I took my friend Ashley to this show - she was living in Boulder at the time. She liked Phish, but was a HUGE country fan. When Tim O'Brien came out she lost her shit! Everyone else around us was like...who is that guy?! I enjoyed hearing the three tunes he played with them, but definitely did not fully appreciate the magnitude of this guest at the time.

I took my friend Ashley to this show - she was living in Boulder at the time. She liked Phish, but was a HUGE country fan. When Tim O'Brien came out she lost her shit! Everyone else around us was like...who is that guy?! I enjoyed hearing the three tunes he played with them, but definitely did not fully appreciate the magnitude of this guest at the time.

My first show...16 years old. I had 1 tape (7/8/94 set 1), [i]ALO[/i], and [i]Junta[/i], and I think that was it. I'm mostly in agreement with a lot of other commenters here...the first set is very song heavy (12 songs in fall 1997 feels like a crazy number!) and nothing too special (a nice but not standout Bowie to close), and of course the Jim is THE Jim and has moments of brilliance, especially in the first 1/2 hour or so, but it definitely has moments that lag where you're surprised they didn't end it. All that's said from the perspective of me 23 years and almost 200 shows later though... At the time, I just remember being awed by all of it. I recognized Foam and Simple in the first set, I was floored when they played Avenu Malkenu since I knew the melody so well from being Jewish and going to temple on High Holidays, I loved that they played a Gamehendge song since that was my first love with this band, and the Bowie was very cool, I remember thinking the ending was really amazing. I loved the lights, I loved the scene, it was so fascinating. I liked hearing lots of songs in the first set. I had no idea of anything that was happening on this tour. Honestly, I don't remember being cognizant of the Runaway Jim being that long. When it's your first show and they do something extraordinary, you don't necessarily realize it's anything out of the norm because you have no norms. I don't remember being aware of the time other than just realizing that they were playing for a while, but I had no clue it was all one song, or that this was significant in any way. I remember being a little bored, even, during parts of it (I still am during some of those spacey parts!). When they went into Strange Design, I remember people all around me being in shock, like something amazing had just happened and people were freaking out. The Hood was glorious, and my girlfriend's mom was now waiting outside to pick us up, but the show was far from over. This was pre cellphone, so we just had to hope she would still be there and wouldn't be mad (she wasn't mad! Thanks, Galina!). I recognized Suzy as well, and had no idea it was a bust out. The encore was super cool, two covers of classic rock tunes and I was really into classic rock when I was in high school. All in all, this is such a weird first show to experience. I wonder if its uniqueness is part of the reason I wasn't hooked right away...it took me a few more shows to realize that I needed to see [i]every show I could[/i]. This was a show that was really taylor-made for advanced fans, not noobs like myself. I wasn't ready yet. But the Jim has moments of pure brilliance that are worth listening to even if it wasn't the longest single song in their history.

Can't give this anything but five stars, of course. It looms large in my memories of 1.0 Phish. But relistening to it for the first time in at least ten years, I am surprised how much less energy is there than I remember it, but only in the first half or so of the midnight set. This was my first time watching the show's video feed, and also the fan-shot video on YouTube. What a gift to have that video. I was way back at the only tree in the venue, standing on a block of ice so I could just see over people's heads. There was a line of blocks of ice to demarcate a walkway, and me and my buddy Stu, along with other heads, stood on the ice like that. I danced that block of ice into water over about 7 hours, minus my one pee break during Albuquerque. The acid/molly combo provided the stamina needed for such a thing. But being way back there, we could barely see the video feed. It's remarkable how stoned out Trey looks. I think seeing that affected the way I listened to it now. I should say, the first set is simply smoking and just perfect, exactly as I remember it. After Midnight seems obvious now, but in real time, man, that was the best breakout there ever was. Or most appropriate song choice for a particular moment by any band ever. I very much remember the deep smiles on everyone's faces when that dropped. The boogie was intense. Such excitement for what might be coming! So the midnight show comes out with a blast for ten or fifteen minutes after midnight, and then surprisingly it really mellows out for a bliss jam. Which is nice, but a lot of the jams for the next few hours end this way, and it makes me suspect Trey was floating on molly, like I was. Wonderful, but quite mellow. Things start off with a bang, and then peter out a bit. I do remember thinking when they shred through Axilla, how are they this fresh at 3:30am? I think that's when you really started to feel how late at night it was. I feel like Mike starts pushing Trey to rock harder with My Soul, which looks on the video like Mike's call. Trey delivers, and then I'm pretty sure he goes and takes the onstage bathroom break with Fishman that he's talked about in interviews. There's a long pause, and then Page and Mike vamp for awhile until Trey and Fishman come back and they bust into Drowned. From there on, I'd say, for listening purposes, it just gets better and better. It settles a bit with Horse-> Silent and Bittersweet Motel, but that's because it's 5am. Looks like on the video that Trey takes a sniff of something, and then he rages through Piper and comes up with amazing melodic stuff for the rest of the show. I'm sorry I'm focusing on the drug aspect so much. It maybe doesn't matter so much, but to me it's worth noting. Ignore it if you like. Roses was and still is just everything, man. Watching the way the sun comes in and it slowly becomes day, even on the crappy VHS recording we have, that really comes through as something amazing. You've just never seen it before. The Harry Hood fake out is cute, and then that 2001. You forgot you were waiting for it the whole time, and there it is, magnificent. It does bring back the weird feeling of that morning. We didn't know what we'd come back to when we reentered the world through Orlando airport. Did the Y2K bug take down the whole internet? Can planes still fly? We didn't really know. No cell phones around with internet, none of that. Might the world have changed somehow? First thing I saw when we turned onto the Florida highway and back into civilization was a big buzzard. Very ominous, very Florida.

Definitely my favorite show of this tour (at least for now) and possibly my favorite Phish show of all time. The release of the Hampton-Winston/Salem box set certainly helped bring this one into clear focus. But even without that official release, it's still pretty obvious that this show smokes from top to bottom and is certainly an early Fall 97 highlight. The second set rightly gets most of the attention in this show, but I am blown away again and again by the opening Mike's Groove in the first set. And then really, the entire first set just does it so well. Mid first set Hood?!? You kiddin' me?! I actually really love the Train Song/Billy Breathes segment of this show as this is the only real "breather" part of the show. Frankenstein>Izabella.. classic 97. Halley's is a monster, no doubt. "Hey Mike, stay on F!" Best band leader decision that Trey has ever made. This whole second set should be required listening for every Phish fan. And preferably in one sitting, uninterrupted. What else can you say about this show? 5/5

If you weren't convinced yet that Fall 97 is Phish's best tour, then this show should start to seal the deal. This three-night run (11/21-11/23) is probably the finest in Phish's career. Maybe 11/17 isn't your bag (for whatever crazy reason), but how can anyone deny the funky-as-hell 20 minute opening Emotional Rescue? This show is in the stratosphere from the opening notes and they never let up until the end of the weekend. Although I will say that this first set seems to dip a bit through the the middle, there are so many high intensity moments that keep things grooving all throughout. I'm personally a fan of the big hitters in this set; ER, SOAM, PYITE, and Chalkdust. The second set follows in typical 97 fashion: two huge marquee funk jams that take up the majority of the second set and some other great music thrown in for good measure. Although I'd rank this AC/DC Bag a tad lower than the 9/14/99 Boise version, this one is a completely different beast and totally worthy in its own right. One thing I always find interesting about this tour is how short the sets can be. Not that I would be complaining after this second set, but it is considerably shorter than second sets from other years. Hell, I suppose if the Phish is going to be bringing the fire funk heat like they did in this second set, maybe it's necessary to wrap it up a little quicker!

Ah, what can be said about this show that hasn't already been said so many times before? This show is killer, top-notch Phish from start to finish. It also has a strong argument for a much better first than second set, but that's really up to the listener to decide. This show holds a special place in my heart because it was one of the first LivePhish albums I had and I distinctly remember borrowing it from the library to make copies for me and my friends. The first set Tweezer and Ghost rightly get all of the attention from the show, but I always really loved the DWD->Olivia's Pool segment of the show. Just good clean fun. Even though this is the fourth show on this tour, 11/17 is when Fall Tour 1997 really kicks into high gear and never lets up, all the way through to the end on 12/13 in Albany

What a HOT show to kick off the three night Worcester run. And it just keeps getting better! By this point in the Fall Tour, they have definitely found their groove and have figured out how to deliver great shows and standout jams every single night. The first set is kind of interesting... it doesn't seem to have a ton of the typical 97 flow to it, but still has some really great jams. The 24 minute YEM is definitely a highlight, especially so early in the show. It's a bit different than most YEMs in that it didn't really have the bass/drums part, and the vocal jam was very minor. But I think I'll take the solid 10+ minutes of funky jamming they delivered instead. The other highlight of this set is Black-Eyed Katy. Probably the best BEK of the tour so far, maybe in all of 97? Very good and funky. Set two is also a bit mellow to start, but still brings some serious heat. Definitely strong versions of Timber and LxL to get things going. Slave is an interesting mid-set choice as it kind of feels like the song that usually wraps things up late in a show. However, in typical Phish fashion, they mix it up and go hard in the final stretch of the second set. This Ghost is a keeper. You know the drill; solid funky grooves with the usual stop/start jams, and then raging guitar god Trey bringing it to a peak as they fly into Johnny B. Goode to wrap up the second set. Hot hot heat on night one!

Sandwiched between two historic, monster three-night runs, this show is easily overlooked, but it still brings the goods in so many ways. Although set two is really why this show gets remembered, the opening Tweezer is about as good as it gets in Fall 97. They kick you right in the nuts with some classic Phish funk for nearly 20 minutes. The rest of the first set is pretty average-great, with the closing Taste worth revisiting This second set is some pure gold, though. A spacey, droning, psychedelic Zero gets things going and gets things weird. It is a solid 20+ minutes of weird gooey goodness. Definitely not the funky sound that most of this tour is known for, but that would come up next in the equally epic 2001->Cities->Ya Mar segment. Some delicious funk and smooth transitions. The set cools down a bit after Punch, but I've always loved Tweezer Reprise coming at the end of the second set instead of the encore. Excellent, excellent show.

"That was when Phish became a good band, right before the Bangor Tweezer." - Trey, Relix 11/16/2020 Fall '94. The difference in the band since Summer was palpable. We were fresh off of the classic 11/23 show, having been blown away by the whole experience, and rolling into Minnesota a day early. We skipped Chicago. Maybe a mistake, but a high school buddy was playing running back for little St. John's University outside Minneapolis and let us crash at his pad on some lake. I remember evergreens laden with snow and drunk Catholic girls and not much else. The day of the show was [i]frigid[/i]. Cold in Colorado ain't like cold in Minnesota. And the wind was blowing. And it was snowing, light at first, then picking up near show time. No lot scene due to weather and limited parking, so we went inside as soon as we could and gawked at the place. Not as much eye candy as the Fox in St. Louis, but more elegant somehow. Dylan had owned the place until '88 when he sold it to the city. 10 million in renovations later, and it was damned impressive, especially the giant chandelier. Seeing Phish west of the Mississippi but not in Colorado was a different sort of experience pre-'96. It was always the first Phish show for large swathes of the crowd, and this night was no different. We brought a friend to his first show, and every damn person surrounding us were n00bs, so we got to play like jaded vets and answer questions about the band. Fungus fully kicked in right as the lights went down, maybe the best I've ever timed that, making first set an extended psychedelic roar. The opening MFMF > Possum was twisted enough to lead to some uncertain looks among the n00bs. Better buckle up, kids. Trey blew a verse in Guyute, but it was new enough no one cared, and the fugue-ish section raged. Foam's dynamics always work best in small theaters, and the sound in this one was spectacular. The quiet parts were [i]really[/i] quiet, but still crystal clear. The last four songs of the first set are...not my my cup of tea, but they were playing so well I didn't give a damn. If I have a fave Poor Heart, this is it. Setbreak came and went in a haze. I remember little but staring at the deep blue lights Kuroda had bathing the stage. Second set, magic set. Best set of Phish I ever witnessed. I had literally one tape with Halley's on it at that point, and had nearly worn it out in a mere couple months. So when Mike launched into the opening vocal line, I started jumping up and down like mad, startling the n00bs. From that moment, it was on, like Donkey Kong. How to describe the following Bowie? I've started to write posts on just it, but words always fail. It is ineffable, at least when considered in the primacy of felt experience. It defies descriptions of type I or II; it's somehow both at once. Here's this 37 minute kaiju of a jam, experimental to all hell, yet by the last five minutes every n00b around us--hell, the entire theatre--was standing up, spines channeling electricity, arms raised in triumph. Art, [i]true[/i] art, always f***ing wins. The rest of the set is roller coaster Phish at its best. It is in every sense dramatic, cinematic. The range of emotions covered in this set is extreme, and the closing Slave (the ALO version) remains the best I've seen. The Rocky Top encore had the damn security guards dancing in the aisles, and I remember spilling out of that place into the zero degree air laughing and shouting, full of f***ing life like some character at the end of a Hallmark movie. I'm likely known around here as a 3.0 apologist, but that's a feeling nothing other than 1.0 has ever given me, that feeling of being so damn alive and in touch with the world at that moment. God f***ing damn, I'm getting chills merely recalling it. The next day, of course, we nearly died driving through the Blizzard to Bozeman, but that story can wait.

Just a thought, Bowie starts with (Page?) saying it's just passed the stroke of midnight and is now Trey's birthday...so this show didn't start until 11:15???? Not to sound like anybody's grandma or anything but that's just weird to me, that's like a Jazzfest late night set. Anyway, carry on, good Bowie.

Loved the whole show and this whole series. I have a question for the set list...how is this full TAB debut? Trey has LML played since 2006. Love how Trey is going after the songbook. Nothing off limits. Makes TAB shows exciting not knowing what he will play. Tonight was amazing. The GOTF show was awesome. This whole run....its sort of groundbreaking in the time of covid. Next week will be special. And his banter is gold.

Brilliant! Sweeter. More heartfelt. horns. Cressman shows her passion for her presence on that stage. Nothing less than perfection. As Trey divulges his purest reason for being on that stage, life is worth it! Blessings to those who have sacrificed to bee there fir us upon that stage. Congratulations Grandfather Cyro! Happiest of birthdays! SCIENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Only here to comment on the Reba. I've listened to this Reba so many mf times it's practically imprinted in my brain. Mind-blowing stuff. Turn it up loud enough and you'll shed tears (I have). I've listened to most of the "best" Rebas and I'm pretty sure this is the best one. The groove! The melodicism! The tightness! That ending! Might need to go listen again after writing this review... better get my kleenex ready

In the download I just listened to (from phishows.com), the opening track labeled TV Theme is actually the McGrupp jam from the end of the show, and the last track labeled McGrupp seems to be the mysterious and incredibly compelling "TV Theme" (which sounds something like a Zappa tune? although Trey says they just wrote it). It's mind-blowing to hear them playing so tight already in this early tape. This is absolutely must hear stuff. (Even though the recording sounds speeded up for most of the tracks and Trey sounds like he's on Helium.)

If anyone is interested, there's a great hour+ long interview with Trey recorded the morning of this show. Can be found here: [url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv9t9XGqWDI&ab_channel=JohnCaudy[/url] This is a very fun show -- great early Phish, phenomenal Bowie... Really fun to hear where Trey's head was at the morning of a mid-week early-90's Phish show.

This one of my personal favorites. Was still in high school and drove from Washington down to Richmond with tour pals in a combo van (yes indeed, the perfect vehicle for tour). The venue was tucked behind an industrial park, that seemed to be an endless field of mud and maybe even a racetrack. The Amp itself was a rather makeshift space with a roof that looked like a tin can. Of course, we were late and walked in during Rift. I remember my friend alerting me at intermission that I had missed Gumbo - I lost my shit (a rarity at the time). Second set is just relentless and features he best fan guest appearance on Harpua and top shelf versions of YEM and Antelope. There had been a massive thunderstorm which made the atmospherics of the Harpua all the more compelling.

Still maybe the best NY run, with the stage design and 1993-era precision of the tension/release style. This show gets overshadowed by the monster 12/30 and 12/31 gigs but don't sleep on the SOAMelt with Kashmir and the YaMar with Auld Lang Syne. The onlu time I can recall the set design influencing the vocal jam - see YEM. Phestive Phish.

This gig was initially not in the published DS yet the date had a note that said: "A performance will happen on this day" With no DC area shows announced, we were hopeful (I was a freshman in HS!) but none of us had predicted the Patriot Center, a 10K-seat college basketball arena, which was large for this tour. The show was probably 2/3 full but we scored 4th row center and got to watch Trey rock out, injured ankle and all. Loving Cup and Reba remain standout versions to this day 6 months later the band would return and set at the time, the concert attendance record.

So here we are. The last show of 1.0 Phish. If there was any time for a blowout show, this was it. Looking at the setlist, it certainly looks good on paper. Almost like they were “playing the hits,” but at the same time fairly typical for 2000. First Tube opens up the show in standard rocking fashion. By this point they could play this song in their sleep. The peak flows with such ease one might forget the gravitas of the moment. A classic Mike’s Groove is an obvious choice for the last show. Mike’s Song starts off weirdly subdued but eventually works its way to a fine peak. Nothing special for this last versions of a storied song. Perhaps it’s appropriate. Hydrogen is played well and leads us into the final Weekapaug. Mike’s solo is kinda flat; not much energy to it. The rest of the song follows suit. Not bad, per se, but not great. Fee is great choice for a throwback song. The first track off their first album deserves a place at the last show. While it’s no Jones Beach, this one is played well. Gin gives the first real jam of the night. This one is right in line with the rocking upbeat Gins of 2000 and is overall quite nice. Glide, another oldie, is a great send off for the fans. “We’re glad, glad, glad that you’re alive.” Of course compared to Phish’s other “last show” this version is played without any real flubs. My Soul closes the 2nd to last set of Phish. A solid set for sure, but not adventurous in the slightest. The energy is kind of sad and tired. That said, it’s still a fun set with no complaints from me. Set 2 begins with a pretty great 3 song sequence. Twist is fairly average but it has some good guitar work from Trey. The spacey outro then slowly morphs into 2001 as Fish starts up the beat. This 2001 has heavy danceability. One last funky dance party is what we all needed. Trey and Mike really drive the rhythm home here. Tweezer descends from the clouds of 2001. As the final version for Uncle Ebenezer, it’s pretty good with Trey developing a cool theme and the rest of the band supporting. The one ballad for the night is Trey’s favorite Wading in the Velvet Sea. It’s heartfelt and touching. Meatstick, the patron saint of ’99, gets one last performance. It’s joyous and silly, just as it should be. Bowie comes in a bit shaky in the composed section, but they make up for it with a “standard good” jam. Tweeprise closes the last set of Phish in great, high-energy, fashion. As the final encore, YEM is an obvious choice. It’s as funky and dancey as ever and the vocal jam has a nice finality to it. And there it is. The last show. Surprisingly, not a word from the band was spoken. Not even a “thank you” after YEM. I suppose they felt there was nothing to say. They’ll be back one day, why say goodbye?

This show isn't a big jam show. This show was essentially a 2016 version of a 1991 show. Just super high energy Phish and they're all just having a fantastic time playing. Not every show has to be bookmarked by a massive jam to be good. If that's all you like them for, then go back and listen to shows where they did that. I'll take a fun, high energy show any day. It really just goes to show the versatility that the band has. Especially in the song selection on this night. I'd highly recommend this show to anyone who loves the band.

This soundcheck is one of my all-time great memories of the band. I can actually say I attended. Back in 2009, I had lost my job, like a lot of people, and I didn't have the bread to get a Festival 8 ticket. But as an LA resident, I wasn't about to miss it. I signed up for the volunteer shifts, which meant coming in a couple of days early and working for something like 20 hours total. We checked in at the store and we all got one of the nice metal Festival 8 water bottles, which I immediately lost. I walked right back in the back of the store tent from the back, where no one was guarding the exit, and I grabbed another one. Then I did like 8 hours of mostly lifting cases of water bottles onto or off of a little golf cart trailer, and just getting water everywhere it needed to be. It was back-breaking work, and Indio in late October is still hot, easily in the 90s. After a full day of it, the foreman picked out me and maybe four other hefty dudes. We all were pretty sturdy. He didn't tell us where we were going, but we got on a truck loaded with palm trees in pots. They drove us right into the venue during the opening jam of what is called set 2 here. Only one of the other volunteers and myself was actually really pumped we were getting in. The other dudes were tired, I guess. We loaded out a truckload of palm trees all over the venue while the band played. The palm trees went to the corners of the sound booth and at all the light and speaker stations among the crowd, as decoration. It was pretty fantastic. I was dancing on the moving flat-bed truck from one side of the venue to the other during Undermind. I remember that very well. Empty lawn. Just the band and us techies. We finished up with the palms, and the guy didn't take us away right away, so we got to see the soundcheck to the end. None of us had the stones to go right up to the front. We kept a respectful distance off to the side, but there was nobody between us and the band. I didn't recognize Starship Trooper, but people were very excited. I knew it was a possible Halloween clue. Later this night, you could still get into the outer area of the venue, and on that giant screen they were playing clips of horror movies interspersed with clips of Phish shows. They played a good chunk of the 1998 Halloween set, and I said, hey, this exists! When are they releasing this video?! They still have not. Nor have they released the 3-D blu-ray of Festival 8, even though there was a movie released in theaters. Why can't I buy that 3-D blue-ray of the movie you aired in theaters, Phish.com? I digress. The next morning I showed up to the store for my last shift, in costume, which was as a cop. Yup, it was the scariest thing I could think of at a Phish show. I was a pretty believable cop, actually. I think I went too far. I got my hair cut short to the neck, which really sold it. I showed up for my shift and they put me in the back of the shop to just stand there all day and discourage the hippies from stealing those nice Festival 8 water bottles. You show up as a cop, they make you a cop. Don't do it.

Show 3 of the final run. The penultimate Phish show of 1.0. Clearly an epic event of mythic proportions right? Carini starts us off right. Nothing too special but it’s a good energetic opener. Stash up next and while it stays in the box, it is well played with some great moments from Mike. Boogie On continues the spirited playing but not much exploration. Mellow Mood cools us down with a damn near perfect placement halfway through the set. Maze is another good version with good playing from all members. Moma doesn’t reach the heights it had earlier in the year but it is solid. Antelope closes the set with its standard ferocity. Nothing special but a solid set nonetheless. A brisk Heavy Things opens the 2nd set in typical “calm before the storm” fashion. Down with Disease bursts out of the gates with a rocking jam that then quickly recedes into contemplative playing. As quickly as the quiet section arrives, Trey ratchets the jam back up to speed presumably to bring back the Disease refrain. But they take an unexpected left turn into to rhythmic territory which slowly morphs into… Spock’s Brain! Super cool segue. TIJW is a fine cool down song but I don’t like the placement here. An uncommon 2nd set Rift gets the momentum back up and sets the stage for another big jam. Cities immediately feels like it’s going big with quick textural work from Trey… but instead it fizzles out. Sand once again is the choice for the big jam of the show. At this point in the tour, I’m sick of Sand. Trey goes over to his keyboard and makes soundscapey noises per usual but instead of building for 10 minutes he instead switches back to his guitar and leads into a rocking jam. It’s surprising to hear Sand played this way after so many versions of the same thing. Golgi is played great for its final 1.0 performance. Brian and Robert is a bad call here right before the end of the set. Very awkward placement despite how much I like this song. Bold as Love closes an alright set. Disease -> Spock’s Brain and Sand are the highlights of this 3rd-to-last set of Phish. Encores generally aren’t much to talk about but if Bob Weir joins you it’s definitely worth noting. I’m not into the Dead much but from what I can tell these are well played versions and Bob mixes well with the band although he’s a bit too low in the mix. Well, all in all this one isn’t the epic 2nd-to-last Phish show it might’ve deserved to be, but there are some highlights in the Stash, Disease -> Spock’s and the Sand and of course the encore. It’s nice to see Bob play with Phish, especially this close to the end.

This may be the first truly great Phish show I've encountered since starting from the beginning of their recorded history. This is in part due to the quality and relative completeness of the recording However, this nice recording also reveals a band that is finally mastering its craft. There is a tightness in the playing throughout, the trademark sense of humor matched with sincere energy and musicianship, and then there is just the novelty of hearing a lot of these classic Phish tunes & covers in their first incarnations. I am going to list my highlights, but please don't let this make you think you can safely skip any parts of this show. I could honestly rave about almost every part of this show, it smokes from start to finish: 1) [u]Skin It Back[/u]: The first known version of this cover slays. The whole band is really locked in and tight during the jam, keeping the energy high throughout. Trey really soars on top of Fishman's propulsive beat. Great early Phish jam which segues cleanly into… 2) [u]Cities[/u]: Slick pairing with Skin it Back, a back-to-back funky little one-two punch for ya. There isn't a jam, but the execution is thrilling [b]3) [u]McGrupp[/u]:[/b] This early version of McGrupp has a mesmerizing sense of growing dread due to an atypical, hypnotic melody Trey is playing over Page's beautiful chords. The tension builds with spine tingling fervor until it explodes on the "He looks too much like Dave" line. The jam afterwards is definitely driven by Page, with a more typical McGrupp feel. [b]4) [u]Lushington[/u]:[/b] If you haven't heard Lushington, do yourself a favor. Listen now, this rendition is great. You'll no doubt recognize segments that would later be fully incorporated into Fluffhead, but Lushington has its own character and is a great tune. Still hoping for that bust out in 2021! 5) [u]Sneakin' Sally[/u]: Worth the listen for the exuberant, early 80's energy that they bring to this funky cover tune. Nice vocal jam taboot. [b]6) [u]Quinn->Mike's[/u]:[/b] The Quinn part of this pairing is fun and gets stretched out a bit, but its really the Mike's you want to hear. It's like they built up and stored the energy from Quinn's, segued subtly into Mike's Song, and then as soon as the jam on Mike's Song starts they just unleash. Trey's playing is insane, and he and Fishman display some great syncopation, especially towards the very end of the jam. Do not skip. [b]7) [u]Harry Hood[/u]:[/b] Heroic peak in this one. Perhaps one of the best Hoods to date. Trey changes his tone as he moves back into the end of the song, giving a nice effect leaving his virtuosic soloing [b]8) [u]Run Like A Cantaloupe[/u]:[/b] Cantaloupe shenanigans aside (highly amusing), Trey gets cosmic on this one! His tone is like a celestial siren, laying prophecy amongst the chaos of Mike/Fish/Page's meteoric collisions. Amazing peak and best antelope (well, cantaloupe) up to this point! This or the Mike's Song may be my favorite jams of the show. 9) [u]Clod[/u]: Sure, its just a segment of Fluffhead, but its slowed down and the vibe is completely different outside of Fluffhead. A little more chill, a little jazzier, and whole lot more drama. Great end to this stellar show!

Decent show with some first time performances for songs that are iconic in Phish's current repertoire. Nothing too stand-out, but there are some minor highlights: 1) [u]Slave to the Traffic Light[/u]: Just a well executed, early era Slave without any of the extended build-up or crazy peaks 2) [u]Wilson[/u]: As noted by another, the vocals evoke Dylan and its kinda hilarious. There is a brief, smooth, jazzy jam in the middle of the song. 3) [u]Halley's Comet[/u]: Although Mike's questionable falsetto may induce cringes, there is a nice little jam on the end that builds up really well into a Possum segue 4) [u]Possum[/u]: Some slick guitar work by Big Red in the middle of this one

Can't say I'm a huge fan of this show/recording... not really sure why, many of the songs are performed fairly well. It's just lacking a lot of the magic for me. However, there are some highlights: 1) [u]AC/DC Bag[/u]: This jam has a little bit of fat on the end! Unfortunately, the cool intro from the previous version (04/01/86) isn't here, but they give this one an extended Type I treatment which has some momentum before fizzling into Dear Mrs. Reagan 2) [u]You Enjoy Myself[/u]: The first YEM to really stick the Boy/Man/God/Shit transition. Trey has some pretty ferocious playing the during the jam (ferocious for this era).

I sing this show's praises so often that I decided to just chime in with my $.02 about how good it is. IMO, this is a perfectly-executed Phish show, if not necessarily the most exploratory or experimental. Doesn't matter - everything here is, for the most part, perfectly executed. Psychic link on 100. Not a dry undergarment in the house. I left with my jaw on the ground in utter amazement at how hard Phish crushed the Garden this night. EASY 5 stars. Listen immediately and accept no substitutes.

My first show. I was 51 years old. My oldest son brought me. I was late, and missed the only two Phish songs I knew (Runaway Jim and Bouncing), but when YEM came on, and the crowd began to dance en masse, the atmosphere was filled with love and music, and I was done. Hooked. 75 now. 70 shows later. The rest of the show is a blur; I was unfamiliar with the music but loved it, and I'll never forget Buddy Miles' performance (I dabble on drums), and was won over by the way the group featured their guest. Thank you Phish for the continuing music, old and new. For a guy who started on Elvis and Dylan, and then of course doo wop, r&b, the Beatles, and on and on, Phish managed to surpass all and become my favorite band.

My very first Phish show. It's a nice little hall, this place. I also saw Beck play there around this time, which was a great show. My general memory is just that this band was so fast. I was used to dancing through long slow sections at Grateful Dead shows, and this was just go, go, go. It wore out my little 23-year-old self. And I loved it. So much energy. I also remember that this is one of those places where they put a temporary floor down over the seats, so it bowed in a bit under the crowd. There were certain sections when everyone was pogo-ing, and the floor was really bouncy. In my memory, that happened during Bouncing Around the Room, but it looks like they didn't play that, so it must have been somewhere else. Probably Maze. Why Don't We Do It in the Road was really funny, as I recall. And I clearly remember the CDT Reprise (first ever!), when Trey thanked 1,000 people by name. The Simple is great, but it probably only made it on the album because it's short and sweet and stands alone. Also, I have no memory at all of DMB opening. I didn't realize it, but this was the last show of the era of the super-tour. Maybe it should be called Phish 0.5.

This show is decent, with some phenomenal highlights, but there are also some lulls in it as well. A couple of notes before I get to my highlights. The first recording of Icculus is short and rather uneventful, none of the drawn out shenanigans we will one day anticipate. For YEM, they still haven't quite ironed out the "Boy Man God Shit" transition but the main composition is fairly solid and very funky. Finally, I wouldn't say that McGrupp is recited Dylan-esque (I was expecting weird singing with that comparison). Instead, it's more like a recitation, with poetic meter (which I guess you could say is Dylan-esque... but that's not what comes to mind when I hear that phrase!). Highlights: 1) [u]Have Mercy[/u]: First known performance of this beloved cover, it has the absolutely gorgeous ethereal middle section, thanks to some reverb effects from Trey. Very cool! [b]2) [u]Harry Hood[/u]:[/b] My god, this Hood peaks pretty hard. Perhaps the first great Hood I've encountered as I'm going through Phish's recorded history chronologically. Check this one out. [b]3) [u]Help on the Way> Slipknot![/u]:[/b] In particular, the Slipknot! jam gets pretty wild, with essence of some of the ragier Antelopes that would emerge in '92/'93. The chaotic rage dissolves into some absolutely weird spacey jam with lots of synth-effects from Page and then later some echoing bass from Mike. Eventually the jam seamlessly segues into... 4) [u]AC/DC Bag[/u]: ...Such a cool little intro fpr AC/DC Bag! Very slick! The first recorded version of Bag is a banger from day 1. Great tune from the outset. 5) [u]Dear Mrs. Reagan[/u]: First recorded performance of this song... meh, it's OK. Check it out if you've never heard this tune.