12-06-86 The Ranch, Shelburne, VT

Phish Live Shows
#1

Saturday, 12/06/1986 The Ranch, Shelburne, VT

Set 1: Funky Bitch[1], Possum, Peaches en Regalia, Makisupa Policeman > Fluffhead

Set 2: I Know a Little[1], Golgi Apparatus > Slave to the Traffic Light, Shaggy Dog > Light Up Or Leave Me Alone[1] -> Camel Walk, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, Back Porch Boogie Blues, Icculus[2], McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters, Good Times Bad Times[1] -> Skin It Back -> Cities

Set 3: Mike’s Song -> The Little Drummer Boy[1] -> Whipping Post, She Caught the Katy and Left Me a Mule to Ride[1] -> AC/DC Bag, David Bowie[3] -> Clod -> David Bowie, You Enjoy Myself, Dog Log, Tush[1], Sneakin’ Sally through the Alley, Prep School Hippie

[1] First known Phish performance.
[2] Steve Drebber on vocals.
[3] Snake Charmer theme tease from Trey in intro.

Notes: Icculus featured Steve Drebber on vocals. David Bowie’s hi-hat intro section included teasing from Trey of the “Snake Charmer” theme. This show included the first known Phish performances of Funky Bitch, I Know a Little, Light Up or Leave Me Alone, Good Times Bad Times, Little Drummer Boy, She Caught The Katy, and Tush.

#2

this is the show that has all of the video floating around on youtube and VHS, right? Trey and Mike with really long hair, they play under a tarped stage area, and The Jones also played with them.

#3

^ 5/20/87

#4

ah…okay. I knew it was from around that era. I still have it on VHS somewhere…

#5

After listening to this “first set”, it seems as if Trey has some ESP ability. He starts off by saying, “don’t listen to this… this is the soundcheck.” And at first they just noodle around while tuning. Then an obvious cut occurs, so one could assume this is the first set, but it is really played like a soundcheck. Very low energy throughout most of it, and nothing really to write home about.

Everything is very solid, and the only thing to really mention is the Jam after Makisupa becomes really high energy after a laid back Policeman. The segue into Fluffhead is fantastic as well, and Fluff still did not include the Travel’s.

Second set coming up soon…

#6

This show definitely picks up nicely after the first set is said and done.

Golgi is really nailed, and the segue into Slave is just buttery smooth. Slave to the Traffic Light is THE -> song of the '80s. It seems every time it appears it is jammed out of something, and just shows up out of nowhere. Trey really puts his heart and soul into the outro lines to this one. Shaggy Dog also contains a great solo by Trey, and the jam into Light Up or Leave Me Alone is very abrupt, but nice all the same. Mike is really shining during this one, and leads the band into Camel Walk, which still includes the “prog-rock-y” type bridge in the middle.

Fishman starts up a jam, and Mike really kicks off the Ramblin’ Man jam, with Trey and Page shortly behind. Back Porch Boogie is super laid back and a fun little jam, and Icculus is introduced as “the song is a toast to the one we love the most.”

Mike’s Song starts off INCREDIBLY slow, and even Mike is taking his time with the lyrics, a solid jam follows, and then they quickly change into an instrumental Little Drummer Boy. LDB leads right into a blistery Whipping Post, with Trey once again putting everything into this vocals. Mike really dominates the jam, and it even includes a “Fluffhead-ish” type jam in the middle.

The real meat is the David Bowie however. It still includes the little musical breakdown after the first run of lyrics, and out of nowhere, Fluff’s Travel’s -> Clod appears. Fan-frickin’-tastic. The return to Bowie is very slow, but picks up speed to where it seems the band can’t even keep up until the end.

After good versions of YEM and Dog Log, an audience member yells “Do you know any Barry Manilow!?” So, Trey introduces the next one as a Manilow song, and they go into Tush. Good version, nothing out of this world.

Sneakin’ Sally contains the vocal jam once again, and the show kind of flutters out with Prep School Hippie.

Highlight is easily the David->Fluff’s Travels->Clod->Bowie.

Lowlight may have to be the Prep School Hippie, just because I don’t like it. :wave: