I'm not usually one to care too much about less-than-perfect playing but this first set is pretty off. It's exacerbated by the recording which has the guitar and bass way out in front of everything else. Divided Sky does sound off but it's interesting too. The last few minutes of Stash are pretty fun. Suzy is a mixed bag. The band seems... tired? Second Set starts off better. Glide and Antelope are pretty good. I enjoyed the rest of the set as well. Not the tightest playing but it's all fun. Good songs, secrete language, a rollicking enough Y.E.M. Mike's playing in Y.E.M. isn't well served by the recording but it's all right. The Vocal Jam is really good. The party portion of the show is very fun and charming. A perfectly good if middle of the road 1992 second set to my ears.

Summer 2003 is a favorite tour of mine, and it starts on this HOT night in Phoenix. The temperature outside was scorching, the music was good, but not 111 degrees. Solid Stash opener, Spices debut was interesting, good David Bowie, and Dirt to my ears is the first indication that 2003 Phish isn't 1999 or 2000 Phish. In those years, Trey would take a big solo, but on this night, Dirt is hazy music that isn't better or worse than before, just DIFFERENT. Wolfman's through Prince Caspian is great, but it's also not your usual hose or machine gun Phish. It's perfect for a July night in the desert. Doesn't move too fast, and feels like it could be blown away by a wind gust at any minute. These outdoor shows in Arizona are fascinating to me. They are Phish tapping into the local spirit.

Agree with much of what Harold Hood says. Most of set 1 was acoustic, short but great tunes and it was a great experience for sure. Push on till the day really got the fire burning. 2nd set really was full TAB. My favorite might just be the 10 min gotta jibbo. Great venue (I saw Trey again there in 2014 I think it was} and the sound is really great. Not terribly hard to get close to the band and Trey. Supposed to go this year again but stupid COVID ruined that????. If you get the chance check this show out, it's on live Phish!

In the grand scheme of life, in Phish world...(a year with very little not to love)...a very good show will slip thru the cracks, some of the November shows get forgotten in the year of our Icculus ‘95...makes sense: hot last week of October and then a legendary December. But this show is the king of middle children...as exceptional as the others but ignored Do yourself a favor and listen

awesome stuff, I highly recommend seeing Trey in a setting like this with PSO or some other body behind him. I mean i recommend him any time you can but this was a special night. So glad I got the tickets and went. If only i could find a recording! YEM was splendid and Divided Sky with the orchestra, if this format ever comes back to town I'll be there!

For my particular Phishy tastes, this is without a doubt a keeper. Highlights galore, great playing throughout, beautiful peaks and lots of dark, dark, evil chaotic Phish. If you like dissonance-filled and chaotic, unpredictable jamming, this show may be for you. Highlights: 1) Bathtub Gin: Merely sets the stage for everything to come. Great playing and a nice little jam that fades into bliss before becoming Sparkle 2) Down with Disease: Out the gate, Trey's playing is full of frenzy and energy that continuously lands. Trey's instincts are on fire. Stellar Type I jam 3)*Split Open & Melt*: I imagine that this is on the soundtrack that plays in Hell's lobby. A chaotic SOAM jam that never loses coherence, we get lots of evil, rabies-infested Phish with a brief interlude of helium bliss, only to explode back into more insane noise-filled dissonance. And at the conclusion, the band sticks the landing back into the SOAM theme. Stellar jam 4)*Harry Hood*: The patient yet insistent building to this peaks is worth the price of admission. It's like the band is pissing in my ears, and I have a golden shower fetish. Hose city. 5)*Cities*: Funky vibing to start set II. At this point, I'm just a little gravy ball in this '97 crowd,. Put me on some biscuits, let's get soggy. At ~16, the jam transitions from gravy funk to some Sunny D brightness. Uplifiting and bright, Page really shines in this part of the jam. Breakfast of Champs 6)*Good Times, Bad Times->Rotation Jam*: How did this bluesy rocker melt so quickly into a snaking psychedlic romp? Oh hold the phone, cause Page is going to the Theremin!? And Trey is playing nasty melodies of the undead?! And this zombie groove... yeah this is some satanic seance shit. Wondeful! Let's dance in goat blood! 7) Rock A William: All the preceding noises set this creepy number up well 8)*David Bowie*: The extended build up here is just fun, and the delay loops keep it interesting. Once the song starts, the jam gets to this pretty contemplative place fairly quickly, and I'm happy to meander here for a while. But then around ~14 min, Trey plays this venom-laced chord to transition a motion to murkier waters, and at ~18:30 Trey & Page are trading percussive attacks before the whole band growls back into the Bowie theme. Beautiful version

For my particular Phishy tastes, this is without a doubt a keeper. Highlights galore, great playing throughout, beautiful peaks and lots of dark, dark, evil chaotic Phish. If you like dissonance-filled and chaotic, unpredictable jamming, this show may be for you. Highlights: 1) Bathtub Gin: Merely sets the stage for everything to come. Great playing and a nice little jam that fades into bliss before becoming Sparkle 2) Down with Disease: Out the gate, Trey's playing is full of frenzy and energy that continuously lands. Trey's instincts are on fire. Stellar Type I jam 3)*Split Open & Melt*: I imagine that this is on the soundtrack that plays in Hell's lobby. A chaotic SOAM jam that never loses coherence, we get lots of evil, rabies-infested Phish with a brief interlude of helium bliss, only to explode back into more insane noise-filled dissonance. And at the conclusion, the band sticks the landing back into the SOAM theme. Stellar jam 4)*Harry Hood*: The patient yet insistent building to this peaks is worth the price of admission. It's like the band is pissing in my ears, and I have a golden shower fetish. Hose city. 5)*Cities*: Funky vibing to start set II. At this point, I'm just a little gravy ball in this '97 crowd,. Put me on some biscuits, let's get soggy. At ~16, the jam transitions from gravy funk to some Sunny D brightness. Uplifiting and bright, Page really shines in this part of the jam. Breakfast of Champs 6)*Good Times, Bad Times->Rotation Jam*: How did this bluesy rocker melt so quickly into a snaking psychedlic romp? Oh hold the phone, cause Page is going to the Theremin!? And Trey is playing nasty melodies of the undead?! And this zombie groove... yeah this is some satanic seance shit. Wondeful! Let's dance in goat blood! 7) Rock A William: All the preceding noises set this creepy number up well 8)*David Bowie*: The extended build up here is just fun, and the delay loops keep it interesting. Once the song starts, the jam gets to this pretty contemplative place fairly quickly, and I'm happy to meander here for a while. But then around ~14 min, Trey plays this venom-laced chord to transition a motion to murkier waters, and at ~18:30 Trey & Page are trading percussive attacks before the whole band growls back into the Bowie theme. Beautiful version

This was my first Phish show. I had no idea what to expect. I worked at the David O. McKay center in Orem, UT (now the the UCCU Center) and Phish had rented out the arena for a whole week. They had just got back from a tour in Europe and they were getting back into form for their US tour dates. It was odd to be working with a band that kept playing their sets over and over 4 days in a row, in an empty arena, excepting me and the other sound and light techs. I was the only employee at the arena that could play guitars and drums, and I ended up hanging out with the sound techs a bunch that week and I got to talk with Trey and Fish a bunch. I got to know the band and crew through the week. It was odd to get to know the members of the band before I'd ever heard of Phish. On Thursday we packed everything up. The band gave us all tickets to the show at Wolf Mountain as a thanks for our help that week. Having never heard of Phish, but having spent the week with them I knew the music they'd be playing, but I had no clue what the concert experience was going to be. I had a couple of tickets so I brought a friend. Before the concert there was a massive double rainbow that perfectly framed the stage. It was so vivid it looked like a movie effect. Starting the show off with 'Somewhere over the Rainbow' on the theremin was perfect. We were surrounded by people doing drugs. I'd lived a fairly sheltered life, and this was the first time I'd ever seen people doing drugs and having a good time. The concert was amazing. The band played off the crowds energy, and the show was so much better than the practices had been. I and my date were buzzed from second hand smoke so we hung out in the parking lot for an hour before we headed home. What a night. That was my intro to the music of Phish and my introduction to some of my favorite musicians that I've ever had the chance to meet.

My first show. Had a cassette of Lawn Boy from my buddy Charlie. Nectar was released just a few months before, and Phish is coming nearby to a nice tiny place? Bring it on! With a nice Mike's Groove, secret language, Fishman on the vacuum in Cold as Ice>Love you, and then an encore of Contact into Rocky Top, I was blown away. And hooked for life. All of this in the tiny setting of Bogart's with good friends.

Feel the need to clarify my earlier review for the historical record: the jamming was dark in the second set; the first set was quirky and enjoyable. Those who love 2.0 understandably enjoy the second set. For me, personally, Trey looked haggard and frail. Admittedly pure speculation on my part, but I felt you could see that the opiate use and other personal issues were taking a toll. Generally, speaking I love to embrace a philosophy of "It's all good!" And generally with Phish it is. But this show was difficult for me to watch.

My 1st Phish show, my 1st live concert ever, and my immediate reaction was that none of the songs sounded like filler, they were all hits IMO. Every other band i knew then at a fresh 19 (just turned), used filller garbage but this show taught me that Phish was 1 of a kind. I could enjoy an entire show and didnt' wanna miss anything. The real treat was that I was a huge Bob Marley fan coming into this and before ever hearing about phish. So to hear Trenchtown Rock as an opener was ironic and beautiful at the same time. Turned out it would be the only rendition performed by Phish, at my 1st show! I just ordered the DVD from dry goods and I'll reccommend every1 else do the same, I don't think you'll be disappointed. I sure am glad that my buddy convinced this was a show worth going to!

To be clear, this wasn't at the Hollywood Bowl. It was in the Walt Disney Concert Hall downtown, a different iconic LA venue. The LA Philharmonic plays at the Bowl in the Summer, and in the Disney the rest of the year. Trey commented at some point that this was the most incredible sounding room he'd ever played in. And he's right, that place is an acoustic masterpiece. Trey played great that night.

According to the Pharmer's Almanac, there were only 12 people at this show! I love these Fall 1990 shows; they were exploring a bit more than in the Spring. Jumping ahead to the Set II highlights, Tweezer is stretched out ever-so-slightly with a meltdown at the end. So much frenetic energy at work here, they're really aggressive at this show. This is some of my favorite early 90s stuff, they were kicking a lot of ass and having fun on stage in 1990. Like a previous reviewer said, I don't think people give 1990 enough thought, but there's hidden gems everywhere in this period - the Destiny, Forbin's>Mockingbird>Asse Festival combo is the highlight of this show for me. Destiny has a jamlet that's actually kinda neat and they really tear through the Mockingbird. The jam in Mike's is a nice treat too. The mix on phish.in is pretty muddy - does anyone know of any other sources? I doubt that there could have been any tapers there, given that the audience was essentially the size of a baseball team. Still, I'll recommend a whole lot of shows form October 1990, and 10/7/90 is a good one that immediately comes to mind when I think of this month.

https://forum.phish.net/forum/permalink/1377705202 6/29/95 is the second of two nights at Jones Beach, and it is currently the more highly-rated of the two. 6/28/95 is not a bad show, but this show stands out for the generous amount of new material, with a good Taste in the first set, Free, Strange Design, and Acoustic Army in the second set, and Theme From the Bottom as a stand-alone encore. As with other '95 audience recordings, Mike's bass is difficult to hear and often lost in the sonic whirlwind. Page fans will be pleased to hear three lead vocal tunes from him. But Fishman is the star of this show, masterfully playing through composed sections and leading the majority of the improvisation. When the topic of "Sickest/Wildest Phish Jams" comes up, two songs immediately come to my mind: Split Open And Melt and David Bowie. This show has both of them, in Summer '95 "Space Camp" incarnations, specially designed by Phish to peel off the wallpaper of your mind. Listen to Fishman guide the Melt jam farther and farther away from its home, while slowly reeling the Bowie jam back to earth. The playful jousting with Mike during the Bass+Drums segment of YEM is also great. The other reason for recommending this show is that it circulates on video! Usually, available video is cause for a boost in a show's ratings, but oddly, that is not the case here. Head over to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8zEuRnoLRw&feature=youtu.be&list=PLEB8A5E2C74B96DDD and sink in for some pre-spinning-lights CK5 work, while Phish takes 20,000 heads on a musical trip of their own.

Honestly, N00B100 gave a stellar review of this show and you should read that before this. What I have to say will be limited (but nonetheless, I will say something mostly because I am trying to go through all Phish shows and leave a review). From a superficial viewpoint, one where the context of the OJ Bronco chase was removed, this show is great but I prefer a '94 show with a raging Tweezerfest (e.g., Bomb Factory show in Dallas). The Bronco Chase and OJ antics are what really push this show into the territory of legend. The band has so much fun referencing it throughout, and there is a frenetic energy in the playing that weaves throughout the entire 2nd set that leaps out at you from the mere recording of the show. Highlights: 1) Split open & melt: I love a good SOAM and they were serving them up with hot steaming piles of dissonance back in '94. Classic version that gets toward the outer edges during its brief jam 2) If I could: Beautiful take on a beautiful song. Majestic, soaring... just how its meant to be played 3) 2001: So begins the OJ madness. Its hard to break down this second set because it all kind of weaves together. The 2001 is just the initiation of take-off 4)*Mike's->Simple->Mike's*: Undoubtedly the highlight of this mythical set, the Mission Impossible teases, taunts of OJ, and the skillfulness of the segues all make this an ooey gooey tasty sandwich song pairing Honorable mentions: -The simple tease in hydrogen is delightful and part of the unexpected "anything could happen" vibe of this show -The weekpaug is clearly a victim of the pent up energy from the songs preceding it, getting lots of Bronco juice (Trey's soloing is spot on!) -Voodoo Chile whole band tease during Harpua FTMFW! -The closing Julius and Frankenstein are blistering hot rock n' roll ragers. What a way to close the set out.

This show has an excellent jam out of Gumbo, which begins when Trey takes a hard left into downtempo staccato psych before we hit the 6 minute mark. The early part of the jam feels more like a fall 97 Stash jam than a typical Gumbo jam. The music builds tension as it swells and drifts rather than grooving towards a funky peak. It is clear early on that this jam is going to be different. Trey throws in some light saber blues licks around 7:00 and page compliments on piano. Mike thumping away and Fish following Trey, the groove remains loose and jazzy, with the band finds themselves in and out of funk and rock grooves but never committing to a build before syncing up for a sustained bliss section at 9:45 for about a minute until Mike drops some heavy notes that initiate a the band locking this strangely dark bliss groove into a steady build. Around 11:30 Trey hits a couple of chords then sustains a beautiful echoing note that allows the band to lock in to the established groove. A minute later, Mike plays a couple minor notes that Trey immediately picks up on with some heavily distorted chording that signals the beginning of the dark final build, which is gathering force at 13:00 but Mike and Fish remain in a loose, jazzy pocket and never push Trey into a huge peak or faster tempo. Still dark jazzy bliss with Page (still) on piano when at 13:29 trey unleashes a beautiful lick that is one of my fav in his repertoire and he solos in a particularly majestic mode for a while. 14:16 sees some sick disease-like trill and the jam has a dark edge but is definitely a majestic major key hose jam like a slave or hood something. Lagging tempo makes it so anthemic. This is strangely dark beautiful bliss with a huge but smoldering volcanic peak. Short but sweet cool down after the peak. Must-hear version.

GOOD LORD the guy yelling PSYCHO KILLER the entire show. Did he enjoy the show? No. How did nobody shut him up. That is amazing. Maybe he was bigger than the big dude in the doorway. Otherwise this show is solid. It follows along with the other shows from the early part of this tour which are packed with energy and variety. On the note of variety, it is extremely interesting that Weekapaug Groove was played at the previous show on June 8.

I wish I had seen/heard as many 97 shows as the Central Scrutinizer, because I lack the perspective to say that this is a weaker show by 97 standards. I got DAT's of these shows from Taper Steve a few years after they went down, and my god, audiences were MUCH quieter back in the day! I then got an FOB source from Jim Cowan's rig and had to relisten (pun intended) I love Theme, and it's well played here. Ghost makes an early appearance, and is indeed a sign of good things to come. DST is standard. Divided Sky is majestic (also standard!). By Wolfman's it's clear they've warmed up. SOAM ends the set in very 97 (i.e. "weird and druggy") style. The jam gets a little out and is a sign of things to come. Set 2 I feel sorry for anyone who was a little too spun because they're probably still describing the Disease intro to their therapist. This is the darkest, most atonal thing I've heard from 97 and I've heard probably half the year at this point. Tweezer keeps the heat up high, and melts gorgeously into JBG. Sparkle is always fun and I like it in a second set post jam slot. Fall apart! Wading is a much needed break, and the 97 versions are always fresh to me. Loving Cup signifies that we're near the end and Tweeprise seals it. Encore There are a handful of shows I would like to time travel to, and this encore is one of them. I've heard about this moment from lots of people who were there, but I want to see it (or not see it I guess) for myself. Musically it's fairly standard, but that's not the point. Set and setting, you know? You can feel good about (Mount) Hood, and you can feel good about this show, irregardless of how many 97 shows you saw or have heard in retrospect.

Pretty decent recording of this show available, which is nice. I'm going 4 stars because I am considering the time and only a single set. YEM is the highlight of the show, but don't sleep on that Weekapaug and I always appreciate Fee. Other than those I'd say the Fluffhead is a good listen. I mean I like the whole show but if you're just in it for the highlights start with YEM then Weekapaug then Fluffhead.

In a current LSC alumni thread many that were able to attend this show shared memories from this show. Estimates had under 50 students present while blizzard like conditions swirled on campus. No visuals or audio have surfaced yet. Here are songs those in attendance feel or know they heard in no particular order: Foam, Golgi, Divided sky, Contact, big black furry creatures from mars, Frankenstein, If i only had a brain (fish on vacuum?)

This show is so full of positives that it will be easier to start this review with the negatives. A) time travel doesn't exist B) there is no way to go back in time and see this show And that's it. I really enjoy the Cavern closer in the first set. It comes right after a beautiful thank you to the crew and a wonderful tribute. The second set is probably one of the best Phish sets of all time, certainly in the discussion of top sets. To say the band peaked in 93 would be true, in 93. While they may have continued to climb since, there is no way you can listen to this show in particular and not be blown away by where they were. I don't know what magic was happening at the end of this spring tour in 1993, but I hope to find more of it as I continue on my journey through Phish.

Drove up from Western New York to find free tickets in the lot, no vending, no anything, just a super mellow concert crowd. Wait, this is Phish in Canada, not Phish in Camden. Nothing too special to report in the first set. The end of Sample woke the crowd up from their legalization slumber. The Stash jam gave you that summer evening feel and liftoff which set the tone for the first Ruby Waves, which was really, really good. When Ruby Waves drops, it’s like a different band hits the stage. Focused and fresh, this version goes in many directions for a first set slot. Check the climax at the end where Trey exhibits some great work and hunger for this new jam, which shadows a BOAF jam for a few minutes. How they seamlessly come back to the main theme is nothing short of greatness. After many listens to this version, it sounds like one of the band members says “that was good.” Too bad that was one of the very few highlights of the show. Second set really goes nowhere at all. The jams have no spirit or momentum, but not every song (or show) can be an Ace! Really trying not to pile on here, but the Caspian was the most flat and short Caspian I have heard. 46 Days was hardly bearable in 2.0 and in 3.0, it remains the same and cannot revive this set. Even with this pure dud of a set, The Drift While You’re Sleeping is a masterpiece! Yup, f’ing masterpiece. My favorite version to date. Phish is like golf. You can have a terrible round, but that one pure shot on the 18th hole will keep you coming back for more, and this Drift is the perfect example of that analogy.

Woah, Blossum (posted June 11, 2011) [url=https://goldenbrainlistens.wordpress.com/]A terrible blog[/url] We’d stayed in Ann Arbor after the Friday night show, and the drive down to Blossom was nice n' brief. The Cuyahoga River Valley is a surprisingly scenic area, and as you approach the show you’re actually in Ohio’s largest national park. It’s really hard to do side trips on Phish tour, but next time I am out that way I want to make a point of visiting the park itself and taking in some hikes. We were tipped off to a “super sneaky and secret back entrance” to the venue, but weren’t given any specific directions. All we were told was to meet at the Winking Lizard Tavern on Rte 303 in Peninsula before 4 p.m. We found the place all right, and there were just a few folks in there that looked like fans, so we had a beer, made friends, and got the scoop on the back entrance. It turned out to be a total score, as we totally (as in COMPLETELY) avoided any hint of traffic into the show. We drove about 10 minutes from the bar, through the national park’s winding back roads, and into a side lot that bordered the rest of the traffic pulling in from Steels Corners Road. Free parking at this venue, too, which rules. It was a bit of a walk from our lot to the venue itself, but I figured what the heck–we’re in a National Park, we should be doing some hiking anyway. This venue/lot/park is just a cool place. Walking through the lots toward the show, there are clearings with picnic tables along the way. It’s great for friends to meet up and gather before they head in…and I suppose it would also be great to have a picnic if you were so inclined. The shed is kind of weird–it was built for the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. The sides are jagged, which can cause weird echoes, and the back of the pavilion slopes up then back down instead of up and out. Check out the picture below–it was taken from the back of the lawn, just right of center. The sound bounces around in there kind of strangely, and moving just a couple of seats to your right or left can make a big difference in what you hear. Saturday, June 4, 2011 Blossom Music Center – Cuyahoga Falls, OH Photo by B. Shrader Set I Kill Devil Falls Guyute Fuck Your Face Foam Ocelot Rocket in My Pocket Back on the Train Guelah Papyrus Tube> Run Like an Antelope Set II Birds of a Feather Possum> Steam> Piper-> The Lizards Sneakin’ Sally-> Harry Hood-> Have Mercy-> Harry Hood> Character Zero Encore Slave to the Traffic Light This show felt a little strange at the start. Three great songs, but a bit of an odd mishmash. Other shows later in the tour started off like this, too. KDF is a nice opener, and supports what I was advocating for the previous night: shows should always open with a 10 min jam. Guyute is an odd song in the 2nd slot, and I’m sorry to have to say that it was embarrassingly sloppy. FYF is just an odd song in general…and how in the hell did I manage to catch two of these?? Then the set started to feel a little more normal when Foam started up on the heels of FYF. Ahhh… I like Foam, and I love how they absolutely freakin’ nail every single note when they play it now. Strange though, that out of all of their songs (i.e., Guyute, the ending of Taste, the pause in Ghost, etc.) Foam is the one they chose to polish and practice the hell out of. I’m not complaining, remember. You have no idea how psyched it makes me to hear Phish play the hell out of this tune like it’s 1992 again. Getting into the meat of the first set, we got a string of ripping tunes. Not exploratory jams, but plenty of balls-out rocking. At the show, I thought that Ocelot felt unusually (even painfully) slow. But upon a second listen, I have to admit it was a bit of a rager. Not that this was one of those “better on the tape” type of performances, but while I was trying to dance (poorly…this is me we’re talking about) the tempo just felt like it really dragged. Then we got a taste of last Halloween with Little Feat’s Rocket in my Pocket. Very cool! I wasn’t really sure what we were hearing at first, but I knew I liked it. Back on the Train was actually kind of a rager, too. Good Type I solo, to be sure. And Guelah sure is fun, I have to say. Then we went to Page’s HOUSE with a nice, superfunky (albeit shorter than 5 min) Tube, which quickly became a Tubealope. And that Tubealope ran down the Streets of Cairo. I believe I enjoyed this Antelope more than any other in the past 12-13 years. Please go listen to this now. There was another tease toward the beginning of the Antelope there, but I just could not place it. If it wasn’t a tease, it was one of those glorious melodies that sound to beautiful to have been composed right there on the spot. It could’ve been anything (or nothing)–I’ll bet Trey has more tunes/songs/melodies/themes floating around in his head at any given moment than I’ll learn in my entire life. Trey took a moment to mention “Mike-o,” “Fish-o,” and “Toph-o” Essscuaaaandoooooooooolas, complete with a light solo for Toph. Tons-o-fun! Sloppy transition there into the final gear, but hey man, “that’s Escuandolas” after all. Esssscuaaaandoooolas! Setbreak was interesting. As I was heading out of the pavilion, I noticed that the prime VIP seating section, the one dead center, had no one guarding it. So, of course, I popped in and found a seat. It was clear just by looking around that the folks in these seats were not your standard “VIP” types, so I felt at home and settled in. A big thank you to the two dudes next to me from Pennsylvania who were so accommodating. Everyone there was able to hang out, undisturbed, for the rest of the show. The place was pumped for Set II. Birds was atypical. Which of course means awesome. More than just “unique.” I guess it was really typical in that they stayed within the structure, tempo, and other items that are pretty common to the song, but the jam was particularly inspired and the extended variations on the theme from Trey n' Mike are things I always love to hear. Great jamming, even if the end seemed a little clipped by TreyDHD…Page wanted to sing another round of the chorus! (Side note: Page got his chance to cut of Trey’s vocals the a few days later during the 7/15 Alpharetta Suzy–and it was most excellent!) The Blossom Possum was a ton of fun as well. After your normal, “typical awesome” Possum-y circus-y blues soloing, the theme of the jam (for Trey at least) became “let’s bend every note by a ridiculous amount with ever-increasing intensity” and this idea bled over into the ending vocals, which in turn made for one of the most hilarious and enjoyable Possums I’m sure I’ve ever witnessed. Most of my other favorite Possums are ones I’ve never seen from ’92-93, like the one they just put out on the I-90s Bonus Disk with all the teases (5/17/92 – Achilles Rink, Union College – Schenectady, NY) but this one is right up there with the rest of them in terms of zany antics. Steam is pretty flippin’ cool. When it first started, I thought it was 7 Below for about 3 notes, then I immediately thought, “oh cool, they’re playing ‘The Way I Feel’ from Treys solo band.” What it turned out to be was neither of those, but rather a debut of a pretty excellent tune that I would like to hear again as a landing point for killer jams. Slow n' groovy with some cool lyrics and a very cool sound effect (which someone said was a china boy cymbal? I’ve heard those, and I’m not so sure that’s what this is…) The lyrics are maybe kind of medieval in that we’re hearing about horses and towers (castle towers, I imagine) and chasing wolves. I’m looking forward to hearing this song jammed out even more. At the Winking Lizard...was the song that segued out of "Piper" a coincidence? I think not. I would normally refrain from saying anything about the next song because I compare every Piper I hear to the 12/6/97 Palace version, but this Piper was actually pretty good and contains some Floyd-y meets Miles-y type stuff toward the end of the jam, just before they segue into The Lizards. Really, really good transition there (a real segue this time, by golly!) For a few moments there it sounds like the jam is going to land into Twenty Years Later. The Lizards is nice, long and impeccably played! A long pause after Lizards gave us… Sneaking Sally thru the muthaflippin’ Alley! Man, this was sick. At times it sounds like something pulled straight from the best of the 2003-04 style jams (i.e. The Moma Dance from 6/17/04 Brooklyn). This jam dropped into Harry Hood, which some folks say has been getting better and better each version since 2009. This was a great Hood, and had some interesting stuff in the beginning, to be sure–but check out the 12/28/10 Worcester Hood for some truly fantastic, innovative stuff, though. As far as, “each one is better than the last,” I don’t think this one is better than that one (but, to be clear, I really, really like this one). Have Mercy kind of floats in on its own…but then Hood kind of barrels its way back in. Have Mercy is teased…loosely…but, oh! Trey pulls off a splendidly brilliant tease of Lizards on his way toward the final peak. Then we got Zero’d. But they picked up with the pitch bending (in the style of the Blossom Possum) so that was cool. And this song always has at least 1.21 gigawatts of energy, so that’s cool too. And a Smoke on the Water tease at the end. Random, but pretty cool. Upon another listen while writing this post, I realize that Trey’s teasing Smoke on the Water within the jam, too…right before the pitch-bending part. So, cool again. Slave is also cool. A perfectly placed encore at this show. Lots of animals at this show: pigs, ocelots, birds, lizards, possums, tigers in lily patches, rhinos running from thunder, tubealopes running out of control, a fly that feeds arachnid, wolves and horses in Steam, red red worms, and you can even “see the zoo” on the encore. I am kind of sad about the short Tubes (although they do pack a punch, which I really like, they are all pretty small, which is no good) and instaspeedy hypertempo Pipers. On the other hand, I’m thrilled with the amount of pure, unadulterated FUN this band is having–as evidenced by the last half of the Possum, Sally vocal jam and ensuing madness, and the relaxed, beautiful, patient way they drifted from Steam into Lizards. That kicked some serious musical ass. There’s more audience noise on these tapes then I can ever recall. Mics in front of Page n' Fish pick up nearly everything said (okay…shouted) by those few people right next to the mics. Calls on Saturday caught by the mics included "Alumni Blues" and "Lushington." Overall, a fantastic show with some odd passages, but then I realize here’s me calling a band that regularly covered Purple Rain with a 1967 Electrolux “odd.” I give it a 9/10. This show had just about everything I love about this band: fun jams (Possum), funky jams (Sally), jawdroping jams (Sally again!), at least one sublime segue (->Lizards, among others), great covers (Feat), new stuff (Steam!!!), “uncharted territory” (Piper), zany antics (Escuadooooolas!), bonus Phish (Hood Mercy sandwich), and raging rock n’ roll. No filler tunes. Even though it wouldn’t be my first choice to close Set II with, the energy of a raging, show-closing Character Zero is pretty much undeniable. And a perfect encore.

This show is amazing. The chill guitar lick funk at the end of an already blazing Disease. The Maze is one for the ages. The ambient slower jam at the end of drowned. The real jam for the ages, for me anyway is the Ghost->DWD ending. It is so much high energy Trey just nailing every note. He just never lets up, then all the sudden next thing you know, right after the peak it feels like you were just in a Disease solo for a while. It makes the show feel like one big disease, but in the best way possible. This show also has some of the best flow. The way the big jams are such different styles, they feel as if they are playing you a setlist of feelings instead of a songs. Johnny B Good is so fast and the blues shredding is in some ways better than the Dayton JJLC, if only because of the speed 5/5 one of my favorite Fall 97 shows.

Late 1999, I had recently moved to Chicago to finally finish my undergrad degree and begin my professional career. My first job was at a coffee shop right across the street from The Music Box. One night, when closing, the XRT DJ announces that Oysterhead had formed and would be making their debut at Jazzfest in about 5 months (forgive me if some of my dates or math are off on this). I knew immediately that I would not be able to attend due to a commitment. The Police, Primus, and obviously Phish... All coming together in a power trio. Unbelievable. I enjoyed the album tremendously and couldn't wait till they came through Chicago a year and a half later. Alas, I was cast in another show, a three and a half hour one, that prevented me from even showing up at setbreak. The one off at Bonneroo? Same weekend as moving to DC. Thought I'd never get a chance again... Frankly, I didn't think this would ever happen. Sobriety, passed years, professional conflicts all seemed like very justifiable reasons to not expect these three incredible musicians to cross paths again. When this was announced, essentially a birthday show for me, I said many times that I would give up a years worth of Phish for one night of Oysterhead. Considering the current Covid world, I wish I might've used different phrasing, but whatever. This was a two decade dream. There is no music like this group. While some phans don't jive with them, those of us who love this band, LOVE THIS BAND. And this night of music did not disappoint. Replaying the complete album, in an albeit different order (I prefer night 2), with some great covers (including obvious nods and teases to other trios in rock history) and a tightness that has been missing from previous incarnations. BUT, with a darkness that has been missing from a great deal of Trey in the past few years. I sincerely hope that this will not be the final outing of this band. If it is, it will go down with me as a personal favorite... Good friends, great musicians, and an incredible show. Take a listen if unfamiliar with it. You won't be disappointed.

I was at this show twenty fucking six years ago today (damn). It was my second show and I thought I had prepared well since my first acid soaked show at the Commodore nine months prior. I was wrong. I had obsessively listened to everything I could get my hands on. Which turned out to be a lot. Nevertheless the boys treated me to a magnificently unexpected experience. Everything from the humour, Greasy Fezique for chrissakes to the absolute commitment of laying it the fuck down every time they sang or touched their instruments. Mike-less acoustic performances (with emotion solos!), and majestic electric jams. The first hint that we were going to have a really, really good night was when they turned on the smoke machine 15 minutes before showtime so we could all light up and just blend. So goddamned civilized you know? Anyway the show. Demand. Totally unexpected and one my favourite weird Phish tunes I was floored. Then out of nowhere comes this golem of a song The Sloth. Played with utter conviction and completely flawlessly it was the first time I’d heard it. Damn. Then (oh bliss) Divided Sky in all its glory and grace. Things are going really well. Then Peaches! A song off of my favourite Zappa album! Split open and melt, a repeat from my first show. It took me away then and it took me away now. And then... My one and only Fluffhead. What else is there really there to say? Then the acoustic hijinx. My Sweet One, Ginseng Sullivan, and Dog Faced Boy. This brings me to one of the things that is absolutely lost to the scene. When they were performing unamplified, if anyone obstructed the sound with Yeehaw‘s or woo woos they were unapologetically shushed until they shut the fuck up and let the rest of us hear what the boys were doing. I really, really miss it. All three songs were performed with such warmth and humour I was in tears with the biggest smile on my face I’d ever had. Hearing Fishman introduced as Greasy Fezique killed me. Crazy ass heavy metal set closer Axilla II, I’ve heard many Axilla’s only time I’ve heard part II. Down With Disease Single version! No jamming but so much fucking fun. Then, and I have to say this, one of my all-time favourite Phish tunes, Bouncing. Right off the bat, no pause, no break, no hesitation. The beat and the bass and then the lovely, lovely harmonies building up to one of those crazy Trey triplet climaxes that never cease to amaze me. Then, it’s ice. What can I say, the way the whole band interacts on this track every fucking time they play it is crazy. I love how much piano is played in this period, Paige lays it the fuck down and challenges the whole band. It was so beautiful I could hardly stand it. And then we come to the purely Phishy weirdness that is Gamehendge. McGrupp and all his pathos. I have to say, it really appealed to the mushrooms that were having just so much fun in my system. Ok. Tweezer. An absolutely insane series of peaks and valleys specifically tailored to my state of mind. These cats knew what I wanted and needed. Finally tailing off in an absolutely magnificent bit like a broken clock slowly ticking off it’s last bit of energy. I was helpless. A cool down with Lifeboy, I love this song. Paige’s piano work is just so beautiful, I was so happy to be where I was in the moment that was happening. Rift to get up back to speed, and then, Slave. My first Slave to the Traffic Light. I... I don’t really know where to go go here... it was, almost total silence when they started the build and... what can I fucking say? There were tears, there was laughter, there was joy and there was, amazingly, a building certainty, that it was going to finally, work the fuck out. Then, just to make goddamn sure… Back to Tweezer and yet another, another fucking peak to end off on. And then they brush us off, told us we were OK, gave us a smile and played Sleeping Monkey. Fishman doing his falsetto and making us all collapse with laughter, and then Paige and Trey being as Beatle-y as can be bringing us all to our knees. It was fucking perfect. 26 years ago, and they bring me to my knees every single fucking time. Thanks for all the bliss Jon, Mike, Paige and Trey, you made my life better.

I attended this show as a graduating student at NHM in 1989. This was the annual 'Spring Thing' event. It was not in a gymnasium as noted on most setlists. Phish set up their equipment and played in an open field on campus. I remember a white truck parking right on the grass and the band literally setting up their gear then playing, no stage. So close to the band you could hit Fish's cymbals if you wanted to. Great memories!

Set One Notes: Funky Bitch gets things off to a funky-bluesy start, Page taking control on the organ before the jam fades into a floating groove, leading into 2001. This is a great placement for the 2001, here at the almost-hometown dance party, with Mike getting that super-flanged bass bumping going, especially after the first “chorus”. We get slithering synths, wah-chucked Superbad Trey, a ’97 2001 if I ever heard one. “This set has won me over already!” a friend comments. Camel Walk is the next call, opening up a chill groove with clav and wah’d-out lead guitar action in this loose rendition, staying on the rails but definitely getting the Fall ’97 treatment. Taste, next, gets that (in my eyes) perfect mid-first set placement, bringing the energy and peaky-ness through Page and Trey’s features. Bouncing settles things down a bit before Tweezer drops. First set Tweezers are always a great time, and this one holds to that rule. This one starts out a bit sparse, spacious, just bumping as classic cowfunk. Soon, Trey gets his wah-spotlight moment, leading into some low-geared, torquey Tweezah action. Trey takes control to build this one up to a peak, before fading into calm ambiance. Train Song follows, playing its role as the perfect calm interlude well, as always. Character Zero, closing the set, is another strong ’97 version, a total Hendrixian rave-up engulfed in wah-vortex shred. Set Two Notes: Saw It Again kicks things off as a novel, rare choice for second set opener. As the jam space develops, looming wah growls hover over churning, rolling, crashing rhythms. Soon, the music breaks free from the SIA structure, Fish pounding away. The space opens into a calm molten musical flow, liquid heat rolling down the mountainside, before lightness emerges, and the jam floats up into atmospheric melody-making, a real Type-II version. Piper, next, is very patient in its entry, a classic slow-builder. Soon, though, the band takes the song beyond its standard frame into some wah’d-out shred-jamming, soon coming to settle in a calm siren-space for a bit. Trey gets plucky with chord hits as Mike plays a little lead, before everything starts to build back into a bit of a musical tangle. As the energy builds, the Hendrixian raging emerges, giving way to some high-tempo bump-groove cowfunk. The peak troughs-out as clav-floating chord space, giving Swept Away>Steep a chance to emerge. Steep is interesting here, with some lilting delay loop effects. Caspian next, and man, Trey loves his Caspians. The Type-I section here is liquid fire soloing, then the big rock ending hits. As it turns out, though, this is no ending at all. Instead, the jamming keeps rolling and raging, lulling, then raging more, then lulling, then raging more… tension and release, turning the valve up and down… before dissolving into a puddle. A standout Caspian in a year of great Caspians. Izabella then gets laid down one more time for this tour, a tour whose sound seemed heavily inspired by the original composer, and this version is as energetic and triumphant as it should be. At this point, I definitely thought that the set was over, until Tweezerprise (Tweezreprise? Still don’t know…) hits, reminding me of the fact that they laid down that great cowfunk-reeking version of its parent song in the first set. Coming out for the encore, Guyute leads the way. That dissonant, heavy middle section is especially anxiety-inducing here, very intense, forming a highlight in a great, solid version of the song. Antelope sends everyone out with one more chance to get down. Mike really gets grooving as the jam heats up, leading to many rolling peaks, light/dark, tense/loose action, for sure, with that distinctly liquid ’97 flavor. Best of the tour? No way. Five star, highly entertaining show, worthy of all the Fall '97 associations and accolades? 100%. I really loved it. Give it a listen, if you haven’t. You scrolled all the way down here reading reviews of it, anyway. Happy travels.

This was for Bernie Sanders' 2020 Super Tuesday Rally. The stage was small and Fishman was on a little drumkit, sound in the venue was pretty bad (basically it was a big metal shed with the band on a side stage). The Mallet Brothers are a pretty bland band IMO, but having Mike come out really made for a cool experience. Whirlwind and Let's Go were the standouts.

[I attended this show but don’t remember much about it, so this review is based on a relisten.] Fiery fiery Stash, Trey attacked the solo like a man possessed, just an incredible build. Page takes an excellent solo in a joyful Taste, and Trey builds the tension by holding off on his solo for bit. The acoustic mini set was never my favorite part of a show to see in person, but on the recording it’s kind of nice, and Albuquerque is always a treat. Did they jam Tube? No, unfortunately not, but it got the energy in the room back up. Fun finish to the set with Golgi and GTBT, but nothing too exceptional. Switched from the excellent FOB AUD to the SBD for Carini >Wolfman’s (released on Live Bait 13). The Carini jam starts off with Trey playing some screaming guitar and Fishman attempting to murder his drums. Slows down into a spacey jam with some great color being added by Mike and Page. The space takes a dark turn, then Page starts swinging on piano and the tempo increases and the jam finds a nice groove, before being deconstructed into a stop start transition into a laid back Wolfman’s composed section. After a high energy opening the Wolfman’s jam settles into patient cow funk that gets progressively more spacey/ambient. The jam then gets angry and evil, then ends with some ambient noise from Trey and Page. A great 1-2 punch to open the set, if you haven’t heard the SBD, check it out, it reveals a lot of in the spacey parts of the jams. Birds of a Feather and When the Circus Comes were straightforward. Quinn was triumphant and even found its way to a little ambient jam at the end. Bowie had a fun little digital delay loop intro with an extended Godfather tease from Trey. The jam starts off patient and quiet, with some audience clapping that I’m sure annoyed the hell out of me at the time. Good high energy finish, but nothing too outside the norm for the time. Been Caught Stealing was a huge surprise and a blast to hear in person, but in retrospect is just a funny stunt cover. Overall you definitely want to hear the Carini>Wolfman’s, and maybe cue up the Stash and Taste. A good start to a NYE run that is often overlooked.