My first Phish show, how could I forget! Actually, pretty damn easily. I was 18 years old and a new fan of Phish at this show. I certainly had all their albums by the time I saw this show, but had little idea of the world that was Phish. Possum, Gamehange, vacuum cleaners, trampolines, ah...no...Oh wait, maybe that's what that vacuum dealio was with the Lawn Boy album. This was St. Louis people! Phish was known by a handful of high school and college students. Certainly didn't have any XLII's of Phish.

The venue was great, the smallest I would ever see them at, but probably indicative of where they were playing away from the East coast. I was a seasoned Dead Head, I had already been to let's see...one show, yeah, so you know I was pretty much Captain Trips himself. Looking at this setlist, I was probably befuddled by many songs. Ummm, KUNG, holy shit! Don't remember that. Of course, smoking a joint was a big deal back then. Shit lasted for four hours, had to visine up, get the munchies ready and everything! Of course I knew all the rift stuff, that was in my Eddie Bauer Ford Explorer in the parking lot. Buried Alive, hope I was there for that, one of my favs still, as long as Trey could handle it. Wait, 1993, oh he could handle it. Probably burnt his hands off since they went right into to Poor Heart > Maze. Sick!

I do remember something about Roger proposing and what not, but didn't know shit about AC/DC Bag. Spooky Jam, Big Ball Jam, etc...It was all phenomenal stuff for a first show. This is the setlist you tried to will them to play at the Festivals in the late 90's, but it never happens, cause it's such a different time for Phish. This is Phish at a specific benchmark. They have toured and paid their dues to have a legitimate touring staff, they have good equipment, they know what they're doing, but they really have no idea of what they will become. That's what was great about the band at this time and place and it came through in the show.

It was fresh and new, and never all encompassing, as it would get later on. I remember Trey going off about Dreams and a Dream pile, this was weird, but so was Phish. I was used to an old guy in an old band from the 60's gently rocking back and forth barely mustering the words to China Cat Sunflower, and here was Phish jumping on trampolines, singing barber shop, and ripping forth an energy I had thought only I felt. This was it, and the drummer sang that funny song about diagonal in my bed. What a memory!!

This is a great show, and I'm glad it's gotten the box-set treatment (St. Louis '93.) The Stash -> Kung -> Stash, Kung > The Horse is a superlative segment, with plenty of goofy improvisation and some nontraditional aspects (e.g., I don't think I had ever heard an acoustic Kung before!) In fact, it's pretty much spellbinding: just really focuses your mind. Roger's Proposal is sweet, and I hope Rog and Jen are still happily married. Tweezer in the second set is not as long as some of the behemoth Tweezers of '94 or '95 (or later), but it could've become one if it hadn't petered away into silence at the end. It was very enjoyable, though. (Note: anything from this era of Phishtory is "very enjoyable," because the band is precise and honed in on something that can possibly only be described as it.) YEM -> Spooky -> YEM is great, though the vocal jam is pretty long--but good, but good! Harpua is a lot of fun. One welcome thing about the box-set soundboard recording is that Mike is very present in the mix.

Continuing an amazing Midwest swing, their first show ever at the American Theatre, and 51st of the tour, is crazy good. Not technically the best played show, but the song selection just puts it over the top. What did St. Louis do to deserve this?

Pretty standard Buried alive to open up leads right into a solid Poor Heart. Maze rocks as usual as the boys start to heat up, maybe a few spots at the end. Bouncing was standard. Ice was good, maybe a silent jam from Trey in the middle or some other antics? Then the craziness starts with a pretty good Stash leading into KUNG! Not sure why they pulled this out, but the stage banter is priceless. And they eventually get back to Stash, but Fish won't let it go, so they basically do another Kung while Trey switches over for the Horse. The Horse itself was fine and Silent was a little fast, but good. Page still had the new chime type setting on for a decent Divided Sky. A few off parts from Mike make it average, but the jam at the end is great. IDK brings Fish out for a washboard solo and they almost do a full on vocal jam again during the Doug part. Golgi was much tighter this time after they blew the Iowa performance. Great closer to a good first set.

Do we have a wedding proposal on stage at a Phish show? Yep, a special moment with friends before a monster second set. AC/DC is a little rusty, but eventually rocks the opener spot for the actual Roger. A super fast My Sweet One continues the tailor made set list for their friends. Tweezer rocked and had a Walk Away type jam in it. Mound was well done for the most part. Then the Balls come out... And now here is where the fifth star is earned, as the back half of this set is ridiculously delightful! A solid YEM, with Trey yelling BOY, MAN, GOD, SHIT! With a full on Spooky jam with Page, into the vocal jam, into Harpua? Wow, great story as usual, the song itself was sloppy, but Trey's descriptions are just too funny. And if all that wasn't enough, you get a good solid Jim closer to all this madness. Thanks Roger!

This show just keeps giving with a fun encore segment with Fish doing a "lighter" Lengthwise and then Mike slides into a Contact. Tweeprise was the only thing expected at this point and wraps up a great night in St. Louis.

I think the personal nature of the second set really pushed this show emotionally to new heights. Again not the best technically played show, but a must hear.

Amazing box set, in need of a review:
Buried Alive is the opener (and a choice one at that). No time wasted in getting the energy levels up!

Poor Heart maintains the manic pace and is replete with some welcome shouts of Cactus! from Trey.

Maze makes an appearance in the third slot and continues the frenetic energy of the show. This is an excellent version, plenty of pace and Page’s solo is energetic and well done. Trey is full of vinegar as he takes control and guides us to a clean and fiery conclusion. Water break!

Bouncin’ fits here very well. It’s a relaxing selection after that opening.

It’s Ice is very well played, but is not the best version (high standards in the early 90s) as the middle jam section is nothing too groundbreaking. Still a great setlist call and plenty of fun!

Stash -> Kung -> Stash -> Kung is as good as it seems on paper! An deeply exploratory Stash (with fine composed work) is given the full treatment and appears destined to return to song form, but the band has other ideas. A cool backing jam leads to the Fishman led Kung chant! They then make a full return to the Stash conclusion - with Kung vocals included! Trey makes for an acoustic guitar and they perform a Kung reprise jam. This is an absolutely awesome suite of music and you don’t get to hear much acoustic improv like this.

The Horse>Silent is a nice follow up and played well.

Divided Sky is up next and is very well done. Fans of the song will be pleased, even if it’s not in the upper echelon. It’s still crisp and triumphant and is nicely placed in the set.

I Didn’t Know gives us some hijinks.

Golgi Apparatus closes the set in adequate fashion. Pretty nice version, with some energetic set closing banter from Trey.

Overall, this is an excellent first set. Jamming highlights a plenty in Maze & Stash madness along with plenty of well executed and great songs like Divided Sky & It’s Ice. If you wanted a microcosm of the tightness and exploration that ’93 has to offer, this is a fine set.

Set II kicks off with an unbelievable little piece of audio history in the form of an on-stage wedding proposal. What an amazing insight and just a magical moment from a band on the ascendency.

Trey then initiated Bag in honor of the newly engaged. This is a very crisp version. Pretty high speed by today’s (and latter years of 90’s) standards. Features a fiery solo from Trey.

My Sweet One is second up, and is short but sweet before they kick into Tweezer!

The Tweezer is not annotated on the setlist, nor is it particularly long, but it bears the hallmarks of the early 90s Tweezers in the form of a clean opening section (although there’s a stumble before the jam, where Trey gets lost momentarily). They kick into a dark Tweeprise-esque jam to start before sliding into a more chaotic, chromatic, note filled early 90s Tweezer jam. It reaches a couple nice climaxes without going anywhere too crazy before reaching the early 90s slow breakdown ending to Tweezer. It’s certainly a nice addition to a solid set.

Resolving into Mound is quite pleasant to my ears and seems to jive with the breakdown ending of the Tweezer. This is a strong version of the tune.

Big Ball Jam is up next and is what you’d expect (these don’t always come through on tape). It’s a decent enough musical interlude to me.

YEM is the anchor of the set and what a version! Opening arpeggios are delightful, the spacey section is serene and magnificent & the drop in out of the space is sublime. Mike takes an inspired bass solo around 4:30 or so and it really cranks through the SBD! A screaming Trey solo gives way to a screaming lyric section (Trey shouting versus trying to be too funky). The music though remains appropriately funky and Trey dials back the shouting. Mike is laying down some fat lines, Fish and Page are working quite well in tandem here as well. The organ and bass take over at 9:15 or so, with Fishman remaining insatiable with his fills. There’s some good start stop stuff around 10:30 before Trey jumps in with some nice rhythm guitar. At 11 minutes it’s a Fishman solo with the occasional bas bomb and an eerie Trey drone at 12 or so. Trey then plays some quiet funky/jazzy solos over a very quiet jam and boy is it good. Well they slide right into Spooky with ease and it’s sublime! Inspired stuff here and it fits like a glove. The jam gets cooking right back into YEM and we are off. Trey throwing out some inspired and climbing leads with Page coloring the organ overtop. Good peaks and Trey teases the spooky melody as they break down the jam into Bass and Drums. Mike proceeds to eviscerate his instrument, with a sly spooky quote as well. There’s some awesome and heavy interplay between the percussion and band here as well before the vocal jam arrives. It’s a fun enough conclusion to an inspired version!

Follow that up with Harpua! Yes please! Great narration and good song. Nice treat. Early 90s Phish magic.

Runaway Jim gives us a final dog song to wrap this set up with a bow. This version has a soaring solo from Big Red and acts the part of set closer with aplomb. Most excellent. I’ll throw out the term “extra mustard” here, since I don’t use it often.

The encore is a triple threat of Lengthwise Contact & Tweezer Reprise. Not many better ways to end a show.

Overall, another excellent set. Good jamming throughout (type I mostly, but still great). Loved the opening Bag, the Tweezer Mound combo and of course the YEM. The Harpua and Jim were both nice cherries-on-top!

Classic show. Worthy of praise and a great SBD release.

I felt like I was going to fall face-first from the balcony onto the front of the stage. During Roger's proposal, Mike rolled around the front of the stage on his back while taking photos of the happy couple...I think a few band members were taking snappies. I remember the Harpua being very involved...and he "walked on DOWN THE HALL!"
shoot...I was only 20 at the time. Surprised I didn't fall!

11/09/12 - This show was replayed in thePhish room on Turntable.FM

A lot of fun in this show, teases all over the place and you can tell the band is thoroughly enjoying themselves. Always love the Buried Alive openers, really start things off right and gets the crowd ready for some action. The entire segement of Stash through Silent is phenomenal and must be listened to. Certainly the most unique Horse I have ever heard, with an improvised intro and a Hood tease in the middle.

Unexpected awesome moments in Bag, with more obvious highlights in Tweezer and YEM -> Spooky -> YEM. The Harpua > Jim to close it out was a nice touch. The encore was also a very special moment and everything flowed together very nicely.

This recording has been remastered, download it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?nsvhazk36n819

This was my first Phish show. I can remember lining up on the street outside and anxiously waiting to get inside. We had balcony seats which were good but any seat would be good in this little theater, seating capacity under 2,500.

From what I remember this was a very fun show and also strange. The Stash > Kung > Stash > Kung was pretty crazy. The Divided Sky was great and a Golgi to close set one.

The second set was good with a short Tweezer and also YEM > Spooky Jam > YEM. Harpua was cool and a good story by Trey describing dreams "dreams bubbling up and the dream mound, a mountain of dreams." This was the first time I had ever heard Harpua. Harpua the mean old bull dog.

E: Lengthwise > Contact > Tweezer Reprise

this would set the table for seeing more shows for years to come

The St. Louis '93 box set contains some truly sensational Phish, captured right in the midst of their metamorphosis from great to legendary. The spring component of the two-show collection might not be as widely beloved as the summer half (it's tough to compete with August '93...), but there are certainly some heavy hitting moments from this performance that make it stand out among the shows played to date. Memorable for many reasons, 4/14/93 belongs on the listening list of fans looking to scratch any deeper than surface-level.

Set 1's Buried Alive opener and ripping Divided Sky inject some great energy into the first half of the show, but the real slugger here is the Stash->Kung->Stash, Kung>Horse>Silent run. The slip from Stash proper jam into a Dave's Energy Guide-laden Kung break distinguishes this Stash as one of the more tense iterations up to this point, and the descent back into the closing of the root tune (plus Trey's continued Kung quotes) delivers a nasty payoff. Not quite finished with the poetic, music-less verse, the band re-performs Kung piecewise while Trey noodles on the acoustic guitar, creating an extended intro into one of my favorite compositions, The Horse>Silent in the Morning. Throw in a Harry Hood tease and short Pinball Wizard jam, and you get an especially memorable lead-in to what is usually a pretty cookie-cutter song.

Set 2 starts out with a sweet engagement between the eponymous Roger of Gamehenge fame and his fiance, a tender and memorable moment that sets off a smokin' AC/DC Bag that contains a couple fun teases in Trey's solo. The second-set Tweezer jam begins with a developing movement around the A minor scale, but soon recedes back into a bit more of an amorphous groove-based territory. Doesn't go quite as deep as usual, but we definitely get some nice mileage out of this one. The Spooky YEM beast definitely takes the ribbon for the set: the grooving is funky and relentless, with clean transitions in and out of the Dusty Springfield tune and a longer-than-typical vocal jam that teases the Jeopardy! theme quite nicely. The show wraps up with a three-song encore that covers all the bases and leaves the stage smoldering, ready to be re-visited four months later....