It Was 20 Years Ago Today: Phish, Live at the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, PA Oct 18th, 1996

    Back again with another quick one. I can't explain my memory, how some shows I have near total recall and others, well, let's say I have definitely skipped some blog posts of shows because I really don't remember anything. But I always remember Phish!

It Was 20 Years Ago Today: Phish, Live at the Civic Center, Pittsburgh, PA. Oct. 18^th, 1996.

Soundcheck: My Mind's Got a Mind of It's Own, Billy Breathes

Set 1 : Runaway Jim, Guelah Papyrus, The Old Home Place, Cars Trucks, and Buses, Stash, Strange Design, Divided Sky, Billy Breathes, Taste, Sample in a Jar

Set 2: Suzy Greenburg>Maze, You Enjoy Myself, Waste, Harry Hood

Encore: Julius

YEM included teases of Peter Frampton's Do You Feel Like We Do.

You can stream it here

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1996-10-18

   Standard fare for the era. Again, no real flow. But it was only the third show of a long tour, so it is somewhat to be expected. Highlight of the ENTIRE show was the Maze. You really need to listen to it. It gets its own write up on Phish.net. Around the 10 minute mark, right as Trey is building up the “tension/release” peak of the song, some guy ran onto the stage. He avoided security and lept off of the stage into the front rows. That's why the crowd is flipping out well before the apex of the song. 

Check it out here

Audio only, but its a soundboard.

     And there you have it. I only say 2 shows on Fall Tour '96, but I made up for it with 2 shows on the NYE run. Rock and Roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dave Kemp

BA American Studies

PhD Rock and Roll

It Was 20 Years Ago Today: Phish, Live at the Bryce Jordan Center, University Park, PA Oct. 17th, 1996

     Hello people. I have a couple quick shows to go over from the Fall Tour of 1996. No, I wasn't smart enough to get myself down to Atlanta for Halloween. Just a few shows that were close to the home base. Here is the first one

It Was 20 Years Ago Today: Phish, Live at Bryce Jordan Center, University Park , PA Oct. 17^th, 1996.

     It felt good to be back at Penn State to see Phish again. My old roommate had moved to a new apartment and that is where we stayed. I definitely remember making tea and drinking it as we made our way across campus. My seats were right down front in the 6^th row. Some clown next to me pulled out a syringe before the lights went down. He talked to the security guards and was then led away.

SET 1: Also Sprach Zarathustra > Funky Bitch, Sparkle > Tweezer > Theme From the Bottom, Talk, Punch You In the Eye,Character Zero, A Day in the Life, Tweezer Reprise

SET 2: Ya Mar, Chalk Dust Torture, Bathtub Gin, Scent of a Mule, Free, The Lizards, The Star Spangled Banner[1], David Bowie

ENCORE: Golgi Apparatus

[1] Phish debut.

The Star Spangled Banner made its Phish debut at this show.

You can stream it here

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1996-10-17

     This one was a weird show. The first set was more like a second set. There wasn't a ton of jamming anywhere. The Tweezer went out there but again, nothing too memorable. And very little flow as well. But nothing more to say. I wasn't kidding when I said it was quick.

Dave Kemp

BA American Studies

PhD Rock and Roll

Phish, Live in Nashville, TN, Oct 18th and 19th, 2016

     Hello everyone. I hope you survived the mini heat wave that we just experienced. I was at an even hotter location down South in Nashville Tennessee. And what was I doing there? I was on my honeymoon which of course we timed with Phish's Fall Tour. So if no one objects, here is my recap of Phish, live in Nashville, TN, on Oct. 18^th and 19^th, 2016.

     First, yes I am married. Neither myself or my beautiful bride Casey wanted a big fancy ceremony.  But Pennsylvania came through for us with something called a Self Uniting Marriage License. A couple signs it, and three days later we are married. No judge, no vows, just our undying love for each other. I love it!

     When we were planning this out and Phish announced their Fall Tour, Casey suggested we go to Nashville to see and hang with her musician cousin. The day after I put in our ticket request, her cousin told us she joined a band in NYC and was moving there by the end of September. But of course we were still going. I did check out to see if anyone cool was playing at the historic Ryman Auditorium. I saw Bob Weir was playing but it was the second night of Phish's run. Oh well, guess I won't be able to see Bobby. LMAO.

     We went down 2 days early to camp out and see a few of the sites. While I love rock and roll, the only country music I like is old school stuff, outlaw country. You know, like this guy.

Oct. 18^th, 2016

Soundcheck: Jam, Blues Jam, Tide Turns, Petrichor, Walking Blues

SET 1: Chalk Dust Torture, Blaze On, Ghost, Lawn Boy, Halley's Comet > Sand, Tide Turns, 46 Days > Breath and Burning, Limb By Limb > Cavern > Also Sprach Zarathustra

SET 2: Julius > Fuego > My Friend, My Friend, Samson and Delilah[1], Twist[2] > Miss You[3], West L.A. Fadeaway[3] > Playing in the Band[4]

ENCORE: Quinn the Eskimo[2]

[1] Phish debut; Bob Weir on guitar and vocals.
[2] Bob Weir on guitar.
[3] Bob Weir on guitar and vocals.
[4] Phish debut; Bob Weir on guitar.

    

You can stream it here

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/2016-10-18

      We were eating a light meal when we saw on FB that Bobby was soundchecking Walkin' Blues with Phish. My immediate thoughts were 1) Wow, Bobby's gonna play with Phish and 2) they're gonna play Walkin' Blues?!?!?!?!? An OK blues number that really wasn't all that when I saw the Dead do it. But who am I to complain?

     First set was solid, with a few second set heavy weights making an appearance. Both Ghost and Sand had some nice bits of improv. Everyone expected Cavern to be the end but they squeezed one more tune in and the 2001 definitely had a little extra something something in it.

     The second set started of decent enough. None of the first three songs really stretched out but I was still happy. Then without a word, Bobby came out and the place erupted. We knew he was gonna show up at some point but we thought, maybe the encore, maybe towards the end? But this was rather early. As my friend Jay DeWald, formerly of the Jay DeWald Experience said ”What if the rest of the set turns into Grateful Dead music?” The Samson is outstanding. Hearing Trey rip the hell out of the solo with Bobby playing slide, wow, just like out of the Dead's 70's era. Then a Phish song. Ok, this is gonna get real good. I joked Bobby could definitely do the Woo's in Twist. And the jam was sick!!! It was like a double helix of interweaving guitars. They very quickly got into some really deep psychedelia. I kept picturing Trey's leads poking a barrier between this world and a world where one had to beware what was around. Kind of like the alternate world when the Gorgon lives in Strangeful Things. I told you it was some deep space!

     Then Bobby sang a Phish tune. Did not see that coming. And he owned it. Whether it's about Trey's sister, Jerry G, or one of your own loved ones, this might be the definitive version. Then West LA Fadeaway, which they performed with Bobby the last time he sat in back in 2000. I told Jay I hope they finish with I Know You Rider but Playin' is quite alright as well. And Trey sang. Trey sang Playin' with Bobby on stage. Wow, just wow. And this version really reminded me of the late '72/early '73 versions, where it was trippy but not super long, 20 minutes +.

     And one of the few songs both bands played for the encore, Quinn the Eskimo. Hell yes! Trey never introduced or thanked Bobby for coming out. Almost like they just assumed everybody got it. Yes, we did.

     Somehow, I recovered from that and got a good nights sleep. On to day 2!

October 19^th, 2016.

Soundcheck: Home, Let's Go. I Always Wanted It This Way, Plasma

SET 1: Theme From the Bottom, Camel Walk, My Soul, Petrichor, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan > My Sweet One, Waking Up Dead, Halfway to the Moon, Running Out of Time[1], Tube > Shine a Light

SET 2: Golden Age > Tweezer > No Men In No Man's Land > Plasma > Harry Hood > Suzy Greenberg

ENCORE: Walls of the Cave > Tweezer Reprise

[1] Debut

You can stream it here

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/2016-10-19

     Overall, I thought night 2 was better musically than night 1. Yes, Bobby joining them was a top 3 all time moment in Phish history, but they really took it up a notch in this show. First set was good. Petrichor is like 4 songs linked together. 2 of them I like, 2 I'm meh about. The Tube has a nice extended jam and I love anything off of Exile on Main Street.

     I haven't seen Golden Age in over 2 years so that was fantastic. Trey almost ripcords it to go into Tweezer and what a monster it was. The other highlight of the second set was Hood. All sorts of magic happening there. I really like how they are doing different kinds of things in Hood now. 3.0 Hoods are a unique beast. I had to get the crowd Wooing when it was obvious the band was pausing for the Wooo's. I'm not against all Woo's, just not during the quiet parts of Reba.

     Our Urbr ride home ended up being a chick who wanted to know about veganism and of course my wife is a vegan. Rather cool little twist of the universe. And there it is. I might not see Phish live for a little bit as I am moving out to Oregon next spring/summer, so I really hoped this would be memorable. Oh, yes.

Dave Kemp

BA American Studies

PhD Rock and Roll