Of the four shows I saw on the '95 Fall Tour, 12/01/95 Hershey is my favorite. And it just so happens I got off work early today, on the 20th anniversary of said show. So look out, straight from my brain to the page It Was 20 Years Ago Today, Phish Live at Hershey Arena, Hershey, PA December 1st, 1995.
This was one of the shows that jumped out at me when Phish announced their Fall Tour. I had lots of friends come down State College. I had just moved back to Hanover from Penn State in May so I was still in touch with my crew. Plus, practically everyone I knew and was about to meet was there from York Adams counties. Many of the Hanover High people I know now I met at that show.
I rode up to the show in someone's Volkswagen bus. It wasn't a classic looking van but it got me there. Got inside and low and behold my seat was dead center, almost directly in front of Trey, 5 rows back. Up until then, it was far and away the best seat I ever had for a show.
Friday,
12/01/1995
Hersheypark
Arena, Hershey, PA
Soundcheck: Buried Alive > Down with Disease, Dog Log,
Funky Bitch (half-speed)Set 1: Buried Alive > Down with Disease > Theme From the Bottom, Poor Heart, Wolfman's Brother[1] > Chalk Dust Torture, Colonel Forbin's Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird[2], Stash, Cavern
Set 2: Halley's Comet > Mike's Song -> Weekapaug Groove, The Mango Song > Wilson > Suspicious Minds > Hold Your Head Up, David Bowie -> Catapult[3] -> David Bowie[4]
Encore: Suzy Greenberg
[1] Trey flubbed lyrics and remarked that, since he likes them so much, he would sing them again.
[2] Narration referenced chocolate and the rhombus.
[3] Started over David Bowie hi-hat intro.
[4] Homer Simpson quotes ("mmmm... chocolate") and Simpsons signal.
Notes: Trey flubbed the lyrics to Wolfman’s Brother and remarked that, since he likes them so much, he would sing them again. The narration during Mockingbird referenced chocolate and the rhombus. Weekapaug was played in a different key. Catapult started over the Bowie hi-hat intro, which also featured quotes of Homer Simpson (“mmmm... chocolate”) and a Simpsons signal. This was the first time ever that Mike’s and Weekapaug were played without anything in between them. This show is available as an archival release on LivePhish.com.
You can stream it here
Buried Alive opener gets things flying. All high energy rockers. Trey does a narration that is so long and so detailed. He talked about giving us a big hint, the biggest clue we would ever get... CLUE TO WHAT???? It's on the recording, clear as a bell. Still don't have any idea what he is talking about.
On Feb 10th, we were going to see the David Grisham Quintet in Miller Chapel at Lebanon Valley College. Nad and myself went to King of Prussia and found a Wilson road. But who knows if it was the right one. Looked around but found nothing but open fields and it was really cold that day.
As they came out for the second set, someone told me they saw Mike give someone in the audience one of those giant chocolate chip cookies they used to sell. They were instant diabetes size.
Halley's>Mike's> Weekapaugh. Are you fucking kidding me? There is so much energy in the jams that there isn't room for ANYTHING between Mike's and Weekapaugh. This is burned in my head, up there with the Hood from 11/22/97 and Split and the Mike's from Clifford Ball. This Mike's is criminally overshadowed by the Niagara Falls and NYE MSG versions but it is the third longest of all time.
Mango and Wilson allow us to catch our breath before the spectacularly caped John Fishman singing Elvis's Suspicious Minds. He did the karate moves and everything. The cape lit up, it was truly amazing.
Best photo I could find.
Video
Bowie sandwich with a Catapult protein? Hell yes. And then during Suzy rave up to end the song, Trey points his guitar at someone diagonally from me, in the row in front of me and yells “You!” It definitely was NOT at myself.
And then it was over. Three shows down with one to go. In Philly. At the Spectrum. Where I saw the Grateful Dead and Trey saw Jethro Tull. He was playing in one of the most famous arenas (music wise) in the world. It was were I saw some incredible dead shows and historic Dead Lots. Look the fuck out!
Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
PhD Rock and Roll
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