(Published on the legacy Phish.net site...)

Someone mentioned that Phish sang "Sweet Adeline" a capella a micorphona at the Sommerville show. I remember that they did this another time, at the Chance down in Poughkeepsie on 5/4/91 (maybe it's not the 4th, but it was the first Wed or Thurs of that month, and it was not in the news- letter). Trey came out and said that the Chance used to be an old vaudevill theater, and that back in the 20's when the theater was used, there were no mics. So they came out and sang the song. I was really impressed with the crowd's silence during the song!

Two other notes about this particular show. First, during "Col. Forbin's Ascent," this guy dressed in a leopardskin (fake, I hope) toga and a haircut like Glen Plake's (an extreme skier with an 18"orange mowhawk, for thos of you in warmer climates) came out during the narration part. He had a large Norwegian-type horn that was about 8' long and curled up at the end. Trey put Mike's mic down close to the ground and then began to narrate how Icculus was sending the famous mockingbird over the hills. The whole time, this guy kept blatting on the horn. So it sounded like: "At this point (BRRRAAAAWWWWK!) Icculus sends the fam (PPPPRRRRRBBBBTT!) ing bird across the moun- (rrrrrAAAAAAWWWWWWWKKKkkkss) to steal the helping friend (RRRREEEEKKKKKKOOOOOEEOEOOOEOO!)..." You get the idea.

Second, the only encore to the concert was Harry Hood. At the end of the song, the band left, but Trey stayed and said, "We're playing the song in honor of the Vermont Dairy Farmers who are staging a protest against Harry P. Hood products. You should all boycott Harry Hood ice cream because of their unfair policies. We'll still play the song because it's a great song, but we're 100% behind the farmers." Why the other members of the band disappeared so quickly is beyond me.