(Published in the second edition of The Phish Companion...)

The general celebratory aura that surrounds Phish shows is always raised a few notches during any of the "special shows" that happen (New Years, Festivals, Radio City, and The Island Tour come to mind immediately); this was especially evident on this rather warm November night on Long Island. The last two Thanksgiving weekend shows in '97 and '98 were both bitter cold nights if my memory serves correctly, so it was with pleasure that I walked into the Coliseum with just a light sweatshirt, and good seats for the first show since IT.
Energy was high inside. I had seats parallel with Paul, about six rows back from the floor, or "eye level with Page". I made a conscious effort to not worry, or even think about what the opener would be. When Fishman played the intro to "Bouncing Around the Room" I was fine with it. Even listening to the CD's of the show as I write this, it sounds as if the crowd lets out a collective sigh, something I noticed at the show as well.
With this being the Anniversary Run, I went into the three shows I was seeing with the attitude that I would see a celebration of twenty years of Phish, most likely with little hoopla and just some good solid music. I enjoyed this song when I first started going to shows, and have seen it countless times by now, but I wasn't sighing when they opened the run with it.
Although not a classic Phish show out of the ones I've seen in thirteen years of my Phish experience, this was a good solid opener for a weekend that ended up having a number of mixed reviews.