this is one of the best shows of the summer '95 tour, which has some real serious winners on it. the first set is very strong with a great makisupa>llama opener and a solid yem later in the set. the second set maze opener burns, and uncle penn flies following fee. after all that, comes, along with the timber>bowie>johny b>bowie later in the summer, one of the best jam of the summer. this mike's groove is epic. it is my all time favorite mikes>hydrogen>weekapaugh. trey really climbs high reaching the peak in mike's song, and then after diving down, instead of going straight into hydrogen, they explore several beautiful spacey realms. after hydrogen, they blaze through weekapaugh. like the mike's song, after really rocking this one, they dive down to explore the spacier realms again. after taking a long walk through weekapaugh, they finally storm this one to a close. the amazing graze/sample closer is good enough after that beastly mike's groove. nice aditlo break out encore.

This is a really solid show with a great setlist and a nice flow. The jam in Ice is nice, the YEM vocal jam -> HYHU is an awesome little anomaly, and Maze is it's usual raging self, but the highlight of the show is undoubtedly the Mike's Groove. The Mike's Song in particular is just stellar. The first half of the jam is pretty straight-forward, but the second half contains a melt of epic proportions. I am not normally one to use the word "epic", but if there was ever a jam it applies to, it would be the melt in the second half of this Mike's Song. I am also not one to draw musical stylistic comparisons between the Grateful Dead and Phish, but the melt in this Mike's Song is strikingly similar to the melt in Playing In The Band from 7.29.88 Laguna Seca Raceway. That Playin' is one of my favorite late 80's Dead jams and I was giddy as a schoolboy when Phish got to a similar place in this jam. Have any members of Phish heard this under the radar jam Dead jam? Probably not, I just enjoy marveling at the coincidence.

if you haven't heard either these jams, I woud highly recommend seeking them out, they're both mind blowing.

(Published in the second edition of The Phish Companion...)

My weekend was wedged nicely between a milk carton on the plane from Burlington that informed me that I could feel good about Hood, and hearing “Bouncing” on a Denver radio station on the way to the airport to fly home. I had a free flight (Frequent Flyer miles), and Phish was playing two nights at Red Rocks.
It was a clear day, and warm, despite the snow that had recently fallen in the mountains. I had stopped for lunch at a burrito place in Lakewood before driving up to the amphitheater, but I hadn't thought to pick up bottled water or anything for the show. It was a hot, dry wait in the stairway leading from the lower parking lot during soundcheck. A couple of women from California offered me sections of the oranges they had brought, and I accepted them gratefully. Eventually the gates opened and we flooded in.
The amphitheater at Red Rocks is fascinating. The seats lie between two rock walls whose red sandstone beds slope towards the stage at about the same angle as the rows of seats, which are really more like giant concrete steps. At the top of the amphitheater, the rock walls end abruptly, and the ground drops into a valley that separates the amphitheater from the mountainside. At the bottom of the amphitheater, the stage sits in front of another wall of rock, with buildings of red sandstone built on either side of the rock as if they are growing out of it. The layering in the sandstone behind the stage provided the only backdrop, which Chris Kuroda used to great advantage during the second set on Friday.
Friday's show began a little after 7:30 with a typically menacing “My Friend”. The “Divided Sky” that followed seemed particularly appropriate, looking back up the amphitheater to the blue sky framed by red walls of rock. After “Divided” ended, there was a pause as Page took a breath as if to mentally prepare, and began “Strange Design”. “Oh Kee Pah” immediately followed by a rocking “AC/DC Bag” picked up the energy again.
The next two songs were new, introduced by Trey (who thanked us for listening to brand-new stuff) as “Theme from the Bottom” and “Taste”. Since I hadn't heard the first couple shows of the tour, this was my first exposure to these songs, and I liked them both a lot. The lyrics were catchy in places, but they weren't the focus of the songs. They also didn't have the extremely complex arrangements of songs like “Rift” or the how-fast-can-they-play adrenaline rush of “Llama”. I was convinced “Theme from the Bottom” is a love song from a catfish to a loon. “Sparkle” was followed by a typically mind-blowing “Antelope” (this is the song I think is most likely to set off an earthquake), which ended the set.
I think it was during set break that I first noticed a number of people on the cliffs surrounding the amphitheater, despite the warning signs everywhere to stay off the rocks. From my seat beside the tapers’ section, though, I had no idea that security was clashing with people trying to sneak in the venue just behind the amphitheater.
The moon, stars, and Denver city lights were visible by the time the second set started. “Split Open and Melt” started the set off with the energy level that ended the first set. The jam had an angular feel to it that reminded me of the 12/1/94 (Salem, OR) version. I didn't immediately recognize the “Wedge” that followed. The intro was different yet again from the 1993 Red Rocks “Wedge”. A great song to hear so close to the Great Divide — it stayed in my head most of the next day. “Scent of a Mule” was the only Hoist offering of the evening. Page's solo included some spontaneous accompaniment by Trey and Mike that added a lot. “Cavern” rocked us next, followed by a “David Bowie” that I enjoyed, but I don't remember the details. Roadies brought out four stools and four acoustic guitars for the “Acoustic Army” that came next. The crowd was nearly silent except for cheering wildly at the false endings. They remained quiet for the “Sweet Adeline”. A beautiful “Slave to the Traffic Light” ended the set. The “Squirming Coil” encore was marred only by one fan who decide to dance onto the stage, but was quickly whisked away by security. I don't usually like Page's solo as the ending of a show (I enjoy Page's playing in the context of the whole group much better than any piano solo alone), but I enjoyed this one quite a bit (this was the second time I listened to Page soloing as a spontaneous composition, and I appreciated the solo much more as a result).

PHISH, SATURDAY 06/10/1995
RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATRE
Morrison, CO
Soundcheck: Cry Baby Cry

SET 1:

Makisupa Policeman: Standard. Pretty cool segue into Llama. ->

Llama: Standard.

Prince Caspian: Standard. >

It's Ice: Standard. >

Free: Standard. >

Rift: Smokes!

You Enjoy Myself: Red hot version! It’s pretty straightforward, but it really rages! Would recommend! ->

Hold Your Head Up[1] > Lonesome Cowboy Bill > Hold Your Head Up:

Suzy Greenberg: Standard.

SET 2:

Maze: Coming out guns a blazin!

Fee[2] Standard. Odd set placement >

Uncle Pen: Standard. Odd set placement.

Mike's Song: At 9:19 this one gets quite dissonant. From here and through the next two and a half minutes, things get downright weird and creepy. Uncomfortable. By the 12:15 mark they have taken us to deep, deep outer space. Very sparse and ambient in here with some sinister effects. In the late 15’s they are finally bringing us out of the ether and into a rather disjointed, heavy/chunky section. By 18:30 this is back to sounding like a Mike’s Song, really rocking hard! Easy all timer and highly recommended. >

I Am Hydrogen: Standard. >

Weekapaug Groove: This version traverses a ton of conversations and ideas. Would recommend!

Amazing Grace: Standard.

Sample in a Jar: Standard.

ENCORE:

A Day in the Life[3] Standard

Summary: Great show! Some heavy hitters throwing there weight around at this one. 4.2/5

Replay Value: You Enjoy Myself, Mike’s Song, Weekapaug Groove

[1] Vocal jam.
[2] Trey sang verses through megaphone.
[3] Phish debut.

This show marked the first Phish performance of A Day in the Life. YEM segued into a HYHU vocal jam. Page teased Fanfare for the Common Man several times before Lonesome Cowboy Bill. Trey sang the verses of Fee through a megaphone.
JAM CHART VERSIONS
Mike's Song, Weekapaug Groove
TEASES
Fanfare for the Common Man tease

Great doning Makisupa opener which bleeds excellently into a rockin' Llama. What a killer way to start of the show. The short-form early Caspian is an interesting listen. Seems like the original purpose of the song was to serve a similar function as Sparkle: a short sweet song that the audience can have fun singing along to in between the jams. The following It's Ice features a pretty sweet, extended underwater jam with wonderful piano work and dynamic swelling from the rest of the band. As much as I love the funkier jam section of Free we all now and love today, it is cool to go listen to the '95 wall-of-sound style jams they used to work in this one. Killer YEM (Red Rocks seems to do that...) with a cool HYHU VJ segue into Lonesome Cowboy Bill. Set II Mike's Groove is really what it's all about though. The second Mike's jam brushes up against Simple for a minute before things turn to go deeper for what is probably the most unique Mike's Song since 12/30/93. The band works their way from some nice '94/'95 style exploration right into Hydrogen and then deliver a biting Weekapaug that really does well to highlight each of the band members' skills. '95 is a great year for Mike's Groove, and this is just the start. Fun to hear the audience reaction as they realize A Day in the Life is in the encore slot.