Monday, 04/04/1994

The Flynn Theatre, Burlington, VT

 

Kicking off tour with a benefit at the Flynn… a special night, I’m quite certain, for anyone in attendance. I have never been to the Flynn, but looking at pics online I can see it is tiny and beautiful.

 

Show opens with a quick “Back in My Hometown” before launching into Divided Sky. Can’t think of a better way to open the year… and my blog in proper.

 

It’s Friday, so I’m working, but listening to my first 1994 show 20 years later was a fairly easy task. Knocked out a couple of expense reports. Paused the show to hop on a call with my boss and a couple of other business calls… otherwise, I got to listen straight through. I think I can do this!!

 

This tour is brutal. 5 to 6 shows a week from now until July 16th with very few breaks. What was I thinking?

 

About the show: Well, set one features the first Mule-Duel. Wonder what people thought of that madness. The Maze and the Reba both sucked me in for close listening… and don’t slouch on the insane It’s Ice breakdown with a full-on Hey Bulldog jam!

 

But it’s the 2nd set that really shines. The first DwD is at least interesting. The first If I Could is gorgeous, to say the least.

 

Then: the meat and potatoes of the show… the HORNS!!! One of things I loved right away on Hoist was the use of horns on a few key tracks. I had hopes for a full-on horns tour, or at least segment of tour. Alas, there are just a couple of show with horns. This is one!

 

I love that this segment opens with Buried Alive, too. It really signifies a new beginning to the show.

 

The rest of the night just crackles with energy. You can tell how excited the band is to introduce these new tunes with the help of the horn section. The energy is palpable. Julius is groovy as hell. Trey is in machine-gun mode, but it’s so loose at the same time. Cannot wait to hear all these early versions of Julius and see how they settle into it.

 

And can we please talk about how fucking groovy this Wolfman’s is?? Holy crap. I know it’s an “Alumni” jam… all I’m saying is it SMOKES!!

 

The rest of the set is straight fire, too, including the stellar encore. If you haven’t listened to this one, you should.

 

And with that… We’re off to the races! Wish me luck!

 

Thanks for reading.

Monday, 04/04/1994

The Flynn Theatre, Burlington, VT

 

Set 1: Divided Sky, Sample in a Jar, Scent of a Mule, Maze, Fee > Reba, Horn > It’s Ice > Possum

 

Set 2: Down with Disease > If I Could, Buried Alive, The Landlady, Julius, Magilla, Split Open and Melt, Wolfman’s Brother > I Wanna Be Like You, The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony > Suzy Greenberg

 

Encore: Harry Hood, Cavern

 

Notes: This show, a benefit for The Flynn Theatre, featured many debuts, including Scent of a Mule, If I Could, Wolfman’s Brother, Julius, and the full Down with Disease. I Wanna Be Like You also made its Phish debut. The show kicked off with an a cappella line of Back In My Hometown. Reba contained A-Hunting We Will Go teases from Trey and Mike and It’s Ice contained Hey Bulldog (Beatles) teases. Buried Alive through I Wanna Be Like You and Suzy Greenberg featured The Giant Country Horns: Mike Gallick on baritone sax, Carl “Geerz” Gerhard on trumpet, Dave “The Truth” Grippo on alto sax, Don Glasgo on trombone, Chris Peterman on tenor sax, and Joey Sommerville on trumpet. Magilla was played slightly differently than most versions, with more of a shuffle beat. Wolfman’s contained an Alumni Blues jam. Suzy contained Horn introductions and a HYHU tease from Page. Before and after Hood, Trey updated the crowd on the score of the Duke – Arkansas NCAA championship basketball game. Cavern, which contained the old, alternate lyrics, featured Gerhard on trumpet.

 

Setlist courtesy of phish.net.