(Published in the second edition of The Phish Companion...)

This was, and still is, my favorite show. My friend Cathy and I left Chicago in the afternoon. Three hours later we found the Murat and there was a "lot scene" at a Phish show for the first time that I had seen. Two guys were selling beer and four others were hackey sacking.
Cathy and I hung out, I had a couple beers and we waited to meet our friend Courtney at the show. When we got inside we realized that this theatre was strange, not very big at all. Senior citizens sold the beers inside. You had to buy a ticket from one of them and then get in line for a can of beer poured into a cup. It was like a cheap wedding.
As we entered the theatre they opened with "Lengthwise" that went into a raging "Llama". One of my favorite (and my first) "Makisupa" followed, and it was much longer than the standard ones today. It flowed into a sizzlin' "Foam". Other first set highlights included "Ginseng Sullivan", a rocking "Fluffhead" and a set closing "David Bowie" with "Magilla" teases and a Friday the 13th jam. So fun.
Right before the second set started, a guy came out onstage saying that if we didn't quit smoking the show as going to end. Phish came out and answered with one of the best sets ever. "Buried Alive" > "Rift", one of the best "Bathtub Gin"s into (at the time) a rare "Yamar". The "Mike's Song" from this show is the stuff of legend, then into "Lifeboy" and an "Oh Ke Pa" > "Suzy". After an "Amazing Grace", "Highway To Hell" encore I was ready for the next night in Chicago. I think I like the way Andy Bernstein reviewed this show for the Pharmer's Almanac many years ago- "This show was so good, even "Lifeboy" made me cringe"- my sentiments exactly.