Customer Reviews

Live Phish Vol. 18: 5/7/94, The Bomb Factory, Dallas, Texas

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hi, I've heard all 20 of the releases in the Live Phish series and was definately blown a way by the excellent work the band put in on this volume. I was also a little surprised no one else has really seriously reviewed this offering, so I thought I would. First, this show is from the mid 90s, when Phish was really winning alot of fans over on the Jam band circuit from the aging Grateful Dead with a string of funky, and innovative shows. Someone said, "If the Dead were a wild 60 mph ride on back country roads, then Phish is a supercharged rocket ride through space." The shows from this era were energetic, incredibly varied, and featured remarkably balanced jamming from the boys. Among those shows, this show stands out as a true gem. The first set features some excellent jamming in Llama, Divided Sky, Split Open and Melt, Scent of a Mule, and the Suzy that ends it. It also has some of the great ballads from that era that were sadly phased out in later shows like "If I could," "Mound" and "Fast Enough For You." Of course, the real treasure in this show is the second set. After a few warm-up ballads, the band gets down to some of their best jamming, really ever, in a monster 25+ min Tweezer that explores the range of the song from power packed fusion jamming to a gutsy style blues, complete with Jesus Just Left Chicago- style shouts and moans, to haunting ambient jamming. Keyboardist Page McConnel is a monster in the entire show (Page fans out there really need to grab this one), and this section of the second set is one of his best performances. The Tweezer triumph complete, the boys segue seamlessly (a real mark of a great show) into and out of perenial favorites, Sparks, Makisupa, and Walk Away (with Aero Smith Sweet Emotion Tease)and cover the mid-90's hit "Cannonball." The set ends with Drummer Jon Fishman singing Purple Rain. As normal, the cover ends with a Hold Your Head Up (HYHU) Outro. Fans who enjoy the high energy that moment often brings to a set will love the final jam which takes the HYHU theme to another level of energy and fun. A difficult to hear acapello Amazing Grace and Sample comprise the encore, but after the second set display, who cares? As usual in this series, the Filler provides amazing highlights from another show that year. After 20 releases, and probably $450 into this series, I hope the boys send us another 20.

Phish continues its "Live" series with this set from a show in July, 1994 from Dallas. "Live 18" (3 CDs, 186 min.) is remarkable for set 2 of the show, and a treasure for any Phish fan.

CD1 (70 min.) is OK, but nothing remarkable as such, except for a great "Split Open and Melt". But CD2 (78 min.) is really where it's at. After a tentative "Loving Cup" and "Sparkle", the band gets grooving into a 70 min. long jam that is as good as Phish ever gets, starting with a terrific 25+ min. "Tweezer" that jams just terrific. According to Mike Gordon's liner notes, "we decided to jam the whole (2nd) set... all songs connected... song list abandoned", and it shows, with great tongue-in-cheek covers of, among others, The Who's "Sparks" and Prince's "Purple Rain", you can just feel the band having fun and rocking out. "Tweezer" shows up a few more times in various forms, bookending the set. CD3 (38 min.) contains (besides the encores) a great 22 min. instrumental jam from a November, 94 show in Missouri.

The "Live" collection contains many great shows, but "Live 18" is one of the stand-outs, as Set 2 is Phish is as great as you'll find them anywhere. Highly recommended!

I'm suprised to see some folks rating this show so harshly. Sure, it's not a show with elite jamming, but it's such a fun ride that you shouldn't care about the occasional pothole or speed bump. The second set is arguably the first time Phish truly threw the rulebook out the window & just played on gut instinct all the way through. This set actually was the set that converted a few of my friends into fans...the "Sparks", "Cannonball", "Walk Away", and "Purple Rain" covers (all thrown into the middle of a bizarre "Tweezer" jam) make for a fun and somewhat accessible evening, and remind us that sometimes we NEED shows like these. I mean, if you can't muster up a giggle during the hilarious-yet-somewhat- faithful-to-the-original "Purple Rain", you might be crossing into "music snob" territory...lol As Robert Plant once said, "does anyone remember laughter?!" That's not to say it's ALL fun n' games...the frenetic jamming that eventually morphed into the "Tweezer Reprise" got down to business, and reminds us why some folks travel across the country to see this band live. Long story short: this show is like a Harlem Globetrotters game...it's not on the level of an NBA game (your typical Phish show), but it's got flash & you'll find yourself smiling alot once you realize you shouldn't be taking it too seriously.

This show is affectionately known by phans as "Tweezerfest" considering that the 2nd set is entirely jammed around the song "Tweezer". 70-plus minutes of non-stop jamming with no pauses! This show is the perfect example of how Phish can push the boundaries of their songs. I consider this to be one of Phish's most epic, groundbreaking performances ever. My personal all-time fav show and a MUST HAVE for any collector of the Live Phish Series CD's. Definitely not for beginners though. The best show released so far.

While Live 18 is certainly not "the greatest show ever," (an all too often thrown out term used by phish fans.) It does contain some excellent music, loosely played and highly enjoyable. The first set is pretty standard stuff, pretty fast paced. But the second set is where the show really takes off. It opens with my personal favorite Loving Cup of all time. Trey really digs into the jam section of the tune and it seems like every note he hits is really strained with emotion (in a good way)...a really moving jam. After the segue into a kindof sloppy Sparkle, the band starts Tweezer and abandons the setlist for the night. This second set was the birth of Phish's 'endless jam' concept employed much since the time of this show. The jamming is very nice, with segues in and out of some covers and a Sweet Emotion jam. Very cool second set. The filler is also fantastic, don't pass it up. While I think some of the previous reviews stating this is phish's "best jamming ever" are simply exagerations, this is a very jammy show with some history behind it and simply put, its a fun listen.

Many of the songs are excellent. There are great versions of "Scent of a Mule" and "Suzy Greenberg." The second disk has a great medly of cover songs that I really enjoy, with the exception of the "Purple Rain" cover, which has attrocious singing and some bizarre vocal noisemaking near the end. Still, the fact that they medley between so many songs and then come back to the original song they started the medley with is a very impressive musical accomplishment. Some of the extended jams they get into in this album devolve a little too much into noise. The third disk contains the best jams of any of the disks (they are much spacier), and it is probably my favorite of the three CDs on the album. All in all, this album is well worth a listen for those who enjoy Phish.

I was one of the lucky many who were around NE during the early 90's, fortunate enough to have been able to attend some of the early Phish performances. It's my opinion that the summer of 1997 brought a metamorphosis to their style that quite honestly was just not as appealing to my ear as was the style during the era that these CDs capture very well. The mix is really the only bad thing I can say about this release (esp. the voice mixing). This CD rocks. The 2nd CD is amazing. This is the Phish that hooked me.

This show is so inspiring. Phish is a musicians band but this live phish release proves that they are not only a band for all people b ut that they are GODS!!!!!!!!!!! It says that they take a shot of whiskey before the second set and decide to jam....they need to use that formula more often apparently! The second set is incredible. It is the famous TWEEZERFEST. The whole set is a jam around the psychedelic groove (TWEEZER). In this jam they flow flawlessly in and out of some of their best songs. First set is very strong and very tight. Encore contains an accapela and Sample (s an ok song) This could very well be the best of the Live Phish series which is funny because 17 19 and 20 ... pretty badly. 18 just happened to be incredible. Tweezer has some incredible bass and piano and drums and well....u can guess how the guitar was (Trey as usual). But the rythm section was surprisingly on that night. awesome show and recording. Listen for the awesome funk blues jam in the first part of Tweezer! Its awesome! PEACE LOVE AND MUSIC FOR EVER

I am new to Phish. I bought Live Phish Vol. 16 (10/31/98, Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada) and fell in love with it - it is now one of my favorite albums. Since I liked 16 so much, I decided to buy another Live Phish and just randomly picked 18. It is no where near as enjoyable as 16. The music is rather ordinary and does not show off the depth of talent that these musicians have as well as 16 does. My advice if you are relatively new to Phish is go for Vol 16.

A good take from 94, but hardly the best of the Live Phish series. What I found rather ironic is the filler material used on this disc from 11/22/94, in my opinion, is vary better then anything from the featured show. Sure the second set is impressive, but fairly sloppy at times. Mound saves this from being just another Phish show.