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

I flew up to Boston from Philly to celebrate our anniversary...Phish's 20th and my 10th. This would be my 57th show and mark my first return to the Fleet since NYE ‘96. I had high hopes that this would be a monumental show. There was a ton of hype: special guests, a third set...I mean we're talking about Phish here, so anything goes.
Entering the Fleet, the crowd was restless. They made us wait for what seemed like forever before they let the masses into the arena. Once inside there a buzz in the air, literally; I remember getting shocked a few times while inside Legends. After finishing our meal, we headed for our seats. I told my friend Alex we were definitely getting a “Birds” tonight, to his chagrin.
My heart started racing when the lights when down and I heard Fish start the beginning of “Hood”. I love a “Hood” opener and it made me think this was going to be no ordinary show. During the glowstick, war a guy next to me asked "Do they do this at every show?" It was his first show. I only smiled. “Cavern” was in my head at the end of “Hood” and Trey heard it... but flubbed the lyrics, which I loved. As soon as “Birds” started I hugged Alex and we sang together "It's easy sometimes when you just coast along...". Though not a stellar version of the song, it just made sense. I mean, the song is about us and I always take it as a compliment when they play it.
“Yamar” started and got everyone dancing, This version ended with a great "Banana Splits" theme. How fitting for me, since I had watched this show as a kid, and my life nowadays is spent watching kid TV shows with my 13 month old son. “Horn” came next, which is a beautiful song IMO. At this point I was starting to notice that the jumbo screen in the middle of the arena was flickering. Or was this just me?
Then we get to the absolute meat and highlight of the first set... the “PIPER”. This version started off quick, instead of a slow build. Trey started the theme about 5:47, Page played around for awhile on top... at 7:51, helloooo Mike. He really lays down the groundwork for the ensuing hard jam, and Fish follows right behind him. They are just pounding before Page comes back in. Mike starts going crazy right at 11:07 or so. The peak of the jam starts at 12:30ish before they bring it down to a nice quiet ending.
We needed a ballad here and they obliged with a lovely version of “Anything But Me”. This song reminds me of a Garcia ballad, a la “Standing on the Moon”, and Trey sang it from the heart. “Water in the Sky” is always a treat and they end the set with a “DWD” that didn't stick out for me because I was still absorbing the “Piper”. All of a sudden the crowd erupted with the opening of “Fluffhead”. But wait a minute...that's not live...
Then laughter bellowed as we all realized what was happening.. There they were, our boys, on the big screen, in all their 80's glory! The video retrospective was all things Phish. Funny and emotional. It was so cool to see so many things you've been there for and also the things you've only heard on tape or read stories of. This definitely needs to be released for all fans to see.
Time to settle in for the start of one of the best second sets I have ever seen. “Rock and Roll” starts and I can't help but giggle. My life truly was saved by rock and roll. The jam in this version is why I am obsessed with this band. First of all... I've never heard a “Groove” out of something like this before. And then they cut the “Groove” short to go into “Tweeprise”, and I think so many people were confused at this point and not sure what was going on. It was everything I love and more. At this point they rip into a raging “Frankenstein” > “Kung” > “Frankenstein” that defied all forms of logic. This, my friends, is truly a Phishy moment, with Trey acting Jesus-like with his arms raised in the air and then falling down each time he said "stand up!". It was all so chaotic and elegant at the same time.
By the end of the set I was ready to collapse from dancing so hard, and I finally had a chance to sit and listen to the tear jerker of the show... “Waste”. This moment was the moment of clarity, when we realized what we have shared over the last twenty or however many years together, when it sinks in that we are part of something bigger than just a rock n’ roll concert. We have had the pleasure of wasting our time with the greatest band on the planet, and with each other: the greatest fans on the planet. Trey didn't speak to the crowd to say thanks that night, he sang it... beautifully. All I can say about the “Bug” encore is that there really wasn't any other way to end the night. It just didn't matter.... or did it?
For me, I couldn't care less about the hype leading up to this show, or how amazing the show was the night before. I just wanted what I had been waiting all year for, a jam-packed, groove-oriented funk-o-rama that would release those Phishy endorphins and give me that zen-like feeling that all was right with the world. And for one special night in Beantown, it was.

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

"The Last Show of the First Twenty Years"�
It's easy to think of Boston's sets as two separate shows because it felt like there were two different bands playing that night. The first band could be called Trey Anastasio & Phish. We've seen a lot of this band since Hiatus: Trey sets a mood with tone and tempo, establishing a groove for the band to follow, and then he solos on top of that before rejoining the band and out. That's the first set. I want to talk about the band that played the second set.
Immediately following "DWD"� we saw the video. The transition to the video was so easy that the entire audience remained on its feet and watched the whole video standing. This went a long way toward my theory that tapes of old shows and the PA and light crew could tour without the band. The video revisited some of the more visually appealing highlights of the past twenty years and shared some private moments as well and these were touching and funny slices of four lives lived as one rock n' roll band. When the video ended and the lights came up, no one moved for a moment. We looked at one
another with soft eyes and kind smiles. It had all the emotional gravity of a wake but with none of the sadness or remorse and in place of the casket and corpse, a dark stage that would come to life again ""...in fifteen minutes."�
Phish returned to the stage to perhaps one of the most receptive audiences of their first twenty years. The video had served to remind us all why we were there and the sense of genuine well being shared between the crowd and the stage was a collective connection that had become something rare. "Rock
and Roll"� opened the set and the theme of the video as lives devoted to rock music remained in the air, lingering like an unspoken secret among close friends and the good times shared together and never discussed. Indeed, putting words to emotions steeped in music drags them down to an unnatural
terrestrial level. The first few chords, Trey's jumping in place like he can barely contain himself and I speak for the rest of us that was the audience in saying that we knew what he meant and we felt it too.
We couldn't know it right away, at the very start of the set, but this was the Phish that I remember from the days when I couldn't say the word "Phish"� without smiling with the end of the "sh"� sound and adding a little self-conscious laugh that gave away part of the secret. It felt like that secret was rediscovered in the jam leading out of "Rock and Roll"� as Phish was playing as a band again. Each of them sounded so good, so prescient and clear through the PA, like layers of gauze had been disintegrated with the
sheer force of the joy they expressed on stage. Maybe it had something to do with the footage of their rehearsal sessions but whatever the reason, they were listening to one another and playing together as the four notes of the same chord ideal that we know them capable.
During the "Weekapaug"� > "Tweezer Reprise,"� I thought, "They're playing all the endings,"� as if to mark the end of those twenty years with a joke that only we we'd understand. The Fran-Kung-stein segue sandwich is such an easy and cool musical pun that it must have been kicking around for years.
Although, to be honest, I didn't fully get it until later that night when I had a chance to give it some thought. The extended "Kung"� portion was very much Kuroda's, his brilliant white strobes pulsing and revolving, the intensity growing and throbbing like the end of the world. The girl beside me was repeating, "It's just so massive."� I was overwhelmed too and had to sit down. I felt like I might have been feeling the first symptoms of stroke. I don't remember Kuroda doing anything like that before. Think of it
like an extended, climaxing "2001"� with a stutter. That doesn't do it justice either and it's too bad because I doubt it will happen again.
There was a new strength and determination to their playing, particularly Trey's, that I recognized earlier in the set and became plainly clear during "All of These Dreams."� I felt as though the signal from Trey's guitar through the PA and out to us was exceptionally clean and direct. There was a firm and deliberate message in the second set. What it is, the message itself, is received differently with us each and Phish was making it as easy as they could for everyone there to "get it."�
There was an honest and genuine intention, a mystical synchronicity that guaranteed no false notes or missed cues not because they didn't matter or we wouldn't notice but because the energy was so positive that it lent the extra confidence needed to imply that promise. It remained through the set and they gave it to us to carry out to the street and into the next twenty years.

This is where it all started for me , i was a die hard metal/rock guy & my best friend Andy was a die hard phish fan who for years had spoken to me about how great the shows were etc etc , i was just too stubborn to imerse myself near anything " Hippie" , but he got me a ticket to the 20th anniversery show in Boston so i went & i was blown away . i know this wasnt a steller gig by most die hards fans but i had never seen so many people going crazy in an arena before , the sound was great & i was turned onto a few favs that night , the wedge & R&R

At the time, this was the most hyped show of Phish version 2.0, and demand for tickets was unbelievable. Luckily, we were gifted a pair of excellent floor seats by a friend, allowing my touring partner and I to avoid the awful acoustics I'm sure those who sat near the rafters had to deal with.

Harry Hood was a bold opener choice, however it never really came together and the band seemed a little uncomfortable and ill at ease. The first set was awkward and disjointed, giving little boost to the audience's energy. Was it the pressure of the event, with many friends and family in attendance? Piper showed hints of what was to come, but when Disease came to a close and the video screen descended, the night seemed to turn a corner. The 25-minute video retrospective of some of the band's funny and triumphant moments reminded the audience why they were all there.

Whatever the band did during setbreak, it was obvious that they were much more relaxed and comfortable when the second set opened. A massive Rock and Roll contains an obvious Cold Rain and Snow tease and powers into an out-of-nowhere Weekapaug. During Tweeprise, Trey walked over to Mike's microphone and sang "Trapped in time, and I don't no what to do..." A hint at the announcement that would come the following spring?

FrankenKung is massive psychedelic Phish experience aided by CK's strobe lights, while Maze is one of the best post-2000 versions I've heard. Waste and the Bug encore were interesting choices and powerfully played. "It doesn't matter..."

I remember being frustrated by this show, but listening back on tape, it's not as bad as I thought. The first set was mostly the boys going through the motions. Overall, it seemed like the peaks the band had reached by the end of the summer were not to be present any place during this 4 night winter run. The movie show during set break, however, was absolutely fantastic and was highlight of the evening. Sure, it's not on the tapes and some might criticize me for saying so, but anyone who was there would say the same thing. The band was definitely more energized during the second set and the Rock 'n' Roll through Frankenstein was very worthy music, but still not as good as I had expected, having seen 2/28 and IT already that year. All of these dreams through Cities felt out of place, but the Maze was really strong. It was so cold in Boston this night. I remember the sweat freezing to my skin after leaving the Fleet Center and trying to find the car to drive back to Amherst.

side note:There's a nearly complete video of the whole show up on youtube