I can’t make many claims, except to have been a witness to some of the early days. We used to say…”the great thing about Phish is that all four of them are awesome musicians.” They were uncommonly good, each truly a master (even then) on their respective instruments. And they wrote great songs.

Alumni Blues was my personal favorite. I also really liked Wilson. One upon a time, Phish played in our back yard and let me videotape(1)the entire show. When I went back later and viewed the tapes(2), I realized the greatness of Wilson (I don’t remember them actually playing it; it must have been when I put the camcorder on auto-record and went inside). Here’s what I hazily remember about Phish:

· An early Slade Hall party. Most people were outside, while the band played either outside or under a porch roof. I remember them playing J.J Cale’s “After Midnight” as a few dancers twirled about on the lawn.

· Several phenomenal parties at our house (the Ranch) (3).

· The party at Ian’s. I drove there with my (former) roommates, Eric(4) and Wayne. It was an easygoing atmosphere with people coming and going. The band played in the driveway. I dimly remember something about a bunch of dogs barking (yes, including Marley).

· The Halloween Party at Goddard. There is no question that the party was absolutely awesome. It’s true that John Fishman played "al natural," but I can’t confirm or deny that he shaved his body –I didn’t look closely.

In 1989, I moved to Texas and focused on other things. I saw Phish by chance in 1993 when they played Laguna Seca in Monterey, California (I lived in Marina). I actually went to see the Allman Brothers, but was extremely happy and impressed that Phish was there. I talked to Page briefly, and even invited him to my house. He graciously declined, preferring to spend the night with his girlfriend. In the summer of 2000, I went to Mountain View and saw Phish at the Shoreline. My old friend Eric had arranged complimentary tickets.

I write these lines because I was once a witness to greatness. While I lost touch with their music many years ago, I was buoyed by the fact that Phish was still out there performing. As they played their final notes at Coventry, 1500 miles away I felt a final severance with my carefree days at the University --we were Phans once, and young. Trey, Fish, Mike and Page --Godspeed --there was no beginning and there will be no end.

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Notes:

(1) We lived on Dorset Street Extension in Shelburne, VT, at a place we called the “Ranch.” Some referred to it as the “Mood Ranch” after the “Mood Room” (inhabited by some of the Joneses) at the Living Learning Center at UVM. We never called it that. I’ve noticed that the name of the Ranch has mutated to the “Mead Ranch” in some correspondence.

(2) I kept the 8mm “masters” until 1999. At the band’s request, I sent them to the Phish archives, where they still remain. After the party, we used our well-worn VCR to make a few VHS copies. The copies floating around out there are most likely direct descendants of those original, poorly quality VHS tapes.

(3) After I moved out of the Ranch, several of the Joneses moved in. Page McConnell also lived there for a short time. There were some legendary parties, mostly played by the Joneses.

(4) Some have incorrectly attributed Eric with taping the band that night. Eric was never a taper, although he had an amazing tape collection. It was probably Del that did the taping….he was always taping Phish, and most likely still has the authoritative collection of early Phish tapes.

- KLW