After several months of gigs in the Burlington area, the band returned to Goddard after nearly a year away. It's clear that the band is friendly with people in the audience, as Trey and Fish had transferred there the previous year and probably got to know folks there. The show is much looser than, say, their shows in February of this year or the following show at Nectar's.

Funky Bitch and GTBT feature some wild Trey solos and start the show off on a fast note, but Corinna slows things down. The band clearly had been practicing Golgi, as it is much more together than previous versions but is still very choppy.

The band stretches out Quinn with some actual new territory containing some more activity by Trey. The solo here sounds much like the Junta version of Bowie, with handfuls of scales. Just as the jam gets interesting, Trey counts into Sneakin Sally which contains a brief vocal jam.

After a set break, the band begins the first version of FreeBird. This appears to be a request by an audience member as there's a loud loud response. Ninja Mike, of Ninja Custodian, sings the lyrics here and Trey adds some crazy effects. After bowing out of vocal duties, Phish slays Freebird, actually doing a pretty good job covering it. Trey shreds it apart and the whole band really nails it.

Like most shows at Goddard when the band feels comfortable, the band wishes a reggae version of 'Happy Birthday' to Sue and Debra. Trey does a Happy Birthday reggae rap, much like 8/21/87's House Mouse Rap. In this case, however, it is Hood that the band launches into. This is a nice early Hood but the audio of most versions is still too poor to capture the performance.

More audience antics occur when the band covers 'Tell Me Something Good' with another friend singing. This goofy version moves into Possum. This Possum actually concludes with a Page solo instead of Trey. Another audience member comes out of the audience to sing 'FreeWorld', a bluesy number that contains an absolutely incredible series of arpeggios by Trey.

A short Wilson closes the show (perhaps the first one with the now standard blap-boom...) and most versions don't contain the encore Slave.

This show is mainly filled with some quirky antics and contains a few one-off songs that are novel. Nothing particularly noteworthy here save for those covers. The band at this point was still refining their skills and practicing a lot but the fruits of their labor would start to show still a little later in the Spring.

I keep imagining what it was like to see these folks at Goddard...just being at this little school in VT and seeing this band just KICK IT. Even if Phish never went on to be famous, I'd be pretty into this tape. These kids are just so full of talent.

What's funny to me is that this is the SAME BAND that became so huge. I mean, some aspects of changed, but more have remained the same. Like the Dead, they kind of just plunk on doing the same thing regardless of how big they get. That's how to inspire true cult-like devotion from your fans.

Check this one out.

Yes, I yelled for Freebird a lot, "What song do y'all want to hear?" was ingrained in me during middle school. Others joined in, as usual and Billington was on board, it happened and still does; be careful what you ask for, it may be disappointing. I may have rode out to this show with June or Laura, my first time at Goddard, a funky artsy scene. I remember sculptures in the room, a flat floor perfect for spinning. Very friendly crowd. You can hear Trey asking for a bottle to use for a slide at the beginning of Free Bird and Page must have gone to the same middle school as me, but in another state. Well, after this show they worked on the lyrics and ditched the instruments, I would have gone the other way, the fast part of Free Bird was fun to dance to. I enjoyed Good Times, Bad Times, which they tightened later. Sneaking Sally is always one of my favorites; no matter who plays it; but a favorite dream of mine is that Lowell George comes back to life to play it with Trey. Harry was really good that night with a nice segue into it from the funky reggae Happy Birthday. The old style Wilson was nice to hear and rehear, Page's keyboards still make spin, thanks Page.

The entire second set is worth a listen. The energy in the band is definitely present throughout, from the moment they emerge from the goofy rendition of Free Bird to provide a face melting jam.

1) Quinn the Eskimo: Saucy jam with Page and Trey taking turns, respectively, in marinating the groove

2) Free Bird: This rendition is so stupid and silly. Comically half-assed vocals, bizzare wailing sound effects from Page throughout. What a laugh. And just when you turn your back on it, a soul demon leaps out Trey's guitar and slays face, and you are blinded by the blood streaming down your eyes because the rampage only intensifies. Goofy hijinx + rock carnage = Classic Phish.

3) Happy Birthday -> Harry Hood: The reggae-style happy birthday is a nice novelty, but I really like this butter smooth transition into a respectable Hood

4) Tell Me Something Good: Damn, I forgot that this song kind of rocks. The female vocals is kind of nice too. Would stoked if Phish brought this back to the rotation one day. It just has that groove vibe ala Phish

5) Freeworld: Another interesting one off. A fast-paced lounge style bluesy song. The energy wave that Phish is riding during this second set makes it a pretty nice addition to the set.