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It is unconfirmed if this setlist is correct for this date, as it is identical to the first set of 2/3/86. If the setlist is correct, this show marked the first known performances of Mike's Song, Dave's Energy Guide, You Enjoy Myself, Alumni Blues, Letter to Jimmy Page, Prep School Hippie, and Run Like an Antelope.

Skippy and Fluffhead featured The Dude of Life on vocals. The jam after Camel Walk may have been Back Porch Boogie Blues. Spanish Flea included an introduction of the band members. Don’t Want You No More was not performed in its entirety, as it lacked the final lyrics. The lengthy percussion jam featured a guest appearance from Marc Daubert. Mike recalls that there were approximately 200 people in the audience. This gig featured the first known version of Slave to the Traffic Light and Fluffhead, the first known Phish versions of Fire, Don't Want You No More, Cities, and Skippy the Wondermouse, and the only known Phish version of Spanish Flea. This performance was on the upstairs level of Nectar's.

The setlist for this show might be incomplete, as the recordings that circulate cut during Drums. Marc Daubert made a guest appearance on percussion. This show featured the first known performance of Camel Walk and the first known Phish performances of Wild Child, Bertha, Can't You Hear Me Knocking, Eyes of the World, and Whipping Post (which featured Jeff on vocals). CYHMK included a St. Stephen tease. Copies of this performance often circulate with the incorrect date of November 3, 1983. Also, it is possible that this show was actually on Friday, November 2, 1984, as a photo of a flyer for a show on “11/2” was printed in The Phish Book.

SET 1: Makisupa Policeman[1]


This show, played in the garage of a house on Grant Street, is believed to be the band’s first show after Trey’s return to the University of Vermont. It is known that Makisupa (first known performance) was played but the rest of the setlist is unknown. The date is believed to be correct but may have been a few days earlier or later.

No known setlist


This show, played by Trey, Mike, Fish, and Jeff, may have been billed as “Blackwood Convention.” This date is believed to be correct but, due to a lack of records, the exact date cannot be ascertained.    

Trey, Mike, Fish, and Jeff Holdsworth performed what is believed to be their first public gig together as Phish on this night. The band was short on equipment, so a hockey stick was used as a microphone stand. Between sets, the DJ spun some Michael Jackson and Trey drummed along to the album. The house music (which included more Michael Jackson) was presumably turned up after Fire on the Mountain to drown out the band. The setlist may be incomplete, though, as the master recording contains nothing after Trey’s sarcastic comments about Michael Jackson following Fire on the Mountain. All songs were, of course, Phish debuts. Back in Black was teased before Scarlet Begonias. While this show is often billed as an ROTC Halloween Dance that took place on October 30, 1983, this is incorrect. The master copy of the recording of this show, as unearthed by Phish archivist Kevin Shapiro, contains a handwritten note that pegs the date as December 2, 1983. In discussions with Kevin, band members confirmed that they recall rehearsing for this show over the Thanksgiving Break, and that the show was a Christmas semi-formal. Also, it was not an ROTC-sponsored event; it was a dorm dance in a predominantly ROTC dorm (Mike’s dorm at the time). It was long believed that the band's name for this show was "Blackwood Convention" but Trey advised in a 2019 radio interview that "we were never fucking called 'Blackwood Convention.'"

No known setlist


Throughout most of Phish history this was understood to have been the date of the first Phish show. The band believed this to be true as late as 1998, when on October 30 they celebrated their “15th anniversary.” Later research, however, revealed this to be incorrect, and that the correct date of this first show – commonly referred to as the “Thriller” show or a “Halloween Dance” – is December 2, 1983.
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