2/15/91 oh kee pah->ac/dc bag

Here's a nifty little video from the Colonial Theater in Keene, NH featuring the classic Phish combination of Oh Kee Pah>Ac DC Bag. The 'Bag is interesting for it's Bonanza or Bonanza-like tease towards the beginning and then full band breakdowns in the middle. Hotness.

Oblivious Fool is Shafty

Today we've got the same song twice again, but not. Huh? It's Oblivious Fool (which was and might still be called Olivia's Pool) from 6/25/97 in Lille, France. That clip also has an early version of Dogs Stole Things on it following the Fool. Now you'll see and hear that Oblivious Fool is a sort of uplifting little diddy in a bluegrass type Phish style:

Fast forward a year later... the lyric remain the same but the song is now called Shafty and has a totally different musical structure beneath- dark, deep thick funk- reworked to fit in with the style of the Story of the Ghost album. This Shafty clip is from the Island Tour in '98, where Phish played Nassau Coliseum in Long Island and Providence Civic Center in Rhode Island. This is from the final night of the 4 show mini-tour on 4/5/98 in Providence. It's hard to say which I like better, they both have their merits.. maybe Shafty:

I'm Blue I'm Lonesome Again and Again

I hope you're feeling really blue and really lonesome tonight because I've got a doubleshot of I'm Blue, I'm Lonesome. The song was written by some guy name Bill Monroe (maybe you've heard of him?!). The first Phish cover is from 12/30/94 at Madison Square Garden, in the renowned mecca of bluegrass- New York City. Note Fishman on mandolin and Page on standup bass.

The second version is from 6/22/00 from a little country town called Nashville, TN. This one is special because it features just a few bluegrass legends as special guests: Ronnie McCoury on mandolin, Rob McCoury on banjo, and Sam Bush on fiddle, Del McCoury on guitar, Ricky Skaggs on mandolin, Mike Bub on bass, and Jason Carter on fiddle. This was the last appearance of the song and one of the few post-95 shows at which it was played (less than 5).

Phish 20th Anniversary Montage

Sorry it's been a few days since the last post here... so here's a BIG one to make up for it.. the Phish 20th Anniversary Montage! This was played during setbreak at the 12/2/03 concert in Boston, MA. The band left the stage, the lights went down, and the sounds of Fluffhead filled the arena. Could it be the return of Fluffhead? Noooooo. Just another shot of Phish humor as a huge screen was lit up above the stage with some really old footage of the band. A great video with timeless amazing shots followed. So not really live Phish today, but some awesome old Phish stuff for your enjoyment:

Reba Kansas City 6-13-94

Today we've got a 2 part Reba from 6/13/94 in Kansas City. A great jam- 1994 was a peak year for Reba's and this one is no exception. Enjoy:

If I Only Had a Brain instead Big Balls

This video is from 12/29/93 at the New Haven Coliseum in CT. The beginning shows the ending of the Big Ball Jam where each member of Phish would play along with a particular ball as it bounced around the audience. At the end, the crowd would shoot them into the "hoop" onstage. A brief HYHU follows. Then there's the classic Fishman cover song If I Only Had a Brain, preceded by some rambling about his new haircut he got in Los Angeles. You can see the cool fishtank stage props they had for the holiday '93 run in the background.

Old School 5/20/87 Wilson

We're kicking it old school Phish style tonight! This phideo (wow that hurts me just to write that... whatever.. it's staying) is from 5/20/87 at The Ranch in Shelburne, VT (South Burlington). Phish played with another local Vermont band of that time- The Joneses at what looks like the back of someone's house. At one point the cameraman is clearly distracted by some hippie chicks and you can get a glimpse of Trey's dog Marley. Sweetness. Great early Phish video- rock on dudes:

12/30/94 Purple Rain!!!!

Never meant to cause you any sorrow, never meant to cause you any pain. I only want to one time see you laughing, only want to see you laughing in the purple rain. Purple Rain might be my all time favorite Fishman song and unfortunately one that I never was able to see live. This classic Prince cover, complete with vacuum solo is from 12/30/94 at Madison Square Garden. And of course, there's some HYHU and minor Fish bowing at the end.

IT Tower Jam

The IT Tower Jam! The IT Festival closed out the summer 2003 tour in fine fashion up in Limestone, ME. Following the tradition of the extra set during their festivals (Clifford Ball had the Flatbed Jam, Great Went had the DJ Set, Lemonwheel had the Ring of Fire Ambient Jam) Phish may have outdone themselves with this one. Ascending to the top of the air traffic control tower, they played an almost hour long instrumental jam- their 4th set of the day! The tower was lit up by the lighting master himself- Chris Kuroda and there were dancers hanging by wires along the sides of the tower. Here's the whole thing- in 7 parts- just click each part along the bottom to move along to the next one after you're done with each. I spent waaaay too much time (unsuccessfully) trying to find a way to get it to autoplay all 7 in a row so if anyone knows a way- email or comment PLEASE!

Farmhouse in a Spaceship

Here's some Phish Farmhouse action from the Spaceship, the Mothership, the world's greatest concert arena except for the no alcohol sales thing- Hampton Coliseum in the home state of the personalized license plate-Virginia (seriously what's the deal there?). There's something about Farmhouse that I've always liked- besides the whole No Woman No Cry guitar line ripoff thing- I think it's the line "each betrayal begins with trust, every man returns to dust". That's some deep stuff there. This video is from 11/20/98-yep Hampton Comes Alive! Note the Fishman Viking horns getup. Warning it's a little shaky at times but then again who isn't sometimes. Maybe the cluster flies were getting to our cameraperson.

Phish Waste My Time on TV

Here's a pro-shot Waste from Roseland Ballroom in New York City on 5/23/00. I believe this aired on VH1 or maybe it was MTV. Why Waste? No reason, that's just how I roll dawg. Yes that was the worst line ever written on this blog. Don't worry, it'll be topped at some point.

Phish Love: Love You, Love Me

Today we've got a Valentine's Day Phish Double Date for everyone. We'll start it off with some Fishman love. The first video is Love You (aka Honey Love), a Syd Barrett song. This performance is from 3/31/92 at the Blue Note in Columbia, MO. It starts off with the somewhat rare Cold As Ice (Foreigner) intro and outro for our favorite drummer instead of the more normal HYHU. Some humorous swinging introductions from Jon F. and then a thick vacuum solo in the middle. Nice.

The second part of our double is the much rarer Love Me (aka Treat Me Like a Fool). This version is from 11/8/98 at the horseshoe shaped UIC Pavilion in Chicago. Mike "Cactus" Gordon takes the vocal lead for this Elvis cover. They've got some pretty decent background harmonies going on too. Lots of good closeups for all you Gordo fanatics out there.

Glad to be Gliding on Gliders 7/21/93

This Glide video is from 7/21/93 at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Middletown, NY. The show was part of the H.O.R.D.E. (Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere) Festival. Other bands that played that day were Allgood, Aquarium Rescue Unit, Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Blues Traveler, The Samples, and Widespread Panic. While Phish played many shows on the 1992 HORDE Tour, this was their only appearance at the festival in 1993. What's interesting about 1993 Glides is that Phish used these exercise glider things during the song. Supposedly (per the Phish Companion) they ordered them from a TV infomercial while at a motel on tour. The gliders were not seen after 1993.

Scent of a Mule>Blister in the Sun>Scent

Here's a hot one for ya... it's from 7-9-98 in Barcelona. Looks like a pretty steady cam shot from balcony or bar or something over on Page side. It's just kind of weird how they randomly go into Blister in the Sun (Violent Femmes). I was at the Austin show the year before when Phish played it and that was clearly precipitated by the obnoxiously hot weather. They were even driving around the parking lot in a golf carts handing out free water to keep the crowd hydrated in the Texas sun. I wasn't on the Europe tour in '98 so I wonder if this show was just as hot or if Phish just decided to play it for fun. Blister seems like the song that EVERYBODY plays when they start to learn guitar. And is it just me or did Scent seem to disappear post-hiatus? Enjoy:

Suzie Reprise with The Dude of Life

Here's an interesting one for ya... It's from 11-24-98 at the New Haven Coliseum. The venue was very strange, it's shaped like a giant plus instead of an oval- there are huge empty voids in the 4 corners and the 4 "lines" of the plus go up VERY high. This was the last Phish show ever at the NHC. Guaranteed. Reunion or not (and the rumors are flying these days). Guaranteed because in 2007 they imploded the place. Sort of an ok show, some good jams- DWD, Tweezer-but nothing spectacular. The first set was sort of blah.

The encore however was great! First off, you really can't go wrong with a Suzie Greenberg, Tweezer Reprise encore. Love the Reprise in the encore slot- might as well end the show dancing as hard as humanly possible (see Antelope too). This Suzie features the one and only Dude of Life, who wrote the song, singing it. The Dude, in typical DOL style, adds his own little flourishes to it. His lyrics are slightly different than what Trey typically sings and he ADDS A WHOLE NEW 2ND VERSE to it. And to top it off, he's adding in some lyrics to the opening of Tweprise. And he's dancing around, wearing stupid glasses atop his head, and having just a grand ol' time up there with Phish. So all in all, a solid and very fun encore. If anyone out there can understand anything he's actually singing in the 2nd verse or Reprise, maybe you could transcribe it in the comments section?! Thanks- Enjoy:

Feeling Good about this Classic '91 Hood

Here's a classic Harry Hood from 11/30/91 at the Capitol Theater in Portchester, NY. Lots of classic Phish closeup action here including some sweet head rolling, bobbing and note mouthing action from the classic muscle shirted short haired Mr. Anastasio. 1991 is not really known for it's Hood's but this one seems pretty good (and classic). The very beginning is cut off (starts at the "where do you goooooo") but the video takes you all the through to the classic "I feel good" ending. Why did they drop that part? Arrgh.

ASIHTOS Coney Island

This right here is the reason Phish needs to get back together. To leave a song with such huge potential to be a monster jam vehicle having only been played three times is a crime against music. Or maybe music is actually the victim here and Phish is the criminal. Am I the victim or the crime? A Song I Heard the Ocean sing is probably Phish's last great song; great lyrics, harmonies, and a nice jam with potential for growth. Think Free or Down with Disease- both started off small but could easily become a monster in the hands of Vermont's Phinest. They premiered this in Coney Island, right on the ocean, in the great borough of Brooklyn, home to the world's best pizza, opening the show with it on 6/17/04. Here it is, the case for the Phish reunion in full pro-shot glory:

Mmmbop: Like an 11 Year Old Sex Machine

Phish.com calls this the rare example (maybe the ONLY example?) of a Phish soundcheck that is better known than the actual show. This soundcheck was open to the public and is some of the loosest most carefree fun Phish you will hear (click for pics of the limbo karaoke contest!). Check out the setlist for the soundcheck courtesy of Phish.net:

07-06-97 Spiaggia di Rivoltella, Desenzano (Brescia), Italy

Soundcheck: Jam, Oblivious Fool, Beauty of My Dreams, Hell's Bells (attempt)*, You Shook Me All Night Long#, MMMBop^, Another One Bites the Dust (Queen)$&, And It Stoned Me (Van Morrison)$, Only Shallow (My Bloody Valentine)$, Day-O

*As the show is outside (on a beach), bells ringing at a nearby church prompt this attempt at this AC/DC tune. #Sung by Fish after Trey can't remember the words. Trey makes a comment afterwords about writing just one song like this one. ^Hanson cover, sung by Fish as James Brown ("Like an 11-year-old sex machine"). $The Soundcheck Limbo Karaoke Contest (sung by audience members). &Sung as "Another one rides the bus".

Today we've got a video of the MMMBop, which is just hysterical. Trey (in his oft-worn eyeball top hat shirt) looks like he's having blast. Fishman, unfortunately blocked by fans' heads here, is doing his typical crown prince/court jester. Page looks mildly amused. Mike- are you there? So here ya go-Phish doing James Brown's version of Hanson's Mmmbop. Take it to the bridge.. 23 times...hit me....116 times:

Sleep & Albuquerque 12/28/98 MSG ministage setup

Might as well keep the MSG theme going while the going's good. Here's a pair of quickies from 12/28/98. What's interesting about these is that Phish adopted a mini-stage setup to do a few acoustic songs. A really small stage was rolled out off to the right side of the main stage for a 3 song interlude. It reminded me of the acoustic sections they did during the summer of 1996. I'm pretty sure this is the only show of 1998 that the mini stage was used. Note Jon "Bob Weaver" Fishman in his Viking horns playing drums with brushes and Mike "Cactus" Gordon on acoustic guitar instead of his normal bass:

Here's Albuquerque, which is a Neil Young cover and extremely difficult to spell without using spellcheck... they followed this up with Driver (no video unfortunately):

First Wilson Chant 12/30/94

Since it looks like my last few posts have all been from Madison Square Garden, I might as well continue the trend. Here's Wilson from 12/30/94, which is the version included on "A Live One". This was Phish's first appearance at MSG and from the looks of it, both the band and the crowd were pumped up. The Wilson chant had appeared weakly throughout 1994 but it was at this show, with Trey egging on the crowd, that it really took off into it's own. And with it, was the demise of Jon Fishman's little woodblock solo thing. But I think we're all better off with 20,000 fans chanting the name of the evil ruler of Gamehenge. A Live One came out before the next tour began, and sealed the Wilson chant as a permanent fixture in Phishtory.

Vicious Mike's Song into Digital Delay Loop Jam 12/31/95

Oh yeah! The culmination of possibly Phish's best year ever, 1995 was the big show at Madison Square Garden on 12/31/95. New Years Eve had the band in fine form. The 2nd set ended with a HUGE Mike's Song. Just monstrous. Best ever? Maybe. Not really evil Phish but just intense and focused, moving smoothly from one theme to the next as if it were a pre-composed song. That little thing starting around 7:45 into the first video is just the absolute shit. Damn.
The jam went into a smooth mellow loop jam with Trey "we work in the Gamehenge Time Factory" Anastasio creating digital delay effect loops using his foot pedals to end the set in a chill psychedelic mood. Gotta love how he says "don't go away" as if someone was going to leave before the midnight set.

12/29/98 Divided Sky Encore

At the time the Divided Sky encore just seemed like a great encore and nothing more. But when the stathounds got their hands on the setlist, it was revealed that this was the first Divided Sky encore since 1990 which just made it all the more special in retrospect. This was the 2nd show of Phish's 4 day run at Madison Square Garden. The playing is just spot on and very enthused and intense. The build towards the end makes it the perfect encore. Here ya go- a 2 part video today: