PHISH: 5/8/93 Durham, NH essay by Phish Archivist Kevin Shapiro (6/1/04)
Phish's May 8, 1993 concert in Durham, New Hampshire capped a
seventy-show tour supporting the band's fourth studio album, Rift. The
tour began February 3rd and led south from Maine (including the first
Florida shows), up through Colorado and along the West Coast and
eventually across the Midwest where the band finally reached New
Hampshire via Canada. They played mostly theaters and college
gymnasiums along with a few clubs and ballrooms. By now, Phish
consistently sold out a majority of their shows as word of their
musical skill and adventure spread quickly through tapers, word of
mouth and an increasing Internet presence.
In addition to increasing popularity and a larger
footprint travel-wise, the tour brought equipment changes as well. Trey
integrated an acoustic guitar to his setup for the tour, adding
acoustic introductions and codas to classic Phish tunes like Fluffhead
and Rift compositions like My Friend, My Friend. Fish debuted a
Madonna-style washboard (with metal breasts) along with his drums and
"traditional" vacuum. The most significant gear change was Page adding
a grand piano, which he still plays. The piano cuts through with a
natural sound that helped inform the band's increasingly democratic,
textural jamming style. The band was becoming increasingly adept at
weaving in and out of their growing repertoire, playing songs within
songs and turning on a dime while further extending jams and debuting a
variety of new original songs and lots of covers. During the tour,
Phish performed Trey's entire "Gamehendge" saga for the first time in
nearly two years in Sacramento, played Mike's Song throughout an entire
set in Atlanta and took a ten-minute silent pause in the midst of a
single version of Big Black Furry Creature From Mars in Ann Arbor.
Carefully planned set lists were often abandoned in the early part of
the show. It was clear Phish enjoyed accelerating the mental joust
among themselves, and between band and audience, to a higher level. To
better set the stage for their exponential musical growth the band also
employed increased moving lights and improved sound reinforcement. The
full package that tour resulted in some of Phish's finest and most
celebrated performances as well as fast growing popularity.
The longest tour ever finally ended May 8th reaching
a crossroads at sold out UNH Fieldhouse in Durham, New Hampshire. As
the band and road/office crew gathered backstage for a rare group photo
shoot, the mood in the venue was electric and the crowd restlessly
waiting for the lights to go down. The band came out strong, opening
the first set with Chalk Dust Torture followed by Rift and Mound, both
from the new album. Stash followed with the still recent phenomenon of
the audience clapping along when Fish played his wood blocks. Stash
gelled into an exploratory jam with Trey and Mike repeatedly accenting
the "one" as Page weaved piano around them. Stash found its way into
Kung, a bizarre Fishman-penned ancient chant, and then back to Stash.
Glide came next with a sufficiently pregnant pause at the end to
confuse the uninitiated. My Friend, My Friend, which featured acoustic
guitar during the introduction, followed Glide as the excitement of the
night flowed through Trey's long, eerie notes. My Friend flowed from
its giggling end refrain straight into Reba, which was stretched into
its usual soaring jam. The jam in Reba was highlighted by syncopated
playing and even included some classic Trey "water" licks over the
quietest portion as the excited audience clapped along in rhythm. Trey
then thanked the audience and the crew, introducing the crew in detail
including "big ball thrower" Brad, Amy and Greenpeace Mike. Expressing
the band's gratitude for their hard work on the tour, he dedicated
Satin Doll, a song Phish rarely played, to the crew. Page sang the Duke
Ellington song in traditional style before they ended the set with a
spirited Cavern.
Set two kicked off with a twenty-minute David Bowie
with an introduction that included teases of the Allman Brothers Band
instrumental, Jessica before the song developed into a heavy jam with
vocal chanting and soaring leads by Trey and Page. Bowie then calmed
into a piano, bass and drum-led groove that morphed into The Mighty
Diamonds' Have Mercy, a song which Phish has tackled only a half dozen
or so times and seemingly only at pinnacle moments. Have Mercy flowed
seamlessly back into Bowie by way of a double-time groove and the song
ended as if the inspirational detour never happened. By the time anyone
could process what happened, Trey began a beautifully extended
rendition of The Horse on his acoustic guitar, which drew appreciative
yells from the crowd as it flowed into its partner Silent in the
Morning. Silent, with its layered vocals led by Page, rolled directly
into It's Ice and Page took his third vocal lead of the night as Trey
and Mike's Simple-esque licks signaled a heavy jam reminiscent of the
pre-Have Mercy Bowie. Ice segued into one of the most improvisational
versions of The Squirming Coil ever played. Page's usual piano solo at
the end of Coil floated into a potent and unusual jam segment that
recalled the heavy grooves in It's Ice and Bowie. During the Coil jam
the licks of Robert Johnson's Crossroads started to emerge only to
descend into a funky Big Ball Jam, which jumped sharply into a mid-set
Mike's Song. Mike's featured pronounced bass and organ work as the jam
developed into the band's debut of Crossroads, proclaiming the theme
that had developed throughout the set. After Crossroads, the energy was
palpable as they dropped back into the remainder of Mike's Song. As the
band segued back into I Am Hydrogen, Page played a signature organ lick
from Rainy Day Women #12 and 35, adding a humorous moment to the mix.
After Hydrogen, the band settled into a concise Weekapaug Groove with
textured interplay between the band members leading to a light reggae
groove. At that point Page began to play Amazing Grace on the piano and
Mike picked it up on the bass. After a second's pause, the band began
to sing Amazing Grace acapella (through microphones). As soon as the
Amazing Grace vocals faded, Mike and Trey picked up the song on their
instruments and Page joined on organ in Phish's first instrumental
rendition of the spiritual. Fish started the beat for Weekapaug Groove
as Trey played the melody and soon the band was playing a full-bore
electric instrumental version of Amazing Grace over the groove. Trey
thanked the audience again over the music and they wrapped up the song
and the set. Phish returned for the encore -- a spirited AC/DC Bag and
a nod to days gone by. Ironically they closed this amazing show and
tour with Bag's refrains of "no future at all" as the audience was
treated to a guitar solo complete with hammered strings and interjected
piano and bass licks. Closing the epic spring tour and effectively the
theater era, Durham was a crossroads and an inspiring crossroads at
that.