Phish kicked off Summer Tour 2010 this past weekend, so this week’s Stormy Mondays is the third in the Mike’s Song series. The two previous volumes have featured the Big Cypress Mike’s and the monster Demand > Mike’s from Binghamton in 1994. This one, however, is from the two night stand at The Palace Theater in Albany, New York in May of 1993.
These shows are famous for the amazingly chaotic YEM from the first night featuring ARU and the Dude of Life (though not Col. Bruce, as is often listed). But there was plenty of other great material, including a number of odd segues. From the second night, then, is Mike’s Song > an instrumental version of Ob La Di, Ob La Da > Rocky Top, complete with a Frankenstein jam in Mike’s and a sit in from the Sun Mountain Fiddler half way through The Beatles’ cover.
The encore from the first night was an oddly juxtaposed Cavern > Take the A Train > Cavern, and the second set opener from that show is one of my favorite transitions: Runaway Jim > My Friend, My Friend > Manteca > My Friend, My Friend. The move from Jim to MF MF is a early version of a true segue jam, with the band taking its time and easing its way into the second tune, and this was at a time when Trey used an acoustic guitar on a stand to play the intro. It’s a great, great moment from a pair of shows that found Phish looking back at its roots while looking forward to the jam fests that would follow in the next 18 months.
One Response
Col. Bruce most definitely DID play with them during that YEM… sure, he played the trombone, but he was onstage and in the mix. Crazy shows…