As the setlist notes suggest, this is an unusual show. And while the first set is certainly worth a listen, its really just a prelude to the delightful, spirited weirdness that follows…

The second set opens with a lively Possum, and from the song’s start it’s almost immediately clear that the crowd is ready to get lit and go wherever the band’s whims lead. Possum doesn’t disappoint, briskly blazing along before winding down with a sort of yodelled honky tonk send up. What happens next would probably be better labeled "Cavern/Wilson Mashup," because the two songs aren’t simply sandwiched, but are actually threaded together, the band seamlessly flowing back and forth between the two in what appears to be an ingenious impromptu hybrid.

Segueing immediately into NICU, the boys temper the wild vibe a little while still maintaining an energetic bounce. The song then ends with an escalating riff that suggests BBFCFM before launching into Tweezer, which sort of flops after a monster drum lead up. This is one contentious Tweezer, right here. Full of teases and sprinkled with heavy riffs, the song seems poised to pull itself apart a couple of times, touching on grooves only to restlessly spring away before finally dropping into mid-gear jazz, complete with a distinct Woody Woodpecker tease, and then spiraling on into Julius…

Julius is distilled at full strength, followed by alternately meandering and manic jamming that briefly quotes Tweezer before at last ramping up into BBFCFM. This Furry Creature begins with characteristic heaviness but soon saunters on as a jaunty bluegrass tune, not Scent of a Mule per se but close enough to give the feel of yet another impromptu mashup.

Replete with a chorus of yeehaws and hollering that echoes Possum’s wild vocal ending, BBFCFM becomes a yodeling balls-out rodeo that is somehow eventually corralled back into a continued Tweezer progression, thick with a wind-tunnel of weird feedback, that drops heavily into Mound, audience going wild the whole time and then clapping along (at least trying to) as the groove resettles…

Mound just fits perfectly here, played with uncustomary verve and rhythm, the mood beautifully suited to the energy of the evening and the sense of a journey undertaken. What I love about this set is the way it so masterfully demonstrates Phish’s ever playful improvisational dexterity, as well as revealing the band’s living knowledge of so many diverse American musical traditions.

The Slave that follows Mound is played brilliantly, providing a slowly ascending, soulful climax before leaping immediately into a brisk, Page-dominated Suzy Greenberg to close the set.

The encore that ends the evening is something like a cigarette after sex. You’ve just gotta hear this show.

phish really brought that high weird sound on 7/13/94 at the Big Berch Pav in Patterson, NY. Like a lot of shows, the boys played it fairly straight in the first set, but there are still tons of highlights. trey really rips buried alive before they bounce into a lively poor heart. an early down with disease works nicely into fee before they go into a very lively it's ice. page sounds wonderful on ice. split open and melt is really the only spot they open in the first set. trey cuts into psychadelic mode on this one before bringing the set to a close.

the second set appears to start out in standard form as fish cranks up cavern. before cavern can really get going, trey comes in for his opening chord...wait...that's not cavern. theh fun begins! they intermingle cavern and wilson all the way through. basically, they play wilson to a mix of the wilson and cavern music. as wilson comes to it's typically rowdy close, they find a way to work in the last verse of cavern. this dips nicely into a solid take of nicu. well, you can tell early in the set that this is not going to be your average phish show. trey's opening to tweezer all but confirms that. fishman comes in heavy too, and by the time we hit the improvisational segment, fishman and trey are just feeding off each other. fishman has some wonderful john bonham'esque playing here. just really heavy. trey is just ripping over top of him. eventually, trey works his way into the opening of julius. he backs off for a minute letting everyone else ease their way into the song before opening up julius full throttle. julius was fairly standard but high octane, none the less. they burst back into tweezer without fully playing the tweezer theme. gordon sounds like he is about to go into a full on stevie wonder "i wish" jam, but they speed things up and shift gears. after a nice rocking, escalating jam they work into a full on "i know a little" jam. once again, they smoothly turn a corner and trey steers them into bbfcfm. this one starts out typically, but gordo makes a move to the land of bluegrass. bbfcfm is given a very cool/odd bluegrass rendering. the boys occasionally move back toward the typical bbfcfm music before going back into bluegrass. finally, they whip full throttle back into the bbfcfm theme building it up to crash back into the tweezer theme. trey leads into tweezer, but backs off as soon as he gets there. this opens things up for gordo and page to lead the way on the tweezer melody. underneath, trey is just wailing on an eerie guitar drone. this jam comes to climax and lands gracefully into fishman's intro into the mound. this song seems to be even more mesmerizing than ever. maybe it's just that it's the first "straight" song of the set, but it adds a very pleasant feel. talk about pleasant and mesmerizing, the slave the follows is the bee's-knees! the boys are sooo patient on the build up here. trey just weaves between page and gordo before fishman starts the ascent. as they build, page just rolls under trey beautifully. this one does not reach the same heights as some of the best slaves out there, but it mostly fits this slot in the show perfectly. suzy greenberg ends this set in typically rousing fashion. just for good measure, trey tosses in some very fun slave teases in the suzy jam. from start to finish, this set just keeps you on your toes, finally landing you softly back on the ground with slave. then you get a bonus suzy!!
the my sweet one>tweezer reprise is a nice juxtaposition, but it is pretty straight, none the less.

anyway, if you feel like taking the ride, hop on the spread sheet. their link is either a sbd/aud matrix or one of the best damn aud's i've heard. no one will be disappointed!! oh yeah, if you dig this show, check out another one of my favorites. 7/2/94 from holmdel is similar in style with a monster mike's groove subbing in for a good 'ol tweezer fest. check out that holmdel weekapaugh....yowser!