Larry has it - this would be a canonical Phish show even without the Beatles cover, which frankly can't touch the VU/Stones/Talking Heads/Pink Floyd covers in terms of musical interest. Whereas NYE 95 closed out a period of musical growth and personal triumph for Phish, this one kicks off an unbelievably fertile run of shows, the November '94 boom. There's a provisional or prefatory feel to some of Phish's '94 stuff - the runup to the maniacally intense psychedelia of late 1995 - but November 1994 is a heady time, and it literally starts here. Reba, Slave, Bowie, Coil, Antelope: from this vantage you can make out the steep slope to the peak in NYC just 14 months later. This show marks a holy moment for the band.

I normally prefer “objective reviews” about the music over the personal “I was there” accounts, but some shows are just personal – even if you were just a face in the crowd (a masked crowd nonetheless). Although I have since listened to the recording numerous times, I can never escape the feelings I had that night (18 years ago! Hardly seems possible…), an experience I don’t get with any of the other shows I attended to nearly this degree. With that in mind…

While we did not know how momentous this show would be, we knew we were in for something special – the musical costume. Although we had three cars we could have chosen from, me and my three buddies chose the one in which many things did not work – including the speedometer and, as it turns out, the gas gauge… This choice was made, of course, by the willingness of the driver to drive, and we did not want to quibble with such small items as “working condition”.

When 30 miles or so from the venue the car started to sputter and my friend noted that while he could not be sure, he thought he might be out of gas, the import of our vehicular decision hit home. Had we actually come this far just to miss the big show? This was Halloween, remember, and we were all dressed up freaky people in the middle of up-state farm-country. Someone had the brilliant idea that we could go door to door looking for gas, so we pulled over and split up down the country lanes in search of fuel – two gas station attendants, an Asian Restaurant waiter/Kung-Fu Master, and an Iron Maiden fan replete with sketchy mustache (back of the closet/thrift store costuming at its best). Despite it all, we found a farmhouse with a gas pump and people willing to help us out with at-cost fuel and a jerry can. Somehow, we were quickly back-in-business. I often wonder what the people thought and what we would have done if not for them. Look honey – a nice Kung-Fu boy walking down the road in the dark needs some gas! I supposed we would have hitched, but four young men at night on Halloween – in an area where you don’t really see hitchers – may have made for a tough sell.

In any case, we made it there, and parking near a “Wilson’s Shoe Shop” seemed an omen of sorts – good or ill, who could tell? We were Fish-side partially obscured, so we went walking for a better view. Frankenstein – with a masked Trey – really tore through us, and filled the arena with an intense dark energy. Sparkle, however, reminded us that Phish was really just playing with us and wouldn’t necessarily drive those sufficiently prepped over the edge. Simple followed the same bouncy vibe Sparkle started and we found a nice spot in the back of the arena where we could take in the whole spectacle. Simple ran into a spacy ambient-type jam which was at times beautiful, but contained a few discordant tones which hinted at things to come and strangely wound down like a toy running out of steam. This was one of these nights when the band was totally in control of how you felt, and you were at their mercy to do with as they willed.

Divided sky was a breath of fresh air, and I had the feeling if we just stayed in that moment forever – the delicate post-pause Tray -Mike interplay over organ and drums – then all would be right in the world. Of course, like all moments in time, this one was transient, and we moved towards the finale – Page driving upwards with piano and Trey taking us on a journey to somewhere we knew but simultaneously to someplace new. The climax to Divided Sky is always special, and this one definitely brought us to the top of some great mountain – or was it a cliff?

Which, of course, it was, as Phish dropped us into a dark place they had opened up with Frankenstein, and we were quickly reminded that this was Halloween and none of us were going to just have a nice time – this was to be an experience and there was no escape. This was all the more poignant as I, and I am sure many others, had a cat Poster Nut Bag, and Harpua never ends well for felines. When the vibration of life was transformed to the vibration of death, and Barney’s greatest hits to War Pigs, I fell for it and thought we were in for a Black Sabbath, but we were suddenly dragged back to Harpua with Jimmy watching poster get sucked to the depths of hell. Jimmy gets over it, as we all should, with some honky-tonk piano, and the next sequence Julius > Horse > SITM don’t seem very substantial – palette cleansers if you will – compared to what we have just been though. At just over an hour in, it felt like we had been at it forever and we knew we had a ways to go.

Reba started as was its wont, and was played perfectly through its scripted parts – building and releasing tension with perhaps a bit more urgency than normal. Around seven minutes (according to my CD and not my memory…) it starts with a loose funky jam and we know that this is something special, and around nine minutes it drops off to such a sparse jam that a gentle breeze could blow it away. Then it gets weird at 11 minutes then picks up speed into the standard Reba mold. Definitely one of the great readings of the song, but made all the more incredible by contrast to the Halloween vibe and the energy of that night – which was bursting through the rafters – as they manage to lay down a spare almost sentimental number as if they had all the time in the world. And then, just because they could, they hit a crisp Golgi and – see you in “19 minutes”…

We were still wandering around when we heard the DSOTM heart start beating and just as the potential import was setting in, it cut to Ed Sullivan and I knew it would be the Beatles. Back in the USSR started and finished before we really could adjust to what we were about to hear and Dear Prudence came to chill the whole scene out. For the first time we decided to go to our seats and relax. I must say that “The Beatles” was (and remains) one of my favorite albums, so this was akin to an old friend coming over to chill. There would be a few songs that could potentially take off (e.g. Helter Skelter, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, and While My Guitar Gently Weeps) but in general I was feeling – “The Beatles”? Really? Can that even be played live – it was certainly never meant to be – what will they do with it? Some of my friends not really familiar with the album just had that – What the F – glaze. With Glass Onion they opened up another possibility – alternate lyrics – a game that I could listen for, but I think the “I told you about Guyute the Pig” lyric was pretty much the only real change up until the “and if she could only hear Cactus” change in Honey Pie near the end.

There is not much for me to say about the quality of the music in this set. It was well done, and certainly entertaining at the time, but in the end not something that it really makes sense to listen to (as opposed to the original) outside of the “check out what they did” listen. The theatrical aspects of the thing, however, are another matter. From that perspective “look at what they are doing” was much better than “listen to what they did”. While My Guitar Gently Weeps did not disappoint – although it was none too extended – but Don’t Pass me By was the first place where things got interesting. Rather than playing it straight, they made it into a pepped-up number with a bluegrass-type beat and high-lonesome-harmonies (and yelling).

Birthday was another strange moment - Mike played a slow super-creepy version of the melody (du-du-du-du de-du de-du) over and over while a birthday cake was presented. I can clearly hear what they are saying now, but at the time I really thought they were saying it was “Satan’s Birthday” while another friend was convinced they were inviting him on stage for his birthday (NB it was not his birthday). Helter Skelter was another interesting version – especially the ending where in place of Ringo screaming we get a sweet harmony on the “I’ve got blisters on my fingers” line. In a bit of a surprise, they actually stretched out Cry Baby Cry with a nice solo, but again nothing too radical. Revolution 9 was great. Not great as in I will listen to it regularly, but great as in “How do you do it?” – Oh, that’s how. You don’t recreate it, but rather evoke the spirit of it. Not something to listen to, but the snippets of dialogue from the original, Mike and the Cymbals, and Fish in the ultimate anti-costume it was truly the psychedelic performance piece it was meant to be. Now that that is over – is there actually another set?

After a brief Physical Graffiti tease that was over before it started – 2 double albums, why not? They hit hard and tight with David Bowie, which get dark and spacey 5 minutes before Mike and Co. start to really drive it home from 7 minutes through the end without letting up – with the last 4 minutes in the bend your mind category. Oh yeah – this is why we are here. This is the real stuff. Bowie was deep and put us back under, but Bouncing breaks the spell. It is a good transition, however, to Slave, which is a beautiful version and perhaps required a Bouncing reset of the mind to properly set the table. This Slave, like the best Slaves, builds a slow euphoric crescendo, until the release (of the green light?). Rift is solid, but remarkable only in that the band has the stamina at this point in the night to keep the relentless stomping number at the pace it deserves.

Sleeping Monkey, however, felt just about the pace for the hour. I was pretty exhausted at that point – emotionally and physically – and home on the train seemed to be the best way to go - much better than getting in a questionable car, with a questionable driver, for a five hours’ drive in the cool upstate early morning air back to Geneseo. Poor heart was crisp and seemed like the “wake up and get the blood flowing song” for people about to head out into the night. A short set it would have made, yes, but who could blame them?

This, of course, was not what the band had in mind, and there were two monsters plus a costume contest to go before the night was finished. When they start to dig into Antelope after the intro and the stash tease, at around 2:40 in, you can tell that they still have a lot in the tank. Had we been thinking about the drive home? Trey is killing it, up and down, moving forward and dropping back. It has that great Mobius-strip-type sense of always going somewhere but never arriving and somehow ending back where you started. At five minutes in he is just messing with your mind like at any moment the vibration of death is coming back to suck us all down to visit Poster in hell. Then at 8 minutes it all pulls back and we are off to a straight finish to the song and the set.

Amazing Grace was nice, especially since nobody ruined it by screaming prematurely as would often happen. The long-promised (and largely forgotten) costume contest was set up with a nice Mike-Fish funky groove with Page dropping some 70’s riffs over the top, while Trey worked the “applause-o-meter” to determine the winner. Of course, you can’t end on a costume contest, and the farewell gift is squirming coil. The selection was perfect and they nail it. Listening to it, however, I can’t help but anticipate the closing Page solo. This “moment” is perhaps the most ingrained in my mind from the night – everyone gone and Page just playing a beautifully heartfelt solo. From that moment on, I have always lamented that Page has never released an experimental solo classical-jazz-type album a-la Keith Jarrett or Brad Mehldau. I am sure his work could stand up, but as of yet, it remains to be seen.

Rather than drive home, we just parked at the side of the road and slept. Not sure how all four of us managed it, but once it was proposed, there was no other option. We decompressed and deconstructed the show in our minds, but that feeling of the ending solo lingered as we drifted off and wondered if we would be able to find a nice breakfast place in the morning.

Nearly every Phish fan should be familiar with this show (especially now that its been given the Live Phish treatment) but for those who aren't its a classic show and features the band's first musical costume. However the cover of the White Album isn't the real highlight of the show as much as the Reba is. This is THE Reba (5/16/95 to me is not quite there) and for good reason. A completely wonderful jam and a completely wonderful show that would kick off one of the greatest months in the band's history.

I was there. It was a great, smallish arena. As I walked in, a man in a white Fluffhead looking mask was handing out gold chocolate coins. I got one, and my friend poked fun at him. Lights go down, and out walks that guy. It was Trey. A friend later pointed out that his mask was a perfect caricature of Jerry. I'm convinced Trey was dressed as Jerry for Halloween. Even had the black t-shirt.

General Admission. Very laid back. I could go anywhere I wanted. Getting close to stage was even easy. First set was amazing. The Reba and Simple were standouts. The Reba chill is simply phenomenal. The Harpua, my 2nd one, was so much fun.

The White Album was great too. It was Brad Sands' birthday, so for Birthday, they brought out a cake for Brad. Brad was dressed as Fish. I remember Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except for Me and My Monkey being a bit jammed out. Wish they played it more often. Seeing Fish totally naked for Revolution #9 left the whole venue speechless for about 5 seconds. Seriously, you could hear a pin drop when he pulled off his dress / muumuu. Mike was absolutely mortified.

3rd set was great as well, but not as powerful as set 1 and 2. The show ended at 3 am!!!!!

I believe I saw the Dude of Life after the show (but I might be confusing it with 10/31/95), who had brought me backstage that summer at Great Woods (Gamehendge run, see my review for that run for a whole different story). I asked him if he had an extra pass again, he didn't. It didn't matter though, because I wound up winning the Greenpeace raffle, and went backstage anyhow. As I write this I only now just realized the fate of asking the Dude for a backstage pass, and then winning it at Greenpeace. They called like 10 names before they called mine. Right before they called my name, I suddenly realized I was going to win. I then see my high school friend, Tim Kelly (we both went to SUNY Plattsburgh, and yes I was at Clifford Ball too), and bring him backstage with me. Fish and Mike were there. I had a piece of Brad's birthday cake. I was dressed as Mrs. Pizza Shit. Fish gave me the strangest look when he saw how I was dressed. Imagine a guy wearing a yellow dress that is too tight, with a pizza box around his neck, with fake turds on every corner. That was me.

The backstage scene was totally uncool, and completely different from Great Woods backstage, 7/9/94. It was elitist at 10/31, lots of young tour heads who were not nice to me. Mike and Fish were unapproachable. We left after a beer or two and some cake. On the other hand, backstage at Great Woods consisted of myself, and strictly old school Phish family and band. Amy was there, Big Phil as well. Maybe 10 people in total. They were so nice to me, and I met the whole band (only a hello to Trey, and then he was ushered off to talk logistics with the Dude about his appearance the next show at SPAC). I was also backstage at Beacon Theater in April of 94, and that was pandemonium. Great Woods was the best band experience I've had. Fish told me stories about the origins of Weekapaug Groove.

Enough digressing, 10/31/94 is still one of the greatest Phish memories I have.

I feel like this was the last truly intimate Phish show I saw (Sessions at West 54th on 10/20/98 doesn't count, but I was there too). That 1994 NYE run they sold out MSG. Something about 10/31/94 was small and magical.

In honor of Sunday night's musical costume I'm going to provide my personal take of this masterpiece based on the soundboard.

Set I: Frankenstein is not a creative selection, but nonetheless, comes nothing short of opening prowess. Great way to set the tone of the night - good rock n roll fun. Sparkle is one of those songs that strays from its format, but always is great fun. Thus, continuing the tone of the night. Standard, but good stuff. Simple sounds really sounds a lot heavier, if you will. Maybe a little sped up too. Once again, fun song and somewhat standard. This Divided Sky really transcends how Phish goes about with the beautiful tempo and volume relationship. What would be a Halloween typical, it really warms up the guys and is a nice change in pace. Again, this song isn't too much of a jam song, but it really feels like one in this version. And then Harpua happened. Halloween vibe manifestation! Great story alterations. The Vibration of Life is it? or is death? Harpua's always awesome, so I'll move on. Julius is standard. The Horse > SITM is standard as well. It's always a good combo, but I feel as though this one is not as good as most due to it being placed after Julius. Jerk of vibe you could say. AND THEN REBA HAPPENED! After the standard set of songs, this one is much more then refreshing. It also is not a premonition of great things. This concert could have been done after Reba. In fact, it Reba were the only song for the whole show, people would not be too disappointed. Well maybe a little exaggeration, but this the best Reba I've had the privilege to enjoy. Surrender to the flow with this one. Golgi brings us back down to earth with some realistic rock, if you will. Not to compare in a bad way, but Reba was extraterrestrial in auditory bliss. Golgi is Golgi.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Highlights: Reba, Divided Sky, Harpua -> The Vibration of Life -> Harpua

Set II and Set III: The White Album is a genius album, but wouldn't it be a little too slow paced for a Phish Halloween show? The answer is NO! This part's a tic to review, but what I can say most confidently is that this was an extremely fun, high energy cover. The White Album, in my opinion, is not one album that should be considered being covered. It is so distinct, so exploratory, so diverse. It requires to be played with great ambition. The one band that could have a chance to make it an energized crowd pleaser live would be Phish. And guess what? Phish nails it directly on the head. Covers should not be note for note renditions, especially in the case of this album. Phish plays this album with an upbeat, electric pep that is played for the majority of their originals. Let me say that compared to the Phish cover, The White Album seems lethargic and run-on. In my opinion, this is the best Halloween cover to this date.

Rating: 5.0/5.0

Highlights: Dear Prudence, Happiness Is a Warm Gun, Rocky Raccoon, Helter Skelter, Revolution 9

Set IV: Opening with a 13 minute rendition of David Bowie, this set does not let up. With 3 hours of music already played, it's a wonder that the guys played arguable the best original music they had played all year up until that point. David Bowie is fantastic and feels like a great transition from the costume back to the original stuff. Mike gets funky in this one. Bouncing Around the Room is one of the standard un-jammed songs, but I'm sure gives the guy a much needed slow song. Slave is one of the best versions I have ever heard. Any version of this song brings pure bliss to the listener, but this one is a gradually building masterpiece that almost steals the show from Reba. Rift is next, and really didn't appeal to me all too much because I was still in disbelief of the Slave. Maybe it wasn't that it appealed to me, but it really wasn't the foremost thing going on in my head. Sleeping Monkey is another slow one (3 in a row), but I have no problem with that. It's a really nice version as it is most of the time. The only problem I can think of is how less drawn out Page's organ sounds than other live versions after Fish's solo. Alas, not perfect, but pretty darn good. Poor Heart picks up the energy again. Great Phish bluegrass to get you pumped for what's to come. Antelope is one of the monsters played in this show that can be listed as one of the greats. Not Type II jamming, yet it's so solid that I cannot find any missed notes. Those versions are quite underrated.

Rating: 5.0/5.0

Highlights: David Bowie, Slave, Antelope

Encore: After 2 minutes of zealous cheering, fans were rewarded with a singing of Amazing Grace. I really don't know how to review that, but it is a small treat. Then the finalists of the costume contests are presented. I won't review this musically. It is pretty valuable groovin' though. The Squirming Coil rarely disappoints. Everything is standard until the awe-inspiring piano solo from Page to close out the show. Amazing finish to an amazing show.

Overall: If you're a newbie to Halloween shows, this is what you should start with. It's one of my favorite Phish shows overall and has a great costume. It's over 4 hours of good old fun for Icculus' sake! Wowzers! If you've been listening to these costumes for a long time, I still suggest you to re-listen. Musical genius is subtle at times and can be easily missed when listening casually.

My Rating: 4.9/5.0

I was at this show and it was legendary. You can watch most of it on YouTube. The mask that Trey is wearing during the opening Frankenstein is the same one that he wore as he walked around the crowd on the floor before the show started handing out the special chocolate coins that Phish made specially for the Halloween show. He was walking around the floor handing them out and no one realized it was him until he came out on stage wearing the same mask. It was pretty cool. I still have my chocolate coin buried in a box somewhere. The show speaks for itself. SICK!!! Fishman apparently got ticketed by the cops for being naked onstage during the White album...... or so I heard. Awesome show.... so much fun. Watching it again on YouTube is awesome.

[Posted a long time ago, shortly after the show, to Rec.Music.Phish and slightly modified from its original state. -charlie]

I know you have seen the setlist a zillion times, but here is the correct one. Long review to follow...[snip]

If any of you remember seeing a guy in front of will-call yelling "STEVE BILLINGS", that was me. Steve showed up after about a half-hour of yelling..and THANK GOD!!

The Frankenstein opener was no surprise, thanks to whomever it was that posted on the net several days before halloween that it would be the opener.. it was a strong Frankenstein, as usual. Sparkle was next and was fine.. nothing special. WHAT BLEW ME AWAY WAS THE SIMPLE!!! There was this great ending jam before Divided.. this really cooked.. Never heard any Simple even close to this.. Divided was definitely ok. Have heard better Divideds for sure. No signals. Nothing weird or special, if I recall correctly. Harpua was expected, but the Vibration of Death and War Pigs sure as hell weren't.. great to hear this!! No one around me seemed to get War Pigs, though..Sabbath was a bit too obscure a reference for most, perhaps.. Fun tease, though.. Also, Poster Nutbag wasn't eaten by Harpua.. instead, he was sent to hell!! Julius cooked as it always does.. Horse and Silent were perfectly straightforward, but Mike seemed to be into Silent more than usual for some reason (he was jamming at times..usually he just plays it..).

REBA was approx 15 minutes!!! Just an incredible Reba. You have got to hear it to believe it.. was a sortof DARK, HALLOWEEN REBA.. you'll see.. Golgi was the set closer, naturally, and was played without fanfare, like you've heard it played many times before.

Just before the lights went out to start the second set, I heard the beginning of Wish You Were Here. Then, the lights went out, and quickly I heard the beginning of Dark Side of the Moon (with "Money"), then The Heartbeats began.. everyone was freaking out, thinking FLOYD FLOYD FLOYD and screaming it, too, when, suddenly, the Heartbeats/Money crap was cut and the famous Ed Sullivan Beatles-intro came on.. Then I started wigging out (I never sent a postcard in, thinking that there was just no way that they would ever attempt the White Album, sticking instead with something cozy and mildly challenging like almost all Zepplin tunes).. What can I say?

The BEATLES WHITE ALBUM!!! Several tunes were jammed on, but unfortunately not Dear Prudence.. I was hoping that they would give us a version comparable to Garcia, but, alas, not. They jammed on Ob La Di, While My Guitar (in a HUGE WAY!!!!!), Yer Blues, Monkey, Helter, Revolution, and probably a few more. Otherwise, everything was pretty standard, with a few exceptions. The Dont Pass Me By was clearly arranged by Mike in bluegrass fashion, and was good! The Yer Blues really, really rocked. Birthday was not actually played.. Brad Sands came out for some cake, dressed as Fish. The highlight was definitely Revolution Number Nine, though, with Fish on vacuum and plenty of weirdness going on.. Fish disrobed towards the end, which I hadn't ever had the esteemed pleasure of witnessing before, though I know he used to play naked a lot back in the 80s. Just an incredible set of music, in general. There were definitely several mistakes made, but, all in all, the set was the most incredible set of live music I have ever heard.. the nerve it took to do the white album.. geeeezus.

Everyone was exhausted by the third set, even the people sitting still. I was still a dancing freak, even though I could hardly stand. I was by the tapers section, Fishman side, for this set (I was on the floor about 60 feet straight out from mike for the other sets).

Almost no one was moving around me during this set.. the Bowie was great, but certainly not excellent. Bouncin was standard. Slave was jaw-dropping incredible.. I thought I had heard the best version in charlottesville. I was wrong. Rift was disappointing, since I have heard it waaaay too much, and they just never wail on it.. it was still excellently played, of course.. what made me cheer up, though, was the segue into SLEEPING MONKEY!!!! AAAAHHH!!!! This was a SICK version, folks, just hysterical and great.. Poor Heart was standard, and good as always.

Antelope jammed really fiercely, which was incredible since it was soo damn late, but there was a little slip up when they all came back in after Trey's "Bid you To Have any.." line.. you will hear it on the tape. They caught themselves though, and finished the short set strongly. It was a great antelope, but I have certainly heard better. Amazing Grace was great.. hadn't heard that live since bender arena last year, and the crowd was very good.

The jam during the contest that Mike and Fish were doing was fun as hell.. I was one of the few actually dancing to this, ignoring the contest. A "Mounds" bar won (what a "joke".. corporate America would have been soooo proud). At the end of the contest, Trey stepped into the Jam the others were doing, and for a very very VERY brief time, played Mind Left Body. The jam ended, and the most spectacular Squirming Coil I have ever heard was played. I nearly cried. It was just soooo fantastic for "the Boyz" to let Page close the show like this.

I was literally FLOOOOORED by this show. I had difficulty walking back to the car. Incredible. Get the tapes.

THANKS TO IAN AT AOL FOR HIS TICKETS LAST MINUTE!!!!

At this point, it's truly impossible to deny the phenomenal grandeur of this band. This show is just big. The first set boasts a gorgeous Simple, the first of its kind and a wonderful prototype for the song's potential. Hot on its heels is one of the greatest Divided Sky performances out there (2:22-2:26 is also my favorite Mike lick ever). Harpua is an obvious fan favorite, and Julius shreds extra hard. Reba joins Divided Sky as one of the greatest of its kind, notable for its unique quiet jam and slingshot into an all-time finish from Trey.

The White Album set is obviously a massive highlight. Though I'd agree with others that this is one of the weaker costume sets from a musical perspective, the fun is endless and this set is owed massive credit for instigating a legendary tradition for Phish and its fans. Cry Baby Cry takes the cake for the best song from this set, in my opinion.

Set 3 isn't quite as legendary as some of the Set 1 highlights, but it certainly carries weight with some awesome jamming. The David Bowie intro contains a sneaky Tommy Overture tease from Page--perhaps a hint for Halloween '95? The Bowie jam is wild and reckless, even if Type I. Fishman and Mike drive this one like a freight train. The quiet section in Slave is real pretty, and Antelope closes out with ferocity and chaos (it's a great year for this tune).

Went to college at Siena by Albany, half hour from Glens Falls, we got our tickets from a Ticketmaster in a Macy’s that a local friend knew about. I convinced the student government to sponsor a bus from the college to the show and back to prevent driving accidents ???? Me and my 50 closest friends had a school bus to the show and back???? The lot was crazy that night, fun and so many balloons. The speculation about the second set was the talk of the lot, I’m pretty sure the consensus was Thriller walking into the show, I can still remember the energy when they played the first chords of Back in the USSR…….. electric evening ????????????????????????

Went to college at Siena by Albany, half hour from Glens Falls, we got our tickets from a Ticketmaster in a Macy’s that a local friend knew about. I convinced the student government to sponsor a bus from the college to the show and back to prevent driving accidents ???? Me and my 50 closest friends had a school bus to the show and back???? The lot was crazy that night, fun and so many balloons. The speculation about the second set was the talk of the lot, I’m pretty sure the consensus was Thriller walking into the show, I can still remember the energy when they played the first chords of Back in the USSR…….. electric evening ????????????????????????

So, I'll toss my 2 cents in this ring...

Yes, they played the White Album and it was the first musical costume show. But the real star of this show is the first set... maybe the best Divided Sky and Reba that I've ever heard! Add a blistering Simple and Julius, and a really fun Harpua and this is a set to remember.

Other show highlights: Dear Prudence, Bowie, Slave and Antelope... but they're nowhere near the calibre of the first set.

Tickets to this show were hard to come by in a lot of instances. A friend of a friend had camped out for tix and decided not to go. It enable this soul to makes its way in. There was people trying to get into that place from every which way. Climbing through ducts, kicking doors, bum rushing the gate!
Inside was nutz too, If you wanted on the floor it wasn't hard and Lots of people crammed in like sardines. They came out and trey had a cloud on his head. They busted into Frankenstein and everyone started rockin'...It was cool
The White Album is a great classic and they did a really good job of it. Not to complain, but it isn't always easy to groove out to. Eyes were popping out of skulls when fishman whipped out his weiner. Can remember standing there like WTF!? The Antelope ripped hard...

The costume contest was really cool. They had announced it in the Schvice and watching it manifest was really somethin. There were some good ones,, Wanna say some chic was like Tela with the multibeasts and another dude was like all in blue it was a good costume but memory is failing. The winner was a mounds candy bar.

my freshman year at SUNY Plattsburgh, drove down and camped out in glens falls when tix went on sale, probably fourth in line, didn't realize the magnitude this show until i was inside, the energy in that place that night was like no other show

I was at this show but never actually got in the arena and never heard a moment of live music. I took a Peter Pan bus from New Paltz with my girlfriend with no tickets, no plan to get back, and a vague idea that my friends heading back from the west coast might hit this show. Finally got into Glen Falls and the scene around the small arena was extraordinarily high. It quickly became apparent that a lot of people who had made the trek were going to get shut out. I found my friends and gave my one buddy a dollar to go work his trading magic. He turned that one dollar into two beers, a joint, and couple unidentifiable pills. The late start time really let the energy build and at some point those whose miracle never appeared decided to take fate into their own hands. Rumors were spreading about ways to get in and people were starting to rush the doors. We, of course, surrendered to the flow, and also started charging ahead: Me, My buddy, and our respective girlfriends. It was a sea of people as we approached the doors, pushing , scrambling, yelling , generally a crowd unhinged on Halloween.
My buddy and I made it through( we had passed security) only 20 more feet. Head up the stairs to the right and melt into the crowd…. BUT halfway through that 20 feet as my legs are pumping and my arms whirling my buddy and i both stop look back and see out girlfriends being trampled…UGGGGGGGGG…: well all these years later I still can be proud of being an honorable and chivalrous person who turned back and rescued the distressed and was pushed back with feeling that the door had slammed shut AND every Halloween I get that phone call where my buddy describes beat for beat how I missed one of the best phish shows ever and all the fun he had as I waited outside in the cold dark night.

ps. Thanks Mike Macaroni for answering my 3 am screams and getting me home

I’ve finally made my way to Halloween. What a fun journey it’s been listening to this tour to this point, and I’m excited for what’s ahead. There’s no need to repeat the well-deserved accolades for this great show. However, it’s the Simple that’s worth mentioning as it looks like this is the first time the band really takes the tune out for a spin. There were hints of stretching it out in its prior appearance but tonight the band finally did it. It’s far from an interesting version to my ears but as a huge fan of the tune it has historical significance. Oh, and the Reba is fantastic!

Umm... what a great show, but, Paul what's up? Everything's fine, with your awesome condenser mic perfectly placed exactly 15.3 feet above the soundboard (lol). But, your recording device's motor is running slow on the 3rd set. It makes it almost unlistenable, just like the previous night's soundboard. (for novices, if a machine runs slow, the output will sound fast... like Mickey Mouse on cocaine). Surely other people hear this, right? 8/16/93 (my first show) is the same way. Will somebody please fix this? I'd buy the American Theatre box set, but, by the time I looked it up, it was sold out. Please, make more....

This is absolutely my favorite Phish Halloween show. The energy in the place must've been through the roof. Funny Vibration of Death Harpua, great Reba and D. Sky in first set. The White Album is done to perfection, even the parts where Phish diverges from the Beatles' original versions (as in Birthday, for example.) And you get Fishman full frontal, which was surely worth the price of admission! Great third set and encore, this is just a classic show that some would say your collection is worthless without.

I certainly enjoyed this show, but it was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo long.

I just have to say this day was one of the most disappointing of my entire life. I had caught a ride home after UVA to get my life together so I could get into this show. I rode up with a crew of I guess what people call wooks and in the 2 days it took us to drive home we did some of the craziest shit of my life. I almost got left behind in a tiny little town in West Virginia. Some local dude was like "I think your friends are leaving without you dude" We get to Pittsburgh to this girl's house and her mom starts bugging out about her being on tour and pulls some wire off her carburetor and says "you aren't going anywhere... The rest of you get the fuck off of my property or I"m calling the cops!!!" We had like 6 people in her car and another 5 in a Jeep Wrangler. We all had to pile into the Jeep which was a trip and go to a local park. One of the guys we were with knew cars and said he could fix it if we go to an auto parts store and get the wire. So we do that sneak into the girls garage while the mom is distracted and steal the girls car back and take off... Then we go to my house in upstate NY with no gas and no money and had to siphon gas and empty gas hoses at every gas station we could find. An 8 hour trip took like 18 hours...

So anyway day of the show we get there early. We had been traveling with this 16 year old kid JR who had a funny story. He was a metal head punk rocker who went to a Dead show on the West Coast and fell asleep in a school bus. He then woke up at the next Dead show and just kind of fell into the scene. He hated the Dead and Phish though and just liked to party. We get to Glens Falls and he tells us he's moving to Glens Falls to be the roadie for this metal band he had met walking around the town...
I am there early trying to get a ticket using all my connections and having no luck. I finally get a lead on a ticket around 6 at night. The dude's like hey get me a 10 strip of the clean stuff and I will get you a ticket. The tour was kinda dry of the super clean stuff but I found some, find the guy and he's like you know what I'm good I"m gonna do some blow... I was so fucking pissed off. I spent the entire show trying to sneak in at one point I was on the roof. No fucking luck.

Meanwhile it's like 40 degrees and raining. I caught a terrible cold and dropped off tour. I had a ride all the way out west and back again and I blew it off because I was so disappointed about missing the White Album I went into a depression for months. It was a really terrible day for me...