Disclaimer: my first .net show review.

This was my first show. I'm a 3.0 noob as they'd say. I got into the band during the breakup and feared I'd never see them. When the announcement of this Hampton run came in the fall of 08 I couldn't be more excited. I had just finished high school and had spent those years listening to, and learning about, Phish as much as I could. They had become my favorite band. I put in for the lottery and got picked for two tickets to the 3rd night of the run. I couldn't have been happier.

On the way to the show that morning I got a speeding ticket in VA cause I just wanted to get there so bad! When my buddy and I did finally get there we just hopped in line and waited to get in. In retrospect, I don't why I was in such a rush considering all we did was wait in line all day, but I just had to get down there.

When we finally got in we went right to the soundboard and stood there leaned against the surrounding railing till the show started. I noticed Kuroda lighting a thing of sage and wafting it around his lighting rig area before the show. When the lights when down he lit up Hampton like a starry night before the start of Sanity. It was the coolest lighting effect I had ever seen.

I couldn't have been happier. The first set was a bit like a blur of excitement and emotion. I remember standing up on the bottom part of the bike rack railing surrounding the soundboard during Free so I could so Mike doing his bass solo spot a little better, the Gin and the Foam. When the set ended the people around us asked what our favorite part was and I said "either the Gin or the Free" to which they responded "that Gin was cool, but was just alright" hahaha!

The second set started off with the huge DWD and it was amazing to see the finally jump off the deep end into unknown waters. I remember looking around the audience at some point during the Moma->2001>Teist segment and seeing the whole arena moving in unison and it blew my mind.

The Slave at the end of the set was the perfect cap and I really enjoyed the encore with the happy birthday and the Contact before Tweezer Reprise brought the house down. It felt like the best release to what was years in the making for me at that point.

While summer tour was just around the corner, waiting till then would've felt excruciating knowing 3 nights at Hampton had just happened, and I was beyond grateful to have been able to take part in some way.