This show was played on the day I was born so I was always looking forward to hearing it someday. Thanks to @Jeff_Goldberg's painstaking work, it's finally in circulation and it does not disappoint. On my first listen, Foam, Llama, and Reba jumped out as the highlights of the first set. The David Bowie in the second set is the star of the show and might be my favorite from 92. It has an interesting intro with multiple signals and the jam is one of the longest and most exploratory versions from this period with two distinct Type II segments. Trey's banter before the encore indicates that he thought this was one of the best shows of the tour. I won't go that far but it was a good listen and I'll definitely be returning to the highlights.

I've eyed this show for years and always hoped a recording would surface someday... I had a hunch this would be a hot one. They were famously on fire by the time they got to California about a week later and I've found that AZ and NMex shows are often among my favorites of the tour. So I'm super excited to review a "brand new old show" from a great year. 92 to 94 Phish is what made me fall madly in love and I treasure this stuff much more than the modern fan I think. Long mystical journeys and ravy dance jams aren't where it began for me and I love dense, type 1 shows. They aren't vanilla for me at all. I'm going in blind...haven't looked at the text file and have mostly kept my eyes averted from the setlist.

So, let's see what we've got here...

Landlady gets things off to a lively start. It sounds like the tape levels were set too hot at first and there's a wee bit of distortion. I think somebody eased them back a bit and things get better, but this tape seems to be pushing the limits all the way along. The upside is lower hiss and a pretty crisp, high quality soundboard in the quieter spots. The mix of instruments is pretty good. Not as over-bassy as the CA shows, whether you consider that a good or bad thing. The overemphasis of Mike on the west coast tapes definitely has its appeal...

Back to the music, Landlady through Mound are all snappy, energetic renditions that are pretty characteristic of that snappy, energetic month. You can hear Trey's got his fire-chops and everybody's throwing bits of creativity and electricity into the otherwise tight song structures. Foam and Llama had some "ooo...nice!" segments for me, but this stretch of songs isn't anything surprising. Average (great!) 92 playing. Reba's the first big number of the night. Again, energetic and enthusiastic and Trey gets a few little snazzy original licks in, but this isn't necessarily a keeper. Fish sounds like he's trying a little too hard and overplaying a bit. Doesn't gel into anything special. Uncle Penn is a little wobbly but ok. Stash plays out much as Reba does. There are some good flashes but it doesn't QUITE gel rhythmically either. Coil is decent, Golgi is ok. I'd dearly love to be more enthusiastic about this set but on that old one to ten scale with 5 being an average (GREAT!) median performance, I'd have to give this one a 3. It's a good listen and a short playlist of Landlady, Sparkle, Foam, and Llama might give you a little jolt for, say, a short morning commute, but it's far from some of the CRACKLING first sets from this tour... 3/13, 3/20, 4/16, 5/8... there are quite a few.

Set two kicks off with a snappy Suzy that could go on your morning commute list too. Finally we get to a track with some character...a NICE Bowie! They get pretty loose and creative with this and it's really the first one of the show that a jaded vet would want to check out. Not quite a hall of famer, but I like. The Avenu sandwich is standard as is MSO. Ahh...Mike's Groove...home run potential here. Alas, Mike's through the start of Weekapaug falls into the Reba/Stash category...close, but just a hair off. Then the recording goes awry. There's a cut that I fear is pretty significant and the tape seems to run weirdly fast for a bit. We get back to a nice typical 92 Weeka-P jam. All of sudden Trey RISES UP and throws out a fireball of a solo, and...then it wraps. Bummer...I wanted more Trey playing on that plane! That was THE STUFF. Big ole tease. Horse/Silent passed by as my attention was distracted but I don't think I missed anything. Chalkdust is high energy and hot. Another good one for the morning wake up playlist. Fishman comes out and apparently is having a bit of buyer's remorse about his expensive bagpipe purchase. He says the debut performance went poorly and hopes tonight will go better. Well... he creates a very peculiar cocktail of a sound. Kind of a smear of harmonica, clarinet, a hint of bagpipe, and a keytar, played incompetently. So I declare it a success! Cavern is standard and then...hah...Trey contradicts my general impression and says it's truly his favorite gig of the tour. I already have a thumbs down from Trey before I've finished the review! I think it indicates that they'd been having a fantastic time with the crowd and explains why the high energy tunes are probably the highlights of the show. It's pretty rare but Sleeping Monkey really POPS to me tonight. I love Trey's solo! More high energy fun with Rocky Top and they're out.

This is one where you'd probably give it a ten if you were there, but listening at home, by myself, 26 years later, with a nit-picky ear, I can't give it more than a six out of ten for home listening. MAJOR thanks to the folks who resurrected this!

Solid standard opening run, the playing is good, the energy is high, the sound is good. Llama maybe has a little extra on it. If you haven't been listening to a lot of 92, Foam will probably also stick out, they just really play the heck out of that tune this year. Honestly the same goes for Mound. Trey sounds great during the Reba Jam but he, Page and Fish have some trouble staying on the same page. They'll fall together for a few seconds and then lose it a little. They actually seem to get into a conversation about it immediately following the jam and you can hear an amused sounding Trey say "I kept going anyway" before they finish the song, so that's kind of fun. It's a good Reba, just if you are looking to pick nits you'll find some. Pen is OK, the band is definitely having fun, people are yelling for Oh Kee Pa (I think) and Trey says maybe later... Stash is pretty good. Coil and Golgi bring this solid first set to a close.

Here's that Oh Kee Pa opening set 2, I love it. Suzy is good and then this Bowie is really great. Just listen to the Bowie. We slide into TMWSIY>Malkenu>TMWSIY, a great way to follow up the long crazy Bowie. Seriously check out this Bowie, it's a great early example of the band trying to push the envelope within a song. My Sweet One picks the energy back up. Mike's starts of with some goofing around, and there is a fun loose energy through the whole song. The jam hangs together pretty well although Page is having some trouble finding his spot in the jams tonight. The tape gets crappy on 'paug and cuts out a huge section of the song, when it cuts pack in they are in the middle of cool little jam that quickly takes off but it doesn't quite become anything remarkable. Horse>Silent fits well here in my opinion, it was a good time to ease off and do something pretty. Then we bring the intensity right back up with a fun CDT. Then Fishman gets to step out and take Terrapin for stroll, the guys are having fun, bagpipes, etc. Cavern closes set 2. It really is a great closer.

The encores are good. Beforehand Trey says it's been one of his favorite gigs of the tour which lead's me to believe that the tape just failed to transmit some of that essential live energy. This one just never grabbed me. It's not bad, just average.

But there was a really interesting Bowie! I'm sure this show was a blast to be at. Not an essential tape but I'll definitely revisit the Bowie. I'm definitely grateful to have this show in circulation.

What a pleasure to get a '92 SBD released in circulation. Pretty solid show for Phish's first (and only) performance in Albuquerque - a rockin' Llama, soaring Reba and dark Stash are my 1st set highlights. 2nd set starts off with OKP > Suzy and on into a fiery David Bowie that gets into a cool rhythmic groove and also has a bunch of secret language in the intro! Check this one out!! After that a nice TWMSIY and raging and tight. Mike's Groove. Do yourself a favor and listen to this one!