I've still never made it to the Wiltern. One of my big regrets is not seeing Phish in '94. I was in India and Nepal during the May West Coast run. Summer I did the GD tour. When Phish came back West in December, the closest shows to where I was living (Eugene area) were Salem and Olympia, but I was in Denver seeing the Dead at McNichols at the time (not a good run, unfortunately). I probably was back in the tri-state area during the New Year's run, but I was skeptical about seeing them in a place as big as MSG and probably short on cash, and certainly hadn't planned ahead if they sold out. I saw a lot of '93 Phish shows and a few in '95, though. Looking back, I wish I'd more of an effort to catch them at least once. It's the only year I didn't see any Phish shows from '89 through '99.
I wish I'd seen them in '95 but that year Phish's summer tour did not hit Ohio (neither did the Dead, which was just as well). '96 I bit the bullet and made the drive to see both nights at Deer Creek. '97 I moved to Chicago.
All in all I'd say you did OK in terms early/mid 90's Phish. I gotta assume the India & Nepal trip was an experience worth missing a few Phish shows for. The '94 GD shows, maybe not so much.... My one and only time at MSG was 12/30/94. Kind of a trip, considering how many small theaters I had seen them in that year!
My only Phish MSG shows were during the '97 NYE run (I saw the first night and NYE), but I have seen plenty of GD shows and other artists there. It's an easy train ride from where my parents lived until very recently. I haven't been back to the Garden since '97 through.
5/17/94 - Arlingtom Theater, Santa Barbara, CA Working our way north from Los Angeles - Next Stop: Santa Barbara! (Side note: I was born in Santa Barbara, ha!) Another quality '94 show -- I realize these posts are starting to get repetitive! (Nice setlist, solid performance, great energy, blah blah blah....) But hey, they were in the zone, what can I say?? Set I Suzie Greenberg, Maze, Mound, If I Could, Scent of a Mule, Ginseng Sullivan, Dog Faced Boy, Split Open and Melt, The Squirming Coil Set II Runaway Jim, Glide, Tweezer > Lifeboy, Uncle Pen, Big Ball Jam, Sample in a Jar, HYHU > Love You > HYHU, Slave to the Traffic Light, E: Highway to Hell Highway To Hell encore likely a reference to the next show being 800+ miles away... next stop: Eugene! That being the case, I drove home to Santa Cruz after this show, got the first 200+ miles out of the way.... made it home by around 4am or so. But at least I could crash in my own bed for 1 night before continuing onward to Oregon. Of course, still being in my (late) 20's, late nights and long drives were no big deal. What did I do on the "off night" between Santa Barbara and Eugene? Well, I went to The Allman Brothers at the Warfield! ha! Then, hit the road Northbound after the show! Slept for a few hours at a rest area then powered the rest of the way to Eugene the next morning....
i flew out to LA to see Toto at the Wiltern back in 2006. (This was when they were still barely ever playing any US dates at all, for many years). It’s a really nice venue…if a band you love is playing there and you can make the trip, do it (especially since it’s typically a GA floor situation).
Will keep that in mind for sure. I'd like to check it out. Despite occasional visits to the LA area over the years, I haven't seen any live music there other than the Dead's runs in '93 and '94. It would be good to change that sometime soon.
It is interesting being in the new Garden. My first MSG trip was the 1997 New Years run (12.30-31), and then I made it back for 12.30-12.31 NYears shows in 2010, 2011, and then all of 2017. Also made for 2 Baker's shows in 2017. Guess that's not bad for living in a different country.
As mentioned yesterday it was a 'highway to hell' of sorts going from Santa Barbara to Eugene for the next show. At least there was a 'travel day' baked into the schedule. So I departed for Eugene from Santa Cruz on the evening of the 18th... with a 3 hour stop in San Francisco, at the Warfield, where I would be seeing Phish again in a week's time. On this night. however, it was to see a different band. The Allman Brothers Band 5/18/1994 - The Warfield, San Francisco Set I Sailin' 'Cross the Devil's Sea Statesboro Blues Blue Sky All Night Train Change My Way of Living Soulshine Seven Turns Midnight Rider The Same Thing Jessica Mountain Jam Jessica Set II No One to Run With You Don't Love Me Temptation Is a Gun Back Where It All Begins In Memory of Elizabeth Reed One Way Out Encore: Southbound Whipping Post
Finally onto night 3 of Chicago 2011 8/17/11 Chicago Set 1 Ok, I'm nearing the set break and so far this has been the least impressive set of the run. That is saying a lot considering it is still an extremely strong 2011 first set. Terrific song choice - Serious A for effort here - but the playing is on the rusty/hesitant side tonight. No out and out blunders or anything, but Trey's fingers have some "sticky" moments and on the whole things don't feel as if they gel as effortlessly as the previous 2 shows. That being said, while everythings has been "base-level-2011-excellent", the genuine highlights of the set have been: Gumbo (ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING. FLAWLESS. MAGICAL GUMBO!!!!!!!!!) Divided Sky (Just. KEEPS. GOOOOIIINNNNGGG!!!!!!!!) Bathtub Gin (Jam was slightly by numbers, but it was still amazing) Those 3 are probably all you REALLY need of set 1. A+ for effort for opening with damn Forbinbird, but it wasn't that good of a version. Again, A for effort because 1- hard song, 2- OPENER, 3- extreme rarity. Major leniency for that but that still doesn't make it all that good. Great Cavern to round out this set!
Spoke to soon. In regards to set 1 of 8/17/11, you also need the shock-surprise set closer of First Tube IT WILL DESTROY YOU!
8/17/11 Chicago Crosseyed and Painless> Several minutes of gorgeous Type II ambiance> No Quarter Yes! The X Factor from the previous nights returns!!! You HAVE to hear that transition into No Quarter - it was slow, and perfect and flawless! HOLY HELL
caveat emptor: I had an extremely physically hard day and probably shouldn't have "pushed on" through this show tonight. Oh well, I did anyways, so this review could very well have gone better on another day 8/17/11 Chicago #3 Ok, where to begin. This was an incredibly odd show. This is probably the kind of show was absolutely balls-to-the-wall incredible to be at in person, but doesn't translate great to listening. Set 1 had its awesome moments as I mentioned before, but set 2 was... I don't know if it was good or just weird or if it sucked or was amazing. For those that are unaware, I'm dubbing this The Medley Show Set 2 was like 1 giant medley of songs strung together. 3 minutes of Ghost, 3 minutes of Caspian, Sleep tossed in there, a Tweeprise.... It was like they couldn't decide what they felt like playing and kept switching songs constantly. The novelty factor ran out quickly for me. Crosseyed>No Quarter>Timber>Tweezer>Prince Caspian (3 minutes!)>Piper Now THAT was spectacular. If there's something to grab from this show, do NOT pass this sequence and set 1's Gumbo!!!!!! Now, the rest of set 2...Dank Sinatra, anyone? LOL. It was FUN as hell, I'll give it that, but while listening it just got annoying. I was just waiting for it to be over - started getting sick from all the transitions.... Ghost (3 MINUTES)>Makisupa>Sleep>Buffalo Bill>Golgi Apparatus (WORST VERSION EVER) That sequence of Ghost through Golgi was maybe the most painful 20 minutes ever. It felt like 40..... Granted, the following Antelope was SPECTACULAR, but Funky B and Show of Life were too little too late to save this crooked ship. Freaking odd gig, man. A+ for out-of-the-box Phish fun and antics, but C+ for a listening experience, lol.
5/19/94 - Hult Center, Eugene, OR So, I pulled into Eugene late morning or so, maybe early afternoon.... fun to be back in Oregon.... I had lived in Portland for much of my childhood, and then attended college in Salem, so these were my old stomping grounds, so to speak. Saw the GD at Autzen in '88 & '90, and of course couldn't help but think about the GD playing in this room around 10 years earlier. Anyway -- after the "travel day" between Santa Barbara and here, we get back in the groove with a fun Halley's > Llama 1-2 punch to kick things off. The rest of the set doesn't disappoint. Second set Mike's > Groove was epic fun, Lizards is always a treat, Hood was killer, Golgi was fun. Ticket Stub indeed! Anyway, you get the idea. This was a fun tour! Set I Halley's Comet > Llama, My Friend My Friend, Poor Heart > Stash, The Horse > Silent in the Morning, Down With Disease, The Mango Song > Cavern Set II Sample in a Jar, Sparkle, Mike's Song > I am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Lizards, Julius, Big Ball Jam, Harry Hood, Golgi Apparatus, E: Ginseng Sullivan*, Nellie Cane*, Sweet Adeline, Fire
I got a 2-day GA ticket for Hershey, PA from the lottery today. I put in for the Vegas Halloween run too because some friends are thinking about it but got shut out. I still have Gorge tickets from 2020.
We regret to inform you that you did not get the Phish tickets that you requested on Request #14653201. Please note that your card was not charged. #sad.
I requested Chula Vista and Santa Barbara (to complete my So. Cal triumvirate). I got tix, but they’re the kind of abysmal seats I’ve grown accustomed to from mail order. I may see what becomes available during the public on-sale dates…
I saw some rumors on reddit, if I remember right, that there are more show announcements coming between Halloween and NYE, so I'm still holding out hope for a Chicago stop.
5/20/94 -- Evergreen College Recreation Center, Olympia, WA Rec center is basically the indoor gym on campus. I seem to recall basketball and volleyball court markings on the floor... not sure capacity but it seems like it was one of the smaller rooms on the tour. Not particularly striking on paper, but as per 1994 standards all songs are played with intensity and passion. The Scent of a Mule duels were always pretty fun/funny at this time. Set I Fee, Maze, If I Could, It's Ice, Bathtub Gin, Fast Enough for You, Scent of a Mule, Dog Faced Boy, Carolina, AC/DC Bag Set II Also Sprach Zarathustra > Run Like an Antelope, Weigh, Axilla (Part II), Wolfman's Brother, Rift, You Enjoy Myself Encore: Chalk Dust Torture
So much for Phish at ACL. Guess I have to commit to traveling this summer or take a pass until next year.
