1993 Spring Tour is truly a watershed era for Phish, when the fanbase was still small. There was an awareness that the band was on the cusp of something big, but hadn't quite reached it yet. Five months later, they're playing sheds and the connection with the audience had changed forerver.

The intimacy of this period is revealed in moments like the Forbins>Mockingbird and the encore of this show. For a brief period from Fall of '92 through spring of 1993, Forbin>Mockingbird was played very regularly (once every 10 shows or less), with Trey's offering lengthy Forbins narrations. With the band's audience expanding, Trey was still trying to connect regularly with the small venue crowds. It was a unique strategy (I saw him completely lose many in the audience during one Forbin's on this tour), but on this night the crowd is with him the entire way.

This Forbins is 15 minutes long, with Trey invoking the group mind telling people to imagine, "Hundreds of hearts pounding next to each other, with everyone's heartbeat going at the same pulse".
The story ends with the audience sliding down a baby's diaper, and Mockingbird has a few moments of machine gun Trey soloing that's just incredibly clean.

Melt is solid for the era, but not spectacular, while Jim soars with an invigorated, raw energy.

Trey says before the second set, "Tonight is a very special night", with Chelsea Clinton in attendance and points out it's her very first concert (If she was actually there, she would have been 13 years old, but it could have also just been Trey joking). He dedicates a scorching Llama to Chelsea.
The atypical jam in Reba mentioned in the notes is definitely worth hearing, while Tweezer heads outside with some (barely noticeable) Gumbo teases.
Solid YEM, and BBFCFM is extended while the band riffs on Trey's sister's birthday.

The Reba is unique enough that it deserves a listen, and fans of Forbins narrations might find this one interesting. There's not much else noteworthy about this show. Just another solid night on a great tour.

Second and last time at this venue, we have the fifth show of the tour at George Mason. Good recording overall and only a few sound related tweaks from Paul at the board.

First set stars off with good, solid versions of Suzy, Buried Alive and Poor Heart. This was the first Suzy of the New Year. The taper levels and Paul were still settling in during an ok version of Ice. Sparkle was good. Alright! The first Forbin's of the year is great to hear and has an equally great story to go with it. I'm a big fan of this song. Unfortunately the Mockingbird that goes with it isn't that great, right from the transition onward. Rift was also a little rough tonight as Trey had some troubles. IDK sounded like Mike was missing from the mix, but comes in later to say "NO!" in a funny moment. Melt was well played. Fee was good, maybe a little off, and seemed to lack energy. Nice Jim to close up a decent first set.

After the dedication Llama false starts because Trey's amp was on standby, leading to some good laughs. The sloppy song features some good Page playing. FEFY is ok, not quite polished up yet. The Mind of its Own is a nice bust out for Mike and good for another laugh as he forgets parts. Reba gets sloppy from Mike and Trey, which leads to some funny singing parts. Really nice jam at the end of the song. Tweezer is good and pretty standard for this time period. The Ball Jam still doesn't quite have its official ending yet, but it's getting there. Glide was good as was YEM and Coil with a nice Page solo as usual. First Brain of the year brings out Fishman with a great vacuum solo and funny antics, right into a standard Tweeprise. Strange that there is no HYHU tonight.

Great moment as Trey calls out his sister's birthday, and dedicates a pretty good Grace to her, from what I could hear. Always tough to record the songs with no mics. The first Contact of this year is a little rough and maybe unpracticed as the middle section is messy. Mars is always fun and this one has a great count off section from Fishman.

I would give this show three and a half stars if I could, but the sloppy playing brings this one down just enough to my ears.