Fall 1985 and 1995

In the autumn of 1985, not even the heartiest of Phish phans (of which there were, what, a few dozen?) could have imagined where the band would be a decade hence.

The few tapes that circulate from that era display a band generally goofing off with musical oddities like "Anarchy" and its twin "Revolution" (10/17), "Makisupa Policeman" (11/14), and "Dave's Energy Guide".  Still, "Mike's Song" and "Run Like an Antelope" are fun to hear in their early stages and the first known performance of "Harry Hood" (10/30) is impressive if only for the fact that the whole structure of the song is pretty much exactly as we know it today. This was a five-piece Phish during its short time with both Jeff Holdsworth, who would quit the following spring, and new-member Page McConnell.  Also of note is a full acoustic rendition of Bob Dylan's "Hurricane" to commemorate the release from prison of Rubin Carter, the song's subject, which happened that week.  On a personal level, that song is interesting to hear because I am pretty sure it is the only time Trey has ever name-checked the New Jersey city of Paterson.

A decade later, the fall of 1995 showed a band at the full height of its powers.  From Sept. 27 to Dec. 17, Phish played a whopping 54 shows which, most notably, included the enormous undertaking of playing the entirety of the Who's Quadrophenia in the middle of the Halloween show.  But to listen to the entirety of the tour, one finds that the epic 10/31 show did not exist in a vacuum.  Rather, the buildup is intense, with every show knocking it out of the park.  You want an example?  Pick a show, any show.  Not only is there not a bad show in the tour, especially before Halloween, there is not even a show that is less than fantastic.

It was as if the band was on a mission to convert all doubters (this was, after all, the first tour since the death of Jerry Garcia), so every show was not just Phish - it was Super Phish, and each outing had to be an example of everything the band did, and did well, up to that point.  You want huge jams?  You got them in all the heavy hitters like "You Enjoy Myself", "David Bowie", "Tweezer" and "Antelope", and you were bound to get at least one per show.

The Super Phish checklist did not end there.  Bluegrass?  Check.  A cappella barbershop?  Check.  Classic rock covers?  Check.  Amusing covers sung by Jon Fishman?  Check (usually "Suspicious Minds", but other oddball choices like Aerosmith's "Cryin'" came up).  New songs, old songs, fast songs, slow songs.  They are all represented.  Go to phishows.com or phishtracks.com and pick a show.  Again, it would be futile to select specific performances because they are all that good.  Seriously.

The only thing left to do is to point out some of the interesting ways the songs were evolving, especially "Free", which reached a creative high-point in a 35-minute version on Nov. 22, 1995.  Though still not quite the arrangement we know today, once the jam lifted off it was impossible to return.  The fact that it segued seamlessly into "Llama" gives you an idea how far off the reservation it traveled in that half-hour.

The other noticeable song evolution was what became known as "Taste That Surrounds".  It started as "Taste" in the summer (sort of as we know it today, but without the middle section), but changed lyrically and melodically to "Fog That Surrounds" in early autumn, with Fish singing verses that included bits which became the now-standard middle section, only to give way to the return of the "Taste" melody and lyrics that, in part, included Fish singing his entire verses at the same time (hence, "Taste That Surrounds").  Sometimes Phish comes out with a fully realized song (like "Hood" in 1985) and sometimes the boys bring it out there and work it out in front of the audience (like "Simple" in 1994).

But there is no denying that the constant playing and practicing (even if it was for the Quadrophenia set) was paying off.  By the end of the fall tour, Phish had become the seasoned band that was about to deliver the killer New Year's Eve show, what many of us feel is one of the best ever.