Here are the ten finalists of the December ’95 haiku contest. I put the names into a hat and drew three winners, who are highlighted in blue. Winners, send me your mailing address and I’ll get these out in time for the holiday. Thanks to all twenty-five people who entered a haiku! (I wanted to publish em all but thought it might be overkill!) Happy Holidays!
***
It’s cold in Gamehenge.
Hershey to Garden we step
Into the freezer.
– David Herscowitz
***
Surgically precise
Firing on all cylinders
‘Free’ used to get weird
– Jon Wozniak
***
Underground no more
Unstoppable express train
Next stop, MSG
– David Shutan
***
A band on a peak
Excitement ever splendor
A garden party for all
– @MaggiesFarm2001
***
iced brains elevate
unbridled, psychedelic
MSG awaits
– Sean Hanna
***
Let’s scare the children
Make ’em think they’ve really flipped
Push and pull and squeeze
– Tony Gray
***
short days, chilly nights
fiery facial peak onslaught
deftly thrilling phans
– Vapebraham
***
We all stopped at once.
And the stars all turned around.
The Four Wiseman played.
– @Nateek
***
Polished and gleaming
’Twas a culmination, man
Pinnacle of Phish
– Brennan Tiffany
***
New Year’s Is Brewing
Like Sketches From Ol’ Vermont
Seven Steps Beyond
– Corey Lareau
Here are the ten finalists of the December ’95 haiku contest. I put the names into a hat and drew three winners, who are highlighted in blue. Winners, send me your mailing address and I’ll get these out in time for the holiday. Thanks to all twenty-five people who entered a haiku! (I wanted to …
With all of the hubbub surrounding Fall Tour, Phish’s release of their December ‘95 stop at Niagara Falls Convention Center flew way under my radar. I just recently listened to the discs for the first time and I must say, it’s another winner in a recent hot streak of Live Phish drops. This show—a classic even within a classic month—had been begging for the re-master treatment for years, and this shimmering two-setter has finally gotten its due. What a treat it is to get a Live Phish release from such a hallowed era in band history. Much like Hampton/Winston-Salem provided a glimpse into Fall ’97, and Ventura opened a portal to Summers ’97 and ’98, Niagara Falls brings us back in time to December ’95, the home stretch of legendary two-leg, 54-show fall tour on which the band truly realized all the skills they had been honing for years.
Having stretched the limits of abstraction over the courses of Fall ’94 and Summer ’95, Phish spent the fall of ’95 selecting the best elements of this growth spurt and tightening things up into a full-throttle, psychedelic arena rock show. In a matter of weeks following Niagara Falls, the band would play a career-defining show at Madison Square Garden, but on this night on the other side of New York State, Phish cemented another golden block in their yellow brick road of December.
Though this show isn’t a masterpiece of set craftsmasnship, it contains elite, jaw-dropping versions of “Slave to the Traffic Light,” “Split Open and Melt,” “Reba,” “Mike’s” and “Weekapaug.” Additionally the we hear an early incarnation of “Taste” in the second set, at this point called “Taste That Surrounds.” Phish showcased their free form creativity of the era throughout this show, as they dove deep into second-set versions of “Split,” “Mike’s” and “Weekapaug,” taking each jam far off course and forming tour highlights out all three. A “Reba” that sounds like it’s in fast-forward compared to recent versions highlights the middle of this second set, as Trey’s comically confident and exceptionally emotive soloing evokes the sound and intensity of days gone by—a true gem that is often overshadowed by Niagara’s copious highlights.
Retro Niagara Print (Welker)
The first set features an out-of-nowhere version of “Slave” that sounds like it’s plucked from the end of a hugely dramatic frame of music. Unfurled in between “Rift” and “Guyute,” this standout version—which sits in an incredibly delicate space for quite some time—could anchor the opening half all by itself. However, a unique “Curtain > Bag,” a bust out of “Demand” and a full-throttle “Possum” provide solid support.
In short, this Niagara Falls release provides a stellar portrait of Phish’s sound and jamming in one of the most historic months of their career. The band brought all sorts of furious jams to Niagara Falls that December night, though they delivered them within a less-than-artistic setlist. But when Phish drops so many Grade-A excursions on a single audience, how they unfold becomes largely irrelevant. This one is a keeper.
======
Hippie Santa
Niagara Falls CD Giveaway!
Just in time for Christmas, and thanks to the kind folks at Phish Inc., I have three copies of this release to give away! If you’d like to enter your name into the ring, please write a haiku that touches the essence of December ’95. I will pick my favorite 10 entries (and post them), put the names in a hat and draw the three winners. Please have your haikus in to mrminer@phishthoughts.com by 7:30 pm Tuesday(tomorrow) night! Thanks for playing and Happy Holidays from Phishthoughts.com!
With all of the hubbub surrounding Fall Tour, Phish’s release of their December ‘95 stop at Niagara Falls Convention Center flew way under my radar. I just recently listened to the discs for the first time and I must say, it’s another winner in a recent hot streak of Live Phish drops. This show—a classic …
Madison Square Garden is one of the most celebrated Phish venues in the land. Playing the Garden for five consecutive years between ’94 and ’98, the band continued adding shows to their stands in each year but ’96, topping out with a four night stand in 1998. Four-night stands at MSG seem commonplace in the modern era, however, as this upcoming holiday run will be the third in three years. No building has hosted Phish more times than MSG, and these upcoming shows will, coincidentally, be their 28th, 29th, 30th, and 31st at the World’s Most Famous Arena. And this year the band will have a full head of steam heading into New York! On the heels of a smoking fall tour and recording their next album, Phish’s momentum will have had little time to slow come December 28th, unlike the past two years in which the guys didn’t play between Labor Day and the New Year’s Run. Needless to say, the time is near, the mission’s clear.
12.2.09 (W.Rogell)
Though the band has played the Garden at least three times a year since their return, only a few of those nights have truly stood out—namely, 12.31.10, 1.1.11, 12.28.11, 12.28.12, and 12.30.12. If I had to bet, this year will be different. Does this year have the potential to go toe to toe with 1998’s hall of fame run, also a four-nighter at MSG? If the band plays their cards right and really throws down, perhaps we’ll have a debate on our hands. Wouldn’t that be something? It would have to be the best stand of the era, but coming off the hottest tour of this era, why not?
What used to define those legendary mid-to-late ’90s shows was a certain grit and grime that matched the old school arena congruently. This fall, with Trey laying back on rhythm more than at any time during this era, jams took on a far gritter and psychedelic feel than at any time in 3.0. If fall tour was any indication, and it always has been, we could be looking at the dirtiest MSG shows of a notably clean modern era. And wouldn’t that be the perfect way to cap a truly monumental year of Phish?
As a fun exercise, I ran through my memory and have posted my favorites of everything in MSG history. Enjoy!
Best show:12.31.95
New Year’s ’95 was the peak of everything Phish had done in their career up to that point; a culmination of their career. Many fans view this show as the band’s finest night of music, thus is needless to say that it comes in 1st in MSG history.
Best Set:12.29.97 II
This set delivers for the duration with not a singe lull. Jams for days, one of the best “Tubes” of all time and impeccable flow. The only weakness of this set is a fairly routine “YEM” that doesn’t quite do the rest of the set justice.
Down with Disease -> David Bowie -> Possum, Tube, You Enjoy Myself
Best Run:New Years 1998
Four outstanding nights of music, ending what I believe is their best overall year of their career.
Best First Set: 12.31.98
Nobody was quite sure what had hit them when the lights came up after this one.
1999 > Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Ghost -> Ha Ha Ha > Cavern
Best Third Set: 12.31.95
One of the best “Weekapaugs” of all-time and monster “YEM.” Plus a couple rarities to cap things off.
Auld Lang Syne > Weekapaug Groove > Sea and Sand, You Enjoy Myself, Sanity, Frankenstein
A colossal night of Phish with a second set for the ages
Best version of (parentheses represent close seconds):
Tweezer:12.28.12 (12.30.94)
Reba:12.31.95
Mike’s:12.31.95
David Bowie:12.29.97
Wolfman’s Brother:12.28.98
You Enjoy Myself:12.29.98
Piper:12.30.11
2001:12.29.98
Antelope:12.29.97
Weekapaug:12.31.95 (12.31.97)
Harry Hood:12.30.95
Gin: 12.30.10 v. 12.29.12—pick em (only versions)
Twist:1.1.11 (12.28.12)
Ghost:12.31.98 v. 12.31.10—pick em
Down With Disease:12.29.97
Carini:12.28.98 (12.30.12)
Light:12.2.09
Tube:12.29.97
Madison Square Garden is one of the most celebrated Phish venues in the land. Playing the Garden for five consecutive years between ’94 and ’98, the band continued adding shows to their stands in each year but ’96, topping out with a four night stand in 1998. Four-night stands at MSG seem commonplace in the …
This is the stuff Phish pulled off in first sets in the post-hiatus era. Out of “Frankie Says” no less.” This was in the very first set of the New Years Run.
This set-closing “2001” foreshadowed P Funk’s second set sit in as Trey teases some classic Parliament licks.
“Piper” 12.29.03 II, Miami, FL The standard against which all 2.0 “Pipers” should be measured. The short post-hiatus era were the true glory years for “Piper.” *** “Runaway Jim -> Times Loves a Hero” 12.31.02 III, NYC, NY The improvisational centerpiece of their comeback show. *** “Wolfman’s Brother” 12.1.03 Albany, NY A favorite of a …
“Tweezer” 12.16.99 II, Raleigh, NC *** “Reba” 12.31.95 I, NYC, NY *** “Ghost > Mike’s” 12.13.97 II, Albany, NY *** “Simple” 12.6.96 II, Las Vegas, NV *** “Weekapaug” 12.9.97 I, State College, PA *** “Free” 12.15.99 II, Washington, DC *** “Bathtub Gin > 2001” 12.2.99 Auburn Hills, MI *** “You Enjoy Myself” 12.9.95 II, Albany, …
