https://forum.phish.net/forum/permalink/1377941594

Is Fall '95 overrated as a tour? Probably not, but it is interesting to note how the peaks of December 1995 (Niagara Falls, Binghamton, NYE) affect fans' opinions of the tour as a whole. 12/95 was certainly an exceptional month in the history of the band's live performances, but it took many shows over the previous 9 weeks for Phish to build up all that momentum. When listening to the beginning of this tour, I found that the first ten shows of the tour (9/27-10/8) ranged from "okay" to "meh", with the single exception of 10/6/95 Vancouver.

Burlington, VT is less than an hour's drive from the U.S./Canadian border, and the band began playing international shows for their northern neighbors very early in their career. Border crossings are always complicated for a large touring group, but between 1996 and 2000, Phish began having particular difficulties making it to their Canadian shows. The first show North of the border in Phish 3.0 was also postponed due to flooding. Regarding the legacy of Canadian Phish shows, it seems that the East coast bias is evident with our Northern neighbors as well: Ontario and Quebec shows tend to have higher ratings, while the band's shows in Vancouver generally appear to be underrated.

@westbrook's fine appraisal of this show covers the majority of the highlights; I like the sound of Trey's staccato picking during a typically awesome and underrated Reba, an aspect which would become a catalyst for the 10/7 Hood and the 11/14 Stash, among others from this tour. This very clean AUD recording provides a remarkable representation of the acoustic bluegrass and a capella numbers performed without microphones, which the band would soon no longer be able to do at concerts in North America. A swinging Tweezer is followed by a delicate Keyboard Calvary with an attentive listening audience, who are subsequently rewarded with a gorgeous, pensive Slave To The Traffic Light set closer. And the lone soul requesting an 11-year bustout of St. Stephen prior to the encore would only have to wait three and half more years for the request to be fulfilled! @Jempphan, was that you? )