With hindsight on our side >15 years past this important night in the band's history, it becomes clear that this was the birth of a new era of Phish. As others have pointed out, Trey isn't taking a back seat here and he's not driving either-- he is just another equal part of the musical collective. Halloween planted the seed, which germinated in the Fall of '96, peaked its head above the soil in Europe in the Spring of '97, and by Fall '97, was the Greatest Thing Ever.

I should probably also mention that this is the undisputed heavyweight of all Halloween covers Phish performed. I prefer the third set of 10/31/98 to all other Phish-tune-based Halloween sandwich sets (despite Trey walking off the stage *right* when Ghost was about to explode), but as far as the actual cover album goes, this is the cream of the crop. If you haven't heard it, buy it now and thank me (and Phish!) later.