Random Phish Show: 2/7/1993 Lisner Auditorium, George Washington University — Washington DC
(Side note: I’ve done a couple of these, and the app has yet to get me a 2.0 or 3.0 show yet. Enjoying it, but would hope to see a later show sometime in the near future.)
We are elated to hear this show since Page’s welcoming of his new baby grand piano a week prior. The richness of sound exuberates what was that synthetic energy over the course of the years, adding that mellifluous sound with some of the more piano heavy tunes.
93 was phast phish, especially Spring 93. The opening set comes right out of the gates and gets the crowd dancing. Phish’s sorcery with meshing wacky tunes and dance rhythm unleashes the crowd, thus giving off this primeval trance. Opening with the rock base Suzy Greenberg, then into the alter-egoed Buried Alive, all fast energy. They keep it going with Poor Heart, just fast paced bluegrass through and through. If you watch the promotional video for Rift (it came out around this time) they’re talking about re-directing their sound from proggy diversity to more dance tunes, even though the paradoxical notion pervades, since Rift has many proggy, introspective tunes, vis a vis It’s Ice, which happens to be the next tune.
It’s Ice possesses this intercalary vibe, wherein you have deep proggy movements, introverted lyrics, a mid song ambiance that can come or go as it pleases, and yet there’s still an artistry of dance behind the whole song. That’s what makes Phish a multi-dimensional band — you can’t really detect what type of genre their music is, they’re dabbling with multiple genres. Especially with Rift, yes there’s a subtext of a relationship, and how heartbreak occurs in our mind, but the genre-bending virtuosity is what makes these songs so unique, and relished when played live.
Colonial Forbin’s>Mockingbird was the highlight of the first set; Trey gets real intense in his narration. Talking about becoming one in pulsating consciousness, ingrained in peapods — going into multiple vats — on grocery store shelves — and ending up in a baby’s diaper. I remember reading David Steinberg’s first experience with narrations, and that he was blown away that part of the show was talking, which, when other bands talk, they’re just talking, but Phish “improvises” stories, and Trey, especially in this version, just keeps going and going, while the band plays “narration” music. Yes, it’s nerdy and weird, but so addicting.
The rest of set one brings a fresher, more enveloped jam sequence, wherein the band isn’t trying to be so intense, their jams break from the radial, and go more into easing, groovy sequences (definitely apparent in this show’s Melt, for which Melt’s proggy roots are founded upon.) Note shifts are more paced, and groove structures are more intact. Set one closes with Jim, something that Phish picked up after the silk jam in Melt.
Set 2 elaborates on similar themes from set 1 — a fast opener, bring down cool-down ballads, then silk, groove jams. A noticeable, elevated, and paradoxically minimalist Reba brings the fans to an uproar, using that minimalist contrast to create the tension/release, and still build off the groove structure. Many phans critique on the intimacy of spring 93, since this is the final “club scene” tour before their big summer 93 amphitheater tour, and wouldn’t see a real intimacy feel until Europe 96. Tweezer even starts to build on this “big” sound, disrupting previous inarticulate tension/release moments, and stretching the groove. What I enjoyed about this particular Tweezer is that it solidifies the Tweezer that we hear today, even in its inchoate form, in preparation for the “in the moment” improv of summer 93. The shedding of skin with their stage formula could only have been successful because their “Type 1” was so durable. This show contrasts a summer 93 show greatly, but in a good way. They’re building on their already developed skill, once again.
Going to YEM, the outro had a sweet stop/start with Fish, changing up the groove, and expanding up it. This one pushed past the 20 minute mark, their evolution into this dance-laden sound is abound in Washington DC. It concludes with Coil, with a beautiful Page piano solo, then right into “If I Only Had a Brain” (another side note: I just heard the 7/8/99 Birds of a Feather with IIOHAB teases. Fish, in the song, starts reciting these made-up lyrics about playing Uno, and other shenanigans, and I always thought that Fish didn’t know the lyrics, as in the Under Pressure lyrics during the AC Twist. He sings this version with frivolous beauty.) Tweeprise closes out a, not just a solid set, but a well “themed” show.
E: Amazing Grace, Contact>BBFCFM
I’m not going to rate this show, but I will say this show was very contrasting to my expectations of what a spring 93 show would consist of. Listening to a lot of Summer 93 tapes over the years, I always compartmentalized 93 as “the birth of type II” with some shows having the stop/start and grinding feedback. Some of it is tough to listen to tape-wise, but there are some amazing gems in 93. However, listening to this show, and delving further into spring 93, it’ll be interesting to see where the break happens, from the mature groove sound to the experimental improvisation.
