[Blog post and video/audio of this 10/3/96 Gordon Stone Trio gig with Mike and Jon is courtesy of Chad Simons, dot net user @charlesrsimons (Twitter @ChadSimons1, and Insta chadrsimons). -Ed.]

Phish tour '96 ranked among the top for me. I jumped in at the Red Rocks shows and finished at the Clifford Ball. Need I say more? I could, trust me.

After the Clifford Ball, my crew and I crossed Lake Champlain by ferry in my friend's split-window VW bus. The sunset behind the Catskill Mountains was amazing, and I knew something very special was waiting for us on the other side. Just after driving off the ferry, we spotted a huge vertical sign with the word "WILSON" on it. Of course, Nectar's was next, and the list goes on.

I decided to stay in Burlington, and my friends went back to Indiana. I had no idea what was in store for me as the temperature started to drop that fall. I had never experienced a northern winter like the ones you get in Vermont, but the fun never stopped.

On October 3, 1996, I patched my Sony DAT-D8 into the mics of a guy I met before this show. We set up just in time, and I barely had a moment to count how many people were there before the guys began playing. There must've been only about 30 of us there, as you will hear in the applause and comments made between the songs. Mike is on bass for all of the songs, and he’s on vocals for nearly all of the songs; and Jon joined in on the washboard and bell for the entire second set. This show is truly a gem with such a fun setlist and plenty of humor.

I hope you enjoy it, you can listen to it here on YouTube.

Charles R. (Chad) Simons

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