(Published in the second edition of The Phish Companion...)

There almost wasn't a third Phish show for me. My second, 7/1/94, had been rather dull, and my wife-to-be hated it with a passion. I had loved Rift but was underwhelmed by Hoist. There were plenty of other rock acts competing for my dollar at the time, and most of those my fiancè©e was willing to see. The burned-out hippies, whom I find annoying, had invaded the Phish scene with full force. But memories of my fantastic first show, 5/2/93, and my favorite moments on the first four studio albums prompted me to give Phish another try. And it paid off. While not as energetic or as fun as that '93 show, this show had some incredible moments that kept me curious as to what else they might be able to do. Another show as desultory as 7/1/94 might have caused me to jump off the bandwagon forever.
The first set was pretty standard but had a strong opening pair, "Ya Mar" into "AC/DC Bag," that got the crowd swaying. Other highlights included a crisp "Divided Sky," a goofy "I Didn't Know" (with Fishman introduced as "Cedric Harris"), and a galloping "Split Open and Melt."
But the second set was the real story here. The opener, "Maze," raged nearly as hard as the one from my first show, and was more playful with its "Reveille" teases. "Scent of a Mule" gave me my first exposure to the duel, and I found Page's classical stylings impressive. But the show's calling card was the unusual "Mike's Groove" with "Why Don't We Do It in the Road" and "HYHU" in the middle. A sequence that combined such incredible jamming with such brazen silliness, well, only a band that really has something going for it could pull that off. I was hooked, again.
The encore was my first exposure to "Slave" and I was again impressed. Two days later I went out and bought A Live One on its day of release. While it would take two more years for me to become a raving, drooling die-hard, I never considered falling off the Phish train again.

This is my favorite Phish show! Maybe not the best Ive seen, but my favorite.
It seemed like that year, the Dead were zigzagging to shake people following them around. If you alternated between Phish and the Dead you could kinda go straight down the east coast.

This was not the case this weekend...
I mailordered for Phish, then the Dead announced their shows. Being more of a Dead head I was bummed to miss the RKF shows with my friends.
We did Stanhope Villiage, then went to RFk in Washington to catch the Dead, then had to drive back to philly to catch this show.
I was pissed because we partying like rock stars at the hotel bar that day since breakfast, and my friends were all staying for the next Dead show. then my GF drove us down to the mann. My buzz was waning hard, head pounding, and we pull in to the lot and Krishna sticks his head in the window, and says "hey your under arrest" I mumbled something like "get the fuck out of here" and he starts saying he can help, I was too young to be so burnt blah blah blah... So anyway, Im now even more grumpy, go into the show, dose, and by the time they played Split I was convinced Trey had sold his soul to the devil. It was a hard rockin show, and I was DIGGIN IT!
Turns out, that would be my last Dead show with Jerry dying a month later. I loved Phish in this period since 92. This show being one I will always remember. It was really never the same for me after Jerry Died. I didnt want Phish to be a replacement. I liked them as an alternative. Seen many shows, good bad and average, but this one, for me, was the BEST!

Six twenty five ninety five. Words that drip off my lips like luscious liquid sugar. It was my first show, and from the first notes of Ya Mar, I knew that I was all in. As I write this on the day of my 27th Phish anniversary, I can't remember the exact details of that show at the Mann but I can recall some highlights. Having had listened to Phish for a couple of years prior, and being aware of them as early as 1989 when I admired their t-shirts in my New England high school parking lot, having been on the phish.net and reading Rosemary's Digest and the name Charlie Dirksen would just light me up because I knew something good was about to appear before my eyes, I was so happy to finally see a Phish show. No more living vicariously through the Schvice! I was actually seeing Phish! Yay! The flying hotdog band was finally one I would get to see! There were some songs that were familiar and some totally new. So when they opened with Ya Mar, a catchy and danceable tune, I had a nice smile on my face. I wasn't at all familiar with AC/DC bag, and by this 2nd song I could tell that the band's playfulness was exactly my cup of tea. Of course I had heard of AC/DC but I wasn't much of a metal head. So when they got to the line of "brain dead and made of money, no future at all," it really hit home. I was a year out of college and still feeling that feeling don't-want-to-be-an-adult angst. I was working a corporate job in NYC and all I wanted to do was just go on tour, even though I never did go on tour for a whole tour. I was 22 years old and not really sure about my future so those lines really hit home. Going into Theme and If I Could, both beautiful slow songs I just felt so connected to Phish and knew I never wanted to leave. Any angst that I was feeling was somewhat washed away and my emotions just felt so connected to our Phish community, one that I had no clue really I'd stay connected to all these 27 years later. Sparkle...I am not at all ashamed to say that I was dancing so happily that that tune ,of course I was sort of confused, and definitely flying high elated with joy at this amazing rock and roll show like no other show I had been to before, so when they got to "laugh and laugh and fall apart" I couldn't tell if it was that or it was "laughing laughing fall apart" but it didn't matter because it was just so fun. I knew I was in the right place. I Didn't Know really summed up all my emotions and then going into Melt it was as if they were reading my mind. I was fully blown away and face melted before I even knew the expression. Slumping into my pavilion seat I kind of couldn't believe what just happened. I can't even recall if I went for a bathroom break I was just so mesmerized.

2nd set: all these years later it's true that when you're a Phish head (ok ok Phan) you will never get out of this Maze. One of my favorite examples of how the band does a layering of the voices in the round, something I always love the sound of. the end notes of the song remind me of a common tune so it struck a chord. Then they launch into that good ole Sample and that is of course a tune that is not only a crowd pleaser but probably the 1st tune that I actually had heard before this show. So I was thrilled. Also it echos the thought in Ya Mar where they talk about an Oh KeePah which I instantly heard the word "kipa" which is the Jewish word for "Yarmulke" so in my outlook I was already very Jewish-centric about their music, and then the references to the marketplace, Elihu and Limor all very Jewish / Israel vibes I was like ok this is my people.

SOAM - I don't know about you but I wasn't exactly sure about the laser beams and never experienced such a psychedelic dream of a real life rock and roll show as with this song. It was super fun and I was also confused exactly but in a good way about this fun music and laser beams. What the heck is a scent of a mule, also going back to the Israel vibes I was already thinking about. What kind of game is this band playing with. me, anyway? I wasn't quite sure but I knew that I was in the right place for me. Also what kind of a girl named Kitty Malone , presumably a girl who was from Hotchkiss or Choate, doing on a mule? This Mike's Groove was stellar - I was blown away by the lyrics Me No Are No Nice Guy because these guys all seemed like geeky smart guys and how is it that he was dropping bass bombs like this and morphing the English language? Whatever it was, I loved it. WDWDITR was super cool and of course a familiar tune. A high school boyfriend put this on a mix-tape for me so it was great to hear Phish singing it. I was aware of the Beatles very early on in my music listening life ,probably in 1983, so it made me feel connected to hear this tune at a show that I was fully sold on by the first tune. Sharing in a groove was something I was fully doing and then when they articulated this in a song I just felt so happy, it was a very unique feeling that I had never experienced before at a concert where I felt like I was part of a larger whole and that special feeling that keeps bringing us back to seeing Phish. I loved looking around at other folks during Weekapaug, and also being that New Englander it all felt strangely familiar because I already knew of this town in Rhode Island (?) It struck me as very interesting these this band from Vermont would write a really danceable tune with the name of a town in it. It just felt right and it felt like home.

Amazing Grace is a tune that I was not at all familiar with, being a Jewish girl. It's possible that I heard it once or twice before but I do recall that it was beautiful to say the least ,and very special. The whimsical lyrics of Cavern really put a smile on my face and I appreciated that famous Phish recommendation of whatever you do take care of your shoes. It left me simultaneously perplexed, happy, joyful and amazed. I knew that this band wasn't just fun but terrific musicians that could get a whole room dancing and super into great music.

My friend Mike who took me to this show at the Mann already informed me that they would come back for an encore so I pondered that last song of Cavern as I tried gathering my thoughts together, like what the h just happened and can we please start up again because I.Never.Want.to.Go.Home.

So when they played another Phish pop tune of Bouncing' it just made me so happy. Not so much as because I knew the song but because I wanted to just stay in this Phish show. "That time and once again" is a feeling I could go home with and feel happy about and mull over many times and again. Who knows, maybe *I* was that woman in the dream he had though rather hard to keep for when my eyes were watching his...I mean I knew that it was not me because I never met the members of the band at this point but I could imagine that on some level that was me on some time space continuum. Folks like to disparage Bouncing but I thought it was nothing but sheer gold and song that I will take with my in my heart for years to come.

Like the proverbial Dayeuni, if only they would have played Bouncing for the encore, it would have been enough. But then they played Slave as if a send-off to us all. What can I say other then this was a magic and perfect set list for a first show and it fully cemented six twenty five ninety five into my my brain forever, thank g-d!

This show blows away the previous night (at the same venue). The Ya Ma > Bad segue is flawless, and there is no time to catch your breath for a few more songs. If I could is the first time to exhale. SOAM is in a predictable spot but still this is a great first set setlist.

Love how two traditional set closers, Bad and Sample in a Jar, appear second in each set.

WDWDIITR is disgracefully bad.

PHISH, SUNDAY 06/25/1995
THE MANN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
Philadelphia, PA

SET 1:

Ya Mar: Standard. >

AC/DC Bag: Smokes big time! >

Taste: Very solid. >

Theme From the Bottom: Standard.

If I Could: 3:09 to 3:12, tell me that is not Page playing Eminence Front for a couple bars??? Coincidence? Maybe. Coo? Very! Great version here. >

Sparkle: Standard. >

Divided Sky: Standard.

I Didn't Know: Standard.

Split Open and Melt: Standard.

SET 2:

Maze: Smokes – great opener! >

Sample in a Jar: Kind of negates the momentum that Maze created.

Scent of a Mule: Standard and rather straightforward.

Mike's Song: This jam is hard driving and intense. Super metal! By the late 12’s this has largely settled and gets spacy for the next few minutes. Crazy intense ramp up around 15:20 and things are spinning out of control in a good way. This would have been A LOT to handle on a headful, wow! Would recommend! ->

Why Don't We Do It in the Road? This was the first time this was played out of Mike’s and the second and last time it happened was 2.23.97. >

Hold Your Head Up: Standard. >

Jam: Some cool effects in here, revisiting some of that wild psychedelic soup they created in Mike’s – kind of sounds like the end of Day in the Life ->

Weekapaug Groove: Mainstreet by Bob Seger at 2:12 and Dreaming by Blondie at 4:24. The first part of this jam is led by Trey soloing passionately, it’s fantastic. From there, things get very funky led primarily by Page. When they are satisfied with this section, Trey comes in over the top and lays waste to the Mann. He is in all his glory during this stretch, blistering guitar work. Would recommend!

Amazing Grace: Standard.

Cavern: Standard.

ENCORE:

Bouncing Around the Room: Standard.

Slave to the Traffic Light: Feels a little rushed and it’s definitely shorter than most from this era. Must have been up against the curfew.

Summary: Very good show. 3.8/5

Replay Value: Mike’s Song, Weekapaug Groove

During I Didn’t Know, Trey introduced Fish as “Cedric Harris.” The Maze intro included Taps teases from Trey and Weekapaug contained teases of Mainstreet and Dreaming (Blondie).
JAM CHART VERSIONS
AC/DC Bag, Maze, Mike's Song, Jam, Weekapaug Groove
TEASES
Taps tease in Maze, Mainstreet and Dreaming teases in Weekapaug Groove