This was my very first Phish show. I was a freshman at OU and had only been there a few weeks when Phish announced that they were going to play the Dugout. Nobody could believe they were going to play in such a small club. The Dugout a super was tiny, kind of dumpy college bar that held maybe 200(?) people if it was completely overflowing. I only knew a few Phish tunes at the time and had bootleg versions of the original releases of Lawn Boy and Junta, but was very excited none the less. Friends had an apartment across Court Street where we partied before, during and after the show. And partied we did. As a result, my memories of the actual show are a bit hazy. I remember Foam, Fee, Possum, Landlady and Tweezer. I also vaguely remember Trey and Mike jumping on trampolines, but can't imagine how they could have pulled that off on a stage so small. I remember the band singing Happy Birthday to Trey and remember him standing next to us at the bar. I believe our friends tried to convince the band to stop by across the street after the show, but the band wisely declined. Also, a friend taped the show by holding his 'boom box" over his head. I don't think the tape was any good because I never heard anything about it afterward. For months afterwords Phish was all anybody could talk about. What a great memory. If anyone ever, somehow discovers a recording of this show, I'd love to get my hands on it.

I believe I listened to the aforementioned boombox recording today, as you can clearly hear some funny chatter between two guys at the beginning of Possum.

"I think I'll try it up here"
"Did you listen to it"
"Yeah!"
"Is it there?"
"Yeah it is pretty fair actually"
"I mean, pretty good?"
"Yah! Definitely"
"Aw, that's great. Hold on to that, I think its the only one here"
"Possum! Yeah"

I was one of the dudes aiding and assisting in the holding of the "boombox".....I have a digitally remastered "boombox" recording! This was my first Phish time and remember it very well! If anyone would like a version, you may message me.

I just graduated from OU last year and had heard many stories about this show from my older brother's friends who had attended this show..Unfortunately the Dugout was no longer in Athens when I arrived..it has become a second-rate T shirt shop..oh well. I could imagine how small the Dugout must have been. I'm just listening to this show for the first time now, kind of bummed that no version exists of this show besides the 'boom box' one, but hey at least there is SOME audio! Kind of gives you that bar room feel though!

I'm taking my kids to their first Phish show tonight (8/2/2022) at Blossom in Ohio, and I thought back to my first show - this one at The Dugout in Athens. I was a junior at Ohio University, and 1991 was a very busy year for me concert wise. I saw The Dead at Buckeye Lake in June, then again at the old Richfield Coliseum in September, and then this show when I was back on campus. I was not very familiar with Phish at the time (Ekoostik Hookah was more of my jam) and to be honest, I was not especially impressed by them, after all, Jerry and the boys were putting on some great shows and were in a league of their own. I think this was the period when both Bruce Hornsby and Vince Welnick were playing in the band, although maybe not - the late 80s and early 90s are a bit fuzzy in my memories. Nevertheless, The Dugout was my go-to bar while in Athens, and I probably went to this show because there was a live show that night, and not necessarily because of who was playing. As with many other shows at The Dugout, it was hot, smoky, sweaty, loud and packed - which meant about 100-125 people. I never gave it much thought back then, but I certainly wouldn't have thought that Phish would be who they are now - some 30 years later.

This is a pretty poor audience recording as it was recorded from somebody’s boombox. It’s better than nothing though and it’s not too bad considering. Set 1 is an absolute Chomperfest! I’m not sure if those people went home by set 2 or the psychedelics finally kicked in because the audience is a lot quieter for the second half. Thanks to Mark Miller for documenting this show. It’s surprising Paul wasn’t recording everything at this point.

The show gets underway with well played versions of Chalk Dust and Foam. Decent Stash with a brief DEG tease. Trey did his best to give the Forbin>Mockingbird narration even though most people were too busy getting drunk and blabbing with their friends. Sparkle fades out midway through and cuts. A solid Llama ends set 1.

A rippin’ Possum kicks off set 2 with lots of secret language throughout. Pretty straightforward Tweezer that fades out again without returning back to the closing Tweezer theme. The Landlady fades out close to the end and cuts. The intro to Lizards is cut. Henrietta initiates a Happy Birthday singalong for Trey’s 27th birthday. The birthday boys choice is Love You. Fish added a little extra frosting to his vac solo for Trey. Following the GXBX encore Paul cues up Charles Mingus’ ‘Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting’ as the walk out music.