phishcrit

4/17/93 - ANN ARBOR, MI

Today, a very special #phish project double feature! Shows 51 & 52: 4/17-18/93, Ann Arbor, MI, Michigan Theater. GO BLUE

4/17/93: Soundcheck bonus! 3X shot of The Who - Can’t Explain, See For Miles, Sparks. Sloppy, but fun to hear them working out the chords.

4/17/93: After some LlamaFoamBouncin’ settling in, Stash is pleasantly dissonant, though nowhere near as exploratory as 4/14.

4/17/93: Longer than normal breakdown in It’s Ice, with creepy empty-ballpark organ. Paired with Glide for extra chuckles (snow outside?).

4/17/93: “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” jam in the tail end of MFMF; didn’t know that turned up before Halloween ‘94. Then ATR - this set is proggy.

4/17/93: Nice! Antelope middle section starts out as basically Melt jam. 3rd section is also very weird, dubby. Promising end to an ok set.

4/17/93: Very nice Reba, but like a lot of 3.0 versions, feels like it’s cut off early by Fish. Anyone know what the signal is to end it?

4/17/93: Landlady > Halley’s is a pretty weird turn for the 2nd set; sounds like Halley’s was started in the wrong key > car crash vocals.

4/17/93: These 93 YEMs often feel rushed. Here it takes its sweet time, breaking down to near-silent micro-jam and Stevie teases. Splendid.

4/17/93: Fish sez “How many of you out there hate the vacuum cleaner?” I don’t think he heard me. Though it is “Cracklin Rosie,” so maybe…

4/17/93: Oh wait, Big Ball Jam with Fish on vacuum, Trey on drums. Wonderful. Hope they’re not damaging the Mich Theater.

4/17/93: Crazy BBFCFM encore. Spun kid in crowd yells “I can taste myself running!,” Fish’s Count impression, long patches of silence.

4/17/93 verdict: A wacky, relaxed show to start a 2-night stand. Unusual setlist, stellar YEM, and many antics that don’t translate to tape.