SOUNDTRACK: PHISH-Live Phish Downloads 8.13.93 UNH Fieldhouse, Durham, NH (2007).
Despite the Phish tour ending in May, the picked up again just three months later.
“Lengthwise” starts of a capella. Guitars slowly come in as washes and then “Llama” rocks out with some great blasts and a lengthy keyboard solo from Page.
“Makisupa Policeman” is fun with a few screams from Fish. This version really highlights the reggae aspects. There’s a trippy middle section with twinkling pianos that segues into a terrific version of “Foam.”
When it’s over you hear someone shout “Stash?” before they launch into a 12 minute “Stash.” There’s some unusual soloing in the middle which Trey calls the “Friday the 13th” jam. And then he introduces the “butt with protruding arms” (Fish) to play the washboard. It’s “Ginseng Sullivan” which was performed acoustic with Trey on acoustic guitar and Fish on “Madonna” washboard
Then comes a 15 minute “Fluffhead.” It opens with some lovely acoustic guitars. Later during part of the jam they chant “just a bundle of joy” several times.
It’s followed by the short “My Mind’s Got a Mind of It’s Own” in a very honkey-tonk style.
It’s followed by a very pretty “Horn” that segues into a 20 minute “David Bowie.” Fish starts the hi-hats while Trey plays a whole bunch of riffs first—like “My Favorite Things” and “Beat It.” Trey also teases “The Mango Song” and “Magilla.” The song starts properly about 4 minutes in. The jam goes in all different direction, a slow section, then a fast and rocking jamming. There’s some whistling and then a very jazzy hi-hat section. The end is super fast with a wicked guitar solo. It’s a great set-ender.
Set two opens with”Buried Alive,” a fast short song that segues into a lovely “Rift” and a relatively slow “Bathtub Gin.” The bass is particularly chunky during “Gin” and then the song slows completely to give Mike a little funky slap bass action. “Bathtub Gin” which runs to 15 minutes, includes, among other things, a “Weekapaug Groove” jam. There’s a groovy keyboard solo with shouts of “Ole!”
There’s a bit of an awkward transition into “Ya Mar” but once they get going its smooth sailing especially when Trey shouts, “just Leo and the drums” and they break it down to just keys and drums. This segues into “Mike’s Song,” but Mike has fun by still singing “Ya Mar” and it seems to mess everyone up until they catch on and go with it. The 12 minute “Mike’s Song” includes teases of Ted Nugent’s “Stranglehold”
“Lifebuoy” is very pretty and there’s a brief “Oh Key Pah” before they launch in to a show ending “Suzy Greenberg.” For an encore they do a very quiet (unmic’d) a capella “Amazing Grace.” The notes say that the song was performed “without microphones and is inaudible on the DAT and cassette soundboards. To present the entire performance, an additional audience source provided by Kevin Shapiro and Judd Nudelman was used.” Mostly you hear a lot of people SHHHHing (why do people whoop during quiet moments like this?). But they follow it with a rocking “Highway to Hell” (which sounds a lot like AC/DC’s version.)
The rest of the disc includes some soundcheck stuff. A goofy version of “Love Me Two Times” with them trying to sound like Jim Morrison. The 1 minute Indiana Sound check jam is fun. And then the final track is nearly 9 minutes of them setting up the washboard for “Ginseng Sullivan.” It’s interesting if you care about their recording process, but it’s tech more talk than music.
So this set list is pretty similar to the show in May. There’s a lot if duplication. And yet, according to the essay by Kevin Shapiro,
Summer 1993 was a time when each show somehow surpassed the last. This show is legendary among Phishheads based almost entirely on the second set! Instantly famous for its mind-melting (or is it mind-melding?) Bathtub Gin > Ya Mar and Mike’s Song > Lifebuoy … The entire show is risky and magical in so many ways. [It had] already been accepted as legendary and literally begs for release…. Without them, the catalog – some would even say the fan experience – is simply incomplete.
So that’s a pretty rave review.
This book (translated as I am an Other) was created by Walter Ego (great name) and is written in English (not Ego’s native langauge).
This is a collection of drawings and short essays all in praise of failure, inadequacy and unprofessionalism.
Ego draws simple stick figure line drawings and aphorisms to celebrate insecurity. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 