phishcrit

4/16/93 - LOUISVILLE, KY

Let’s ease into the holidays with #phish project show 50 (!): 4/16/93, Louisville, KY, The Macauley Theater. Bluegrass imminent?

4/16/93: Slightly more energy than usual in opening Chalkdust, according to my proprietary Phish-energy meter. Guelah moves the needle left.

4/16/93: Melt takes a nice swerve at the end. Getting a little more playful with the structure, hinting at the Demand version in 5 days.

4/16/93: A song I’m not wild about, perhaps controversially: Esther. Just really clogs up a set. Wordy and notey.

4/16/93: Still weird to hear Sample get absolutely zero response. What did the drunken white-hats sing along to back then?

4/16/93: First set Hoods were rare even back then. Actually, Hoods themselves were rare, this is the 1st in 10 shows. Unusually rusty.

4/16/93: The Hood jam, however, is delicate and pretty. Not sure why the song was out of favor in ‘93 before exploding in ‘94.

4/16/93: Curtain > Maze is a winning combo. Kind of miss that huge segue drop from the old Curtain “Without”.

4/16/93: This crowd seems unreasonably hyped throughout Lizards. Did a bachelorette party stop by the venue?

4/16/93: According to reader @dmg924, this Mike’s was labeled “Mile Song” on his tape. It’s an angry, prickly version. #shinsplints

4/16/93: Calling Paug > Mike’s in this Groove. Also dark, with a Trey/Page melody exchange and a herky-jerk stop-start jam in the middle.

4/16/93: Phish turns off the dark post-Groove with the obligatory Uncle Pen, a raucous Bike, and Highway to Hell for their truck driver.

4/16/93: First full Gumbo since ‘91 GCH tour, 228 shows ago - “we haven’t played this one in a while, so bear with us.” Freebird ending?!

4/16/93 verdict: Don’t know what got into this crowd, but it fueled the band for a solid show. Mike’s Groove is an abstract highlight.