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

This is my favorite early show. It's actually the only time I ever showed up ticketless. And after asking a few folks, some guy decided he didn't feel like going in, so he sold me his ticket.
A very solid first set with my first Stash and a nice Jim, and Foam. But what makes this show for me is the Llama that closes the set. I love to hear Mike go as nuts as he does in this Llama. It is a must-hear. Mike is just slapping like mad. Marley was working security out front and I hung with her for the set break.
Second set is another killer, featuring Fish with a diaper on his head, opening with “Mike's” > “Hydrogen” > “Groove”, a jazz interlude with Donna Lee, followed by “Caravan”, the still relatively new “Tweezer”, a Syd Barrett debut (“No Good Trying”), a killer “Bowie”, and an “Alumni” encore. It's hard to match a show like that.