This show was my first of the summer and my 5th overall. I was also introducing a new friend to Phish at the show – an aspect of my life that was taking on increasing importance at the time. In the end, he enjoyed himself – and even went to a number of other shows – but never really got it (I am pretty sure the other shows were about meeting girls). Oh well, you can lead a horse to water…

This wasn’t a bad show – pretty average for an interesting point in their career – but more of a song-oriented than Jam-oriented show (and I am pretty much in the longer the better camp). As a personal recollection, the moments that stick out for me are the Scent of a Mule for which I had never heard a live version (and therefore ever heard the duel) and the Yerushalayim Shel Zahav which was haunting.

Listening to a pretty good audience tape of the show, however, I find nothing too out of the ordinary - on the high or low side - although it may be worth noting that this is the first of two times (7-10-03 @ Shoreline the other) that Rift is played as an encore.

The highlights are what you would expect – Tweezer in Set I and Mike’s Groove in Set II.

The short Tweezer has Trey with some pretty ferocious solos and maintains a dark groove throughout – which is lightened by the > Lifeboy (which is nearly as long as the Tweezer itself).

Mike’s has a pretty dark first jam which leads into simple. At this point – it was debuted only two months earlier – Simple was played out of Mike’s, though it was not jet the middle of the groove sandwich it would later become, and goes back to Mike’s for the second jam before preceding into Yerushalayim Shel Zahav which is really cool to hear. Listening to it now I recall this moment as giving me goose-bumps. The Weekapaugh has interesting mini-antelope and 2001 jams.

Now that I listen to it again, Slave brings it as well.