Night two surely provided the fireworks the weekend was known for. Same with second set in W-S. But this review of the first night sells this night one a little low.

This show was essentially the beginning of what we would later think of as the "Fall 1997," the legendary tour, per se. The opening segue of Rescue/Melt/Beauty, Punch, Lawn, etc was a great diversity of songs and will really surprise you with how great of a flow the set has. The ending Caspian was a nice treat, too, with the delay loops going until the lights came on....

Personally, I think the first night was a tremendous show and highly underrated. The band had a certain playfulness that was exposed in the first set and really set the stage for how comfortable they were going to be for the remaining three sets, and really for the rest of the Fall 1997 tour and Holiday Run. You can also tell in this set (and run) that this was the run Phish decided Hampton would be a special place. I hit both 1995 and 1996, both unique shows in their own regard, but this was the weekend Phish had figured out the sound and space of the room and what was possible. And you can feel some of that spirit from both the band and crew. The first set may not have shred, but it often becomes the black sheep of the family due to the second night and whatever the hell happened in Winston-Salem, Hartford, the Centrum, Dayton, Rochester, and so on....

I certainly respect every opinion and experience of ever show goer!!! But I respectfully disagree with some of this review and encourage everyone who grabs this box set to think of it in the broader context of the Fall 1997. Night 1 was filled with highlights and will sneak up on ya upon a close first listen.... I cannot wait to hear these Kevorkian copies!!!!!!!