A note before I begin with the review:

Dear Dude Yelling "CONTACT" 22 Years Ago,
Once they actually start playing Contact, there is no need to continue to yell "Contact! Nice!" Thank yeeewww.

This show is on the money, both musically and humorously. Page takes a moment at the end of the Time Loves a Hero soundcheck to welcome everyone to the soundcheck. Just about every song in the first set is above average or unusual, especially Foam, Fluffhead, and Halley's > Antelope. There is some amusing post-contact banter which culminates in the line "And there's nothing better than getting it in the end every once in a while," and Halley's has some bizarre vocals in it.

Set II starts with Trey shouting "YEM!!" and he repeats "YEM!!!" during YEM, which is an excellent YEM even without much of a vocal jam. Sloth has an ending I've never heard before, almost It's Ice-ish. If I Only Had a Brain contains lyrical gems such as "Oh...Oh....Oh...," "Life would be a dingleberry," "And then I'd sit and shit some more," and "::cough:: ::cough:: ::coughing fit::" Sublime. Weekapaug is also above average, and even though the Esther is shaky in spots, it is also fairly unusual.

First set I think is a bit better than the second, but overall this is an excellent show and I think it's a solid 4 stars. Take a listen and enjoy!

This was my 4th show. I had seen my first at this same location a year and a month earlier. Many of the same songs which is not surprising as they didn't have that many songs then. I really have no opinion on the songs because I loved them all then. I had the non-descript black junta tape and had listened to it many times by now. I also had a few bootlegs as they were called even though taping was allowed. For me at this time it was about the change in scene. A year after the 88 show this band had definitely grown in Vermont.

In Johnson for this show there was a large party held on railroad street (thanks Todd) It was clear many people from UVM and other colleges were in town. The excitement was palpable. The 88 show had a few hundred. There were already a few thousand in Johnson who were not getting in. The band played. They were amazing, and it is still so funny to me that I recognize the screams of people, i literally knew who was screaming. During the set break the band went to Arthurs hall, closest to the base lodge and did some ummm "stuff". You hear this when Trey calls them out, "you know who you are, we know who you are." I think the 2nd set shows that whatever they did do helped It's a lot more fire. Overall an amazing experience looking back 34 + yrs ago. Im still here and had this same experience at SPAC for the flood benefit as I had great seats but not as close as I had that night watching pages hammond leslie spin from 10 ft away

This source sounds fantastic! Unfortunately, Relisten is missing the ‘Time Loves a Hero’ sound check. This is a solid show front to back. Highlights include: Antelope, Fire!! Weekapaug and Esther. Sloth had a similar ending to what we heard at The Paradise(1/26) and The Front (2/7), but this version didn’t segue into Possum.

Personally I don't think this Esther belongs on the jam charts - it's really rough.

This Fire, on the other hand, is quite interesting. It sounds to me like Trey detunes his E string to get a low, growling sound. He focuses entirely on this sound, which throws off the rest of band and very nearly derails the entire song. The recovery is sloppy, though I must admit I get excited when the band pushes a song like Fire to the brink.

I'll also say I'm always impressed at how enthusiastic the crowd sounds at many of these early shows. Imagine seeing Phish play Esther or Harpua in a bar or dorm hall in 1989. It must have been so bizarre. I guess people consistently "got it" from very early on. It sure sounds that way.