(this discussion regarding the "first glowstick war" took place 13 years ago at rec.music.phish)
(posted by [email protected] -- all original typos were left uncorrected)

On Sun, 14 Dec 1997, Jason Cowles wrote:
> That's all fine and dandy, but the FIRST glowstick war acually took place
> during the 11/25/94 Harpua when the green love beams battled the evil red
> beam of vocal hatred (or something like that... it was some time ago). So,
> the Went glowstick war was actually kind of a recreation of a past event
> in its own right...

I never even thought of that one. 11/25/94 was my first show, and that
moment was neat. But by no means does it compare to the power and majesty
of the Went. For those of you who weren't there on 11/25/94, during
Harpua, Trey began talking about angry red beams of vocal hatred coming
down from the mountain where Harpua and his mean, nasty owner lived [this
was a special Thanksgiving Harpua Story] and Poster Nutbag emmitted Green
Love Beams to combat the Giant Angry Red Beam of Vocal Hatred. Very funny
story. I had no idea at the time what I was witnessing. Anyway, during
the story, Trey paused (which makes me at times think this was planed) and
someone from the upper balcony of the UIC Pavillion chucked what seemed to
be about 50-100 green glowsticks down onto the floor right in front of
Page. It appeared to be a vendor who was carring them around in a box or
something, because they just *showered* down. Trey responded with "Look
at all the green love beams!" It was really cool.

At the Great Went, however, the entire theme of that second set was to
focus on the synergism between the audience and the band. That's what the
2001 jam was all about. That's what I (and many other people) felt during
the Bathtub Gin, and that's why I went bonkers (quite literally) when he
started talking about that mutual energy. When that glorious Hood came
on, and the lights were turned out at Trey's request so that we could look
at the "moon and our sculpture" it was like everything about Phish's
music was exemplified, right there for that brief moment. When one person
threw their glowstick, then two, then twenty, until it was raining "Green
Love Beams" it was, for me, the epitomie of the Phish experience. Here
was the audience, participating in and playing an active role in the
atmosphere, life, and direction of the music; just what Trey had finished
talking about.

I was very worried when I saw there had been a glowstick war at Albany. I
haven't seen many positive comments about it, only those who have said
"the band approved, so it must be ok." Now I wasn't there, so take this
with a grain of salt, but I cannot imagine that the experience there was
intense as it was at the Went. In fact, the only comments on the music
that I've heard was that the Hood was "ok."

I can understand those of you who think this could become a truly great
tradition, to throw glowsticks during the lightsless jam in Harry Hood at
the close of each tour, but I'd rather not see that happen again. Like
someone said, the last thing we want is for Phish to become predictable.

This was my first show, and my first experience with the maelstrom of sound and fury called Phish. We were a group of young, hapless hippies with a few Dead shows under our belt, but otherwise NO CLUE. I don't remember too much about our entry, or who bought the tickets, or the events leading up to the show. I do remember standing kind of near the back of the floor with our group, hearing those few notes of Trey's guitar, Fish's little drum roll, and then "Llama" hit us in the chest like a freight train and we went flying - literally, into each other, bouncing around, communing with these strange happy souls, these "Phans" as they - and we - would be known. The cacophony of "Llama", the deep funk/reggae of "Guelah Papyrus", the majesty of "Reba", the wacky circus dirge "Esther" - I watched these four guys play these songs - in a line! They stood in a line! Who DOES that?? - and my eyes never left. My eyes and ears were forever captivated. I felt suspended from time and space. The sound, the lights - this was what a concert should BE.
At some point, we got up to the front. I don't remember how; it was one of those things. You see an opening, you follow a guy, a girl - or, and I think this is what it was more like - you determine I AM GOING TO GET MUCH, MUCH CLOSER and you just start walking. The crowd before you, sensing your determination, clears a path. And before you know it, you're THREE ROWS BACK, and you're looking at these guys, but they're not guys anymore - they are GODS, they are titans, they are ephemeral beings levitating us over Mt. Olympus and showing us the universe as we had never seen. And with that second set, they blew that universe WIDE OPEN. The "2001>Mike's>Simple" was a slow opening cosmic rift, like the fabric of space and time being stretched to the point of ripping open and letting whatever madness lurking behind it come bellowing forth in a tidal wave of incomprehension. Seriously, at some point in "Simple" a wormhole opened up, and we were transported through a black hole (a la Cygnus X-1) and brought into a mountainous world of angry old men, wild slobbering dogs, an innocent boy and his pet cat. And love beams. Green love beams and Angry red vocal hatred beams. They were everywhere! I had never seen a glowstick war at a concert, and I've never seen one like this since. It was staged, of course, but the audience feedback of retaliation with the "love beams" to combat the "vocal hatred beams" - you'd have thought, witnessing it, that there was really a battle of good and evil going on and Trey was enlisting all of us as his footsoldiers to take up the cause. And ever since, I've thought of every Phish show in that same context, band and audience together charging evil head-on with our "love beams" dancing, smiling, spinning, cheering - supporting our Phour Phearless Leaders. Yes, my first show contained my first "Harpua" and first (some say THE first) glowstick war. Was I the luckiest sonsabitch alive? Maybe. I think so, at least. And there was still that "Weekapaug>Mango Song" (still one of the best transitions they've ever pulled off IMO), still that "Purple Rain" with that goofy little Greazy Fizeek and his silly dress and vacuum cleaner, OWNING that shit like he was Sinatra. And Run Like an Antelope, to spend the rest of our synapses and seratonin. "Good Times Bad Times" was a bit ironic for a cap-off - could there even BE bad times with this band?? - but their masterful take on Zeppelin really "Brought it on home" for us at the end.
In short, everything was amazing and enough to "hook" me for the next twenty years. And I'm glad to see "the boys" most recently continuing to explore that headspace that we all embody, capturing an imagination we never knew we had, the Phab Phour plus CK5 creating the most perfect aural and visual show money will ever buy. Thank you, Phish, for 20 years of ripping open that universal fabric for me, and leaving me never the same.

Mark Lester
November 25th, 2014

Llama always makes a great opener. There are a few minor slip-ups in the Asse Festival section of Guelah Papyrus, nothing major. The following Reba is very good. Split Open and Melt's jam is intense, but a little different from your normal SOAM. Also, listen for the siren at the end of SOAM that would also be used in 2001 later in the show. Esther, Julius, and Golgi are played well.

Highlights of the first set are Reba and Split Open and Melt.

After the typically compact 2001 to open the second set, things get rolling with a great Mike's Groove with extra improvisation in Simple and Weekapaug. This Simple is must-hear, as is Harpua if you want to hear some good narration about the real history of Thanksgiving. The Groove ends with a pretty good -> into Mango Song. We all know Purple Rain is an entertaining Fishman song where he gets to really belt it out. The Run Like an Antelope set closer is solid, and a Good Times Bad Times encore sends the people home happy.

The highlight of the second set (and show) is the Mike's Groove.

This was my first show of any kind. We were way up, and a lot of seats were empty in front of us, but I couldn't move! I thought if you got caught in a seat that wasn't yours, you would get in trouble or something. I was just blown away by all the colors and interesting people everywhere. I was never the same. Thanks Vermont!

11/25/94 was my first concert of any kind, ever. I was barely 14 years old. Over the last 20 years I've seen over 180 Phish shows, over 1000 of other bands, and spent 12 years working as an entrepreneur in the music business, which includes developing Phanatic – the first Phish related setlist app back in '09, partnered with phish.net.

It's been a beautiful 20 years – friends, experiences, jams of all kinds. Looking back in time, I pin point everything to this night, 11/25/94.

Phollow your passions and life will be beautiful.

David Blutenthal

p.s - the Reba is redic.
p.p.s - the transition from Mike's > Simple still gives me goosebumps.
p.p.p.s - this was the first public "throwing of glowsticks" but definitely not an outright war. As said in previous posts here, it was one person in the upper balcony above Page tossing green sticks (love beams), timed into the Harpua story...and one red beam as well.

This is a great show and the SBD sounds awesome.

Llama opens the first set and is a fine version. Excellent start. Trey makes some great use of the sustain and pitch shifter to deliver some major tension before a fiery conclusion.

Guelah is a nice choice in the two spot. Well executed and a personal favorite.

Reba occupies the third slot and is a first taste of some of the band's '94 era compositional and jamming chops. The song itself is played very nicely, with good work in the composition by Trey & Page. The jam kicks in nicely with a bit of syncopated playing from Trey and the band crafts a nice little pocket. They build a strong but linear jam that produces a fine climax. This Reba is not too long, nor in the pantheon of Reba jams, but is nonetheless a fine version with strong playing and a nice whistle ending.

Bouncin' is a solid enough follow up and is played cleanly.

SOAM is a great call after some blissful tunes. This one is not the longest, most exploratory, but it is plenty wild and plenty thrilling. Great jamming and tons of tension set up a great release. Definitely a highlight.

Esther is not my favorite song, but this is a nice version. Fits ok here for me.

Julius > Golgi is a nice closing combination. Both are played well and finish the set in good form.

Overall a pretty darn solid set. Very nice jamming in Reba and Melt as well as a couple other well played tunes make this one a nice listen. Nothing over the top great, but not too shabby indeed.

Set II kicks off with a perfunctory 2001. It’s more ’93 than ’96 and no where close to 97/98/99, but it’s fun and a strong opener with good energetic execution.

Mike’s is up next and is a rock out. Very nicely played version, albeit quite short. I think it’s under 8 minutes, but it’s still plenty fierce and lands nicely into Simple.

Simple is the big jam of the show. The song is well played and the outdo jam is nifty. It leads into a broken-down rocking jam that gradually grows weirder and more dissonant. Soon enough we are in DEEEEEP space and there’s some vocal calls over the atmospheric noise the band creates. We then get some tempo & dynamics jamming which they toy with nicely and add a few more vocal cries. The jam stays weird. Landing delightfully into the “oom pah pah” of Harpua.

Harpua features a cool Thanksgiving story about various light beams and dogs etc. Good stuff. This is a good fun version of the song with a good narration.

Weekapaug gallops out of Harpua and gets a good workout right away with some fine soloing from Trey. They then go more rhythmic with Page leading a good funky jam. This jam (like the Simple) goes deeper and deeper into space. By 5:30 we’ve got the rhythm section only reminding us of Weekapaug, but Trey emerges with some good soloing at around 6:15 brining us back from the depths. There’s another shift at around 7 minutes (Fish still on the drumbeat) where the band downshifts and Trey plays some frenetic notes. Mike is laying down some cool bass work and Trey is droning a bit, while they ratchet up the tension. By 8:45 Trey takes a victory lap back to ‘Paug land, but instead of staying in the Groove, he climbs crazily upward before brining back the chording at speed. They then down shift into syncopated landed that sounds as if it’ll pop into Sanity, but Trey picks out the Mango riff and they segue nicely into the tune.

Mango is a good version and feels nice after a bit of a zany ‘Paug.

Purple Rain & HYHU are fun.

Antelope is the ender and seals the deal with some fiery playing. A cool intro lands nicely into the jam. This is your standard great ‘Lope (which means is surpasses most modern renditions easily in fury and execution). There’s an epic build at around 6:30 that’s really great to hear, with a very nice and patient release. A great jam yields a super spacey lyrical section, which is totally neat. This is followed by a great push to the conclusion.

GTBT is a rocking encore, ‘nuff said.

Overall, I prefer the first show of the release to this one. That said, this is a great show. The Simple and the ‘Paug are the surefire jamming highlights, with great versions of Reba, SOAM & Antelope adding requisite firepower. The 2001>Mike’s is also quite good and Harpua is always a treat. Damn fine show.

One can hear in the big jam tunes the very experimental nature of the jamming that was characteristic of this era and basically the whole initiation into Type II that carried on from August '93 until possibly '96, though Fall '95 showed signs of reining it in to some degree in order to focus more intently on themes and motifs that could carry a jam rather than just the aggressive-sounding psychedelia of some of those years' highlights (which I do enjoy!); Cf. the Soundcheck Jam from this show on the Chicago '94 release. I really like the music-IQ satisfaction of the near 40-min. run of Simple > Harpua > Weekapaug Groove, and it's certainly novel to hear Weekapaug segue (->, not >) into The Mango Song, and of course this show is notable for the great jam in Simple and the first appearance of the glowsticks in Harpua, but this isn't one that I'll return to often, perhaps just because I came of age in phandom post-cowfunk and prefer a little more stability in the jamming: not monochromatism or unwillingness to take risks, but merely cohesive direction and a more danceable sound (even though I Can't Dance.)

Spectacular show at the UIC!

Ripping Llama opener followed by a very tight Guelah and a gorgeous, soaring Reba

2001 & Mike's Groove are a must listen...get this show!

While there are certainly other, more-deserving shows from Fall '94 worthy of their own official releases, that's more indicative of the tour's strength than it is of any distinct shortcoming 11/25/95 bears. The show is admittedly fairly contained, but there's still plenty of great Phish to be heard. Llama starts out nice and strong, with Fishman particularly standing out as MVP--this is a common theme throughout the show, in my opinion. This one has an epic moment of peaking Trey right around 4:45. The Reba jam features some more great Fishman (love his interactions with Trey starting around 9:00; these guys are going back and forth all song). From a subdued early section, Trey takes us into a midrange energy groove fairly quickly, but the ascent from here to the top is grand (11:30 to the end is spiritual). SOAM takes the more chaotic approach, delivering a very sludgy and wild jam section, reminiscent of the Bomb Factory version from 5/7/94. Last first set highlight is a slappin' Julius. This song was an excellent rotator all Fall.

Second set delivers with a hot 2001>Mike's Groove. Mike's has some nice alternating moments of full-band riffing and regular jam before giving way to a great peak. From here we -> into the highlight of the show with a very experimental Simple. Early in the jam, the song loses all shape as the band members each contribute to a sloppy, nebulous soundscape colored by Trey's phase pedal. Out of a brief ambient jam arises some dark and creepy interactions, largely focused on Page and Mike, but with moments of contribution from Trey and Fishman as well. As I'm writing this I'm realizing how hard of a jam this is to describe...it's one of the more unique segments to come out of '94 for sure, but segues incredibly smoothly into a sweet Thanksgiving Harpua. Mike's Groove is wrapped up with a flying Weekapaug which dabbles in dissonance, plenty of guitar effects, some excellent Page clavs, and more of that rockin Fishman. A strong Mango Song and Fish show segment deliver us to the Antelope closer, which packs a strong if straightforward punch. One of the stronger Type I versions of this tune I've heard.

Ultimately, I think this show is the obvious weaker leg of the Chicago '94 boxset. However, as I pointed out at the beginning, this is only because of the high bar Phish set for itself in 1994. If they played a show like this today, the audience would achieve nirvana and/or shit themselves.