If I could time travel I would go back to August 3, 1991. The place would be Larrabee Farm in Auburn, Maine. It’s not like I haven’t been to Auburn before, I know the small city quite well. Magic happened on this date at this small farm, one that would be called historic and was a stepping stone for Phish’s famous festivals.
I was 8 when Trey Anastasio, Jon Fishman, Mike Gordon, and Page McConnell made their way to Auburn to perform a free show. Playing some of their now classics like Wilson, Tweezer, You Enjoy Myself, Harry Hood and Lawn Boy. I read about this show years ago and thought it was a Phish urban legend until the footage surfaced a few years back. For years I tried looking for it in the trading world, but there was nothing there. It was like the show only existed on paper or on a database of Phish shows.
Having experienced Phish at Lemonwheel in Limestone, Maine, and in Hershey in 2010, and seeing Trey and Mike on tour with Phil Lesh and Friends back in ’06 . I can only imagine how different a setting this show was. From the vintage way of life before modern technology brought us a show in a very intimate setting where there were no ticket scalpers, no online communities, no Ticketmaster, no text messages, emails, or any online marketing. Just a bunch of Phish fans enjoying the music by Jon, Mike, Page, and Trey – which is the way life should be.
If it wasn’t for Amy Skelton, I don’t think my music life would have ever transpired into what it has.
Set 1: Wilson > Foam, Runaway Jim, Guelah Papyrus, Llama, Fee, The Squirming Coil > Poor Heart > The Sloth, Divided Sky, Golgi Apparatus
Set 2: The Curtain > Reba > Chalk Dust Torture, Bouncing Around the Room > Tweezer > Esther > Cavern, I Didn’t Know, You Enjoy Myself [1], Rocky Top
Set 3: Stash, Ya Mar, Fluffhead > Lawn Boy > My Sweet One, The Lizards, Buried Alive [2] > Possum
Encore: Magilla, Self [3], Bitchin’ Again [4], Crimes of the Mind [5]
Set e2: Harry Hood
Set 1
Set 2