This is one of the great highlights of the early-90's period before the members of Phish fully figured out how to get beyond their own virtuosity. The second set is as weird and wonderful and funny as its setlist, with a magical Harry Hood near the end; and yes, everything from Tweezer through Weekapaug is a single indispensable free-flowing Comedy Jam. But sixteen years after the fact, some of the seams are showing, e.g. the forced transition into MMGAMOIO and the awkward Trey-on-a-pedestal showoffiness that pervades Mike's Song. That said, from Hydrogen through the end of the run it's unforced and joyful, and only a serenely confident (or is that 'arrogant'?) band could produce the hybrid beast that is this version of Glide.

You can skip the first set without regret, but if you fall in the middle of the TMBG/Ween/Phish fandom Venn diagram, Set II is pure uncut musical cocaine. This one's in line with later experiments like 5/7/94 II (the essential Bomb Factory Tweezerfest), though the breadth-to-depth ratio is at the high end here, so caveat emptor. It's an official release, but high-quality SBD recordings have circulated for 16 years and should still be readily available.

(Published in the second edition of The Phish Companion...)

No review can do justice to this experience, but I'll try. It was my 22nd birthday, and the night of the first Phish.Net gathering, so the atmosphere for me was particularly giddy. But anyone there at the time would have been thrown by the relentless spontaneity.
The second set of this show is routinely listed among "must have"
recordings. There was magic in the air starting with the first set the previous night. But mere minutes into this set, it was clear that things were going a step higher. It is perhaps the most debated of Phish setlists, with so many overlays and reprises that any two fans probably list it differently. For its time, the twists and turns were religious. A cadre of diehards, front and center, scrambled with pens and scratched their heads trying to keep track of the setlist. One Matt Laurence ultimately gave a blank stare and tossed his paper into the air.
The show so stood out from others of its time that its popularity inflated its status for many years to follow. (The availability of high-quality soundboards furthered both the popularity and the status.) In retrospect, the improvisation was relatively tame, and the energy (as conveyed on tape) was higher at other shows of the same era.
Granted, many aspects of Phish shows (and life generally) are impossible to record. But the site of Fishman naked, or the band exploding a drumkit, are imaginable. For anyone who has seen Phish in recent years, the mystique of restless song shifts is probably more confounding than compelling. But for anyone who was there that night, or who saw shows or has heard tapes from that era, the flow is laudable. It wasn't the best Phish show ever, but itwas one of the best ones to experience - a beautiful buzz.

Sorry for the horrible quality of these. My camera, different photographer. I guess they are worth something from a historical perspective:

http://www.pbase.com/sigphotography/2-20-93_roxy

well, hopefully, everyone has heard this show already, but for those that have not, go get the box set! download the shows! anyway, this is possibly the best show they ever played. they brought the thunder this night. rumor has it, the band was in a tiff this evening. i guess they worked it out on stage.

anyway, the first set here is very well-played, but it is nothing out of the ordinary for 1993. weigh and sloth are nice treats. foam is very sharp, and trey is right on in possum, fluff head, and the divided sky. the real fireworks start in the first set. this is a particularly strange version of wilson. after a some what disjointed/hard rock type jam they dive into reba. this is a really nice exploratory reba, but it is merely a precursor to the mayhem to come. this tweezer is not the longest in the world, but it sure does rock. fishman is really funky. it also includes a nifty little "straight from the sewer rap." this quick, focused jam quickly turns into walk away. after page belts out a killer walk away, they drive right back into tweezer. this is my favorite glide. they dip some major tweezer teases all over this one. then they cranked up the mother of all wild mike's songs. i love the tweezer bass line in the intro to this mike's. most of the phish songs teased in here are listed above, but they way they weave it all together is genious. finally, they give you a nice breathe of fresh air with a hydrogen>vibration>kung>hydrogen run. this finally builds up to a killer weekapaugh that dives through have mercy and rock and roll all night before dipping into fefy. this song usually doesnt do it for me, but it fits really well after all that mayham. the rest of this set is pretty standard fare. the hood is good, but compared to what they had already played in this set...

great show. if you don't have it or have not heard it, you have no idea how good phish really is.

This was one of my earliest tape (actually, by the time I became a phan--in 1998--we were using CD-Rs or SHN files--Shorten was a lossless precursor the now-standard FLAC) trading acquisitions, and I chose it for 3 reasons: 1. it was available in soundboard quality well before the 2008 release of the At the Roxy box set, 2. it has what was then to me and still is an appealing setlist, and 3. the seguefest hijinks that comprise the bulk of Set II. Those are all still reasons that this show stands out to me as a 5-star show, but let's talk about a few themes and nuances of the music therein.

2/20/93 was 18 days after the release of Phish's Rift album, and some of the songs representing that LP in this show are now pretty rare in live performance. Weigh, All Things Reconsidered, The Horse, and Fast Enough for You don't get played often nowadays, or in the case of ATR, at all. The band is characteristically limber but not to the point of sacrificing the rigorous technical demands of the material that they were showcasing nightly during this exciting time in Phishtory. It would be hard to say that 2/20/93 contains any "big jams" in the mold of which we've become accustomed by 2015, but the amazing rollercoaster ride this show takes even the newest phan on just goes to show that Phish cannot be limited by the description "jamband," even if it does pretty accurately describe what I presume has been their modus operandi nearly ever since, if jamband means eclectically improvisation-oriented and willing to surrender to the flow.

Reba had debuted in a prototypical form on 10/1/89 if memory serves, and by this point was honed into the glorious, melodic, spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings, to quote William Wordsworth from his Preface to Lyrical Ballads; the quote goes on,

"For all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: and though this be true, Poems to which any value can be attached were never produced on any variety of subjects but by a man who, being possessed of more than usual organic sensibility, had also thought long and deeply. For our continued influxes of feeling are modified and directed by our thoughts, which are indeed the representatives of all our past feelings; and, as by contemplating the relation of these general representatives to each other, we discover what is really important to men, so, by the repetition and continuance of this act, our feelings will be connected with important subjects, till at length, if we be originally possessed of much sensibility, such habits of mind will be produced, that, by obeying blindly and mechanically the impulses of those habits, we shall describe objects, and utter sentiments, of such a nature, and in such connexion with each other, that the understanding of the Reader must necessarily be in some degree enlightened, and his affections strengthened and purified."

Phish are certainly "possessed of more than usual organic sensibility," as evinced by their thematic, song-suite like series of segues that begins in 2/20/93 with Tweezer and doesn't stop until the conclusion of--or thirdly notated--Weekapaug Groove. I'm satisfied that the members of Phish have "though long and deeply," which may be why the site you're visiting now exists at all, to wit: Phish inspires contemplative and often rapturous, or transcendent, states in susceptible listeners, which we find ourselves encouraged to share a refraction of through the--apologies to Mr. Wordsworth--medium of mere words, which can only approximate the "continued influxes of feeling." Thankfully, Phish have never "obey(ed) blindly and mechanically the impulses of (their) habits," instead proving themselves always willing to experiment, even to strip or desconstruct themselves for the sake of the sacred journey whose frame-tale is life itself, and whose beginning, middle, and (this has yet to be seen) end were and will be virtue expressed through refinement of that spontaneous overflow using the tools available to all humans, namely wonder, fellowship, and eventually a Zenlike humor that hopefully serves to strengthen the wonder and fellowship even further (it's déjà vu all over again!)

If it seems I've riffed too much on the existential nature of this show, and if that seems silly for such a gleefully, tensely spun musical narrative as the seguefest in Set II, I plead no contest to any apparent pontification, and apologize if I've used your time in a way such that you feel it was wasted. A mutable hermeneutics lends itself well to my listening experience in this show, as a variety thereof always does with Phish, because their virtuosity begs involvement on the part of the listener(s), and in trying to get "inside" the music--as well as the living, breathing conduits of it that I feel I've gotten to know somewhat since 1998--I keep learning more about myself and how I appreciate/respond to art. God bless those who love Phish for any reason at all, whether it's because Phish makes good art, or because the person listening at the show or on recording can take pleasure in any aspect of the yes, sometimes silly spectacle that is inimitably known as Phish.

There is little dispute, amongst the archives, this show is a golden nugget. The highest of high quality Harry Hood capped off a show that was riddled with creativity and the fun that is part of the DNA of this band. The show was a make up for an earlier appearance in Atlanta a year earlier (at the Variety Playhouse) where busted water pipes brought the show to an abrupt end. The band promised a show never to forget when they returned to Atlanta. They kept their promise.

I always wonder what somebody who's just starting their Phish fandom (or maybe came in through NYE '95 or Hampton/Winston-Salem or even 3.0) would make of this show, maybe the most famous seguefest in the band's long and storied history of seguefests, a show so beloved that it almost justified the release of the Roxy run all by itself. Now, I will say that I kind of wish that the Phish of 1994, or even of six months later, had played this setlist, as they'd not quite reached the point where their jamming was complex and in tune enough where everything would flow together like one piece of music; the rougher stuff in this set is pretty darn rough (the actual Hydrogen is brutally out of tune, they don't so much segue into Have Mercy as pretend somewhere in Weekapaug that that's what they were playing all along, MMGAMOIO sounds very out of place), and I have never, ever liked Trey's (there's no other way to say it) dickishness in Mike's Song, where he basically says "nah, you guys keep playing the song we're actually supposed to playing, I'm gonna slap some random shit on top and see what it sounds like". I imagine I'm in the minority on here, but I would take any 3.0 Mike's Song over this one in a heartbeat; at least there I know what song I'm meant to be listening to.

That said, the stuff that works absolutely and totally *works*; I mean, this show would not have had its reputation for over 20 years if it didn't. The Tweezer is one of my personal favorites, with its weird Das EFX quotes (funny how much more organic it sounded here than a similar rap venture 11 years later...) and brilliant Low Rider/Walk Away jam; Glide is a legitimate treat, and so packed with energy; the Weekapaug itself is a great one, as Have Mercy is a treat no matter what the circumstances and the Rock & Roll All Night jam is hilarious; HYHU gives us one of the truly rare segues *into* Hood, which is indeed as lovely and superbly peaked as its reputation. Ultimately, the weak spots pale in comparison to how much fantastic music is in this second set, a strong contender for the best set they had played up to that point in time. The first set...well, maybe you'll play it more than I have.

So yes, hypothetical Phish fan that I made up at the start of this review, you may be put off by how different the jamming style is, or how many damn teases pop up in the set, or Reba showing up in the second set, or how they just *rip* through songs throughout the show. But you will also be drawn in by the sheer atomic energy of the playing throughout, by how well they tie in some of those segues (seriously, everything in that Tweezer is perfect), and the overall experience of the whole set from top to bottom. And hey - maybe you'll want to give '93 a deeper listen. That's worth listening to this show all by itself.

Saw all 3 shows, taped to DAT from the Balcony front row, center. These shows cemented a 23 year+ (as of this review June 2013) love affair with this band. A band in top-notch form, bursting with creativity, and clearly having fun! I remember the fire alarm going off during some heavy fog use, no one even thought to evacuate- the strobes and sirens became part of the intense jam!

Today is the 20 year anniversary of this awesome show. The first set is very well played but no new ground is broken as others have pointed out. The Possum is pretty great though, as Trey is *en fuego*. The second set is where the show makes its mark in the history books... As a brief aside, we'd all be screaming MOAR JAMZ!1! if they played a 23 song second set these days, but it's good to keep things in perspective -- this is how Phish used roll! I should also acknowledge that once you've heard what they were capable of in say, Fall '97, why the fuck wouldn't you want to do that all the time forevermore?! Alas, '93 Phish and '13 Phish is certainly a hell of a lot better than no Phish at all, and what they did on this night 20 years ago contends with some of the greatest rock and roll shows of all time. Wilson is a must-hear version that basically results in a full-on heavy metal jam; Reba is spectacular, and then we get the first Tweezer -> Walk Away ever, but they circle back to finish of Tweezer. After a Tweezer-teasing Glide, the set takes off. Mike's -> MMGAMOIO -> Mike's > Hydro -> Vibration -> Kung -> Hydro > Groove -> Mercy -> Groove -> RandR All Night -> Groove?! With more Tweezer teases and like ten other teases in Mike's taboot. As waxbanks points out, this is basically a mini Tweezer Fest mixed with a huge Mike's > > > > > > > > > Groove before the invention of the de facto Tweezer Fest. It's all gravy after that with FEFY, another BBJ, some Fishmantics and a nice Hood, Tweeprise, Monkey to cap off the night. This show holds up quite nicely all these years later, and if you haven't heard it, go ahead and download the SBD from the Holy Spreadsheet or pay a little for the official version. Do it now!

The second of the three nights at the Roxy picks up where last night's celebration left off. Lots of foolishness and teases tonight make this show kind of sloppy at times and unbelievable at others. Fifteenth show of the tour, and a great recording too. This one has plenty of other reviews, so I can be brief.

Golgi, Foam and Sloth are well played. Possum is a wank fest and has a little feedback towards the end while the sound gets settled in. Weigh had great energy tonight, right into a well played ATR. Divided had some more feedback and a few tentative spots in the ending jam. Multiple thank you's followed. The Horse was ok with minimal feedback. Silent still has its troubles getting Fishman in on the right beat. Fluff was much better than the last one I heard, still a few spots here and there. Cavern makes for a good closer for a solid first set.

Wilson is spirited and starts the real foolishness of the night. Mike seems to miss a spot in the middle. Maybe this sets off the teases? The first three minutes of Reba are good, and then some rough parts, a reasonably well played middle, a rocking solo section and an inexplicable ending. Weird, at best. Tweezer is sloppy, but funky, and really starts the song sandwich out. Walk Away was well played. Glide was strange, but ok. Mike's is really sloppy, all the while making fun of Mike that it's his song. Blah, blah, blah...tease, tease, tease... Kung is well done! Trey is out of tune for Hydrogen. Weekapaug is another mess. Huge bust out with Have Mercy. FEFY was pretty well played after all that madness. The balls come out. Terrapin is long and it’s funny that Page teases HYHU to get him moving. Hood is pretty good, although Trey still seems to be out of tune, maybe because his guitar got cold while he was on drums? Tweeprise is expected as this circus comes to a close for the night.

Monkey is another mini bust out and has a few rusty spots in it. Otherwise, it’s a great way to send everyone home for the evening.

You can't stop the energy of this show, but having said that, it is a really sloppy second set. Some good moments, and some not so good to my ears. I was very tempted to give this three stars for all the screwing around. I'm sure if I was there, I would have nothing but fond memories.

Set 1 is nice. In terms of the band's playing, nothing stands out to me as being especially good or bad. Certainly the song selection is fantastic; overall this set serves as a solid example of what the band was all about in '93.
Set 2 is truly bizarre. It starts out strong: Wilson is infused with extra enthusiasm (Trey SCREAMS some of the lyrics), and there is a great sequence of psychedelic silliness before the BLAT BOOM. I like the transition into Reba, and the Reba solo is one of my favorites for the pliable interplay between band members. Tweezer -> Walk Away -> Tweezer is also quite memorable: while the transitions are good, more than anything it won't be easy to forget the atypical “straight from the sewer” rap. The ensuing Tweezer-infused Glide works well as one of those early-'90s “woah, are they really... really?” moments.
At this point in the show, it's clear that the band is in an especially playful mood... Still, it would be hard to predict what comes next. I must say that I really don't like the Mike's Song segue-fest. The Vibration Of Life / Kung / N2O mishmash is pretty cool (the audience sounds eerily silent during the “STAND UP!” segment). However, the majority of the Mike's Groove (up to FEFY) is a derailed train that the band mercilessly drives deep into the ground. Many of you will disagree with me or present reasons that this sequence is great despite the sloppiness (or perhaps FOR the sloppiness), which is fine. It just doesn't do it for me. To my ears, Mike and especially Page have a very hard time following Trey's sharp and discordant changes. I'm glad that the band got this out of their system early on.
Every serious fan ought to listen to this show, if only because the first half of the second set is quite strong, and the Mike's Groove exemplifies a kind of outlandish abandon that is rare for this band. You might like it... apparently a lot of people do.

I agree with WaxBanks. That Mike's song throws me off because I feel like Mike is trying to figure out what the hell Trey is going to do next and they never fully get into the meat of the Mike's Jam (because Trey doesn't let it happen). But regardless, still a magical show. Definitely a must have. Stay on your toes.

Did anyone go to the Tower Record "Rift" promo appearance earlier that day? You knew things were gonna be sick when Kriss Kross walked in. They made us Jump! Jump!

I have had this show since the mid-90's when I started collecting tapes, and I still can't figure out where they're coming from during the Mike's jam (particularly Trey). It's one-of-a-kind to say the least. The word "frenetic" comes to mind. The vibration of life / kung is creepy, making H2 feel like a welcome home. Weird night.

I was there. It was sick. Perfect? No where close. Great redemption show from the Variety Playhouse flood show the year before if you were there for that. I was. Little Five Points, Rastas and Phish? Yes please. Agree with most reviews in that all you need is the second set. Which is more than most shows as a whole. It's like saying you were at some of the legendary Dead shows. Fillmore East, Beacon Theater, Etc... Warlocks Hampton...
Again. Legendary but go old school and just get a bootleg of the second set. Save your money for food.