Less of a review, more of a recollection:
Four years ago a month after graduating from high school and a month before my dad would die suddenly I saw my first Phish show with my two brothers, one of which had been a fan since the 90s, and my friend Kalie.

The drive from Cleveland to Burgettstown in my brother's car was straight out of a road trip movie. I had no clue what I was in for, but this celebratory trip got off to a great start when my friend Kalie's dad gave my brother a few choice pieces of advice about being safe. "Don't drive drunk" he said. Ha.

We dropped our shit of at the hotel and almost immediately went to lot, one I know pretty well now but seemed so different from my home venue, Blossom's soft green grass with its gravel roads and long walks from shakedown to the entrance. I made the mistake of wearing a flannel in the hot weather, but luckily my brother had a Dead tee in his backseat that I threw on. Walking around lot I realized the circus really had come to town. Friends of my brothers somehow found him in this gargantuan place. The sun was hot, the cops were fiesty (I saw three or four cars getting searched on the way in) and the mood was jovial. I couldn't wait to continue the party inside.

We had seats in the pavilion. What I remember most clearly is the friendliness--vets to our right and left found out it was the first show for three out of the four of us and were so generous with us, from skittles to blunts and everything in between. In hindsight, the show isn't that great. I've hit some pretty solid runs over the past four years. But for me, a super noob who grew up listening residually to whatever my brother played, I was just stoked to be there. The first few notes of Wilson had me spinning and also impressed by the crowd's participation. What a party. Plus Fish played his vacuum and sang Bike at my first show.

To be fair, I really had no clue what was going on. Why were there spontaneous cheers from the crowd? Why is that dude playing a vacuum? So many questions my brain wanted answered. It made me hungry to get back. It was a fabulous sneak peak into a world I would be so absorbed in so soon. In a world that became dark pretty quickly after graduation, Phish helped me remember how much fucking joy there is in this world and this was the first bit of that Phish flavored joy I had tasted.

And now here I am on the precipice of another year of touring. Happy 30th, Phish! Can't wait to see you this summer!