For those who did not attend this show, let me just say it was cold, with full-on blizzard conditions for the drive, multiple car pileups, and dozens of jack-knifed tractor-trailers along the way. VW buses stuck in the snow or off on the shoulder were a common sight during the night’s treacherous drive, and those kind enough to stop and try and give aid only found themselves stranded too. Since we didn’t have any remaining room in our small car, we just kept plowing onward through the snow, praying for our safe arrival to the show, and we succeeded. This was our first miracle.

After a brief nap, my brother, his wife Jessica, and I made our way down to the venue, risking more hazardous driving conditions. In all honesty, nobody should have been on the road for any reason short of medical emergencies… the cold and the snows were relentless! But of course, when Phish plays, the fans come. And there we all were, milling about in front of the civic arena or whatever the great metropolis of Omaha had named the ugly concrete building.

About a thousand fans were patiently waiting outside for the doors to open, late in the afternoon with the last of the day’s light quickly fading. The clouds of steam from the crowds breathing mingled with the smoke of a few fans' cigarettes. Police on horses secured the perimeter of the crowd, making for a surreal and unpleasant holdover.

Since this was only my second show, I really didn’t understand the whole ‘ticketless’ concept. I thought it would make no sense for a person to go to a show without having the required document to ensure that they were going to gain admission, so I was slightly confused as to why this 1 particular girl was loudly stating the fact that she needed a ticket. I was pretty sure that the box office could oblige her wish if she would simply go over there and try, but it became obvious that she probably did not have sufficient currency to make this a reality. I dismissed this strange fleece-clad hippy chic without much more thought.

The kids around us were talking about the previous show and how ‘sick’ it had been, so I listened in while I gazed around at the unfamiliar faces of the crowd. At my first show, somebody told me to always look for ‘Waldo’, the guy with the red and white stripe clothing and stocking cap, so that’s what I was doing to pass the time. That was about when this grimy looking dude, commonly referred to now as a ‘wookie’, approached my brother saying he would trade him his toothbrush for a ticket. We all broke out in laughter not realizing the guy was serious. Our reaction sent him on his way and it was back to the freezing cold silence. Except that it didn’t last.

The fleece girl from before was now standing on a low concrete wall dancing and singing about how she needed a ‘miracle’ and needed to get inside to see this show. You could feel the whole crowd cringe inside because the cold was bad enough without some silly girl whining about her poor planning. But it did not deter her, she kept asking random folks in the crowd if they had an extra… some would say no, others would pretend they heard nothing.

Dozens of heads were shaking and it was actually starting to permeate though the crowd as to how much of a bummer the situation had become. However, this one kid was talking and a few of us heard him say that he had an extra, but he wasn't going to just give it away to this girl... he wanted to get some money for it. And I can’t blame him; I had to pay for mine!

But as the minutes passed into what seemed like hours, and the cold became more and more wretched, we all began to feel sorry for this girl who was quickly reaching the point of desperation. Louder and louder she sang, “I need a ticket!!!!” and quicker and quicker she foolishly danced on that wall. More and more people were growing visibly irritated. And out of nowhere I heard my sister-in-law, Jessica, yell out to this kid who had an extra that she would give him $10 if he would please just give the girl his extra ticket.

The guy hesitated, you could see him thinking “wow! Ten whole dollars!” But no more then a few seconds had passed before dozens of people were reaching into their pockets pulling out single dollar bills and fives and handing them to their neighbors to make it over to the guy with the ticket. The girl jumped down and cut her way through the crowd to where we were standing, tears flowing from her yes, the biggest smile on her face, while the guy kept receiving donations for his ticket. I don’t know for sure how much he collected but it was certainly more then face value, I estimate at least $50 found their way to him. Everyone wanted to be part of the enchanted gift that now belonged not only to cold and lucky girl, but also to everyone who watched this event unfold.

The kid gave the ticket over to Jessica and she gave it to the girl, who hugged Jessica in a tearful embrace for a long time. Smiles popped up all through that frozen crowd with this new found warmth - the pleas had been replaced with cheers and tears of happiness. I watched, fascinated by the way people behaved in this scenario. I was amazed at how simple it was to bring about a positive change to a large number of people and quickly improve the moral atmosphere of so many. Many times I have recounted this event to others and I always get choked up… Later on that night back in our hotel we played poker, and in honor of the miracle Jessica helped create, we invented a new game where tens were wild, appropriately calling it a miracle. Seven-card draw with a miracle is one damn fine game!

To wrap up this tale, I will briefly describe my ‘friend’s’ own miracle shortly after, while going through the security checkpoint. Since it was so cold and we were all bundled up, my pal had decided it would be safe to sneak his piece into the show, stuffed down his pants. Now, this might have worked except that the piece he stuffed down his pants was inside a good-sized patchwork pillow, creating the illusion that he was perhaps a relative of one of the police horses outside!

Needless to say, the security guy caught on to the gigantic bulge and quickly pulled out the stash before my friend could react. Stunned, my friend just stood there, all the joy instantly replaced with visions of arrest by the city police officers helping the staff search the concertgoers. But to his surprise the guy simply through the pillow into a large plastic trash bin and let him in…

The show was great of course… and the miracles did not cease afterwards. We drove home without further incident, except for one of my other friends whose car broke down on exit 420. This would have been a major bummer except that he met a kind sister shortly after and they ended up getting married… not that day of course!

Good things come to those who see Phish shows!

- Drac