam came to a close, and leaving their respected instruments, Phish came forward to one solitary microphone and wrapped up the entire evening with the a capella, barbershop quartet classic, “Summertime Gal.”

Though the Ames show seemed more abbreviated and less experimental than their regular concerts, it was difficult to notice any frowns through the ocean of smiles on leaving fans.

It just goes to show that it takes more than a little crappy weather to keep a band like Phish from swimming far.