05-22-94 Vogue Theatre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Phish Live Shows
#1

Sunday, 05/22/1994
Vogue Theatre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Soundcheck: Dog Log -> Machine Gun -> Dog Log, John Hardy, Poor Heart, My Sweet One (unmiced)

Set 1: Demand > The Sloth, Divided Sky, Glide, Peaches en Regalia > Split Open and Melt, Fluffhead, My Sweet One[1], Ginseng Sullivan[2], Dog Faced Boy[1], Axilla (Part II)

Set 2: Down with Disease > Bouncing Around the Room, It’s Ice > McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters > Tweezer > Lifeboy > Rift > Slave to the Traffic Light > Tweezer Reprise

Encore: Sleeping Monkey

[1] Acoustic and without microphones.
[2] Acoustic and without microphones. Fishman on washboard.

Notes: Glide was humorously introduced by Trey as “Whoomp! There it Is,” referencing a then-popular dance club song by Tag Team. My Sweet One, Ginseng Sullivan, and Dog Faced Boy were performed acoustic and without microphones. Ginseng also featured Fishman on washboard.

#2

Decently recorded first set.

Demand is a fun opener, and they slam directly into The Sloth which is a nice moment. Glide with a crazy long break before the ending got the crowd a little on edge. But then once again they slam right into Peaches en Regalia.

Split Open and Melt is superb at this show. The jam goes for a nice ride, and then the start / stop action towards the end is a bit sloppy, but fun nonetheless.

Fluffhead was nailed, and the acoustic numbers were a nice touch. Excellent song selection, especially Dog Faced Boy. Axilla gets the speakers fired back up, and ends a very good set.

#3

^ Yeah dude, that Demand>The Sloth is a great segue. Packs a remarkable amount of energy.

#4

Thirded. Demand > The Sloth is pretty spectacular. The rest of the set is good but kind of a rollercoaster of ups and downs, as far as song selections and such. The Divided Sky has an unusually long pause, especially for the early 90’s, but the pause in Glide blows that one away. Damn guys! I didn’t really hear any shenanigans going on during those two pauses so not sure why they decided to do that in back to back songs. Peaches rips and leads into a smoking Split so I guess that makes up for it. Fluffhead is played especially well to the crowd’s delight. The next trio of songs are unmiced, which obviously makes them hard to hear, but being in attendance would have been a treat so it’s hard to hate on the recording for it’s lack of volume. A quick Axilla (is that what makes Part II different from Part I?) closes things out.

Overall, they band played well but hit many highs and lows on the energy and tempo scale. Peaches en Regalia > Split Open and Melt, Fluffhead are so well played they more than make up for it.

#5

Being Canadian any Phish played on soil Canadian is a gem! Personal highlights from 05/22/1994 are SOAM, Fluffhead, Lifeboy, Rift, Slave with the Echo delay!

#6

Soundboard for set two starts off really flat, but rounds out really nice a couple of songs in.

Down With Disease is a strong opener. The It’s Ice > McGrupp > Tweezer > Lifeboy is so excellent, I wish there wasn’t a big cut at the end of Lifeboy. Ice had quite a jam to it, and the McGrupp is absolutely sublime. And once they crack into Tweezer, I was ready to explode. Really exploratory jam in this Tweezer, and the segue into Lifeboy is near perfection.

Rift is solid, and the Slave to follow is an absolute beast. I think Fall '95 has the finest Slaves, but this one is definitely one to contend. By the time Tweezer Reprise came around, I actually had to remind myself that Tweezer was played. Not sure why, getting forgetful I suppose.

Sleeping Monkey encore is forgettable, but it is obvious the crowd had a wonderful time.

Show highlights for me are the transition from Demand into Sloth, SOAMelt, Fluffhead, Lifeboy and Slave.

#7

I agree with everyone on the Demand>Sloth…they should open every show with that :laughing:

I really enjoyed the whole first set…with the exception of the acoustic section (not that it was bad, I’m sure it was really fun to experience but, un-miced stuff never translates well to recordings).

I thought the Divided Sky was beautiful, I can never hear enough of that song. Glide was really fun but man that pause was loooooooonng. And what was with the Whoop there it is thing? Trey cracked himself up with that.

Peaches>Split was awesome. I don’t know if it was the recording or not but I kept thinking that Trey’s guitar sounded extra crunchy for this show, especially during this section. Split was very frenetic, but oh so good. My wife walked in the kitchen while they were rocking this out and she’s like “This’ll do wonders for my anxiety…” :laughing:

And I thought a most excellent way to end the set with Axilla II. You don’t hear this version a lot, it’s a rocker. Love this verse:

Summer sitting out by the pool
A ray of sunshine getting in my way
Close your eyes and wish that it were cool
Everyday

I can actually see myself doing this in a few months :thumbup:

#8

It’s Ice > McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters > Tweezer > Lifeboy is such a great combination of songs. It’s Ice features some awesome jamming, especially from Page. Mcgrupp is fairly standard but they nail it none the less. Tweezer is probably the highlight of the set, if not show, and is followed by a well placed Lifeboy. The Slave is also a knockout from the set. 1994 seems like one of the best years for Slave as I’ve yet to hear a poorly played version. They all seem to have tremendous peaks after the slow buildups, which is how the song was meant to be played. Trey really shreds this one!

#9

Nice song selection. Really enjoyed Mike on Split as always. Tweezer through the end of the show really did it for me. Looking forward to the next show…

#10

S1: I have to admit, I’d forgotten what Demand sounded like, I haven’t heard it in so long. That made for a nice, fresh, yet nostalgic opener that segued so quickly and fiercely into Sloth, you’d think that they went together that way all the time. Peaches is always a treat. The Split Open and Melt was undoubtedly the master work of set 1. Page is a’blazin throughout, pounding the keys like he’s angry at them. And just when you think they are going back into the song, they take it back out into crazy jam territory. It elicited mental images of a tired, hunched James Brown throwing his coat off his back because he just can’t stop the music! Oh, and that pause in Glide was excessive and a bit uncomfortable. I would like to know what they are doing there and why. Is it just to fuck with the audience, I wonder.

#11

Very solid Tweezer. Mike is going to town throughout. It feels longer than its 13-something minutes, I think because of the distinct sections. Lifeboy is a nice choice to follow through with, after the progressive slow down at the end of Tweezer. My Rift cuts in at the middle. I can’t imagine why. No one else’s did that?

#12

Mine had the cut as well.