12/28/90
First set: definitely had its moments, ie Llama (raging; trey's non-stop solo over end lyrics), Forbins->Mockingbird (flawless; page escp creative and jazzy in forbs). Bit sloppy on others. Disappointed w/ both mike's and weekapaug. Both started off strong but ended rough.

Second set: Killer landlady. Slop returns in possum then *click*--> ABSOLUTE SMOKE JOB. Squirming Coil --> Tweezer-->Manteca-->Tweezer- "why I listen to phish" moment. Transcendent full band jam out of coil --> tweezer. scream out/play manteca, gordo switches on groovy effect, solid jam, then tension/release through tempo slow-down, into tweezer to tie things up into pretty bow. Daring and creative; band pulls out early top-notch segment here imho. Love the Sweet One/Divided combo. Split on Divided though- Page/Mike superbly playful in 1st half; trey hard to listen to in the 2nd. No Good Trying- LOL contrast between the virtuosic page/popper dueling and the vac solo. Dont Get Me Wrong (last time played) nice 4 minute vocal jam (kinda like wolfman's). Funky Bitch=not too shabby.

Encore: Bouncing and HtH just dont work together. harsh contrast in styles.

Major Highlight (squirming through tweezer) + Highlights (llama, forbs/mock, landlady, possum, No Good Trying, Dont get me wrong) - hard to take down moments (end of mikes/paug/dividedsky) = 4.0

I would love to get my hands on this show. It was my first show. does any one know where I can download it? Please help.

Set 2 of this show was another one of the first few tapes I ever had. The music in solid and steady all the way through Divided Sky, but of course it is the John Popper guest segment that puts this show ahead of others from this era. This performance of Don't Get Me Wrong deserves to be more well known. The crowd is really loud and enthusiastic, especially for a soundboard tape. You can hear that the band is pumped up and responding to the support. And it was only going to get better...

12/28 shows tend to be overlooked, and the first one ever doesn't do the date many favors at the start. Quite the shaky 1st quarter to this show, some weird audio issues as well as overall iffy playing through the middle of Reba. It's only the third-ever Horn, definitely leaves a lot to be desired and it's impressive how far this little ballad has come. In the middle of the Reba jam, it feels like Trey relaxes and the band gets locked in, and for the rest of the show they are tighter, more confident, more what I expect from 1990 Phish. Llama is *hot*, my first set highlight.

Set 2 on phish.in sounds even better. The Coil outro jam is actually quite funky, not the usual Page solo - my favorite thing in the show to this point. There is a weird, choppy segue into Tweezer and some quality jamming, mixing in Manteca into what I believe is the first-ever Tweezer sandwich!! It sounds like they're having way more fun than the beginning of set 1. Page goes bananas in Divided Sky and we land in the Fishman segment, which is a riot . . . and then Popper shows up part-way through to yet more sparkle. Must've been a blast to be at this show as it just keeps getting better and more fun. There's a very YEM-like VJ in Don't Get me Wrong, and another dose of Popper in Funky Bitch before winding down with a standard encore.

Coil and the Tweezer sandwich are definitely worth a listen, as is Llama. The whole John Popper sequence works quite well, he's always blended better with the band than some other special guests.

The recording starts off with a beautiful digital audience recording of the PA music. This cuts out and the show comes back on with a decent DSBD recording. Mike and Fish are pretty high in the mix. The recording levels drop about 4 minutes into Jim.

Solid version of Jim to kick off the New Years run. They pair this up with a nice version of Foam. The first Horn since Townshend this summer is up next and has a newly composed mid section. Not a perfectly executed version but this is in line with what eventually ends up on Rift. Reba and Llama are well played. No Gamehendge rap between Forbin>Mockingbird. Pretty straightforward Mike’s Groove. Golgi closes out the first half.

The Landlady cuts in to open set 2. Good Possum with a cool ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ ending. Coil features the first extended outro that ventures into hints of Manteca but instead changes directions and segues smoothly into Tweezer! Tweezer has some Manteca quotes from Trey before segueing into Manteca proper. This segues back into Tweezer beautifully. A somewhat shaky Oh Kee Pa is paired up with MSO. Solid Sky. No Good Trying makes it’s final appearance, this time with Popper joining in during Fish’s vac solo! Popper even joins in on HYHU. lol “Henrietta and friend!” John sticks around for the song Trey and he wrote over summer break, Don’t Get Me Wrong. Extra long vocal jam. They close out the set with a Popper infused Bitch. Straightforward Bouncin’/Highway to Hell in the encore slot.