Another excellent, excellent show from the highwater mark that is November 1994…I’m not sure Buried Alive has ever opened anything other than a barn burner. Right off the bat with this tune and a swangin’ Poor Heart, it’s clear the band is loose and ready slam it down. The first true testament to this is Foam, which really oughtta be jam-charted. The solo section under Page is pretty standard, but the band really starts to dim it down as things transition to Trey, until we find ourselves in silent jam territory. Trey, Mike, and Page hang on ever so delicately before that last burning light disappears. Page helps Trey bring things back up as he rakes the shit out of his totally unamplified strings. Trey’s riffing back into the solo section fixates around a really simple but awesome motif, and the band approaches the peak with patience, delivering a mega grand finish. Next up is an absolutely textbook Guyute—this song has never really been “jammed,” but this one is notable for precision typically elusive of the tune. Last major musical highlight of the first set is a flaming DwD, which features some brief moments that depart from the blueprint, but remains Type I. Nevertheless, this is a tune that delivers excellence, even when coloring inside the lines.

That said, all the rules of the coloring book are broken as soon as Set 2 begins. Even Funky Bitch proper is a spectacle of Phish at its peak. You could cut the song off right at 6:45 and it would still be one of the greatest version of the tune out there. Instead, the band gives the tune the Mike’s second jam treatment and drop down a half-step, a maneuver so smooth I have to imagine it was planned backstage. The first segment of this jam honestly sounds so ahead of its time, or at least would fit really well in a 3.0 show for its heavy focus on syncopation and groove; very Tube vibes on this one at first. But soon all semblance of groove is lost as the band takes into a dark, disorganized, and swirling segment with each member noodling in his own corner of the stage. It fits well for moment, but then stops on a whim. A soft drone of feedback and organ crescendos to a slow, looming riff from Trey, which is backed by a brooding rhythm section. Where it goes next is almost reminiscent of a Tweezer jam in groove, and features plenty of dissonant patterns and riffing. A frenetic few minutes lead us to the end of the Funky Bitch jam and into a dark vocal jam and -> Yerushalayim Shel Zahav. Similar to the one that follows Reba on 7/8/94, this song serves as a sick code for a ridiculous jam. The band revisits some White Album tunes quite nicely, with a strong Curtain Without sandwiched in between. The Runaway Jim -> BBFCFM duo is ridiculous on a number of fronts, and includes one of the more wild iterations of the latter tune. The acoustic segment of this set features three of the rarer bluegrass tunes, and a special treat with Trey on fiddle. A fan-requested Harry Hood fits well in the penultimate slot with a nice intro section, a beautiful quiet jam, and a peak as magnificent as ever. Though relatively contained, this is Hood in its golden era. Closing out with Highway to Hell and delivering a rare Lizards encore, Phish finishes tearing down Jesse Auditorium.