Clifford Ball is hugely pivotal in Phishtory, in my opinion. If nothing else, it proved that Phish was worthy of mainstream attention, however deleterious that might have become but blessedly didn't. Ironically, the seedier elements of the culture are reputed to have been rooted in bad drugs and bad heads, which can appear with any phenomenon. As for the music, it's excellent. I find myself at somewhat of a loss for words... I really recommend getting the 7-DVD boxed set, which shows how psyched the band was for this inaugural festival. Trey and Fish in particular look absolutely enraptured, whereas Mike looks perhaps a tad more animated than usual, and Page looks a bit rollicked the whole thing. I'll draw your attention to two things in the second set: the acoustic mini-set, and the Mike's Groove. The acoustic mini-set is, obviously, rare. Granted there was an entire maxi-set of acoustic tunes at Festival 8, but this level of intimacy compares favorably with the here-comes-everybody nature of the full-blown scene that this festival must've been. Mike's Groove is, for lack of a better word, inspired. The Weekapaug Groove here is my favorite all-time Weekapaug. In the second set, Harry Hood -> Fireworks Jam provides the big jam, but you really simply *must* listen to this to appreciate the grandeur of the spectacle.