My first show. Some girls that joined me for lots of other bands around that time were going to this show on my recommendation Sara's birthday. I can't recall the details but I did not ride with them and was going to meet them there. The college buddies I rode with kept screwing around on campus, ("I need to get jacket", "I need to stop by so and so's", "I left my pot in my room", "Let's have a beer here first" etc. etc.) We got there so damn late I think we paid the cover charge, ($5 ?), and walked in to the end of "I Didn't Know" and the start of BBFCFM. Same crew of guys screwing around again made us miss the first show at the Paradise a couple months later, (although we had no idea the band was bringing down a busload of friends). I made damn sure I was at the next Paradise gig early after those massive screwups! Oh yeah, and apparently Sara yelled at the band to say happy birthday several times. Then missed when they finally did. And yelled for it again. She was wasted! When I got there and asked the girls how the show had been, they said, "Kinda weird band but really fun! They played a great song about a Moose or something with Antlers!"

There’s two different sources spliced together for this show. Source 1 has “ok” sound with a number of cassette generations in it’s lineage. The first source runs from Fire through Lizards. Source 1 cuts back in for the last song of the show, David Bowie (which cuts out during a nice jam) Source 2 sounds absolutely incredible! This runs from Whipping Post through Harpua. Unfortunately Shaggy Dog is missing on this recording.

This was the first “on shore” gig the band played in Boston. Their first official gig in Boston took place on a boat in Boston Harbor on 6-1-86. There seemed to be a decent turnout at Molly’s that night. The show has good energy but is straightforward for 1988. Trey’s vocals on Whipping Post are very enjoyable. This may be due in part to the beautiful mix of the recording. Hearing DEG come out of the second jam is pretty cool. Unlike the debut of Foam at Goddard, the version here features the now standard middle jam. The Harpua story follows the same line you’d expect it would for this time period. This show is worth checking out if you want to hear a high quality recording of the band in the 80’s, particularly from Whipping Post through Harpua.

Do you like well played versions of every song you see in this setlist? You do? Then check out 9-24-88 or 10-29-88.

This show is unremarkable in almost every way. It's not bad under any circumstances, but this is nothing that the band hadn't played before in terms of adventurism.

If you're desperate to hear more notes from 1988, I suppose the Fire and Possum are worth listening to, as well as a decent, early Foam.