Friday, 04/08/1994  

Recreation Hall, Penn State University, State College, PA

 

It’s Tuesday morning for me… listening to a Friday night show. Man, this sucks. Friday night in a college town sounds so much better than Tuesday morning with financial reports to get done. Such is life.

This recording is muddy as hell… probably why I’ve never really given this show a proper listen before. But it starts off with an intense Maze. What the hell is going on here? No warm-up??

First set then settles in a bit. One of the things I want to learn during this year of listening is when, exactly, did Page make the transition from piano to Rhodes for the PYITE intro? I know he plays Rhodes in the December versions, but he’s still on piano here. Hmmm.

Also worth noting, the DwD does not quite hit the same crazy peak as the last DwD from the other day, but it’s pretty good. The If I Could, on the other hand, hits a glorious peak! And Llama as an energetic set closer certainly leaves ‘em wanting more!

And more they get – diving right into an intense Melt followed by a gorgeous McGrupp!

Then a whole blog post could be dedicated to the madness inside this It’s Ice, but you should really just hear it for yourself. Wow! After the “Hey Bulldog” Ice from the Flynn then this gem, it would seem Ice was headed toward song of the year.

And again, I’m amazed at how enthused the crowd is for Sparkle. They love it.

The rest of the set is pure fire, too. A great Hood (though, again, I’m looking forward to hearing the maturation of Hood as the year progresses). A killer Bowie and Zep’d-out Suzy.

And, the classic Contact>BBFCFM encore (with a guest appearance by the one and only Mimi Fishman) is tons of fun.

A great show that just made my morning slide right by! Reports submitted!

Thanks for reading.

Friday, 04/08/1994

Recreation Hall, Penn State University, State College, PA

Set 1: Maze, Glide, Foam, I Didn’t Know, Punch You In the Eye, The Horse > Silent in the Morning > Down with Disease, If I Could, Lawn Boy, Llama

Set 2: Split Open and Melt, McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters, It’s Ice -> Digital Delay Loop Jam -> It’s Ice > Sparkle > Harry Hood, Bouncing Around the Room, Big Ball Jam -> David Bowie, Suzy Greenberg

Encore: Contact > Big Black Furry Creature from Mars

Notes: The beginning of The Horse featured Trey on acoustic guitar. It’s Ice contained the first digital delay loop jam. Suzy included a Stairway to Heaven tease from Trey as well as Misty Mountain Hop and Owner of a Lonely Heart teases. I Didn’t Know included Mimi Fishman on cymbals. Mimi also counted off the break in BBFCFM.

Setlist courtesy of phish.net.

 

Key tracks:

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1994-04-08/it-s-ice-digital-delay-loop-jam-it-s-ice

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1994-04-08/if-i-could