Fifteen Favorite Harry Hoods

#3) 1994-10-20 – Mahaffey Theatre – St. Petersburg, FL – There must be something in the water down in Florida that makes the band want to let Harry loose. Just three days before the famous A Live One version, the band unleashed this mammoth. In fact, scanning through the Almanac, one reviewer actually jokes that they think Phish mixed up their notes, because they picked the wrong Florida Harry Hood to include on the official release. If you’ve ever heard the Eric Clapton quote, “Playing a guitar solo is the art of falling down and landing on your feet,” well, here is the perfect example. Listen to what happens after Trey hits a brown note around the 10:30 minute mark.

#4) 1993-02-04 – Providence Performing Arts Center, Providence, RI
– There’s a bit of a theme here. Throughout ‘93, the best Hoods often had a common element, which is that Trey would create short melody lines or themes within the improvisation, which he’d then hammer and repeat throughout the jam, ultimately using them to build the tension and rocket into the high notes for the climax. This is a great example of that, screaming with energy.


#5) 1994-10-23 – Band Shell, University of Florida – Gainesville, FL
– This is the probably the most widely known Hood ever played (for good reason) as it was featured on the live release, A Live One. This Hood illustrates the “build up” for Harry Hood, which the song is so adored. Trey also makes some interesting use of feedback and distortion to build tension before releasing into his final ascent.

#6) 1994-07-16 – Summer Stage at Sugarbush – North Fayston, VT – Despite a tragic accident involving a cat and a comet, Phish delivered an extremely memorable hometown show at the ’94 summer tour closer in VT, amongst which the Harry Hood stood out as a clear highlight.

#7) 1995-12-30 – Madison Square Garden – New York, NY – The 12/30/95 Hood is a good stellar example from this period with Trey employing a Flanger effect in the chord section, providing a nice contrast to the crunchy distortion leading up to the Thank You Mr. Minor verse. The first minutes of the jam are clean and warm with the crowd driving the band by clapping perfectly in time and Page stepping out more than most Hood jams. Once Trey catches on to the repetitive melody around the 10:30 mark, it’s all over.

#8) 1993-03-31 – Roseland Theater – Portland, OR – Kicking it off with Mike teasing the Pink Panther Theme in the intro, and Trey summoning up the Simpsons, it’s clear that this ‘93 version is a treat from the get go.

#9) 1997-08-17 Great Went, Limestone, ME – This oft cited “best ever” Hood is an epic that gets its notoriety from the introduction of the glowstick war, which brought out one of the great crowd roars in Phish history, and in turn brought out the best in the band.

#10) 2000-06-22 – Amsouth Amphitheatre – Antioch, TN – This more modern Harry Hood came in the form of a Dog Faced Boy sandwich with the tail end of the jam bringing some of Nashville’s finest pickers onstage for a towering bluegrass-tinged version, including Sam Bush, Ronnie McCoury and Robbie McCoury.

#11) 1996-11-02 – Coral Sky Amphitheater – West Palm Beach , FL – The Coral Sky version is very popular with fans of the full build up from trickling improvisation to complete crescendo.

#12) 1995-07-01 – Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts – Mansfield, MA – The energy picks up early in this version and never lets up. This is just a really strong version from start to finish.

#13) 1992-04-18 Wilbur Field, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA – It’s not the tightest or most raging Hood out there, but the incorporation of the Linus & Lucy theme makes this Hood a classic.

#14) 2010-12-28 – DCU Center – Worcester, MA – By far the best Harry Hood in the 3.0 era. While the very end of the song lacks a real blast off, the funky staccato interplay in the middle of the song is breathtaking.

#15) 1998-12-31 – Madison Square Garden, New York, NY – This is a unique rendition in that the intro portion stands out for its improvisation. In fact, the end jam doesn’t even begin until over 13 minutes into the song. Also, notice the eerie delay effects around the 7 minute mark.

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18 Responses

  1. Um, does anyone know set 1 of 5/27/94?

    Someone dig out a quality version of that, and then check the list again!

  2. You just made my month. This is on par with Live Bait Vol.4 being released. Definitely no argument here over your #1. Many, many thanks!

  3. 12/11/95 is most underrated of all time. Trey loops his peak and then peaks over the peak. Shivers every time.

  4. No love for either of the 2.0 masterpieces from 7-25-03 and 7-31-03? 11-4-90 is a favorite earlier version too.

  5. The list reflects my feelings about it: While always a great selection, 1994 was the year of the Hood.

  6. just this very morning spun the set I ending version from Lyon 7/9/97, and it is very, very solid. nothing thematically out of the oridinary, but very cohesive, patient, and Trey is on point.

  7. 8/2/97 Gorge…Harry Hood Encore when Trey ask Chris to turn off the lights so we can groove under the natural outdoor vibe…guess you had to be there.

  8. TJBones

    that sounds a lot like the 7/5/97 Italy Hood where Trey asks him to “turn off the lights so we can see the mountains”, which is then proceeded by a great jam…but I still think musically the 7/5/97 Hood is better.

  9. I can’t unzip the file for some reason! I keep getting an error message, and I’ve tried multiple programs too. anybody else have this problem? I’d really like to snag this comp. maybe you can upload to mediafire for me? 🙂

  10. Good stuff…it’s been an enjoyable couple of days listening my way through Hoodstory. Thanks for posting!

    P.S. 12.31.96 and 12.11.99 are all kinds of good.

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