I think Trey said Mike broke a bass string so you have an early Henrietta sighting in the first set. And dedicated Brother to his sister Kristy. Reba is a little shaky.

(Published on the legacy Phish.net site many years ago...)

I went to THE STING last night -- what a show! I hadn't seen Phish since Amy's farm, and man, they just keep getting better and better! Really! Any- way.... first things first:

...

There is a nice story to go with this Wilson: This dude Wesley (who's a real big Phish-head) was stuck outside (because he didn't have an ID) for the first part of the show. We tried to get him in -- even talked to Chris (the light guy), but alas, Wes was stuck outside on his birthday.... Then, all of a sudden, I'm up front with Rami and friends, and who's right behind us?? WES! So between songs Rami was yelling to Trey that it was Wes's birthday and to play "Wilson"! So Trey got Wes up on stage, said some kind words, and played a rippin' Wilson! Happy Borthday Wes!

About the venue and scene and stuff.... It was a WEIRD place. There is a strip joint ATTACHED to The Sting -- just walk thru the double doors... this kind of freaked me out a bit. Anyway, the Sting itself had a HUGE dance floor. I was up front the whole time so I didn't see too much of what was going on, but it looked like there were about 500 people inside, maybe more. Before the show, my friend Dave (Hi Dave! :-) went to get Buffalo wings at this bar down the block, and it was like right out of the movies. There were all this men who were all like "Yo, fuck dis, man -- Ey Lori, get me another fuckin beer" It was crazy.... that whole section of town.... just didn't seem like the spot for a Phish show. The crowd inside the Sting seemed pretty cool though. I also had a chance to update the software on the Phish Mac databse, as well as dump the setlists. Unfortunately, they only entered them into the computer every now and then. I'm going to talk to andrew about keeping better track of the setlists, but I guess he's just been too busy. Anyway, here's what I got from the recent tour:

When the band first came on there was no body on the dance floor. Me and my buddy Steve and my now wife Heidi were the first ones on the floor.

Excellent MCass audience source available for this show.

Things kick off with an upbeat Uncle Pen hoedown, followed by a smooth and well-played Foam. A solid Jim comes next, after which Trey remarks how happy they are to be back on the East Coast. Chalk Dust gets a spunky workout before Trey calls on Henrietta while Mike changes a bass string. Fish jokes, “let’s get this vac shit out of the way!” — and I have to say, his vacuum solos have been pretty entertaining the past couple of shows. Before Wilson, Trey invites Wesley onstage to wish him a happy birthday. Over the Wilson intro, Trey also shares how glad he is to have two of his closest friends, Molly and Shawn, in attendance. Wilson leads seamlessly into a gorgeous Divided Sky to close the set.

Set two opens, for the second night in a row, with Tube into MSO. A strong Mike’s Groove follows, featuring a fun Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered tease from Trey during Groove. Reba delivers a beautiful jam, and DaaM includes Slice of Pizza, Mrs. Pizza Shit, and counting. Bowie closes the set in ripping fashion, complete with a playful hi-hat hijinks section.

Just like the opener, the encore is a repeat from the previous show. As the crowd exits, Paul cues up Miles Davis’ Freddie Freeloader for the walkout music.