This was a good show. Pretty small for the time, it was held in the school gym/basketball court. I had caught the beginning of this tour, then some of the middle stuff in Colorado and this was the first one back on the east coast for me. Again, this was another marathon tour that started in the beginning of February. Almost 3.5 months, culminating with the masterpiece that is 5/8/93 (Hi Carlotta!). This show was the “Spring Fling” concert for Colgate and as such, there were a wide variety of attendees, only about half of which were Phish heads. I do remember getting into this show was one of the greatest squish-fests of all time. I think I may not have even had my feet on the ground when I was crushed through the door. Same thing happened to me for Pink Floyd in ’87 at Giants Stadium, but that’s to be expected at a stadium show, not a Phish show on a college campus. By the time we got in, we were mostly all the way back on the floor, which was still really close to the stage. Phish was basically playing under where one of the basketball hoops would be and the back of the floor was pretty much the other hoop. It was small and packed. This was not the kind of college basketball arena you would find at a larger university, it was a small gym. Incidentally, the Dead played this same room in 1977 which is pretty unbelievable.
Set 1: Runaway Jim, Weigh > Sparkle, Split Open and Melt, Fluffhead, My Friend, My Friend> Divided Sky, Guelah Papyrus, Lawn Boy, Chalk Dust Torture
Set 2: Golgi Apparatus, Maze, The Ballad of Curtis Loew, It’s Ice > Paul and Silas > Big Ball Jam, Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove[3], Hold Your Head Up > Lengthwise >Hold Your Head Up,The Squirming Coil, Highway to Hell
Encore: Fire
The first set is very well played but fairly pedestrian. Highlight for me was an acoustic guitar ending to Fluffhead that lead into the acoustic intro to My Friend, My Friend. It’s butter. Second set starts with a typical Golgi that launches into a pretty smoking Maze. After Maze came the first show highlight for me, the rarely played Curtis Loew. I had seen 106 shows up until this point and had still not seen the Lo-Lo. It was my white whale. Obviously, I was freaking the fuck out when they played it. Great, great version too with Page giving it his all vocally… And, unless you count the Big Cypress Soundcheck (which I do, and don’t), it was the only time I have ever seen it in 320 shows. A very well-played version of It’s Ice follows with the EZ-gliders which was always pretty cool. All Spring ’93 It’s Ices are choice IMO and this one doesn’t disappoint. Worth seeking out. I was enjoying this show for sure and honestly could have left happy after the Curtis Loew. Next, we get a Paul and Silas which is pretty much my cowboy tune of choice. After a ball jam we get to the meat of set, a sweetly placed mid-set Mike’s. The Mike’s has a killer intro and the Hydrogen is money, but the highlight of this is by far the Weekapaug. It is the the pinnacle of the show for sure and one of my top all-time Weekapaugs. There are so many great ones out there, but this one goes places I have not heard before or since. Do yourself a flavor and check it out below. The rest of the show does not reach the heights of the Weekapaug, but it is still great. Mimi Fishman comes out (as was an upstate tradition) and does a great job playing the vac with Jon on Lengthwise which also has some funny banter, and then a Coil and Highway to Hell to close the set. During Highway to Hell, Mike picked up some of the team cheer signs (We Win In Our Gym for example) and held them over his head for most of the song. It was then I realized that there is no bass part during the verse section of Highway, he only plays during the chorus. Huh. Fire topped it off nicely and we all left happy for the short drive to Potsdam for the next nights show at Clarkson. All in all, this show has some very good playing and is definitely worth downloading and digging into.
At the very least, this Weekapaug Groove is a must-hear:
(Edit to Add: The file for the Weekapaug keeps going missing for some reason– I am working on it and re-posting as it happens….sorry…If it’s gone, check back later, it’s worth it!)
For fun, here’s my one and only Curtis Loew:
MP3 of the whole show is here: http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=e64969679d601a07ab1eab3e9fa335caa5253c9a0cc788a6
Lossless version is here (thanks Superfreakie!): http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=549664
backinmydaydotnet 
That could very well replace the 6.21.94 Split Open and Melt as the single greatest thing I’ve heard them do.
Jesus H. Christ.
I’m shaking!
The first time they quiet down, I thought, cool, love it when they let everything breathe and really listen. The second time, when Trey starts playing with that classical fugue sounding pattern, and the band starts chopping up poly-rhythms **together**, I had an epiphany of sorts:
Every great dance band I know and love, from Daft Punk to Chromeo, Ratatat to LCD Soundsystem, owes such an incredible debt to Phish, consciously or not.
And to think they were doing it with live instruments!
It’s performances like these that had me (and still have me, despite my historical anachronistic perspective on the band’s canon) strongly convinced these guys were playing **with** the universe.
Thanks for proving yet again that every time I think I’ve heard their best (or a best ever version), there’s something waiting in the wings that will knock me to my knees and make me its bitch.
Nice Kevin– glad you dug it! It has always been one of my favorite versions but seems to fly under the radar for a lot of folks…stay tuned for more nuggets! Thanks for the comment..
Awesome version, love love love this site, that version is right up their with one of my favorite versions. Anaconda Theater 92, for some reason I haven’t been able to stop listening to this version for the last 19 Years, I am curious what people think of that version, especially trey’s effects during this version, haven’t heard anything like it since!