1991! In my attempt to faithfully listen to every Phish show ever played, I have finally made it through 1990, a year filled with great Possums, David Bowies, and a hell of a lot of traditional Mike's Grooves. I'd be lying if I said that 1990 hadn't started to get a little grating by the end. Things started to get a little too repetitive, and while it was cool to hear the debut of songs like Llama, Tweezer, Coil, Cavern, Tube, and Stash, my enthusiasm had become deflated by the end of the year after listening to almost literally 100 renditions of Bouncing Around the Room. BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THAT! On to a new show, a new year, and new songs!

Unfortunately, it might have been a bit too optimistic to assume that only a month off would have produced a completely new Phish, ready for liftoff into the Type II stratosphere. The good news is that Phish is still a great band with great songs, and the month off gave them some time to write some new songs and recapture any lost momentum from the disappointing close to 1990!

The show starts off with a bouncy My Sweet One followed by a decent Foam. Tweezer follows, and it's probably one of the better versions of the song up to that point. It doesn't leave its decidedly repetitive groove much, but Trey plays some cool licks, the SBD is nice, and it's followed by the first ever Tweezer Reprise. It's strange hearing it immediately after Tweezer, but it works. Magilla is after that and it features a drum part from Fish that's so different it almost feels like a new song. It's definitely worth hearing, but not in the "that was awesome" kind of way, unfortunately. It does feature a great, real Fish drum solo, though!

Aside: I love that Phish is the kind of band that is willing to debut songs that are occasionally unpolished just to get the crowd reaction. It's that kind of daring that gave us the (in my opinion) excellent 10/31/13 and (in everyone's opinion) excellent 10/31/14 shows. That particular brand of bravery was on display again tonight (as it was on 9/13/90) as the band debuted three new tunes. Guelah Papyrus, a fan favorite appears for the first time at this show, and it's pretty sloppy. Still, I think The Asse Festival works better when paired with Guelah.

The end of Runaway Jim is butchered pretty badly, but results in an interesting semi-acapella outro that's worth hearing. Bouncing is pretty sloppy (and I have a well-tuned ear to that after 80+ versions in 1990, so trust me), and the set ends with a standard Bowie except for the thrilling coda!

Set 2 opens with the first ever Chalk Dust Torture, and it's pretty great. This is one of my all-time favorite Phish songs, so it was definitely cool to hear in this spot. Reba has an average jam and a lot of slop in the outro. The Landlady is pretty average too.

The Mango Song is finally back! It's been over a year, but The Mango Song sounds well practiced with great precision from Trey on the highly specific guitar runs. It is a good version of the song and worth mentioning due to just to the fact that it's been such a long time since the song was played live. It had been so long, in fact, that Trey actually noted that it was a completely new song!

Cavern and Alumni close the show in a truncated fashion (stupid Brown curfew), leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. The show was solid and had some great moments, but it never really got a chance to get going. I'm going to go with 3/5 stars on this one, but it's easily as good of a show as almost anything you could pick out of a hat from 1990...Read: It's worth a listen.

The first show of 1991 and it really sets the tone for the rest of the year (and Phish's career).

A typical first show of the year. Lots of new material in its infant form, but also some pretty strong takes from their existing catalog (Reba, Bowie). This all mixes together in a stereotypical warm up show.

The majority of the first set is strung together with the guys dishing out there new material for the first time in a setlist. This doesn't make for any strong or noteworthy versions of anything. But the Bowie that closes the set is pretty strong (as always).

CDT is born to start the first set, and is as straightforward a version as they'll ever play of it. The Reba that follows is superb even for early Phish standards. Mango Song is also pretty strong. And unfortunately just as the momentum slowly grows the guys basically get kicked off stage for curfew. I would guess they had about 20-30mins of material planned for the remainder of the show maybe a little more. It's a shame to think of what could have been played to add to this particular show. I could see a nice Harry Hood or Antelope being tagged at the end of the set. But we will never know!

All in all a 3 star show based on historical value as well as some top notch versions of songs.

Decent SBD albeit a little flat. Big thanks to John Redmond for the source tapes!

An MC introduces the band before they launch into MSO. A beautiful Foam follows. Following Foam Trey mentions that they have about 4-5 new songs. Tweezer’s reworked to the version we know and love today. The jam has hints of Tweezer Reprise. The debut of Tweezer Reprise follows. This version of Magilla starts off with a spunky little groove from Fish and Mike. Cool version! The debut of Guelah Papyrus is up next. There’s a very brief pause following the conclusion of The Asse Festival. Smokin’ Jim but they totally botch the ending. lol There’s tape flip as Jim is ending. The Bowie intro is uneventful. The composed section is sharp. Decent jam but nothing too crazy to close out set 1.

Set 2 opens with the world debut of Chalk Dust. Short little power house. A very enjoyable Reba is up next. Solid Landlady. Mango Song makes it’s return to the stage after a year and half hiatus, last played on 9/16/89. They updated the mid section a bit. During the pause in LTJP Trey says that they won’t forget that this gig was cut short and that they’ll make up for it the next time they’re in town. The venue allows the band to encore with Carolina to end the show.

First ever Tweezer Reprise is epic in my opinion this song became the vehicle for some to most of the greatest Set 2 Alligator Mouths. . .the best shows ever usually include a Tweezer HH Bathtub Gin or Quadrophonic Topplings (like Bug and Wading in the Velvet Sea for 8 hot sweaty greatest epic LEGENDARY hours in Florida as 4 fab men are watching the sun rise as the band gets tired but Phans are presumably and assumable all are still high on THC of course a given but also Shrooms LSD Heroin Coke Meth or all of the above Chalk dust Torture and Reba I wish the band got greater before being born in 1995 (The Summer of 89) but if it were not for 1983-85 Possum and Camel Walk Jeff Holdsworth and Page my favorite fab 4 member joining what will now be the greatest band of all time. . .then we would never step into the Foamy Freezer and realize that TR is now their go too song as encore after obligatory something else. . .This show is important for that probably alone Tweezer Reprise has made entire shows cohesive in 1995 at Pershing and again in 2010 when I went to one of the best shows I ever attended and so SO SO under rated it is not even funny i suppose because it does not have any 3.0 or 4.0 stuff yet to be in the future but Hershey 2010 was amazing even though it had a Sugar Shack i mean i get it . . .it is HOT Chocolate land but the song is still always will be and has remained the worst Mike song to date . . .The irony of it all is i got 2 of the worst debuts of Phish on a really great show 6-7-2009 The show amazing the debuts shit Joy and Sugar Shack i mean come on Phish but Joy I admit never sounded better than its first swing out of the bullpen!!! I liked that initial Joy just like The Life beyond the Dream was best at Blossom 6-19-2019 and Show of Life was almost best at it's 1st debut but that is not true w Show of Life it was great at 6-11 in Chicago where all those Wooks jumped over the rails during Kill Devil Falls because they lack security in Chicago and guns and crime and gangs rule the streets of the most violent city on earth let alone USA but that being said no wonder CHOMPERS got past fences designed to stop 3 yr olds 1st ever Chalkdust Torture I think of Hey Teachers Leave them Kids alone Part 2 Pink Floyd's epic Another Brick in the WALLS!!!! CT is perhaps my favorite song behind Lizards YEM and Wombat HH Reba Esther Tela Horn MFMF They debuted Chalkdust SCRATCH on the whiteboard TORTURE like a 12 hr Shift at Menards waiting for guests to realize we have better prices than Walmart Lowe's and Home Depot combined not to mention we actually care about our customers called service so much we call them guests as if we are inviting them into our fake home and asking for project details it is phony in a small way but so fucking real in a much more authentic way. . .and i get it . . .Cant this wait till i am 39 . . .i never lived in college while i way young anyways if living means getting lots of notches on my belt saying i was a fornicator i cannot say i lived but i did breathe and only scratch one womans back and only mandy got my attention after College and during i was so busy trying to get As and getting that Jimmy Page Alumni Blues degree that i forgot about pussy during the time when men are supposed to only think about spreading their seed and being irresponsible and dumbass horny Americans i was an americannot because i do not need condoms just pull out retards until you can afford seed otherwise just throw your slut off you if she must be on top or you want to have misery and deserve the child care support payments coming your way and or the shitty wife that forced you to have kids w her. . .i never feel sorry for anyone that has kids but I do feel sorry for those that have to live w the shame and guilt of women's rights called death and murder called a woman killing her seed I call that what Jesus Leaving Chicago calls it . . .MURDER!!!!!! Reba is a smoothie Phish jam like what FZappa calls the best jams of Phish like Slave and Back on the Train and Gotta Jibboo his favorite songs and this is a really great REBA I love this song ONLY Esther is a hotter old bitch compared to Reba the witch who makes Purple Potions lol 9yr in 1987 now a 44 yr old cunt that got away from Religions like TULIP Calvinism lies and hopefully also Armenian lies although FREE WILL Armenians are actually on the side of truth but not those with VOODOO DOLLS meaning they are false prophets like Icculus lOL

Tweeprise in the most wonderful place! Magilla > Guelah Papyrus is one of my favorite medleys, I'm partial to Nectar. Then the vibe went sideways fast... =(

Yet, I believe it was truly 6 years 9 months 3 days later that he pulled out the stops that he said he would. Closing Nassau With a Firey Tweeprise, to open next show In PROVIDENCE at Civic Center with a brutally confident Tweezer. It was only the start of that 2 night run's fuse. =)

(~) ;}