This isn't anything significant compared to many others stories. It may even be a common, mediocre experience to many other heads. But to me, it was special.

So my friend tells me about these Phish tickets that he picked up for the Harford show for the summer of 2000. I agree and decide to go. So we park our car in the parking lot and stroll around for a bit. I didn't understand what was going on. It seemed as if there were twice as many people looking for tickets than people that had tickets. Mind you that this was my first show, so I had no idea what I was in for. I had never been to a show where tickets were in such high demand.

Before my buddy and I went in, we landed a pretty nice bag of headies and were set for the night. We walked around and puffed, drank a couple of beers, and really started to sink into the whole mood of the crowd. The whole crowd was genuinely happy to be there.

So we get inside the show and head on up to the lawn to find a nice spot to lay our blankets down. A couple of kids approached us and explained that their pipe had been confiscated at the door and were willing to puff us down for the rest of the night ef they could use our piece. What a great start to the night. Free headies for the rest of the night (though we matched them out of courtesy).

My friend was a diehard phish fan at the time (and still is.....hell yea jamie) and was explaining to me what I should expect from the show. Just the small things about the band got me pretty excited. The fact that no one opens up for them set the mood for me right from the beginning. There is no bullshit with this band. No gimics or advertisements. Thousands of people had come together to see phish and phish alone.

Starting out with Buried Alive couldn't have gone better. Following with Wolfman's brother, I felt the adrenaline surging through my veins. As the set went on, I found myself more and more wrapped up in the positive, partying atmosphere. The second set was as sick as the first, except there was a definite intensity and amazement that struck the crowd like a ton of bricks. When the encore stuck up (While my guitar Gently Weeps- very cool) I'll never forget what I saw.

Now I have been to a descent amount of shows, and I've had my fair share of experiences with light stick wars. But I will NEVER forget when I looked around the lawn and saw the light sticks that night. It honestly looked like it was raining light sticks. It was one of the more beautiful things that I've seen and probably ever will. What more could you ask for? It was heaven. Groovin to a stellar song while the best light show I've ever seen is cascading over my head. I could have stayed there all night and watched that.

Thank You Phish.

-  Garrett