Thursday, 04/21/1994

Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Winston-Salem, NC

Monday. Monday. I didn’t even get started listening to this show until late in the day. Too much going on with work. Oh well. At least I was ready for Chalkdust when I go to it. Lord knows I wouldn’t have been in the mood this morning.

This first set is strong. I love the Melt and the Lizards always brings a smile to my face. DwD has settled into the standard jam formula it will hold for most of the year, I’m afraid. The If I Could, though is beautiful, yet again!

Second set starts out so nice. I would have loved this one live! Everything is super-tight and high-energy… and it just builds and builds with no real break until the HUGE Mike’s crashes down into H2. Whew – I’m exhausted just listening! Then the ‘paug just brings it all home. Wow!

The rest of the set is, shall we say, gravy. I mean, listen to the Possum and just marvel at Machine Gun Trey… It’s the most fitting nickname ever given the man.

Then there’s the encore, which for the second night in a row features the opening band… this time playing one of their signature songs (and one of the few covers they played back then). But before Watchtower, we must suffer through “Drums.” Not that it’s a bad little drum jam, but I have always appreciated Phish’s avoidance of the typical drum solo segment each night. It’s one of the things I cannot stand about the second half of the Grateful Dead’s career… and don’t get me started on the myriad other bands who leave the stage to the drummer at some point every damn night.

Sorry for the rant. The Jam out of Drums is pretty cool, honestly, and Watchtower is freaking awesome. I don’t care what you think of DMB these days. Overexposure has killed many a great band. They were a force in their early years and Watchtower has always been a jewel in their crown… Add Phish to it and you’ve got a stellar version of a Dylan classic.

Thanks for reading.

Thursday, 04/21/1994

Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Winston-Salem, NC

Set 1: Chalk Dust Torture, Sparkle > Foam, Glide, Split Open and Melt, The Lizards, Down with Disease > If I Could > Cavern

Set 2: Also Sprach Zarathustra > Maze, Fluffhead > Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Scent of a Mule, Big Ball Jam > Possum, Amazing Grace

Encore: Drums -> Jam -> All Along the Watchtower

Notes: Foam contained a brief Dixie tease from Trey and Possum contained an All Fall Down signal. Hydrogen contained the lyrics “I walk awakening on the misty fields of forever.” Amazing Grace was performed without microphones. The Drums Jam featured Carter Beauford of the Dave Matthews Band; the rest of the encore (including the Phish debut of Watchtower) featured the entire band. The guest trampoline jumper during Mike’s Song was then-nine year old fan Katherine Lang. The opening act was Dave Matthews Band.

Key Tracks:

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1994-04-21/if-i-could

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1994-04-21/drums-jam

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1994-04-21/all-along-the-watchtower