Damn good show considering:
The opening was in deference to Pink Floud who had played at Birmingham's Legion Field the night before. http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/pink-floyd/1994/legion-field-stadium-birmingham-al-33d764dd.html /> My friends and I had 4th row, center. We saw Trey and Mike on the floor several rows back during intermission, sitting there anonymous like. We told them we dug their shit, jams, etc., and hoped for a good show from them the next night. Very casual....
5 Points was a TINY venue, and Phish was still not a huge draw back them in the Deep South. That place held maybe 750 peeps at the most...maybe. Fire code was prob more like 500..
Opening was delayed due to the trouble of getting a disco ball to hang and spin correctly, but then it quickly kicked in with the homage to Pink Floyd. From there, I was way too baked and 3 feet away from Trey and the dudes to know what happened next. Who cares at that point, right? Several doobies later, and Oteil (OMG!!) is on stage jamming. I'm there, against the stage, basically in a small bar, seeing the dudes kill it. No hassle, no pushing, no frenzy. Easy in, easy to the bathroom, easy back to center stage. Set list... Whatevs. The vibe and setting were awesome, with the added bonus of having seen the boys at the Pink Floyd show (I had better seats!!) the night before!!

This was my first show. 17 years old and had to borrow my older brother's ID to get into the ages 19 and up venue. The bouncer knew it wasn't me on the ID (which put me right at age 21), but the line to get it was a million miles long and he seemed more interested in moving things along than hassling me so he just said "behave yourself" and waved me in.

Onto the show! This was a perfect first show for the total n00b that I was. At this juncture, I didn't own any live tapes and I only owned the five studio albums. They opened with a Pink Floyd cover in deference to the fact they'd attended a Pink Floyd show the night before on their off night in Birmingham (I guess they don't miss Sunday shows either.) A roaring Melt showed up next as my first true taste of live Phish. Glide, Divided Sky, Foam, etc. are definitely the songs you want when you don't know their vast catalog. Suzy Greenberg was brand new to me and it was super exciting riding that huge wave of energy in a place that small.

As much as I dug the first set, the second set is where I truly fell in love. Opening with a fast paced tune about a dog? Sign me up! Mound and Reba were two of my studio favorites and it was great to see those tunes live. "Lizards" is when the switch truly flipped for me. I had no idea music could sound like that. Who were these damn wizards? I was losing my mind and I was sober as a judge. After some Page schmaltz on Lawn Boy, they went into Mike's Song, another new tune to me. Oteil finally came out to join the band on stage. We saw him walking through the parking lot and he was waiting in line behind us with his bass slung over his soldier (I think he was eventually ushered in a different entrance.) It was super fun in the moment seeing him do the trampolines with the band, but it doesn't hold up all that well on tape. Later in my fandom, a "Cavern" encore would probably disappoint, but it was just what I wanted at the time.

I've listened to this show a few times over the years, but listening back to it today, exactly 26 years later I appreciate it on a higher level than I did back then. This is the perfect 4 star show IMO: good setlist, tightly played, a few surprises. Nothing that makes it an all-timer or anything, but a damn solid night of music and one that certainly hooked me for life.

I would love to know what motivated the band to open with Great Gig (performed sans vacuum). I can only imagine what a person who was seeing Phish for the first time would have thought of this.

Melt ratchets up the intensity at the 5 minute mark, while the passion and joy reflected in this early Disease demonstrates the band’s instantaneous love affair with this tune. Suzy has a tease of Pink Floyd’s “Money” by Trey at the beginning of the jam.

The composed section of Reba is sung at a faster tempo than normal, with the band adding these amusing oohs, aahs and other vocal effects. The instrumental section is fast too.

The Mike’s jam is more interesting knowing that Trey is on drums at the end and Fishman is playing Page’s keyboard. Beyond that, even the presence of Oteil on bass can’t elevate this beyond the experimental. Adventurous, even if it doesn’t quite work.

Not much out of the ordinary here other than the unique opener choice, especially compared to some of the special nights on this tour. The Mike's might be interesting to bass enthusiasts.