Friday 01/04/2019 by phishnet

MATT LAURENCE RELEASES LOST AMY'S FARM VIDEO IN SUPPORT OF MOCKINGBIRD

[Phish.net and the Mockingbird Foundation would like to thank Matt Laurence (@mattynabib) for this blog post and his tireless work to resurrect the video he recorded at Amy's Farm in 1991, brought to you free of charge and in its highest quality. - @ucpete]

I know we are entering a period of Phish limbo until Riviera Maya and the Mike and Trey tours, so to kick 2019 off right, here (at long last) are all three sets of Amy's Farm in video form. Enjoy - limitations and all - and may 2019 be a significantly better year for all of us!

As with so many of you, I was hooked on Phish well before they threw the free party of the decade up in Auburn, ME, over half my life ago. For me it all started well before 1991, before I even properly woke to the joys of Phish.

I was SUPPOSED to see Phish several times in the 1980s. In the spring of 1987 I was to take a road trip to Vermont with some friends with a UVM connection to see the boys at Nectar's; it was called off due to something that - at the time - seemed more important. I was supposed to see them again at “The Big Gig,” their first big Boston show at The Paradise in January of 1989, but my friend’s car was frozen into the ice in his driveway. I planned to see them yet again in early 1990 at some Boston area show, but that time we went outside to find that my car had been STOLEN, a pile of glass and skid marks sitting where it had been. It wasn’t looking good for Phish.

My ship finally came in on September 20, 1990, when I successfully attended my first show at the Somerville Theater. From that point on it was full-steam ahead (as much as possible for someone working full time). I was back the next night with my lousy little taping rig, then continued to catch them as often as I could for the next several years, taping where possible, and eventually gaining access to a couple of camcorders.

Lugging those cameras and tripods around was a little more effort than I thought was worth it for most enclosed shows, however, so I only did it once or twice during the legendary Horn Tour of 1991. One of those times was the Arrowhead Ranch weekend.

Photo by Swen Kolterman, used with permission
Photo by Swen Kolterman, used with permission

[Note: I know there is footage out there from one of those shows, and I have just discovered a fair bit more that I took with a roving camera on the second day. With a little luck and some help from a video pro friend of mine I hope to capture that at a quality level worth sharing.]

The only other show to which I dragged the equipment was Amy’s Farm, not even a month later. After almost a year of being a rabid fan, I figured I was well justified in making the road trip up there, even if I had to go all by myself. I didn’t, as it turned out; not only did several of us head up together to see what would transpire, there were enough familiar faces present that it functioned as a sort of family reunion with a house band.

In fact, in a coming-full-circle family moment, at the start of set 2 during "The Curtain" you can see my dear friend John Greene sitting right next to the stage. I didn't travel there with him, but of course there he was. Talk about family: not only did John help produce the very first "Esther" music video the year before, we also went on to play many Phish songs together alongside originals in our band yeP!, to play together with Fishman and his side project Spastic, and you can now hear John playing almost exclusively Phish in his current band Chum, the best Phish tribute in the west, IMHO.

For those of us who have since been to festivals like Lemonwheel, with miles-long traffic jams just to get in, it’s almost hard to imagine the scene that summer: It was a couple of big fields in Maine. That’s it. Cars and camping in one area, music in another. Hoses to spray down hot people and potential grass fires. There were perhaps a couple thousand people there, but it never felt crowded or out of control - there was just so much space, so much freedom. No police, no tickets, no walls, no traffic jams… well, the cars did come pretty steadily for a while, but the only barrier to entry was the requested $5 per car donation for field reseeding.

Photo by Matt Leaf, used with permission
Photo by Matt Leaf, used with permission

There was plenty of room to park, plenty of room to dance. The band was just wandering around and hanging out with people before and after the show. Front of stage got pretty crowded, but you could always get up there if you wanted to - especially if you were shouldering a camera. Or you could wander around behind the stage, come hang out for the soundcheck, stand right in front of the board, or - if you’re Amy - get up there and jump on the minitramps with them.

Truth be told, there’s not much that I can add to the wonderful accounts that have already been written by some of my old tour mates David “ZZYZX” Steinberg and Parker “TMWSIY” Harrington. All I can really add is some visuals from the scene which have, incredibly, survived many years sitting in a box in a basement, and appear to be the only comprehensive video recordings of this event.

While this video has been cut and synced to the higher-quality audio recording that is more commonly available, there are large stretches where there is no roving camera footage, just a single shot of the band, head on. There’s no video behind the encores at all due to bad planning; I’ve done what I could there. The roving camera footage is raw and sometimes distracted enough by dancing to cause seasickness (though I’ve tried to minimize those moments).

But for all the roughness of the footage, the sense of the overall event, a band paying tribute and thanks to their fan base, is undeniable. Keep your eyes on the crowd… in many cases I’ve tried to leave in moments of audience involvement and interaction; there’s more of that between-sets “bonus footage” at the end of the Set 3 video, but you'll find snippets of the scene throughout.

This show was something on an inflection point for Phish. As Parker (@tmwsiy) puts it:

While Amy’s Farm (and even Townshend Family Park & Ian’s Farm) may have marked the humble beginnings of their future festival plans and the beginning of an era of meteoric rise in popularity, similarly to Woodstock, it also marked the end of an era as well. Spreading through word of mouth and a quick announcement from Trey, a couple thousand fans descended into Auburn and it was abundantly clear that the cat was out of the bag. Phish was on their way to hitting the big time & likely shows would begin to be drastically different in a very short time.

So true. Now, 27 years and more later, things have gone places we’d never have expected. Phish got mainstream acceptance; they got huge; they broke up; they came back better than ever, and have now reached a pinnacle of their abilities, providing unrivaled live concert experiences. They are better than they’ve ever been, and it’s been a long, amazing road they’ve taken to get here.

Photo by Matt Leaf, used with permission
Photo by Matt Leaf, used with permission

So for the fans who were there in those halcyon, early-to-mid days of almost three decades ago, as well as those who have never known anything but big venues, huge festivals, and ticket lotteries, I submit this modest contribution to the Phish ecosystem. Kick back, enjoy, and if you are so moved, visit Phish.net and post your thoughts.

And because I believe deeply in the power of music - as I believe we all do - I encourage you to consider making a donation to the Mockingbird Foundation, to help spread and fund music education for children. The way things are going, everything we can do to help raise the level of positivity is a huge contribution to our world right now, so please visit Mockingbird today.

Finally, if you have any archival audio, video, or photos from old Phish shows, don’t hesitate to reach out to @mattynabib, @ucpete, or @Icculus. Even if you don’t have the technical expertise or time to clean up and distribute the end product back to the community yourself, we will link you up with one of our amazing volunteers and work with you to ensure your archival material is handled with care, credited to you, and distributed free of charge to the global community of Phish fans.

Stream: Set I | Set II | Set III + E
Soundcheck: Poor Heart | Crimes of the Mind | Bitchin' Again
Download:
Google Drive (now including soundcheck videos)

Note: If you're getting a "download quota exceeded" error on Google Drive, right click on the files, select "Add to My Drive," and once viewing in your drive, right-click the files and select "Make a copy." You should then be able to download it from your own Google Drive. Alternatively, you may download the videos directly from the Vimeo links above.

If you liked this blog post, one way you could "like" it is to make a donation to The Mockingbird Foundation, the sponsor of Phish.net. Support music education for children, and you just might change the world.


Comments

, comment by Wombat_en_Fuego
Wombat_en_Fuego This is simply amazing. Not sure how much work I'll get done today.
, comment by ColForbin
ColForbin So great! Thank you @mattynabib !
, comment by Romert_Palber
Romert_Palber Thank you!
, comment by Mattynabib
Mattynabib Happy new year, everyone! We might not all have been able to get to MSG for NYE (I didn't), but we can ring things in with some old-school jams!
, comment by phishyeducator
phishyeducator This is really awesome, thank you!!! It's so amazing to see how far our band has come over the years, and to see them still knocking it out of the park on a regular basis, 35 years after forming, is something so special that I hope we appreciate it as much as it deserves!
, comment by Matty1222
Matty1222 This is the perfect remedy for the post concert blues. Thanks for sharing.
, comment by AudibleNectar
AudibleNectar Who is that guy with the biceps?
, comment by adamopp
adamopp So wonderful. We were all so young then. I know I have lots of friends in this crowd.
I missed Amy's Farm when I chose May of 1991 as the right time to move from Maine to Colorado.
Still felt like our little secret club for a short while longer.
, comment by Matt_Leaf
Matt_Leaf Awesome!

Thank you so much for putting this together.

It means so much to be able to relive that incredible day in some way. Now if I could only relive being that age again......
, comment by jsf3000
jsf3000 Georgia Theater t-shirt behind Page
, comment by cookphish
cookphish Beginning my Phish journey in 2000, this time in the band's history is very new to me. I am now on permanent lunch break for the rest of the day thanks to this! Thank you for these videos!
, comment by User_28815_
User_28815_ Donation made to Mockingbird. Thanks for sharing!
, comment by doodls
doodls Can't wait to dig into this. Thanks Matty!! Donation made.
, comment by ashleysiegs
ashleysiegs Thank you!!! As a phan who didn't get into Phish until they were broken up (2005, I was 15! -- I was told for years I'd never seen them live,) with just 10 years of shows under my belt, anything I can get from the early days is invaluable. I'm so excited to dig into this.
, comment by 2grandmaz
2grandmaz This is beautiful. Thank you so much.
, comment by markah
markah Donation made!

What a great post!
, comment by GreatWent19
GreatWent19 Amy's Farm is one of my first, and still favorite, tapes. It opened up a whole new world to me, a secret society, and every song was just poured over. I wore that tape out. Great seeing video to match the show I know so well. Kudos to all involved.
, comment by ChicagoTim
ChicagoTim Thanks for doing this. Music really is powerful; this is beautiful gift!
, comment by User_36096_
User_36096_ Download quota exceeded on Google Drive. Anyone know how to d/l? Oh, and thank you!
, comment by uctweezer
uctweezer @BrotherMouzone said:
Download quota exceeded on Google Drive. Anyone know how to d/l? Oh, and thank you!
Heh, I had a feeling that might happen today.

The workaround is to add the file to your own Google Drive, Make a Copy of it there, and Download from your drive. Or wait till tomorrow :)
, comment by bl002e
bl002e THANK YOU, MR. LAURENCE! Can't wait to watch these!

Are the soundcheck videos included in any of the three downloadable movie files? If not, at some point in the future would you be able to post those as well?
, comment by PhishPizza
PhishPizza Is that a young Bill Walton standing next to the taper? That dude has to be standing on something!
, comment by mcgrupp81
mcgrupp81 One of the people that got me into Phish had this show as part of his tape collection. The tape was labeled "Amy's Pharm 8/3/91". After Trey's announcement that some guy's dog has been found, some dude very directly asks for Hood. We used to blast that Hood. Sick intro on that version. Thanks for bringing back memory lane!
, comment by tmwsiy
tmwsiy This is absolutely stunning and surreal. It brings me back to the Summer of 1991 instantly and gave me goosebumps watching. This was as incredible and moving to me as watching the 20th Anniversary video from Boston Garden. I can't thank Matt enough and everyone involved in getting this video out to the public. I am speechless. What a wonderful surprise to wake-up to today. If there was a Phish Smithsonian Museum, this would be one of the cherished items of the entire collection.

I know there are more Phish videos out there and Phish audio tapes that have never seen the light of day. Some people derive joy from collecting things nobody else can listen to or watch. I have never understood that motivation. I hope Matt gets as much joy sharing this with the fans as many people will watching it. And hopefully others are nudged into digging into their collection too and letting some other early treasures into the public domain.

Thanks again! Phenomenal work!
, comment by uctweezer
uctweezer @bl002e said:
THANK YOU, MR. LAURENCE! Can't wait to watch these!

Are the soundcheck videos included in any of the three downloadable movie files? If not, at some point in the future would you be able to post those as well?
Good call - I’ll see if Matt can upload the files to the same drive at some point. The audio isn’t that great on those but it’s good enough for archival purposes and it’s watchable for sure!
, comment by ShootTheBreezePlease
ShootTheBreezePlease And to think I just saw these dorks suspended over the stage at the world's most famous arena on New Years. Thank you for uploading these; my first show was this summer and I went to four this year, and this kind of archival material is super valuable for teaching people about the early years of Phish.
, comment by dscott
dscott This video is an amazing trip down memory lane, even though I wasn't there. The crowd, the vibe, the setting...it all could have come from any number of high school and college parties back in those days. Every prep school hippie, hip school preppie, and I can't decide looks interchangeable with someone I might have known or been. Ah, to be young again in simpler times! Many thanks to @mattynabib, @uctweezer, et al for sharing this slice of historical history!
, comment by ziemianski
ziemianski I have two words for you Matt Laurence... Fuck Yeah!
, comment by betty_ford
betty_ford thank you thank you thank you thank you! this is incredible. For someone who wasn't old enough to be a fan until the mid 2000s this brings me great joy. for some reason this brings me great nostalgia (even though I wasnt there)... I can smell the sweet country air, and hear the bugs late at night, and feel my shoes getting wet from the morning dew. So cool. thank you very much.
, comment by TonyZ
TonyZ This is soooooooo great. I wore this tape out back in the early 90’s. I haven’t listened to this show in a long time, and after watching it, I remember every note. It’s like going back to church after years away and knowing every prayer. Thank you.
, comment by trimpe
trimpe This. Is. Amazing.
, comment by Mattynabib
Mattynabib @BrotherMouzone said:
Download quota exceeded on Google Drive. Anyone know how to d/l? Oh, and thank you!
Sounds like a common problem... @uctweezer I just made the Vimeo pages allow downloading of the video files as well, so if Google Drive is tapped out, go to Vimeo and you should now see big "Download" buttons on each video page.
, comment by Mattynabib
Mattynabib @uctweezer said:
@bl002e said:
THANK YOU, MR. LAURENCE! Can't wait to watch these!

Are the soundcheck videos included in any of the three downloadable movie files? If not, at some point in the future would you be able to post those as well?
Good call - I’ll see if Matt can upload the files to the same drive at some point. The audio isn’t that great on those but it’s good enough for archival purposes and it’s watchable for sure!
They should be up there now, and I have also made ALL of the files - sets and soundcheck - downloadable on Vimeo, which should provide an additional avenue.
, comment by Burglekutt
Burglekutt Thank you for all the work that went into getting this out there – what an incredible gift to the community. I love Marley walking to the front of the stage during the start of "Fee," getting pet and scratched by the girls in the front row, and then laying down for a nap right underneath Page's keyboard.

I also just had a startling realization that I can't believe I didn't realize until just now – although it was years before I'd ever heard of Phish, Amy's Farm happened the exact same day that I climbed my first 4,000-foot mountain: Old Speck in Maine. I'm from Michigan, but we were out in Maine visiting my grandparents who lived in Harrison (about 25 miles away from Amy's place in Auburn), and I talked my dad into heading up to Grafton Notch to climb Old Speck with me that day. It was an absolutely gorgeous day outside, and seeing the beautiful weather in these videos, it's wild to realize now – 27.5 years later – that Phish was on stage playing at the exact same time that we were huffing and puffing our way up and down the mountain that afternoon.
, comment by Mattynabib
Mattynabib @tmwsiy said:
This is absolutely stunning and surreal. It brings me back to the Summer of 1991 instantly and gave me goosebumps watching. This was as incredible and moving to me as watching the 20th Anniversary video from Boston Garden. I can't thank Matt enough and everyone involved in getting this video out to the public. I am speechless. What a wonderful surprise to wake-up to today. If there was a Phish Smithsonian Museum, this would be one of the cherished items of the entire collection.

I know there are more Phish videos out there and Phish audio tapes that have never seen the light of day. Some people derive joy from collecting things nobody else can listen to or watch. I have never understood that motivation. I hope Matt gets as much joy sharing this with the fans as many people will watching it. And hopefully others are nudged into digging into their collection too and letting some other early treasures into the public domain.

Thanks again! Phenomenal work!
Thanks so much for your thoughts, Parker (and your email, I'll reply to that separately). It has, indeed, given me great joy to share this with the community, to hear that Mockingbird has been getting donations based on it... and to hear recollections and sentiments like this one. This was a pivotal show for me as well.

I also hope and expect that there are more people with gems lying around, and I'd be thrilled to help edit anything that surfaces, with the goal of bringing more of this great material to light!
, comment by Mattynabib
Mattynabib @dscott said:
This video is an amazing trip down memory lane, even though I wasn't there. The crowd, the vibe, the setting...it all could have come from any number of high school and college parties back in those days. Every prep school hippie, hip school preppie, and I can't decide looks interchangeable with someone I might have known or been. Ah, to be young again in simpler times! Many thanks to @mattynabib, @uctweezer, et al for sharing this slice of historical history!
Yes! I've totally noticed that: the person you see at a show these days and you go "Holy crap, that's that guy [acid spinner dude, devil sticks guy, etc. fill in the stereotype in whatever gender] ... no wait a minute, that was 25 years ago and he looks exactly the same. That's just the NEW "that guy" who fills the same ecological niche in the system today."

There are a LOT of those in this video (though from my perspective, they all are the ORIGINAL "that guy"!)

Prep School Hippie - now THERE's a tune I'd like them to bring back, along with FAST Sanity.
, comment by Drummerboy1x
Drummerboy1x This is actually amazing. Thank you so much! I love this community!
, comment by musicrama
musicrama So glad this is out! Thank you!!! Can't wait to watch fully. Did a quick scan to see if I could see any shots of me as I was there, but alas no...Also hoping that my most vivid memory of the day was captured, but that will have to stay in the film in my brain. Right before Llama Page mentions the water tanks and hoses towards the back of the field. Well the acid was just kicking in hard, and my friend Mike losses it and starts running as fast as he can the entire perimeter of the field. As I watched him run, the water hoses were rolling in slow motion, rainbows flying, and Llama was tarring up the atmosphere. It was amazing!
The day after the show as we were heading out, Trey and Sue were on the motorcycle seen in the video right in front of us. We drove for a while behind them. He had an upside down Phish sticker on the back of his helmet. At one point my friend Todd who was driving says to me "We could end all of this right now". Of course we didn't run over Trey! In fact we felt protective, as I think it was raining. We wanted to make sure he got to where he was going ok. Needless to say we did not stalker follow Trey home.
, comment by Voraciously_Alternate
Voraciously_Alternate Cant give enough thanks for this awesome gift! You are a credit to our flock @mattynabib to say the least
, comment by mterry
mterry Mike @ 20:04 of set 1, worth the whole download.
, comment by SporkFan
SporkFan Alright @mattynabib - now where's the archival yeP! footage? Some of the best nights of my high-school career were the copious amounts of underage drinking done at Woodbury Ski and Raquet. Also still have a ticket stub from when the Biscuits opened up for you guys at The Ironhorse in Northampton.
, comment by TonyZ
TonyZ @TonyZ said:
This is soooooooo great. I wore this tape out back in the early 90’s. I haven’t listened to this show in a long time, and as I’m watching it, I remember every note. Thank you.
, comment by grasshead
grasshead Wow! Thank you so much for sharing!
, comment by BattenkillPhish
BattenkillPhish This is incredible. We have the best group text going as we are all standing center in front of the stage on film. There were six of us who had been seeing Phish since 87' at the Stone Church in Newmarket and the Tree in Ptld (remember the Ether night on the deck with the band - RIP Jake). Tewo of the couples on film here are married and we still go to at least 3 shows a year together. This is indeed a gift that will keep giving!! And how abvout the big dude with the Vodka. He is rockin' it.
, comment by BattenkillPhish
BattenkillPhish I also just made my donation Matt. Thanks again for feeding my brain with such awesome memories.
, comment by Col_Radicones_Ascent
Col_Radicones_Ascent Being relatively late to the whole Phish scene, you hear alot about the old days. The band was technically proficient and the songs were more complex than drawn out. The shows had a wildely different feel and there was a sense of youthfulness and optimism. This video encompasses all of that and is a real treat for someone like me who adores the long jam but was always curious about the "piss and vinegar" days of Phish.....that Foam has officially won me over to the days of when Phish were just Guppies (if you consider a 7 year old band new) thank you @mattynabib !
, comment by Davehengemania
Davehengemania Omg thank you so much for this. This was my 3rd or 4th show. Such great memories.
, comment by jawnh
jawnh This was easily one of the top three best concerts of my entire stupid pHuckin' life. Thank you for this immensely. Like opening up a time capsule.
, comment by jawnh
jawnh Actually taped it too. Was patched into a guy with Nakamichi shotguns (not visible in the video) on Mike side just back from and to mike side of sound tent where they had that rather large water bong set up. The tapes were crystalline but are now gone and the sound quality got some what diminished when transferred to WAV>CD and you already have same if not better quality aud audio. Anyways thanks again this is a rare treat in an otherwise pretty Fd up world. That Runaway Jim was one for the ages. Also this particular Hood, when they still did the actual "FEEL GOOD" ending, was always one of my favorite versions. Crimes of the Mind was also always a favorite and apparently the soundcheck really helped cuz the actual show version was anthemic ;) ~
, comment by andrewrose
andrewrose Wow. What a treasure.
, comment by Mattynabib
, comment by Mattynabib
Mattynabib @BattenkillPhish said:
This is incredible. We have the best group text going as we are all standing center in front of the stage on film. There were six of us who had been seeing Phish since 87' at the Stone Church in Newmarket and the Tree in Ptld (remember the Ether night on the deck with the band - RIP Jake). Tewo of the couples on film here are married and we still go to at least 3 shows a year together. This is indeed a gift that will keep giving!! And how abvout the big dude with the Vodka. He is rockin' it.
Wow - what a great connection! Thanks for sharing; did we ever see shows together (that you know of)? Memories are hazy of that time...
, comment by Mattynabib
Mattynabib @doodls said:
Can't wait to dig into this. Thanks Matty!! Donation made.
Doodles!!! It's been way too long, we need to see a show sometime.
, comment by eraserh
eraserh What kind of bass is Mike playing? Is that a Languedoc?
, comment by BattenkillPhish
BattenkillPhish @Mattynabib said:
@BattenkillPhish said:
This is incredible. We have the best group text going as we are all standing center in front of the stage on film. There were six of us who had been seeing Phish since 87' at the Stone Church in Newmarket and the Tree in Ptld (remember the Ether night on the deck with the band - RIP Jake). Tewo of the couples on film here are married and we still go to at least 3 shows a year together. This is indeed a gift that will keep giving!! And how abvout the big dude with the Vodka. He is rockin' it.
Wow - what a great connection! Thanks for sharing; did we ever see shows together (that you know of)? Memories are hazy of that time...
Matt,

The ones that stand out for me would be any Tree show in Portland, especially the 1990 at the tree where a friend had ether and the band and fans were all engaged in a little Cider House Rules on the deck at the Tree. T-Birds and the Expos stood out as did Sommerville Theatre with the Aquarium Rescue Unit. Good times!!
, comment by PauperCaspian
PauperCaspian Incredible, reminds me of the "Sunshine Daydream" video of the Grateful Dead's '72 Veneta show, but this has more of an intimate feel to it, steady-handed, quality home video (the best type!).
, comment by Mattynabib
Mattynabib @eraserh said:
What kind of bass is Mike playing? Is that a Languedoc?
Yep, that was his main axe for a long time, with custom Moerch pickups... you can hear more about it straight from the Cactus' mouth here: https://vimeo.com/288613934
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