ah, my first show. it might be the hardest review to write: the memories are dream-like and vague with no real emphasis or priority given to song particulars. i was thirteen! going to a concert was something i had never done before, so i didn't know what to expect.

it was an eye-opener (not mind-opener, that would come later). i was pleasantly shocked that people were openly doing drugs, whether it was the one single tank up in some bushes in the middle of the parking lot or a quick puff of some herb on the "lawn" (thirty foot patch of grass in the back of the venue). i was sober, probably not by choice, but too caught up in the newness of everything to dare mess it up by getting caught doing something i shouldn't.

fifteen years later and i'm still smiling at the fact that 'split open and melt' was the first phish song i ever heard live. this one song more than any other (by any band for that matter) has done so much to open my ears and my heart. with that in mind, the more i look at the setlist the more songs i see that ended up being totems for me: tweezer, the divided sky, guelah! jah works in mysterious ways.

i danced a little. my friends would not. it would mark the first time i could demarcate a line between those who dance as active participation and those who passively listen, and i think even at that young age i could understand the power of dance as language and movement.

i bought a t-shirt, the classic white with rainbow logo. it had a '1993' underneath the logo, and it was comfy right away, no washing required. i would kill to have that shirt today.

the zoo was one of the strangest places i ever saw phish. my strongest memory is of leaving during setbreak to walk amongst the animals, running back in to the pavillion as the opening strains of 'tweezer' unfolded like a giant fruit bat's wings.