10/??/84 Slade Hall Basement, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
First gig billed as “Phish.”
Even though the title of this thread is 10/??, I have a strong inkling it may be 11/03/1984. Same venue, and well, part of a setlist.
Here is my info file:
Phish
11/3/84
Slade Hall Basement, University of Vermont - Burlington, VT
Source: Aud > Cass/2 > DAT
Conversion: DA-P1 > Fiji > Sound Forge 4.5 > CD Wave > SHN v3
Conversion and Encoding by Mike Wren 11/3/00
Thanks Shaggy for the seed!
etree.org - The standard in lossless audio distribution
01 Ignition Sequence (00:30)
02 The Midnight Hour (Wilson Pickett) (06:22)
03 Wild Child (Lou Reed) (05:20)
04 Bertha (Grateful Dead) (13:39)
05 Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’ (Rolling Stones) * (09:39)
06 Camel Walk (01:17)
07 Eyes of the World (Grateful Dead) (17:54)
08 Whipping Post (Allman Brothers) (16:03)
*With “St. Stephen” (Grateful Dead) jam.
Total Time: 70:44
Unfortunately the tape of this suffers in a way you would expect from a bands first recorded gig ever. Very boomy and light on the lyrics. Between the cuts, the not-so-great mix, and the usual tape warbles, this is not one that I see myself coming back to as a go-to show. With that out of the way, there is definitely some moments where you can see a great band coming out in time. And maybe switching a guitarist for a keyboardist.
With the Ignition Sequence, I find this to be a very interesting way to not only start a show, but to start off listening to every Phish show ever. The sound of the countdown until the spaceship called Phish blasts off into space.
And the band picks up right away into The Midnight Hour. This is probably the worst sounding section of the show, as the boom basically glares right over any words you want to hear. But you know them anyway, so it isn’t too bothering. Already I can see people comparing this new band “Phish” to the good ole Grateful Dead.
Did I say Midnight Hour was the worst sounding on the recording, I spoke too soon. Wild Child, by Lou Reed, is up next. And while I love this song, it is almost completely unintelligible. I had to just go along with the setlist, and assume that what is being sung and played is Wild Child.
Then we jump right into a jam on the Bertha track. Definitely does not resemble Bertha, and it may be something I am not familiar with. Bertha starts almost five minutes into the track timing, and is an excellent version. Trey is on lead vocals and sings it about as well as I have heard him on that song. A very solid jam that leads its way into Can’t You Hear Me Knocking? The two guitars works very well on this song, but unfortunately Holdsworth’s strumming is much clearer than Trey’s soloing. Towards the end of the song the jamming turns it up a notch and gets to a really fast pace. Unfortunately this is cut on the tape after about only a minute or so. Major buzzkill.
The last twenty seconds of Camel Walk cuts in, and it is definitely recognizable in the music. But with only twenty seconds to show of it, not much I can say for it.
Next up is Eyes of the World, played in the original slow way instead of the fast-paced versions that were being played around 1984. Really glad to hear it done that way. Mike is tossing some bombs in the opening segments of the jam, possibly trying his hardest to recreate Phil with what equipment he has. Trey finally turns on the machine guns and really takes the lead towards the latter half of the song.
Whipping Post brings a close to the show, or at least the tape that existed. I can’t tell if it is Trey singing or Jeff, and unfortunately there is a massive cut in the lyrical section that takes you right to the jam. This sounds like the Allman Brothers, and not in a good way. Phish still hasn’t found their sound, and I find the two guitars to be too constraining, even though it works well on this song.
All in all, this is a solid show with some very nice peaks.
My highlight of the show is the Eyes of the World. And my low point would be that only the last twenty seconds of Camel Walk made it.
Good work. I’ve heard that show, not an easy job.