Category: Archive

“Phish began their 1993 tour with new instrumentation, most notably the addition of Page’s baby grand piano. This added to the music’s subtlety and, coupled with the dynamic and experimental material on Phish’s latest studio album Rift, helped make every show a fresh sonic adventure. It was a potent time for the Phish Nation which was growing steadily as appreciation spread for the impressive levels of performance the band delivered nightly. New Jersey got its taste of this on May 3, 1993 at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

New Brunswick was 67th on the tour of 73 shows spanning February through May. The location was significant as Trey and Page have roots in New Jersey and this was only their second headline show in the state. The State Theatre is a historic movie and vaudeville venue opened in 1921 with a capacity of 1,800. 

Set I highlights included the Buried Alive opener with extended piano intro, a standout Weigh > Chalk Dust Torture, Colonel Forbin’s Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird/Vibration Of Life (during which, according to Trey’s narration, Paul administered memory-erasing gas) and remnants of Mockingbird reverberated into Possum. 

Set II blasted off with a non-stop succession that began with AC/DC Bag > The Curtain followed by a must-hear combination of Tweezer > Manteca > Tweezer. During Tweezer the band gave a nod to fellow New Jerseyan Carole King by weaving I Feel The Earth Move into the jam. Runaway Jim followed by Big Ball Jam, Love You and My Sweet One put the spotlight on Fish before the classic close of Amazing Grace and Highway To Hell.

The New Brunswick show featured the increasingly cohesive group interplay, creative set construction and wide-open improvisation that were hallmarks of this golden era.

Hurricane Sandy slammed into the East Coast creating what meteorologists called “Frankenstorm” as the hurricane combined forces with a Nor’easter. The result was devastating for coastal areas from the Southeast and Mid- Atlantic to New England and reached as far inland as the Appalachian Mountains and parts of the Midwest and Canada. Storm surge, high winds and power outages that lasted weeks after the storm contributed to loss of life and unprecedented property losses. The coasts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island were permanently redrawn as the Atlantic reclaimed some of America’s favorite beaches. 

Hailing from New Jersey, New York State and Massachusetts respectively, the members of Phish and have responded by donating this release from the archives to help support victims of Superstorm Sandy. Hurricane Sandy Relief was recorded by Paul Languedoc and mastered by Fred Kevorkian. All the vendors involved in this release donated their time for the cause.”