What hasn't been mentioned about this show is how empty the arena was. Many people skipped this one, opting to stay on the I-5 corridor to connect Portland to the Bay Area. Boise was the "elbow" show that many people deemed too far out of their way. And Boise over a few chill days in California post Vancouver/Gorge/Portland? No brainer, right?

Another "You Snooze, You Loose" in my opinion.

I was in college in Portland at the time. After hitting Gorge/Portland shows, I (reluctantly) was back in class shaking off the party that was Phish. In the library my friend approaches me around 11:30am. "Hey, you want to go to Phish in Boise?" I looked at him, looked at my computer, back at him and said "Fuck yeah. When do we leave?" He says, "now."

Game on. We packed into a friends Volvo and set out on I-84. 8.5 hours later we're in Boise. We exit the interstate and drive straight to the arena. Buy tickets at the window and walk right in with no line to be seen. Glimpsing through the tunnels into the arena, "holy shit! No one's here!" We easily grabbed Page side 5th row seats right above a GA floor that was just as easy to get on to. The entire upper deck of the small arena was empty. Getting adjusted to our fortune after a long drive, "Lights!" We knew something special would ensue.

And it did indeed. Just not in the first set. At the end of set 1 someone (Trey? Brad? I forget) announced there would be a contest to see who could guess what all the songs in the first set had in common. The winner would receive tickets to any show of their choice on the tour. At the end of setbreak the winner was announced with a correct answer of "all songs were in the key of E."

Lights. Peaches. Energy! Bag. Awesome! Gumbo Dust funk, raging Disease, exclamatory Frankenstein, long drive home! So awesome.