[We would like to thank Jamie Pemantall (@disenlighten) for recapping this adored show from three decades ago. -Ed.]

This month is the 30th anniversary of seeing my first Phish show, and I’m taking this chance to share some great memories from the distant past and thoughts from the present.

I had been a listener of the recorded music of Phish since 1993, when I was introduced to the Rift album by a childhood friend. I recall a feverish amount of excitement from my high school peers who saw 2/4/93 at the Providence Performing Arts Center, two days after the release of Rift. When I told my sister I listened to Phish, she asked, “Aren’t they weird?” Yes. Yes, and that was the appeal for me. I was mostly a metal and punk listener at the time, but I was habitually drawn to the bizarre.

Earlier in 1995, I had run into a high school friend who remarked that the platitude “There’s nothing like a Grateful Dead show” was also true for Phish’s live shows. “There’s nothing like a Phish show.” That statement gained significance when Jerry Garcia died in August 1995. There was already crossover between fans of the Grateful Dead and Phish, but many more fans followed Phish on the Fall ’95 tour.

Read more...