phishcrit

3/22/93 - SACRAMENTO, CA


Rainy day at home, so why not a special Sunday edition of #phish project? 3/22/93, Sacramento, CA, Crest Theatre. Assemble the musicians. April 25, 2010 2:08:30 PM CDT via web

3/22/93: Not sure anyone ever listens to the first set of this show, and so far that’s no loss. Chalkdust, Guelah, Uncle Penn, easy does it. April 25, 2010 2:23:09 PM CDT via web                        

3/22/93: First Weigh in over a month; ‘twas a rarity even while sorta-flogging Rift. Sounds great - set is predictable but tight as a drum. April 25, 2010 2:42:21 PM CDT via web

3/22/93: Reba just made this first set worthwhile - drop to near silence then a glorious upward build. An old trick, sure, but A+ execution. April 25, 2010 2:59:18 PM CDT via web                       

3/22/93: Plus, the well-behaved audience during that Reba breakdown may be what won this crowd their special 2nd set prize. #foreshadowing April 25, 2010 3:00:34 PM CDT via web



3/22/93: More “let’s test the audience” quiet-jamming in Bowie intro, complete with secret language + Melt, Popeye teases. April 25, 2010 3:19:04 PM CDT via web



3/22/93: Don’t sleep on this first set. Reba and Bowie are both top-shelf ‘93-style jamming - no surprises, but patient peak construction. April 25, 2010 3:20:41 PM CDT via web

3/22/93: And we’re into Gamehendge - Phish’s rock opera, for the uninitiated, played live only 5 times (though that is oft debated). April 25, 2010 3:33:26 PM CDT via web

3/22/93: I love that this one starts in the middle of It’s Ice - not typically part of the TMWSIY song cycle. Improvisational storytelling. April 25, 2010 3:36:58 PM CDT via web

3/22/93: Most underrated thing about Gamehendge sets: the interstitial music beneath Trey’s narration. Piano trio sweetness. April 25, 2010 3:52:45 PM CDT via web




3/22/93: Completely forgot that Wilson is the character singing “AC/DC Bag.” This version is unusually spry. April 25, 2010 4:07:02 PM CDT via web



3/22/93: Narration comes to a pretty abrupt end after The Sloth - “Now Wilson’s dead…things go on from there.” April 25, 2010 4:32:04 PM CDT via web




3/22/93: Mike’s Groove for dessert, not bad (and no Fish song!). But kind of a dud - Weekapaug isn’t as torrid as its 3/93 peers. April 25, 2010 5:06:32 PM CDT via web

3/22/93 verdict: Another classic “starter tape,” one of the 1st 5 shows I ever heard, so it’s hard to remove nostalgia from the equation… April 25, 2010 5:13:13 PM CDT via web

…but silly as it is, I think the Gamehendge shows are a crucial piece of Phish’s foundation, this D&D thing that further places them… April 25, 2010 5:14:49 PM CDT via web




…in their own unique realm, and also gives their fans a deep inventory of in-joke mythology, a secret code you have to study and learn… April 25, 2010 5:17:32 PM CDT via web



…that makes the fan experience both more fulfilling (if also exclusionary). All niche communities do it: comics, Juggalos, hipsters… April 25, 2010 5:20:22 PM CDT via web

…even scientific disciplines. 3/22/93 is both Phish Cliffs Notes and a gateway drug: obsession is born from the details. April 25, 2010 5:23:58 PM CDT via web