Festival 8 at the Empire Polo Club was a hit with Phish fans before the first note was sounded by the nation's premier rock jam band Friday night.

The creatively lit palm trees and installation art throughout the vast expanse of green grass had fans from all over North America in awe of the eye-popping setting in Indio. The pleasant weather and relatively easy access to the polo club had concert-goers who had attended many or all of the previous seven Phish festivals east of the Mississippi gushing about “Phish Fest West.”

“This is the most beautiful place that they could have hosted this event,” said Jay Young of Las Vegas, whose hometown was Indio's main rival for this eighth festival in 13 years. “Having been to all of them but (the 2003 It festival at the Loring Air Force Base in Maine), this place feels like this is what they were going for the past seven times.”

“This is perfect,” said Greg Boyle of Philadelphia, who attended what was then being called the last Phish festival in Coventry, Vt., in 2004. “They spent money on this.” (They said) ‘I'm going to clean the potties.' You drove right in. Coventry was a day to get in.”

There was no official crowd estimate Friday, but Phish's promoter, the Los Angeles-based Goldenvoice, took out a festival permit from the city of Indio for 60,000 people.

The quartet took the stage about 7:45 p.m. with smiles on their faces and glowing palm trees shining behind them like a painting. They opened with “Party Time” and teased the 200-yard-deep crowd with instrumental improvisations that threatened but never quite launched into one of their signature jams.

“Chalk Dust Torture” was the first song to feature extended instrumentals from guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, keyboard player Page McConnell and drummer Jon Fishman. It is the same song that opened the first Phish festival — the Clifford Ball in Plattsburgh, N.Y. — in 1996.

Phish prides itself on never playing the same song twice in a festival and never using a concert tour to promote a new CD. But “Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan” from their latest album, “Joy,” was as warmly received as their classics.

Even people who hadn't been to a Phish festival enjoyed this one.

“It's amazing, a great setting,” said Piper Bowman of Los Angeles.

But the Phish fans who traveled great distances and had seen the band many times sang the most significant praises.

“Forget the air force bases,” said Laura Severance of Seattle, a veteran of more than 60 Phish shows. “This is perfect.”

As of 6:30 p.m., there were 12 drug-related arrests at the event, according to Indio Police Department spokesman Ben Guitron, who declined to offer a crowd estimate but said things were going smoothly.

Festival 8 continues today with the concert field opening at noon and Phish's first set at 3 p.m. At 7:30 p.m., the group will perform its “musical costume” — a Halloween tradition of covering another artist's classic album. Phish's final set of the day is slated for 10 p.m.