Yeah, yeah, I know, recycling a show already. Well, since I didn’t have time to do a full post, I figured I would post the glorious Harry Hood from Smith College. It’s always bugged me that I didn’t include it in the original post, and besides, this Hood is so monster, it is more than deserving of it’s own post. It’s just ridiculous…This Hood can go toe to toe with any Hood from any year and I’m going to go out on a limb and say this is the best Hood from ’91, even slightly besting Potsdam. If you have never heard this, I just don’t know what else to say…..enjoy:
Ahhhh…Smith College. An unforgettable show to attend. John Greene Hall itself was an amazing venue: Built in 1910 with giant sandstone pillars and ornate fixtures inside and out, we soon learned that the venue sounded as good as it looked. Unfortunately, the surviving (circulating) sources leave a little bit to be desired. Still, the energy shines through on the sources we do have and any loss of fidelity is easily made up for by great playing and a solid setlist:
When the band comes back for a second double encore, you know they’re feeling it. The crowd was feeling it too and can be heard bouncing off the walls for nearly every track, even the new ones. The place was rocking big time. Northampton has always been a Phish stronghold since the very early days, so this show was bigger than most– this was one of the earliest hall shows as the band was only then just starting to move out of the bars and into bigger venues. Capacity is listed at 2000 people, but while the show seemed packed to the gills, I can’t imagine there were that many. The night before in Portsmouth was a lot smaller. I had a hard time picking out tracks from this show- while there are no out of the ordinary versions, the whole show is just jammed with energy and showcases an intimate and old school New England vibe that was harder and harder to come by as the years went on. This show was down home for sure. The Harry Hood in particular is worth the price of admission. The band was definitely making progress, and we drove the 5 hours back to Ithaca happy campers.
Check out this killer Buried Alive->Fluffhead from the second set. Buried Alive was still fairly new and Fluffhead had not been played in a fairly long for the time gap of 18 shows. You can tell people are stoked. The strobes during Clod were insane (IMO, only 3/20/92 had sicker strobes). Later on in the tour, the strobes would get crushed and not make another appearance until Spring 92……..anyway, I think this one of the best Fluffheads out there (and the Buried Alive is dope too):
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