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

This was my second time seeing Phish at the Murat Theatre. I was so enthralled by my first show there in `93, I decided that for this show I was gonna do it right. I got up at 5:00 a.m. to go camp out at Ticketmaster for some good seats. Low and behold, we were first in line and managed to get second row, center stage.
We drove up early to hang out outside the venue, and there was actually a little lot scene in the parking lot. I remember a bunch of people trying to get tickets outside. This was a much different scene than the year before. We had a little caravan of two cars going up and we got separated.
Thus, I was walking around looking for the other driver, my friend Dave. I walked around singing "McGrupp" to myself as I tried to find the rest of friends. We eventually met up and went in the show. It was nice to later on hear the band play "McGrupp" sandwiched in a crazy second set.
My memories of this concert are the most vivid of any shows I saw in the early nineties. Being second row center in such an incredible place with an incredible band burned a lasting impression in my mind. The first set was great and we were all rocking out down in front. The security was pretty tight so we had lots of room. My favorite part of the set was the "Paul and Silas" > "Horn". I was just starting to get into bluegrass at this time.
The second set went way above and beyond my expectations. The "Demand" > "Antelope" was smoking. The jam in "Antelope" had many peaks and valleys, one of the peaks being the "DWD" jam. The "Curtain" > "McGrupp" > "Simple" > "Sanity" blew me away. Having seen the Columbus show a couple of nights prior, I knew when that they went into "Simple" things were going to get crazy!
I am a big fan of the earlier versions of "Simple". The old versions of that song are choppier and not as melodic, but I liked the intensity it had.
Then came "Sanity". I had been wanting to hear a "Sanity" ever since I had got a copy of Ian's Farm 1989 that stayed in the twenty tape rotation for years, and it was very well received.
Soon after came one of my most memorable Phish experiences, the little acoustic set. I was literally at the band's feet during this part. I remember that I could of grabbed the band's toes had I wanted too. During "Cavern", Trey was singing the alternate lyrics, which are hilarious. I said to myself, "Is he just freestylin' these lyrics or what"? Later I found out
they were the original lyrics. I thought "Disease" was the encore, but then they came out for "Rocky Top"!
All in all, it was a fabulous experience. So when the Trey Band came back to the Murat in `99, I just had to go! And they didn't let me down.