The prior show in Austin, on the outskirts of town, was a pretty low key event (but amazing performance). The touring fans were limited and subdued, and Austin wasn't very hip to Phish yet. This time, however, things had changed. Jerry was freshly gone and the dead crowd was migrating into what had been a much more innocent scene. The venue was downtown, and with limited parking, the large green nearby turned into the hot spot. Multiple drum circles , many vendors of illegal things, wookies, miracle mooches... the scene had gotten much crazier for sure.

I once read an interview where Kuroda discussed Austin. Apparently they had a whole lot of extra lighting in tow for some of the much larger Midwest shows, and had used a stripped down setup for much of the tour. I guess he decided since they were there for two nights, they'd set up the full rig for a test run. So they had lights for 10K+ venues set up in a 2600 seat room. And wow, were they intense. Kuroda was less subtle than he is now and it was quite an assault.

The first set was long and strong throughout with the awesome lights going from the start. My highlight was the powerful Jim to end the set. Loved the set. The second set featured the YEM of course. By the time they got to the guests the jam had worked its way to utter insanity. Kuroda was shooting his wad on lights with strobes and swirls and everything. MMW was there, the bus driver was blatting away on the trumpet, and at one point Trey was doing laps around the stage with his megaphone, to bright white strobes. The craziest spectacle I've ever seen them create. At one point this (likely heavily altered) kid near me got down on all fours, put his head in his hands, and starting screaming "ITS TOO MUCH! IT'S TOO MUCH!"

I found this to be one of the most entertaining shows I ever attended. Listening back, it doesn't hold up as well for me, but this is still one of my most memorable shows.