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

I had moved to just a few blocks north of the Palace, so this was a venue I could walk to from home. The show was quite a rocker! The Palace tends to be a bit boomy, so that wasn't helping the band, but the show was awesome nonetheless. I was so amazed by the second set. "Mike's" -> "H2" was sublime, as was the "Horse" -> "Silent in the AM". I love all Page songs, so "Jesus" was a treat! The "Great Gig in the Sky" was just hilarious, and the audience was just plain annoying for "Sweet Adeline".
We came back the next night begging for more. Mikey and his taper buddies had invaded our house before the show and the floors were a sea of battery chargers and patch cords. We got to the show and had a fantastic time again. The Gamehendge songs were really cool and turned out to be foreshadowing the coming Crest show. "Horn" has always been one of my sentimental favorites, perhaps this show is why.
The second set was much better that the previous three sets at the Palace. "Split Open" did just that, then it melted all over the Palace floor. I think I got some of it on my shoe! I was checking my shoes and wham, what the hell are all these big balls? This was my first Big Ball experience and I was psyched. The band just played percussively. I'm not sure if each one assigned themselves a ball, or if they just reacted to any of them, but it was quite fun. I don't know, for some reason all those tapers were not as fond of the "Big Ball Jam" as I was.