"Hampton Comes Alive" consists of Paul Languedoc's 2-track mixes, which still sound great to me. The band must have thought so or they would have called for a remix before release. Didn't someone from the band discuss this during an interview at around the time of the box set release in 1999? I could be wrong. I recall being a little surprised that they opted not to remix from the multi-tracks like they did with "Slip, Stitch & Pass" in 1997 and "A Live One" in 1995, but "Hampton" does not sound lifeless to me. It's a very good live recording -mastered well - and certainly on par with the "Hampton/Winston Salem" box of 11/97 shows. The shows available on the "Amsterdam" and "Ventura" box sets were beautifully remixed but compressed to the max. Those remixes are killer but Jeezum Crow...the compression is intense. Regarding excess compression, I wish they would find a happy medium with archival releases. New show files have sounded fantastic recently. Archival shows tend to be squashed.
It's a "Free" rip-off! Or at the very least the use of a blatant Trey-type lick. I wonder how many shows he's been to.
Artists are not always the most objective people when it comes to their own recordings/releases. But this was an especially curious decision. I wonder if the label just figured at that point there'd be a certain number of fans who'd buy a (then) ridiculous package like that, and they'd buy it no matter what it sounded like, so why bother taking the time? A cynical view, but certainly one represented in plenty of other artists' product over the years. As someone who couldn't get to shows at the time of it's release (I caught their lone post-drivers' license Detroit stop in December of '99, but that was all I could do as a suburban high school kid), I think I just wanted more of the atmosphere. A Live One made a Phish show sound like the happiest place on earth to be, and I wanted more of that feeling. Of course now I have literally hundreds of options, but at that time of Hampton it was either Phish's official releases, or audience tape cassette dubs, for the most part.
McCombs is actually awesome. This song is an outlier. Great guitar player and unique songwriter, one of my favorite artists of the decade...
I’ve only listened to a little but he’s good. I also saw him with Phil last year, he played lead for one set at a 3 set show
Well said! At the time, I assumed the band was pleased with Paul's mixes and decided against a remix. It could have been a label decision but Phish easily could have mixed those shows themselves for little cost. What I like about the Hampton box and subsequent archival releases that use Paul's original mixes is that (for the most part) they reflect what the band sounded like to the audience at the time. It makes those releases very faithful to the original experience.
Maybe, but I guess what I want in a live recording is something that sounds like being in the audience, in the venue's sweet spot, which means not just what's fed to the PA speakers. (This is especially evident in SBD recordings of small venue shows, where the drums don't need to be as loud in the PA mix. Not Phish's problem, just something that I notice in a lot of live recordings) Obviously, there's a balance that must be achieved between clarity of the band and room ambience/audience noise, and surely we could talk for months about live albums which go too far in one direction or the other. But I always held up A Live One as an absolutely perfect sounding live recording in that regard, and honestly, there's no reason every Phish live release recorded in 1994 or later shouldn't be held to that standard, particularly ones meant for retail back in the day.
My road to Phish live recordings started with A Live One, which grabbed me from the first listen. Next I bought Slip, Stitch & Pass and at first wasn't too happy with the change of music direction, but after a while I fell in love with it too. Then I went for Hampton Comes Alive and was initially very disappointed with their nonchalant carefree playing on this set. It took a good few years (and a general shift in my music perception) to feel its pure rock'n'roll vibe. Now it's my favourite set out of these three. A Live One may be a revealing postcard from meticulously proggy Phish years, SS&P is a perfect introduction to their jammy phunk period, but HCA is for me a quintessence of a loosely playing rock band that do not need to prove anything. Pure rock'n'roll bliss.
3/22/93 Crest Theatre. I came to visit Gamehendge in the second set, but as I wrap up the first set it has some highlights too.
Waves -> Bowie from the bonus disc of the IT Festival DVD. The jam between is amazing, reminds me of the 9/20/90 MSG Dark Star...
IWT ... of course ... I liked both runs at the time, haven't revisited them lately though. that said.... "worth hearing?" Yes!
That Foam demonstrates what a school of Phish sounds like. That reactionary/responsive/turn-on-a-dime performance is emblematic of what makes them unique. Tight yet loose. Constrained but free. Genre-less.
11/4/90 Fort Collins. I forget why I made a note to check it out but it’s definitely got some hot stuff. Nice SBD too.
I was at the Patriot Center at George Mason Univ. today with my son for the Marvel Universe show. I told him I saw Phish in this little arena a couple times back when I was in high school and they were less famous. Must have been 1994 — good times.
