(Published in the second edition of The Phish Companion...)

This was the first show I ever saw. I had waited pretty much half of my life to see Phish. (I bought Rift for myself in the 6th grade). My friend Blake and I left our hometown, and we arrived at the Coliseum at around 2:00 p.m., and were the first ones in line. Doors didn't even open until 6:00 p.m., with the show starting at 7:30 p.m. I failed to check the weather that day, and just my luck- it rained thick, thick drops for a couple of hours, and I was clad in a severely cotton polar fleece. We searched for whatever we could to stay dry...trash bags, cardboard around the Coliseum, whatever. We finally shared a trash bag canopy with three girls from Atlanta. We talked for a couple of hours about school, life, songs we wanted to hear, our summer plans, etc. Minutes before we were allowed entry, it stopped raining, and the line (which had become extremely long by this time) erupting in shouts of appeasement because the rain was done and excitement because we were all about to see Phish!
When the doors opened, we ran for our lives...sprinting
to find ourselves right in front of the stage, thanks to general admission. The cops tried to slow us down ("ensuring out safety"- yeah right), but we just kept running. I couldn't be happier to be an arms length away from Trey, Page, Fishman, and Mike as they played my favorite Round Room track, "Waves." The glowstick war was unreal during "Divided Sky", but I have to admit I got unnerved from all the fans trying to throw glowsticks at the band. After the first set, I decided to sit higher up so I could see and hear the band better since I was standing in front of Trey's amp first set.
I'm pretty glad I did, because when the boys sang "Carolina" second set, it was like a vacuum from the stage sucked the people on the floor. Everyone was pushing towards the front of the stage, and thankfully, I was above all the claustrophobia. All in all, the show was a dream...ending with a glorious “YEM” >vocal jam > “Proud Mary”. As I left the show, I was speechless...dumbfounded by the intimate spectacle I had just seen. Veggie burritos were for sale after the show...the worst thing I had ever tasted, but the greatest post-show feeling!