This is my confession.

I was a Grateful Dead snob. When Phish came along in the early 1990s, I thought they were Dead wannabes. They paled in comparison to the real thing.

But, just as the Dead made a paradigm leap in skills in the early 1970s, Phish pushed it to another level sometime after I had unfortunately stopped paying attention.

Their opening night at Festival 8 proved two things to me.

1) They’re a distinctively charismatic band that can jam without sounding repetitious. The Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers could do that and Phish can, too, with their own unique sound.

2) Following a band around on tour is fun. I followed the Dead from San Francisco to Los Angeles to San Bernardino in the late 1970s and it was a fun adventure and listening experience since the Dead never repeated more than a couple songs. But having a band come to you for three days in a row is and never repeat a song is even better when they’re playing in a venue that fills you with sensory overload like the Empire Polo Club.

To this novice Phish phan, Friday’s opening set showed how polished they’ve become. They played three songs from their new album, “Joy,” which many critics have called their best album ever, including “Time Turns Elastic,” which some critics have called Phish’s equivalent of the Dead’s “Terrapin Station.” It has so many unique components, like “Terrapin,” it’s almost a suite. That makes it a difficult song to expand upon in a jam because its growth is built into its structure. But, it was a treat to hear them perform the song expertly even if it didn’t improve significantly on the recording.

Phish’s second set showcased them scraping off the polish and doing what they do best. They segued into a jam from “Down With Disease” and then slid seamlessly into “Prince Caspian,” earning hollers and applause for an evolution that made the sum of the songs greater than their parts.

Another good Phish staple, “Wolfman’s Brother,” led into a Dead-like spacey jam that built in power as Phish glided into “Piper” and evolved again into a contagiously joyful jam.

From there, the title song from “Joy” was not only a perfect fit, it was the evening’s theme song. “We want to make you happy,” Trey Anastasio sang, “because this is your song, too.”

There was little talking from the stage, but Anastasio dropped a bomb shell after “Joy” when he announced the next song would be a clue to the Halloween set. The band then played its popular 1990s download, “David Bowie,” so it looks like Phish will be performing Bowie’s “Hunky Dory” album as their musical costume.

Phish ended their second set with an extended version of “Harry Hood” before finishing with a blistering “Golgi Apparatus” for an encore.

But the Phish fans from around North America were already satisfied. The venue, the mild weather (for East Coasters) and the music had made them very happy.