From: Todd Arsenault 
Subject: review- 12/29/93

 
       From: Todd Arsenault -arsenaul@dickinson.edu

	The New Haven Coliseum was the venue for the second show of the 
great 1993 New Years Run. Connecticut was getting an early taste of the 
New England winter that was on it's way. Due to the snow and bad road 
conditions many people had a hard time getting to the show. I, along with 
many others, took the train into New Haven, the pre-show fun was 
starting early on the 6:30 to New Haven. Once I got out of the cold and 
into the rusty metal structure of the Coliseum I was pleased to find a 
good scene. Everybody was happy to be in from the weather and were 
getting ready for a great night. The first thing I noticed upon 
arriving to my 9th row floor seats was the amazing aquarium set. The 
whole stage was made to look like a huge aquarium with coral reef, a 
huge oyster shell, and fish hanging in from the ceiling. The show was 
set-back a while to allow everyone to get in and as the coliseum 
clock read 8:09 the lights went down and everyone was ready. Trey 
rang out the opening notes of Runaway Jim and the place went totally 
wild, the energy inside was incredible. This was a hyper Runaway Jim, 
the Jam before the end was out of control. Just as they sang the 
final notes to Runaway Jim, Fishman gave the drum roll to open up 
Peaches en Regalia. It was also played th enight before, but you can 
never really get sick of a song like that. Peaches gave way to a 
nice Foam, which had Page's piano solos ringing beautifuly in the 
rafters of the coliseum. Glide came next and it acted nicley as a 
tribute to evryone ARRIVING from the storm. Divided Sky was tight 
with Trey and Mike getting some bouncing in on the trampolines. 
After that Mikes bass started echoing the unmistakeable prelude to 
Wilson. It was aimed to please and came through just as Sparkle and Stash 
did next. The Squirming Coil ended the first set with Page playing 
a nice solo a infroming everyone the band would be back soon.
	The Second set got off to another energetic start with Maze. 
After that was a groove-a-licious Bouncing'. The lights were 
wonderful as they were swirling around in the aquarium and it gave 
th eeffect of them being underwater. A usually energetic Fluffhead 
came next going into a wild, exploratory Antelope which built up 
into a wonderful climax. Things were then slowed down a bit with a 
fun version of Contact. Then came what was the high-point of the 
night: first a heavy Big Black Furry From Mars with a rockin' jam 
at the end. The whole band was really going they jammed for a 
while and then the beat slowed down a bit and they built up to Joe 
Walsh's Walk Away. This was a really hot version and it led right 
into the Big Ball Jam. The crowd tossed the ball around for awhile 
and finally put through the human basket the crowd made. Th eBig 
Ball Jam went right into Hold Your Head Up at which point Fishman 
took center stage and Trey jumped on the drums. Fishman was 
sporting his new super-short haircut and asked the crowd what they 
thought of it before singing If I Only Had a Brain. Fishman also 
brought out the Electrolux to give one of his unique Vaccum solos. 
After another HYHU jam the whole band took center stage for an 
accapella rendition of Sweet Adeline. After plugging back in they 
ended the seconed set with a blistering Chalkdust Torture. 
	For the encore the they came out and did a standard version of 
Nellie Cane. They then played a good Cavern reminding evryone to 
take care of their shoes, as they would need them for the snow 
that awaited- not to mention the struggle it was to get up to 
Maine for the next show. 
arsenaul@Dickinson.edu          

------------------------------

Date:    Sun, 7 Dec 1997 21:07:28 GMT
From:    Scott Silton 
Subject: 12/29/93 Show Review (long)

(same introductory comments as the 12/28 review)

12/29/93

I don't know how long it took to get to New Haven exactly, but it was
snowing harder and harder as we traveled north.  Easily 6 inches on the ground
when we got to the venue.  As anyone who went to this show or to 12/2/95 can
attest, the parking garage on top of the venue made for a wonderful 'scene'.
As the night before, many people were arriving late and the show started later
than its usual half hour delay.  No security whatsoever at this venue; people
were just late because of the snow.  We were *really* happy to have a 4WD
Cherokee at our disposal  *Really* *really* *really* happy.

This show was made more fun by the presence of 4 tripping people in the row
behind us (next to the tapers on the back of the floor).  If Dunash, Crondog,
Potter, and Schmooz are out there in phish land, please get in touch!

Set I:

RUNAWAY JIM:

Opening standard (i.e. great), and the jam grooves!  Trey starts in with some
pretty typical licks, but then drops out to let Fishman and Gordon take the
groove.  When Trey returns, he wails!  Only about 45 sec. of shred, but a
wonderful end to a short, but nice Jim.

PEACHES EN REGALIA:

Fish punches this out almost immediately after the Jim finishes.  No mistakes
here, and although a repeat from the night before (and a somewhat predictable
one I suppose), a nice tune to be sandwiched between Jim and Foam.

FOAM:

Composed beginning fairly solid, although Trey almost falls off the horse at one
point he stays in the saddle.  The middle mellowness and return are executed
faithfully as is the ending.

GLIDE>DIVIDED SKY

The pause in Glide is quite long!  After about 35 seconds of raucous cheering,
Trey busts out the "Simpson's Signal", and they wrap up Glide shortly
thereafter.  Trey fires up Divided during this final "Gliiiiii-ide", a
wonderful transition (and one that was repeated several times in early 94,
making me think that Trey was rather proud of this setlist discovery).  The
Divided is pretty hot; a tasty treat.

It seems to me that crowds these days are not quite as outrageous as they
were on this tour.  Maybe it's me; I've gotten older and mellower (and wiser
too).  Maybe it's the venues; places like Bender, New Haven, and Portland are
just a bit smaller and perhaps more resonant.  Maybe it is that the band's PA
was barely loud enough for the size of these venues (unprecedented at the
time) and the crowd noise was therefore more noticeable.  Maybe it is the NYE
run crowd as compared to regular tour stops.  And maybe the composition of the
phans has changed.  Who knows.

WILSON:

The intro to this Wilson includes some strange 'Animal Noises' made by the band.
Interestingly, if you listen closely you can only barely hear a few people
singing "Wil-Son" at the beginning, and Trey actually sings the part.  One
year later (12/30/94) so many in the crowd chanted Wilson that it totally
rocked MSG (hear that on A Live One).  During what would be the second round
of "Dah. Dunt.  Dah Dunt.", the band drops into a strange eerie groove, and
someone (Fish?) speaks in an eerie voice "wilsonwilsonwilsonwilson".  This
ends when Trey starts singing again.  The very end of Wilson is closed by the
Purple Haze riff.  Overall, this is a very fine and unique Wilson!

SPARKLE:

This song is so standard and so worthless on tape that I wandered off to the
bathroom just now.  And I don't see any point in rewinding and listening to
the Sparkle again.  A fairly fun tune in concert (thanks to Chris), but not
terribly interesting on tape to me.  Sorry Sparkle fans.

STASH:

It is interesting to hear this song before the blocks were appropriated and
standardized by the crowd.  As much as I enjoy clapping along, I do wish Fish
would mix things up a bit more like he does here.  I'm not really qualified to
comment on the quality of the Stash jam, as I just can't seem to concentrate
on it no matter what.  I am giving a conscious (and sober) listen to it now,
and Trey's soloing is fairly tasty, going all over the Languedoc.  The end of
the jam features Page doing a newsticker theme and Trey saying something about
"Connie Chung".  I'm still not partial to Stashes, but I suppose this is as
good as an average Stash would be.  Not especially long.

COIL:

The composed section is played well, and I happen to enjoy Page's solo a
great deal.  Not as long as some, but he covers a lot of territory without any
useless noodling.

Overall, a very nice first set.  Not extraordinarily long, but the band was definitely
having fun, mixing things up a bit and playing well.

Set II:

MAZE:

A solid Maze!  The build up is not really long, but Trey more or less nails
the top of his solo.

BOUNCING:

Not much to report about Bouncing... was standard, played fine.


FLUFFHEAD:

I always enjoy Fluffhead and this was no exception.  No major
mistakes throughout the first composed sections, but Trey comes to the edge of
his saddle during Clod and Fishman tries to start Bundle too soon.  Page's
fills are wonderful throughout.  They sing Bundle of Joy, and the build is
enhanced by Fish's frantic snare work.  The jam at the end has a few great
moments but doesn't take off like some epic versions (e.g. 8/17/96).  The very
end is actually a tease of the beginning of If I Could (I never noticed this
before!).  Then they head right into

ANTELOPE:

The opening vamp includes a few moments when  the band cuts out on cue (nice
touch).  They hit the 5 chords together and the rest of the opening is tight
and really cool.  The jam moves along nicely for a while, but then the band
empties out and Page takes the lead through an unusual (but cool) quieter
middle.  Trey and Fish pump up the energy and the band returns to typical
Antelope madness, but it is only about a minute before they cut out to the
usual ending vamp/Marco Esquandolas music.  The ending is just great - Trey
really screams the "Gearshift" lines -- and the energy level in the building
and on tape is just through the roof.  Overall, a very fine Antelope, highly
recommended!

CONTACT:

Immediately after the Antelope finishes, Contact begins.  Mike plays some
nice lines at the beginning and Page lays down some fabulous stuff during the
funky middle part.  Otherwise a normal Contact.

BBFCFM-> WALK AWAY:

I feel like these tunes are best when they are spontaneous, not written into the
setlist, or at least in the midst of a long segue-fest (e.g. 7/3/95, 7/13/94
in the case of BBFC, and most any Tweezer-Walk Away).  This BBFCFM is notable
for the segue between the two songs - the section after "1-2-3-4!" is odd and
sounds planned.  The end to the Walk Away is abrupt.

BIG BALL JAM:

Somewhat useless as music on tape, but a fun gag in concert.

IF I ONLY HAD A BRAIN:

Fishman takes the stage!  But before he gets going with Brain (a wonderful choice
IMO), he tells a little joke about his new short (goofy looking) haircut.
"Victor of Paris did this haircut� and he said (affected French accent), 'Your
hair it calls out to be shaved to your head'.  And I said, 'Victor, Go!  I
know nothing about my head'.  This is a song about knowing nothing about your
head."

The Brain was cute, and the vacuum solo actually included discrete notes for a
while.  Fish was in remarkable control of the Electrolux on this night.  This
is one of the best Fishman appearances of all time; definitely my favorite
from both an in-concert and on-tape perspective.

SWEET ADELINE:

This Adeline was capped by the Clam at the back of the stage opening its jaw for
the final "Sweet Ad-E-Liiiiiine!" as if it was singing along.  My friends and
I began to wonder if that Clam would continue to play a role in the run.

CHALKDUST:

An average version; although Trey does some nice soloing, the very end was
almost mangled.  Good choice for a closer, I suppose.

encore of NELLIE CANE and CAVERN:

I don't have much comment on these fairly scripted, standard, but fun tunes.


Wow, fun show.  Perhaps not as interesting as 12/28; so far as tape collecting goes,
I suppose I wouldn't go out of my way for this particular night.  But
definitely a solid phish show.  Lots of little subtle teases and oddities even
though there wasn't too much epic jamming.  The Wilson and Antelope and Brain
are all first class.

Upon leaving the venue, we saw that it had snowed another 4 inches while we
were inside.  The parking lot was full of fun; one of our party will never
forget driving down the long circular ramp a bit too soon after enjoying some
gas.  Reaching the bottom safely, we wondered where we should go.  We had
planned to trek to Boston, or maybe even all the way to Maine, after the show.
Now Boston was looking far in 10 inches of snow at night.

We decided to head out and play it by ear.  Off we went onto I-95.  I instructed
our handy driver David  to go into WAR MODE.  As the 'navigator', I felt like
I could contribute to a successful journey by providing moral support.  I
explained that WAR MODE is actually a fun way to drive.  Put on the Fog
Lights.  Put on the rear defroster.  Put on the read window wiper.  Put the
front wipers on full.  Crank up the tunes, and let's roll!  We sped through
the night, making an absolutely absurd 40mph, passing everything; trucks were
on the side of the road in droves, as were police cars and just about
everything else except snowplows and us.  We dominated the road, attempting to
reconstruct the setlist from memory, enjoying some choice tapes, and marveling
at the continuing snow.  Eventually we made it to Boston and crashed.  War
mode rules!  On to Portland!

(to be continued "12/30 Show Review (long)")

Scott
silton.1@osu.edu