Set 1: Golgi Apparatus, You Enjoy Myself, Ya Mar, Fluffhead > Alumni Blues > Letter to Jimmy Page > Alumni Blues, Donna Lee, Fee > Run Like an Antelope
Set 2: I Didn’t Know, Take the ‘A’ Train, Good Times Bad Times, McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters
The Sigma Phi house at Hamilton College as seen today.
Man, I can’t believe with is show review #100. That really means 1500 to go still but it’s a nice milestone to reach. I also wish we had a better show for #100 but this is a real stinker. There are cuts all over the place right in the middle of songs. We only get half of set 2. And the playing isn’t inspired at all. We also don’t know where this show took place. Some say it was back at Sigma Phi, where another poster says it was at McEwan Coffee House due to rain. Phish.com says Sigma Phi might not even be the right venue. We know about the rain due to Trey’s awesome intro to “Ya Mar”, the first time I’d heard him make the Phish underwater pun due to everyone being in the “swimming pool down in front of the stage.” The other highlight is hearing Phish ad-lib as his vacuum is once again not plugged in. He finally gets it going for a nice solo. I’d say you can definitely skip this tape.
Set 1: Dinner and a Movie, You Enjoy Myself, Esther, AC/DC Bag, Alumni Blues > Letter to Jimmy Page > Alumni Blues, Take the ‘A’ Train, Split Open and Melt, The Lizards, Golgi Apparatus, Good Times Bad Times
Set 2: Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, On Your Way Down, Possum, Icculus, Colonel Forbin’s Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird, David Bowie
Encore: Contact
Pearl Street Ballroom at 10 Pearl Street in Northampton, MA. Right near the train station.
In reviewing the history of Phish, one cannot understate how important the city of Northampton and Pioneer Valley was to the band’s success. The center hub of the Five Colleges Consortium, consisting of Smith, Mount Holyoke, Hampshire, Amherst, and UMass Amherst, this cluster of students provided the first great Phish fan base outside of Burlington and nowhere is this confirmed than this night at Pearl Street.
Back on 4/15/1989, Page mentioned his show, saying that if they got enough ticket sales, the show would be moved from the basement (aka 10 Below) to the main hall. Phish had just played 10 Below exactly 1 month earlier on 4/1/1989 and clearly the venue saw the potential that night. Of course, Northampton was also no stranger to Phish. The band had already played Sheehan’s on Pleasant Street, one of the hottest spots in town, 3 times in the past year. Northampton was that place for Phish right now. Phish was able to sell enough tickets to play the main hall and they would stay there for 7 shows over the course of the next year. So we’ll get to know this space well by the end of it.
We only have the recording of set one and it’s labeled as an audience recording and if so, the crowd was very quiet unlike the previous night at NightStage. Even during Fishman’s solo on “A Train”, you can hear a pin drop when it gets quiet. The song selection is certainly better than the night before, possibly because the band knows that the fans are there. It’s not simply a gig in Boston, on the nightclub circuit. The show gets off to a bumpy start with a rough “Dinner and a Movie”. Page’s organ doesn’t sound mic’d up. The rhythm just sounds off. Page and Trey do hook up to save the song at about the 2:30 mark and now we’re on for the show. “You Enjoy Myself” is solid, especially from the 10-minute mark on with a nice lead from Trey. “Esther” is top-shelf and nailed from to top-to-bottom. The song has come a long way in a short amount of time. “A Train” again has a great solo from Fishman. “Split Open and Melt” has also come a long way in a short time. Mike and Fish hit that groove strong and it’s slowly showing the signs of the behemoth it will become. Also, the weird Fish solo in the middle has been dropped. “The Lizards” is played a little faster than previous versions and this is a beauty. Again, you can tell the crowd is on board with how quiet it is for the “If I Were a Dog” outro. Gorgeous. A solid 1-2 combo of “Golgi” and “Good Times Bad Times” ends the set in high spirits. Mike really drops bass bombs during “Good Times”. This is a really solid set and a welcome rebound from NightStage. I recommend checking it out.
Set 1: I Didn’t Know, You Enjoy Myself, McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters, The Lizards, Divided Sky, Wilson, Peaches en Regalia, Run Like an Antelope, Terrapin[1]
Encore: Possum
[1] Fish on trombone.
NightStage in Cambridge during its heyday.
While Phish certainly was climbing the rungs of the music industry, there had to be a few stumbles along the way. This show really highlights a night that for a lot of bands might have killed their momentum. NightStage was a very successful blues and jazz club just north of MIT at 823 Main Street . Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins all had major gigs there in 1980s, some even released on video. Pat Metheney, Tracy Chapman, and Rick Danko also made stops there. This would seem like a very important gig. It starts off awkwardly with an introduction from the band’s manager Ben Hunter. He stumbles through the jokes, none are hitting the crowd. “‘POOOOJJJ’ McConnell,” owner of the “biggest organ in Boston”, Trey “the mad scientist”, are just two of the cringeworthy ones. Bill Graham, he was not that evening. Then, do you open with “Funky Bitch”, maybe “Peaches en Regalia?” No, the band opens with “I Didn’t Know”, which is fun and maybe loosens them up but it kills the show. Apparently, the band ten played “You Enjoy Myself” but it is not on any available recording. After “YEM,” Trey starts giving a Gamehendge narration. He says that Phish are traveling minstrels from Gamehendge and so they’re going to play some songs from there. He lays out a long description of each on and by the time he gets to asking if people know what a Rhombus is, it’s clear he’s lost the crowd. They just want the music, Trey. Even the people that yell for each song title, which feels like a small part of the crowd are done with the narration at this point. Especially only one song in to the set. At least, wait 3 or 4 songs. The Gamehendge mini-set is quite enjoyable though. “McGrupp” is a little tighter here which is a welcome addition. “The Lizards” is little boring but well-played. “Divided Sky” smokes and you can tell that one got some interest back. “Wilson>Peaches” remains. I also like that this recording is an audience recording because it sounds older than it is. It really sounds like a recording from Nectar’s in 1986, where the majority of the crowd is just there to drink and be social. They’re almost louder than the band. Perhaps, the disinterested crowd was part of the equation. Clearly, there’s still a good chunk of fans there but it’s obviously less than the total crowd. Trey speaks again, trying to thank NightStage and advising people to tip Jim at the bar. Trey asks for a vodka and tonic for Phish. You can hear a little defeat in Trey’s voice. He knows no one’s listening so he backs off and fires up “Antelope”. The jam of the show is “Antelope” as the foursome bring the swirling jam to a boil. They really work the tension here and on the recording, you almost feel in the middle of a twister as your ears rotate through the instruments for flourishes before it all just breaks into the “Rye Rye Rocco” part. It’s a solid early version and the crowd clearly agrees. What next? More Fishman, doing Syd Barrett’s “Terrapin” complete with trombone solo. Again, the crowd talking gets louder than the band. The show loses with a “not that exciting” “Possum.” This show, however, feels important because it probably was a wake-up call for the young Dionysian Productions team. Ben and John had to have seen that the nightclub circuit might not be right for the band and alternate plans would have to come for future success.
NightStage right before it was torn down and replaced with condos.
Set 1: Golgi Apparatus, Jam[1], The Sloth > Divided Sky, Sanity[2], I Didn’t Know, Alumni Blues > Letter to Jimmy Page > Alumni Blues > The Lizards, Whipping Post
Encore: Contact, David Bowie
[1] Often referred to as “String Changing Nature.”
[2] Fast version.
The outside of the M.U.B. as it appears today. Probably has had modifications since 1989.
Back on 11/11/88, when Phish played the Stone Church in Newmarket for the first time, Trey plugged someone’s show at the “MUB”. Trey asked what that was, not knowing. Here, about 5 months late, Trey gets the full answer as Phish plays the pub at the M.U.B, or Memorial Union Building at the University of New Hampshire. UNH would prove an important place in the band’s career until the school no longer had a venue large enough for the band after 1994. With total enrollment of about 15,000 students, this bastion of young people, combined with its proximity to both Boston and Portland, ME made it an ideal location for the band. This show was booked by the UNH Outing Club and played in the pub within the union building. The pub has since been removed as colleges would move away from alcohol on campus sometime during the 1990s. I checked out the floor plan of the MUB but did not find a space which seemed to suggest a pub location. I may check with some UNH alumni and see if they remember the location. I will update this post if it can be determined. As for the show itself, there’s not much that stands out. A fun jazz jam by Mike, Page, and Fish while Trey replaces a string is cool. Mike throws some banter over the top. “Sanity” is the fast version again. “Lizards” has Page experimenting with counter-melodies along side Trey during the “If I Were A Dog” outro. “Whipping Post” has a cool jam that takes it easy instead of pushing it over the top. Lastly, “David Bowie” has a fun intro with the band saying thank you to the crowd. The ensuing jam is also well-played. A solid gig but again nothing too noteworthy other than establishing a fan base at UNH.
The SkiRack (formerly The Front) looking up Main St. towards The Woodbury Armory (formerly Hunt’s).
Today I want to talk about two important shows that we don’t have much of a setlist or any recordings from. I know what you’re thinking, “How can you write up shows that you don’t know much about?” The fact is these two shows were extremely important in the history of Phish that our lack of first-hand accounts can’t be reason alone to skip them.
Much of the mythos of the Phish story is Phish rose to be the kings of live music without radio, MTV, or album sales. While on a national front this is true, at home, Phish was all supported by local radio stations. Most notably here at the Rock Rumble at the Front. WIZN was a major player in the Vermont radio scene alongside WNCS out of Montpelier, a station we’ll cover later in this series. Starting out in 1983 in Vergennes, the same year as Phish, with Arty LaVigne as general manager, the station would become a champion of local radio with a popular local morning show, Corm and the Coach, and a focus on Vermont artists. The station would become the predominant rock and roll radio station for the town until 1997 when it added 99.9 The Buzz as its “younger-focused” sister station. As a kid, I used to listen to these three stations ad-nauseum. I still remember listening to Rich Haskell and Arty LaVigne riding down Shelburne Road with my parents in the summer, usually talking about some promotions at the Chickenbone Cafe. On all these stations, around 1992-94, there was always room for Phish between Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton. I probably heard Phish over the airwaves long before I knew exactly who they were. Also, a WIZN DJ gave me a copy of Hoist in June 1994, my first conscious moment with the band and one that clearly changed my life forever.
The official T-shirt of the WIZN Rock Rumble. (Photo credit @JayCatVT)
Part of that was these two shows. The shows were hosted by WIZN’s own Arty LaVigne, who had just bought that station outright in June 1988. Nighttime drive DJ Mike Luoma was also believed to be a judge that evening. The only known fact is Phish pulled out the theatrical stops, climaxing their one set on April 21st by lowering Fishman naked from the rafters for his “I Didn’t Know” vacuum solo. The vacuum, however, was not plugged in. Fish did play a naked trombone solo though. The band also played Contact. Mike’s lone notes from the show are they played “loud and hard”. The band obviously brought it enough to be named a finalist. All the finalists performed with Phish winning the whole thing on April 22nd. Phish used the Archer Studios time won to record “Split Open and Melt” and “Bathtub Gin” for the forthcoming Lawn Boy. Phish were now officially the kings of Burlington’s music scene. Now on the radar of local radio, the band could continue to grow outside of the city of Burlington and college scenes.
Set 1: AC/DC Bag > Fluffhead[1], You Shook Me All Night Long Jam > Fluffhead, Fire, Esther, Suzy Greenberg, The Sloth, Possum, McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters -> Foam, David Bowie
Set 2: Divided Sky, Walk Away, You Enjoy Myself > Split Open and Melt[2], The Lizards, Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Love You[3], Harpua
[1] Fire alarm interruption.
[2] Fish drum solo.
[3] Fish on trombone.
The Zoo (Humphries House) at Amherst College.
This would be the last time Phish would play a Full Moon party at the Zoo as manager John Paluska would graduate from Amherst that spring. Oddly enough, this is the first time the band played on April 20th. At the time, however, it did not have the implications of marijuana use now associated with the day. That would not come into fashion until about year later, maybe two. So no amazing extended Makisupa. What we do have is a very solid top-to-bottom show here. The beginning and end get cut off so we jump right into “AC/DC Bag” in progress. The “Fluffhead” gets cut right at the beginning of the “Clod” segment as the fire alarm goes off. The band returns and jams on the chord progression of AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long” segueing easily into “Clod” to finish the “Fluffhead” it’s perfect and classic Phish. At the end of Fluffhead, Trey reminds the crowd has to be cool because if the fire alarm goes off again, the show is over. Be cool about “whatever” you’re smoking. Page takes the crowd’s suggestion go smoking outside. Sage advice that could be imparted today. Trey than dedicates Hendrix’s “Fire” to the hard working people who turned off the fire alarm. Trey tells Paul, he doesn’t know about Paul but Trey came during that one. Then Mike’s asks for Paul’s duct tape. Trey introduces “Esther” as a Gamehendge song, but on the outskirts of Gamehendge. The song here is the best yet, hitting the right tone and tempo for the song with flawless playing on the outro by Trey. This version soars. “The Sloth” has that weird outro still. “McGrupp”, while not outstanding is very solid here as is the “Foam”. A “Bowie” highlighted by strong dissonance from Page closes Set 1. Page is playing very opposite Trey but leading the jam at the same time. You can hear Trey following Page at times. It’s a very interesting early jam.
Set 2 kicks off with a solid, if note heavy, “Divided Sky”. After “Walk Away”, despite a very vocal request for “A-Train”, the band knows better and busts out “You Enjoy Myself”. The “YEM” never really hits the spot though. The vocal jam drops into “Split Open and Melt”. The “Melt” here is much more solid than the last one but still contains Fish’s odd drum solo. It really hurts the flow of the song. It also is closer to the standard tempo but still a little slower but not as bad as 4/15/1989. The “Lizards” and “Mike’s->Groove” are standard but solid. The “Weekapaug” does pack a little extra punch with falling lines from Page and Trey that are gorgeous. Fish busts out Syd Barrett’s “Love You” for the first time since 10/31/87. It feels like a step backwards from “Undun” and “If I Only Had a Brain” but it is at least much clearer now.
The clear highlight of this night though is Harpua. “Sounds to me like the song you want to hear begins with an ‘Oom Pa Pa’, says Trey, words that still make any Phish fan fill with delight. I still would love to know what those were. Anyway, they riff on combining the song with the Allman Brothers’ “Whipping Post” before going right into “Harpua”. Trey launches into the story, talking about Harpua, leading to Trey telling that someone had shot Marley in the ass recently. He then proceeds to describe Harpua and Jimmy’s cat with each having a non-shot-ass, repeating the phrase over and over, until Mike yells out “LET’S HEAR IT FOR NON-SHOT ASS!” The band then jams on “Non-Shot-Ass” for a short bit and it’s hilarious. We get the first time Trey leads up to introducing the name of Jimmy’s cat in a huge build-up, similar to Icculus. During the buildup, the band riffs on Spencer Davis Group’s “Gimme Some Lovin'”. Trey also yells out “MY GOD!” several times, to which Mike responds “HIS GOD!”, a great back and forth adding to the theatrics. They do this a few times during the song. There’s also a tease of Ninja Custodian’s “The Price of Love” right before the fight between Harpua and Poster Nutbag. As always, Poster is killed in the fight and the song ends with it’s great rock opera finish. Man, I will always go for a “Harpua” and this one stands out as one of the best, if only for Mike and Trey riffing off each other. Just a good overall show made better by an outstanding track.
Set 1: Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Esther > You Enjoy Myself > Wilson, Peaches en Regalia, On Your Way Down > Alumni Blues[1] > Letter to Jimmy Page> Alumni Blues, I Didn’t Know[2], McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters[3] > Foam, David Bowie
Set 2: Funky Bitch, Golgi Apparatus > Slave to the Traffic Light, The Mango Song, Divided Sky, Split Open and Melt[4], Suzy Greenberg > Fluffhead > Good Times Bad Times
[1] Additional lyrics.
[2] Fish on trombone; with sound effects from an electronic drum machine.
[3] With sound effects from an electronic drum machine.
[4] With drum solo.
Unlike the gig at Johnson State, this surprisingly would not be the band’s last gig at the University of Vermont. There are a few more left to document. It’s more interesting that the band wasn’t playing a larger space at UVM yet. Back in the cozy confines of the Billings Student Center, the band turns in a fine performance all for the benefit of VPIRG, the Vermont Public Interest Research Group. Set 1 is excellent audio quality. It’s interesting that we have the soundcheck in tact, more than likely the student center was just open and people could come in during the soundcheck. “Time Loves a Hero” continued to get better and better and it’s interesting it wasn’t played again until 1998 when it would have been a great cover staple. The opening “Mike’s Groove” is very tasty with Mike finally not straining on his vocal on “Mike’s” and “Weekapaug” played at the regular faster pace. It sounds gorgeous. The band welcomes the crowd to the VPIRG benefit and then Trey informs that someone lost their birth control pills at Johnson State and then band brought them to the next gig. A hilarious banter moment. “Esther” gets a much needed redemption after the previous night’s closer and here we get a near-perfect version. “You Enjoy Myself” is quite nice with Trey bringing the jam to a blistering peak before the bass and drums section. The “Wilson->Peaches” blat-boom transition returns nicely. After “Peaches”, we get some very nice banter from Page, again reinforcing why probably Page delivers so much of the banter now. He advises people to buy some cider and lemonade in the back and then plug their upcoming Pearl Street gig on May 1st. He says that if they sell enough tickets, they’ll move from the basement space to the main hall. We’ll see soon if that happened! They play “On Your Way Down” but I really think “Times Loves a Hero” is the better Little Feat cover for the band. Page does a nice job though. The song’s just too heavy for my taste I guess. We get a lightning fast “Alumni>Letter>Alumni” triplet. “I Didn’t Know” has the really odd mixture of Fish playing trombone and a new electronic drum machine on the tune, adding weird sound effects to the acapella lines. I hope the drum machine is NOT a permanent fixture. Yikes. Fish does add some nice woodblock textures to the opening of “McGrupp”. “Foam” is interesting because Trey tries to segue directly in it and you hear him picking out the notes solo and it takes a good couple of rounds before the rest of the band catches up. I like it because it shows there’s more work to do on some of these tunes and room for improvement; taking risks. The “Foam” itself is starting move at its signature tempo and meshing nicely. We get part of “David Bowie” but nothing noteworthy.
Set 2’s tape is less clean than set 1. It’s very rough in places so proceed at your own risk. The set kicks off with a dirty “Funky Bitch” though, setting the tone. “Golgi” and “Slave” offer some varied playing by Trey but otherwise have nothing outstanding. After “Slave”, there’s a fun bit of banter with Trey saying they’l play their newest number next. Trey then says Page will use a new synthesizer on the song but the synthesizer is broken already on its first time out. Trey then says Fish will use his new woodblocks and advises Fish to play the song he just learned. This pans into a “Name That Tune” bit where Fish plays the “Charge” riff on them and an audience member wins a date with Fish. Trey also says there’s a special way to dance to the next song with only your hips and body, keeping your head still. Trey also says that Paul puts feedback pack in the monitors and takes it out to trick the band in thinking he’s a great soundman. The band then busts into “The Mango Song”, playing a much-more polished version and follows it up with a strong “Divided Sky”. Then, we get our first recorded “Split Open and Melt” and I’m excited for this only to be let down. The song is played a little slower than most fans are used to, probably because of its infant stage, the band is not up to speed on the intricacy of its dissonance. In the middle before the “Steam Dream” breakdown, there’s a long drum solo by Fishman at just feels wrong. The jam also isn’t much but Trey wailing on sustain. There’s potential but I don’t see it yet here. The show ends in typical 1989 fashion with “Suzy”, “Fluffhead”, and “Good Times Bad Times”. All fun show for the UVM kids overall. At the end of “Fluffhead”, Trey plugs a couple of gigs, the all-ages gig in Northampton again (but with the wrong date of 4/15), Johnny B. Fishman Jazz Ensemble with Russell Remington at Noonie’s Deli on Mondays, and the Rock Rumble at the Front this weekend! Will Phish win the Rock Rumble? Find out on future installments of the Phishsonian.
Set 1: AC/DC Bag > Foam, Walk Away, Fluffhead, Fee, Halley’s Comet > Run Like an Antelope, Contact, Fire
Set 2: You Enjoy Myself, Bold As Love, The Lizards, The Sloth, Possum, If I Only Had a Brain[1], Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Esther
[1] Fish on trombone.
Before we dive into this show, we need to take a moment to reveal some big movements that happened off the magnetic tape. Between the last recording on 3/30/89 and this one, Phish had hired Chris “Steck” Stecher as interim lighting director and was feeling out him filling the role. At the same time, they posted this add in the March edition of the Phish Update (the band’s newsletter) and in local newspapers: “WANTED: Creative light person to run new light show for PHISH on a salaried, permanent basis. This very valuable partner will travel with the band as a 5th member. We are looking for someone from the New England area — no need to live in Burlington. Call (802) 654-9068.” On April 7th, Steck had newly hired roadie Chris Kuroda fill in on lights during “Famous Mockingbird” at the Stone Church. Trey later noted to the crew how he really liked the lights during “Mockingbird”. Kuroda stepped up and told Trey that he had been running the lights during that song. Stecher was immediately let go and Kuroda has been on lights ever since (except for one weekend in Vegas we’ll talk about in a few years). Kuroda made his lighting director debut on April 13, 1989.
We don’t have a recording of that show. We do have this one, a fun rowdy night at Johnson State College. Page makes note to the crowd that this was the 5th show the band had played at Johnson State and Trey would say how they’ve played at Johnson for 3 years. It was always a reliable place in the frontier of those early days. However, this would be the last show at Johnson State as Phish would outgrow the tiny performance space known as the Base Lodge. On the tape, you can easily hear the raucous crowd through including several loud guys yelling for certain tracks. Trey dedicates “Fluffhead” to the people from the dorm they were just hanging out in and this “Fluff” has some experimentation by Trey on guitar sounds and is well done. “Halley’s” goes out there with a some light vocal jamming and then a nice outro jam that in a later year would probably have lead to something great but here just gets cut short for “Antelope”. The “Antelope” is hot here though with a very playful intro by all members before dropping into the next part. Trey’s getting close to his guitar god phase here with quick, nimble playing and phrasing rapidly becoming more apparent each show. Building on the last recording, “Antelope” continues to be a top song for the band in this period. “Contact” is a must listen if only for the banter. As some fans yell for the song, Trey advises “we’re gonna get a little audience participation during this next number. This is a very important philosophical tune. Please pay heed.” The “Contact” itself has a very nice groove in the bridge jam. The banter continues from Page, “And if I could take this moment to say that, you know we play a lot of gigs throughout a lot of places but Johnson State, we hold a dear spot in our heart for Johnson State. And I know it brings a tear in my eye…” Trey interjects over Page, “But what you don’t really know is we have a special affinity for Johnson State because we own Johnson State! And all of your tuitions are going right into our pockets. So, you might as well just throw all your money up on stage right now cause we’re gonna get it in the end. If you know what I mean. There’s nothing like getting it in the end every once and a while.” The band then ends the set with “Fire”, which has Trey playing with tones and tuning more than just wailing over the top for an interesting version of the song. “A brief hiatus and we shall return.”
Set 2 kicks off with Page practicing his “You Enjoy Myself” riff and then the band yells its name in unison, “YEEEEEEEEM”. The “YEM” is kind of broken down, played slower than usual as if they’d been having trouble keeping pace with the song. I dig the building vibe of this version though. Makes it stand out like Johnson was safe enough to not have to “show off”. Trey shouts “YEM” again during Mike’s bass solo. Mike really goes off during the descending part too. He’s really going out there, which is excellent to hear. Other second set highlights include “The Sloth” with a weird outro after the fade out. We get a full “Mike’s Groove”, the highlight being a very danceable “Weekapaug”. Be sure not to miss the show ending “Esther” though. It’s clear they’re still working out the song (being that’s only the 3rd time played) and at one point a guy in the crowd thinks it’s Mary Poppins “Chim-Chim-Cherie”. But the work print edition has some cool quirks and alternate ideas that are interesting to hear. Hopefully, the money from Johnson State kept rolling in despite no more appearances on campus. If not, there’s always UVM tomorrow…
Set 1: Bold As Love, McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters > Divided Sky, The Price of Love[1], On Your Way Down, Ya Mar, Fluffhead, Run Like an Antelope
Set 2: The Mango Song[2], Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, You Enjoy Myself, Undun[1], La Grange, Golgi Apparatus
Set 3: Peaches en Regalia > Foam, AC/DC Bag > Big Black Furry Creature from Mars, Satin Doll, Rocky Top
Encore: Makisupa Policeman
[1] First known Phish performance.
[2] First known performance.
The SkiRack (formerly The Front) looking up Main St. towards The Woodbury Armory (formerly Hunt’s).
We finally get another full show after some segments and what a beauty we have to go over today! This is the best show of 1989 so far and not just because we get to hear everything. It starts off with a solid “Bold as Love” which Trey has dropped the horrible flanger effect he played at the end. “McGrupp” builds to a soaring dissonant peak in the jam. “Divided Sky” is played with such fire. Phish slays local colleagues’ Ninja Custodian’s “The Price of Love”. A fiery “On Your Way Down” with delicious Page vocals goes nicely with “Ya Mar” to bring the mood up. “Fluffhead” has some very nice licks by Trey to accompany the composition. “Antelope” is the best yet with whole band movement during the jams and a fun dissonant undercurrent to the Marco Esquandolas section.
Set 2 we get the first recording of “The Mango Song”. The song is not the powerhouse it will e like most early Phish versions but it does have really tight licks from Trey and the general feel is there. “Mike’s Groove” is pretty good. The “Mike’s” is very short but hot, the “Hydrogen” is perfect, and the “Weekapaug” is the fastest yet but unfortunately gets cuts short. “You Enjoy Myself” is also quite nice with great interplay between Trey and Page and an awesome drop into a tease of Linda Ronstadt’s “You’re No Good” and hen working it around the “Wash Uffizi Drive Me to Firenze” of the vocal jam. The Guess Who’s “Undun” here is a Fishman song and continues what began with “If I Only Had A Brain” but this time has less theatrics and is more a fun romp through the song. No longer just singing with his head down and mumbling Syd Barrett, here he duets with Page and puts some real emotion in the song. Well done Fish! A ripping “La Grange” follows and then “Golgi” closes the set.
Set 3 kicks off with the always strong “Peaches”. “Foam” continues to be a strong showcase piece for all 4 members of Phish with Page and Trey trading licks, Mike playing inventive bass lines, and Fishman playing a strong underlying rhythm. “AC/DC” is good but nothing special. “BBFCFM” is fun as usual. “Satin Doll” has excellent solos by both Mike and Fish, demonstrating their abilities at the time. Trey tries to explain the band at the end by introducing them as “The Phish Fusion Hardcore Jazz and Bluegrass Band”. Little hard to fit on a marquee. The band then rips into “Rocky Top” to end the set. An encore of “Makisupa Policemen” with a solid Mike-heavy reggae jam ends the show.
Chris Kuroda – The Early Years. (Photo Credit: Phish.com)
This show would not only be noted for the music but it was also Chris Kuroda’s first night on Phish’s crew as a simple roadie, lugging gear. Apparently, Trey asked Chris he if he knew anyone bring their guitar lesson and Chris responded by suggesting himself. This is why 2/7/89 might be CK5’s favorite show as it was one of his last as a common fan.
Set 1: Possum, Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Golgi Apparatus > Divided Sky, AC/DC Bag, If I Only Had a Brain, Take the ‘A’ Train, David Bowie
The exterior of the Paradise Rock Club before renovation.
I’m just gonna cut right to it. There’s no need for anyone to listen to this recording. It’s all songs, which there are better versions from this year. The songs aren’t even presented in the right order. “I Am Hydrogen” is cut out of the “Mike’s Groove”. “If I Only Had a Brain” sounds like it opens the show despite being in the number 7 slot on the recording. It does have an early vacuum solo, which is cool to to hear and also to hear Page advised Fish “take it around!” for another 8 bars of solo. A couple of fun “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” teases in “Possum” and “A-Train”. But for the most part, I’d stay away from this recording for a variety of reasons. Big show at the Front tomorrow.
The Phishsonian Institute - Researching Phish's impact in the world-at-large 