How do you talk about your first show? 13 years ago today, after a few years of waiting through a hiatus and striking out on NYE and other closer shows, I finally got it. Every year on the anniversary of both shows I listen back and try to remember what it was like to be 19 again for a little bit. To have the freedom of no knowing what my future was. Being a sophomore in college and only be concerned about where the party was going to be that weekend and who was in charge of the music. It was a lighter time.

Musically, of course, IT is spectacular. And every set of August 2nd is special. The first set opening Bag, Ya Mar, Jim, and Reba is a perfect start to a summer concert. They promise hope. The second set is dark and brooding led by the opening DWD and phenomenal Waves. It may be the most on point representation of the 2.0 sound. But then the third set brings an exultant joy that yields a pledge of better times to come. Which, as we all know with retrospect, didn't quite come to fruition. Still, the Rock and Roll -> Seven Below -> Scents is just an enticing wall of sound that even to this day makes me smile. The encore and tower jam are just icing on the already thick and delicous cake.

Thinking back, I guess I didn't really know what I was getting in to. I knew that I liked Phish. I'd seen TAB in 2002. But this festival was literally life changing. Seeing shows for 13 years now and that's longer than most people do most things. IT, chronolgically, is closer to the beginning of the first Gulf War than it is to today. But if I think about it I can still see the Marx glasses on that water tower. I can feel the grass under my feet in the concert grounds. I can hear the majestic Reba. I can taste the Sam Adams Summer lager's we had for breakfast every morning. I hope that those memories never fade.