This was my first show. It's hard to describe the experience, or the nuances of this show as it compares to others.

But here's a few quick facts.

First, the next time I saw Rift played I wondered why it didn't seem as quiet during the "silence contagious in moments like these..." part. Like I said, this was my first show.

Second, I was the guy who never understood why anyone would "follow a band around". I didn't get it. I mean, I had been to a few concerts and sure, they were fun. But I'd never been to a Phish show. Up until this point, my exposure to Phish were studio albums and "A Live One". My friends and I piled into my car, which I had bought 3 months earlier. I had only made 2 payments on it. We drove from CT up to Worcester and grabbed our tickets from will-call. We entered the show, my life changed forever, and then we headed back to the car. Once we got back to the car, I grabbed a few things and then handed the keys to my friend and said: "I'm gonna stay for tomorrow and then head to NYC. If I'm not back home by Jan 2nd, then it's ok to worry." I simply walked off, and the rest is history.

before this show i did NOT know guyute.

(even tho i had seen it at my first show almost a year before in providence)

i'll never forget the way that song hit me...

from the early whistling, to the magical composition, right thru to the epic climax, i kept telling myself (and my bros) the same thing:

"i have no idea what this is, but it's the greatest thing i've ever heard!!"

what a show! to this day it's one of my all time favs...

i think this is the night i learned how to really listen to phish.

The band takes no time to warm up in this show and comes out of the gates with a smoking Melt. Gumbo>Curtain>Julius is all very nice too. Guyute is Guyute, Horn is Horn, and I guess you could say this is a below average version of Rift because of the PA problems. Nice solo from Trey in FEFY. Trey shreds in the set-closing Possum. Good first set, but nothing outrageous.

A really nice Timber opens the second set. Fishman is great in the percussive, dark jam. Theme is decent and ends with a crescendo of effects from Trey and the band drops right into Wilson. A great version of Buried Alive follows. Fishman drums like a madman in this one. Wilson, Buried, and Tweezer were recently released on Live Bait 7 and @bmrobin has already described the Tweezer jam, so I won't go into much detail on it, but I will reiterate that it is a great jam and should definitely be heard. I would say Mike is the MVP of the jam as it includes a great solo from him. I Didn't Know makes a rare appearance in the second set (first time played in the 2nd set since 3/28/92) and Fishman's trombone solo is a little more enjoyable than others. Uncle Pen is lively and I think the following Slave is very powerful. Strong version. The Fee>Tweezer Reprise encore is good, as well.

Set 1 Highlights- Split Open and Melt, Gumbo>Curtain>Julius
Set 2 Highlights- Timber, Wilson>Buried Alive>Tweezer, Slave

never listened to this Tweezer until the Live Bait 07 soundboards came out this week.

Jam begins around 4 min mark with Trey playing a really cool lick overtop Page's keys. Page solos a for a little while the other guys jam around a tight rock groove. Some interesting interplay between everyone around the 6 min mark with some build-ups and pauses. I love the fills from Fish while Trey/Mike/Page trade riffs after this section - great subtle, yet concentrated part while they play their own individual melodies. Around the 9 min mark the jam becomes somewhat cohesive/straightforward again with Mike and Trey jamming on the same riff. We get a taste of the stop/start style of jamming, along with some vocal accompaniment.

About 11 min in now and the jam fades with Mike playing ahead of everyone overtop Fish's quiet beat. Mike goes into badass solo mode way up on the neck of the guitar playing what the .net describes as the "Bass Jam the next night". I will be seeking the AUD recording of this next, because this bass jam is phenomenal. Trey plays some palm muted rhythmic notes while Mike shines, with Page playing some atmospheric sounding keyboards over it. Mike still going strong and melodic like he's in the middle of a YEM solo. Back to actual "bass" notes ~13 min mark and the guys focus in on an intensive groove with everyone participating. Trey leads out some licks with Mike echoing. Page and Fish are setting the mood for a really good build-up here. Trey takes his time in taking the lead notes, not rushing - just letting the jam build itself. Closing in on the 15 min mark and this jam just keeps digging deeper and deeper, with more intensity as we go. More interplay between Trey and Mike while Fish plays around on the toms. Tension is rising going into 19 minutes. Mike lays in some slap lines while Page hammers away. Trey is carefully restraining from peaking here. Around 20 min the jam goes very awry from where the build-up was headed, but not in a bad way. They break into a frantic, quick-paced jam with aesthetic organ and awesome fills from Fish. The jam slows back down to a screeching halt with long, drawn out notes while Page shifts between organ chords. Very eery sounding with an eventual > into I Didn't Know, leaving us hanging until the Tweeprise in the encore.

Hard to say how I overlooked this gem before, but the recent SBDs have shed a new light on it for me as a top favorite Tweezer.

Enjoy!

SET 1: Split Open and Melt: What a statement to open up the run! This one while not a boundary breaker, is extremely competent and rocking.

Gumbo: Standard. >

The Curtain:Standard. >

Julius: Has a little extra juice.

Guyute: Standard.

Horn: Standard. >

Rift: LOL at the technical difficulties. What is it about NY run’s in Mass that have tech issues? >

Fast Enough for You: Beautiful!

Possum: Trey holds a note from 7:52 through 9:26. Impressive!

SET 2: Timber (Jerry the Mule) – Charted version but they all kind of sound the same to me unless we are talking about one that breaks the mold and gets out beyond it’s typical structure. :Shrug: >

Theme From the Bottom: Good version with a spacy, trippy jam tacked on to the end. >

Wilson: Standard although Trey adds a little, extra rage to the end. >

Buried Alive: Standard. >

Tweezer: Outstanding version that for whatever reason I just never paid much attention to. Moving forward it will be one that I happily recommend! Apparently, Mike practiced part of the "bass jam" he'd engage in the following night. ->

I Didn't Know: Showboat Gertrude on Trombone, lol.

Uncle Pen: Standard.

Slave to the Traffic Light: Super solid version, would relisten for sure.

ENCORE: Fee: Standard. >

Tweezer Reprise: Standard.

Summary/Replay value: Tweezer is quite exceptional – look forward to many more relistens over the coming years. Slave definitely is very solid and has plenty of replay value as well. This show is a great stage setter for what would be a brilliant NY run. 4.2 seems a bit to strong though – I am just a bit south of that at 4.0 out of 5. Really good show!

Solid Playing

SOAM opener is a rare occurrence so that's pretty cool. It's a very strong and powerful version. Well played Curtain. Incredibly strong possum so many good peaks and just spot on playing.

Yet another strong Timber from December 95'! Very strong Theme in its infant form. Weird slot for WIlson & Buried Alive and it kind of messes with the flow to me. Tweezer has a very strong jam, very experimental with a nice groove in the middle. Intense and kind of eerie towards the end. Cool spacey segue into I Didn't Know (also in a weird slot. Slave is relatively strong to close.

Straightforward Encore.

To me, this is a better show than the lack of banter seems to indicate. In fact, this whole NYE run is really good. I know that 12/31 gets huge props, but the other shows are also well worth listening to.

Highlights:

Set 1 - SOAM, Curtain, Possum

Set 2 - Timber (really good and rockin), Buried Alive, Tweezer (dark & crazy), IDK, Uncle Pen, Slave (goes off into the ether for a bit)

As you can see, most of the second set is highlight stuff. And the rest of the material is solid, just not stand out. And even though the Theme here is listed as Notable, it didn't stand out to me... just a long one.