As the NCAA tournament takes peak form this weekend in the rounds of sixteen and eight, a different type of March Madness has swarmed the Phish community in the form on ticket on-sales. After the near-impossible Red Rocks mission, fans look to have more success against the weaker seeded shows this weekend. Big match-ups against both Ticketmaster and Live Nation headline today’s slate. The host venues of these battles will be The Gorge, Merriweather, Darien, and SPAC. The fans look to give it 110% in their quest for paper glory. After today the first nine tickets of late summer will have come and gone, and only Shoreline and Hartford will remain. On a raucous Friday in March, the madness is most definitely in the air.
“Madness” is a word often used loosely to describe Phish music. Honing in on this idea of “musical madness,” I compiled eight Phish jams that embody this word. A friend on mine recently posted on Facebook “The Best Five Albums to Listen to After a Phish Show,” and yesterday, another buddy retorted, “What are the best albums to listen to while frantically trying to score Phish tickets via public sale?” Well here is my response.
The music should match the mania, and these eight selections fit the theme of the day. In honor of March Madness- both ticket and basketball- I have collected an “Elite Eight” jams that are the musical definition of madness; allow them to color your weekend in any way you please. The download link is above the track listing. Good luck today! I’ll always take any extra pavilions off your hands. Just drop me a line!
MINER’S PICKS: MARCH MADNESS < LINK
MINER’S PICKS: MARCH MADNESS < TORRENT LINK
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“Bathtub Gin” 11.23.97, Winston Salem, NC
This one is a beast that dominates the second set that could be better than its legendary Hampton predecessors.
“Simple” 11.29.98, Worcester, MA
I’ve written about this one before- a masterful, tour-ending piece of psychedelic sorcery.
“David Bowie” 10.27.95, Kalamazoo, MI
A dark and monstrous “Bowie” from Fall ’95, one high point for the song.
“Split Open and Melt” 12.1.94, Salem, OR
A dark-horse jam in the first set that illustrates ’94 Phish going for the jugular.
“Tweezer” 12.2.95, New Haven, CT
A “Tweezer” like none other- fifteen minutes of the most seething music you’ll ever hear.
“Maze” 10.18.96, Pittsburgh, PA
A highlight of this dark-horse ’96 show, this “Maze” gets way out there in a hurry.
“Stash” 11.12.94, Kent, OH
Dark and terrorizing, like “Stash’s” should be, this version characterizes the depths to which ’94 Phish plunged to in no time at all.
12.7.95 “Mike’s > Weekapaug,” Niagara Falls, NY
One of the best “Grooves” out there, each half boast stand out jamming- though the “Mike’s” takes the cake.
(Note: This is not meant to be a definitive list of “the” eight craziest jams. ever- just eight pieces of madness.)
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DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:
8.20.93 Red Rocks SBD < LINK
Since we are going through the history of Red Rocks, here is the legendary first show the band ever played there, smack dab in the middle of August ’93. This is a re-post, but it fits the season. New readers- enjoy!
I: The Divided Sky, Harpua, Poor Heart, Maze, Bouncing Around the Room, It’s Ice, The Wedge, Ginseng Sullivan, Rift, Run Like an Antelope
II: Also Sprach Zarathustra > Slave to the Traffic Light, Split Open and Melt, The Squirming Coil, My Friend My Friend-> Chalk Dust Torture, You Enjoy Myself > Purple Rain*> HYHU, Cavern
E: The Mango Song, Freebird
*With Mimi Fishman (Fish’s mom) on vacuum.
