(Submitted to the legacy Phish.net site 5/11/00...) I don't know what made me think of this. I am in the middle of writing my last paper for my first year of my doctoral training in psychology, and all of a sudden, I recall seeing Phish at Oberlin College in 1991. The memory is so vivid, it could have taken place yesterday. The set list (4-18-91) on this web site is very incomplete. Here are the details I remember. A group of us Antioch College students carpooled over to Oberlin. I didn't know who Phish was, and I had only heard a couple of thier songs off their first album at the time. Strait-looking Oberlin students carrying books directed us to the gym, which was mostly empty. Up front was a small stage, speakers, and trampelenes. When Phish came out, the 100 concert-goers exploded. The place was pretty empty throughout the whole show. I remember that during Suzie Greenberg, my friends and I ran from the back of the gym right up to the stage, jumped up in the air, and ran to the back again. Everytime we jumped up, Trey made a funny sound with his guitar. When we screamed, Trey made funny sounds with his guitar. I was use to reacting to the music. It really tripped us out to see the music reacting to us. I remember the way the whole place jumped during Bouncing Around the Room and Fee. I remember long, extended guitar jams melting into acapella sound jams. I remember Trey and Mike doing synchronized spins on the trampellines. I remember a huge AC/DC jam. And I remember the craziest rendition of Pink Floyd's Bike with a vacuum cleaner solo. Possum was fun. The jams were definitely the highlight. There were no real ballads or slow songs. Just a jam-oriented high energy. Mike was not Jazzy at all ... his playing was sort-of background. Trey seemed to have endless energy, as did Fish. The keyboard jams were fast and furious when they happened, musically the whole experience was dominated by Trey and Fish. FWIW, I saw Phish again in 1997 at the Gorge at George. They sounded completely different. Mike had stepped into the spotlight, Trey was more mellow, the whole band was more melodic. For the most part, I loved it. But that fast, crazed, psychedelic edge wasn't nearly so prominant.

Most of this show is straightforward but tight and well-played. Nice Landlady to warm things up, nice oohs and aahs from the crowd in Dinner & A Movie (no Fish scream, though, boo), big ending to Foam. Typically strong YEM (lick the dog!), OK Reba with just a touch of soul, and a nice Page solo in Suzy. Paul & Silas without the ending harmony makes me a sad panda. The highlights are probably a pretty interesting SOAMelt (which is cut at the end, 'doh!) and a Harpua encore, which you just can't go wrong with but is also pretty standard. Average-great show, three stars.

The levels run really hot on this audience recording. If it wasn’t for that this wouldn’t sound half bad.

The first Sweet Adeline of the year kicks off the show. Chalk Dust plows out of Esther and features another rippin’ lil’ jam. The DaaM>Foam transition is nice. Solid YEM to close out set 1 with another fun VJ.

Set 2 gets underway with a decent Llama. A nice Reba follows. Oh Kee Pah>Sloth pair well together. Strong standalone Suzy! Really nice version. Nice Melt as well. Good Possum closer but straightforward overall. They treat the folks at Oberlin College to the first Harpua in almost a year. Standard version.