This early summer weekend was to be my first time seeing Phish on back to back days. Over the course of the two shows I became aware of the striking effects that set and setting can have on the way the events of a Phish show can play out. On the 24th, I spent the day at a wine festival in the Poconos with my girlfriend (now my former roommate Rocky's wife) and a long-time friend and Phish companion who goes by the name of Motorhead. It was sticky and moist all day and I had a pretty decent wine buzz when we settled into our eighth row center seats. A fourth ticket, which I had been unable to convince my roommate to take, was traded in the lot for five dollars and a hug to a passing "wookstress".

I had also heard in great detail from several people how the Canandaigua Fleezer had either sucked harder or flown higher than anything else Phish had ever done before or could conceivably do in the years to come. There is nothing like being down in front. Being that close to the band for the first time since the 1993 Weedsport show was cool. It is much harder to be distracted by the fog that surrounds when seated only a few dozen feet from the monitors. I was fully immersed in the sounds cascading off the stage while having the opportunity to watch how they were produced close up.

The first set seemed to be all about the letter S ("Spock's Brain", "Stash", "Silent in the Morning", and "Squirming Coil"). S is for spooky, S is for spacey, S is for stupefying, and S is for scary. The second set was all of these things. The "2001," "Halley's Comet," "David Bowie" opening triad tore the roof off of my skull, dumped out its contents, and replaced them with fluorescent neon liquid metallic goo. I was ecstatic, I was chaotic, I was psychotic, I was catatonic, and the universe imploded upon itself to become an infinitely dense, infinitely small, gravitational singularity intent on erasing any memory or shard of my existence in consensual reality. Then"...just when I needed it most"...the band tossed me a "Lifeboy." Shell-shocked, I eased back into reality just in time for a rocking "Suzy Greenberg" and a near-transcendent "Harry Hood." The "Axis: Bold As Love" encore was perfect.

The next day, Motorhead blew out of town toward Albany and a Monday night show at SPAC. Rocky and I made our way down to the Northeast Taproom to climb aboard Uncle Pete's "Phish Bus." Unlike the previous Taproom trip to the 10/7/1994 Lehigh show in a fifteen passenger van, this "Phish Bus" was an actual bus. Plush seats, three kegs on tap, and a full spread of the various Pennsylvanian meatsticks were laid out for our enjoyment. Pit stops included the "K-Mart Brew Pub" for a taste of their generic microbrew and a round of reinforced Margaritas at a nearby Mexican restaurant. I say reinforced because Pete ordered an extra round of kisses from the Mexican Cousin to supplement the quantity of distilled Agave which the cocktail contained.

By the time we hit the lot, I was spinning and reeling, so I kissed a set of pink and blue lips, let the El Camino reel me in and got spun around the block once again. Somehow, I found my way into the show. The show opened to the sun-drenched tropical groove of "Ya Mar", which was buoyant and tight and slid nicely into "AC/DC Bag." As the "Bag" spiraled toward its short, sharp, shock I was jettisoned into the stratosphere high above the Mann Center. I would learn much later that evening from a quite terrified Rocky that I had vaporized and disintegrated on the breeze before his eyes. He had immediately run from the venue to hide under the bus"...which is where I found him three hours later.

I was out of body until deep into the second set. When I suddenly reincorporated, I found that I was grooving hard on the back of the lawn with a cute girl I did not know who was screaming at me in unison with Fishman "Why Don't we do it in the Roooooooaaaaad?" Confused by the question, my current location, a two hour loss of time, and the rather surprising onset of darkness, I declined, turned, and ran like an antelope, convinced I had once again been victimized by alien abduction. I could smell burnt mule-flesh and laser beams, and I hate laser beams. I spent the encore, which consisted of "Bouncing" and "Slave," tracking down the remaining stray molecules of my previous form on a meandering path that cut back and forth through the lawn and back down into the pavilion. Finding no Rocky at the seats, I made my way out to the lot to find him under the bus. Things have never quite been the same between us since.

The end of this David Bowie is stupid good.

Listen to the Bowie.

This is a pretty strong show. It's got a lot of solid and unique things sprinkled throughout the show.

I really enjoy the segue into Rift in its prized 2nd song slot to get things rolling. Stash is very strong and intense as it should be. Coil has a notably beautiful piano solo at it's end that I like better than most.

They burn through a couple quick tunes to start set 2 until they unearth another massive Bowie. This bowie does not follow the same rules as a 94' Bowie. It drops into some nice spooky space for a little bit before rising from the ashes into a fireball, fantastic version. Suzy Greenburg is also a notably solid version minus some of the quirkiness at parts. Hoods Mr. Miner section is insane and unique, Fish nails the entire transition section. This set feels more strung together then dense but everything is still pretty well played.

Bold as Love is a standout thanks to Trey's explosive solo, very inspired version.

This is my all-time favorite Hood. It doesn't depart at all from thoroughly charted territory (save and except an early vocal flub from Mike that results in some pretty amusing cover-up). But if you think a song has to "go Type II" before it's worth your valuable time, you're doing yourself a tremendous disservice. This Hood is beautiful, sublime, transcendent...

Bowie's good too. But, honestly, if I could only listen to one of the two, forevermore, I wouldn't hesitate to choose the Hood.

^ and the stash!

PHISH, SATURDAY 06/24/1995
THE MANN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
Philadelphia, PA
SET 1:

Fee[1] Standard >

Rift: Standard.

Spock's Brain: Standard.

Julius: Smokes!

Glide: Standard.

Mound: Standard.

Stash: Do you like tension and release Stash jams? This one has that in spades. A huge amount of tension is built in this one. Good first release. The second build up is even more impressive. Hold on to your hats, this Stash is intense! Would recommend!

The Horse > Silent in the Morning: Standard.

The Squirming Coil: Very nice Page solo.

SET 2:

Also Sprach Zarathustra: Standard. >

Halley's Comet: Standard. >

David Bowie: Sounds like a brief Bathtub Gin tease around 11:50 from Trey. During this time, things are very dissonant. Evil and uncomfortable just listening at home on tape. Towards the late 18’s they are finally making efforts to drag this one out of the murky depths. By the twenty-minute mark this one is raging! This version isn’t for everyone. I would be willing to wager those folks that prefer 3.0 (lol) would not love this Bowie. I personally would recommend. It’s a monster and it’s evil.

Lifeboy: This was a welcome breather!

Suzy Greenberg: Very cool how Trey plays Lifeboy licks right before the first Suzy refrain.

Harry Hood: You can feel good about this one, Trey really leans into that Leslie. Would recommend!

Acoustic Army: For an amphitheater crowd on a Saturday night, this one is very quiet and respectful. Trey takes note and thanks the audience.

Sweet Adeline: Standard.

Golgi Apparatus: Standard.

ENCORE:

Bold As Love: Trey gushes about how great the audience was again.

Summary: Very good show. 4/5.

Replay Value: Stash, David Bowie, Harry Hood

[1] Trey sang verses through megaphone.

Trey sang the verses of Fee through a megaphone. Suzy contained a Lifeboy tease from Trey. After Acoustic Army, Trey thanked the crowd for being so quiet. The band then proceeded to don surgical masks for Adeline. The masks were provided by a fan in the front – Trey thanked him for the “hats.” The encore was preceded by Random Note and Simpsons signals.
JAM CHART VERSIONS
Julius, Stash, David Bowie, Harry Hood
TEASES

Yikes, Spock's Brain then Julius then Glide then Mound is pretty rough. This Stash is thoroughly creepy and definitely worth a listen, but it carries way too heavy a load in a first set that has at least 4 justifiable spots for a bathroom break.

All the comments about this Bowie are justified. It's crazy. Has an almost Tweezer feel to it. Really disjointed jam. It's still tied together enough to be enjoyable (unlike the Tweezer from a couple nights prior), but certainly not your run of the mill Bowie. The ending is absolute chaos, and tightly executed.

I love me some mid-set Hood. The two songs following don't really keep the party going in any meaningful way but still cool to set a non-second set closer Hood.