Saturday, 05/21/1994
The Moore Theatre, Seattle, WA

So, today wasn’t quite as crazy… I had some time to listen in the hotel room before heading out for my meetings and I have time now in the afternoon to finish up.

I got through the end of Stash before heading out this morning. What a great start to the show. RunJim, Foam, Guelah!! Perfect way to start my day! The DwD is about what they all seem to be at this point in tour. Great little jam, but they’re all about the same right now. Oh well.

Really, the standout this morning was Stash!! It’s getting harder and harder to describe these great versions. Every one from here on out is probably gonna make the highlight reel, if you know what I mean. 1994 is simply THE year for Stash.

Getting things back up and running in the hotel room this afternoon with the Coil… yes! I love it mid-set. I can picture Trey and Mike kind of hiding over behind Fish’s drum kit to give Page the spotlight for a minute. Then Trey must have felt the Page love when he decided to start up Tela. Does it get any better? If I were at this show, somewhere in the middle of Tela I’d have that “Is this really just the first set” thought-cycle. I’d probably even have that “Can you believe we’ve only seen one set so far?” conversation with the folks around me after Llama. Ha!

The second set opens with the very welcome Dinner and a Movie. I really hate Sample… but it leads to Bowie, so we’re good. This Bowie jam starts out really sparse… slow, but sparse. Trey plays a little Cat Scratch Fever theme for a second. Perhaps not enough to warrant a mention in the notes, but I heard it. Then it kinda slips into a more typical Bowie jam from there, but “off” sections are really out there. Great Bowie!

It’s not mentioned in the notes, but Trey’s “jamming” in the Big Ball Jam is definitely based on Smoke on the Water. It’s funny… and on this recording you can definitely hear the crowd cheer as audience “sinks” the balls into the “basket” formed by Trey, Mike, and Brad.

Another rockin’ Julius, though nothing out of the new ordinary. Then Fish sings one of his own favorites, Bike. I know this because the one time I spent a little time in conversation with Greasy Fizeek he told me as much. He’s the one who loves Syd Barrett tunes… especially Bike! And who doesn’t love a little banter?

Then there’s this Hood. It’s a bit longer than recent versions. Not much, but a bit. The jam starts out really nice and light (as it should), builds slowly and deliberately, and peaks brilliantly. Greatness. Man oh man. Hoods like this made me love this band from the beginning. I do declare!

Close out with a solid Bold as Love. Yes, I will. Another great Phish show from the Spring of 1994. This one really holds up 20 years later, too.

Thanks for reading.

Saturday, 05/21/1994
The Moore Theatre, Seattle, WA

Set 1: Runaway Jim, Foam, Guelah Papyrus, Down with Disease > Mound, Stash, The Squirming Coil, Tela > Llama

Set 2: Dinner and a Movie > Sample in a Jar > David Bowie > Contact > Big Ball Jam > Julius > Hold Your Head Up > Bike > Hold Your Head Up, Harry Hood, Amazing Grace

Encore: Bold As Love

Notes: The Bowie intro contained a Sample tease. Before Harry Hood, Fishman and Trey acknowledged the crowd’s varied requests but noted that they couldn’t understand what songs people were yelling for. Fishman responded by screaming incoherently, mimicking what the crowd noise sounded like to him on stage. Trey noted that the band had been playing all night and wanted to give the audience a chance to perform. He counted off to the crowd, who responded with assorted clapping and cheering. Fishman jokingly remarked “you guys haven’t played that in so long.” Hood contained Across the River (Peter Gabriel) and Odd Couple theme teases.
Setlist courtesy of Phish.net.

Key tracks:
http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1994-05-21/stash
http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1994-05-21/david-bowie
http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1994-05-21/harry-hood