Customer Reviews

Live Phish Vol. 1: 12/14/95, Broome County Arena, Binghamton, New York

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What a great show! I can see why the boys thought this date worthy of the first release in this series. The energy is high and the jams are great. It's one of those nights, you can hear it clearly, the band was getting it, hitting on all cylinders. But more than that, the crowd was great. They were listening and sending the energy back. The crowd knew they were getting a special show, and they were returning the love. The band knew that the crowd knew. The crowd knew the band knew that crowd knew, and so on, a positive feedback loop that spirals faster and faster, accelerating, torqued and twisted, achieving liftoff. You can tell it was one of those glorious nights where the trippers in the crowd outnumbered the drunks.

The ten-minute jam at the end of Split Open and Melt (one of the rare Phish tunes that could actually be described as sexy) is phenomenal. Everyone is jamming hard but also they are jamming together. Frankenstein is another great high energy instrumental to close out the first set. By the way, I loved it that Phish would give you a high-powered first set. Sometimes the first set would be the more intense set. Contrast that to the Grateful Dead who, at least by the time I was on the scene, had to sandbag through the first set because of limitations of stamina, effort, or both. The second set contains more intense jamming, including a great Tweezer > Timber > Tweezer, keyboard army (a good dose of Page on the keybaord is a good sign, he's far from the most charismatic of the band but he may well be the most talented musician), and then a nice jam on the infectious doo-wop Halley's Comet. Some of these releases from the live series seemed to have been picked for release because they played a lot of their popular tunes, or they are historic shows, such as the legendary Halloween shows or Live Phish Volume Four with some nice ambient jamming from their Japan tour, but this first volume is just an all-around fun, high energy show. Makes for good driving music.

The first Live Phish release is a gem from 1995. As of this review, it is the only Live Phish release to fit onto two discs. Looking at the setlist alone, one can tell that it's a stellar show. The Halley's Comet > NICU > Slave to the Traffic Light is phenominal. The Tweezer > Timber > Tweezer > Keyboard Army is excellent as well. This release is packed with songs that have become concert rarities like Tela, The Curtain, Horn and the aforementioned Keyboard Army. The version of Taste played at this show predates the studio version and the difference is huge. This was back when Taste was called The Fog That Surrounds.

While the song choices are excellent, the sound is a bit lacking. As opposed to using the 32 track recordings used to create A Live One or Slip Stick and Pass, a matrix recording was used (soundboard mixed with an audience microphone). While this method captures the crowd noise better, it does hurt the clarity of the sound coming from the band. Overall, the sound is very good and better than most of the bootlegs you'll find being traded around. I would have to say that this release is definately worth the money.

Finally, the packaging. The discs come in a folded sleeve that (kind of) fits into a cardboard box. The sleves are meant to be put into a book. While this is fine for the rabid collector, I think it's no good for the average Joe, who won't want to shell out more money so that (s)he can put the sleeves in a book.

I'm an avid Phish fan, but I'm not one of those people that thinks my favorite band can do no wrong. I've seen them play bad shows and I've seen them play shows that made me forget other music even exists. I've listened to hundreds of shows on tape, and here's my humble assesment of this show.

LIVE PHISH 01 is a wonderful way to start the long awaited series of live Phish concerts. Set 1: Page McConnell is all over the place right out of the gate. His solos in "Suzy" absolutely rock, I haven't heard page go off like that on "Suzy" in a long time, he follows with some rocket-fueled organ on "Llama" then on a smoother plane he absolutely tears "Foam" up. This is probably the best version of "Foam" I've ever heard. Set I also includes "Makisupa," "SOAM," "Tela" an earlier arrangement of "Taste" and closes with "Frankenstein" (yes, the Edgar Winter song.) A pretty rocking first set in my opinion.

Set II: As usual in Phishdom, the second set is where things get out of hand (in a good way of course.) "The Curtain" opens things up and is always a pleasure to hear. The "Tweezer > Timber > Tweezer" section is untouchable, especially after the return to "Tweezer." This is Trey Anastasio's guitar on fire folks; Trey is having a severely good night here. For people that like to hear Trey wail, might I suggest coming here for that :) The rare "Keyboard Army" makes an appearance (interesting but not earth-shaking.) "Halley's Comet" comes next to the now blown minds of those in attendance (this is the best "Halley's Comet" I've ever heard...not to mention the fastest!) The set is almost over now but "Halley's" segues into "NICU," which eventually melts into a sparse spacey jam providing some much needed breathing room after some heavy jamming before flowing into show closer, "Slave to the Traffic Light." A good cover, Hendrix's "Bold as Love" is the encore.

This show is on from the first note. I'm hurling tons of superlatives at this show, and its probably only the 3rd best in the LIVE PHISH series so far (Fukuoka, Japan & Worcester, MA are top two so far in my book.)

All in all, this is an amazing show of Phish doing what they do best!

I smiled when I saw this album. This volume from Broome County Arena was my first Phish show. It was surreal hearing a performance I hadn't listened to in six years. These discs have "Halley's Comet," a song the band hadn't performed since their early days; "The Curtain," a real favorite of mine; nice versions of "Split Open and Melt" and "Tela"; a mammoth "Tweezer"; and a beautiful piece called "Keyboard Army," in which the members of the band each played a keyboard to go along with some stage theatrics. The second and third volumes in the series, Sugarbush and Darien Center, are awesome follow-ups. Volume Two features some fun storytelling by Trey in "Harpua" and a wild "Run Like an Antelope." Volume Three features some intense jams. In general, the band draws great energy from places like upstate New York and Vermont. These performances are indicative of that, though it's good to supplement these sets by trading tapes of other shows with fans. If you're not all that familiar with the band just yet, try to find out about something called "The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday." Find the live "Gamehenge" shows. And see if you can find out more about their Halloween shows, shows where Trey does a good amount of storytelling, or shows where Fishman makes weird microphone sounds in the middle of a Syd Barrett song. There's some wild stuff out there!

With Phish calling it quits last year, we make do with the everlasting legacy of the (so far) 20 "Live" recordings (there are of course many more live releases from Phish, both official ones and from the band's website).

On "Live 01" (2 CDs, 19 tracks, 145 min.), Set 1 starts off with an immediately urgent Suzy Greenberg, and the high energy continues on Llama. The highlights of Set 1, though, come from Foam and Split Open, both of which bookend a new song Makisupa Policeman, a delightful light-reggae take-off. Set 2, as is often the case, outshines Set 1. The Curtain is as prog-rock as Phish will ever get (seriously, didn't it make you think you were listening to Yes?). Tweezer>Timber>Tweezer is awseome, but things get better yet with Hailey's Comet>NICU, showcasing the band free-flowing jamming. And isn't Slave to the Traffic Light a curious but daring way to close the set? A cover of Jimi Hendrix' Bold as Love is the encore. Phish is well known for doing covers, but this one is a bit tame for my taste.

That said, Live 1, recorded at the end of their (almost year-long) 1995 tour shows a band that's playing tight and with great confidence. A nice release to kick of the "Live" series. For other great "Live" releases, check out Live 18 and 20, two of my very favorites.

As seems to be the trend with these releases (and Phish shows in general, in my opinion), the first set rocks but is pretty much standard. Suzy rocks as always, Tela is always nice to hear, and Taste is in the old arrangement some have dubbed "Taste That Surrounds." The second set is where the real fun starts. A great Tweezer sandwiches Timber, and Keyboard Army is a sweet little number. Halley's is phenomenal, with no fewer that two great, full band Type II jams and some start-stop action, followed by a smooth segue into NICU. Slave and Bold as love close it out with some straight-ahead playing. It's good to see some 12/95 era stuff amidst all the 2000 releases in the series.

Not since the Grateful Dead started their Dick's Picks series in 1993 have I been so excited by a collection of live recordings. The first show in the first batch of six shows that will be released every six months is from December '95 in New York. Not only is it an excellent set list, but the performance is truely amazing. The great thing about Phish is their ability to perform very different versions of songs every time. The show includes familiar favorites with a few unique cover tunes and a couple of rarities. The familiar tunes such as Llama, Foam, Split Open And Melt, and Tweezer are all given souped-up treatment. The version of Tweezer clocks in around 19 minutes, bookending a spunky rendition of Timber, and the jam evolves very, very differently than the version found on "A Live One." NICU, Makisupa Policeman, and Halley's Comet all have a funkier edge than other versions I've heard. There's also a sweet take on Edgar Winter's Frankenstein, though shorter than later versions, this one ends the first set on a high note. Page McConnell really shines with some beautiful piano on NICU and Slave To The Traffic Light. The only criticism I have is that these are not mixed-down multitrack recordings such as Hampton Comes Alive and Slip, Stitch, & Pass. They are two-channel soundboard mixes similar to the Dead's Dick's Picks series. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but just different than some people might expect, with the quality varying a bit between different shows. Volume 3, for example, sounds much better. That said, this release along with the other volumes are no-brainers. If you are a Phish Head or would like to eventually become one, this is a must-have.

For fans of the band, there are various periods of live Phish that were incredible. Fans often speak of August 93 or December of 97 as important periods in the band's evolution. December of 1995 is without a doubt one of those periods. This slice of history shows the band in wonderful form. The second disc alone features thoughtful and direct jamming with legit segues from song to song. The mix of the soundboard has a bit more crowd than I would expect, but it still is an incredibly clean recording of a fantastic show. It's obvious why the members of the band chose this show, it's everything December 1995 was all about.

This show in New York is a special one with some rare songs to see them play live such as horn, makisupa policeman, tela, the curtain, and keyboard army.. also, some kick*** covers such as frankenstein, halley's comet and bold as love....

Highlights from Set 1: (not one song in set one goes into another song, a huge rarity) this show starts out with a rockin suzy greenburg, with an awesome page solo on it, followed by a great llama that keeps the high energy flowin, also a differently played taste, but the best part of this set is the 10:43 foam!! it kicks some a**

Set 2: starts out with a chess move that doesn't happen for whatever reason then goes right into a nice stretch of the curtain, tweezer> timber> tweezer> keyboard army.. both tweezer's are SICK and are pretty differernt from eachother.. after keyboard army, another awesome stretch starts with an alomst 12 minute halley's comet> a 9 minute NICU> an 11:25 slave.. encore is a sick bold as love, better than any other bold as love i have heard

the second set alone is worth the price of this live phish show!! this show is a good one to get into with the variety of covers, rarities, and solos

a definite must have if colleting all the live phish shows

this was my second live phish album (no. 10 was my first) and it's an overall solid show. although i do enjoy the shows from 93 that "crazy phans" wished still occurred, to me the phish sound was so much more refined in later 94 and in 95. the dissonant jamming and stuff is still there, but a lot of the playing between band members is much tighter. my personal favorites on this album are a great take on the curtain, tweezer>timber>tweezer because its ultra funky and bluesy, and another classic set of segued tunes in halley's comet>nicu>slave to the traffic light...all songs i don't really find on other tapes that i have. in the first set there's a nice tela and an energetic frankenstein. i wouldn't reccomend this as an introduction to live phish (no. 10 might be more friendly) but it certainly has some tight playing on it. i'd give it 4.5 if i could.