This was my best friend Emily's first show..she started listening to the boys the summer after her junior year of high school. I had just graduated from high school the previous years and had seen the boys about 9X during the 3 years prior. So, I guess I was her guide to the band. We took the train down from CT with some friends who were getting annoying, so as soon as we touched foot in NY, we ditched them. We entered the building and I believe she was overwhelmed with the size of the garden. We found some higher seats before the show to go and have a little session. My piece was clogged so I attempted to clean it on the spot. The resin snake I blew out was gigantic and landed on one of the seats next to us. Before I could clean IT, some of her new friends from UVM spotted her and came and sat down. One dude sat right on the snake and I didn't have the strength in me to tell him what happened. I hope he had a good show despite getting resin all over his pants. We moved seats and found some a little closer to the stage. The song selection that night was amazing. The Velvet Underground's Rock and Roll kicked off set I with some crazy energy. We are both Velvet Underground fans so that was pretty awesome. They transitioned smoothly into Funky Bitch, another cover the boys have made their own over the years. This segued nicely into PYITE, my favorite song at the time and one of her favorites. The energy was high in the garden and you could hear every sound the boys and fans were making. Horn grabbed onto the tail end of Punch and was the cooler we needed from three straight bangers. A little bluegrass with Ginseng Sullivan came at the best time. After singing along, we were treated to an explosive Melt. I believe her face melted some that night as I looked at her and she had eyes closed and was just taking all of the sound in. The next cooler came in the Billy Breathes song Brian and Robert. This was a song that told us this show was for her. Guyute was the next selection. Guyute packed the punch to get the crowd moving again. My Soul, a pretty typical cover for the late '90s followed before ending the set with another cover, Free Bird. I'm not the biggest fan of this a capella rendition of the song, but the crowd ate it up.
At set break, we found some of the people we came with and shot the sh*t with them. This was back when you could pretty much get anywhere you wanted in the garden without running into issues. The good ol' days! When Set II began, expectations were high after a set with so many cover songs. Free was a great choice to open up the set as she was experiencing a new type of freedom with people who were seeking the same feeling within the community. Free transitioned into Limb By Limb, another one of Emily's favorites. We were blown away by their tight playing and commanding performance before the familiar sounds of 2001 started to make an appearance. Without stopping the boys went into another amazing cover, Boogie On Reggae Woman. This was my first version at a Phish show and coincidentally I met my future wife during this song at MSG on 12/3/09. Mind you, in 1998, I was 19 at this show and she was 18. This was still fairly early in my Phish show experiences. Emily was blown away by how amazing the boys were and the conversations they were having with their instruments really spoke to us that night. The set ended with a roaring version of YEM. What a treat for a first show! To compliment YEM, the boys chose to return for an encore and played another early composition, Divided Sky. YEM and Divided Sky have defined Phish's early and ever so talented song writing styles. We left that night feeling rewarded and more than satisfied, blissful if you will. Well, needless to say, she was hooked and we spent many more shows together over the years extending into the Phish shows today. Due to distance, we aren't always able to get to the same shows, but when we do, the magic of her first show comes out and the memories flow. Thank you Phish for providing this experience for us and being so welcoming of new fans. What an amazing time in NYC as young fans. We got back on the train and headed home knowing we had just experienced the greatest thing happening in the world that very night and looked forward to many more nights like that.