A few weeks ago I put into place an idea I've had for years now. Figure out a way to listen to Phish through the years. It's a hard task to tackle with so much out there but I began roughly in '91. Some shows I've been chosing randomly, other's on recommendations. To say I found this show randomly is an understatement. I decided to start moving to '92 but after a bit of searching to see which direction I should take, I found myself in Possum song history, which lead from one thing to another, which eventually lead me to a song called "Melt the Guns". I've never heard of it before and watched the video under the song history and noticed that this show 4/29/87 was a recommended show mentioned by the previous show review. And then I found myself 3ish hours later, have listened to the whole show.

I think the previous review pretty much sums this show up perfectly, but what I wanted to add was a perspective of someone who is not new to Phish, but new to trying to navigate the waters of early Phish and what these shows have to offer. I've learned a TON from listening to this show and looking up the song histories. To start, It's pretty cool to know that this show is maybe one of 4 or 5 quality recordings from this time and used to be one of the original circulating tapes that was passed around in the day. That's the first thing that drew me to this show. But the fun doesn't stop there...

I was amazed at how many covers you can listen to. Regardless of the reason they played so many that night, it's great to be able to trace covers back to these early shows that are still played to this day. Some of my favorites like Boogie On, Peaches, Quinn, Cities, and it goes on. To see how many got left behind only after a short few years is equally interesting. But on to brand new things...

Melt the Guns... First time ever listening to it and first time I've ever heard of it! This kicks off almost like any other phish song. Quirky, fun, multiple things going on at once. But where it really takes off is the nice jam that forms towards the end leading into Dave's Energy Guide. If you listen to the jam and transition, you can hear hints of how they sound and still play today. For the time, I don't know if this was exploratory or coincidence, but it's a real good listen if you want to hear that sound.

Other songs I drew to for this show was McGrupp, Lushington, and Who Do? We Do? For anyone in need of an early Phish lesson, this shows got it. Lot's of lyrics in McGrupp with a HUGE ending, very tight and exciting. I finally fully get the Lushington Dicks Gag, and to see parts of Fluffhead all over the place in early shows really puts a spin on how the songs developed in the first place.

With that, I'm probably headed back into '91 to finish up Amy's Farm and probably move forward to '92. I'm not sure yet how they stack up against other early shows, but for quality and song selection I'm gona rate this show a 4 of 5. I'm kinda new to show reviews, especially from this time, before my time, but I look forward to the shows to come! If you get a chance to listen to this show, enjoy.