I had the second set of this show on cassette for a long time, and it was an early favorite of mine. I've recently listened to this set again, while I have been going through shows I have from August 1993. This show doesn't really compare all that well to some of the incredible performances that followed, but it's almost like comparing apples to oranges. 7/24/93 was simply the most important show the band had played up to this point; a sold-out show at one of the largest venues in the band's home region. The band was not playing on this night to further their experiments with group improvisation and on-stage communication; they were playing to entertain their fans, and maybe to contradict any critics and prove that their success was no fluke. This show is not crazy, but it is tight as hell, and it rocks.

@MiguelSanchez did a great job breaking down the performance. I just want to add that segue in the set-opening 2001->SOAMelt combo is so seamless, I wish the band would perform it again. During Daniel, Trey thanks the crowd in a similar fashion to the version from 7/15/93 Weedsport that saw release on the I-90s compilation disc, but to this listener it really seems sincere. It also serves to remind us of how, having now scaled the career mountain of selling out Great Woods, Phish was setting their sights on even greater challenges.

this is a great precursor to what was to come in august 1993. this show may not be quite as crazy as what was going to come in the next month, but this show features some top notch, tight, and focused jamming. the first set was pretty straight forward. llama opens things up nicely. mango was a nice bring back. the divided sky and stash show some nice flashes of improvisatory brilliance, but the real fireworks start in the 2nd set.

this is a nice little 1993 2001. page shines on this one. check out this melt; it is where this show really starts to pick up. i love listening to the evolution of this song throughout '93. it really starts to come together in these summer shows. fluff head is particularly sharp, and the whole band is really on point here. then comes one of my all time favorite mazes. with page really lighting it up, trey starts to put some 2001 licks over the top. very very hot maze. glide and sparkle give you a breather without killing the momentum, then... this mike's song is a monster. i love it. it has some really nice peaks. gordon and fishman get into such a nice groove while page and trey murder this one. as it peters out, they don't really steer toward the land of hydrogen. instead, they drift into yerushalayim shel zahav. i'm not jewish, but by damn, i love when they do these jewish hymnals. this one sounds a little eerie coming out of a some what dark mike's jam. the darkness passes as gordon brings up the weekapaugh intro. this show sort of peters out after a good weekapaugh. daniel saw the stone is a nice treat, and you have to dig the freebird.

overall:

very good show. this may not be a best of year contender, but at this point in the year, it was about the best. if you like this, check out the 12/30/93 and almost any show from august. i just love how much the music seemed to evolve between 93-94.

highlights:

set 1:
llama, divided sky, mango song, stash

set 2:

Melt, fluff>maze, mike's>yerushalayim>weekapaugh

A good friend of mine was attending classes at Boston College for the summer. He invited me out to spend a couple of days with him in Boston, and to go see Phish at Great Woods. He was a big fan of the Dead, but this was his first time checking out phish live. The Rift album was relatively new and we were both soaking it up.

Having grown up in a small town, Running free in Boston was a thrilling experience for a junior in high school. We saw and did so much, it was a blast. The beginning of out of state Phish following travels that would take me around the entire country...

I had seen a few phish shows before, but the venues were much smaller. The lot at Great Woods was packed with heads and resembled what one would see at a dead show.

Can remember Trey doing the silent break during Divided sky and we were really thrown for a loop back then... We were looking at each other like "Dude, what the heck is goin on up there." "Is he havin a seisure or somethin?"... We were really stoned...

The second set opener was frickin' awesome. We didn't know the song and had just wrote down "Lights" on the setlist, cause during the climatic parts of the song they were blazing huge ass headlights up into our eyes... (It was 2001)

During Maze, this Kid (I had just turned 17 and he was quite a bit younger) was going nutz. Like a Mr. Roboto dance at warp speed. It was awesome. Seeing others letting it hang out like that really made us feel comfortable too. By the time Weekapaug rolled around we were all bending at the knee into some deep funk. Just completely Free...

My friend was blown off the face of the earth at his first Phish show, and continued on to see many many more. We would bounce back and forth between Phish and the Dead, then Phish and Furthur...

One of the best 2nd sets I've seen to date. Such a great set. Super tight & raging. Split Open, Maze (w 2001 riffs from Red), and a humongous Mike's Song. Purple Rain w all the lighters in the lawn, amazing.

THE GOOD: There's high praise for this show from the other reviewers and this show has been fondly remembered by long-time phans. I really like the first set Stash, which draws down to a quiet lulling pulse during its heart, only to revive and deliver a fantastic sustain from Trey in the final 45 seconds. The Mango Song breakout is nice statistically, but I think it is overshadowed by the band's mellow jam out of Coil, one that I am quite fond of. The Mike's foreshadows the lilting playful swing-jam that would be featured in Mike's jams throughout the summer (notably in Murat). This version is sans craziness by Trey, though. Weekapaug has a wonderful silent jam around 3:45, which moves unpredictably into a full-blown rockabilly style jam (akin to Dogs Stole Things!).

THE BAD: Sound quality for the circulating version of this show is a B-, which is definitely a detraction. There's not much bad about this show, but it's bookended throughout this tour with spectacular performances, and, listening chronologically, seems a bit underwhelming. As mentioned elsewhere, the band plays it somewhat safe as the show was at the largest venue the band had played at the time. No real flubs to speak of.

ETC: The Mango Song features a false Bouncing start by Fishman. Mango may have been prompted by fans calling for it before the encore the night before (listen carefully to 7/23). Blatant teases of 2001 by Trey can be found in the Maze. Fish is entertaining during Purple Rain, coaxing the crowd to "see some more lighters!". Trey thanks the crowd, as was per usual for the tour, during Daniel.

BOTTOM LINE: A very solid show, solidifying their New England fan base, but not spectacular. 3.5/5