12/1/2003 was a crazy night for me. I drove my wife Stephanie, my friend Ted (who was going to his first show), and my friend Marcy (who was going to show 250 or something), from New Jersey. Marcy's Husband Alex was meeting us in Albany. He had been at his sister's place in Providence, RI, which he had secured for a group of us to stay at following the Boston show the next night. I also met up with both of my sisters in Albany that had come with other friends. I had to drop Marcy off with Alex, give my sister Germaine a ride back to NJ after the show, but not before dropping off my wife at her parent's house in Easton, PA so she could go to work the next morning. I would then drive solo from New Brunswick to Providence the next day to meet up with the Boston crew and go to the show. Anyway...

Set one rocked. Even Thunderhead had a little something extra added to it. Everyone remembers the Wolfman's Brother from this set, and rightfully so.

Set two started in epic fashion with a seventeen-minute Tweezer followed by a spectacular 2001. It was not the 2001 of 10/9/1999, but still carried the funk party for over eight minutes. Kuroda was killing it! YEM was a twenty-five minute monster.

Suddenly, Trey introduced Jeff Holdsworth to the stage. I couldn't believe it! I knew Dude of Life and Tom Marshall made appearances at the previous two shows, but this was truly amazing. Other people did not seem to realize the magnitude of this. He sang Camel Walk and Possum. People can say whatever they want about this, such as he was rusty and not very good. Yeah, no shit! He hadn't been in Phish since 1986! Give the guy a break.

During Long Cool Woman my phone kept going off in my pocket. I finally answered it out of frustration. A muffled voice informed me that they were taking care of my sister Germaine in the depths of Pepsi Arena. She had apparently passed out in line while trying to purchase a beverage and was being treated by paramedics. SHIT! I had to bail on the Jeff comeback and travel into the bowels of Pepsi Arena. I came into a room with sick, drunk, and drug-induced kids lying on medical cots. I found my sister and was able to talk with her. She didn't eat enough during the day and fainted. She was ok, more embarrassed if anything, but they were still wheeling her out of the show via ambulance to the hospital. I would have to go pick her up after the show when the hospital released her.

I made it back to my seat to find my wife and Ted and to inform them of the situation. I was able to catch the halfway point of Antelope on and rocked out double-hard for Germaine.

When the show ended, Ted got a ride back to New Jersey with some other friends that were there. Steph and I drove to the Albany hospital and waited until they released my sister. They pumped her full of fluids with an IV and let her out around 12:30 AM. This was going to put a damper on the driving plans, but destiny was on my side. I was able to make it from Albany to Easton, PA by 4 AM to drop off Steph at her parents' house. She would then sleep for two hours before getting up for work. I then drove from Easton to New Brunswick, NJ and made it to my sister's apartment a little after 5 AM. I slept on her couch and planned to take off to Rhode Island when I woke up to meet Marcy, Alex, and crew to see the 20th Anniversary show in Boston.

All in all, it was a fun time with some very intense moments. In the end, everything worked out and I got to see Jeff Holdsworth play with Phish.