My first Phish show was in 1991, and then I saw a few more in 1992 and 1993. I was working in Hanover, NH, home of Dartmouth College, and there wasn't (and still isn't) a lot of live music locally.

I forget if it was my Phish-buddy Donni, or me, who first saw the flyer, but one of us called the other, because Dave Grippo was playing with this band, Michael Ray and the Cosmic Krewe, and we knew Grippo had been involved with Phish, or Trey, or something.

Our general attitude was, "Well, it's a live band, with good players, in town, on a Saturday, and some of the Phish guys might show up, because... well who knows, but Panarchy is cool, and the Phish guys are local (less than 90 minutes), so why not?" I was pretty sure Trey or someone would show up, just because the musicians were so good, they knew each other, and it's a tiny, mellow show, something of a rarity for Trey in 1994.

I think one of us knew someone at Panarchy, or an advisor, or something. Panarchy is a coed fraternity house, well-known for artists and their usual bohemian tendencies. We got there early, and found whoever it was we knew by walking around saying Hello to anyone who was around, and eventually got a "house tour" ("Here's the private beer fridge, help yourselves.") and proceeded to hang out pre-gamming for the show.

We went down to the living room a little while before the show while the band was setting up. Being experienced concert-goers we wanted a good spot -- little did we know that there would only be 20 or 30 people there, and the room was maybe 30' x 40' so it's not like there was going to be a bad spot...

Maybe ten or fifteen minutes before the show, Trey walks in with his guitar, alone, says hello to the guys, handshakes and hugs, and starts setting up. Donni and I high-five and settle in, which is to say, stand a little further apart to take up a little more room for dancing.

We're talking about a fraternity living room, with hardly anyone there, some residents eventually coming down from their rooms to see what's up and check out the scene. It was EXTREMELY mellow, with smoking and drinking allowed during the show, and for the most part people took great advantage of this comfortable scene.

They played for a while, took a break, and played some more. There was no cover charge, but I think Panarchy passed the hat for future shows or at least beer money, during the break.

Trey played the whole show. I don't remember what they played, but that Cosmic Krewe stuff is musically pretty far out there. I mixed live audio for Sun Ra a couple of times in the '80s, and that's the overall direction of the music. I don't recall Trey singing, but my memory is hazy, because smoking and drinking were allowed during the show...

It was one of those nights where we left saying, "Not going to see something like that again in this lifetime." Between the intimate house venue, the listen/dance/party atmosphere, and a collection of stellar world-class musicians twenty feet away, it was very memorable as an event, even if the details are lost to the ravages of time.