Friday, 06/10/1994
Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO

I remember when the summer 1993 Red Rocks show was announced it created quite a buzz on rec.music.phish. This was the big time… and not just in New England where Phish was from and Great Woods made sense… this was Red Rocks! This was the EDGE!!! How quickly things change. By the summer of 1994, two nights on the Rocks made perfect sense to everyone.

This show starts off predictably with the classic RunJim Foam combo. I love how the quiet section of Foam at the beginning of Trey’s solo really gives us a glimpse into what kind of crowd we’re dealing with. Are they quiet and attentive. Are the so amped up that they let out some steam when the band gets quiet? Are they chatty? Here we mostly have the second answer. You can sense the electricity in the crowd. The previous year’s show at this glorious venue was so great that the folks there on this night are giddy with anticipation. Nice!

The heart of Set 1 is really the Bowie and Lizards combo. That’s when the band starts to let on how excited THEY are to be there. Bowie is intense, and the Lizards is playful and sweet. Also, I love that Julius is strong enough a tune at this point to earn its spot as a set closer! Perfect.

Second set opens with Axilla (Part II). It’s funny… I’ve heard so many (Part II)’s this year thanks to this project that it’s gonna sound strange to me if and when I hear the original lyrics this summer.

Axilla’s followed by everyone’s favorite, The Curtain, which serves up Tweezer on a silver platter… and what a Tweezer! Nothing crazy different from others in the last two months, but so very good. I love how this one breaks down toward the end, too. Dark and brooding, this Tweezer becomes! Then, perfectly placed as it always seems to be in 94, Lifeboy is there to lift us out of the darkness. Then Possum rages with abandon – and sort of feels like a set closer here. Of course, there is a ton of music left, but it just feels like the cap of something.

The Hood is a thing of beauty. Hoods are just going to get better and better as this year trucks along, aren’t they? I think every time I start to question my decision to listen to 94 like this a great Hood will remind me why I’m doing it. Hoods like these inspire kids to drop out of school and hit the road. I’m tellin’ ya!

The rest of the show is a well-deserved victory lap. Tweeprise, Sleeping Monkey, Rocky Top… yessir! Exactly how I like it.

Thanks for reading. Buckle in for another breakneck month+ of stellar Phish!!

Friday, 06/10/1994
Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO
Soundcheck: NICU, Funky Bitch, Blues Jam, Ginseng Sullivan

Set 1: Runaway Jim, Foam, Sample in a Jar, Nellie Kane > Demand > David Bowie, The Lizards, Cavern, Julius

Set 2: Axilla (Part II) > The Curtain > Tweezer > Lifeboy > Sparkle > Possum, Hold Your Head Up > I Wanna Be Like You > Hold Your Head Up, Harry Hood, Tweezer Reprise

Encore: Sleeping Monkey > Rocky Top

Notes: During Lizards, Trey talked about the rocks that looked like a giant lizard and referenced the last time they played at Red Rocks (8/20/93). Lizards also contained a Fanfare for the Common Man tease from Page. Possum contained a Random Note signal.
Setlist courtesy of Phish.net.

Key tracks:
http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1994-06-10/david-bowie
http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1994-06-10/tweezer
http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1994-06-10/harry-hood