Twenty years ago today, Phish wrapped up one of their most revered fall tours. I caught the final night of the tour in Albany, NY, at the former Knickerbocker Arena, cleverly renamed Pepsi Arena. This was my second visit to see Phish in Albany, having attended one of the all time favorite shows there on 12/9/1995. On this final night of the tour, they opened with a cool an unusual jammed out version of Ya Mar, and played a memorable Mike’s Song that included a chant to “Bring in the Dude” that inspired some unique musical hijinx.
Before smart phones, and even for a few years when cell phone cameras were new, cameras were strictly prohibited at concerts. At the time, my interest in music and photography sometimes led me to evade the rules and stealthily bring a camera to the show, as I did this night. Using a late 90’s era point and shoot camera, the results were usually not great, but I managed to capture a few decent shots that bring back some fun memories and give a glimpse of the scene at Phish in 1997, including the monster light rig from this era.
