Phish C/D

this is def one of the best phish shows i've ever heard even though it features pretty much none of the searching improvisational fugues that i fell in love with. the horns just sound SO good and give the show so much energy and as a bonus make phish sound way tighter than normal

Brad you are becoming a true blue phan

a picture of nectar is a solid hour of everything that’s really bad about phish

“stash” is still good. “stash” is always good

11/19/92: fantastic show for the most part, really ideal versions of "foam," "split open and melt," "divided sky" in the first set, the debut of a bunch of rift tracks, the highlight of which is a "fast enough for you" with additional pedal steel (said pedal steel also turns "llama" into a really hot basement with mold growing in the corners, best rendition of the song i've heard yet). "tweezer" is a nightmare, in a good way. unfortunately "lengthwise" is the closest i've come to thinking "fuck this band" during one of their shows

really glad they did away with having an obligatory fishman singing showcase in the second set, always a momentum slaughterer

rift is awesome!!!!!!

"horn" is one of the best phish songs ever imo

I love Horn.

8/26/93: wow! wow!!!! best show yet. first time they sound like a Real band, by which i think i mean there's just a confidence and professionalism where previously there wasn't exactly a lack but it wasn't the priority. they are just firing on all cylinders for the whole fuckin' show. first set is an embarrassment of riches, the "reba" totally perfect, the "split open and melt" flickering like a damaged signal. they even jam briefly on "fee" which makes me like the song a lot more lol. what sets '93 improv apart, afaict, is the density, more than ever page and trey feel like they're creating these masses of notes that jut out at odd angles like a mountain of cars in a junkyard

link for the interested: https://www.livephish.com/browse/music/0,1200/Phish-mp3-flac-download-8-26-1993-Arlene-Schnitzer-Concert-Hall-Portland-OR

it is a real treat hearing these first reactions from someone with a honed but open-minded musical ear. i couldn't agree more that picture of nectar blows and rift is awesome (somewhat controversial opinion among phish fans who, afaict, are going just based on how many "classic" phish songs each album contains), and love your descriptions of how the improv changes and improves from 92 to 93 (conventional wisdom in the fan community but you articulated the qualitative difference so nicely)

August 93 was kind of the first era of the band to develop legendary status, soon to be followed by June 94, November 94, December 95. 96 widely considered an off-year (though making a statement like that is sure to elicit valid defenses of numerous shows therein), and then once you get to 97 the really experimental improv becomes such a mainstay that it's hard to single out specific stretches. However, by that time a lot of the tightness starts to wane so you have to really be in it for the jamming

Horn is an absolute beauty. Part of the reason Rift stands head and shoulders above the other albums of its era, imo, is it captured this little window where Trey was writing reasonably normal lyrics about relatable human experiences, but before the quirkiness seeped out and those lyrics just became corny and trite. Horn is a great example of that sweet spot. It's also just such a lovely composed guitar solo.

I took guitar lessons from this grizzled blues dude in 8th and 9th grade, and he would just ask me to bring in tapes of the songs I wanted to learn. It was lots of Phish and Zeppelin, as I recall. I remember always having the distinct feeling that he was happy to teach me whatever I wanted, but didn't have the highest opinion of the non-classic stuff I'd bring him. When he was teaching me Divided Sky, though, I remember him complimenting the writing on a particular section - the one right after the proggy atonal part, but before the slow ethereal part - in addition to giving me a sense of pride in Trey/Phish for impressing him, it spurred me to attend to and appreciate how their composed sections and melodies are structured in a new way.

ugh a picture of nectar was so bad. sequenced nonsensically, and a really good case study of using the studio to ruin and drain the energy from your own songs

i'm really glad the shows i selected for this project so far hit close to or dead within those classic periods you name

this is the project so far btw:

- the white tape ✓
- colorado ‘88 ✓
- junta ✓
- 8/26/89 townshend family park, townshend, vt ✓
- lawn boy ✓
- 10/31/90 armstrong theatre, colorado springs, co ✓
- 7/12/91 colonial theatre, keene, nh ✓
- a picture of nectar ✓
- 11/19/92 ross arena, saint michael’s college ✓
- rift ✓
- 8/26/93 arlene schnitzer concert hall, portland, or ✓
- 12/31/93 worcester centrum theatre, worcester, ma
hoist
- 7/8/94 great woods performing arts center, mansfield, ma
- 12/19/94 providence civic center, providence, rh
- 6/19/95 deer creek music center, noblesville, in
- 11/14/95 university of central florida arena, orlando, fl
- billy breathes
- 11/2/96 coral sky amphitheater, west palm beach, fl

well, i almost formatted that well

i will resist the urge to give you any advance notice of what awaits you; suffice to say i'll continue to look forward to the project documentation :-)

12/31/93: chosen because some fans rate this as the best show ever. i can see why they think that, it's a really well-rounded show, but the august 93 show i heard before this was just a little more thrilling. i also suspect people really rate this show because of the "harry hood," which is exactly that good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z15ORtarX4

regardless, really fun show, amazing debut of the "down with disease" jam right out of "auld lang syne." as usual fantastic reads of "reba" and "split open and melt" even though imo both are in better form (the former more beautiful, the latter more broken and fucked up) on 8/26/93. i really like "it's ice" every time it appears in the set and this was my favorite yet, the falling apart section was really beautifully played

hoist: i heard "lifeboy" for the first time during the 8/26/93 show and got fairly caught up in trey's solo but the song itself really came together for me in the studio recording, which is one of the most gorgeous things they've ever done imo. proto-billy breathes for sure. the guests are all refreshing and add warmth to the songs even though it is super weird to hear alison krauss' voice on a phish record, and "wolfman's brother" sounds totally sick with horns. pretty good album! better than expected, if not quite as special as the two that follow

7/8/94: went out on my roof tonight to watch fireworks and smoke weed and listen to the first set of this show, which is all gamehenge including narration, and it's phenomenal

what's different about '94 phish? well so far it's starting to feel like literally anything could happen in the middle of a jam, e.g. the way "llama" just falls apart into "N02" at the start of this show

the "stash" from a live one was taken from the second set; not sure if i'm gonna make it there tonight but the fireworks are still going off so who needs sleep

12/29/94: i could talk about this show but i could also just post the second set's 35-minute "david bowie," which starts off in an event horizon-esque "outer space is hell" place and only gets scarier from there. '94 phish is maybe a little less loose and wandering than '97 or '98 but the spirit of that later style starts here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MmY8oL8B_I

a live one: just because it's hilarious to make this project way longer than it has to be, i'm revisiting the two official live releases from the '90s, this and slip stitch and pass. somehow a live one sounds even better now that i have a lot more context for where they were at that point. the "yem" is astonishing. i loved this "stash" before i even thought i liked phish. etc. one of the best live albums ever

Goddamit, Brad!

I'm listening to Phish for the first time since probably 99 and maybe earlier than that. I absorbed plenty of them in college in the early-90s and then post-college friends were into them so I knew some stuff up to Billy Breathes. I liked a few of their bigger, more poppy songs but generally thought they were tiresome.

Since then I got heavily into jazz and the Dead and now I'm listening to Junta and really enjoying it. Definitely nostalgic because certain songs I can instantly recall from those days.

I'm really enjoying reading your journey through Phish, Brad. I agree that A Picture of Nectar is one of their weaker albums, but I think "The Mango Song" and "Guelah Papyrus" are great underrated songs that they got right in the studio.

When I got really into Phish in 1998 as a 6th grader I had the 5th edition of the Pharmer's Almanac that came out that year, and that shit was like the bible to me. It had all the known setlists through the Island Tour (it was thin on mid 80s shows; apparently lots more shows/tapes have come to light since then). I didn't have access to tapes, so my live Phish collection at the time was limited to A Live One and Slip Stitch and Pass. I would pore through the setlists and show notes in the Pharmer's Almanac and fantasize about hearing, e.g., 12/31/95 (voted #1 show of all time by phans in that book), the fall 1997 tour, the Great Went, etc. When we got internet in my house in late 98 I found some fan sites that had Real Audio™ streams of a few shows and that was like manna from heaven. I realize I keep using religious terms to speak of this band lol.

By the time I finally saw them live in 2000 (5/21/00 Radio City and 9/22/00 Rosemont Horizon) I wasn't as obsessed as I had been a year or two prior, but I feel very lucky to have witnessed the tail end of 1.0. I started paying close attention to them again circa the 2017 Baker's Dozen shows, and whenever I put on a show it feels like coming home

Wow, thanks for that David Bowie!

This is ideal phish to me.

Mr. Narrator
This is ideal phish to me.

Add my post to the pile thanking BN for the posts and journey. I played the 94 David Bowie for a rat I live-caught as I drove to release it 15 miles away. Really enhanced the experience.

Feel kinda bad the lil guy mostly got "outer space is hell" before drop off in a new home.

Sky Blu Sky era Wilco sounds a lot like LivePhish vol 20

Add my post to the pile thanking BN for the posts and journey. I played the 94 David Bowie for a rat I live-caught as I drove to release it 15 miles away. Really enhanced the experience.

― butyrate humbucker bobbins (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, July 5, 2021 6:29 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

literally the best story i've ever read

but I think "The Mango Song" and "Guelah Papyrus" are great underrated songs that they got right in the studio.

i think this is right! "mango song" is ill-served by how late it appears in the tracklist. "guelah papyrus" is one of those songs that is sick both in the studio and live even though it doesn't really get jammed out, the 12/31/93 "papyrus" is freakin tense

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpROAhjbXcA

i think almost every show i've picked for this project has a "reba" and i'm not complaining

Oh hell yeah, that's a flawless hi-NRG Guelah xp.

The blissed-out jam section of Reba is my favorite Phish jam, so the presence of a Reba is often a deciding factor when I'm picking a show to listen to

speaking of, from the show i'm currently listening to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n861757Irsw

6/19/95: too early to judge probably but the vibe i get from 95 phish is "victory lap." they are playing at such a high level that even the songs i do not care for at all ("cavern," "poor heart" with added screaming and punk energy) sound dope, and the jamming, when it happens, is always taking you into an elsewhere state; "antelope" is not necessarily my favorite vehicle for phish jamming, but the "antelope" here leaves a lot of scorched earth behind it. the "reba," posted above, rivals and potentially outdoes 8/26/93 for my favorite "reba" yet, effortlessly slipping from dreamy impressionism into a cathartic rock finale. at this point they are playing "david bowie" at 100x speed or something and once again the jam is a fully can-esque nightmare. and yet the peak of this set may be the opener, "theme from the bottom"?

ooh mama, lots of activity on Brad's project and on this thread while I was away camping for the weekend. I'll have more thoughts at some point, but Brad, just wanted to say to follow up on your previous love for summer '91 horns Phish, that another side alley to go down might be Trey's self titled album of 2002 + the live album Plasma. That era is peak use of horns, in my opinion, as Trey tries to take the M.O. of afrobeat and apply it to his unique songwriting styles. There are a few clunkers on that album but some great ones as well. It's also still an acquired taste, but not to the same degree as Phish - that stuff is easier to situate in a paradigm, and it is insanely groovy and danceable.

11/14/95: this is even better than the other '95 show, dynamite first set with early renditions of "billy breathes" and "free," the latter even leading into a jam(? don't think i've heard that happen before). second set immediately announces its intentions with a very angry "maze" a slightly askew "gumbo" and then... the motherlode... that's right... the 40 minute "stash"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7q_4uFFRLA

which i would say is about as good as phish ever gets

fucking incredible

i love phish

I have been inexplicably seduced by Brad's running commentary in this thread and am bookmarking

i especially love "like a pink floyd album being composed in real time" phish

paul don't do it! reconsider!

Too late! I'm digging out my copies of A Live One and the one disc-rotted LivePhish volume I have as we speak!

well in that case, wash uffitze drive me to firenze

shiiiiiiiit

update:

- the white tape ✓
- colorado ‘88 ✓
- junta ✓
- 8/26/89 townshend family park, townshend, vt ✓
- lawn boy ✓
- 10/31/90 armstrong theatre, colorado springs, co ✓
- 7/12/91 colonial theatre, keene, nh ✓
- a picture of nectar ✓
- 11/19/92 ross arena, saint michael’s college ✓
- rift ✓
- 8/26/93 arlene schnitzer concert hall, portland, or ✓
- 12/31/93 worcester centrum theatre, worcester, ma ✓
hoist ✓
- 7/8/94 great woods performing arts center, mansfield, ma ✓
- 12/19/94 providence civic center, providence, rh ✓
- a live one ✓
- 6/19/95 deer creek music center, noblesville, in ✓
- 11/14/95 university of central florida arena, orlando, fl ✓
- billy breathes
- 11/2/96 coral sky amphitheater, west palm beach, fl
- slip stitch and pass
- 8/10/97 deer creek music center, noblesville, in
- 11/23/97 lawrence joel veterans memorial coliseum, winston-salem, nc
- 4/4/98 providence civic center, providence, ri
- 8/1/98 alpine valley music theater, east troy, wi
- the story of the ghost

if anyone feels like recommending me another '97 or '98 show... please do... otherwise i'm just gonna listen to the only show i haven't heard in the hampton/winston-salem 97 box, and it's gonna be great

i also have two '99 shows on my hard drive and remember nothing about them, so i'm thinking of just relistening to them lol

apologies in advance, but the phish revisit brought back a few small related anecdotes to pepper between BN's posts of actual substance. (hiding for easy skipping) 1) I spent a good portion of my elementary school days at the high school gym, forced to watch my older sisters play volleyball. To pass the time, I'd hang around the open section of hallway next to the concession stand. A part of the hallway featured student works of art, including a faithful pencil drawn copy of the Storm Thorgerson photo on the cover of Slip Stitch and Pass. I was infatuated with the drawing and would make a point of admiring it every game, probably while eating starburst fruit twists. I considered it to be the greatest work of art at the time, during which my own art was mostly drawings of dunking basketball players with lightning bolts in the background. 2) I had a similar obsession with my older brother's Junta shirt with the fish-shaped "PHISH" logo. I would search for it by rifling through the basket of clean-but-not-folded laundry. This was all before I ever heard the music. 3) In high school, I admired an older guitarist that owned an actual all-white stratocaster and was technically much better than me. My friend heard his band was going to play You Enjoy Myself at the high school battle of the bands in 2002. I was so disappointed when they knowingly played only the short funky bit, segueing out of Roses Are Free. Nobody gives a shit about isolated sections of Phish songs.

billy breathes: i think ghost is my favorite phish studio album but there's no doubt in my mind this is their most successful studio outing. it sounds incredible, they're writing many actually-good songs, and they actually replicate the feeling of their jams, it's just in the sequencing (especially on the abbey road-esque cascade of the second side) instead of the playing