Grousing The Aisles: A Taste of Fall ’95 Phish

Phish – 10/11/1995 DAUD [FLACs, VBR Properly Tagged MP3s]

Fourteen years ago yesterday, Phish played perhaps their finest show in Arizona at the now defunct Compton Terrace. Phoenix’s Compton Terrace was created by Jess Nicks – Stevie’s father – on land borrowed from the adjacent Legend City, a wild-west themed amusement park. After Legend City closed, Nicks moved the venue to another site which is where the Phish concert took place shortly before the venue closed for good in 1996.

The quartet came out of the gates hot with a smokin’ 16-minute Stash, but besides that most of the first set is standardly awesome ’95 Phish. The second set is where things get really good. If you think every Possum sounds the same, take a listen to the version that opened the second set at Compton Terrace. A fantastic mix of machine gun and exploration, this is the type of Possum I hope for every time the band starts the song. A fun Bathtub follows with Page asserting himself throughout.

You’d expect a breather after a set that starts with Possum, Bathtub Gin and Mound, but the band had other ideas as they busted a spacey Mike’s that has an interesting segue into the first McGrupp in 24 shows. The group transitioned from McGrupp into a high-octane version of Weekapaug. Trey hints at Llama throughout his solo, so it isn’t surprising when the band segues into the best song ever written about a Camelidae. A Suzy Greenberg with Sunshine of Your Love and Crossroads teases follows before the band takes a stab at a full version of Crossroads for the first time in 196 shows. Overall, 10/11/95 is an above-average show that should be part of any Phish fan’s collection, especially since this audience recording sounds so good.