, attached to 1987-08-10

Review by SlavePhan

SlavePhan Following on the heels of the previous night at Nectar's, this show features a much higher quality recording. Although not listed as such on the spreadsheet, this recording can be sourced as a SBD and the whole band is equally mixed. For those fans uncomfortable with low-quality recordings, this may be a good early show to listen to (as long as you are comfortable with the lack of effects from Mike/Trey and Page's keyboards).

Much like the previous night, the band is very professional in the first two sets. A near-flawless Peaches opens and Alumni Blues featuring Page is next. Golgi is clearly more well rehearsed than versions from the Spring and sounds nearly identical to that from Junta. Standard Wilson. The band plays the last version of Quinn until 1998 here and while only average, it doesn't seem as though the band is uninterested in the song.

Divided Sky here, the first version available to most fans, is the 'short' version. At this point, the introduction, lyrics, Mary-Had-A-Little-Lamb, and Jump-Up-And-Down-Pat-Metheny section are all intact and identical to versions today. A bridge of 'Punch Me In the Eye' was then inserted, followed by a Trey melody and the building series of chords. However, unlike versions of today, the band does not move into the 'pause' section, and instead returns to the beginning of the song. It is much shorter and turns the song from a 13 minute exercise into a 4-minute breeze. The full version of the song wouldn't be heard until after the 'No Dogs Allowed' ending was ripped from that song and placed into Divided Sky (9/24/88). Until that date, all versions follow this short format.

GTBT closes the short (35 minute) first set. Fire opens set 2 and is really terrific. Amazing work from Trey here. AC/DC Bag features a jam on the old introduction to the song as well as smooth transition into a solid Possum. Fluffhead is crisp yet still only contains Fluff's Travels. It does, however, feature a nice outro solo from Trey. The first Fee is well received and doesn't contain the 'Peru' lyric. The Curtain is much more mellow than the previous night's version.

I Know a Little is played as a request here. Short and jazzy, it is followed by another request, Mustang Sally, which is a highlight of the show. YEM opens up a bit and it is evident that the band wants to stretch out the song. La Grange is a hot closer.

Set 3 features the band having fun. After Trey dedicates Icculus to Paul's mom's, he talks about another person whose birthday it is. Drunken audience members interact with Trey here and it's quite funny to hear everyone screaming. David Bowie is *much longer than any version prior and at this point, this version is the longest Phish song had performed. It is also the first version to include the building end to the song. The band also fiddles around with a DEG-like jam (around the 8:00 mark).

The rest of the show features Trey-lead covers. JJLC isn't special, but Whipping Post is a great version. Anarchy is played 4 times, each time the audience yells 'FASTER....LOUDER' and the band obliges. After Tush, Trey says that Page has broken his organ, so they'll play one more. Dear Mrs. Reagan is a slinky closer and Trey advertises the IZM beach party on August 22nd.

A nice SBD, this show is not as interesting as 8/21/87, but has some songs to check out. Mustang Sally is one of the best versions and Icculus and Anarchy are hilarious. It's also worth listening to the Whipping Post. At the time, the band was playing best-ever versions of these songs, but for most listeners, these early versions of Phish classics will sound similar but not equal what they are used to.


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