Following on the heels of 8/21, this show, performed a week later is very similar to the Ian's show. There are high quality AUD recordings available on the spreadsheet, the band is surrounded by friends and dogs in an open setting, and Phish plays 3 long sets featuring long exploratory jams that weren't common when the band played more public venues (...yet!). If you liked 8/21, you should also pick up this show, as it has very similar features and contains a handful of songs that weren't played the previous week.

As the liner notes say, the band played this show for Eric Larson, who watched Marley when Trey was away. Marley barks throughout the show and Trey commonly sings to her. Listen for references to her the whole show.

On to the music...set one starts out with a blistering Alumni with Wilson teases and Marley calls. From the get-go, it is clear that Fish has really been practicing. He's on point the whole show and has improved immensely since the Spring. A quiet Curtis Loew follows. Sneakin Sally here is great. A vocal jam with tribal screaming ensues and the band breaks back into the jam, which closes with some nice Trey work.

Makisupa is looong, very slow, and features some hazy layers from Trey and Page, including that weird scratching effect Trey uses on the 3/13/92 Campus Club Antelope. It's a nice jam actually, a very relaxing Makisupa. BBFCFM rages here but Flat Fee calms everyone down. The last vocals-included version of Lushington is next. It seems like the band finally has a handle on the song, but I guess they thought otherwise. This is clearly the best version of the song, definitely worth a spin if you haven't heard the song yet.

The band teases Fish with HYHU before moving into a slow and goofy Suzy. Both Trey and Mike tease HYHU during the song. There's also a Phil Collins Psuedio tease from Trey in there if you listen carefully. At the end of the jam, Trey screams 'Wait a minute...' while the band launches into a James Brown-like Jam. The precursor to the 'WAIT' the band would play a few years later perhaps?

Anyways, Mustang Sally is next, and the band slays it. Don't know why they don't bring this one back. Afterwards, the band teases 'Surfin Bird', you know, the Papa-Oom-mow-mow song. Then, in an interesting historical moment, Trey asks someone from the audience, who is a doctor, whether Golgi is pronounced Gol-gee or gol-ghee! (Interesting in that Trey actually is pronouncing it incorrectly and just realizes it here. It's Gol-gee!) Trey announces that it's the 'mar-mar' gig, and they play Ya Mar for her, with plenty of references for her in the song. A pretty TMWSIY is next, which ends the long set.

Set 2 opens with Clod, but seems like it's missing the attack of other versions. Slave is really pretty here, one of the first versions to sound anything like what the band plays today. One of the best versions of the year. Chariot is short, and the Curtain jam just kind of fizzles out. McGrupp is very spirited, and was featured on an Archives set from Kevin Shapiro (maybe at 8?). This is probably as short as the song can get and still be complete, but it's well played from beginning to end. It flows nicely into a jam that morphs into Possum.

Hood features a nicely drawn out intro and the jam starts as a lullabye, but ends with nice Trey work and the same draw over the chords as the 8/21 version. If you like dissonance, check out this Timber - loud and screechy! Bag is standard. Divided Sky is in short form, but is really fast. The most interesting part of the set features a Harpua>Bundle of Joy> Harpua except, perhaps for the only time, features an ending jam complete with some additional lyrics from Trey. Is it blasphemous to say that this is the best ending to Harpua there is? Take a listen for yourself and see!

A screechingly short La Grange and a standard Corinna preceed a very interesting Mike's. Besides being the first pairing of its long-time life partner Hydrogen, this version actually has the real feel of today's Mike's. Another screeching jam is in this Mike's which teases AC/DC bag for a bit. Hydrogen isn't standard here, but contains POETIC LYRICS, and contains the beautiful second jam which moves into Who Do We Do. Awesome stuff here.

Bowie contains some meat here as well, as there are TMWSIY teases from Trey, and a full band jam on Bad to the Bone for 3 minutes. It's pretty much a cover except for the lyrics and smoothly glides into JJLC. She Caught the Katy is a short closer, but nothing really to write home about.

I really like the Alumni and Makisupa from the first set. Lushington is the one you should get if you want 1 version of the song. I'd also pick out the Mustang Sally, which really represents a solid '87 jam. Personally, the Harpua is a favorite of mine, if only for the way they bring closure to the song in a unique way, much more so than 8/21. I also like the first pairing of Mikes>Hydrogen (with lyrics)>Who do We Do. It's a long show, so definitely pick and choose here as many of these songs were outshined on 8/21. If you don't have an 87 show, this is a nice choice.

Papa-Oom-mow-mow...

I really don't think you could ask for much more from an 80s show than what's offered here. There are numerous strong jams as noted on the charts but my favorite part of the show is the jam that bridges Hydrogen and Who Do? We Do!. That's just one of the several great segments found in each of the three sets. Highly recommended.

Listened to this show at the suggestion of the Undermine podcast. After listening to some of the even earlier Phish (first show in '83, 10/15/86, 10/31/86), I can definitely see how this show serves as an exemplary sample of the invention Phish was going through in '87. Relics of the pre-Junta band--such as the disassembled pieces of Fluff's Travels, the original intro to AC/DC Bag, and since-abandoned covers like Swing Low Sweet Chariot--mix well with the elements that would become commonplace and definitive for Phish through the late 80s and beyond--among them a Mike's->Hydrogen, sung lyrics to McGrupp, and most importantly improvisational jams that are simultaneously exploratory and directed. With Page fitting more comfortably into the band and Trey employing a playstyle more distinct from that of his predecessors (10/15/86 sounds especially Garcia-inspired), these August '87 shows really pinpoint a formative moment in the band's career and identity.

The .net jam charts pick out most of the same highlights that I might: berserk Sneakin' Sally VJ, blissfully serene Makisupa solo, epically grand Curtain With jam, and must-hear David Bowie->JJLC foreshadows the mega-jam vehicle role the former tune would take on throughout 1.0 and beyond. I also found it interesting to hear some of the earlier versions of tunes like Suzy Greenberg, BBFCFM (which I admittedly liked considerably better than later, crazier performances), and Divided Sky. Definitely recommend taking a listen to this show if you're interested in some of the band's roots.

More good stuff from 1987 here, and another long show gives you lots of songs to check out. Again SlavePhan has done a great job of reviewing this one so I don't have much to add other than check this out if you're in the mood for some old school jamming from '87.

Really good exploratory music this early on. Craziest Sneakin Sally I've ever heard. The AUD copy i am listeninng to sounds incredible for such an early recording of the band...Great show!

At around the 10:58 mark there are some Streets of Cairo teases by Trey.

To be added to the show notes.

David Bowie was unfinished and contained a short LaGrange jam