It Was 20 Years Ago Today: Phish, Live at the Clifford Ball, Plattsburgh, NY Aug 16th and 17th, 1996

    As I sit here and try to survive the Humidity Hindenburg that is parked over America, I am amazed how time flies, especially as we get older. So let's go way back 20 years to the magnificent, historic life changing event that is the Clifford Ball.

It was 20 Years Ago Today: The Clifford Ball, Aug 16^th and 17^th, 1996

I'm not gonna try to describe the history of it because phish.net has that covered in spades.

http://phish.net/faq/what-was-the-clifford-ball

     So I attended the Hershey show on the 14^th and then on the 15^th myself and Nad (fellow traveler whose identity is kept secret) headed out. I had planned on stopping at a campground and driving in on the 16^th but we made great time and continued on until we hit the venue.

     There was a few hour wait, but no more than a couple hours at most. We parked on the runway of the old Air Force base and camped on the grass. I remember being stunned when I got up in the morning and saw just how big the camping was. All this for Phish, wow.

Thursday, 08/15/1996
Plattsburgh Air Force Base, Plattsburgh, NY

Set 1: Jam, Hold Your Head Up Jam, Jam, Jam

Notes: This was the sound check for The Clifford Ball. The final jam segment included the first annual sound check tribute to "Mr. Sausage," multiple shout-outs to festival staff, and Trey on his mini-drum kit. 50+ minutes of this check were included on the Clifford Ball DVD bonus disc.

NOTE: This Phish performance does not count for stats purposes.

Stream it here

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1996-08-15

     I spent years looking for this sound check on people's list only to come up empty. It was finally released on the box set but it is everywhere now.

Friday, 08/16/1996
Plattsburgh Air Force Base, Plattsburgh, NY

Set 1: Chalk Dust Torture, Bathtub Gin, Ya Mar, AC/DC Bag > Esther > Divided Sky, Halley's Comet > David Bowie

Set 2: Split Open and Melt, Sparkle > Free, The Squirming Coil, Waste[1], Talk[1],Train Song[1], Strange Design[1], Hello My Baby, Mike's Song → Simple → Contact> Weekapaug Groove

Set 3: Makisupa Policeman > Also Sprach Zarathustra > Down with Disease[2] ->NICU, Life on Mars? > Harry Hood → Jam

Encore: Amazing Grace

Set 4:Flatbed Truck Jam

[1] Acoustic mini-stage.
[2] Unfinished.

Teases:
·Dave's Energy Guide tease in Bathtub Gin
·Mary Had a Little Lamb tease

Notes:This was the first show of The Clifford Ball festival. Bathtub Gin contained a brief DEG tease from Trey. Waste through Strange Design were performed on the acoustic mini-stage. Disease was unfinished. The second set was preceded by a Mary Had a Little Lamb tease. The jam at the end of Harry Hood accompanied a fireworks display. The band took to the back of a flatbed truck at around 3:30 in the morning and drove through the crowd. The performance was one long open-ended jam.

You can stream it here

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1996-08-17

     My main memory of the first set is that there was a long, purplish cloud over the stage, off in the distance. During Divided Sky, it actually was split in 2. Tom Reese also saw it so there is no way I hallucinated it. The second set was the MONSTER of the weekend. First, an amazing SOAM. I was walking across one of the runways to use the bathroom. From were I was, it looked like a giant UFO was descending from the heavens. The light show was almost too much. The acoustic set was a nice place to take a breath because Phish was about to crush our skulls and snort them up. The Mike's has a great second jam. It's so intense that when Trey tries to start Simple, Page is having none of it. He begins to jam out the rift for a few minutes. Then they start doing these spontaneous “ooo”'s that fit in perfectly. It's burned in my brain, like the 11/22/97 Hood. Contact is just a chance to get our bearings as Groove pummels us again.

     The Disease is SICK. The Hood is also worth a listen, You know what? All of it is worth listening too. And no, totally missed the Flatbed Truck Jam but it looks tough to dance to when you have to run besides something.

     I remember a brief shower the second day and so many crickets/locusts were jumping between the tent and the rain flap. But on to the show.......  

Saturday, 08/17/1996 Plattsburgh Air Force Base, Plattsburgh, NY

Set 1: The Old Home Place, Punch You In the Eye, Reba[1] > Cars Trucks Buses, The Lizards, Sample in a Jar, Taste, Fee[2] → Maze, Suzy Greenberg

Set 2: The Curtain > Runaway Jim, It's Ice > Brother[3], Fluffhead, Run Like an Antelope > Golgi Apparatus > Slave to the Traffic Light

Set 3: Wilson > Frankenstein, Scent of a Mule[4], Tweezer, A Day in the Life,Possum > Tweezer Reprise

Encore: Harpua[5]

[1] No whistling.
[2] Trey sang verses through megaphone.
[3] Ben and Jerry on vocals.
[4] Page/Fish Mule Duel.
[5] Unfinished.

Teases:
· Heartbreaker tease in Wilson

Notes: This was the second show of The Clifford Ball festival. Reba did not have the whistling ending. Trey sang the verses of Fee through a megaphone. Before the second set, Trey paid tribute to Aaron Stein of Syracuse, who was front row center for every show of the tour. The first Brother since August 2, 1993 (258 shows) featured Ben and Jerry on guest vocals. Wilson included a Heartbreaker tease. Antelope featured a female acrobat twirling in the rigging, suspended above the stage in a circus-like fashion. Scent of a Mule featured a Page/Fish duel instead of the typical Page/Trey duel. Tweezer had big trampolines on each side of the stage and more circus shenanigans. A stunt plane circled overhead during Tweezer Reprise and Harpua. Harpua was unfinished; it was completed on August 16, 1997 at The Great Went.

You can stream it here

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1996-08-17

First set was good. But the real madness started once it got dark. During a few songs but definitely Antelope, they had people on skis jumping up and down on trampolines. They also had a chick on a ribbon doing all sorts of gymnastics. I only listened to show instead of watching DVD to refresh my memory, so can't be sure which songs had it.

The prank of the plane being Jimmy and flying over the stage during Harpua was epicly ruined by a guy jumping on stage. But it still counts as one which brings my total to 4 Harpuas.

When we got back to civilization, I tried to explain the experience to a few of my non Phishhead but Deadhead friends. I really couldn't get across the feeling of such a wonderful experience with such a wonderful community. Thank Bhudda they are still kicking it 20 years later. Can't wait for Festival 11, This festival goes to 11!!

Dave Kemp

BA American Studies

PhD Rock and Roll