(Originally published on the legacy Phish.net site many years ago...)

If anyone can stand any more comments on NYE, here's my $0.02:

First, the show was amazing. And the crowd was also pretty cool. The costumes and "creative formal attire was really excellent." We stood next to Santa Claus! And some guy was dressed up like Waldo from those Where's Waldo books. When I went up to the balcony to visit some friends, we played a live version of "where's waldo." No scroll.

Second, I met a few netters. It was good to put these anonymous names with faces finally. I used my real name when I introduced myself though, so I'm not sure how many people recognized me!

Third--and this really shows how cool the band is--Phish did a dedication in the first set just befor the divided sky. Trey said, "We'd like to make a dedication to someone who's had a tough last five months or so. Chris Gainty, if you're out there, this is for you." Here's the story behind that. Chris (who lives in Paxton, near Worcester) actually introduced me to Phish back in 1988 sometime. He's been a fan for a long time, and has been to a lot (25+) shows. Well, he got hurt really badly in a car crash this last October (five months, three...what's the difference), and was in a coma for about three weeks. Well, he finally came out of it and is now walking and well on the road to recovering fully. But sometime during that ordeal, a friend of a friend of a friend of his wrote to Mike Gordon (whom this person went to school with) and asked if Phish could maybe do something to make him feel better--send a tape, visit, a card. Well, NYE was Chris' first outing since the accident, and Phish gave him his present: a dedication. What an excellent band.