Live Phish Vol. 1: 12/14/95, Broome County Arena, Binghamton, New York

One of the finest shows of '95. Highlights include Suzie..., Foam, Makisupa..., SOAM, Tela, Frankenstein, The Curtain > Catapult > Tweezer, Haley's Comet > NICU > Slave..., Bold As Love. The sound quality is superb as well as is the packaging.This is my #2 pick of the six Live Phish volumes.

The first Live Phish release is a gem from 1995. As of this review, it is the only Live Phish release to fit onto two discs. Looking at the setlist alone, one can tell that it's a stellar show. The Halley's Comet > NICU > Slave to the Traffic Light is phenominal. The Tweezer > Timber > Tweezer > Keyboard Army is excellent as well. This release is packed with songs that have become concert rarities like Tela, The Curtain, Horn and the aforementioned Keyboard Army. The version of Taste played at this show predates the studio version and the difference is huge. This was back when Taste was called The Fog That Surrounds.While the song choices are excellent, the sound is a bit lacking. As opposed to using the 32 track recordings used to create A Live One or Slip Stick and Pass, a matrix recording was used (soundboard mixed with an audience microphone). While this method captures the crowd noise better, it does hurt the clarity of the sound coming from the band. Overall, the sound is very good and better than most of the bootlegs you'll find being traded around. I would have to say that this release is definately worth the money.Finally, the packaging. The discs come in a folded sleeve that (kind of) fits into a cardboard box. The sleves are meant to be put into a book. While this is fine for the rabid collector, I think it's no good for the average Joe, who won't want to shell out more money so that (s)he can put the sleeves in a book.

I'm an avid Phish fan, but I'm not one of those people that thinks my favorite band can do no wrong. I've seen them play bad shows and I've seen them play shows that made me forget other music even exists. I've listened to hundreds of shows on tape, and here's my humble assesment of this show.LIVE PHISH 01 is a wonderful way to start the long awaited series of live Phish concerts. Set 1: Page McConnell is all over the place right out of the gate. His solos in "Suzy" absolutely rock, I haven't heard page go off like that on "Suzy" in a long time, he follows with some rocket-fueled organ on "Llama" then on a smoother plane he absolutely tears "Foam" up. This is probably the best version of "Foam" I've ever heard. Set I also includes "Makisupa," "SOAM," "Tela" an earlier arrangement of "Taste" and closes with "Frankenstein" (yes, the Edgar Winter song.) A pretty rocking first set in my opinion.Set II: As usual in Phishdom, the second set is where things get out of hand (in a good way of course.) "The Curtain" opens things up and is always a pleasure to hear. The "Tweezer > Timber > Tweezer" section is untouchable, especially after the return to "Tweezer." This is Trey Anastasio's guitar on fire folks; Trey is having a severely good night here. For people that like to hear Trey wail, might I suggest coming here for that :) The rare "Keyboard Army" makes an appearance (interesting but not earth-shaking.) "Halley's Comet" comes next to the now blown minds of those in attendance (this is the best "Halley's Comet" I've ever heard...not to mention the fastest!) The set is almost over now but "Halley's" segues into "NICU," which eventually melts into a sparse spacey jam providing some much needed breathing room after some heavy jamming before flowing into show closer, "Slave to the Traffic Light." A good cover, Hendrix's "Bold as Love" is the encore.This show is on from the first note. I'm hurling tons of superlatives at this show, and its probably only the 3rd best in the LIVE PHISH series so far (Fukuoka, Japan & Worcester, MA are top two so far in my book.)All in all, this is an amazing show of Phish doing what they do best!

With Phish calling it quits last year, we make do with the everlasting legacy of the (so far) 20 "Live" recordings (there are of course many more live releases from Phish, both official ones and from the band's website).On "Live 01" (2 CDs, 19 tracks, 145 min.), Set 1 starts off with an immediately urgent Suzy Greenberg, and the high energy continues on Llama. The highlights of Set 1, though, come from Foam and Split Open, both of which bookend a new song Makisupa Policeman, a delightful light-reggae take-off. Set 2, as is often the case, outshines Set 1. The Curtain is as prog-rock as Phish will ever get (seriously, didn't it make you think you were listening to Yes?). Tweezer>Timber>Tweezer is awseome, but things get better yet with Hailey's Comet>NICU, showcasing the band free-flowing jamming. And isn't Slave to the Traffic Light a curious but daring way to close the set? A cover of Jimi Hendrix' Bold as Love is the encore. Phish is well known for doing covers, but this one is a bit tame for my taste.That said, Live 1, recorded at the end of their (almost year-long) 1995 tour shows a band that's playing tight and with great confidence. A nice release to kick of the "Live" series. For other great "Live" releases, check out Live 18 and 20, two of my very favorites.

Le jam band américain Phish est définitivement un groupe de scène. Sa pop-rock aux influences diverses (jazz, reggae, prog, country...) se prête volontiers à des improvisations instrumentales qui surgissent au milieu des titres de leur répertoire, ce qui fait qu'à chaque concert, les morceaux ne sont jamais tout à fait les mêmes. Dans le passé, Grateful Dead agissait de la sorte. Les musiciens de ce groupe sont multi instrumentistes , ils s'entendent parfaitement jusqu'à s'échanger les instrument tout en jouant ! Bon, certaines phases sont répétitives et frisent le remplissage mais l'ensemble est assez captivant, cet enregistrement est un concert intégral joué à New-York le 14 décembre 1995, il est le numéro 1 d'une série (livePhish) ne comptant pas moins de 30 doubles voir triples volumes, je ne connais pas de formation ayant mis dans le commerce autant d'album live ! Le groupe n'hésitent pas à insérer des reprises parmi ses compositions, ici nous avons droit à « Bold as love » de J. hendrix exécuté très librement et « Frankenstein » d'Edgar Winter. ( 2CD / 19 titres / 2h41mn ).