For one week every year, Beth's school has its mid-winter break, and the two of us fly to Lake Tahoe--with a quick layover in Vegas--to visit Jordan. A few days before I booked our tickets for 2003 (leaving on Feb. 15), Phish announced a February tour. With a little luck and lot of good karma, Phish would play at the UNLV Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas during our visit to Nevada. Unsatisfied to wait for the official tour dates, I called the college venue to sap some information.

I told the operator at the Thomas & Mack that I wanted to purchase luxury boxes for the upcoming Phish shows. "Wow, the secret is out already!" the man on the phone gasped. "Alright, for which show, Saturday, Feb. 15 or Sunday, Feb. 16?" Bingo. I changed our usual 2-hour layover to a 2-day layover and couldn't believe my good fortune. (I didn't buy any luxury boxes.)

We left for Vegas on Friday, February 14, Valentine's Day. At Newark Airport, the airport security screener pointed to my backpack and joked, "Is the 'ring' in this bag?"

I guess the security guard thought it was a funny comment, what with us flying to Las Vegas on Valentine's Day and all. To me, though, with my engagement ring for Beth hidden deep in my backpack, it was not funny whatsoever. Beth chuckled to herself, and I silently freaked out.

Dan, pictured above with a smiling Ali, proposed during the day between the two Phish shows. I met them--friends of Marcus and Jordan's from Japan tour--on Saturday night at Mandalay Bay. The two of them were glowing from their recent engagement, and I discussed the aspects of the proposal with Dan with my own engagement ring in my pocket. We talked about carats and clarity and the perfect moment, and I hoped I wouldn't appear too knowledgeable about diamonds.

I had no idea where I was going to pop the question. I thought with Vegas coinciding with the Phish shows, our five-year anniversary, Valentine's Day and a full moon, maybe the timing would be right there. But frankly, Vegas is not a place to be romantic. We were constantly surrounded with large crowds and the falseness of Sin City, and we were never clear-headed enough for such a moment. Dan had the right idea; he drove to Red Rock Canyon, a half hour from Vegas, for his spot.

Vegas was a regular party. Joining us for the event were Danielle and Greg, above left, who drove from Denver, and Chrissy and Kyle, above right, who flew in from Philadelphia. Below left, Beth's roommate from BU (the blonde) drove from LA with her friend Joni for her first show. (Check out their fancy Miata shots on the next page.) Below right, Dan laughs at Danielle's picture of Marcus that is featured on the top-left corner of this page.

With Dan and Ali being recently engaged, Greg and Danielle, and a diamond ring in my pocket, I was vibing on the love bug. And when Phish took the stage for the first of two nights, the feeling got more intense. Phish proved it was capable of blowing my mind again, a fact I was beginning to doubt after the fun-but-uneven performances a month earlier in Hampton, Virginia.

Everything about Phish's Saturday night performance was perfection. A funked out Wolfman's Brother had me grooving all the way into the sole Reba of the tour. I feared that Reba (Beth's alias when we bowl) would be riddled with mistakes like so many of the complex songs at Hampton. I listened with a critical ear, expecting to be let down; I was not. The note-for-note perfect version was followed by the rare David Bowie, Life On Mars? Page's sharp vocals gave me goosebumps and brought me back to a different era of Phish when they played at Red Rocks and never made mistakes. It was just that kind of night.

The first set took a breather with Frankie Says, and I've never been happier with the placement of the song. After raging nonstop since I landed in town, I had yet to relax. After frantically racing to get great seats for all my friends, I looked at my surroundings, sat down for a minute, and was at peace with the world. I let the world spin beside itself and suck me in. The rest was much needed, too, because Phish capped the set with a ripping Antelope. Again, I compared the quality of the performance to the Hampton version; this was a different band. Phish had been practicing. Phish was back.

In addition to the wonderful musical performance, everything was right with my surroundings on the night of the first show. Abby, a Philadelphia girl shown above right with her boyfriend, danced hard to my right. Her whole crew brought nothing but a positive spirit. Oh, and a giant balloon which Abby released before the first song of the night. (Abby also, strangely, was in Joni's high school graduating class; Joni, at her first Phish show, ran into a classmate of hers from the Philly area. Nuts.)

The sign at right, hung over the upper level of the Thomas & Mack, called for Phish to play one of their funkiest tunes, Ghost, which they had not played since 2000. Or, to be exact, 871 days.

After an exploratory Waves and a sparkling Bug--the tune Marcus and Jordan were calling for all weekend, the time was ripe for the cow funk of Ghost.

As the first noted of Ghost echoed across the Thomas and Mack, a wave of excitement swept over the crowd. Everyone could clearly see the sign calling for it. The fans had made their mark. And he band listened.

And the Ghost was everything it should be: deep, dank, dark, a little bit scary, 18 minutes long, and highly danceable.

Thanks to walfredo.com for the picture above.

The deep groove of Ghost segued into Free, another perfect placement of an epic song. I heard Trey sing the lyric, "I feel the feeling I forgot" and thought how it referred to the incredible high I felt when Phish was on their game. I had forgotten that feeling. New Year's Eve and the Hampton shows gave me a glimpse, but this was the real deal. "Overrated" Phish sings during Bug. Maybe, but not on this night. I watched Mike solo during the Free and reflected on another of the song's lyrics.

Carrying Beth's engagement ring for so long had taken its toll; I wanted her to know what I knew, that I wanted to spend my life with her. Keeping the secret was a burden. "In a minute I'll be free, and we'll be splashing in the sea." I smiled and agreed.