PHISH

October 31, 1991
Armstrong Hall, Colorado College
Colorado Springs, CO

Source: FOB Aud Analog Cass, unknown gen (likely 5th or greater gen)

Transfer: Cass > HHB > CDR > Flac

Disc One
Set One

Memories (MISSING)
01. Brother
02. Ya Mar (has a brief cut)
03. The Sloth >
04. Chalk Dust Torture
05. Sparkle
06. Foam
07. Bathtub Gin
08. Paul and Silas
09. You Enjoy Myself
10. Runaway Jim


Disc Two
Set Two
01. Trey intro about the Costume Contest
02. The Landlady
03. Costume Contest
04. Wait >
05. Llama
06. Fee ->
07. Wait ->
08. My Sweet One >
09. Wait ->
10. David Bowie (fade out in intro due to tape flip)
11. Horn
12. Dinner and a Movie
13. Tube >
14. I Didn't Know

Disc 3
01. Harry Hood
02. Glide (E)
03. Rocky Top (E)

Filler:
04. "Maybe I Could Be A Fly" (?) (strange Cavern/YEM/Guelah mix)


"A bucket of lard, a slice of pizza. It's Jesus... Let's get Jesus up on the trampolines."

--Trey, during the costume contest


Thanks to Bill Bowman and Dan Purcell for the analog cassette seed of this show.

The online Spreadsheet doesn't have this, though presumably it will use this version soon. Hopefully a higher quality version of this show will circulate again at some point.

I made several tape offers on Rec.Music.Phish of this show (among many others from Bill Bowman's collection) in the 1990s, but it nevertheless didn't circulate well, given its poor quality. This is at best C-/D+ quality, which undoubtedly discouraged people from trading or sending b+p to get it. And I bet many of you are discouraged to hear this, and will refrain from downloading it now.

From the sound of this recording, and given the timing of the cuts that appear (such as the one before Paul and Silas, the fade out during Bowie's intro, and the cut the second that Hood ends), my guess is that the source of this recording is a cheap microphone on the hat of a stealth FOB analog cassette taper who was relatively near the stage. This recording has all the 'ole analog cassette stealth FOB flaws -- level changes, cuts, seemingly arbitrary mic-directional-shifts, intermittent wow and flutter. And oh yeah, the pitch seems somewhat off at times, and the muddy second set sounds like perhaps it is a higher gen copy of a tape from the same source as the first set. Since this is the only recording of this show I've ever seen circulate in the last 16 years, it's no wonder few have heard it. Perhaps there is a place for this dinosaur in the Smithsonian.

NEVERTHELESS, this is an enjoyable, well-played 1991 show. The "FUCK YOU"s from the crowd during the second and third versions of "Wait" (the opening measure of what is now It's Ice) are priceless. It's also got an unusually good Foam, and YEM's jam segment is the kind of YEM jam segment that makes a Phish fan out of someone for life. It's SICK, even though it's tough to hear how great it is given the poor sound quality. See also 11/16/91 Bayou for a fantastic early YEM jam.

The strange filler I've added here, a Cavern/YEM/Guelah "mix" of some sort, used to circulate on cassettes traded in the 1990s now and then. If I ever knew who created it, or why, I don't recall now. You might find it amusing, or not. If you know the story behind this, please post a "comment" and ideally email me, too: cdirksen@earthlink.net. Thank you.

Shownotes from the current version of the Mockingbird Foundation/Phish Companion/Phish.Net setlists file: This show marked the first appearance of Wait. During the costume contest, there was a brief full-band tease of Jesus Just Left Chicago, inspired by a fan in a Jesus costume (with a cross on his back!). The first round of the contest closed with a rendition of Can't Turn You Loose. After each unsuccessful entrant was eliminated, Trey forced them to stage-dive. HYHU was also played briefly during the contest. First prize - free admission to all Phish shows for one year - was shared by The Bergen County Woman Cop and Captain Bong Hit. During the final Wait, before Bowie, the audience was chanting: â€œFuck you!â€ in response. Bowie contained Charlie Chan and Oom Pa Pa signals during the jam. I Didnâ€™t Know featured a vacuum solo by â€œShowboat Gertrude,â€ which continued well into the final verse of the song.