My first Phish show! I had been a fan since 2005 (maybe?) but as luck would have it...they were broken up. Luckily I would get my chance to see them in Cinci..only a 3 hour drive from Ohio University. And as luck would have it again, it was right after my finals had ended for Fall Quarter..what a way to celebrate! I remember going to the show with my buddy Ethan and having no preconceived ideas about what we were going to see. We were meeting my older brother and some friends of his in Cinci and staying with them at a hotel, but we didn't have seats near each other so it was just Ethan and I and The Phish. Like many others have said, the energy in the place was intense..I could tell before they even came on that something awesome was going to happen. As we left Athens that Friday afternoon, I decided to get us in the mood for some Phish with one of my favorite songs, Chalkdust Torture. When I heard the opening riff of Chalkdust later that night, I knew it was going to be magical (and with our friend Lucy along with us for the night, things were just starting to get interesting). A lot of the songs from that night blurred into one awesome musical experience for me. Looking back on it, the setlist looks pretty solid on paper, and I remember it being a very solid show, but what did I really know at my first show?

Afterwards at our hotel I remember everyone was so pumped up about the show..talking about the songs we saw, the awesome jams, etc. My brother said to us, "Man you guys got lucky...that one was a scorcher." And that was how I broke into the scene. Night 2 wasn't as memorable for me, just cause I had done it once already. When I got home and learned you could download the show from LivePhish I was even more ecstatic. I listened to this show countless times in the following months. Needless to say, seeing The Phish live got me hooked for real.