The first and likely last appearance in Ottawa was an early example of the "you snooze you lose" show Phish tended to unleash at out-of-the-way, sparsely attended venues to reward the loyal fans who showed up. One of the hallmarks of such shows are bustouts, and Letter to Jimmy Page and Cities ably fill that role here. Great Gig in the Sky is another minor bustout of note, and this was its last performance before returning on 11/2/98, the king of all sleeper shows. The tidy crowd also probably factored into the decision to let the audience take over vocals in My Sweet One.

Aside from those more novel features, the musical highlights come in a gnarly Stash, a graceful Esther (w/"Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" tease), a typically hot '94 Disease, the biggest outing for Gin since Murat, and a YEM with a jam that takes a slightly more circuitous route than most including more "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" teases for some bizarre juxtaposition.

All in all an eminently fun show. A bit more meat at the end of the second set (Slave, Hood, etc.) would lift this show to the next level but it's still 4 stars to me.