The first track I ever heard from Phish was on a mix tape I stole off a fraternity brother that simply said "Phish" on it. It turned out to be cuts from A Live One.

I used to listen to the tape while walking around delivering papers in nice NJ neighborhoods during a summer job I had. End to end, over and over. I wore the thing out.

The Harry Hood from this show is what turned me into a Phishhead. I would listen to it and rewind several times per day, savoring each detail and nuance of the performance. It was that good. As a kid who came of age in the late 80s and early 90s, I thought, "Man. Finally, a band that plays their instruments. And isn't afraid to just PLAY them until they feel they're done. This sh*t rules."

There was no turning back after hearing it. And I am thankful.

Surprised there's no review on this one. A typically great Fall 94 show. The band is playful from the get go, Trey giving a warm welcome to the "free show everybody!" before ripping a lassic Chalk Dust opener. He similarly does a quick explanation of the Vibration of Life right in the middle of the applicable composed section of YEM. But you want to hear this show for a few other reasons.

For one, there's a great sounding soundboard that's available. This isn't so much one of those exploratory 94 shows that in my opinion haven't aged that well. No this is one of those affairs that make you remember just how incredible Phish (and Trey) could be blowing your mind with Type I agility. His playing in Fall 94 in this sense is maybe unparalleled. He was more adventurous in 95, had better ideas in 97, and maybe has more soul today, but in terms of hitting *those* notes, 94 is kind of where it's at. Case in point, the Harry Hood performed here that's since been immortalized on A Live One. Featuring not one but two blistering peaks and a few runs by Big Red that leave my jaw dropped every time. Lots else to like here, even if we're not talking about Type II, from the fiery Jim to the excellent YEM. Set one Tela and Purple Rain emerging from Down with Disease late in Set two? Sure.

So I ditched my Dad and stayed on tour. We got to the campus of U of F early and started raging. The college kids were stoked to have Phish playing for free on their quad. We met up with these kids who took us to their on campus apartment. The guy said to me 'Hey we just picked some mushrooms help yourself" I opened the fridge and there was 2 paper plates stacked high with all caps... That kind of set the mood for the rest of the day if you know what I mean.

So we made our way over to the concert field and Phish was soundchecking. There were quite a few people watching soundcheck from the top of the hill and it felt like the band knew. This was my first Funky Bitch and I was in heaven. At the time it was a pretty rare song. I was totally happy that I didn't go home.

This was a great show. The energy was perfect. I mean a free show! How can you beat that? The band was tight as usual but the song selection was on point. Stash>catapult>Stash was great and Maze was absolutely on fire. Second set was just really happy All the songs were just upbeat. No real darkness at all. YEM with the teases and jams was a lot of fun. Mike's bass tone during his solo was bananas..

The next day was my birthday and I was in a really blissful place. At this point I was out of money pretty much and also out of bud. As I was walking around the hill I found a huge bud of Kryptos! I looked around for an owner but none was to be found so it was a nice birthday present. I ran into some kids and smoked my first chillum that night. I put my lips on it and I quickly got schooled in the ways of the chillum. Do people still use those? It was quite the fad back then...

You like mid-jam Catapults, smoking Mazes, Gypsy Queen-infused Jims, surprise segues (->Halley's), ferocious YEM jams, and all-time great Hoods, right? If you do, you'll find all that and more in this phenomenal show. If you don't, well then I don't know why you're reading this. Maybe give this show a listen and see if it changes your mind?

This was my first show, and I walked to the bandshell from my dorm room, South Hall, which was about 30 yards from the field. I laid in the grass that evening and just lost myself. At the time the only songs I recognized were the covers, but that didn't matter. Everything about the experience washed over me that night. Even though I wasn't able to get to another show until they came back a year later, I started collecting tapes, CDs, whatever I could get, then saw a LOT of shows between 94 and the breakup. This was a truly formative experience for me. It's also the last time I can remember the crowd not yelling "HOOD" when Trey said "HARRY!" and I liked the song better that way.

The merits of this show are well documented in other reviews. As I’m making my way through this tour, I believe this is the next show that is next level after 10.18.94. Numerous highlights abound, including the Stash > Catapult > Stash, Maze, Runaway Jim, the transition between BATR and Halley’s, and YEM. And, of course, we get the fantastic Hood that made its way onto A Live One. While I prefer the version from 10.20.94 a bit more, this version may be a bit closer to a perfect take. I love this show and it shows the band in all its Fall ‘94 glory.

So, I've been listening to 1994 Fall in its entirety and in order, and here we arrive at the second Great show of the tour! Highlights...

SET 1:
Stash -> Catapult -> Stash, Tela > Maze - Two outstanding jams with Tela in between... very nice.

SET 2:
Bouncing Around the Room -> Halley's Comet > You Enjoy Myself -> The Vibration of Life -> You Enjoy Myself - This is a weird conglomeration of segued songs, but it really works well. And the YEM is a monster.

Down with Disease - Short, but it's a growler.

Harry Hood - This is the ridiculously good Hood from ALO.

Good Times Bad Times - Really nice closer with a ton of punch.

ENCORE: The Squirming Coil - Page gets way, way off on the piano ending.

"Man. Finally, a band that plays their instruments. And isn't afraid to just PLAY them until they feel they're done. This sh*t rules.""

Always found this to be one of the more inexplicable things I have ever read.

If I told you one of the ->s on this setlist was bogus. Which would you guess? Presumably Bouncing-> Halleys.

But no! It's Chalkdust-> MFMF, because the MFMF intro is tracked on Chalkdust for some reason.

Bouncing-> Halleys Is an awesome segue. Backwards reminiscent of the Cities-> Wedge from Jones Beach 2012 where the beat of one of the songs creeps into the other. The vocal intro to Halleys starts up over the last measure extended of Bouncing.

Great Fall '94 classic here. CDT opens with Fishman dialed to 11, and MFMF gets a little extended outro that plays on the vocal part. Stash->Catapult->Stash is our first big jammer and it dives a bit below surface level to a place of some pretty irrefutable dissonance that approaches a peak before the band pulls back. Trey delivers Catapult over a nice descending riff, and we head back for the top again. Maze is noteworthy for Trey's fiery locomotive of a guitar solo. Plenty of shrill and energetic play here. Fishman is still on fire.

Runaway Jim is a pretty solid set opener; I always love when they work in the Gypsy Queen tease. Bouncing->Halley's is a surprising but welcome surprise of a transition. The Bouncing drum beat is fun over Mike's beep-joop. After this, we head for the first of this show's twin peaks. Whatever's in that Vibration of Life in YEM's quiet section should certainly be banned from competition, because the YEM jam is juiced out of its mind. Page's clav solo, Mike's signal to dive into Another One Bites the Dust, and Trey's Mission Impossible tease are just the beginning. Fishman's brooding floor-tom beat starts the jam section off nice and low, but the ascent to the peak soars. Amazing B&D here, as well. A flaming Down with Disease follows, and again Fishman is going ballistic. He really is the star of the show on this one, and he feels himself enough to take the mic for Purple Rain.

We've all heard this Hood a thousand times, so I won't feign to tell you what you don't already know. For as many more musically interesting versions as may exist out there, this one will always elicit the most raw emotional response from me. It's also really funny to hear the band go from one of the most legendary performances of their entire career (which most of us probably remember as heading into an epic Squirming Coil finale on A Live One) to Fee, where Trey struggles with the megaphone. What an amazing juxtaposition of what this band has to offer, lol.

Last highlight is the Squirming Coil outro, which is actually sampled on A Live One as well for Page's parting thanks.

Guys seem a bit, uh, buzzed for the second set. The Bouncing Around the Room > Halley's Comet segue was flubbed (before ultimately being saved), and Halley's Comet itself was an absolute mess on vocals. The Vibration of Life banter is also, uh, out there.

But hey, a long show and massive second set. Nothing to complain about. The Trey section of YEM is absolutely furious. And as mentioned in the show notes, the Hood has a fake climax before dissolving and building back up again into a raging peak.