My Phish addiction had reached new heights in 94. I had seen about 20 shows and the crowd had quadrupled in the Northeast in the time since my first show. They went from theaters to MSG in 2 and a half years. I knew they were going to be huge within a year or two. I really wanted to continue seeing them in small venues and I thought Florida would be a fun place to do that.

I attended a GD show(fantastic last show for me) at MSG on 10/18 and then hopped on a bus to Florida the next day. 26 hours of Greyhound later and I was in St. Petersburg. My plan was to offer some tour rat gas money and try to catch a ride to the other Florida shows. Then I was supposed to take a bus to Nashville to see my Dad after the Orlando show. The ride to the other shows happened but not the bus to Nashville.

I had enough cash to buy 3 tickets and pay for some gas to get around, probably 200 bucks. I got a ticket and a ride in about 15 minutes. A guy named Jeff took me on and I was all set. The show was exactly what i hoped for. A tiny theater with a crowd of mixed of tourheads and lots of first timers. Great vibes. The ushers were little old ladies so you could do whatever you wanted. Sit where you want and smoke what you want. They had no idea what was going on. This was my first Guyute and I loved it. The metal part at the end had me totally buzzing. My first Foreplay/Long Time which is still to this day one of my favorite cover songs by any band. I also always loved any show with signals. The whole psychology of talking to the crowd through music really defines the Phish experience IMO. I don't understand why they stopped doing them. First day of Florida tour was a smashing success.

We left that night and at that point the touring scene was pretty small. We ended up camping at a state park or and chilling out until all hours of the night. I really was immersed in the 90's hippie culture and felt right at home. I slept in Jeff's car with my legs hanging out the window and got devoured by fire ants. AGH! not a pleasant experience. The next day 10-15 cars all caravaned to Sunrise. At one point we were following the buses which was a very fun experience.