My first show. No big jams here but solid, high energy playing throughout. The venue was a grass peninsula in San Diego harbor and was a beautiful place to see a show! Highlights for me were Fog, Slave, Theme, and Antelope. Great little type I show for the Cali noobs!

Spaceman_E's first show makes it special enough for me to revisit. The tapes sound fair, definitely listenable, with good instrumental balance and clear vocals despite some crowd interference.

Cars Trucks Buses has a great Page piano solo, definitely a large notch hotter than the previous night's debut. I find the first set very enjoyable, accounting for the approach to the flow of song choices during this era. What i mean to say is that Billy Breathes in the three spot doesn't diminish the Jim or the Mule, which provides another Page piano showcase setting up a nice free jazz moment before the duel, all executed without fault.

Stash features appropriately great dissonance to its jam, giving the set another solid highlight. The segue out of Fee to Fog isnt all that special, and Fish has some problems with his lines in Fog, as seemed to often be the case with that song. Acoustic Army before Slave doesn't do much for the energy meter to end the set, but the Slave is well executed nonetheless.

The second set definitely has a couple of strong jams in Tweezer and Antelope but overall it's a little thin owing to the inability of set's construction to build much momentum. The first set is a better listen than the second on this night, thanks especially to a really solid first half. This show received three stars from this guy.

My 1st birthday show in San Diego at the Embarcadero Center is admittedly one of the weaker shows of Fall 1995. This is mainly due to both sets being short in length although not short in energy. The band played well for the 2nd show of their mammoth tour, but we were left wanting more especially after driving all night from Sacramento the night before.

Cars Trucks Buses was a fun opener and not a surprising call as the band likes to play new songs with frequency after their debut. Page shows off his chops and the crowd is pumped up. I wonder how many people were at last night’s show, not that many I think. Runaway Jim follows solidly and under normal circumstances might have been the opener. The Jim jam builds patiently and the tension is finally released near the end. Billy Breathes is next and we get another new tune repeat from the prior show’s second set. This was fine by me as we had a long road ahead of us and I took the opportunity to soak in this delicate number. Trey takes a moment to introduce the song by name afterward.

Scent Of A Mule is worthy of a listen for any fan of the Page-Trey duel. The full band is engaged playfully as Page takes over to challenge Trey to the duel. Trey responds with most of his effects leaving Page to reply in kind humorously. The song concludes normally by getting the crowd feverishly clapping along until they can’t keep up. The Stash is hot and gets menacing. A solid version all the way until the end!

Fee is always fun to hear and is a real crowd pleaser. The outro jam into The Fog That Surrounds, another repeat from Sacramento, is very short. A beautiful transition but Fishman can't recall the lyrics once he starts playing the drums. Some fun banter ensues as Fishman is encouraged to start the song over. This version is a highlight in the set like the night before. At the conclusion they tease Fish with a few HYHU quotes.

I wonder if the prior fun distracts the band and inspires Acoustic Army next. A nice choice for this small outdoor venue on the water in San Diego. Nice placement in the first set for the first time. Phish being Phish is always entertaining. Slave To The Traffic Light was like a birthday present for the first set closer; another song that was typically played in the second set. An ultra patient build ensues toward a never ending climax. A short yet satisfying first set!

Theme From The Bottom is a song that is near and dear to my heart. This version is well played and serves the set opener role effectively. Poor Heart immediately stirs things up with lots of high energy. You gotta appreciate how much they can accomplish in just over two minutes. Don’t You Wanna Go? I always wanna go and never understood why this was the last time played, and at the beginning of a tour. I think this song is a lot of fun and I enjoy the train horn sounding jam. They seemed to enjoy singing it as well. Oh yeah!!

Very happy to get my favorite song Tweezer next, the ultimate birthday present. This version delivers a driving jam and would be appreciated by any Tweezer enthusiast. Some great tension and release occurs to everyone’s delight. The jam breaks down to near quiet as Keyboard Army starts up. One of the great things about about this song is watching the band members migrate to Page’s keyboards. More Phish being Phish. The transition from Tweezer added to that vibe unlike the night before where the song followed Billy Breathes.

Amazing Grace is a great a cappella tune and I’m bummed they stopped singing it. It seemed to take on special meaning to the band and the fans. The song is lyrically appropriate throughout; “and Grace will lead me home” seemed to strike a cord as Fall tour was wrapping up in December near my home.

Sample In A Jar picks the energy right back up and the crowd is pumped. The first few notes of Run Like An Antelope are always a welcome sound. The intro is playful. It doesn’t take long for this Antelope to get going and the band is firing on all cylinders. This is why I’m on tour!

While the second set felt short it somehow felt complete. Obviously the setlist flow contributed to that. The Fire encore was fitting as it was short yet sweet. “See you next time!”, as in tomorrow night at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. So my birthday show wasn’t the craziest show ever but it did bring a lot of energy!

#20yearslater

My second show, and I have super fun memories. As reported, this was just a gorgeous place to see a show, surrounded by water on three sides. There was plenty of room. We walked up very close to the stage without any trouble, right as set one started. For the second set, we went further back where there was so much room to dance. This was a short but sweet show with great crowd energy. I remember, during the "run, run, run" part of Antelope, me and my friends running and dodging in between people, because there was so much room.

SUMMER POPS, EMBARCADERO CENTER
San Diego, CA
Soundcheck: Gumbo, All Things Reconsidered, Mound, The Fog That Surrounds, Hello My Baby

Fair warning, the source on the Relisten App is rough in that there is a ton of crowd noise seemingly right on top of this microphone.

SET 1: Cars Trucks Buses: Played on back-to-back nights.

Runaway Jim: Nicely ripped!

Billy Breathes: Played on back-to-back nights.

Scent of a Mule: Standard.

Stash: Not much going on here, played very close to the vest.

Fee[1] Standard ->

The Fog That Surrounds: This is version you need to hear simply for the comic relief. Fish completely forgets his lyrics and they literally have to restart the whole tune. Trey was like, Fish I think you need to redo, that – we are going to redo that – or something like that. Funny stuff. They egg Fish on with some HYHU stuff, lol.

Acoustic Army: Standard

Slave to the Traffic Light: This was rock solid, loved what I just heard. At this point in their career, Slave had only closed a first set three times: 4.27.84, 4.24.94, 6.7.95.

First set summary: I enjoyed Runaway Jim and Slave. Both I would relisten to again.

SET 2: Theme From the Bottom: Standard >

Poor Heart: Standard. If you are listening to the source on the Relisten app, the crowd noise right on top of this taper’s microphone is brutal.

Don't You Want To Go? Standard. Last time played ☹

Tweezer: Standard. There isn’t much to sink your teeth into here at all. The last couple of minutes get a bit out there and then segue into… >

Keyboard Army: Standard.

Amazing Grace: Standard.

Sample in a Jar: Standard. This deep in the second set, c’mon man.

Run Like an Antelope: Standard, short, curfew’d?

ENCORE: Fire: Standard. Super short curfew and a short Antelope = must have been up against the clock.

[1] Trey sang verses through megaphone.

HYHU was teased after Fog That Surrounds.

Second set summary: Nothing at all grabbed me – nothing that I would ever come back to unfortunately.