May 16, 2017

Phish: new archival release Schenectady 5/17/92

Another archival Phish release is available for streaming and download: 5/17/92 Schenectady, NY @ Achilles Rink - Union college. The release contains ample filler from the next night, a hometown show @ The Flynn Theatre in Burlington:

On May 17, 1992 Phish played at Achilles Rink – the Union College hockey arena opened in 1975 with a capacity of about 2,500. Schenectady was the second-to-last date on a 53-show spring tour that hit 24 states and the District of Columbia with five shows in Colorado, six in California and seven in New York before wrapping up in the band’s hometown Burlington, Vermont. Phish’s third studio album and Elektra debut, A Picture of Nectar, had dropped in February. Fans benevolently plastered promo stickers depicting Nectar’s face from the album cover on toll booths and highway rest areas from coast to coast. Spring ’92 featured the new Minkin Lexan backdrops, a big batch of new songs that would form the basis for Rift, and the band inviting the audience to share in the Secret Language. Phish.net (and the Internet in general) was just starting to catch on, there was no official taper’s section yet, and word of mouth was key. The Schenectady show – with a ticket price of $5 - was a prime example as it was not listed in the Phish newsletter or hotline. It was a Sunday night, Page’s birthday, and the band was almost home after more than two months on the road.

Highlights of the Schenectady ’92 show included The Landlady > Llama opener, Stash, and Chalk Dust Torture from set I. The Curtain > Possum kicked off set II with a concentrated barrage of Secret Language and teases of everything from Rocky Mountain Way to China Grove to It's Ice and Divided Sky during one of the all-time far-out Possums. Brother went completely unhinged and led appropriately...perhaps inevitably to Sanity, before Fish took over vocal and vacuum duties for Syd Barrett’s Love You. A standout Harry Hood rounded out set II and continued the show’s Outward thrust. The Schenectady ’92 release includes filler selected from the tour-closing show the following night - 5/18/92 at The Flynn Theatre in Burlington.

Setlist and notes from phish.net:

SET 1: The Landlady, Llama, Colonel Forbin's Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird > My Sweet One > Reba, I Didn't Know[1], Stash, The Mango Song > Poor Heart > Chalk Dust Torture

SET 2: The Curtain > Possum [2], Guelah Papyrus, The Squirming Coil[3], All Things Reconsidered, Brother , Sanity > Cold as Ice > Love You > Hold Your Head Up, Sparkle > Harry Hood , Cavern

ENCORE: Lawn Boy > Good Times Bad Times

[1] Fish on trombone.
[2] Simpsons, All Fall Down, Random Note, and Aw Fuck! signals.
[3] Happy Birthday dedication to Page.
I Didn't Know featured Fish on trombone. Possum included Simpsons, All Fall Down, and Aw Fuck! signals, as well as teases of Rocky Mountain Way, L.A. Woman, China Grove, It’s Ice, and Divided Sky. Coil included a Happy Birthday dedication to Page, who subsequently teased Happy Birthday twice, "Charge!," and Call to the Post in the Love You intro as Fish announced birthdays in the band and introduced the crew. Love You also contained Lonesome Cowboy Bill teases from Page.

Filler tracks from 05/18/1992 show:

Suzy Greenberg, Maze, Divided Sky, Horn, Mike's Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Run Like an Antelope

» livephish.com

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