I believe this is my second show, my first show was also at the Front. It's been pretty difficult to figure out which Front shows I saw. There was also two Front shows I attended where they had a guest fiddle player (called The Fiddler by many fans), one of them being my first show. This one stands out in my memory for the Bike > Whipping Post ending, I believe Fishman played guitar on Whipping Post as well as singing it. Mike's Song was crackling with energy, along with several other tunes that night. I remember Trey and Mike doing the trampolines in synch with a strobe light during the jam in Mikes Song, and thinking how cool it was. This was the show that really turned me into a fan, I started seeing them more regularly after this night. The Front was a great venue, I saw many cool bands there along with 6 or 7 Phish shows. I remember seeing Blues Traveler there in 1990, with Trey sitting in with them for most of the night. It wasn't a big place, I would say the capacity was around 500 at the most. It was sad day when it closed, and then turned into a ski shop. I hope in future more recordings, or even set lists from Front shows will turn up. I remember talking to the owner of the place one night, and he said he had soundboard tapes of just about every gig ever played there. Hopefully those will see the light of day sometime soon. Or better yet maybe Phish will release a Front box set, similar to the Roxy box set that came out a while back. There's really not much high quality stuff available from that era.

Not really a personal review, but Chris Kuroda mentioned this show during a jambase interview. Said it would be his first choice if there ever was a "Chris's picks" series.

Thought it would be worth mentioning since it's an 'extra special' type of review.

Here is the link: http://www.jambase.com/Articles/3882/GO-TOWARDS-THE-LIGHT-%7C-CHRIS-KURODA

This was a nice early 1989 show to listen to. Esther has its regular story now, Foam is still really new, and the Sloth has a weird ending to it. Weekapaug is still pretty new for them too. Nice second set. Alumni has the extra lyrics in it, Fee is still played a half step up, and it’s funny to hear the fast version of Sanity to open the third set. I feel this is a defining moment in Phish history as you get the double shot of Fishman at the end with a sloppy Bike, and then the first Fish led Whipping Post!!! I think the idea of letting him lead one song every show is starting to blossom.

One of the single best Possum's I've heard. Makisupa is worth it's weight at this time too.

The first half of this show is a pretty good SBD. However, from Timber through the end of the show the sound worsens and the pitch is noticeably slower for Set 3.

With that said, the show opens with the new and current version of Esther as we know of her today. It may’ve been played since it’s debut on 9-12-88 but no recording is known to circulate. Beautiful version here! At the start a heckler in the audience says something along the lines of “Fucking crappy(?)that’s what it is! Trey humorously responds with “Damn Right!” Which gets some chuckles from his bandmates. lol This segues nicely into McGrupp and Foam. Sloth is new and improved as well like we saw at the Paradise. Also, like the Paradise version this one segues into Possum exactly the same way! Really cool transition! The transition, like the Paradise, almost sounds composed before turning over to Possum proper.

A couple notes for Set 2, Dinner and a Movie started out with just Trey and didn’t have him saying “everybody put your hands together one time now” at the end like previous versions. Like the Paradise, AC/DC didn’t have an introduction. This may be a thing of the past at this point. Alumni again featured alternate lyrics like the Paradise’s version and the version from The Red Barn (12-10-88).

Set 3 kicked off with another fast version of Sanity. Bike segued into the first Fishman version of Whipping Post! It’s not listed in the notes but it almost sounds like he’s playing the vacuum? This versions hilarious and is definitely a show highlight!

Good show overall. It’s too bad the sound quality takes a nose dive after Lizards.