This was my first show. After being handed a copy of Lawn Boy by a high school friend in 1991 and being subjected to hours of tapes at parties in college, I finally made the plunge in the Spring of '94 and got tickets to my first show in Binghamton. On an intellectual level, I knew what to expect, but I wasn't really prepared for what I actually experienced. My first impression of the band was how much better they sounded live than on the crappy AUD tapes my friends had. Next, was how freaking tight they were. It wasn't until the 2nd set, however, when they played Peaches En Regalia that they had me convinced that they were one of the best bands on the planet at the time. Then, bango - they dropped the Big Ball Jam on me. "OMG, they are PLAYING ALONG TO THE BALLS!" I had never seen anything like that before. The playfulness and willingness to experiment struck a chord in me that has been only getting stronger as the years go by.

My other fond memory of this show was the Mike's where CK5 managed to fill what seemed like the entire arena up with fog. The band continued to rip it up and through the fog a girl from some of my classes magically appears, hands me a joint, and fades back into the ethers. Then, as the fog finally clears, Trey and Mike are revealed to be playing while jumping on trampolines - all while playing some of the most amazing music I have ever heard all without skipping a beat. Mind=BLOWN. Deal = sealed.

This is a deceptively fiery show! The Spring '94 arrangement of Magilla is awesome, and though this version doesn't have the Cosmic Country Horns like 4.4, 4.15, and 5.4, I think this is the best of the six played that Spring. Great Gin(!), Julius, and Stash jams litter the first frame as well. The second frame has a nice Reba with a pretty good peak and a little Machine Gun Trey, a decent Mike's Groove, and a good Slave. The Little Drummer Boy infused Big Ball Jam is cool too. Perhaps the only Big Ball Jam I've heard that I might listen to again.

Highlights: Magilla, Gin, Reba

Far from a highlight of '94. However, for being only the fifth show of the year, it exceeded my exceptions.

Taking a Greyhound Bus up from the previous show at Penn State, We arrived at the Broome County Arena and found a couple of parking lots full of Phish concert goers. Something that never manifested at the show before. Guessing we were moving back closer to the fan base... The Arena was a typical small city hockey rink and was substantially bigger than the Rec Hall from the night before.

Forget exactly what the circumstances were, but a friend and I passed through the gate just as the music had started, and dashed through one of the entrances into the seating area. We started groovin to the music for a bit, then realized we had ended up right next to some friends from back home!

This show may come across as a hidden gem to some folks. I can remember, even after amassing a huge tape collection a couple years later, this was always a favorite. Really enjoyed the whole show, but wearing out the old tape deck most of all was the Mike's!! It got into this metallic screeching extra terrestrial sounding cries that really seemed to tap into a new level of communication...Love it, just love it...

A final memory from this show was arriving home to find out that Kurt Cobain from Nirvana had killed himself while we were away.

For those who were knowledgeable Phish fans and attended this show, it goes down as one of the best. I’m amazed at the lack of love for this show. I guess it may have to do with the lack of an amazing quality tape. But let me tell you why...

It was a beautiful night. You had kids from many colleges descending into Binghamton from all over. What that meant was - kids from Syracuse met up w their pals from Binghamton and Cornell and All over. The lot scene was magical and this is before phones, so it just all happened. On the marquis it said “Reba McIntyre” and Phish “sold out.” Believe me My friend and I made note of the Reba mention...more on that...

I was GA floor up front between Trey and Mike. Magilla opener!!! What?? That didn’t happen very often if ever. Fishman with just a raging New Orleans groove. Page’s opening licks were just stellar, Trey’s solo was so tasty and then Fishman did a solo!! What a start.

After super solid Rift and Wilson, an absolute tight Gin that was so sticky and slinky.

Another thing - this show was the first I saw since Hoist was out. Full disclosure - didn’t like the album at first. I was into the jamming and this album had little - save for the Melt jam after Demand. So when Julius started, we were primed from the amazing start of the set, but still had to be convinced. I think Trey knew this as well and holy f*** was that convincing. He just RIPPED.

The Stash was great and the Coil was gorgeous to end the set...always love when Page gets to say - “stick around.”

As we sat in the GA floor going over the first set, we were psyched and ready for the next set and....

Sample - rocking as always
And then - perhaps one of the all time best Reba jams that never gets discussed. Yes - there was a little feedback but once the jam starts...oh man. It’s just so good.

Peaches!!!

An always welcome Big Ball Jan and then...
Demand debut! Wow! Nice but what would it go into?

MIKES
- ok now during this Mikes Trey started playing with his pedals in a way that he hadn’t ever before. It was menacing. Angry. Dramatic. This was when Kuroda let loose with what seemed like the most fog/smoke ever during the Mikes jam and only had slow strobes. You actually couldn’t see the band or basically anything more than a foot in front of you. Just strobes and then that crazy menacing squibble effect Trey had. When Hydrogen came on it was actually literal Oxygen and I finally took a breath. How do you reward such horror darkness? With an absolute insane Weekapaug-Tela-Slave.

Come on people!! This is up there w 12/30/93

This was a different kind of show. My Friend and I drove from Penn State the Night before. The town was really sleepy and kind of depressed but the locals were very cool. Entering the show I remember cops searching us and I was really shocked. Any way. The real highlight of this show is the squirming coil. The whole show was general admission in a hockey arena and everybody was tired of getting pushed around and by the end of the first set the scene was the concourse of the arena. So were just sitting there..Page is making things beautiful and it was blissful.
Second set happens but then the encore...I remember a bunch of us took off running when highway to hell hit and we just boogied around the whole concourse while those couple of cops just looked at us like wtf is happening. I remember the conversation afterwards was like...let's not tell anybody how cool this is and maybe nobody will find out....

This was my first full show in nearly a year my last show was a one set HORDE thing which while fun didn't exactly give me my fix. This was the largest venue I had seen them at and I was pretty amazed at how quickly they blew up. By this time I was pretty well into the music and I knew most of the songs and was a bit more critical of everything. NOt that that's a good thing.
So Magilla opener was a wonderful way to start the show. I thought I would see a lot more of them and I did but never solo like this. This was a night of firsts for me which worked out great because I was ready to see some different stuff live. Wilson,Gin,Peaches and of course Demand were all first timers for me. Other than that I thought the Mike's Song really worked well with the large crowd. This was also my first Slave which is really just a majestic big room kind of a song. After this show I was completely totally hooked and I made it my mission to see every show i could.

The first set of this show is pretty mish mashy. But you get a lot out of a slightly stretched Gin with the guys feeling it out a little bit. Julius has an explosive and unique solo in it that I quite like. Stash is perfectly executed as is Coil. The set as a whole is very well played, despite a little bit of an awkward flow to it all.

Set two is mostly all around excellent. Of course we have to mention the Reba which is just a gorgeous rendition and so well executed. Peaches > BBJ, Demand is a kind of off part of the set but doesn't take up much time anyways. Mikes Song is strong and powerful and the Groove in general is just spot on excellence. One thing that for sure needs to be mentioned is how fantastic the Slave is from this set. It has literally everything you would want. Well played verses, patient build, and an outstanding peak. It is a version I will most definitely be going back to for years to come. Cavern does what it does closing the set.

Very typical encore that's fun but that's about it.

Overall a gem from early 1994 that is in the same vein as some of the great Summer 1993 shows.

While there was nothing extremely notable to say about the music itself, this was a top-bottom GREAT SHOW.

First set: This was the best first set since the tour opener in Burlington. Great versions of Magilla, Gin, Julius and Stash. Additionally, it was a phenomenally flowing set. Rather than seeing forced Hoist tracks mixed in the set, the song choices were very well planned. The only questionable call was the Rift IMO, but the Rift, Gin>Nellie Kane sandwich is nice. Additionally I LOVE the Squirming Coil as a set closer.

Stash was particularly chaotic with some crazy shredding from Trey. A pretty good listen.

Second set: Good start with sample, followed by an ok Reba. Reba was looming on greatness but Trey was really sloppy on the build up hitting a lot of flat sounding notes. He redeems himself with a good peak.

Peaches was great to follow Reba, as Reba is speculated to be a Zappa inspired piece. A fun Big Ball/Little Drummer boy jam. Solid Mike's followed by a pretty good Weekapaug featuring a fun vocal jam. Tela seemed a little out of place after 'paug but otherwise the ending of Slave and Cavern fit well.

Final Thoughts: This would have been a great show to be at, and easily was the best show of the run since the tour opener.

Highlights: Gin, Stash, Weekapaug Groove

Forgot to mention the Reba; It's a beauty!