Just on the cusp of the greatness Phish would achieve in 1993 and beyond, 1992 often gets tossed around as an underwhelming year from the 1.0 era. From my own listening, I would tend to agree that, on aggregate, this year pales in comparison to the blooming earlier years and beastly mid-90s that surround it. I wouldn't hesitate to the make the same assertion about 1996. However, as is the case that '96 delivered some really excellent highlights (namely, Deer Creek, Clifford Ball, the Omni Halloween show, and Vegas), so too does '92 contain some special peaks dispersed throughout a year that saw Phish slowly transitioning to the comfortable groove they'd land in the following summer. The height of these moments took place up and down the coast of California from 4/16-21. This five show run (the band took off 4/20 to celebrate ) is an excellent snapshot of where the band stood at this point in time: expanding the catalog with some new Rift tunes, regularly throwing Fishman on the vacuum, and beginning to experiment with the jam vehicles with a bit more regularity. It's a bummer that none of these shows have an official LivePhish release yet, as I found that Mike and Page were poorly balanced in the tape mix. Nevertheless, I'd say that this run is required listening for any serious Phans.

4/16 Set 1 starts off with a sweet Buried Alive > BLAZING Possum, the latter of which makes heavy use of the band's new secret language (Possum intro is such an excellent place for that). Immediately following, It's Ice features a nice groovy jam with Page's piano squarely in the spotlight. I really love this SOaM too for Trey's particularly melodic soloing and Fishman's drumming, which feels a little funkier than usual. This version of Colonel Forbin's->Mockingbird (featured on Live Bait 18) leans on a compelling narration, an quick unexpected detour into Icculus, and tight, beautiful musicianship (Mike's outro solo is so heartfelt). Set 1 closes with a fiery Antelope, featuring more varied harmonic activity than usual. An extremely tight performance through and through.

Set 2 Sanity is a goofy way to launch back in, but the Llama that follows assures that the band still means business. Trey's lightning fast playing here is one of the cleanest and pointed examples of his shredding capabilities...maybe ever. The glory continues in Mike's Groove. Mike's Song has some cool full band jamming and then Trey milks the Languedoc for all it's worth, laying down a lasting, shrill cry into the second jam. The dissonant Mike/Trey play into H2 is foreshadowing for some '93 goodness. As the jam charts point out, Weekapaug is a little more laidback on the energy scales (though that might also come from a mix that has Fishman turned down and Mike way up). Regardless, this is an awesome wrap up to a special early '92 Mike's Groove. The rest of Set 2 is a little less spectacular, as we get a couple stock standard tunes, a Fishman Syd Barrett performance, and three a cappella songs. Moments like these that litter '92 are part of the reason I think the year gets its negative reputation. Of course they're significant to the band's history, and I'm sure in-person attendance adds to the quirky magic these four dudes were aiming to capture, but to the at-home listener, the Fishman show sandwich with Cold As Ice/HYHU bread loses its novelty after a bit (and no GCH to help differentiate the shows). All in all, the first 3/4 of this show are incredible, and it's worth it to stick around for the Suzy closer. Buckle up for the rest of the run