R11/W01: 12-08-1994 Spreckels Theatre, San Diego, CA

[ytowndan]

Set one:


Makisupa - Nice opener with a cool little jam.  Liked the way it kinda "melted" into >

Maze - I absolutely love the fact that I'm sitting here trying to think of something other than just "Wow" for my thoughts on this Maze.  lol  This was straight RAGE!  Loved every second of it.

Bag - Nice version.  Keeps the energy flowing. 

Mule - Not the biggest fan of this tune, but it was well played. A couple Streets of Cairo teases by Page.

PYITE - Well played.  I like the placement. 

Simple -> Catapult -> Simple - I'm digging the darkness to the beginning of the jam.  Mike's holding down the fort.  They lock into each other very well and build a thematic jam.  It flirts with the possibility of going into rage-mode, but stays in the theme for the most part.  Back to Mike leading the jam while they work into Catapult before finding their way back to the overall theme of the jam.  I like all the Trey effects while they reprise the Simple lyrics in an eerie way.  >

Lizards - Loved the transition from the decaying Simple jam into the opening notes.  Solid version.

WMGGW - One of my favorite set closer/encore tunes.  Great way to cap off a high energy and wonderfully played set one. 


Set two:


Possum - Fire!  Great playing all around.

MMGAMOIO - A little bit of the bluegrass is always OK with me. 

Axilla - Part deuce.  A straight tit-rippin-rocker.  As it should be. 

Reba - I absolutely adore 1994 Rebas.  They take their time and patiently work into whatever comes their way.  In this case it's a little atypical playing during the quiet section, then effortlessly finding their way right back to the Reba theme.  But, before totally committing to the traditional Reba theme, they do some atypical "start/stop" stuff around 13:00, then it's on to straight escalating rage.  Fantastic version. 

Nellie Kane - Love the acoustic setup. 

Sweet Adeline - My favorite a capella of theirs.  I wish they'd bring it back. 

Bowie - Great version.  As I said with Reba, they're patient and slowly ease their way in.  Total rage-fest.  They nail the ending.  Killer.

Golgi - Apparatus

Horse > Silent - Nice mellow way to kick off the encore. 

Rocky Top - Always a good ending.  Bluegrass trifecta.   

Overall, this is a great show.  Also, there are many points in this show that display how well they all listened to each other back then.  The interplay between them speaks volumes for this year.  A+ pick, Aug!   

[G. Augusto]

Makisupa - Might be the first time it was ever used as a show opener as the details on 10-23-1984 are a little sketchy. Always get a laff when Trey says "Smoked The DANK!" Mellow spaciness to set the mood for the West Coastians. Right into >>>

Maze - Yeah. Tons of tension for the Page solo. Now...Trey's solo? Bananas. Some vocal "styling" by Trey to accompany his solo for a bit, then pretty much an entire solo filled with fucked up bends and atonal goodness. Love the super fast smashes by Fish on the china. Whole band is on point throughout Trey's solo section. Cool interplay between Mike/Trey after the jam, too. One of my favorite versions right thur.

ACDC - In to how the jam takes some time to develop. Some laid back "chugging" gets things going nicely.

Scent - Hate Scent but like this one in this slot. The Duel was still fresh at this time and Page has some really great Jekyll and Hyde moments throughout his solo. Trey does a really nice job with his fast section.

PYITE - 1 of 2 versions on the entire Fall Tour. 37 show gap from the last one, too. Really sick work by Mike on this one. Super solid version. Right into >>>

Simple - Jam goes on for about a minute before Trey lays down some droning loops. Mike proceeds to introduce what will become the main progression for the jam. Trey just comes right in with it. MEATY. Love how they all follow Trey's progression on only the second time around. T%hen, right back into the original jam. Eat your heart out, 01-01 Simple. >>>

Catapult - Over the same groove >>>

Simple - Saxophone vocal jam with plenty of weird effects by Trey. Awesome, awesome version. Melts nicely into >>>

Lizards - Pretty much a note-perfect rendition with a mint Page solo.

WMGGW - Still new and rare. Caps off a solid A+ set nicely.

Possum- Lengthy intro. Quiet start to jam which leads to a straight silent jam. Someone yells during this that they either "Want the fucking HEAT" or "Want something to EAT!" Sounds like they are almost stomping on the stage at one point, a la 07-10-1997. Gets rather atypical ~7:45. Return to main jam theme is rock hard. A few turns of disjointedness > peaks and this one wraps up nicely.

My Mind - Only one of the Fall Tour. Last was 51 shows.

Axilla - Not sure what they're saying at the end, but I caught a "fucking" and happy ending?

Reba - Nice tempo and pretty much flawless. The crowd is really respectful and you can hear some "shhhhhhs" as the jam gets really faint. Some more vocal mimicry by Trey. Just a really patient jam with no one feeling compelled to hit the "ones" are take the lead. Some really sweet interplay between Mike/Fish. Return to the jam theme is super buttery. Classic version.

Nellie/Adeline - Great usage of the attentive crowd.

Bowie - Very short intro with a slightly botched slip into the tune. Nothing horrible and otherwise, a solid composed section. This jam packs in all the craziness of the longer Tweezers and Bowies from the Tour into 13 minutes. They slam into the outro section all nice-like.

Golgi - Apparatus.

Horse - Has only appeared as an encore two times.

Silent - Has only appeared as an encore three times.

Rocky Top - A killer Page solo sends the crowd off.

One of my all time favs.
Solid A+.

[McGrupp]

Set 1

Makisupa - "Smoked the dank"  :smoke: ... Nice fish rhythm changes early on. I love the playful spaceyness. Cool version.

Maze - Coming out with the fire early on. I enjoyed the segue - immediately turned up the volume. Nice page and mike interplay early on. This is how maze should always sound. Trey's solo: I turn the volume up even more. Rippin'. Holy sh*t, and good f*cking lord... I feel like trey is laughing at me in a devilish way. Epic atonal solo.

Bag - Tight, nice mike rhythms here. Love trey's playing in his solo as well. Fish is playing with confidence. Nice chunky rock here. Very enjoyable version to my ears.

Mule - Is Mule. Not my favorite tune, but at least it's not sparkle (hate!)

Punch - Love the song - interesting placement to me. This kicks in with a nice relaxed and groovy vibe, slightly slower than most other versions. Solid pyite overall.

Simple > Catapult > Simple - Trey is harping some seriously majestic business on that guitar. Wonderful playing from trey and the rest of the boys. I love Trey's long sustained note about a quarter of the way through the jam while he lets page fish and mike do their thing. The tune then gets dirty and pumpin'. Why doesn't trey think like this anymore? Ending chord changes are awesome. Very nice energy.

Catapult is cool, but it seems like trey struggles with the vox for a minute at the beginning (but hey, catapult is always a little weird). I like the slightly funky and dark feel. Back into the 'simple' groove and I think this is a solid sequence overall.

Lizards - Great to hear these 1.0 versions. Not only are all the notes correct, but trey doesn't flub the lyrics (which is so common now  :|). Nice clean version of this tune.

WMGGW - Cool closer, as always. Pretty epic Trey solo. I'd be amped during setbreak.

Set 2:

Possum - Absolutely rippin'. Very quiet, cool trey playing, but very interesting nonetheless. Love the atonal notes, very good tension and release. I wish possums sounded like this nowadays!  :|

My Mind's Got a Mind - I like this song. Set II almost sounds like it should be Set I to me at this point.

Axilla II - More rawk. I like Axilla II - The band sounds really loose...maybe a little buzzed, perhaps? Not sloppy but not tight - I kinda like it.

Reba - Highlight of this show to me, and not the first time I've heard this version. Well executed composed section. The jam is very loose but with a nice syncopated fishman drum feel. I love the drop in velocity - doesn't get ambient, just very quiet. At this point it's kind of reminding me of free jazz. Dynamics start to build nicely with beautiful Trey arpeggios. 11:00 to 11:18 and on, great percussive and thematic playing by trey with great page backup. Nice triplet accents by fish help build it up. then BAM! back into traditional reba style. Very well balanced and constructed reba - great dynamics within the 13:00 mark, with nice meltdown sections. Then back into the standard melodic reba rock. By 14:00 we are in full swing trey-mode. Excellent job trey, bravo. The rest of the boys, too. Beautiful peak and release by all. Fish still feels loose and it's palpable. There we go...more majestic trey. Looooong note, drum fill....and bam, done. Quite a reba right there. One of my all time favs.

Nellie Kane - Love the acoustic bluegrass here. Love this song. Love the crowd's reaction.

Adeline - Also cool.

Bowie - Nice intro. Jam starts psychedelic - trey doesn't hesitate to go deep early, in a semi-atonal way. Some weirdness early on, seems like they're having a hard time finding each other. But it starts to go deep quickly. Tension! Fish on the china. Dynamics! Intensity! This is why I love 94 phish, esp fall. Jam gets dark, with a great release by trey. The whole band continues with the dark, scary, face-melting theme. Ending is nailed and mostly epic.

Golgi - Ticket stubs and the whatnots.

Encore:

Horse > Silent - I don't hate these songs.

Rocky Top - Very good energy in this one. I would have certainly walked away more than pleased.

All in all, a pretty epic show. I had only heard the reba, but the whole show is fire. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thanks aug!

[pnchundi]

it is only tuesday right? half of the reviews are already submitted? wow

[rowjimmy]

it is only tuesday right? half of the reviews are already submitted? wow

It's week one and it's a 94 show.  Wait 'til McGrupp posts his favorite 2009 show in week 8...

[Bobafett]

sounds like i should be ashamed for not knowing this show....smeigel will get.

[McGrupp]

it is only tuesday right? half of the reviews are already submitted? wow

It's week one and it's a 94 show.  Wait 'til McGrupp posts his favorite 2009 show in week 8...

[cactusfan]

never heard this one.

very nice!

Reba is the highlight for me. what a hot version.  love the places it goes before kicking back into the ending section.
and Bowie is deeply demented the way it should be.

[Bobafett]

Set I is SERUS.  Thanks for lettin me in on this one.

[justjezmund]

12/8/94

Spreckels Theater, San Diego, CA


I

Makisupa - SMOKE THE DANK!!

Maze - Lets get this rage shit going yall

AC/DC - tight energy throughout

Mule - Better than a UFO, I liked it I really liked it.

PYITE - And the dopeness keeps on a flowin. 

Simple>Catapult>Simple - Here we go.  Awesome simple with some real cool darkness that flows just great into one of my fav variations of catapult and then back to simple to finish off this sick one two punch.

Lizards - and as he body disappeared before me I remembered all the thoughts that he had thought.  Well done.

WMGGW - Beatles to finish off the first set, sick is all I can say.

II

Possum - RAGE RAGE RAGE!!!!!!!

MGAMOIO - It was played.  I love this diddy.

Axilla II - I love part II,  I wish I would hear it someday.

Reba - typical awesome 94 playing.  Love this Reba, and love that darkness before coming back in.  And they finish it.  WOOHOO!

Nellie Cane - acoustic, they way bluegrass should be played.  Love it.

Sweet Adeline - Nice

Bowie - Delivered....

Golgi - Still don't get sick of it.

Horse>Silent - Good way to send em home.

Rocky Top - An even better way to send em home.


Shows an A yall.  If you don't think so you didn't listen. 

[Lifeboy]

1994-12-08

Set I:

Makisupa- Love this for an opener. Nice and spacey, into

Maze- Early start to straight RAGING. Nice work by Page.

Bag- Nice way to keep the energy going. Very tight, rockin' version. I like what Trey does in this version

Mule- Always love Mule. Solid version

PYITE- perfect song selection here imo

Simple>Catapult>Simple- Set highlight for me. I LOVE where this jam goes, and to top it off, they lay a catapult over a super sweet jam. Perfect segue back into Simple. Loved this segment.

Lizards- NICE. No complaints whatsoever. Always love me a Lizards.

WMGGW- PERFECT set ending selection here.


Set II:

Possum- STRAIGHT FUCKING RAGER here, folks. Nice way to get the energy going right off the bat

MMGAMOIO- Love this tune. Perfect selection after a RAGING Possum

Axilla II- I can dig it

Reba- HOLY SHIT. I have always known this was a good Reba, but I havent listened to it in a while and MY GAWD it DID NOT disappoint. Top notch Reba ladies and gentlemen. I guess that's to expect with all '94 versions though. SICK SICK version

Nellie Kane- Love these acoustic little ditties from '94. I dig this song especially

Sweet Adeline- yes sir

Bowie- Nice. Love me a fall '94 Bowie. This one wasn't as huge as some, but it delivered.

Golgi- meh

Horse>Silent- ehhhh alright I guess. I'll take it here.

Rocky Top- love it


This one gets an A. did NOT disppoint at all. Nice pick

[pnchundi]

Makisupa- can be a little iffy as an opener but this delivers.  They find the right space vibe without getting too out there.  "smoked the dank" indeed
maze- red hot. I agree with whoever said wow.  They blow right there the lyric section, trey takes an early lead and then backs off so Mike and Page can shine.  Page dominates this and pushes it further and further.  Not to be outdone, Trey comes back and kicks everyone ass.  I love the notes he is bending there about 7 or 8 mins in.  Fish keeps going faster and faster
ACDC- now that they are nice and warmed up, this becomes a really good bag.  Listen to Mike find new ways to approach things.  Great jam
Scent of a- great version with page doing some fun things right before the russian dance thing. 
Punch- perfect placement and its fun to hear this before it takes on the 97/98 drawn out intro. 
Simple/catapult/simple- lots of folks complain about simple but when you hear a gem like this one, you understand the hype.  They play with the theme and move away and come back several times before Trey starts Catapult.  I like how Mike (i think) starts singing part of Simple to the catapult theme to bring things back down
Lizards- beautiful song and placement.  Transitions back to earth but still finds time for some great page/trey interplay
While My Guitar- perfect song to close a set and a great version

Second set to come later...

[mbw]

R11/W01: 12-08-1994 Spreckels Theatre, San Diego, CA

first off, this source is money. 

I
makisupa - gets this party started off right and goes on just long enough to let the smoke settle in.

maze - trey slaze this maze.  i've been amazed at the different maze(s) that have come out in show club daze.  i used to not pay much mind because i thought they all sounded the samez, but i have learned that that is not the caze and have re-instituted my love for this song.

bag - great interplay between mike and page, then trey and fish.  soild

mule - page is a one man wrecking ball here. fish lets out a yelp of joy after pages werk.  then, there must have been some smoke coming from trey's fingers during his part.  i will never understand mule hate.

pyite - thanks for the fun fact pie-guy.  the rhodes does indeed make the intro.  this one, however is pretty low key.
i have heard better punches.

simple - a blissful, steady, driving jam defines this one early on.  mike breaks it down and it goes into the darkness. they will be taking this type of jam into the outer reaches in less than a year...  trey definitely toys with 'walk away' in the ether and then....

catapult - nice vox over some trippy trey work.  they then seem a little puzzled on where to take it, but instead of forcing it they create a little space and out comes...

lizards - page is taking pwnership of this show.

wmggw - love the song, but not a huge fan of the phish playing it.  its kinda just a 'look at me' song by trey a la johnny be good.  this one is a little sloppy and should have stayed a 10/31 one timer imo.

II
possum - remember when this didn't make you say, "i gotta pee, you need a beer?"  me neither. 
sweet extended intro.  phish is in the building people! spontaneous woo's abound.  the crowd eventually quiets down and lets them quiet jam.  this is near impossible since the theatre days, imo.  possum gets dark and tripped out!  rocking, psychedelic and fun.  this possum wins!

my mind - i feel this way sometimes.

axilla - i always enjoy some phish cursing....

reba - nice chill reba jam into some vocal accompaniment by trey over his own lines with fish taking his cue.  quite the type II reba.

nellie - yup

bowie - :totally spaced this bowie:  which i guess meant it was good.

golgi - sounded hot.

E
horse > silent - diggin it in the encore slot.  this combo off rift has been the end to many a great nights for me.  ever rock this combo ending while pulling into your driveway early morning after a coke binge?  me neither.

rocky top - well played but unnecessary.

fack.  great show.  i dug the first set more i think but the whole show is a smoker for sure.  i wish this band would play again.  solid A.

[Pholy M. Pia]

Thanks for the excellent pick!

This show was a fun, interesting listen top to bottom.

Highlights have mostly been noted, so I'll just say that Trey sounds the whole night to be peaking at that point of knowing the material so well, that the variations and embellishments come almost constantly. Very aggressive. The rest of the boys don't just keep up, but add to the strangeness with equal measures of support and contrast.

Very interesting, cerebral listening!

[WhatstheUse?]

Set 1

Makisupa - Love this as an opener, starts the show in such a fun way.  Isn't it great when you can literally hear Trey smiling as he sings?  Some real nice space in this one, I dig it.

Maze - Oh fuck yes. Trey is all over this one, channelling demons from hell and making brains melt. This is some serious stuff, atonality throughout almost the entirety of Trey's solo. He kind of misses the ending peak riff, but who cares...not me.... A+ version

Bag - Nice jam here.  It was awesome when they actually used to be patient and let jams breathe.  Trey just kind of chuggs along for a bit on this one before tearing it up 94 style and showing everyone why he is the man. Fades out nicely right into --->

Mule - I'm down with a good Mule - usually more psyched by the end of it then when it starts.  Really enjoy the interplay between Page/Trey during this breakdown.  They just sound younger and so much more playful than they do now.  Mike even copies the Mule line along with Trey before it gets really fast -- Trey nails it.

Punch - Love this song, interesting placement but I'm not complaining. Seems a bit slower groove than latter years, I like it. Played well.

Simple > Catapult > Simple - Really enjoy this section -- nice driving groove for most of the jam and Mike kills it throughout. The post-Catapult vocal jam is $.  You gotta love a band that has the balls to do random vocal jams @ any given point.

Lizards - is a fantastic Phish song and this version is played fantastically.  Wasn't it awesome when Trey could actually nail the fast part during the end of Page's solo?!  Muy bueno.

WMGGW - Not one of my favorite covers but Trey tears this one to shreds. Total rock star Trey. 

Set 2:

Possum - If they still could play Possum like this I wouldn't care if they played it every show.  So much win in this version.  Extended intro, and Trey is playing around with some effects right from the start. They're having fun and mean business.  Love the silent jam.... I can't believe how quiet it gets on the recording! (the crowds really WERE better back then :roll: )  Are they stomping on the stage @ some point?  Awesome. Woah! Some serious weird tension going on here and then a Trey solo explosion of epiness.  This is serious biz.  Trey is going nuts. I'd kill a baby panda to see a Possum like this.

My Mind's Got a Mind - Looked a little weird in the second slot on paper, but I love this song and it seemed fitting after that ragin' Possum --  "Take it awaayy"

Axilla II - Usually more psyched to hear this one live than on tape.  I wish they'd bring back the Part 2 ending.  Some hilarious banter during the end of this one.  And then Trey 3.0 style forces into >>>>

Reba - Wow.  This is one for the ages that's for sure.  So patient and slow building -- I love the vocal mimicking by Trey.  Really everyone is on point during this jam.  Definitely a classic Reba here.

Nellie Kane - Love this song... like Aug pointed out, it seemed like the crowd was quite attentive so this was a good fit.

Adeline - fun

Bowie - Great 94 version.  This band Rocks

Golgi -  ticket stubs & eukaryotic cells and all that good stuff.

Encore:

Horse > Silent - interesting spot... probably haven't done that too many time.  I don't hate these songs.

Rocky Top - Yes.  I *LUV* Rocky Top show enders.  Leaves everything on such a high note.


This show pretty much smokes to to bottom.  I kinda dig the first set more than the second, and the Reba and Maze are the highlights for me.  Good Pick, A- .