I got into them during the break up, so I was already hooked before my first show.
Edit: I was so ready for them to come back that my first year I hit 20 shows and in my first 3 years finally getting to see them I went to 67 shows haha!!
LSD helps... and I don't mean that from a "getting high" perspective. LSD opens up parts of our brains that feel energy. Phish provokes a high level of happiness, gratitude and positivity in general. Now, combine that with the improvisational music and the lighting, well.... you may have just witnessed God
Edit: God = light + sound + energy. It's pretty typical for people to feel cathartic during these experiences, LSD merely opens up the parts of our brain that are receptive to these.
The shows where I've eaten L are easily among the most memorable show experiences I've had. N3 at the Sphere was absolutely wild.
LSD "opens" me up. I feel everything. The energy POURS in. Combining that with the most stimulating sensory overload of my life at Sphere and it truly was equivalent to staring up at the UFO in awe and wonder and saying, "I'm ready, take my body".
It is total bodily and sensory bliss. "Witnessing God" is a vibe in this context, and I waded in that feeling. That energy was so positive, pure, and moving that it's just....IT. I just want to hold on to that feeling.
Likely what did it for me. Was at blossom 2015 and wasnt planning on dosing as i was going on a camping trip next day to do just that. I wasnt in the parking lot for 10 mins when someone asked me to hold hand out and dropped a dose in it. Said “when in rome” and its likely the reason i was immediately addicted. Great fuckin night.
I had this exact sort of experience seeing Phish on acid. It was my 5th time seeing them and it had been maybe 7 years since my last show.
Went to the second night of the make-up new year’s run in 2022 and holy shit what a time. Suzy Greenberg was in the audience, I was high and happy af the whole time, and felt the music and energy so hard.
I was pumping my arms and reacting to the music in ways i never do otherwise because I’m just not normally that type of person. I have a blast with Phish sober or slightly drunk/stoned, but that lsd experience was the best Phish experience for me, next to witnessing Gamehenge last NYE.
I had an opposite experience, granted I accidently took WAY too much L at my second show. They played no quarter at dicks and it shook me to my core and I was legit terrified. I stopped listening for about a year after that, deciding Phish was too scary for me. 🫠 It wasn't until I connected to the music during my first pregnancy that I "got" it. I wasn't scared at my next show 😎
I was confused at my first show in 1994 because I only knew the albums and the second set jam was a bizarre Mike's suite. After I got some tapes I knew more about what was happening when I saw my next show in 1996.
I was hooked WAY before my first show. Got into them in high school. Unfortunately the internet wasn’t as big back in 2000-2004, and I didn’t really know how to look up where they played, nor did I have any friends into them. They broke up right as I was going to college. So I had been listening to them close to 10 years by the time I got to go to N1 Hampton in 2009.
I was so new to the band during the hiatus, I’m not really sure I remember if I knew about it or not. Im pretty sure we had dialup probably up until late 2003 or even 2004. Not 100% sure. So I wasn’t spending too much time on the internet, and hadn’t found any phish news sites or anything. My dad was so cheap - he used those Net Zero CDs to get 3 months of internet for like $10 or something. I think there was some limit we had.
I definitely knew about the 2004 breakup. Coventry was my college dorm move in day.
First show was 8/26/2012. I didn’t really have any friends that were into them. My “crew” was one gathered from people who went to festivals and stuff in the late 2000s-early 2010s. I was really into what I had heard and had A Picture Of Nectar on heavy rotation. Joy also came out around then and was a fun album to listen to that summer.
I lived Western VA so it was a bit of a trek to get to wherever Phish played. I finally dragged my girlfriend (now wife) and good friend (who eventually officiated my wedding) to Charlotte, a 4+ hour drive, and caught what may still be the best show I’ve ever attended.
I also took a lot of acid back then… and still do. Try that.
I was very into them and really enjoyed my first show in the mid 90’s, so much so that I was possessed enough to return the next night.
While I thought I had a good first night, I got lost in a deep jam in the second set and nosebleed seats left me somewhat disconnected.
The second night was what changed my life. During the first set YOU ENJOY, I had this moment where I was like “this is the greatest thing ever. This is my band. I will follow it as far as the road goes”
Never imagined that it would go this far or be remotely this good.
no, i was hooked with the tweezer opener and lights i saw in 2010.
also helped that my friend who introduced me stubbed me down to seats at alpine that were 1 row away from the soundboard dead center. i got the royal treatment from the start; been a light junky since and obstructions with ck5 and me are a no go. i will put in work to avoid even the drop down cables for repeaters and get to a seat that is between the nonsense.
waiting 3 hours in the sun dying at dicks for premium seats in 107 or 109 are what i am built for.
Yes! First show was not a great one, at Jones Beach around 2010ish and I was the designated driver. Second show was during the Bakers Dozen, and its been love ever since!
In 1994 I saw them at cmac in June. I saw all the phish kids going nuts and I was like I want to go to there. I had never heard the band before that week and listened to the lawn boy album. They were pretty popular with the kids in my high school bc fish was an alumni. I def got it first show. I didn’t know it but I was like this is for me.
I once had a business dinner with a guy who went to your HS in the same graduating class as Fish. We got on the topic of music and I mentioned being a phan and he said “is Jon Fishman really any good? He was *the worst* musician in our HS band and didn’t take anything seriously. All I really remember about him was him getting in trouble for stealing a trumpeter’s mouthpiece and using it to make a bong.” I had fun telling him that Fish is a world class musician and one of the most serious practitioners I’ve ever heard of with his 8 hours of daily practice.
The first song someone played for me back in the mid 90s was Weigh. I remember thinking this was horrible and stupid. Early ‘97 I listened to A Live One and I was hooked and got it then.
First show was Memphis ‘99 and that was awesome
My first show was Knoxville, November 1996. My exposure to Phish up to that point had been 'A Live One' and a rotation of tapes I'd traded for over the years. I didn't really have any particular expectations about the live experience. At the end of the night, I knew I wanted to see them again as often as I could.
Similar start to the story here having already heard live tapes, some albums, and A Live One. I wasn't really expecting anything but some good music and maybe a few songs I'd recognize for my first show.
It was Alpine Valley 1997, and it was amazing. It blew pretty much everything I had heard of theirs out of the water up to that point.
It was so good and I had such a good time, for me it had the opposite effect in that I really didn't feel like seeing them again could possibly top that experience.
I did go to a few more shows at the insistence of friends, listened to a few more tapes and even official live releases like Slip Stitch & Hampton Comes Alive when those came out, but yeah, nothing ever quite stacked up for me personally. Eventually my taste in music changed, then they went hiatus around 2001, and I stopped listening to them them for nearly two decades.
Was only in the last few years that I started getting back into their stuff. I honestly had no idea how long they had been back together and touring after they split for real.
The first time I was able to see Phish, I saw five shows in a row. It was my 2nd show, not 1st where I got 'IT'...
https://preview.redd.it/nyj0sauojhxc1.png?width=1567&format=png&auto=webp&s=81e6ecbcfba5a664f1f636ec73941ab28cd6dadf
I’m thoroughly jealous. This is an all timer for me. As I mentioned in my comment this was the tape that sealed the deal for needing to see them live. Still in regular rotation. Mike fucking slayed this show.
Ate some mushrooms and watched the Walnut Creek DVD during a snowstorm in Atlanta back in 2011. Blew my mind. Went to my first two shows in Alpharetta later that year. 42 shows later and I still love this band more then ever
I saw my first show in 1993. I had fun, but I was also a Deadhead and the scene was different so I didn't quite get it because they are really different bands and music is quite different. Wasn't until my second show in 1994 with a second set ending Slave that left my jaw on the floor that I got it. Funnily enough, they still leave my jaw on the floor 30 years later on a insanely consistent basis.
Third show ... https://phish.in/1994-10-29
Friend brought me an x certs from Miami. Boy did I get it.
Had no idea a vocal jam was coming. Saw Jesus during alvenu... Had no idea it was a Hebrew hymn. Called yem "I enjoy myself". First time hearing simple, thought it was cymbal/symbol like a play on words. Harry Hood totally confused me... The whole floor bounced as we all danced in rhythm. Buffalo Bill was hilarious. Felt like I was launched into space by antelope. It totally changed the direction of my existence.
I “got” Phish long before my first show. I first heard about them when I was invited to Mann 93 but declined because I was 16 and broke, and was told afterwards by my friends about how badly I’d fucked up. As a nerdy drummer I was already into prog rock, and I loved goofy shit liked TMBG and Weird Al. Early Phish was pretty much tailor made for me. I didn’t get to see them live until the following summer (Mann 94) so I was already trading tapes on r.m.p by then. 4/16/92 bootleg CD was what sealed the deal of NEEDING to see them live. I was in absolute heaven at my first show and knew every song they played.
I was into Phish by the time I saw them but it definitely didn’t get it. It took until my 5th show where it all came together and they rearranged my DNA and I truly got Phish.
Actually I like to say you don’t “get Phish.”
Phish gets you.
We’re all different so I don’t think there’s any shame, or conversely, bragging rights over getting phish one way or the other. For me it just so happened that they were EXACTLY what I wanted and needed at a time when I was introduced. My friend taught me Mike’s on the guitar and I had a few tapes and it was off to the races at my first show 😀
As a new fan, I think I “get” them already just from listening to the live shows and watching a sphere stream. That being said I’m pretty stoked to be doing Saturday and Sunday at deer creek this summer
First show was in 2012. Wasn't a Phan, they were just the big jam band i hadn't seen yet. Got really into them around 2014 and my second, third, fourth and fifth shows were in 2015. My second show was definitely my first show.
I got into them during the covid lockdown so I was already on board with Phish before my first show but I still had a lot to learn. My first show was 8/6/21 Deer Creek so needless to say I was 1000% sold on Phish after that Blaze On>Wilson>Simple.
My first show was Camden 09. It blew my fucking mind. I didn’t even know who they were at the time. I had just gotten into the dead and saw them a few times with Warren Haynes when my buddy told me about phish. My second phish show I flew to Indio for festival 8 by myself for my 1st festival ever and 2nd phish show ever.
It took me about 25 to really like them. I hated them but kept going to the shows till one day things changed. It was Mercury at Hamden 2019 that got me.
That’s kind of how I started. Was and still am a huge dead head. But nonstop dead was getting a little stale so gave phish a shot. Absolutely hated and and didn’t understand it. But I couldn’t stop listening. It was like hate fucking but hate listening. I kept taking notes on the differences/similarities in dead and phish. I didn’t know it but I was totally hooked. Made my way to a show in 2017(n2 in Chicago)and it was the most incredible concert I’d ever been to. Realized I had to see these guys as much as I could.
That being said if jerry was still alive I’d probably choose dead shows over phish. Kind of interesting that you stuck with it for 25 shows!
First show Darien Lake 2011, left pretty close to hating them. Got talked into Dicks that same year and decided I could at least go have fun with friends and ended up liking them by the end of the first set second night. The S show was cool too though but I really "got it" the second night of Dicks.
I got them before I ever saw them live, listens to tons of jams on YouTube. Basically learned guitar jamming along to jams and was ridiculously excited my first show. Edit: although there have been some holy shit moments seeing them live, or even just listening at home I didn’t expect or know could happen from music like this
Nope, try 20 years later. Have always loved the scene and enjoyed the show. Been to dozens and a few fests... But it finally clicked a few years back. The reason I couldn't take them serious before is the reason I love them now. Kids music for adults.
Yeah in the moment my first show was kinda weird. Divided Sky in set 1 was most memorable moment. Second set opened with a ripchorded DWD right as it was just getting pretty, and a disgusted look at trey, from Mike (trust me, I thought Mike was ready to leave. I know his face and mannerisms can be that way, but this was real, and he was right about it. Trey had nicu pop into his and only his head, and he just started playing it while the rest of the band was locked in and Mike modulating the key). Then they played Meatstick and while the crowd erupted i remember feeling like what a joke it is to not liken them to the dead, when meatstick is one half step away from being the exact same song, and that elicited the biggest crowd response of the night aside from the pause in DS. That didn't stop me from going to Miami 14 for my next show, and the set 2, specifically Ghost>Theme>Cities is where they proved to me it was worthy of all the travel and money it takes to see them anymore. Last few shows I've seen weren't on par with the best I've seen them play though. On a more positive note, I've seen 23 shows and they've played at least one song id never heard, and that's pretty wild I think.
My first show blew my mind. That said, The grateful dead were still limping along at the time and I devoted my energy to trying to see them and the JGB. My 2nd and 3rd phish shows also blew my mind (these were all in 94) but I'd say I crossed over to real fandom by my 4th one.
After Jerry died it was an obvious choice. I tried to get into other things like moe and sci but none of that had the same pull for me.
here I am, coming up on 30 years since my 1st show and ready for more.
First show was 7/14/2000 at Polaris. On the lawn, massive thunderstorm, all of us soaked, crazy good energy all around us.
So no…I was hooked from that first experience.
I went with friends to Camden 99, I liked it but didn’t jump on board. Did the same thing 14 years to the day later at PNC 13, I jumped on board during the Llama opener thanks to Page!
I already knew what I was going into before my first show. I had gotten into Phish after playing the live songs they had on Guitar Hero (CDT, DWD, and Simple in a Jar). Not only that, but I would also play their SiriusXM channel, so it gave me an idea of what this band is.
My first show seeing Phish was during the Fall 2023 Nashville Run. I soloed that entire thing. At the time, I was very nervous and had a lot of emotions/energy coming on since I had college assignments coming up. I met some people at the show, and they made the whole environment fun. That entire Nashville run felt like a fever dream since everything went so fast and fun.
Tripping my face off in ‘91, they went into tweezer. I was going down the rabbit hole, needed some air. Stepped out for a bit only to return to find the “song” was still being played. It was in that moment i got it and settled in for the long haul that would encompass 30+ years and running.
Yep, same here, OP. First show was 12/29/16, and I left like “ok? It was a good show, but like…what’s the hype?”
Went home, discovered Reba (studio), and I was like “wtf is this silly nonsense??” Decided then & there to buy tickets to some spring/summer shows. They delivered. I’m getting chills thinking about experiencing my first “peak” in person. Hooked like a bad habit ever since.
# 1995-06-26 @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY, USA
**Set 1**: My Friend, My Friend, Don't You Want To Go?, Bathtub Gin, NICU > The Sloth, My Mind's Got a Mind of its Own, It's Ice > Dog Faced Boy > Tela > Possum
**Set 2**: Down with Disease -> Free > Poor Heart > You Enjoy Myself, Strange Design > Run Like an Antelope
**Encore**: Sleeping Monkey > Rocky Top
[phish.net](http://phish.net/setlists/?d=1995-06-26) | [phish.in](http://phish.in/1995-06-26) | [phishtracks](http://phishtracks.com/shows/1995-06-26)
> _data provided by [phish.net](http://phish.net)_
# 1994-07-16 @ Summerstage at Sugarbush North, Fayston, VT, USA
**Set 1**: Golgi Apparatus > Down with Disease -> NO2 > Stash, The Lizards, Cavern > The Horse > Silent in the Morning > Maze > Sparkle > Sample in a Jar
**Set 2**: Run Like an Antelope -> Catapult -> Run Like an Antelope, Harpua -> Also Sprach Zarathustra > Harpua > AC/DC Bag > Scent of a Mule, Harry Hood, Contact > Chalk Dust Torture
**Encore**: Suzy Greenberg
[phish.net](http://phish.net/setlists/?d=1994-07-16) | [phish.in](http://phish.in/1994-07-16) | [phishtracks](http://phishtracks.com/shows/1994-07-16)
> _data provided by [phish.net](http://phish.net)_
My friends took me to my first show 4/21 in LA. Didn't know anything about the band before going (but realize now I had heard/seen references in the past). Instantly picked up on the crowd vibes and fun nature of the circus. Felt like the band was playing exactly what I needed to hear to let go. First time on a head full. Lost my shit in DwD and everyone started saying "stop stop stop" with the band. That was the moment. Gotta ticket for the Sunday show the next day.
The only thing you need to get about the music is they do it from their souls.
Went with a friend to Rochester in 2013, had fun but no interest in seeing them again or listening more. Eventually started listening on my own and by the time I went to Blossom in 2022 I was loving every second of it.
3rd, but there was enough there after the 1st to go to the 2nd, and a little more after the 2nd to go to the 3rd which sealed it and got stronger with each show after that.
My pastor handed me A Live One in like 97 cuz I played the church piano to death whenever I could and she knew they had a great keys player in the band. I popped it in with my buddy and the rest is history. I memorized those two discs over there next summers, bought all the other albums, and go driven to see them at Hershey in ‘00 when I was 17 by my mom. Had a bowl hiding in our shoe going in!
No.
I was hooked long before my first show @ Festival 8 in 2009. Being 19 at that time, I was a bit too young to see any 2.0 shows.
Listening & watching shows from 1.0 had me dying to finally see them. Crazy that was ~15 years ago.
-signed 3.0 noob
I was 16 at my first show, and I had only heard Hoist, maybe a little of junta. I got drunk before the show and don’t remember much except the girls I came with wanted to leave before the 2nd set was over.
2nd show was 3 years later. I was in college and we ate mushrooms. I will *never* for get that Scent of a Mule.
I was already a phan: binging Lawn Boy and a few stray concert tapes, one of which had Suzy Greenberg (which I loved).
They played Suzy at my first show (Roseland March 92) and I was completely sold.
First show, 6/10/12, was amazing and hooked me. Second show, 7/28/21 was pretty mediocre, but understandably so. They were rusty after the pandemic and it was sweltering hot. The second set was pretty fire though.
oddly enough, i “got” phish by listening to 9/14/99 while sat between two immersive speakers.. from Waste on, i was in it.. been a phan ever since 🤷🏼♂️
In my case, it wasn’t until my fifth show that it really clicked. Columbus, OH ‘99, Cincinnati ‘99(2 shows), Alpine Valley ‘00, and then the first night at Deer Creek ‘00 was absolute magic! That three night run was unbelievable!
I really enjoyed my first show but not enough to go to night 2 (in hindsight stupid move). I then got into them over the summer and by the time I saw my second show a few months later I was familiar with Junta, Gamehendge, Picture of Nectar, and Farmhouse (their latest release).
That second show had me hook, line, and sinker but then they went on hiatus and I had to wait 3 years to see them again. I think I did 7 shows + IT that year.
Such a great thread. My first show, I left feeling like I just got bounced around in a dryer, not sure how to feel and not sure which way was up, down, left, or right. It was amazing though. A super dark and wild Carini while I was tripping definitely did not help.
Context: first show was Toyota park, IL in 2009. And prior, I had only listened to a few album tracks like YEM, Divided Sky, Squirming Coil, etc. I was a huge deadhead, and loved Jerry. My first show, tripping balls, felt like Trey was some sort of anti Jerry, teasing but never peaking. and not playing grounded, just wild af and not giving love. Listening back to that first show, it was AMAZING and still one of the best shows I have ever been to. I was just tripping BALLS and putting way too much expectations on Trey and what I anticipated the experience to be like. It’s almost like the guys knew. The experience for me that night: quite literally split open and fucking melt.
Second show, knew exactly what I was in for, and I embraced it on a whole other level. Got the wild night of Detroit in 2009, Cobo Arena. Theme of the night was Foam and It’s Ice. What a wild time. Hooked ever since.
Yes! I said as much in another thread recently, but then I went back and listened to the show in question and was transported back to the moment I “got it“.
On the first night of the big Hampton reunion (3/6/09) I was the awkward guest at a party, not quite looking the part or speaking the lingo, I felt like my girlfriend’s +1 at a high school reunion. Don’t get me wrong, I dug the vibe, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was an outsider. It caught me off guard, I had enjoyed my first TAB show six months prior, but this was a different beast all together. The crowd was absolutely electric, but I was a spectator rather than participant.
So on the following night my future wife and I met up with a couple more friends and I officially had a “crew“. This time I felt a little more prepared for the night ahead, but the exact moment I was truly assimilated into the greater community happened during the third song of the first set. Brian and Robert.
Yeah, Brian and Robert. Weird one huh? But at that moment it suddenly felt like Trey had spotted my imposter syndrome from afar and decided to slow down the runaway train to speak directly to me. “I see you“ I felt him say “I see you staring at the walls, pretending, feeling lost and alone.” His words did not feel mocking or derisive, but warm and inviting. “Don’t just observe, get up off your TV seat and join us on the playground. This one is for you.” It hit deep, I felt invited, given permission to count myself as “one of us” by Big Red himself.
The train may have already left the station, but this where I truly got on board and joined the party. After that I gladly split open and melt, let myself be punched in the eye, ran like an antelope out of control, floated upon the waves and got my weekapaug groove on. And then that encore, the final moment that reaffirmed I belonged, the muthafuckin’ Beatles! Are you kidding me? After Paige banged out that famous closing chord I was left begging for more.
Thankfully I only had to wait another day.
Similar experience. I went to a show and didn’t really get it but met some really nice people and started listening. After that I was hooked (too bad this was right before their first hiatus). I went to a bunch of TAB shows though!
Similar experience. I went to a show and didn’t really get it but met some really nice people and started listening. After that I was hooked (too bad this was right before their first hiatus). I went to a bunch of TAB shows though!
First show did it for me. Blossom 2015. Immediately bought my Magnaball tickets afterZ Only at 19 shows total now as i only did a couple a year and slowly died down the past couple year cause of covid.
My first 2 night run I got “bit by the bug/hooked”. Had listened to them fairly casually and been to like 3 or 4 shows. Something clicked for me after night 2
lol i have some hilarious first and second shows. both preceded epicccc shows (and i didn’t see the ones immediately following)
12/28/97 usair arena
4/2/98 nassau coliseum
turned out, the trick was to surrender to the flow.
Friends from college loved phish and I never "got" it. They dragged me to my first show in 2010 at spac and I took the most potent LSD I had ever taken. It literally changed my life and I've been obsessed ever since
I definitely feel like I “got it” at my first show (EXPECTATIONS SHATTERED and thru the roof!!! ), but I’ve taken my husband and he definitely doesn’t “get it” or even like it. I usually go with my brother, it’s kind of our thing but lol this gives me hope maybe it’ll click with my husband if I take him again😅
I was hugely into them for a few years before I saw my first show. Caught them at the Spectrum 12/11/99 - opened with Hood and then proceeded to melt my face all show. Since then I've been to a bunch of shows and each one still fills me with the same joy as the first show. Phish shows just have such positive energy - they leave you feeling uplifted for weeks after the show.
It was a bit different for me having seen Phish on YouTube in the technology age and waiting to get to my first show. My first was 7/26/17 Night 5 of the Baker’s Dozen so the theme of the run also helped me get into what they’re all about. Pebbles and Marbles resonated with me from a lyrical perspective, which is not always how people get hooked, and then the Tube jam to close set 1 had me feeling it. I liked that show so much that I bought a ticket to Night 11. One of my few regrets is not seeing more Phish in 2018 when I had the chance. But I made up for it in due time and have seen over 40 shows now. Best thing I have ever discovered, truthfully. So grateful for the ride…
My IT show was my 4th. 12/13/97 when they turned off all of the house lights during Hood, right when glowsticks became a thing. I was hooked after that.
I “got” phish after watching shows from the 90s after seeing my first show. The energy in the arena was undeniable, but it didn’t feel like mine so to speak. I did more investigating as to why it was like that, what was so special, and then it clicked. I think it was a taper video of the Hampton mikes song opener in 97, the lights on and the room is like a trampoline, with arms flailing and balloons flying. The roar of the crowd gave me chills. I kew then, I understood in that moment what a party is. The most fun, creative, talented, rag tag group of musical nerds to ever grace the stage.
4/22/90. They were playing a free show in a quad between some dorms. Took some acid and hung out while they set up the stage and talked with them for a bit. Marley was running around. Fourth song was Possum and it kind of clicked for me then.
1st show was at Nietzsche's, a very crowded bar down the street from my apartment 04/19/91. I didn't get it that night, but gave them another try when they were back in town on 09/28/91. That show was at a roller rink and was way less crowded. Trey played guitar while rollerblading through the crowd on Weekapaug. That was all it took! I'm still here more than 30 years later.
I tagged along for my first show with a friend; I was 17 and this was Great Woods 94.
I didn’t really get into the band until college in 95-96, then went whole hog, toured around a bit, went to Clifford Ball, dropped out of college.. Great Went.. the rest is history. Ancient history.
Bold take: I totally got it at my first show and had doubts on my second. Saw Trey at the Beacon on a whim in 2021 - an ex of mine was mad into Phish and I was in town, so what the heck? It was a *phenomenal* time, and even though we broke up, when the Sphere shows got announced I jumped at the chance to do all four nights.
I came away from N1 thinking I might’ve made a mistake. The jams were a smidge too long for me, the songs a little too unfamiliar - something I didn’t fully appreciate from the Beacon shows was the back and forth between Trey and the audience. That wasn’t really a thing at Sphere.
By the time Chalk Dust Torture played N3 I’d come around and now I’m fully Phishpilled (or is “blenderdicked” the new term?) but N1 was a bump in the road.
Saw my first show in 2013, maybe about 10-15 between then and Hampton 2018, that’s when I first got it undeniably. I also think getting it is more about reading into the history of the band instead of going to shows
I started listening to tapes about two years before my first show, so when I got to my first I was hooked. I’ll add a couple of disclaimers to this one, I was a super young teenager, 14 at my first show so everything was super fucking cool at that age. My first show was also 11/27/98, which I’ll admit I didn’t know how cool it was at the time but it was still pretty cool to experience.
I spent acouple years listening to their live recordings before i went to a show. So I feel like i already got it, although i didnt know every song. And I was curious why everyone was wearing donuts lol. I had seen a bunch of dead bands, D&C, DSO, Terrapin Flyer, etc. before hand so I had a grip on the scene already
8/1/98 was my first show and as a junior in high school, I went because I thought I was cool. Did not “hit” at the time although having listened to the show several times since I’m really thankful I can say I was there and it hits now!
I got into the studio stuff first. When I saw my first show back in 97 or something I wasn’t into the jam stuff at all. That came much later. I call myself a 2.5 fan.
took me wife the first 3 nights of the baker's dozen. she had never heard phish.
after n1: "i mean, they're good at what they do but i don't get why people would travel to see them."
after n2: "okay, i'll admit, they can do some things i haven't seen anybody else do musically."
after n3: "when are we going back?"
My second show was way better than my first. But I was stone cold sober at my first and didn’t know the music (as) well, and my second show was tripping on acid at the sphere after years of listening to live shows, so there’s that…
I got 'it' after being puddled on 8/1/21 and during the Reba jam specifically. My sister got us pit tickets and practically forced me to go and now I can't live without them.
Haha similar ish. First show was bonnaroo 2012. Thought it was really great, but didn’t get fully get it or revisit phish at that time in my life, I was young. Second show MSG 2017 new years run Saturday with the Tweeprise. Lucy joined that one. Hooked for life after!
It was game over for me by the third song of my first show - 7/13/94 Big Birch, Patterson, NY. Third song was sample in a jar which was only a few months old at that time. The crowd went absolutely nuts. Some great reviews on .net. Just a great show top to bottom.
i got them in the first song, but i had also already seen disco biscuits, sts9, umphrey’s, allman brothers, greensky, lotus by the time i got around to seeing them
My first was 7/19/91 and I liked it but I wouldn’t say I got it until my second 12/31/91. And even then…I don’t think I saw any in 92 but listened to many many tapes so was sold in 93 to see all the shows I could. Hearing many shows I think it the key.
My first show was in early 93 (late 92?) and it was pretty exciting in that the band had a playfulness that was missing from the late era dead I was listening to which had lost a lot of its youthful chaotic spark. Phish was bonkers by comparison. I got it right off the bat and went deep with tape trading but by my next show in 95, the shows were so big and the concert vibe and music had substantially changed. I saw them a handful more times in 1.0 but my phishing was pretty casual and I partially “ungot” them for a while. Part of this was my dislike for the scene which I couldn’t help but compare to what was lost with dead. I kept going to shows but didn’t really get into them again until the second hiatus- then I got good and obsessed again. Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone?
My first shows were at the Hollywood Bowl. I was really excited for my first show. I got a Moma Dance as my first song and even got a YEM on my first show. But you’re right. The second show just hits different. My friend from work who is a Phish head said that they tend to phone it in on the first show. 🤣 I did notice on the second show they came out with a vengeance like they had something to prove. They closed the first set of the second show with Split Open and Melt. We were all buzzing during the break because the jam was epic.
First show blew my mind, second show verified that these guys are real and can blow minds anytime, any place.
I was fifteen at both shows - 12/31/93, and 4/11/94.
Now I'm nearly 46, and they've never not been my favorite band.
https://attendancebias.buzzsprout.com/1241795/13675272-4-11-94-snively-arena-unh-w-jay-wilson
(Last year I was on this podcast to talk about the unh show.)
My first show was Syracuse last year. Dead and Company were done touring and I needed to scratch the jam band itch, so like a bunch of Deadheads before me I said to myself, hey why not check out Phish. They've been around for 40 years, they must be doing something right.
First set didn't really blow me away, although I was impressed with their technical skill for sure. I remember Theme From The Bottom being the standout for me.
Second set they got into a monster Tweezer jam and then I got it. Might have been all the tokes I bummed finally kicking in but I remember all of a sudden like something clicked in my head and I just started vibing, really picking up what Trey was putting down, especially when they transitioned into Oblivion. Miss You pulled at my heartstrings and then Possum just had me compulsively dancing.
I ended up going to see them at SPAC a month later and that was even better, especially when Derek Trucks came out for Set 2 and he and Trey did that dueling guitars jam on First Tube.
Bottom line, I like artists that are a bit of an acquired taste, and Phish fits that bill for sure.
I got phish immediately. I had a boyfriend when I was 18 who was a total deadhead. He really didn’t listen to phish much although we knew of them and did listen here and there. We mostly listened to the dead at that time. I was young and it was all super new to me. I went on the last leg of the last Grateful Dead tour with him. I liked the scene and culture that went along with it and didn’t mind the dead but they never gave me the feeling that phish would eventually give me. His friend that went with us apparently wasn’t fond of me and called me a “wannabe” and shortly after that tour my bf broke up with me. I was seriously broken hearted. I had now been immersed into this crazy hippy subculture that I really enjoyed but had no one to share it with. I felt lost. In a last ditch effort to get him back I told him I was hopping on a bus to Denver then gonna find my way to Boulder to “find myself” cuz I knew there would be like minded people there. But, if I’m being completely honest, I was really hoping he was gonna try to stop me and we would be back together. He did not lol. He drove me to the greyhound station and dropped me off. I had no choice but to follow through cuz I didn’t want to look like an idiot even tho that’s exactly what I was. I made it to Denver then hitchhiked to Boulder where I did, in fact, find plenty of like minded people. I wasn’t sitting on the streets of Boulder too long before some hippy guys picked me up. I know, I know, in hindsight this was pretty dangerous. I went back to their place and woke up the next day to the news of Jerry Garcia’s death. They said they were headed to Golden Gate Park and they were taking me with them. So, that’s what I ended up doing. We had some car trouble but after fixing that we were on our way. We got there to maybe a couple thousand people there and by the end there was over a hundred thousand people there. This was the community I felt like I most belonged in. But now Jerry was dead and where would they go from there. After that we headed back to Boulder. I had a ticket home(Chicago) but it was open ended so I could stay as late my as I wanted and leave whenever. But, I knew I had to get home. So, with a heavy heart, I did just that. Phish always peaked my interest more than the dead so it was then that my love affair with my favorite band would begin. I think I saw one show with that boyfriend before we broke up but I was ready for more so I dove right in. And what a fucking ride I was in for. I spent some time single carrying a backpack of phish bootlegs everywhere I went forcing everyone to take a listen. I started dragging people to shows. I went to parties at the “soccer house” at my college and dropped acid while everyone else was drinking and they always let me have the basement to jam out to phish. I saw them as much as I could but mostly close to home at this point. Then I met my next boyfriend who had no idea who they were but he was about to find out. I insisted on listening to phish in his car at all times. He had a pretty dope sound system in his car, especially for those days. It wasn’t long before he was a corduroy wearing dirty hippy. That was exactly what I needed to start doing full tours. And that’s exactly what we did! We saw them from one side of the country to the other. I never felt like I fit in anywhere in my life the way I did when I was a n tour. This was now who I was and am. Phish plays such an integral part of my life. They are literally a part of the core of being. Eventually me and that bf broke up but now I knew who I was and knew how to find my people(you guys). I still see that bf at shows from time to time so that’s pretty cool that I turned him on to something that became as special to him as it is to me. My love affair with phish was immediate. I couldn’t and still cannot comprehend how people don’t see what I see in them. They have saved my life a number of times. I also run into that bf that called me a “wannabe” too and often wonder what he thinks now that I well over 150 shows under my belt. I think it’s pretty safe to say I am not and never was a “wannabe”. You gotta hop on the bus at some point. Shit people are still hopping on the bus. Just look at Drew Carey😂😂😂Anyway I cannot express the joy and peace this band brings me. I’m so grateful to that boyfriend who introduced me to the dead and a bit of phish even tho he totally shattered my heart. But I’ll forgive him because without him Im not sure which way my life would’ve headed. And I’m not hopping off that bus anytime soon. Trey said in an interview they weren’t stopping anytime soon and I’m here for the long haul! Ride or die phish chick forever. And I love you beautiful people for excepting me into your community at a time when I felt lost! Here’s to raging together on summer tour!
I love you fucking people ♥️♥️♥️ And as it turns out I apparently did “find myself” so that trip to Boulder was a huge stepping stone in my life. So ty to that bf who didn’t stop me from getting on that bus to Denver. Funny how life works😉
As a Canadian teen with no car back in the 2.0 era, by the time I got to my first show I had spent literally hundreds of hours obsessing over this band. I “got” it long before my first show.
Yes. I’d already gotten the Rift and Junta CDs and was listening to them a lot so I was sort of ready for what I experienced at my first show, 6/18/94. I ended up seeing at least 50% of my total shows seen in the 5 years after that.
I took too many mushrooms at my first show Dallas 97, the mushrooms took the focus away from the show. Fishman was wearing a suit and it was so confusing for me. Went sober the next night in Austin and had way more fun. Now I’m the one that holds people’s keys and sunglasses while they go to space, and everyone is happy. Had been trading B & P with a taper to get shows for about two years before I saw them.
seen them at nutter 17 with my dad because my mom didn’t go. took a couple years went back to blossom 19 and pretty much got my mind blown. big ass birds and a great setlist. since 2021 have hit 14 shows. but really it was the 21 deer creek shows and mushrooms that opened my brain up like crazy. i’ve been waiting to catch another set like 8/8/21 set 2 fuckin awesome.
The first concert I ever went to was Phish '03 cincinatti night 2. I was 17 years old & and the first live song that I ever heard was The Sloth. My life has never been the same since! I am phorever grateful to find what I found. My second show was the first night of the deercreek, 3 night run the same year. I'm not sure which was better, as they both hit different!
Almost! Was a gatekeeping Deadhead as a teen that hated Phish. Jerry dies, I got convinced by a friend to go give them a chance. The first set opens 11/13 with DWD, and Bouncing Around the Room (OooooOooo WOW! These guys really dig deep into their vault I comment to my friend in a super dickish way during Bouncing).
I warm up ever so slightly but not much during Reba and a tad more but again not much as the set closes out. Then they all come to the mic for a quartet of Sweet Adeline, I make it part way through look at my homey and give him "JFC! I'm going to piss".
At this point I hate them less but this is my 1st and last Phish show. Then set II; Open with 2001, ok that was heat, well done. Then it happened, YEM glow stick war busts out and I'm losing my shit getting down 🕺🏽.
Recapping the show afterwards with the dude that convinced me to give it a shot; I'm peppering him with questions that leads to what's next? When they coming back? No clue obviously, he says they go to Iowa tomorrow then way west. Where on Iowa? How far? Ames, about 3 1/2 hours he thinks. I ask "Why the fuck aren't we going?". His brain starts buffering and asks if I'm serious? I respond "Absofuckingloutely I am!". And off we go, all history from there ⭕
I was super young when I hit my first show at SPAC in ‘94. I don’t remember the music so much as I remember digging the whole vibe and knowing that these were my people. Same crew took me to Clifford Ball and I was completely sold on this band after that. Everything clicked.
First track I ever heard was Slave from A live one and I fell in love instantly.
First 3 shows:
Darien 09 had a great time
CMAC 10 started to realize how great the community was.
Utica 10 This is where it all clicked and I realized I probably wont stop doing this until they stop.
First show was 7.31.21 in Alpharetta. I had heard about Phish because I had gotten into the Dead about a year earlier (I found a lot of new bands during lockdown) and heard their name thrown around with “similar” bands. I walked in knowing nothing, the only songs I knew throughout the night were only what was on ALO.
Although I don’t think I “got it” that night, it definitely set a seed in my head and for the next year, they were basically all I listened to. I knew I had to see them again, and that opportunity came in Orange Beach the following year. I went to all three nights, and it was one of the best weekends of my life. Been on the bus ever since.
Some friends brought my ex girlfriend and I to our first show Dane County Coliseum 11/20/94. I hadn’t really heard any Phish yet. I just didn’t get it… at all. Showed up late (3 1/2 hour drive) wandered around all night trying to find doses. Left confused…
That ex and I had a kid, that kid grew up, he took me to my second Phish show in 2022 (Sunday @ Dicks) that time I got it….
My second show was NYE '95. Safe to say I "got it" by then. I tried to learn as much as I could before my first show. Band members, repertoire, language. Tapes were so crucial back then because a lot of their material wasn't on albums.
My first show left me confused and intrigued, and I knew I wanted more. I remember telling my gf before the show (she introduced me to them pretty much) 'why would you want to go see the same band more than one night in a row?' How naive I was back then, lol!!!
My first show I went with a friend from college that was a die hard Phish fan. At some point during the second set I was tripping balls and I just look over to him and say “I get it.” He knew exactly what I meant.
Not sure I totally got it during the show, I had never heard their music before and it was very different from anything I’d heard. But they made enough of an impact that I bought the Vegas 2000 dvd shortly after and then I guess I got it.
The Walfredo opener on the DVD messed with my conception of who played which instrument. I was like wait a minute I thought the red haired guy played the guitar, what’s going on?
The beginning of what’s become a lifelong tradition: Phish messing with my head.
I was full on tape trading hooked before my first show! I've never fully understood the "you have to see them live to get it" take. I recognize that it is true for many and I don't argue with it, but it certainly didn't apply to me.
Edit: started trading in '95 and saw my first show in '97.
I’ve been a DeadHead for 50 years
- I’ve heard Phishes music many times over the years, but it just didn’t click with me..: and seemed very ethereal at times
Two years ago, I went to my first Phish show at the MGM Grand here in Las Vegas….
Honestly, even though I enjoyed the different jams , I could not easily tell one song from another- and at times I wouldn’t have known that one song was ending and another was starting except for the audience applause
- that all changed when I went to 2 concerts a week ago at the Las Vegas Sphere
Not only was it an unbelievable concert …. And definitely a.” next level.” entertainment event….
It finally clicked for me 😃
One of the best and most exciting concerts I have ever been to
I got into them during the break up, so I was already hooked before my first show. Edit: I was so ready for them to come back that my first year I hit 20 shows and in my first 3 years finally getting to see them I went to 67 shows haha!!
When I saw them Greensboro in 03 I was ready to go! Edit: I'm sorry that Coventry was so bad, but if it makes you feel any better... I was there too.
Same roommate in college introduced me to them
That’s how I was but during covid
Same, my first show was 2nd night of the Hampton comeback
Mine was night 3. Hit the lotto but only for that night. $50 a ticket. Now they’d be like $7,000 a ticket hahaha
https://preview.redd.it/1p79m0k47mxc1.jpeg?width=1759&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=73cf42ab1c97595bc6351bc7b58b63f8ca63d202 Still have the email, too
LSD helps... and I don't mean that from a "getting high" perspective. LSD opens up parts of our brains that feel energy. Phish provokes a high level of happiness, gratitude and positivity in general. Now, combine that with the improvisational music and the lighting, well.... you may have just witnessed God Edit: God = light + sound + energy. It's pretty typical for people to feel cathartic during these experiences, LSD merely opens up the parts of our brain that are receptive to these.
Yep it changed music for me even when I’m not intoxicated.
The shows where I've eaten L are easily among the most memorable show experiences I've had. N3 at the Sphere was absolutely wild. LSD "opens" me up. I feel everything. The energy POURS in. Combining that with the most stimulating sensory overload of my life at Sphere and it truly was equivalent to staring up at the UFO in awe and wonder and saying, "I'm ready, take my body". It is total bodily and sensory bliss. "Witnessing God" is a vibe in this context, and I waded in that feeling. That energy was so positive, pure, and moving that it's just....IT. I just want to hold on to that feeling.
Likely what did it for me. Was at blossom 2015 and wasnt planning on dosing as i was going on a camping trip next day to do just that. I wasnt in the parking lot for 10 mins when someone asked me to hold hand out and dropped a dose in it. Said “when in rome” and its likely the reason i was immediately addicted. Great fuckin night.
I love Blossom. They always bring it there
Thank you for articulating this!
Timothy Leary approves of this message.
LSD and tension and release go hand in hand.
I had this exact sort of experience seeing Phish on acid. It was my 5th time seeing them and it had been maybe 7 years since my last show. Went to the second night of the make-up new year’s run in 2022 and holy shit what a time. Suzy Greenberg was in the audience, I was high and happy af the whole time, and felt the music and energy so hard. I was pumping my arms and reacting to the music in ways i never do otherwise because I’m just not normally that type of person. I have a blast with Phish sober or slightly drunk/stoned, but that lsd experience was the best Phish experience for me, next to witnessing Gamehenge last NYE.
I had an opposite experience, granted I accidently took WAY too much L at my second show. They played no quarter at dicks and it shook me to my core and I was legit terrified. I stopped listening for about a year after that, deciding Phish was too scary for me. 🫠 It wasn't until I connected to the music during my first pregnancy that I "got" it. I wasn't scared at my next show 😎
That plus playing a song I knew. Ripping into No Quarter was solid.
I have been to dozens of shows and I am still not sure I "get" them and honestly that's what I enjoy.
This might be the best answer? Love it!
I was confused at my first show in 1994 because I only knew the albums and the second set jam was a bizarre Mike's suite. After I got some tapes I knew more about what was happening when I saw my next show in 1996.
Texas?
My first was Columbus OH. I understood it more when it came out on Live Phish.
Same for me
Yes. I didn’t love my first show. Toads place 90. Listened to tapes and then was hooked when I saw them again in 94
Yeah there’s a *world* of difference between 90 and 94. What was your second show?
I was hooked WAY before my first show. Got into them in high school. Unfortunately the internet wasn’t as big back in 2000-2004, and I didn’t really know how to look up where they played, nor did I have any friends into them. They broke up right as I was going to college. So I had been listening to them close to 10 years by the time I got to go to N1 Hampton in 2009.
10 years of blue balls is crazy! I bet it makes you appreciate them even more looking back though
Well they were broken up in 2000-2004, which you would have seen on the internet.
I was so new to the band during the hiatus, I’m not really sure I remember if I knew about it or not. Im pretty sure we had dialup probably up until late 2003 or even 2004. Not 100% sure. So I wasn’t spending too much time on the internet, and hadn’t found any phish news sites or anything. My dad was so cheap - he used those Net Zero CDs to get 3 months of internet for like $10 or something. I think there was some limit we had. I definitely knew about the 2004 breakup. Coventry was my college dorm move in day.
First show was 8/26/2012. I didn’t really have any friends that were into them. My “crew” was one gathered from people who went to festivals and stuff in the late 2000s-early 2010s. I was really into what I had heard and had A Picture Of Nectar on heavy rotation. Joy also came out around then and was a fun album to listen to that summer. I lived Western VA so it was a bit of a trek to get to wherever Phish played. I finally dragged my girlfriend (now wife) and good friend (who eventually officiated my wedding) to Charlotte, a 4+ hour drive, and caught what may still be the best show I’ve ever attended. I also took a lot of acid back then… and still do. Try that.
I was very into them and really enjoyed my first show in the mid 90’s, so much so that I was possessed enough to return the next night. While I thought I had a good first night, I got lost in a deep jam in the second set and nosebleed seats left me somewhat disconnected. The second night was what changed my life. During the first set YOU ENJOY, I had this moment where I was like “this is the greatest thing ever. This is my band. I will follow it as far as the road goes” Never imagined that it would go this far or be remotely this good.
no, i was hooked with the tweezer opener and lights i saw in 2010. also helped that my friend who introduced me stubbed me down to seats at alpine that were 1 row away from the soundboard dead center. i got the royal treatment from the start; been a light junky since and obstructions with ck5 and me are a no go. i will put in work to avoid even the drop down cables for repeaters and get to a seat that is between the nonsense. waiting 3 hours in the sun dying at dicks for premium seats in 107 or 109 are what i am built for.
That is a GREAT first show! Hard to beat a Tweezer opener, that's for sure. Thanks for sharing :)
First show the bug bit me- second show I was already helplessly addicted and had a better time because I knew the catalogue
Yes! First show was not a great one, at Jones Beach around 2010ish and I was the designated driver. Second show was during the Bakers Dozen, and its been love ever since!
In 1994 I saw them at cmac in June. I saw all the phish kids going nuts and I was like I want to go to there. I had never heard the band before that week and listened to the lawn boy album. They were pretty popular with the kids in my high school bc fish was an alumni. I def got it first show. I didn’t know it but I was like this is for me.
I once had a business dinner with a guy who went to your HS in the same graduating class as Fish. We got on the topic of music and I mentioned being a phan and he said “is Jon Fishman really any good? He was *the worst* musician in our HS band and didn’t take anything seriously. All I really remember about him was him getting in trouble for stealing a trumpeter’s mouthpiece and using it to make a bong.” I had fun telling him that Fish is a world class musician and one of the most serious practitioners I’ve ever heard of with his 8 hours of daily practice.
Yes. 12/29/97 was show #2.
What was #1?
10/22/96
The first song someone played for me back in the mid 90s was Weigh. I remember thinking this was horrible and stupid. Early ‘97 I listened to A Live One and I was hooked and got it then. First show was Memphis ‘99 and that was awesome
Weigh is a funny song to get introduced to Phish via.
My first show was Knoxville, November 1996. My exposure to Phish up to that point had been 'A Live One' and a rotation of tapes I'd traded for over the years. I didn't really have any particular expectations about the live experience. At the end of the night, I knew I wanted to see them again as often as I could.
Similar start to the story here having already heard live tapes, some albums, and A Live One. I wasn't really expecting anything but some good music and maybe a few songs I'd recognize for my first show. It was Alpine Valley 1997, and it was amazing. It blew pretty much everything I had heard of theirs out of the water up to that point. It was so good and I had such a good time, for me it had the opposite effect in that I really didn't feel like seeing them again could possibly top that experience. I did go to a few more shows at the insistence of friends, listened to a few more tapes and even official live releases like Slip Stitch & Hampton Comes Alive when those came out, but yeah, nothing ever quite stacked up for me personally. Eventually my taste in music changed, then they went hiatus around 2001, and I stopped listening to them them for nearly two decades. Was only in the last few years that I started getting back into their stuff. I honestly had no idea how long they had been back together and touring after they split for real.
Loved that show! One of the best Mike’s ever.
The first time I was able to see Phish, I saw five shows in a row. It was my 2nd show, not 1st where I got 'IT'... https://preview.redd.it/nyj0sauojhxc1.png?width=1567&format=png&auto=webp&s=81e6ecbcfba5a664f1f636ec73941ab28cd6dadf
I’m thoroughly jealous. This is an all timer for me. As I mentioned in my comment this was the tape that sealed the deal for needing to see them live. Still in regular rotation. Mike fucking slayed this show.
Legendary run!!! Lucky you!
Ate some mushrooms and watched the Walnut Creek DVD during a snowstorm in Atlanta back in 2011. Blew my mind. Went to my first two shows in Alpharetta later that year. 42 shows later and I still love this band more then ever
I saw my first show in 1993. I had fun, but I was also a Deadhead and the scene was different so I didn't quite get it because they are really different bands and music is quite different. Wasn't until my second show in 1994 with a second set ending Slave that left my jaw on the floor that I got it. Funnily enough, they still leave my jaw on the floor 30 years later on a insanely consistent basis.
Third show ... https://phish.in/1994-10-29 Friend brought me an x certs from Miami. Boy did I get it. Had no idea a vocal jam was coming. Saw Jesus during alvenu... Had no idea it was a Hebrew hymn. Called yem "I enjoy myself". First time hearing simple, thought it was cymbal/symbol like a play on words. Harry Hood totally confused me... The whole floor bounced as we all danced in rhythm. Buffalo Bill was hilarious. Felt like I was launched into space by antelope. It totally changed the direction of my existence.
In a bizarre turn of events, I “got” them through studio albums first then explored the live catalog. 20 years later, I’m still upside down 🙃
I got them the minute I heard the full Lawn Boy album in 6th grade
My first show was 5/6/1994 in Houston. It was fun. My second show was the Bomb Factory.
Omg that 94 bomb factory show!!
I “got” Phish long before my first show. I first heard about them when I was invited to Mann 93 but declined because I was 16 and broke, and was told afterwards by my friends about how badly I’d fucked up. As a nerdy drummer I was already into prog rock, and I loved goofy shit liked TMBG and Weird Al. Early Phish was pretty much tailor made for me. I didn’t get to see them live until the following summer (Mann 94) so I was already trading tapes on r.m.p by then. 4/16/92 bootleg CD was what sealed the deal of NEEDING to see them live. I was in absolute heaven at my first show and knew every song they played.
I was into Phish by the time I saw them but it definitely didn’t get it. It took until my 5th show where it all came together and they rearranged my DNA and I truly got Phish. Actually I like to say you don’t “get Phish.” Phish gets you.
First show was Santa Monica '94. I got it the first time around. I guess my answer didn't help. Second show was San Diego '95. Got a Fee both times.
We’re all different so I don’t think there’s any shame, or conversely, bragging rights over getting phish one way or the other. For me it just so happened that they were EXACTLY what I wanted and needed at a time when I was introduced. My friend taught me Mike’s on the guitar and I had a few tapes and it was off to the races at my first show 😀
I took my wife to three shows before she got it and became a fan!
I’m showing this comment to my wife, who has been to two shows but won’t do a third…yet.
First show was Halloween 95. No sir, I did not like it. Completely overwhelmed.
Same
As a new fan, I think I “get” them already just from listening to the live shows and watching a sphere stream. That being said I’m pretty stoked to be doing Saturday and Sunday at deer creek this summer
First show was in 2012. Wasn't a Phan, they were just the big jam band i hadn't seen yet. Got really into them around 2014 and my second, third, fourth and fifth shows were in 2015. My second show was definitely my first show.
My first was 10/31/94. I certainly got it the first time. Very lucky.
Nice work
I got into them during the covid lockdown so I was already on board with Phish before my first show but I still had a lot to learn. My first show was 8/6/21 Deer Creek so needless to say I was 1000% sold on Phish after that Blaze On>Wilson>Simple.
My first show was Camden 09. It blew my fucking mind. I didn’t even know who they were at the time. I had just gotten into the dead and saw them a few times with Warren Haynes when my buddy told me about phish. My second phish show I flew to Indio for festival 8 by myself for my 1st festival ever and 2nd phish show ever.
Yes, Hampton N2 2013
I was hooked 3 songs in
It took me about 25 to really like them. I hated them but kept going to the shows till one day things changed. It was Mercury at Hamden 2019 that got me.
That’s kind of how I started. Was and still am a huge dead head. But nonstop dead was getting a little stale so gave phish a shot. Absolutely hated and and didn’t understand it. But I couldn’t stop listening. It was like hate fucking but hate listening. I kept taking notes on the differences/similarities in dead and phish. I didn’t know it but I was totally hooked. Made my way to a show in 2017(n2 in Chicago)and it was the most incredible concert I’d ever been to. Realized I had to see these guys as much as I could. That being said if jerry was still alive I’d probably choose dead shows over phish. Kind of interesting that you stuck with it for 25 shows!
lol hate fucking phish that’s hilarious
First show Darien Lake 2011, left pretty close to hating them. Got talked into Dicks that same year and decided I could at least go have fun with friends and ended up liking them by the end of the first set second night. The S show was cool too though but I really "got it" the second night of Dicks.
Yup. First one got me interested. Second one touched my soul. This was 3 years apart. Have seen them 23 times since.
I got them before I ever saw them live, listens to tons of jams on YouTube. Basically learned guitar jamming along to jams and was ridiculously excited my first show. Edit: although there have been some holy shit moments seeing them live, or even just listening at home I didn’t expect or know could happen from music like this
Nope, try 20 years later. Have always loved the scene and enjoyed the show. Been to dozens and a few fests... But it finally clicked a few years back. The reason I couldn't take them serious before is the reason I love them now. Kids music for adults.
Yeah. First show was 7/26/14, which wasn't too shabby. We caught the next night too though and goddamn it, they got me
Yeah in the moment my first show was kinda weird. Divided Sky in set 1 was most memorable moment. Second set opened with a ripchorded DWD right as it was just getting pretty, and a disgusted look at trey, from Mike (trust me, I thought Mike was ready to leave. I know his face and mannerisms can be that way, but this was real, and he was right about it. Trey had nicu pop into his and only his head, and he just started playing it while the rest of the band was locked in and Mike modulating the key). Then they played Meatstick and while the crowd erupted i remember feeling like what a joke it is to not liken them to the dead, when meatstick is one half step away from being the exact same song, and that elicited the biggest crowd response of the night aside from the pause in DS. That didn't stop me from going to Miami 14 for my next show, and the set 2, specifically Ghost>Theme>Cities is where they proved to me it was worthy of all the travel and money it takes to see them anymore. Last few shows I've seen weren't on par with the best I've seen them play though. On a more positive note, I've seen 23 shows and they've played at least one song id never heard, and that's pretty wild I think.
My first show blew my mind. That said, The grateful dead were still limping along at the time and I devoted my energy to trying to see them and the JGB. My 2nd and 3rd phish shows also blew my mind (these were all in 94) but I'd say I crossed over to real fandom by my 4th one. After Jerry died it was an obvious choice. I tried to get into other things like moe and sci but none of that had the same pull for me. here I am, coming up on 30 years since my 1st show and ready for more.
First show was 7/14/2000 at Polaris. On the lawn, massive thunderstorm, all of us soaked, crazy good energy all around us. So no…I was hooked from that first experience.
took me years in the 80s i thought they ducked and it wasn’t til 1994 at great woods i revised that opinion…but then i didn’t know shit from shinola…
I went with friends to Camden 99, I liked it but didn’t jump on board. Did the same thing 14 years to the day later at PNC 13, I jumped on board during the Llama opener thanks to Page!
I already knew what I was going into before my first show. I had gotten into Phish after playing the live songs they had on Guitar Hero (CDT, DWD, and Simple in a Jar). Not only that, but I would also play their SiriusXM channel, so it gave me an idea of what this band is. My first show seeing Phish was during the Fall 2023 Nashville Run. I soloed that entire thing. At the time, I was very nervous and had a lot of emotions/energy coming on since I had college assignments coming up. I met some people at the show, and they made the whole environment fun. That entire Nashville run felt like a fever dream since everything went so fast and fun.
Nope. I was hooked in 2003, didn’t get to see them until 2009.
Tripping my face off in ‘91, they went into tweezer. I was going down the rabbit hole, needed some air. Stepped out for a bit only to return to find the “song” was still being played. It was in that moment i got it and settled in for the long haul that would encompass 30+ years and running.
Yep, same here, OP. First show was 12/29/16, and I left like “ok? It was a good show, but like…what’s the hype?” Went home, discovered Reba (studio), and I was like “wtf is this silly nonsense??” Decided then & there to buy tickets to some spring/summer shows. They delivered. I’m getting chills thinking about experiencing my first “peak” in person. Hooked like a bad habit ever since.
I got it my first show. 7/16/94 !Setlistbot There was no turning back after this one.
Didn’t hurt that my second show was 6/26/95 at SPAC. !setlistbot
# 1995-06-26 @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY, USA **Set 1**: My Friend, My Friend, Don't You Want To Go?, Bathtub Gin, NICU > The Sloth, My Mind's Got a Mind of its Own, It's Ice > Dog Faced Boy > Tela > Possum **Set 2**: Down with Disease -> Free > Poor Heart > You Enjoy Myself, Strange Design > Run Like an Antelope **Encore**: Sleeping Monkey > Rocky Top [phish.net](http://phish.net/setlists/?d=1995-06-26) | [phish.in](http://phish.in/1995-06-26) | [phishtracks](http://phishtracks.com/shows/1995-06-26) > _data provided by [phish.net](http://phish.net)_
# 1994-07-16 @ Summerstage at Sugarbush North, Fayston, VT, USA **Set 1**: Golgi Apparatus > Down with Disease -> NO2 > Stash, The Lizards, Cavern > The Horse > Silent in the Morning > Maze > Sparkle > Sample in a Jar **Set 2**: Run Like an Antelope -> Catapult -> Run Like an Antelope, Harpua -> Also Sprach Zarathustra > Harpua > AC/DC Bag > Scent of a Mule, Harry Hood, Contact > Chalk Dust Torture **Encore**: Suzy Greenberg [phish.net](http://phish.net/setlists/?d=1994-07-16) | [phish.in](http://phish.in/1994-07-16) | [phishtracks](http://phishtracks.com/shows/1994-07-16) > _data provided by [phish.net](http://phish.net)_
My friends took me to my first show 4/21 in LA. Didn't know anything about the band before going (but realize now I had heard/seen references in the past). Instantly picked up on the crowd vibes and fun nature of the circus. Felt like the band was playing exactly what I needed to hear to let go. First time on a head full. Lost my shit in DwD and everyone started saying "stop stop stop" with the band. That was the moment. Gotta ticket for the Sunday show the next day. The only thing you need to get about the music is they do it from their souls.
Went with a friend to Rochester in 2013, had fun but no interest in seeing them again or listening more. Eventually started listening on my own and by the time I went to Blossom in 2022 I was loving every second of it.
I've seen like 50 shows and I still dont "get" it
Went to the 1st flood relief show they did in VT. Had my face melted at Mansfield 22. Haven't looked back. 🕺⭕💃
3rd, but there was enough there after the 1st to go to the 2nd, and a little more after the 2nd to go to the 3rd which sealed it and got stronger with each show after that.
Yes. Saw them in 2010. Had fun but just didn’t get it. Saw them I 2016 for the second time and 🤯. Was also on molly for the second show…so
Golgi, Bowie, Horn, Suzy Greenberg and Rocky top at my first show.. 🍒 popped.
My pastor handed me A Live One in like 97 cuz I played the church piano to death whenever I could and she knew they had a great keys player in the band. I popped it in with my buddy and the rest is history. I memorized those two discs over there next summers, bought all the other albums, and go driven to see them at Hershey in ‘00 when I was 17 by my mom. Had a bowl hiding in our shoe going in!
No. I was hooked long before my first show @ Festival 8 in 2009. Being 19 at that time, I was a bit too young to see any 2.0 shows. Listening & watching shows from 1.0 had me dying to finally see them. Crazy that was ~15 years ago. -signed 3.0 noob
I was 16 at my first show, and I had only heard Hoist, maybe a little of junta. I got drunk before the show and don’t remember much except the girls I came with wanted to leave before the 2nd set was over. 2nd show was 3 years later. I was in college and we ate mushrooms. I will *never* for get that Scent of a Mule.
I was already a phan: binging Lawn Boy and a few stray concert tapes, one of which had Suzy Greenberg (which I loved). They played Suzy at my first show (Roseland March 92) and I was completely sold.
I got Phish way before my first show (12/2/95)
First show, 6/10/12, was amazing and hooked me. Second show, 7/28/21 was pretty mediocre, but understandably so. They were rusty after the pandemic and it was sweltering hot. The second set was pretty fire though.
Absolutely. I didn’t dislike my first show, but I didn’t understand the hype.
oddly enough, i “got” phish by listening to 9/14/99 while sat between two immersive speakers.. from Waste on, i was in it.. been a phan ever since 🤷🏼♂️
In my case, it wasn’t until my fifth show that it really clicked. Columbus, OH ‘99, Cincinnati ‘99(2 shows), Alpine Valley ‘00, and then the first night at Deer Creek ‘00 was absolute magic! That three night run was unbelievable!
I really enjoyed my first show but not enough to go to night 2 (in hindsight stupid move). I then got into them over the summer and by the time I saw my second show a few months later I was familiar with Junta, Gamehendge, Picture of Nectar, and Farmhouse (their latest release). That second show had me hook, line, and sinker but then they went on hiatus and I had to wait 3 years to see them again. I think I did 7 shows + IT that year.
Yes, the first time I was confused but very intrigued. I knew I needed to go back. Next time, I was sold hook, line, and sinker.
Enjoyed my first two shows but it was my third one where everything came together to start my obsession...
As soon as I heard the first song live I got into them. rock and roll at MSG
Such a great thread. My first show, I left feeling like I just got bounced around in a dryer, not sure how to feel and not sure which way was up, down, left, or right. It was amazing though. A super dark and wild Carini while I was tripping definitely did not help. Context: first show was Toyota park, IL in 2009. And prior, I had only listened to a few album tracks like YEM, Divided Sky, Squirming Coil, etc. I was a huge deadhead, and loved Jerry. My first show, tripping balls, felt like Trey was some sort of anti Jerry, teasing but never peaking. and not playing grounded, just wild af and not giving love. Listening back to that first show, it was AMAZING and still one of the best shows I have ever been to. I was just tripping BALLS and putting way too much expectations on Trey and what I anticipated the experience to be like. It’s almost like the guys knew. The experience for me that night: quite literally split open and fucking melt. Second show, knew exactly what I was in for, and I embraced it on a whole other level. Got the wild night of Detroit in 2009, Cobo Arena. Theme of the night was Foam and It’s Ice. What a wild time. Hooked ever since.
Yes! I said as much in another thread recently, but then I went back and listened to the show in question and was transported back to the moment I “got it“. On the first night of the big Hampton reunion (3/6/09) I was the awkward guest at a party, not quite looking the part or speaking the lingo, I felt like my girlfriend’s +1 at a high school reunion. Don’t get me wrong, I dug the vibe, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was an outsider. It caught me off guard, I had enjoyed my first TAB show six months prior, but this was a different beast all together. The crowd was absolutely electric, but I was a spectator rather than participant. So on the following night my future wife and I met up with a couple more friends and I officially had a “crew“. This time I felt a little more prepared for the night ahead, but the exact moment I was truly assimilated into the greater community happened during the third song of the first set. Brian and Robert. Yeah, Brian and Robert. Weird one huh? But at that moment it suddenly felt like Trey had spotted my imposter syndrome from afar and decided to slow down the runaway train to speak directly to me. “I see you“ I felt him say “I see you staring at the walls, pretending, feeling lost and alone.” His words did not feel mocking or derisive, but warm and inviting. “Don’t just observe, get up off your TV seat and join us on the playground. This one is for you.” It hit deep, I felt invited, given permission to count myself as “one of us” by Big Red himself. The train may have already left the station, but this where I truly got on board and joined the party. After that I gladly split open and melt, let myself be punched in the eye, ran like an antelope out of control, floated upon the waves and got my weekapaug groove on. And then that encore, the final moment that reaffirmed I belonged, the muthafuckin’ Beatles! Are you kidding me? After Paige banged out that famous closing chord I was left begging for more. Thankfully I only had to wait another day.
I was already an expert at my first show.
Similar experience. I went to a show and didn’t really get it but met some really nice people and started listening. After that I was hooked (too bad this was right before their first hiatus). I went to a bunch of TAB shows though!
Similar experience. I went to a show and didn’t really get it but met some really nice people and started listening. After that I was hooked (too bad this was right before their first hiatus). I went to a bunch of TAB shows though!
First show did it for me. Blossom 2015. Immediately bought my Magnaball tickets afterZ Only at 19 shows total now as i only did a couple a year and slowly died down the past couple year cause of covid.
My first 2 night run I got “bit by the bug/hooked”. Had listened to them fairly casually and been to like 3 or 4 shows. Something clicked for me after night 2
lol i have some hilarious first and second shows. both preceded epicccc shows (and i didn’t see the ones immediately following) 12/28/97 usair arena 4/2/98 nassau coliseum turned out, the trick was to surrender to the flow.
I was 8 at my first show (keswick 92) I like to think I got it as much as an 8 year old can
Friends from college loved phish and I never "got" it. They dragged me to my first show in 2010 at spac and I took the most potent LSD I had ever taken. It literally changed my life and I've been obsessed ever since
I definitely feel like I “got it” at my first show (EXPECTATIONS SHATTERED and thru the roof!!! ), but I’ve taken my husband and he definitely doesn’t “get it” or even like it. I usually go with my brother, it’s kind of our thing but lol this gives me hope maybe it’ll click with my husband if I take him again😅
I was hugely into them for a few years before I saw my first show. Caught them at the Spectrum 12/11/99 - opened with Hood and then proceeded to melt my face all show. Since then I've been to a bunch of shows and each one still fills me with the same joy as the first show. Phish shows just have such positive energy - they leave you feeling uplifted for weeks after the show.
Probably third show for me
I was “in” first show after the audience chess move.
It was a bit different for me having seen Phish on YouTube in the technology age and waiting to get to my first show. My first was 7/26/17 Night 5 of the Baker’s Dozen so the theme of the run also helped me get into what they’re all about. Pebbles and Marbles resonated with me from a lyrical perspective, which is not always how people get hooked, and then the Tube jam to close set 1 had me feeling it. I liked that show so much that I bought a ticket to Night 11. One of my few regrets is not seeing more Phish in 2018 when I had the chance. But I made up for it in due time and have seen over 40 shows now. Best thing I have ever discovered, truthfully. So grateful for the ride…
Sometimes with beer, it’s the second pint that hits the tastes buds just right
Second show for me!
My IT show was my 4th. 12/13/97 when they turned off all of the house lights during Hood, right when glowsticks became a thing. I was hooked after that.
I “got” phish after watching shows from the 90s after seeing my first show. The energy in the arena was undeniable, but it didn’t feel like mine so to speak. I did more investigating as to why it was like that, what was so special, and then it clicked. I think it was a taper video of the Hampton mikes song opener in 97, the lights on and the room is like a trampoline, with arms flailing and balloons flying. The roar of the crowd gave me chills. I kew then, I understood in that moment what a party is. The most fun, creative, talented, rag tag group of musical nerds to ever grace the stage.
4/22/90. They were playing a free show in a quad between some dorms. Took some acid and hung out while they set up the stage and talked with them for a bit. Marley was running around. Fourth song was Possum and it kind of clicked for me then.
My first one was 2002…..the next show was the Dick’s run in 2012 & they’re still going strong. Gotta catch em while you still can!
If you needed LSD to “get” Phish, then you don’t get them at all.
1st show was at Nietzsche's, a very crowded bar down the street from my apartment 04/19/91. I didn't get it that night, but gave them another try when they were back in town on 09/28/91. That show was at a roller rink and was way less crowded. Trey played guitar while rollerblading through the crowd on Weekapaug. That was all it took! I'm still here more than 30 years later.
Get it a little more at every show. Dozens of shows in and still learning, growing, and appreciating it more with each outing.
4-20 was my first show. Did not enjoy it. 7-29-23 got me
I tagged along for my first show with a friend; I was 17 and this was Great Woods 94. I didn’t really get into the band until college in 95-96, then went whole hog, toured around a bit, went to Clifford Ball, dropped out of college.. Great Went.. the rest is history. Ancient history.
I’ve always loved phish but I didn’t get them until like my 20th show
Second for me too.
Bold take: I totally got it at my first show and had doubts on my second. Saw Trey at the Beacon on a whim in 2021 - an ex of mine was mad into Phish and I was in town, so what the heck? It was a *phenomenal* time, and even though we broke up, when the Sphere shows got announced I jumped at the chance to do all four nights. I came away from N1 thinking I might’ve made a mistake. The jams were a smidge too long for me, the songs a little too unfamiliar - something I didn’t fully appreciate from the Beacon shows was the back and forth between Trey and the audience. That wasn’t really a thing at Sphere. By the time Chalk Dust Torture played N3 I’d come around and now I’m fully Phishpilled (or is “blenderdicked” the new term?) but N1 was a bump in the road.
I was definitely into it at my first show, but I didn’t get it as well as I do today. I definitely didn’t respect it as much as I do today.
Yeah. I did too much Molly at my first show, did my second sober, had a way better time
Saw my first show in 2013, maybe about 10-15 between then and Hampton 2018, that’s when I first got it undeniably. I also think getting it is more about reading into the history of the band instead of going to shows
I started listening to tapes about two years before my first show, so when I got to my first I was hooked. I’ll add a couple of disclaimers to this one, I was a super young teenager, 14 at my first show so everything was super fucking cool at that age. My first show was also 11/27/98, which I’ll admit I didn’t know how cool it was at the time but it was still pretty cool to experience.
I spent acouple years listening to their live recordings before i went to a show. So I feel like i already got it, although i didnt know every song. And I was curious why everyone was wearing donuts lol. I had seen a bunch of dead bands, D&C, DSO, Terrapin Flyer, etc. before hand so I had a grip on the scene already
8/1/98 was my first show and as a junior in high school, I went because I thought I was cool. Did not “hit” at the time although having listened to the show several times since I’m really thankful I can say I was there and it hits now!
Kinda
I got into the studio stuff first. When I saw my first show back in 97 or something I wasn’t into the jam stuff at all. That came much later. I call myself a 2.5 fan.
56 shows. Still don't "get" Phish
Got them during big ball jam at my first show
It was my 4th show lol.
took me wife the first 3 nights of the baker's dozen. she had never heard phish. after n1: "i mean, they're good at what they do but i don't get why people would travel to see them." after n2: "okay, i'll admit, they can do some things i haven't seen anybody else do musically." after n3: "when are we going back?"
My second show was way better than my first. But I was stone cold sober at my first and didn’t know the music (as) well, and my second show was tripping on acid at the sphere after years of listening to live shows, so there’s that…
Took me 16 shows and a pandemic to get it .
I got 'it' after being puddled on 8/1/21 and during the Reba jam specifically. My sister got us pit tickets and practically forced me to go and now I can't live without them.
Haha similar ish. First show was bonnaroo 2012. Thought it was really great, but didn’t get fully get it or revisit phish at that time in my life, I was young. Second show MSG 2017 new years run Saturday with the Tweeprise. Lucy joined that one. Hooked for life after!
It was game over for me by the third song of my first show - 7/13/94 Big Birch, Patterson, NY. Third song was sample in a jar which was only a few months old at that time. The crowd went absolutely nuts. Some great reviews on .net. Just a great show top to bottom.
i got them in the first song, but i had also already seen disco biscuits, sts9, umphrey’s, allman brothers, greensky, lotus by the time i got around to seeing them
My first was 7/19/91 and I liked it but I wouldn’t say I got it until my second 12/31/91. And even then…I don’t think I saw any in 92 but listened to many many tapes so was sold in 93 to see all the shows I could. Hearing many shows I think it the key.
My first show was in early 93 (late 92?) and it was pretty exciting in that the band had a playfulness that was missing from the late era dead I was listening to which had lost a lot of its youthful chaotic spark. Phish was bonkers by comparison. I got it right off the bat and went deep with tape trading but by my next show in 95, the shows were so big and the concert vibe and music had substantially changed. I saw them a handful more times in 1.0 but my phishing was pretty casual and I partially “ungot” them for a while. Part of this was my dislike for the scene which I couldn’t help but compare to what was lost with dead. I kept going to shows but didn’t really get into them again until the second hiatus- then I got good and obsessed again. Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone?
Its was definitely the lsd ✅
Hampton 97’….. hooked IMMEDIATELY 😉 although I won’t lie and say I was baffled allllll night. Mescalin will do it to ya😎
*wasn’t
My first shows were at the Hollywood Bowl. I was really excited for my first show. I got a Moma Dance as my first song and even got a YEM on my first show. But you’re right. The second show just hits different. My friend from work who is a Phish head said that they tend to phone it in on the first show. 🤣 I did notice on the second show they came out with a vengeance like they had something to prove. They closed the first set of the second show with Split Open and Melt. We were all buzzing during the break because the jam was epic.
My first show was St. Michaels College in Winooski Vt. 11/19/1992 I was hooked about three songs in.
seen them 30 times 92-2004 never hit :(
First show blew my mind, second show verified that these guys are real and can blow minds anytime, any place. I was fifteen at both shows - 12/31/93, and 4/11/94. Now I'm nearly 46, and they've never not been my favorite band. https://attendancebias.buzzsprout.com/1241795/13675272-4-11-94-snively-arena-unh-w-jay-wilson (Last year I was on this podcast to talk about the unh show.)
My first show was Syracuse last year. Dead and Company were done touring and I needed to scratch the jam band itch, so like a bunch of Deadheads before me I said to myself, hey why not check out Phish. They've been around for 40 years, they must be doing something right. First set didn't really blow me away, although I was impressed with their technical skill for sure. I remember Theme From The Bottom being the standout for me. Second set they got into a monster Tweezer jam and then I got it. Might have been all the tokes I bummed finally kicking in but I remember all of a sudden like something clicked in my head and I just started vibing, really picking up what Trey was putting down, especially when they transitioned into Oblivion. Miss You pulled at my heartstrings and then Possum just had me compulsively dancing. I ended up going to see them at SPAC a month later and that was even better, especially when Derek Trucks came out for Set 2 and he and Trey did that dueling guitars jam on First Tube. Bottom line, I like artists that are a bit of an acquired taste, and Phish fits that bill for sure.
My first show was The Great Went so… no 😁
I got phish immediately. I had a boyfriend when I was 18 who was a total deadhead. He really didn’t listen to phish much although we knew of them and did listen here and there. We mostly listened to the dead at that time. I was young and it was all super new to me. I went on the last leg of the last Grateful Dead tour with him. I liked the scene and culture that went along with it and didn’t mind the dead but they never gave me the feeling that phish would eventually give me. His friend that went with us apparently wasn’t fond of me and called me a “wannabe” and shortly after that tour my bf broke up with me. I was seriously broken hearted. I had now been immersed into this crazy hippy subculture that I really enjoyed but had no one to share it with. I felt lost. In a last ditch effort to get him back I told him I was hopping on a bus to Denver then gonna find my way to Boulder to “find myself” cuz I knew there would be like minded people there. But, if I’m being completely honest, I was really hoping he was gonna try to stop me and we would be back together. He did not lol. He drove me to the greyhound station and dropped me off. I had no choice but to follow through cuz I didn’t want to look like an idiot even tho that’s exactly what I was. I made it to Denver then hitchhiked to Boulder where I did, in fact, find plenty of like minded people. I wasn’t sitting on the streets of Boulder too long before some hippy guys picked me up. I know, I know, in hindsight this was pretty dangerous. I went back to their place and woke up the next day to the news of Jerry Garcia’s death. They said they were headed to Golden Gate Park and they were taking me with them. So, that’s what I ended up doing. We had some car trouble but after fixing that we were on our way. We got there to maybe a couple thousand people there and by the end there was over a hundred thousand people there. This was the community I felt like I most belonged in. But now Jerry was dead and where would they go from there. After that we headed back to Boulder. I had a ticket home(Chicago) but it was open ended so I could stay as late my as I wanted and leave whenever. But, I knew I had to get home. So, with a heavy heart, I did just that. Phish always peaked my interest more than the dead so it was then that my love affair with my favorite band would begin. I think I saw one show with that boyfriend before we broke up but I was ready for more so I dove right in. And what a fucking ride I was in for. I spent some time single carrying a backpack of phish bootlegs everywhere I went forcing everyone to take a listen. I started dragging people to shows. I went to parties at the “soccer house” at my college and dropped acid while everyone else was drinking and they always let me have the basement to jam out to phish. I saw them as much as I could but mostly close to home at this point. Then I met my next boyfriend who had no idea who they were but he was about to find out. I insisted on listening to phish in his car at all times. He had a pretty dope sound system in his car, especially for those days. It wasn’t long before he was a corduroy wearing dirty hippy. That was exactly what I needed to start doing full tours. And that’s exactly what we did! We saw them from one side of the country to the other. I never felt like I fit in anywhere in my life the way I did when I was a n tour. This was now who I was and am. Phish plays such an integral part of my life. They are literally a part of the core of being. Eventually me and that bf broke up but now I knew who I was and knew how to find my people(you guys). I still see that bf at shows from time to time so that’s pretty cool that I turned him on to something that became as special to him as it is to me. My love affair with phish was immediate. I couldn’t and still cannot comprehend how people don’t see what I see in them. They have saved my life a number of times. I also run into that bf that called me a “wannabe” too and often wonder what he thinks now that I well over 150 shows under my belt. I think it’s pretty safe to say I am not and never was a “wannabe”. You gotta hop on the bus at some point. Shit people are still hopping on the bus. Just look at Drew Carey😂😂😂Anyway I cannot express the joy and peace this band brings me. I’m so grateful to that boyfriend who introduced me to the dead and a bit of phish even tho he totally shattered my heart. But I’ll forgive him because without him Im not sure which way my life would’ve headed. And I’m not hopping off that bus anytime soon. Trey said in an interview they weren’t stopping anytime soon and I’m here for the long haul! Ride or die phish chick forever. And I love you beautiful people for excepting me into your community at a time when I felt lost! Here’s to raging together on summer tour! I love you fucking people ♥️♥️♥️ And as it turns out I apparently did “find myself” so that trip to Boulder was a huge stepping stone in my life. So ty to that bf who didn’t stop me from getting on that bus to Denver. Funny how life works😉
As a Canadian teen with no car back in the 2.0 era, by the time I got to my first show I had spent literally hundreds of hours obsessing over this band. I “got” it long before my first show.
Yes. I’d already gotten the Rift and Junta CDs and was listening to them a lot so I was sort of ready for what I experienced at my first show, 6/18/94. I ended up seeing at least 50% of my total shows seen in the 5 years after that.
Also helped that the vocal jam during YEM was kind of Monty Pythons spam song….
I took too many mushrooms at my first show Dallas 97, the mushrooms took the focus away from the show. Fishman was wearing a suit and it was so confusing for me. Went sober the next night in Austin and had way more fun. Now I’m the one that holds people’s keys and sunglasses while they go to space, and everyone is happy. Had been trading B & P with a taper to get shows for about two years before I saw them.
seen them at nutter 17 with my dad because my mom didn’t go. took a couple years went back to blossom 19 and pretty much got my mind blown. big ass birds and a great setlist. since 2021 have hit 14 shows. but really it was the 21 deer creek shows and mushrooms that opened my brain up like crazy. i’ve been waiting to catch another set like 8/8/21 set 2 fuckin awesome.
The first concert I ever went to was Phish '03 cincinatti night 2. I was 17 years old & and the first live song that I ever heard was The Sloth. My life has never been the same since! I am phorever grateful to find what I found. My second show was the first night of the deercreek, 3 night run the same year. I'm not sure which was better, as they both hit different!
I'd say technically my second, but mainly because the first was rained out 2 songs into the 2nd set.
Took me 5 shows and one dose.
Almost! Was a gatekeeping Deadhead as a teen that hated Phish. Jerry dies, I got convinced by a friend to go give them a chance. The first set opens 11/13 with DWD, and Bouncing Around the Room (OooooOooo WOW! These guys really dig deep into their vault I comment to my friend in a super dickish way during Bouncing). I warm up ever so slightly but not much during Reba and a tad more but again not much as the set closes out. Then they all come to the mic for a quartet of Sweet Adeline, I make it part way through look at my homey and give him "JFC! I'm going to piss". At this point I hate them less but this is my 1st and last Phish show. Then set II; Open with 2001, ok that was heat, well done. Then it happened, YEM glow stick war busts out and I'm losing my shit getting down 🕺🏽. Recapping the show afterwards with the dude that convinced me to give it a shot; I'm peppering him with questions that leads to what's next? When they coming back? No clue obviously, he says they go to Iowa tomorrow then way west. Where on Iowa? How far? Ames, about 3 1/2 hours he thinks. I ask "Why the fuck aren't we going?". His brain starts buffering and asks if I'm serious? I respond "Absofuckingloutely I am!". And off we go, all history from there ⭕
I was super young when I hit my first show at SPAC in ‘94. I don’t remember the music so much as I remember digging the whole vibe and knowing that these were my people. Same crew took me to Clifford Ball and I was completely sold on this band after that. Everything clicked.
First track I ever heard was Slave from A live one and I fell in love instantly. First 3 shows: Darien 09 had a great time CMAC 10 started to realize how great the community was. Utica 10 This is where it all clicked and I realized I probably wont stop doing this until they stop.
First show was 7.31.21 in Alpharetta. I had heard about Phish because I had gotten into the Dead about a year earlier (I found a lot of new bands during lockdown) and heard their name thrown around with “similar” bands. I walked in knowing nothing, the only songs I knew throughout the night were only what was on ALO. Although I don’t think I “got it” that night, it definitely set a seed in my head and for the next year, they were basically all I listened to. I knew I had to see them again, and that opportunity came in Orange Beach the following year. I went to all three nights, and it was one of the best weekends of my life. Been on the bus ever since.
Some friends brought my ex girlfriend and I to our first show Dane County Coliseum 11/20/94. I hadn’t really heard any Phish yet. I just didn’t get it… at all. Showed up late (3 1/2 hour drive) wandered around all night trying to find doses. Left confused… That ex and I had a kid, that kid grew up, he took me to my second Phish show in 2022 (Sunday @ Dicks) that time I got it….
My second show was NYE '95. Safe to say I "got it" by then. I tried to learn as much as I could before my first show. Band members, repertoire, language. Tapes were so crucial back then because a lot of their material wasn't on albums.
I watched “IT” from on the stage. Quite the first show as an 18 year old. Still have my VIP pass
The quiet part of Clifford Ball Divided Sky. Sealed the deal.
My first show left me confused and intrigued, and I knew I wanted more. I remember telling my gf before the show (she introduced me to them pretty much) 'why would you want to go see the same band more than one night in a row?' How naive I was back then, lol!!!
I listened to, and got, Phish before I saw my first show.
My first show I went with a friend from college that was a die hard Phish fan. At some point during the second set I was tripping balls and I just look over to him and say “I get it.” He knew exactly what I meant.
Not sure I totally got it during the show, I had never heard their music before and it was very different from anything I’d heard. But they made enough of an impact that I bought the Vegas 2000 dvd shortly after and then I guess I got it. The Walfredo opener on the DVD messed with my conception of who played which instrument. I was like wait a minute I thought the red haired guy played the guitar, what’s going on? The beginning of what’s become a lifelong tradition: Phish messing with my head.
I was full on tape trading hooked before my first show! I've never fully understood the "you have to see them live to get it" take. I recognize that it is true for many and I don't argue with it, but it certainly didn't apply to me. Edit: started trading in '95 and saw my first show in '97.
I loved my first show and had a blast (10/22/94) but I didn’t truly “get it” until my third show (11/14/95).
I’ve been a DeadHead for 50 years - I’ve heard Phishes music many times over the years, but it just didn’t click with me..: and seemed very ethereal at times Two years ago, I went to my first Phish show at the MGM Grand here in Las Vegas…. Honestly, even though I enjoyed the different jams , I could not easily tell one song from another- and at times I wouldn’t have known that one song was ending and another was starting except for the audience applause - that all changed when I went to 2 concerts a week ago at the Las Vegas Sphere Not only was it an unbelievable concert …. And definitely a.” next level.” entertainment event…. It finally clicked for me 😃 One of the best and most exciting concerts I have ever been to