some advice please?

[TheMaxilla]

Ok, so heres the story, i unfortunately fell a little behind on the whole phish thing, and didnt get really into them until about 2 years ago, (I am a youngin' at the tender age of 19), and only got to see them twice, 7/29/03 Burgettstown,PA (by my home of pittsburgh) and then Camden last summer before the coventry shows. I just started collecting through etree, and have about 25 shows or so, but am looking to get into some more serious collecting. so my question is this, what run of shows is the best place to start? nothing as ambitios as a full year can be done at this point in time (no HD space, $, or time, the university drags my d/l speeds to on average 1.5kb/s UGH!) so if anyone can offer any advice it would be greatly appreciated.

[August]

i would suggest either the new years run from 95 (12-28---12-31)or the island tour from 98 (4-2 -----4-5) to get you familiar.they are also reflective of two totally different periods in phish history.aug.

[phishdisc]

Big Cypress has got to be as good a starting place as you can get

[TheMaxilla]

yeah i recently got big cypress, and the soundcheck just yesterday. both are unbelievable! i have one of the shows from the island run, and will hopefully be picking the rest up within a week or so.

[jedifunk]

you're obviously gonna need some stuff from fall97.  thats a must.  i recommend 11-17, 11-21, 12-7, 12-13 as a starting point for that tour.

- you'll also need to have 9-14-99 boise.
- also grab some nov 94 (11-26 is a great place to start)
- and some 95s (i have been enjoying mud island lately - dont recall date atm) & 12-1 is sick

well i could go on and on, so i'll leave you with these few here.  its a good mix of stuff and all top shelf stuff.

enjoy

[phishdisc]

on the topic of fall 97......

My first show was 8-8-97 in tinley park. I remember reading reviews a week later or so saying it was "the worst show ever". I thought it had some good stuff in it. It didn't seem anything less than ordinary. I also don't think it's a great show just because it was the first one I saw.

Is this the worst show ever?


-Maxilla: Be sure you get some of the early stuff (80's). It's a great contrast to the 00's you went to.

[jedifunk]

i think you need to keep in mind that phish's 'worst show ever' is gonna be better than ANY show by any other band...

[phishdisc]

agreed

[Itsnotanexperience]

i really think you should start w/ the beginning of their magical
jam years -

start w/ 4/92 or 8/93, then go to summer '94, then 11/94, 12/95..
.....THEN get into 1997, then summer '98, then fall '99, cypress,
and few show from summer fall '00..........just my take, but it
would give you some background before you just dive into the '97-'00 years.....
.....it's like watching return of the jedi before you watch star wars or
empire, although that was maybe a bit before your time:)

my 2 cents........

[Itsnotanexperience]

btw - i've actually never heard 8/8/97.........i was at 8/6/97 which was/is
one of my all-time favorite shows...........the setlist looks decent........

also - shameless plug - please feel free to pickup my demo which is currently
being seeded under the 'Other' section of bt:) --   saf2005-03-27.flac16.

sorry Jedifunk - i couldn't resist.

good luck starting your collection dude - there are tons of shows on here every
week.........best just to pick a date you like and start there.........

peace

[jedifunk]

i would have to respectfully disagree with itsnot.

while going in a cronological order would give you a history of the band, i think collecting a little bit from all the time periods is the best way (IMO) to get a good feel for the band.

going in crono order could take quite some time, whereas seeking out a little bit from each period wouldnt.  

this way he's got a little of everything.

[TheMaxilla]

Oh man, thanks so much guys. i dont know where to start! i just wish this damn school hasnt firewalled me to worse than sluggish download speeds. anyone got any advice on that one? this list should keep me busy during digital design class.

[Itsnotanexperience]

well, you could do far worse than picking up 11/12/94, and say, 11/22/97, or 4/3/98,
or 12/11/99.........just to name a few.........just don't get greedy - it's very easy to do -
suddenly you've got hundreds of shows, and you haven't listened to half of them....
.......take some time w/ the classics, but pick the odd show too - like funk said, phish at their worst was always something worthwhile,  even in '91, and even in '87..........i could go on......they're incredbile - just don't make the mistake of having some jaded head tell you a certain sucked or that they were only
good, "when" - they were always, at the very absolute least, GOOD, and most times,
just simply incredible.

[Blaise]

I am behind a university firewall and I make do, even get some decent speeds now and then. Mess with your settings, what type of bt program are you using? Also, be patient and hop on seeds when there are lots of seeders, and speeds are up. I almost never turn my comp off, ever, and there is usually always something dl or uploading.

By the way, 12/7/97 is one of my all time favorite shows and you can't go wrong with about any of the dates surrounding it. I have used this show to "enlighten" some kids(the funk grabs people i guess).

[rowjimmy]

The afformentioned "Mud Island '95" show is 6/14/95 and highly recommended. but for a prime example of 1995, get 12/31/95. That was the peak of that era (93 -> 95) of Phish.