There I am, first time at the Gorge, first time seeing Phish after a year or so of being a fan and Tweezer opens the show. I'm thinking it really does not get much better and it will be a hell of a show. I remember an artful Tweezer peak just as the sun disappeared behind the backround of mountain peaks which provoked an inspired roar from the crowd. I had brought a friend who had never seen a jam band before, so this was a BIG first for him. He looks over mid wolfman’s jam, wide-eyed with a huge smile, and says “I GET IT DUDE, I GET IT.” I don’t think I will ever forget that moment, it was too perfect getting to share an event of this magnitude with him. Second set was total bliss, at times I think the guys even confused themselves with the variety of songs they were teasing throughout.

The first night we watched from the lawn, to experience the sight of the gorge and the lights. Looking down at the pit was a hell of a trip, the crowd in constant flux being painted by Kuroda’s lights. Highlight for me was Ghost with “whats the use” teases and the Ass Handed debut which had us all laughing to the point of suffocation. Page brought some serious heat to that 2001 as well.

All in all for a first Phish show it couldn’t have gone better. The consensus seemed to be that this was a top 10 show for a lot of folks and that I was total screwed by both the on-coming obsession and that my bar will be set extremely high for future shows. I feel I was more than spoiled that entire weekend with bust outs, a debut, great jamming, a huge glow stick war, classic Phishy antics and humor, a vacuum solo the following day and a band that was more than happy to be in that place playing for those people. Can’t wait for our return to the Gorge for another great weekend!!