phishcrit

4/14/94 - NEW YORK, NY

4/14/94, New York, NY, Beacon Theatre. We’re safely back on PhishTracks, if you want to play along at home: http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1994-04-14 …

4/14/94: It occurs to me that this is only the second 3-night run in the project, after Roxy ‘93. Definitely nothing that crazy so far.

4/14/94: JimFoamSparkle about as standard an opening as you can get for this era. Disease seems to have sped up to modern tempo.

4/14/94: Na-na-na backing vocals at the end of Disease appear to be fading out as well. Those didn’t last long.

4/14/94: Pretty sloppy Rift, followed by the 2nd-ever Demand, which sounds sloppy even when it’s played correctly.

4/14/94: Demand > Melt is a nice nod to Hoist. Decent Melt jam, nothing unusual. Guy screaming for “Tube” afterwards may be time traveler.

4/14/94: The Page solo at the end of Coil is really stretching out, and I love it. This one’s ~5 minutes, ft. a clever Foam tease at 9:15.

4/14/94: 2001 kicks off set 2 for the 2nd time in 3 shows, so it may be back for good. Crowd on point for secret language in Antelope intro.

4/14/94: Twisty, intense 2nd segment of Antelope gives way to an extra-dubby 3rd. Page steering the band more than usual.

4/14/94: Even pre-Mule Duel, SOAMule can’t really find a good spot in a set. Here it’s a decent energy boost after a Horse > Silent.

4/14/94: Trey recruits an audience member to do the tramps routine. Sounds like a liability nightmare.

4/14/94: “Nice attempt, maybe next time.” So that went about as well as I would have predicted, I guess.

4/14/94: I’m surprised more YEM vocal jams don’t end in laughter and an awkward “OK”.

4/14/94: The debut of Dog-Faced Boy was in the acoustic/no-mics setup? I didn’t know that. I assume it’s interesting, can barely hear it.

4/14/94: Just from the way Trey attacks the “heavy” part of Slave, it doesn’t sound like a dusty bustout any more.

4/14/94: Trey trend I’m picking up on this year is layering - both DDL & segments where it sounds like he’s rhythm and lead simultaneously.

4/14/94 Final: Predictable old-school setlist and prolonged no-mics make for an inconsistent show. Coil solo & Slave are the highlights.

4/13/94 - NEW YORK, NY

A pre-Memorial Day double feature today (sort of). 4/13/94a, New York, NY, WNEW Studios. Promoting a record on the radio, how quaint!

4/13/94a: DJ says the 3 Beacon shows sold out in 34 minutes. “33-1/3,” Trey corrects.

4/13/94a: Wiki says WNEW is now WWFS, which plays “hot adult contemporary.” Coincidentally, Phish also now plays “hot adult contemporary.”

4/13/94a: Radio session mix as wacked as usual. Loud, echoey drums, no bass, electric piano. But it’s just Sample, so whatever.

4/13/94a: “Snapple in a Jar” would actually have been a pretty good jingle, if Trey’s story is true.

4/13/94a: Of course Phish would use a radio appearance to yell nonsense over/forget the words to Disease, the video single.

4/13/94a: DJ drops the Zappa comparison instead of the G———- D—-. Good work!

4/13/94a: Rift is a pretty silly song to play on the radio, which I think the band recognizes as they crack up over the first line.

4/13/94a Final: If they’ve gotta pimp the album for the record company man, at least their sense of humor is intact.

=====

Part 2 of today’s double feature: 4/13/94, New York, NY, Beacon Theatre. Think of this run as the prequel to Hands on a Hardbody.

4/13/94: Trey’s “laser gun” effect back for Buried Alive, and a noisier attempt in the intro to Stash. Anyone know how it’s done?

RT ‏@netw3rk @phishcrit Guessing, but Digitech Whammy pedal, original version.

4/13/94: Just when I thought this Stash was pretty standard, there’s a spooky CYHMK jam towards the end. Very cool.

4/13/94: I don’t mind this Julius, actually. Beats the Hoist version that was oddly played in the middle of their WNEW set.

4/13/94: Trey says he wanted to play the Beacon ever since he saw *The Residents* there. #NoisePhish

4/13/94: No mics Ginseng, with — I believe — Page on melodica? First time I’ve heard him use one.

4/13/94: Theatre crowds appear less likely to go nuts during the Divided Sky pause, leading to a shorter pause. Kind of a relief?

4/13/94: This Guitar magazine article from 1994 appears to confirm Page melodica as part of the acoustic setup: http://www.phisharchive.com/articles/1994/treyguitar.html …

4/13/94: The 8th different 2nd set opener in 8 shows is Faht…they seem to really be enjoying the acoustics/quiet of the theatre.

4/13/94: Curtain > Sample was a cruel move. But Reba restores the weirdness and promises the first significant improv since Stash.

4/13/94: Very patient and mellow Trey/Mike dialogue at the outset of Reba jam, in no great hurry to build in volume or pace.

4/13/94: That Reba was a full package, even some secret language thrown in. Now they’re playing with beach balls in a Broadway theatre.

4/13/94: Page totally ripcords any potential Fee outro jam with the Take the A-Train piano riff, but I’ll allow it. Good New York nod.

4/13/94: Aw, and this is the last ever Take the A Train, unless there’s a Johnny B. Fishman Jazz Ensemble reunion tour someday. Bummer.

4/13/94: A Train and Reba teases to kick off the Bowie jam. I like when Bowie is a digest of the preceding set, see also 8/2/98.

4/13/94: Great stop/start segment, sort of Pink Panther-ish. Strong momentum throughout, even in the abstract parts. Kind of a clumsy peak.

4/13/94: Great Bowie though, the first 94 take that makes the landmark UIC version (only two months from now!) seem possible.

4/13/94: First Purple Rain of 94 finds Page on the Rhodes for the verses…gives it a little more 80s synthenticity.

4/13/94: Nice taut AC/DC Bag to round out the set. More stop/start in the jam, quick “Sunshine of Your Love” call-back to 4/11.

4/13/94: Got both a “Let’s Go Rangers” and a “Baba Booey” in the shushfest preceding “Sweet Adeline.” The NYC Double.

4/13/94 Final: Decently weird show that eventually found its way to quality improv in the second frame. Bowie and Reba both strong.

4/11/94 - DURHAM, NH

4/11/94, Amherst Durham, NH, Snively Arena at the University of New Hampshire. Last stop before Broadway. http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1994-04-11 …

4/11/94: A Caravan opener? After the Magilla opener on 4/9, I spot a trend, though the trend might be The Waning Days of Phish-Jazz.

4/11/94: Some atypical comps during Page’s Foam solo. Always seemed like Foam could be a mellower Maze if it wanted.

4/11/94: And here’s a Magilla too, after a surprisingly early FEFY. Mellow set all around, maybe Trey’s injury adrenaline has faded.

4/11/94: I have no idea why I said this show was in “Amherst, NH” earlier. It’s Durham, NH. Sorry Live Free or Diers.

4/11/94: Cavern wraps up a really conservative first set, other than the jazz treats. Lots of playing it safe in these early 94 arena shows.

4/11/94: It took seven whole shows, but 2001 is back in its second set opener slot for the first time this year. Still in radio edit form.

4/11/94: Another 94 first of a 93 staple — Forbin’s > Mock, making a rare second set appearance. Narration is floating, floating, then…

4/11/94: WE FALL INTO A HUGE HOLE. “But this isn’t the hole that I fell in yesterday, so you’re not going to end up with torn ligaments.”

4/11/94: Trampoline duties performed by Trey’s understudy, “Brad, the guy who throws the balls out.”

4/11/94: Haha, the dueling “Sunshine of Your Love”/”Sunshine of Your Life” teases in YEM. Love it.

4/11/94: Oh wow, YEM vocal jam based on My Soul, 3 years before its debut. I hate My Soul, but that’s still interesting.

4/11/94: Nice breakdown to plinko/pizzicato scale in the Possum encore, with more Sunshine of Your Love referencing.

4/11/94: Parting advice from Trey “Don’t fall in any holes” and “Whatever you do, take care of your ankle.” #HealthTips

4/11/94 Final: Late hijinks stir up an otherwise sterile show. They sound tight, in both senses of the word, heading into the Beacon run.

4/10/94 - BUFFALO, NY

Which means it’s time for 4/10/94, Buffalo, NY, Alumni Arena @ SUNY Buffalo. Woke up this morning… http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1994-04-10 …

4/10/94: Explains Trey’s “Oh Well” at the start. MT @YEMblog: “Fantastic Gig, Played Just After Trey Injured His Ankle.”

4/10/94: No lower body injuries apparent during boisterous Jim. Was Trey on a stool or not? @phishnet debate: http://phish.net/reviews/permalink.php?commentid=1360792768 …

4/10/94: It’s Ice breakdown stays earthbound, so no comparison to 4/8. But an interesting drum-less blues sketch regardless.

4/10/94: The pace and energy of this show does not jibe with my experiences on painkillers. That must be some special rock band Vicodin.

4/10/94: Mike keeps nudging the Melt jam towards the unknown, but it stubbornly stays mostly on track. Some good noisy tension though.

RT ‏@lifftwit I remember it similarly. Leaning on stool @ points, but not sitting & not whole show.

4/10/94: It’s possible that the set is heavy on uptempo numbers (Chalkdust, Mule, DWD) to keep Trey awake. Or it could just be 1994.

4/10/94: If you’re going to play a show on a stool, might as well play some acoustic guitar. MFMF 2nd set opener.

4/10/94: Some nice “quiet jamming” in Ya Mar. Less of an audience attention test, more of a compact idea swap.

4/10/94: It’s really exciting to hear the moments in Antelope where the entire band decides simultaneously to take a hard turn.

4/10/94: One such turn around 7:00 gets a couple minutes to bloom and warp into a horrorscape. Big, shreddy peak follows.

4/10/94: Interesting Ginseng setup — standard electric except for Fish on washboard. Trey is starting to sound a little tired after Fluff.

4/10/94: …but not so tired he can’t play drums on I Wanna Be Like You. “Playing with no foot, just his hands” Fish says.

4/10/94: I think Fish’s voice acting is getting better with each I Wanna Be Like You.

4/10/94: Gorgeous swells and sustained notes in this Hood jam, and a peak that just won’t stop. They’ve really found Hood’s sweet spot.

4/10/94 Final: Never would’ve known Trey was injured by sound alone. Relentless energy, culminating in a spine-shivering Hood. Painkiller.

4/9/94 - BINGHAMTON, NY

4/9/94, Binghamton, NY, Broome County Arena. Home of the Binghamton Senators, holds nearly 7k. Taxiing around the Northeast.

4/9/94: A Magilla opener is a curious thing. They must want to keep it fresh between horns shows. Retains some New Orleans shuffle from 4/4.

RT @neddyo: @phishcrit that was me in the front row calling for a Wilson opener… had to settle for 2nd song, band determined to play some arena jazz

4/9/94: Light on jams so far — Wilson was a shredfest — but not wasting any time between songs. First Gin of the year up now.

4/9/94: No sign of Murat mania in this Gin. Bumps against its boundaries, lands in some repetitive lurching that peters out into Nellie.

4/9/94: Trying to think of what song’s slot Julius has stolen, but drawing a blank. Nothing prior to 94 was such straightforward blues-rock.

4/9/94: However, a very pleasant segue from Fee’s harmonic outro into All Things Reconsidered is a good palate cleanser of weird/prog.

4/9/94 Sounded like a pure lights cheer as the Stash jam starts to lift-off. Back to long, aggressive tension builds and illusory peaks.

4/9/94: The other three appear to be clearing out faster for Coil, and Page is taking his solo farther from home. One to watch this year.

4/9/94: Yeah yeah, Sample as second set opener, but it means five different Set II leadoffs in five shows. Relief after summer’s 2001-fest.

4/9/94: For some reason, this is the first show where the juxtaposition between songs like Sample and Reba feels very jarring. Transitions.

4/9/94: Maybe it’s the source, but Trey’s been using some unusually fuzzy tone, first in Coil, now in an otherwise competent Reba.

4/9/94: …and the set just got weird. Vocal-aided outro to Peaches morphs into instrumental Little Drummer Boy, which gets Big Ball Jammed.

4/9/94: The debut of Demand is as awkward as it always will be live. Crowd greets it quietly…did they not get to the end of Hoist yet?

4/9/94: Trey using that dirty tone and his DDL to trigger some spring-loaded noisy squalls in the first jam of this Mike’s - cool trick.

4/9/94: Looks like Lifeboy failed its audition, as Hydrogen returns for a Mike’s Groove Classique.

4/9/94: Little Drummer Boy returns in Weekapaug, making this a true LDBfest. Funny how little can change in ~20 years.

4/9/94: Divided Sky teases and then a surfy section that becomes a very rhythmic DEG briefly. Lots packed into this ‘Paug.

4/9/94: Unexpected vocal jam to close out Weekapaug, with Trey using his DDL like one of those sound effect keychains (or maybe it is one).

4/9/94: Tela and Slave arrive to chill out this set. The former hasn’t been seen in 22 shows, but the latter gets all the crowd love.

4/9/94: Ahh, the Amazing Grace and Highway to Hell pairing, or “The Theological Encore”. Last seen 5/3/93.

4/9/94: “Highway to Hell was jokingly dedicated to some fans in the front row, who were chanting for AC/DC Bag, and not an AC/DC song.”

4/9/94 Final: Not a show that totally hangs together, but some solid improv here and there. Still working to mesh the new with the old.

4/8/94 - STATE COLLEGE, PA

4/8/94, State College, PA, Recreation Hall, Penn State University. This one was part of my original tape collection: http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1994-04-08 …

4/8/94: First Maze opener since a couple shows in March ‘93. Surprised it isn’t used there more often, good way to limber up.

4/8/94: This source is very crowd-heavy and they are PSYCHED. Should be an interesting angle on what has been a pretty sterile tour so far.

4/8/94: Cymbal solo in I Didn’t Know, and “Greasy Fizeek” is now the preferred nomenclature. “Mimi Fizeek” also makes an appearance.

4/8/94: Nice scratchy intro to PYITE, probably more due to rust than improvisational intent, but I’ll take it.

4/8/94: Interesting Trey switch from acoustic to electric halfway through The Horse — due to crowd noise, or tech difficulties?

4/8/94: We are now 3 for 4 on both Disease and If I Could on this young tour. Oddly, they’re usually both about the same length.

4/8/94: Trey deploying the “Estimated Prophet”/Charlie Brown Teacher effect for his Lawn Boy solo. (belated #RSD-relevant tweet)

4/8/94 second set will be delayed a bit due to lunch/work stuff. Meet me back here around 2 CDT.

4/8/94: We’re back with a Fish scream and a Melt. Damn, good set openers in this show, and this one gets off to a dark, disorienting start.

4/8/94: In fact, we have completely lost the three-note return in this Melt. Trey spiraling around Mike’s climbing bass, superb.

4/8/94: This Melt reminds me a lot of the Big Cypress version, which I would not have said about any 93 Melt. More modern textures.

4/8/94: Hooray, the digital delay loop pedal has officially arrived! Trey unspools a loop in the Ice breakdown and new space is discovered.

4/8/94: Perhaps retreating from the interstellar possibilities of the DDL, It’s Ice quickly swerves into a bluesier (still excellent) jam.

4/8/94: Damn, and now it sounds almost like a Melt reprise. A roller coaster 15-minute (!) It’s Ice, so much more than just the DDL jam.

4/8/94: The crowd follows up that spectacular run with some absurdly off-time clapping over Sparkle. Shame on you, Nittany Lions.

4/8/94: This loud bro conversation over Hood is a little bit too authentic a document of the live Phish experience.

4/8/94: Hood jam twinkles into a dead end, but backs its way out and recovers for a thrilling, multi-peak finale. Again, very modern.

4/8/94: Kind of disappointed that Big Ball Jam made it into the new year, but they’re playing with house money at this point, so.

4/8/94: At least BBJ wasn’t followed by a Fish segment. Instead, a mostly linear, melodic Bowie with a few brief detours towards the end.

4/8/94: Just in case you weren’t convinced the band was feeling this set, some bonus Zep and Yes teases thrown into Suzy.

4/8/94: Another Contact > BBFCFM pairing for the encore, with plenty of Fish banter at/about his Mom.

4/8/94 Final: What a fun 2nd set, which like a lot of well-known shows, provides a glimpse at the future. Could pass for anytime late 90s.

4/6/94 - TORONTO, ON

4/6/94, Toronto, ON, Concert Hall. Their 3rd show at the venue in less than a year. @drewphish shared a story: pic.twitter.com/167C3ISAfQ

4/6/94: As @drewphish pointed out, @doggoneblog wrote a post about the venue’s history and this show here: http://doggoneblog.com/2010/04/06/the-toronto-rock-pile/ …

4/6/94: Another high-energy old-school opening w/ Llama, Guelah, Poor Heart; a step down from the awesome Chalkdust > Who Knows in August.

4/6/94: 9 minutes in, the year’s 1st Stash splinters into shards of glass, slowly reassembles. Well-coordinated “Mike’s Song” chant follows.

4/6/94: Good Lizards in an unusual mid-first set slot; was a reliable second-setter in 93. Then the radio-friendly unit shifter in a jar.

4/6/94: Page’s Mule solo really brings some unexpected avant-garde to the middle of Mike’s silly bluegrass song.

4/6/94: Nice chime-like harmonic mini-jam leading out of Fee into Antelope, which adds a dash of whistling in the first section.

4/6/94: Very linear Antelope after the long, winding August 93 versions. Just taking a few steps back to get a running start.

4/6/94: Love The Curtain as a set opener, but the transition into Disease doesn’t really work. They only tried it one more time, in ‘96.

4/6/94: The second Disease feels closer to its mature tempo. Trey already finding those triumphant peaks.

4/6/94: The first horn-less Wolfman’s sounds a little lost - the band tries to replicate the horn stab-fight, but just kind of dwindles off.

4/6/94: The crowd got the Mike’s it demanded, and it might be the weirdest jam of the young year. Slow down, then echoes of 12/30’s triumph.

4/6/94: I know my Lifeboy dislike is unpopular, but even boosters have to admit it’s kind of a downer in a Mike’s Groove, right?

4/6/94: They blew right past the Fish segment, though he cheerily introduces the Madonna washboard for a no-mics bluegrass encore.

4/6/94: Not sure yet if no-mics bluegrass is more or less frustrating on tape than no-mics a cappella. Crowd is slightly more respectful.

4/6/94 Final: They’re still getting their road legs, but Stash and Mike’s offer promise while the new songs are amusingly wobbly.

4/5/94 - MONTREAL, QC

Looks like the first “normal” show of 1994 is north of the border and en français. 4/5/94, Montreal, QC, The Metropolis.

4/5/94: A standard old-school Jim > Foam opener to remind us that evolution doesn’t always line up with calendar flips.

4/5/94: Fluffhead > Glide and this show is still indistinguishable from 93 in a blind taste test. But then, Julius, which gets a nice cheer.

4/5/94: Both Juliuses so far have featured some CYHMK flirtation in the jam that would make me a bigger fan of this song had it stuck.

4/5/94: OTOH, considering Phish circa 94 were maybe the whitest band in music history, hearing them mimic the gospel ad-libs is #wince.

4/5/94: Bouncin and Rift and we officially have an Intro to Phish set. Funny, since they played a pretty hot show in Montreal on 4/29/93.

4/5/94: Hey, Peaches to open Set II, nice call. Glad you’re sticking around, Peaches. Seems like they’re avoiding 2001, at least to start.

4/5/94: Says something about how jam-less this show has been that the Ya Mar solos provided its most creative moments so far.

4/5/94: First Tweezer of the year to the rescue? Nah, still ‘93 style - a promising riff dissolves to soloing, then slow-down ending.

4/5/94: If I Could is the second Hoist back-to-backer, but it’s another great version, so I’ll pardon it.

4/5/94: Nice sparse funk section at the onset of the YEM jam, before a typical build and a vocal jam segue into I Wanna Be Like You.

4/5/94: Sounds like Fish is on Trey’s megaphone for the first verse of I Wanna Be Like You to get an old-timey vocal effect?

4/5/94: Well, they’ve now officially trained audience dummies to yell “Freebird” during no-mics a cappella songs, so that’s that ruined.

4/5/94: First Nellie Kane of the year is electric, so the acoustic setup stays in storage. Looking forward to Rev. Jeff in the fall.

4/5/94 Final: More of a typical early-tour jitters show than the opener. Minimal jamming, but set structure may be opening up a little?

4/4/94 - BURLINGTON, VT

OK, so I still haven’t finished my 1993 wrap-up essay, but I can’t put this off any longer: 4/4/94, Burlington, VT, Flynn Theatre.

4/4/94: Very excited that Phishtracks was born since I finished up 1993. Listen along with me here: http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1994-04-04/divided-sky

4/4/94: Quick “Back in My Hometown” a cappella (just like 7/16/94) before the year starts off with “Divided Sky.” Good opener choice.

4/4/94: Hoist came out 5 days before this show, and the 1st track off of it is…Sample, of course. Now in its blandly mid-tempo mature form.

4/4/94: First Hoist debut is Mule, forever ruining the SOAM shorthand for Melt. No Mule Duel yet, just a Page solo into klezmer.

4/4/94: Maze, the original Trey/Page duel (or is that Foam?) sounds pretty sharp. Not hearing much rust on the band so far.

4/4/94: No megaphone for Fee. Sellouts!

4/4/94: Reba contains a very encouraging, if brief first jam of the year - swerves into a weirdly urgent section before the usual climb.

4/4/94: It’s Ice continues its late 93 momentum with an extended break, exploring the Hey Bulldog riff and maybe A Little Less Conversation?

4/4/94: Sorry 2001, set 2 starts with the first of many, many Diseases. Slowwww tempo, but Mike’s intro blows minds.

4/4/94: I know I’m going to get real sick of Disease over the course of 94, but this one ain’t so bad. They’re clearly excited to play it.

4/4/94: First If I Could is even better, despite some rough vox. Gorgeous volume pedal and sustain tricks in Trey’s solo.

4/4/94: Enter the expanded six-piece Giant Country Horns. Mixing a “debut show” and a “horns show” — volatile.

4/4/94: So many “woah-oh!” backing vocals on the Hoist songs that were later dropped: Disease, If I Could, Julius. #emophish

4/4/94: Always thought the GCHs were superfluous for Melt. Self-conscious skronk distracts from the disorder in this version.

4/4/94: OK Wolfman’s officially sounds the strangest in its debut. Trey singing lower, swankier tempo, brass slickness, Alumni jam?

4/4/94: I’m going to read I Wanna Be Like You as subversive Fish commentary on the more serious direction of Hoist.

4/4/94: I think it’s fair to call 1994 The Year of Hood, and the first one shimmers and blooms in all the right ways. Promising.

4/4/94: Trey is “very happy to announce” the final score of the NCAA basketball final, which gets a big anti-Duke cheer from the crowd.

4/4/94 Final: New songs and horns inject energy for the long haul to come. Improv still sounds 93-ish, but good Reba, Ice & Hood. 1994!

12/31/93 - WORCESTER, MA

Nearly 3.5 years after I started 1993, it’s time to finally put the year to bed: 12/31/93, Worcester, MA, Worcester Centrum Centre.

12/31/93: Llama opener is a good way to saddle up that nervous NYE energy. First show at the now-DCU Center, capacity 15,000.

12/31/93: Trey’s “everybody in yet?” in the Guelah pause brought me right back to listening to this tape in high school. #Proustian

12/31/93: Trey’s extra plinky on the composed part of Stash. And the clapping is now officially A Thing.

12/31/93: Intricate DEG-esque weaving at the outset of the Stash jam, nice stretch of tension, tension, release then a quiet finish.

12/31/93: Extensive Roundabout tease from Trey before acoustic Ginseng. And I mean tease.

RT @MelvinDisco worth mentioning that the WDCM FM sbd/aud matrix was the most preemo sounding source of any show for a looooong time

12/31/93: More Plinko tricks in Reba, some 20 years before it would earn that name. Jam moves at a confident, communicative gallop.

12/31/93: Neat, spirally detour around 4:00 in Antelope before returning to barely contained frenzy. This whole set is manic as hell.

12/31/93: Not sure I agree with @TomMarshall111’s accent choice in his Antelope cameo though.

12/31/93: Strangely, it’s been 12 shows since the last Tweezer, tied for the longest gap up to that point. It was almost MIA in Aug 93.

12/31/93: Tweezer jam is like the old clockwork slowdown ending played faster and stretched. Disorienting, but breathtakingly intricate.

12/31/93: Segue into Halley’s Comet gives us another Double Nancy for ‘93. Where’s his guest appearance?

12/31/93: (Correction: I missed a 15-show Tweezer gap in 1992. But a dozen shows is still a long Tweezerless stretch for any era.)

12/31/93: Woah! RT @dunhamrc: @phishcrit @dunhampl don’t forget the Banana Splits Theme tease in the middle of the Tweezer jam

12/31/93: Some nice spookified Peaches licks in the breakdown to It’s Ice. Clearly, the official song of NYE Run 1993.

12/31/93: The segues in this set are far more > than ->, but still good to hear a broader architecture forming vs. a collection of songs.

12/31/93: This crowd loves to clap, man. The Possum intro is a downright hootenanny.

12/31/93: This is a really weird and great Possum. Wind sprints interrupted by sparse conversations with audience noisemaker din.

12/31/93: Pretty patient YEM given the hijinks about to unfold. Some minimal flourishes around the “Boy Man” and the start of the jam.

12/31/93: Reading about the stunt, the tape must cut out a lot of the sound effects, save for the talking clam countdown.

12/31/93: And I know it was needed for the music video, but the DWD sneak peek must have been a really confusing experience.

12/31/93: A shaky theory that the song right after Auld Lang Syne is the band’s MVP choice for the year. Let’s cheat and say it’s Melt here.

12/31/93: The Melt in question never goes out there, but is a great abstract of the era’s high speed, high precision interplay.

12/31/93: Other than perhaps Ginseng & Lawn Boy, there hasn’t been a single breather in the setlist of this show. Pedal to the floor.

12/31/93: OK, they finally found a song that won’t gracefully assimilate a Peaches tease, and it is Suzy.

12/31/93: Surprised the Fish segment wasn’t one last Purple Rain for the year. I guess Fish has a no-repeats policy even if Phish doesn’t.

12/31/93: Very pretty Hood, threading ALS through the jam. Not patient exactly (nothing is in this show) but deftly reaches its peak.

12/31/93: Definitely feel like this is a Trey-dominant show. He’s been on point and in the lead throughout.

12/31/93: Before encore, Trey acknowledges 10-year anniversary of the band. “Hope you guys will be back with us for 10 more.”#andthensome

12/31/93: If it wasn’t for that AC/DC Bag encore on 5/8, all three ‘93 tours would have ended with Amazing Grace. Nice touch.

12/31/93 verdict: If NYE shows summarize the preceding year, this one captured the deadly efficient spring more than the exploratory summer.