I dont live anywhere near a place that sells it I mean.
I think it depends on how you thought about it. If someone didn’t listen with an open mind, they won’t like it. But if they come in and say “hey, i’ll dig the funk and feel the grooves,” they’d like it. and now, as people on Oh Kee Pa look back and accept it and cherish it, it’s enjoyed by all.
“This thread made me think of the Relix interview w/ Trey when he was talking about the 5/7/94 show and how sooo many people totally dig it, (Myself included) but when it was going on, nobody was even there. That and when they did their thing @ Amy’s farm how everybody there was pretty much in a different room drinking. It’s almost like for a lot of people their sound was ahead of it’s time. Who knows??”
A lot of people are getting the wrong message. According to zzyzx! there was about 2,000 people at 5-7-94, not bad for Texas, but definately smaller considering they were selling out 2 nights at Great Woods in Massachusetts. Amy’s Farm was outdoors and there were probably 1,000 + people there. Trey was referring to the Ian McClain farm shows from the late '80’s.
^ I love that Ian’s Farm show!!!
8-21-87 is the shit!!! The Nak recording of this puts you right there, amazing quality!!!
YES!
This same thread was posted over on Phantasy Trey and this was my response…
“People have been complaining since day 1”
This is a fact! I remember a lot of my friends that got me into Phish, complaining back in '93!!! It shouldn’t surpise you that most of those same fans stopped going to shows after '94. I also remember a lot of people complaining about the spacey jams of summer '95. And I must admit I complained during summer '96. It just seemed that the boys hit a brick wall creativly. '93 thru '95 they were topping themselves night in and night out. '96 the creative juices just didn’t seem to be flowing, even though there are some stellar shows/jams from this year the boys just didn’t seem to be moving forward. Fast forward to summer '97 Phish changes everything, a complete overhaul to their sound. I personally loved the change, but for others it seemed too much to stomach. I remember there was a lot of bashing going on during summer '97. Not by all, like someone said before it seemed to be 50/50. By fall '97 people began to warm up to the new sound. My friend flew out from Utah for the Worcester shows. I still remember our convesation driving home from the airport…Me: “So what did you think of the Utah show?(11/14) Him: That was the worst show i’ve ever seen, I fell asleep for the whole 2nd set.” By the end of the Worcester run he was ophishally converted. In short, there have and will always be complainers.
^^^^^Agreed.
I knew a lot of kids who had 50+ shows under their belt by the begining of '93 and they were “quitting” by the end of '93
Yeah…their LOSS
If you were there in '97, you know nobody there was “hating” on them then. This was the orgasmic-crunchy funk and we all LOVED it!!! Long Live the Porno Phunk!!
ya truly was a great time
Glad too see this thread again, and I saw I mis-understood the relix interview. Thanks for clearing things up “the lot” Some good thoughts are coming from this thread. I need to hear the “Ian’s Farm” show after seeing what Vern. and you said about it.
“If you were there in '97, you know nobody there was “hating” on them then. This was the orgasmic-crunchy funk and we all LOVED it!!! Long Live the Porno Phunk!!”
I was there, and trust me some people(tapers) were indeed “hating” on it.
“Glad too see this thread again, and I saw I mis-understood the relix interview. Thanks for clearing things up “the lot” Some good thoughts are coming from this thread. I need to hear the “Ian’s Farm” show after seeing what Vern. and you said about it.”
I highly recommend this show. The recording is crystal clear. If you listen on headphones you can literally hear crickets chirping in the background of set 3.
Bump
Just some thoughts before this tour starts…
Yep, I was on my first Tour the year after and I met fans not liking the 98’ Sound…I thought they were INSANE!!! 
My 1st show was Portland Meadows (LP17) and few people I talked to in the Lots kinda trashed the show?!?!?!?!
2010 will have Haters just like 2009 i’m sure, i thought 09’ was pretty awesome…I expect HUGE things in 2010…
I remember hearing people trash on Dayton '97 and 2nd night of Deer Creek '98 while I was walking out of the shows! 
Ah well, can’t please every dipshit… 
Well Dayton I can see DC98II I cannot though… people disagree, obviously hating is doing something for them internally, let em have it i guess
i planned on doing all of summer 99 but went to bonner springs and it was so bad that i bailed on tour and decided to just drive back to boulder instead. i am by no means a hater but i still think that was an off year for them and i feel like i made the right decision. personally, i think they sounded better in 2000 and during most of phish 2.0
and i do remember those people bitching during fall 97 and even before that tour. the thing is…they are never going to be as tight as they were in the early 90’s and people have to get over that fact.
the band was touring in cars and vans and spending just about every waking moment together so they were connected on so many different levels. if they were having lunch at some rest stop and there was a bee gees tune playing then it would fresh in their minds. then later that night when they’d stumble upon a stayin alive jam during yem then everyone in the crowd would be blown away and wonder how that happened.
nowadays they get together a day or two before tour starts and rehearse for a few hours but then go their separate ways once it’s over because they have wives and families on their buses or hotels with them. they don’t all hang out together constantly which is understandable and it’s their right to do that but it shows in their playing.
so phish 3.0 can still jam and “get there” every now and then but it’s harder to get the four headed monster to spit fire than it was years ago. bands in general tend to be better when they are striving to make it to the big leagues and then plateau or even decline once they are set for life.
think of it this way. if you were a millionaire and had kids who were growing up but your job forced you to be away on the road for weeks at a time, would you still want to put long days in at the office once you got home?
luckily for us, phish is still better than most bands touring today even without practicing. but if you constantly compare phish 3.0 to what they used to be then you’ll never be satisfied because they just aren’t putting as much effort into it anymore so they’ve lost a few steps over the years.
i hope they prove me wrong and come out of the gates swinging in 2010. but i’m guessing that it will take them about a week to get warmed up while they “practice” on the road during soundcheck and at shows.
if that’s the case, then they won’t start bringing the heat until sometime between hartford and great woods. camden will deliver, as always… 
^I like this. Truth.
^^ Nice post. Very insightful and I feel like you are right that they just will never be the band they were in the early 90’s. The task at hand now is to accept what they are and to love it.
See, I think everyone was, let’s say, not terribly thrilled with '09. And now, I listen to Fall '09, and I am obsessed with it. Trey is spitting fire and it is just really good, tight playing. I am listening to MSG 2 from Fall '09, and this Cities is just dripping and oozing. The whole show is incredible. So in this case, change is not such a hard thing to accept, as I am very pleased with the way they are playing now.
Plus, the first two shows of '10 were solid as hell, and if that Hershey show was as good as it looks on paper, then it should be ridiculous. I can’t help but feel sorry for people who complain about new Phish. They will just never be satisfied, and that would suck.