This is only the 5th show I've heard from this 71 show Winter/Spring tour. As the other reviewers have commented, the soundboard for this show is really nice, it's a treat to listen to.

My understanding of the playing this tour is this: straight-forward renditions of lots of classic repertoire without a whole lot of exploration, this show fits that mold perfectly. I don't mean that as a slam, there's lots of great stuff going on in the 5 shows I have heard from this tour. For example, though very straight-forward as far as the build goes, this is a one of a kind Split. Right away they develop a bit of a different feeling than is normal for the song, but it's still firmly Split. Mike is playing this nice descending bass line that he keeps going for most of the jam and at one point Mike and Fish lock together perfectly into the quasi-latin groove. Trey is on point the entire time too. This Split has a distinctly different mood than any other I've heard and is my favorite part of the show.

Everything else is your standard fare: some guitar solos here, a Mound, that if played this precisely today, would leave everybody's mouth agape there, some fun whistling in Antelope, the stupid ending to Bathtub Gin that hadn't died yet, and so on. The only other really notable thing in this show is the only performance of My Life As a Pez, a quirky little song sang from the perspective of a pez dispense. It's a nice surprise during the ambient portion of YEM.

If nothing else, listen to this show for the sound quality, unique Split, and My Life As a Pez.

After a blazing week of shows the boys break more new venue ground heading into northern California for the 40th show of the tour. More digging deep into the song list also makes this one pretty unique. I thought the recording started out more as an audience copy, but was very clear and board sounding by the end.

Landlady gets pulled back out of Punch for the opener and this one was just average to me, and had a rough end. Funky Bitch is back and I like it a lot. Sparkle continues to have great control in tempo. Melt was good and rocking. Double shot of Gamehenge material with an average Lizards and Sloth, both were ok, but not smooth and tight. Maze rocked as usual. Fee and Ice were also just average for me tonight, and so was Lawn Boy. It just seemed kind of extra lame for some reason. Antelope had some teases and was pretty good overall for an average first set closer.

Another deep cut makes its way onto the list as we have a rare Walk Away to open up second set. Not sure why, maybe for the pun of walk away, run away? Anyway, Jim is really on tonight, and totally rocks! Mound was good, maybe a few week spots in the jam. It's been a little while for Gin also, and this one was good. Then the Balls come out... YEM starts kind of rough, but then there is the priceless debut of the PEZ song? Funny story before YEM actually takes shape. It was a pretty good jam, plus a funny vocal jam off of Higher Ground that rounded out the 20 minute affair. Paul gets the call and had a cut in the recording, but pretty standard for this one. HYHU brings Fish out for a long Love You, with band intros. Mike gets the back end of this show starting with a long, rocking Possum, complete with McGrupp teases for a lot of it. Nice one to close up the mostly average second set.

Mike continues with a kind of rare Contact. Great stage banter during and at the end when an annoyed Mike sings "Sing the song." to Trey. Double Mike encore with the always entertaining Creature from Mars! Really funny stuff here, as Fish starts the jam while Trey isn't ready, so he doesn't play and Fish apologizes over and over. "Sorry about that man."

There are too many average songs in here to make this five stars, although Mike did play a lot better overall tonight. I'm going to give this show four stars like last night's show.

SOUNDCHECK

A great sounding soundboard of the soundcheck and the rest of the show circulates. The soundcheck is very good. The Wedge Jam finds the band getting into a deep groove. At the end of the jam, Page teases Axel F from Beverly Hills Cop and Fishman hilariously yells out, “Ghostbusters!” Page manages to gently correct him. Fans of The Wedge definitely need to check this out. The band then plays a nice long Dog Log, which has some very nice jamming and is full of the typical early 90’s Phish goofiness.

SET I

Landlady through Melt is very strong -- lots of energy and great playing. Lizards and Sloth are little shaky, but still solid. The band picks it back up for a rocking, typical of the time period, version of Maze. Fee and It’s Ice are good, but again a little shaky. The first set is wrapped up with a good Antelope, which features the Fishin' Hole melody whistled at the beginning and an Axel F tease from Trey later on.

SET II

The second set opens with Walk Away, which is a very unusual opener. In reviewing the performance history, it looks like it has only been a second set opener twice before this version, both of which were in ’89 (6/30/89 and 8/17/89), and never since. A really tight and rocking Runaway Jim follows. A pretty good Mound and decent Gin follows. Then you get a BBJ, which I think you have to be there to appreciate. The YEM is good, but not great. It does contain the one and only performance by Phish of My Life As a Pez, or “The Pez song,” which makes this version an historical highlight. The Paul and Silas is good. And then we have the Fishman section featuring Love You. I really liked the set closing Possum. It’s a nice long rocking version with strong McGrupp teases.

ENCORE

Contact and BBFCFM. I always enjoy Contact, and Mars, which I much prefer hearing in person, was pretty good.

Overall, I liked the first set better than the second. Also, the soundcheck is well worth checking out. My personal highlights are the soundcheck numbers, Funky Bitch and Melt, but, as with a lot of the shows from the earlier years, it’s not about one amazing version, it’s about the flow and execution of the entire show.