This was without a doubt my craziest Phish experience. My cousin and another buddy cruised down from Hamilton, Ontario for the two nights. It's about a 7-8 hour trip. My cousin and I had tix but our buddy did not. He was able to wrangle some in the lot. After night one, we didn't have a hotel so we just drove aimlessly on the interstate and finally said screw it and crashd in my old beat up Ford Tempo. I affectionately still call it the "Phishmobile".

The next morning the car wouldn't start. We were freaking. We slept at a rest stop and so we pushed it around to the service area and there was a mechanic there. We thought it was the starter so he drove to get a new one but it didn't work. He eventually gave up and we towed the car to a mechanic shop and left the key inside the shop drop box. We then had to take a cab to the venue to hit the show. We were several miles away from the venue so the fare was $60. We planned on taking a bus home the next day.

When we got out of the cab, the first person we see is an old friend from back in Hamilton. She was down at the shows with her boyfriend and they had a hotel and it was just the two of them and they said they could take the 3 of us back home in their back seat. SCORE!!!!!

We then proceeded to party and my cousin realizes he lost his wallet. We're right back in the gutter again. We go back to where we got out of the cab and we're checking the ground the whole way. No dice. We call the cab company and she was just dropping off a fare and she had the wallet. UNREAL!!! It cost another $150 for her to bring it back to us. Finally my cousin has his wallet and his ticket.

By show time I was so amped b/c of the shit we just went through.

Set 1 was standard fare for 1999. Nothing crazy until we got to Vultures. Love this tune and I have never seen it since. Stash is my favorite song and when they launched into that, I lost it. After the craziness with the car and finding a ride home from friends when we were miles away from home and the wallet fiasco, I knew this Stash was meant for me. I have never seen this song since and I beg for it everytime I see a show. It seems to elude me. This version may not rank up there with the all time great Stashes but, for me, it is my favourite ever live Phish performance just because of the emotion of that moment. The jam is so dark and spacey and Trey's builds it up just right to a sweet climax that makes me remember that night everytime I hear it.

Set 2 was solid. Glowstick war during the ambient jam to start off was cool and then a solid YEM>Caspian. Bathtub is great as well and the Misty Mountain Hop was great to see. I got the bustout of it in Toronto on summer tour so it was cool to get this one again. Love my Zeppelin. My cousin and I still talk about the adventures to this day and I know the karma was riding high this night. Thanks to the big guy upstairs that made sure we made it back safe after this show.

On an unbelieveable side note, I called the mechanic a few days later. They said it was dirty battery terminals and they wouldn't charge me anything. I wound up taking a bus from Hamilton down to the town outside of Albany (forgot name - 8 hour ride) and when I get to the town I call a cab to take me to the mechanic shop. It's the same cab driver from show night. She said she would have never brought the wallet all the way back and she would have just mailed it to my cousin. However, she looked inside and saw his ticket was in there so she said that was the only reason she brought it all the way back to Albany. Talk about friggin Karma. I picked up the car and drove another 7 hours back that sameday. 15 hours on the road for the day but memories to last a lifetime. What a long strange trip........

(old review of the YEM from this show)

10/10/99 Pepsi Arena, Albany, NY

YEM begins after an interesting "ambient jam" which starts the second set. Opening is uneventful. There's a typically spacey and harmonious pre-Snoopy segment. Snoopy at 4:35. Mike thunks melodically in his solo-section. Pre-charge section is strong, too.

"Boy" at 7:58 after a good scream. Boy Man God Shit Wash Uffizi Drive Me to Firenzi ("BMGS/WUDMTF") segment is punchy and fun, but nothing over the top.

Tramps jam begins at 10:12 and Mike signals for the trampolines moves. Crowd is really into the tramps moves. Lots of audience cheering and hollering [Note: Trey apparently fell off of a trampoline!] Page plays well on organ.

Jam segment begins at about 11:30. Trey patiently and repetitively plays along -- texturally -- with the funky jam (no attempts to lead or solo melodically). Mike is very up front in the mix and is quite melodic. Solid funky groove in here (12:50), to be sure, but nothing stellar. Yet. Trey starts melodically soloing at 13:04. It's a very engaging, collective jam -- no one is really leading it. Fish is throwing out all sorts of fills, Page is playing strong on the piano, Mike is thunderously accompanying Trey's soloing. There's a great
climax at around 17:10 or so! An excellent jam segment!

Around 17:30 the jam begins cooling off -- comes down from the climax. But this "cooling off period" only lasts a few measures. Trey noodles around a bit (18 mins), but the jam in here is still very collective. They are all clearly listening to each other.

And FISH!!! I mean, FISH is just tearing it up! Trey starts chording in an almost Moma-Dance-like fashion for a few measures around 18:30. By 19:35 the jam seems to wander a bit, and Mike repeats a very melodic, charming riff around 19:50. Trey accompanies it well with a riff of his own. Page is on the keys accompanying well, too. At 20:22, the jam cools magically, wistfully, again. It sounds like the vocal jam should be starting any minute (20:48), as they all just cool
off. But Trey fortunately doesn't start a vocal jam. Rather, Mike
and Fish lock-in for a few measures on a single note, repeating it on every beat, and quickly at 21:17, the whole band launches into a BADASS MOTHER F*CKER OF A JAM!!!! =^]

Trey starts melodically soloing anew -- with a sense of purpose behind the notes. It's really an enchanting, major-key, HAPPY HAPPY HOSE jam!! (22:07) The accompaniment from Mike, Fish and Page is just incredible. This collective jam SOARS! This is one of the most Almighty jams in "You Enjoy Myself" *ever* -- trust me. I think you'll like it. It's mellifluous and complex and intricate and mesmerizingly cool. Finally, around 26 mins, the jam cools off in a melodic, magically misty haze, and Trey starts playing Caspian's opening chords at 26:20. An excellent genuine -> segue into Caspian.

That's right, there was no vocal jam. (just *TWO* excellent jam segments)

It would be a crime against Phishtory not to give this YEM an "A" rating. There's magnificent playing by all parties in a collective fashion reminiscent of Fall 1995 (or premonitory of many December 1999 jams, depending on your point of view). Hear it at all costs.

two cents
charlie

Got a ticket in the lot, thanks to those who could help a ticket less bastard like myself out. SET ONE- Farmhouse, a decent follow up from last night's Albany gem. Jibboo >Heavy Things, eh nothing special. First Tube followed, is it just me or is this the best version of First Tube ever, this song really had some energy going for us. I love the screaming of Fishman during the climax of the jam towards the 7.50 min mark. Dirt > Vultures, eh. Not to impressed with this set one. Was hoping for some older tunes rather than Farmhouse but well will see what closes this set, Stash. This version of Stash is top 5 IMO. The Stash ends up going into this ambient jam which is a mix of ambient space and Trey's unique playing style with the rest of the band made this set one bust into something of a must hear, just for the fact that Stash and First Tube were two of the best.
SET TWO- Ambient Jam Intro- very spooky very dark, seemed to be blossoming into something unique, Ghost maybe? YEM. This YEM had no vocal jam, the ambient intro was just the First of many. YEM contained some pepper and some Trey Hot Sauce, Between jamming and playing the piss out of this they come out with Caspian which was a great, near flawless version. Trainsong followed, another one of my favorites off Billy Breathes, Gin was rather short but sweet, Character o closed out the show, eh. The YEM was the highlight of set two, in fact it was Set 2.
Encore- Contact, wow! a rare treat, I'll take it. Gordo on vocals is always something i look forward to, Misty Mountain to close the show. Nice job.
First Tube, Stash and YEM were beyond anything ive heard Phish play in shows prior in 99, thanks 'yall.