Back around my sophomore year of high school, when I hardly knew anything about Phish, I stumbled upon this show. At this point I had A Picture of Nectar and Junta and loved both of them, but I had not yet delve into any live stuff. I was a complete live noob, I didn't know the magic that is Fall '97 and I didn't know any songs besides Drowned, Roses (I was, and still am, a huge Ween fan) and Johnny. I had no idea what my virgin ears were in for! Even though I had no reference point for what I was hearing, I knew I loved it!

Fast forward five years: I've got as many years of Phish knowledge under my belt and this show still stands (because of nostalgia as much as anything) as my favorite Phish show. Even though this might not be the "best" show ever, there still isn't a single damn thing wrong with it, it's just so perfect.

I could sit here and list the highlights, or you could look at the setlist (seriously, every take is as near perfect as you can reasonably ask for). The first set boasts my favorite Punch of the tour, arguably the best Disease of the year, and above average versions of Maze, Limb, and Loving Cup. The non-stop second set features, in my opinion, the best Drowned of the tour (yes, better than 12.3), a seriously sick post jam in BBFCFM, a typically energetic Fall '97 Ghost with a DwD Reprise(!), and a rockin' Johnny to close.

Waste is a perfect encore to the craziness, energetic yet still in the "cool-down" category.

I was a lucky noob to have found such a killer show by accident!