Subject: Phish Classics: Spartanburg 10/29/94! Organization: University of California, Berkeley Message-ID: <4al4gr$8o3@agate.berkeley.edu> The first in a sequence of three consecutive remarkable Phish shows. The show that followed this one, of course, was Halloween, and the show that followed *that* was Bangor, which featured the first experimental Tweezer on record. Spartanburg may be, excluding Halloween, my vote for the best show of 94, simply because the whole show is so consistently good. Every song is tight, every song is energetic, and the setlist is aboslutely fantastic. See for yourself: FIRST SET My Friend My Friend This song never really moves me, but this is a tight, well-paced, well- played version. You can see why the band likes this as an opener; it allows them to work on their dynamics from the opening bell, coasting through the slower part at the beginning before launching into the louder, crunchier lyrics segment. Trey is a little more active than usual during the vocal outro. Sparkle -> Was this a blatant rehearsal for Halloween? Sparkle is standard, not quite as fast as the Halloween version, ending and blending into: Simple -> This, for me, is the prototype of an average kickass Simple. By "average" I don't mean to disparage it; it rocks. Mightily. The band is tight, the harmonies (at least in the early verses) are precise. I really enjoy Fall 94's Simples precisely because they rock so hard. Phish is a very dynamic-oriented band, and they're able to employ a lot of instrumental subtlety. This is wonderful, of course, but I enjoy a good old-fashioned foot-stomping rock and roll song every once in a while. Trey begins to wind this down in the manner of Halloween, almost as if he was seeing whether or not it could be done. (Was he testing the viability of Halloween's "planned" Simple -> Divided "segue"?) Halfway down, he seems to convince himself, and drops out, leaving Page and Fish to continue, until Trey starts in with: Runaway Jim I don't really ever get tired of Jim, even though most Jims are fairly uninnovative. (It'd be nice to get another experimental Jim one of these days.) This version is a little longer than most; the middle section is particularly spacy, with Trey and Mike noodling around on the bass line for a minute or so until Trey kicks in the normal guitar melody. The end jam stretches it out a little bit as well, mostly Trey, mostly loud, mostly excellent. Foam Does anyone know if they've ever followed Runaway Jim with Foam, before or since? It's such an *excellent* combination! (Joke.) In truth, you'll never catch me saying anything bad about Foam. I *love* Foam. I always have. I don't know why; I just have a visceral reaction to that beautiful tinking piano, to the guitar harmonies, to the shuffling rhythm. I do wish they'd drop a jam in there, a la what they're doing recently with Ice, but a Foam will always make me feel good, just like the piano solo toward the beginning of YEM will always make me feel good: pastoral and peaceful and expecting good things. Lawn Boy Page introduces, "Mr. Michael Gordon," and Mike lets loose with a somewhat eeeuuuuuh bass solo, mainly sticking to the melody, not entirely comfortable. Lawn Boy is amusing as usual. Split Open and Melt -> This is where the show really gets going, with a zany Split. Small error: Trey comes in too soon on the "We breeeeeath deeeeep..." vocal segment. The jam is pretty standard in the chaotic and modal Split stylee until the 8-minute mark or so, when Trey begins to let loose with a bizarre buzzsaw guitar lick, that absolutely slices through everything else being played. Page, inspired, begins laying down some off-kilter jazz chords, and Fish gradually begins to pick up the beats- per-minute. By ten minutes, we've got a very Coltranesque jazz groove, Fish absolutely slapping the ride cymbal, accenting off-beats, and Trey tossing around feedback qua feedback in the Bob Mould manner. Mike is playing a loopy descending ostinato over and over again, and the whole thing, like the best Split jams, seems about an inch from going completely over the edge into an abyss. Around 11:30, the jam breaks down a little bit. Page sags off the tempo, plunking down notes here and there. Fishman thumps along on the ride and then switches to the snare, metronomically. For a second, it sounds like a transition into BBFCFM, but it fades away. Instead, at 12:15 or so, Page and Trey work the jam into: Buffalo Bill -> One of two Bills in 94, I believe (the other being the New Year's Eve Mike's -> Bill -> Mike's). This is a goofy little song, isn't it? The lyrics segment comes and goes, and is pretty normal, but the jam afterward is subtle and interesting. At around 2:30, Page begins to play some NICU-like chords, but no one joins him. Fish immediately suggests a Split-like beat, but Trey doesn't respond to that, either, mainly laying a spooky texture over the whole show. Page keys into what Trey's doing by starting a textural organ fill himself, which eventually becomes more prominent, finally turning into the Makisupa countermelody. At about 4:15 of Buffalo Bill, Mike hits the bassline to: Makisupa Policeman -> "Woke up in the morning. Smoke a little herb. (Crowd goes apeshit.) Woke up in the afternoon." Amusing. (Not as amusing, mind you, as 10/22/95's laid-back-to-the-point-of-torpor Makisupa, featuring immortal lines like "Qaddafi in my bed. Paluska in my head. Goldstein in my bed. Let's hear one...for *Fred*," which of course segues out of an infinitely more immortal Tweezer; see generally Dirksen, Tweezer Files Pt. 28 at 3; but see contra. Dirksen, Tweezer Files Pt. 28 *ERROR* at 1 (explaining the author's previous inability to distinguish a Montana-ESQUE jam from Montana itself).) Anyway, to the meat of the issue: the harmonies are very prominent here. The singing is generally very good at this show. Trey teases a piercing tone, but moves back to triplet fills, and the end vocals come in very early, at about 1:50. Following the vocals, Trey moves back to texture, but Page takes a subtle solo. It seems like Trey may want to end the jam, but Page doesn't want to let go, and Trey doesn't force the issue. Page brings Mike back in, and surrenders prominence to Mike, who begins to thump along forcefully. Trey's texture is very pretty. At about 4 minutes *Fish* teases the NICU beat, but again no one follows. Soon after, Trey takes off with some choppy, staccato guitar, and Fish, then Page follow him, and the tempo explodes. (This sort of sounds like the show-opening Makisupa -> Llama transition from 6/10/95.) By the 5:30 mark, we're in an up-tempo Antelopian jam. Page is playing some potent bluesy chords. At 6:20 Trey hints at BBFCFM again, and Fish picks up the tempo even more. Finally, Fish drops out, causing a mometary void, which Trey fills with: Rift I'm not about to say *anything* negative here. It was, after all, my casual dismissal of Rift in my last Phish Classics post (saying something pathetically wiseass like, "Shoot me now," if memory serves) that helped to touch off the debate re the validity of "Songs That Charlie Hates." So I won't go there again. Suffice to say that this is a very well-played (flawless, even) Rift, and coming at the end of the 23-minute journey that was the previous jam sequence, I couldn't care less. SECOND SET Down with Disease -> Begins, as always, with that loopy digital delay. Trey noodles a little bit. Fish screams something that I can't quite make out: "When in doubt," maybe? Some atonal crashing sounds bring on the intro. This DwD is very tight, tighter than the infrequent 95 DwDs. Fish, especially, is drumming like a man possessed. Page is very prominent in the jam; it sounds like a Free jam, actually, with Trey taking a reserved role, mainly working with feedback on one chord, while Page takes the lead. Trey dissolves finally into choppy scale-type licks around 6:30, but is still mainly in the background. The typical DwD jam-theme comes back in on a dime at 7:10, and builds very nicely. The end vocals appear at 8:30, and the song proper ends shortly thereafter. Out of the ending chord, though, comes a short but sweet space segment; Trey sustains with the delay pedal, and plays a very pretty melody in front of it, sounding a little like Elvis Costello's "Broken." Mike burbles a little, Page accents. Eventually Trey starts rising up the scale, and Fish crashes in with some Keith Moonish fills, leading into: The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday -> Or "I'm Going to Have My Head Sharpened." The beginning is held up for a minute or so as Trey plays with an odd combination of dissonant notes, savoring a slightly awkward-sounding combination between himself and Page. Mike plays his usual gorgeous, low-register notes. A long pause, then back into the TMWSIY theme. Finally: Avenu Malkenu -> Again, a lot of energy. Mike's solo is more adventurous and spirited than usual. Back into: The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday -> Fades into a gorgeous, quiet space jam, out of which (after plenty of coaxing) finally erupts: Sparks A normal Sparks, but how often does Sparks get played? Finally ends in a cloud of hum and buzz. Uncle Pen My tape case says it segues out of Sparks, but it really doesn't. Basically, as feedback from Sparks ends, Trey counts it down, and off they go. Nominally my favorite bluegrass song. You Enjoy Myself CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS SETLIST? (And, trust me, it's not over yet.) As I've noted before, the lovely piano solo early on in YEM is my favorite standard Phish moment. This is a tight and powerful YEM by any standard; it's just not very long. (Parenthetically, how many out there think that Fall 95 has been to YEM what Summer 95 was to Tweezer? That is to say, a tour where that particular song took off in previously unrealized and undreamt-of directions? Think about it: the spooky and marvelous Halloween YEM, the YEM -> Crossroads -> YEM from the first half of the tour, the YEM with the Brickhouse jam, the recent Silent Jam YEM from Albany, the MMW YEM from Austin...the list goes on and on.) Anyway, this version is nice. The fill between choruses is very upbeat, forceful, with a disco-feel. After the second chorus they drop off a little, but build quickly to a jam, with Trey and Mike working in unison. Page eventually takes over with some interesting and funky work on the electric piano; Trey finally fades out completely, letting Page solo. Finally, Page moves to the organ, and Trey comes back in with more texture, using the digital delay and noodling over the feedback. When Trey comes in with his solo, it's soaring, but it's SHORT. Mike's solo at the end is cool as well, but short, too, though Mike and Fish contribute fills during the final chorus, which is unusual. Probably a 15-minute version at the most. The vocal jam is only about four minutes long at most as well, and is a little muddled until about 2:45, when the boys lock into a very nice rhythmic groove. They play around for awhile, and end it. Bike Jon Fishman is a comic genius. During the "I've got a cloak" verse he comments on the jacket he just bought, which has "a banana on the front, it's blue and white, I've had it, I just bought it today!" The vacuum solo is very loopy, soaring to hilarious peaks, making me wonder how Fishman can expend that kind of air and stay conscious. Run Like an Antelope -> Have I mentioned this setlist? More chordal action than noodling in the pre-takeoff segment from Trey, but nothing especially captivating. When the jam does get going, it reaches some nice heights, but nothing unusual for an Antelope, which is normally no worse than "excellent." Finally, in a move that works so smoothly it may well have been planned beforehand, Trey and Page switch out of soaring-Antelope mode into a little bass riff, and the beat instantly drops into a straight 4/4. Page dabbles a little, and then Trey comes in with the guitar chords to: Sleeping Monkey -> This song is so effective, I think, because it's a very pretty melody attached to some, uh, cruder sentiments. (Just what do you think the "sleeping monkey" Fishman's so concerned about *is*, anyhow?) It's fine, and the minute it ends Fishman kicks in the Antelope beat again. Run Like an Antelope They pick up astonishingly quickly, but they've done Antelope so many times I'd guess they could do it while asleep. The remainder is an average kickass Antelope. ENCORE Harry Hood Setlist, anybody? This is a solid, Trey-centric Hood. The rest of the band seems content to let Trey carry the ball, which he does. The beginning is a little quieter than normal, the processional (after the intro "Harry" vocals) is nice and crunchy, the Mr. Minor vocals are oddly subdued, and the jam quickly becomes slightly spacy. Mike, normally concerned with staying close to the I-V-IV progression of the jam, strays. Trey eventually picks it up, but it stays fairly quiet as he spews out lick after pretty, pastoral lick. When it does get loud, it does so quickly, and this is where Trey really begins to go nuts. Unfortunately, the jam's not really allowed to reach its full potential; Trey calls for the ending pretty quickly. A good, but not a great Hood, but a great ending to a great show. While I'm at it (and a dubious "present" indeed for anyone who's read this far), I'd love to get my hands on a copy of the recent Hershey or Portland shows. I realize that Portland was just last night, of course. Anyhow, I'd love to trade for either of the above. Thanks for reading, Dan...