1994-10-26: Varsity Gym, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC

On October 26, 1994 Phish played at the Appalachian State University Varsity Gym - a small basketball gymnasium with a capacity of 3,500 for this show. It was their only show on the ASU campus. Tickets cost $12 for students and $18 for the public, and the Wednesday night show was sold out. Boone was the 16th show on a 46-stop national tour that stretched from early October to mid-December and included Phish’s first modern Halloween show where they would introduce their first “musical costume”. Here, just five shows removed from Halloween, fan excitement to guess the musical costume was at a peak and the band stoked suspense and misdirection by playing Led Zeppelin’s The Rover during the Boone soundcheck.

Set I was strong, with a unique and fiery opening (Simple, It’s Ice > NICU > Run Like An Antelope) and closing (The Oh Kee Pa > Suzy Greenberg > Runaway Jim). Trey teased Dixie during Run Like An Antelope, and Guyute included the early/alternative lyric "dancing like a newborn elf,” while Dog Faced Boy had a brief guitar outro that led to Scent Of A Mule. Set II contained a soaring Reba and shapeshifting You Enjoy Myself with The Vibration Of Life, and a vocal jam that melted into a Fish-sung Catapult as well as a full band "Greenpeace Mike" chant. David Bowie's intro included the Fish vocalization "the cows come out to play" with some moo'ing and other utterances throughout. Before the encore, Trey thanked the crowd and compared the town of Boone to the band's home state of Vermont. Nellie Kane and Beaumont Rag (the latter of which was a rarity that contained what Trey pointed out was Page’s first-ever bass solo) were performed acoustic with Trey on acoustic guitar, Mike on banjo, Page on upright bass and Fish on mandolin. Foreplay/Long Time was performed acoustic with the same setup except Fish on Madonna washboard. Trey introduced the Boston cover as "a little northern bluegrass...asphaltgrass.”