PHISH: 11/14/95 University of Central Florida Arena, Orlando, FL essay by Phish Archivist Kevin Shapiro (2/19/07)
After touring in
support of "A
Live One" the previous summer, Phish's Fall 1995
tour kicked off in late September in California and spanned
from the Pacific Northwest through Big Sky country and the
southwest reaching Chicago for their second modern era Halloween
show, 24 shows later. The band solicited votes for their
second Halloween musical costume and even led the fans into
believing it could be a Michael Jackson album (a joke which
dates as far back as the band's first gig in 1983). On Halloween,
the band performed an impressive reproduction of The Who's
"Quadrophenia"
complete with horns, guest vocals and pyrotechnics (see
This Month In Phish History September
and October
1995). After a ten day break, the tour resumed in Atlanta
for a three-night stand at the Fox Theatre, which began
a second leg of nearly thirty more shows eventually ending
the year in style with the
"New Year's Eve 1995" concert at Madison Square
Garden
.
The three nights
at The Fox were legendary, building toward the magnificent
peak of the 11-11 show before rolling down to Gainesville
for Phish's first Florida dates of the year. Phish had been
gaining notoriety in the sunshine state ever since they
first played there in February 1993 but the shows in August
1993 and spring and fall of 1994 cemented the band's reputation
there. Those previous shows had been clubs and a couple
small amphitheaters so the college arenas in 1995 were a
step up, however the energy of The Edge and even The Ritz
shone through.
Shows that week in
Gainesville, Tampa and most notably West Palm Beach were
all excellent, but the magic that took place inside the
University of Central Florida Arena on November 14th was
of a higher order. Having written about the personal impact
of this day in other forums, it suffices to say that a trip
to Disney World was the perfect buildup to a remarkable
show. This show also marked the time when Eric Larson was
equipped to videotape some key shows (12/31/95
and 12/29/97)
and luckily, the Beta SP masters of the Orlando show turned
out great. The result when synced with engineer Paul Languedoc's
2-track soundboard reference audio mix mastered by Fred
Kevorkian elevates the intended archival-only status of
these tapes to that of must-have release.
The University of
Central Florida Arena is a 5300-seat bleacher-lined basketball
arena which, for this show was set up with the soundboard
against the back, leaving no room for the taping section
where it usually was beside the front of house mix position.
Instead Paul helped set up a special taping section in the
bleachers at stage right so tapers could still record the
show. The two thirds full room buzzed with anticipation
as the band made their move in their continuing chess match
against the audience and started a blazing Chalk Dust Torture
which served as an initial portal into the show. A particularly
intricate and dynamic Foam kept the eager crowd’s
attention as the possibilities of the evening continued
to unfold. A pretty Billy Breathes, which had been debuted
at the beginning of fall, came next before Trey looked skyward
for The Divided Sky. Just a few seconds passed after Divided
Sky before Page dropped into the circus-y opening of this
tour's second Esther - the theme of which would be revisited
later in the show's peak moments.
A solid Free and
a spirited Julius came next, further stoking the electric
atmosphere. The acoustic instruments and arrangements that
had been honed the previous fall tour were used for I'm
Blue, I'm Lonesome which featured a brave mandolin solo
by Fish as well as some especially inflected vocals by temporary
upright bassist Page. Cavern provided a fitting close to
a tight, well-played set that alluded, only in subtle ways,
to the incredible madness that would manifest during the
second set.
After a set break
and the audience chess move, Trey taunted the audience as
the band broke into a frenzied Maze– traversing alien
switchbacks fueled by swirling organ and Trey singing along
with his guitar for a gremlin-like effect. Gumbo was next
and provided a funky interlude before the band launched
into one of the deepest and most exploratory versions of
Stash, which was masterfully woven in and around most of
the rest of the set, spanning an epic forty minutes before
returning to the more earthly environs of Central Florida.
Alongside telepathic sets like 2/20/93 The Roxy, 8/14/93
Tinley Park and 5/7/94
II Bomb Factory the improvisational skill and grace
demonstrated in this Stash set the standard for years to
come.
Trey began the first
segment of Stash so quickly that the rest of the band was
barely ready. By this time in Stash's history, it was standard
for the audience to clap along to the woodblocks, but their
in-unison shout of "please don't do that" signaled
the Florida kids' intensity and no doubt helped this masterpiece
pick up even more steam. Staccato guitar and clavinet accents
began to lead into some incredible jamming with massive,
swirling tension as the band weaved in and out of Stash's
theme in a loose, psychedelic approach. Deep rhythmic tribal
incantation followed with Trey eventually switching to percussion
and grooving into something akin to the ending of Fee. This
jam continued, melting perfectly into a supercharged version
of Manteca, played for the first time in a year and sandwiched
between segments of Stash for the first time since 2/21/93
at the Roxy.
Manteca resolved
back into a soaring jam that begat the second segment of
Stash – lighter and more dynamic in contrast to the
more slanted feel of the first section. It's here that Leslie-soaked
guitar floated serenely over Fish's ethereal cymbal and
woodblock work to allude sublimely back to Esther, conveying
a level of emotion capable of coaxing tears of joy from
even the most grizzled listeners. A primal jam developed
from this moment of beauty that swirled deeper and darker
into a drone accented by tick-tocking percussion that lasted
a few minutes before tender a capella vocals emerged for
the only Stash > Dog-Face > Stash in Phish history.
After Dog-Faced Boy, the band returns to the harmonic bed
that begat it, mysteriously skipping the final lyric "but
ask me and I'll do anything but you" as they add increasingly-intense
layers of hypnotic sound complete with some swirling megaphone
work by Trey and (so it seems) a paintbrush solo on the
bass. This experimental jam ultimately reverses its cacophonic
swirl back into the triumphant final segment of Stash, leaving
minds blown and jaws on the gymnasium floor.
Strange Design provided
a needed entrée back to reality – sung and
played superbly and providing a chance to catch a breath
before Trey counted out the opening of You Enjoy Myself.
Like parts of the show-stopping Stash and other versions
from this year commonly ranked among the best ever, this
YEM is amazing, intense and engaging, exploratory and rocking
especially when teamed with Chris Kuroda's phoenix-shaped
lighting rig. A brief nod to Led Zeppelin's The Immigrant
Song punctuates the jam and the energy in the room and intensity
of playing throughout kept the set flying as high as Trey
and Mike's mini-trampoline performance. A two-song encore
of The Wedge and lickety-split Rocky Top provided the sweet
icing on the cake of this landmark performance in the Magic
Kingdom.
Enjoy!
--ks
