Saturday, 06/25/1994

Nautica Stage, Cleveland, OH

Wednesday and I’m finally feeling like I’m back into my normal routine. Can we talk about the debut of NO2 for a minute? WTF?? I mean, I can’t imagine too many people knew what was going on when they walked out onstage and opened with a bunch of noise. I wouldn’t have known until Trey started with the “Don’t bite. Don’t bite.” I do remember seeing this on the setlist on rec.music.phish after it happened and wondering what it sounded like. I had the White Tape back then, so I knew the song, but I had a hard time imagining what it sounded like live… a question I couldn’t answer until I actually saw them “play” NO2 at Sugarbush later in the summer. Remember, there were no instant downloads back then!

I haven’t really discussed Julius since the first month of the touring year because it has settled into a groove with very little variation at this point. It’s worth noting that every Julius I’ve heard from 1994 so far has been freaking great. This one is a fine example. It’s a short Set 1 version, but it rocks. Mike’s walking bassline is just so solid and Trey is pure fire.

It’s also great to see NICU return just a few days after the first version in a long time. In hindsight we know that NICU has remained in the regular rotation ever since, but at the time it could have been a one-off. This performance proves it wasn’t. Not only that, it leads into another intense Stash! Yes. The rest of Set 1 is great, too. Tela is always a crowd pleaser!

Set 2 opens innocently enough, but check out Page’s solo in Maze for some out-of-the ordinary fun followed by pure heat – Pay Jorgan, indeed! The rest of the set is fairly pedestrian by 1994 standards. Not bad, but nothing to write home about. Typically great Hood, for sure, and Highway to Hell always makes me smile.

Thanks for reading.

Saturday, 06/25/1994

Nautica Stage, Cleveland, OH

Set 1: NO2 > Rift > Julius, NICU > Stash, The Mango Song > Sample in a Jar, Scent of a Mule, Tela, Chalk Dust Torture

Set 2: Suzy Greenberg > Maze > Sparkle > Bathtub Gin, Axilla (Part II) > You Enjoy Myself, Hold Your Head Up > Cracklin’ Rosie > Hold Your Head Up, Harry Hood, Golgi Apparatus

Encore: Highway to Hell

Notes: Though written many years earlier, NO2 made its first known appearance at this show. Suzy contained a Heartbreaker tease and Gin included a Caravan tease from Page.

Setlist courtesy of Phish.net.

Key tracks:

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1994-06-25/no2

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1994-06-25/maze

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1994-06-25/harry-hood