R1/W07: 08-16-1996 Plattsburgh Air Force Base, Plattsburgh, NY

[sls.stormyrider]

I don't remember what I was doing 8/96 but I wish I was at this one. Great show! Great sound!
Set 1
Strong set top to bottom. High energy, well played - no top 10 versions but great stuff all around. Highlight, if I had to pick one, would be bowie
Set 2
Split - starts off where set 1 left off. Sick. Morrocon sounding theme toward the end of the jam, melodically similar feel to Stash
Free - short jam compared to later versions, but still hot
Acoustic set - very nice
Mikes - this rages. top version of this one. nice transisition to a high energy simple. One of the better ones I've heard, maybe 2nd to 12/6/96
Contact-fun, nice bass solo
weekapaug - another sick, raging jam
Set 3
MP - interesting set opener
2001-good page
DWD - really picks up at the end with Mike going wild the last 3 min or so
Life on Mars - very cool, nice vocals by Page
Hood - always love this one
Amazing Grace - time to wind down, ready for another day of sickness

thanks  - great choice
  :banana:

[jephrey]

Set 1.
Chalkdust - Nice, tight rockin' opener.  Good call.
Gin - Rockin' type daytime festival jam.  Just plain good.
Ya Mar - Some exceptional noodling by Trey.  Gordo's jibberish was fun.
Bag - Just another rocking jam...  Top notch.  Started off like it was going to get dark, but just rocked.
Esther - Classic kickdown.  Standard but played well.  Cool guitar effects by Trey.
Divided Sky - Great for an outdoor show.  Another just damn good tune to hear.
Halley's - I've always loved this song, especially at festivals.  It was great at the Went (I named my glass Halley's partly based on hearing this that night)  But this is a shorter, but good version nonetheless.
Bowie - another song great to hear.  At this point this set has shaped up nicely.

Although nothing massive, this set was solid like steel.  Just very solid.  It was all played well and translated well to the tape.  Maybe the perfect setlist for an outdoor show like this.  I liked it a lot.  Based on its solidarity, I give it a perfect rating, but as far as funk or experimentation goes, I have to back off a bit.  4.0/5.0

Jephrey

[jedifunk]

ok, so i guess partial reviews are the lords of fifedom....

set 1: overall an extremely tight set... as mentioned already nothing knocks me over here, just very well executed material... wished at least one song had a bit of extension to it, but i'll survive.

set 2: another well played set thus far (on contact now)...
split: great opener, and the jam really excels... not off the charts, but gives just enough for you to know that the boys are locked on and ready to go.
sparkle: is sparkle... my son enjoyed it
free: solid version, but i prefer the latter years cuz it funks!
coil: nice, perfect for the late evening of a summer fest.
acoustic set: saw this myself at red rocks, nice.
mikes: funny that they launced into mikes since they did it at red rocks as well... great rocking version here.  mikes proper is very heavy which is nice to finally get some improv.  the post mikes jam is sweet, treys playing is really inspired... and i thought the segue into simple was pretty smooth.
simple: a great version here, wish they had extended it a bit more... treys got a little funky stacatto (sp?) groove going that i was enjoying, much like the halloween show later that year.  i also enjoy the 8/2/96 simple.
contact: heh, not a huge fan, but doesnt kill the set, so i'm ok with it.
week4paug: well they're in the heat of it ATM, so hard to say yet, but they definitely are playing off each other very well at this point.

i'll finish up set 3 and get back to y'all!

[Hicks]

Set II:

Split:  A solid version to get the crowd's attention after the break, a nice patch of the AUD by Marmar on my copy, but I can still pick it out.   8-)  Nothing too crazy, but I really dug Fish's playing on this one, a couple of times it sounded like the jam might disintegrate but he held it together nicely by staying on top of the beat.  Mike drops a couple bombs here too.

Sparkle:  :banana:

Free:  A very different tune than the versions from 97 and beyond, I too missed the section for Mike to bust the funk out, but I liked the conciseness of the minikit jam here and the jet engine noises Trey busts out are pretty trippy.  Nice melodic work by Page during the middle section.

Coil:  Nice bridge from the regular set to the acoustic miniset, Page's section is very nice and feels maybe just a wee bit longer than average. 

Acoustic Set: Is chill, it actually lulled me into a mid-afternoon nap on the couch!

Mike's:  A rager, it sounded like Page was ready to go right into Simple after the end of the composed section a la '94, but Trey has other ideas.  He plays around with the wah a bit, and then really lays on the hotness before they start the ooohing.  It was worth a couple minutes of meandering to get to the machine gun licks that mark the first real jam of the show.  Then a pretty good segue into:

Simple: Again Trey uses the wah to give us some proto funk, then the jam gets quiet really quickly.  I'm with Jedi and I wish they had stretched this quiet part out more, but I guess the idea of an ambient jam was still beyond their grasp at this point.  I sensed what could have been a monstrous version here, but alas it was not meant to be, still good though.

Contact:  Again this must have been the perfect early evening tune, I bet everyone was having a great time at this point.

Weekapaug: Whew!  Well Trey goes absolutely nuts toward the end here, playing about a hundred notes per minute, just as a set ending 'paug should be!  A sweet little proto funk section again (you can already tell they are itching to go in that direction with their music), with Trey on the wah and Page on the clav. 

All in all a very substanstial set, not a lot of jamming per se, but we still got one more set ahead of us and the  Mike's and Weekapaug are pretty frickin' hot.  A solid B+ middle set, if Simple had gotten further out there it would have easily rated an A or A+.

[Alumni]

First off, thanks to Marmar for the typically great-sounding recording. Some random notes from listening over the last couple days:

Set I:
I can't really argue w/ the decision(?) to play it straight. This was uncharted territory, and you have to know they wanted it to go over well . . . sort of a least-common-denominator set to my eyes. A little something for everyone in the crowd, from the Chalkdust that didn't stray too far from A Live One, to the Divided Sky to Esther. Toss in favorites like AC/DC, Ya Mar, Halley's and stir. Top off with a tight Bowie. It's nice to see some of these songs get stretched out . . . so on the one hand I could agree with the mild criticism re: lack of improv. But on the other hand, it almost seems unfair to criticize the set for being what it is: a great, well-played warmup that gets everyone in the crowd involved. By that standard, I'll go with an A-
Highlight: a stirring Divided Sky

Set II:
A fun experiment. Kind of a show in miniature. Split gets things rolling, fun sparkle, like Ikki mentioned, Free serves as a good 'trippy' song, then the finale: Coil. The acoustic miniset is a nice intermission, And then set II has a set II of its own. Mike's: And we're off! Post tramps jam goes soft and lulls me into a false sense of security. 11:15, Trey hits the accelerator. This is like my driving 10 years ago. Not sure where I'm going, but I'm going fast getting there. 12:45, another kick in the back. The melodic bit at the end makes the segue into Simple pretty smooth, imo. Simple & Contact were enjoyable. I like hearing the odd segue into 'paug (Mango, McGrupp, whatever), so it was kind of nice. Weekapaug: This is for the grade. I've learned to appreciate a lot of different styles of playing over the years, but I think I'll always lean towards those 93,92,91 paugs with their 'OMG-I-don't-know-how-much-more-I-can-take frenetic energy. This one doesn't disappoint Overall, the set seems a little too safe for an A+, a little too disjointed for an A. I'll go with another very solid A-.
Highlight: Weekapaug

Set III:
I love how Makisupa just spaces and falls apart. Trey whispering "Mr. Sausage" . . . just another wtf phish moment for me 2001 seems very appropriate here. '96 was a good year for Disease . . . I've always liked this one and the Aladdin Theater one in Dec. in particular. If Trey 'makes' that Vegas version, Mike puts this one over the top - good call, slsbs!  NICU . . . is NICU. IIRC, it's my personally most-overplayed song (thanks to ZZYZX's house of fun and useless information). This one is nice, though. Life on Mars is nice to hear, but that's a couple "small" songs in a row. There's gotta be another big one coming, and it's Hood. This song just about always seems to deliver.
Highlight: tie: DwD and Hood (a decade later, its still nice to hear the fireworks and wonder what was going through everyone's minds)

Wow, was that set short & sweet. Just over 50mins, not including encore. But what was there was great. This show is well-played & well-executed from the first song to the last. By itself, that's worth mentioning. Is it worth an overall 'A'? For me, it just misses. Gotta go with an A-

Listening to this always makes me regret having to point the car home after Hershey. If only I could have stuck 
around a few more days

[jedifunk]

finished set 3 last night...

i gotta say, i'm a little underwhelmed by the whole thing....  especially with all the chatter i've heard over the years about how the Ball was the best non-cypress fest they put on... now i know a lot of that has to do with it being the 1st and being uncharted territory, but for me thats not enough...

and while i do enjoy this show, there isnt a single moment that blows my socks off, and i think all the other fests had that, along with just great playing.  but because its so extremely solid, i'm going give it a B... not a B+ or an A- but a very solid B....  mikes is the only thing to really stretch its wings, and i think thats what should be happening at a phish fest....  like the scene in bittersweet when the boys are talking about it being their thing their deal...  its their deal, so take some risks, thats why i love phish, risks are taken... but none are taken at this show....  i'm gonna have to bust out the 2nd night and give it another listen, and hope a bit more magic happens....

all in all very solid, especially for summer 96...  but i would take day 1 of the wheel, day 2 of oswego, or day 2 of the went over this day...

thanks for sharing... this club rules

[Alumni]

I hear what you're saying. I flip-flop between a couple different criteria when "grading." Compared to next year, I'd say the Ball actually is more consistent. But the high points at the Went, for me, were higher than the high points at the Ball (and not just b/c I 'Went' ) So any attempt to "grade" turns into a mess, real fast.

But anyway . . . fun listen, fun club. 

[Marmar]

Ya gotta do the 17th next.....it just isn't fair to compare the festi's without including the 17th.....

The 17th was where it's at......

As for the 16th:

Set 1: Solid.....pretty no-frills playin by all involved....sounds like they are getting a feel for the crowd......Gin was nice and steady....Trey's solo in YaMar is so cartoonish......AC/DC bag marches in like a death squad......Not many people realized there is a language signal at the start of Esther, compliments of Mike and Trey......then......DIVIDED SKY. Dear god.....I've never witnessed a more perfect rendition of the song.....they sky was perfectly divided between dark and light when they hit the lyrics.......it actually brought a tear to my eye....Halley's, ehhhh never been a fan.....the Bowie was just that...Bowie......

Set 2: SOAM.....I melted......Sparkle sucks........the Coil was nice and sweet, Page having his spot in the light....the mini-set was a nice 420 break, time to get more supplies......Mikes.....my god Mike's was there. Forget the junk in the middle, the Mike's/Paug was HEAT.....Machine gun Trey was on stage.....

Set 3: Makisupa.....fun as always with the reggae.....the way it dissolves was pure sonic magic.....Mr. Saussage gets his props from the stage (he was a vendor at the summer shows)......The 2001 was weak....very cool to watch under the clear Adirondak nite sky......DWD- NUTS...great playing throughout. Mike and Trey are locked together DEEP.......NICU is always a fun lil groove to boogie to....Life On Mars............interesting choice. I didn't think it really fit well in this context, but then it leads into > HOOD!.....amazing hood.....E: Amazing Grace.....nice way to end the night.

Overall I'll give the show an B+......Set one was tasty, set 2 was deliscious, and set 3 was a sweet sundae to cap it all off.......No risks were taken, no major faults made.....I will say that Fishman's grooves are greatly overlooked this weekend. He was as solid as I'd heard him be up to that point.....very crisp drumming. All in all though, this was just the warmup.......

[shoreline99]

I agree, Marmar. It's hard to grade the first day without hearing the second. Here's your second day DSBD link for extra credit...

http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=16818

PHiSH
8-17-96
The Clifford Ball Day 2
Plattsburgh Air Force Base
Plattsburgh, NY

Source: DSBD -> DAT (99% of the show)
Old Home Place: Pre-FMSBD DAT
PYITE: 1st 1:05 DAUD DAT
Suzie Greenberg: 1st second taken from DAUD DAT
Slave Source: FMSBD Broadcast -> DAT -> CD -> EAC

Transfer:
All work was done on "Reba" which is the name for my DAW. DAT's transfered by TASCAM DA-40 -> Behringer DDX3216 Digital Mixer -> MARK OF THE UNICORN 896 HDR -> Dual XENON @ 800mHz PC...and a whole buch of other stuff.

All Editing done in the digital domain using Steinberg Wavelab 4.0f, CubaseVST/32 5.1

**NOTES**
I previously seeded this show in 2000, and after reading some of the user comments I was compelled to do a re-seed of this show. After listening real carefully and comparing the SBD portion to 3 different FMSBD sources, I have concluded that the soundboard portion is "flat" or runs slower than the FM source. So, from the point where it changes in PYITE > Golgi & all of disc 3 I took tuning measurements and discovered the DSBD was flat by 20cents. The pitch correction was done in Wavelab using the highest quality settings possible. Then PYITE was missing the fist minute from the DAT I had due to the taper "patching in" to the SBD feed from the Pre-FM source. The missing portion of Suzie was also repaired using the DAUD DAT I got my hands on. All edits were performed AFTER the DC Offset was removed from all material. The Slave came from Morgan Bell, who was nice enough to send me the FM source to use. The levels of Slave had to be adjusted to match the DSBD material. The Slave was edited in using exacting methods I would rather not go into here...the main changes are level reduction, DC Offset removal, and slight dithering. So here it is...after 80+hrs of listening and relistening, the best source available for this show IMHO.

Questions, comments: imthemarmar@stny.rr.com

Disc 1:
My Old Home Place (Pre-FM SOURCE, CRISP AND CLEAN)
PYITE
Reba
Cars Trucks Buses
Lizards
Sample In A Jar
Taste
Fee
Maze
Suzie Greenberg

(Disc 1 is tracked for 80min)

Disc 2:
The Curtain
Runaway Jim
It's Ice
Brother
Fluffhead
Antelope
Golgi>
Slave

(Disc 2 is tracked for 80min)

Disc 3:
Wilson
Frankenstein
Scent Of A Mule
Tweezer***
A Day In The Life
Possum
Tweezer Reprise
-ENCORE-
Harpua


***Digi-static not noted on previous SHN's...exists on DAT's



http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=16818

[jedifunk]

well, thats not the idea behind this club.... and personally i think each show should be able to hold its own without another show... i have no problem grading day 1 without day 2, on any of the fests....

again, i'd take day 1 of the wheel, and days 2 of oswego & cypress over day 1 of the ball...

[cactusfan]

too much to say, and it's all been said.

i'm basically with mr. jedi on this one: i give it a B.
solid playing throughout, lots of energy, but there's just not much that stands out here.
highlights for me are: SOAM, mike's and makisupa.

if i was there, as many of you were (lucky bastards!), i'm sure i'd like it more.

not sure what it means to say i need to hear the night after to judge this one.
this one is what it is.

here. have a banana.   :banana:

[jedifunk]

mmmm, nana's :-D

[Hicks]

Aight El Seto Finalmento:

Makisupa:  Always fun, interesting choice considering that my understanding is that there was a refreshing lack of Makisupas at the event.  Cool segue into:

2001:  I think it's a pretty tight version, I mean you really can't expect too much from a pre 97 2001 and this one does the trick for me, sufficiently funky for the time period.

DWD:  This is my highlight of the show, sure nothing really groundbreaking here just a greatly enjoyable extended jam.  I think I found it to be more focused than the Mike's if a bit lower on the intensity scale.  Some great work by Page toward the end, and yeah Marmar said it, Fish is extremely solid here and throughout the entire show. I hesistate to call this a top version of the tune since there are so many monstrous DWDs out there, but an excellent jam nonetheless.  A kind of abrupt segue into:

NICU:  Another upbeat fun one, I think this is more of a first set tune though. I would have rather heard a heavy hitter this late in the show, but I guess they had to save something for the next day.  Oddly lacking a "Play  it Leo" call out from Trey.

Life on Mars:  Very odd choice indeed, I wonder what the story behind them deciding to play this one was.  Well played by everyone though.

Hood:  A monumentally awesome Hood, probably my second highlight of the entire show.  The quiet post-Mr. Miner section is absolutely gorgeous, this is about as close to perfection as it gets.  Hood used to be my favorite Phish song, these days I can actually get a bit burnt out on it since it got played so often from 97 on.  But this one renewed my faith in the fact that it really is an amazing song. 

I give the set an A, the Hood and DWD carry the set on their backs and make it a great listen, the other stuff is fun too. 

I gotta give the show an A, it just so solid and really there's only one or two throw away songs spread out over the entire three sets which is a feat in itself.  I also have to think about the context of this show when grading it, the boys were under enormous pressure on this night, it was by far the biggest crowd they had ever played to in their lives and to top that off everyone had driven to the middle of nowhere just to see them.  Factoring that in, I really do think they came through with the goods here.   

I know I mentioned this one on the recent best three set shows thread, but I think it had been so long that I listend to these shows that I got it confused with the next night, which I have to agree is a hotter show.  Nothing here can top the all action second set from 8/17, but again since this was the first festival show ever I still consider it a crowning achievement and an important show in the band's overall history.  Imagine if the Clifford Ball hadn't come off well, they might have never done another festival again, horrors!!!

Really when you think about it, just putting this festival on was a huge risk in itself, and it definitley paid off for years to come.     

[Marmar]

BTW...that link for the 17th is for the BAD fileset.....

I've re-seeded that show in a 99% SBD form.....check the db.etree.....

Oh....I'm not sayin that in order to rate this one you need to rate nite 2 as well.....but if you are comparing festi's against one another, then the second night must be taken into consideration.....

I'd take nite 2 of the clifford over any of the other festi's I was at......and that was all of em except IT.....

[jedifunk]

i guess my point was that while it may be a 2 day festi, each day is still its own show, and should be able to be measure against any other show...

thats why i was saying, i prefer day 1 of the wheel over day 1 of the ball... i wasnt saying i prefer the wheel as a whole over the ball as a whole... although, i'd probably say that