Op-Eric: Wyman on Phish – December ’95

Beginning in 1996 things would change, starting with a tour in Europe the sound and the demeanor of the band would quickly transform. By the late ’90s the band pushed forward to reach their career pinnacle on the eve of the millennium only to spiral out of control over the next eight years. By 2000, the band was in enough turmoil that the needed to stop. At the same time, the majority of the fan base from earlier that decade were struggling to find a path in adulthood. Things had gotten real. Jobs, relationships, priorities, all weighed in a manner they didn’t previously, when you could hop in a car and say fuck the blizzard I’m going to Albany. Before The Clifford Ball. Before Remain In Light. Before cow funk. Before Cypress. Before designer shirts and jeans. Before addiction. There was December of 1995. It is THE moment. They may have evolved from that point and beyond what they were, but it was at this moment they were perfectly Phish. It was the end of their innocence and probably, for a majority of us as well.

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13 Responses

  1. Truly a magical time in Phish history. It’s tough not to get choked up reading that. Jerry had just died and Phish was at their zenith and felt like the entire world was in the palm of our hands and anything was possible. Reality sunk in. Life marched on and carefree life disappeared forever & indeed, the tours, the music and the fanbase was and never will be the same.

  2. wow nice read I dont fully agree fall 97 was sick but my first shows were dec 16th 17th in lake placid 95. I was literally hooked ( no pun intended) Never had I seen such a band so tight with moves only mid 90’s phish could pull off. We are all a lil jaded now Im 31 and without question if they are in driving distance I will see them. Living in Northern NY makes that real easy. I was only 15 at the time but saw so many shows over the next 15 years I could bought a house. Is it the same no but when they bust out a perfect have mercey or makisupa>night nurse well that whole set although not 95ish was fucking great. Every generation thinks their “version” of Phish was the best but I can say 95-97 was some of the best music from any band and I love a lot of bands I have ever heard. My gf didnt find phish til they came back last year at least live anyway so now I see it through her eyes and it is just more mature like the dead like the abb like clapton like every person that grows up. If they were still the same as they were in 95 I would be upset bc that would mean they never grew up which means we as fans never grew up either. When I am sad I will put in my first show and just remember even if aI havent heard phish in months. Sorry for the long post but like alot of fans I love the music and most of the people in the scene. Its live music so it will never be perfect but they give us so much like trey giving us his show for free or live bait not a lot of bands today outside our scene would even consider that. Thank You Boys!

  3. Madison square garden 95 is the at the top of my list of phish experiences(with big cypress of course). I saw two shows that november, Champagne and Detroit, that were also top notch. Nice piece Wyman. Merry Christmas!

  4. Great memories Eric. I too was a sophomore in Boston that month & definitely saw shows rather then studying. Awsome YEM at Albany. People forget about the giant snow storm that night and the arena being half- full during the set as we negotiated the bad road conditions. I remember the Knick floors being flooded with melted sno from our shoes. Funny how the random things come to mind when thinking back.

  5. I failed all my finals that semester. I got straight A’s at Niagara Falls and both nights of Placid though. It’s hard to go see a show now knowing the past, total letdown and waste of cash…

  6. Love the article Wyman. But just one criticism….12/29 Gin SMOKES Amherst and, maybe any other version. Certainly the best segue the band has ever done when you take the speed up into Real Me and cool down back to Gin into consideration. But if you’re any real fan….all things are considered.

    Great job Eric. Hope to meet you this NYE run

  7. I was in college too; Ramapo College of NJ. My buddies and I also said “F’ the blizzard, here we come Albany!”

    Good times. No job to hold me down, and all we had to do was organize mail order through Doniac Schvice ($25 per ticket!!!) and squirrel a couple of bucks for food and hotel.

    I’d argue that ’96 was also a solid year from our age group. Trey was able to pull off “getting lost” during jams and miraculously pull it back together.

    Those ’94-’96 years were a lot of fun to be around.

    I wish I got into the band earlier, because the bootlegs I have of ’92 and ’93 melt my brain. Trey was never better. Musicians are like athletes… it’s impossible to stay that good for any significant length of time.

  8. Oh, Maze opener at Albany during blizzard was clear sign we were in for a special night!

    We all felt lost just trying to get to Albany, and Phish jumped right on our emotions to kick off the show.

  9. Tonight I was chatting with a fellow named Rav Shmuel Skaist. He was recalling with me that his first show was 12/30/95, so this evening in a way he was celebrating his “sweet 15″…that many years since he first saw them. I, too, saw them in ’95 for the first time (Mann Music Center) at which point my eyes were opened to these boys’ glory. I relate so profoundly to much of what Wyman says with regard to the pinnacle being in ’95. With Jerry gone, what was left to pick up the pieces? I recall sitting at my desk at HBO, hearing the sad news in August of Jerry’s passing. Feeling so incredibally sad- having only seen Jerry perform once, yes once, in my life, and yet so connected deep within to the deepest of messages. And then along came Fish and his crew. A wacky, wild, relatable crew indeed. I connected to deep to the music, the vibe, the scene. Didn’t we all? And yet I am so glad that I wasn’t around for much of the sketchy scenes I have heard, only barely did I brush with the darkest elements. I bless the Village Voice for putting out there such an important story regarding the distribution networks of nitrous oxide. That’s all in the past and now we have the future in store. No more sitting at your PINE account, accessing your phish.net digest, wondering what on earth Mr. Charlie Dirksen might uncover next. The HPB was truly a godsend in those days to me, alas I felt proud to be a newbie, years went by when I said, where was I in ’89 or ’92 aside from simply being closed off. Once the world opens up, its truly revelatory. The overarching feeling of unity, harmony, and togetherness spreads like wildfire throughout a venue, don’t you all agree?

    From an analytical point of view, check out the set list from 12/30/95 (I was there, as was Rav Shmuel. I didn’t know him then. A few years later I went to hear him play downstairs at the Wetlands):

    Prince Caspian, Also Sprach Zarathustra > Suzy Greenberg, David Bowie, Simple, It’s Ice -> Kung -> It’s Ice, The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday > Avenu Malkenu > The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday, The Divided Sky, Sample in a Jar

    Set 2: Ya Mar[1], Free, Harry Hood > AC/DC Bag, Lifeboy, Scent of a Mule, Cavern, Run Like an Antelope

    Encore: A Day in the Life

    This is back in the day!
    Avinu Malkeinu!
    Also Sprach Zarathustra! (did that remind you, the first time you heard it, of the classic Electric Company segment with the tumbling avalanche set to this music?

    And just 15 years later, they are not playing Avinu Malkeinu yet there are no shortage of Jews in the crowd…we get an Also Sprach Zarathustra which if you think of it deeper is all about 2001 but it’s really ten years later as it’s still 2010…well, it’s about to be ten years later…and 2011 will be just ten years after the real deal 2001 when real changes were a’ comin’. First with some NYC MTA subway changes, but then with a lightening bolt around 8:10pm between the twin towers on 9/10/01 in the evening, just before entering the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, me saying, “how ominous.”

    Times they have a’changed drastically since then.
    I am a mama and didn’t see much of Phish in the 2000’s. Mama-ing is busy but I am being very much drawn back to Phish, as they have it so together 100% as a band.

    I always say folks who come to shows are thinking people. I’m not quite sure if this is always the case, but clearly people there know the good stuff when they see it.

    15 years past their pinnacle?
    Nah, I say that Trey, Paige, Mike & Fish are at the top of their game. Isn’t that what it’s all about before you hit 50?

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