From markah@umich.edu Sat Sep 12 23:35:40 1998
Date: Sat, 20 Jun 1998 03:53:43 -0400 (EDT)
From: Mark Hutchison 
To: dan@archive.phish.net
Subject: A Look Back at 8/26/93 Portland

I: JIM!, Guelah, REBA!!, Fee, Melt!!!!, Esther, Ice, Hood, Golgi

The Jim that opens is a night, tight Jim, one of the truly great short Jims.

The REBA is really great as it contains that quality of true *insanity* only
consistantly present through this entire month (Aug 93).  It's been
discussed to death, but I really feel that I cannot stress the importance of
the end of the 1993 Summer tour enough.  Every single set from 8-2 to 8-28
has something of "must have" status, if for no other reason then because of
the jamming style that Phish employed during that time - jamming exemplified
by the 8.13 Murat Gin (and Ya Mar, and Mike's...), this 8.26 Melt, the 8.14
Tinley Antelope, all the Freebirds...etc.  The best word for this is
probabally what I used above - INSANITY.  Molly, anyone?

Heck, even the Fee (which is a song I can still dig) has a jam afterword
exemplifying this insanity.  It's quite inconsequential, really, when one
considers the Melt.

This Melt occurs a mere six days after the fabled 8.20 Red Rocks show, where
they supposedly "figured SOAMelt out."  That version is definately worth
noting, but if they figured it out on the 20th, then they destroyed it on
the 26th.  I have no reservations about putting this levels above the
8.20.93 RR Melt.  It is fast, furious, and *tight* (something that, sorry,
'97 Phish really isn't.)  Maybe "schizophrenic" is a good word todescribe
the jamming here and in this month.  At one point during the ending of this
Melt, they go through 4 or 5 full modulations (a modulation is where the key
of the song shifts up - basically they play the same thing a little bit
higher on the instruments).  While they are jamming on the syncopated lick
that provides the background to the jam (1, 2, ...(3) AND (4) AND) Trey
leads ANOTHER modulation, soling far too quickly and far too high for any
rational human to conceive without being reduced to useless grey matter.
Then when I suppose they realize this cannot go on, they modulate back down
with the precision of a firing piston, all the while maintaining all the
energy you'd expect to close a late 8.93 Melt.  Whoo wee!

The second set, is no slouch, either.

II: Also Sprach, Bowieee!!, Lifeboy, Rift, Jesus Left Chicago, Lizards, Mice
& Bats w/ Baby Gramps, Chalkdust 

E: Freebird

The Bowie is super as you think it should be, things getting so
out-of-control by the end that they litterally cannot keep up with
themselves for the first couple of tries at the ending lick.  Trey and Page
have some nice vocal interplay/ad lib. during Lifeboy, but the Jesus truly
smokes.  I'm not certain if it is Baby Gramps or someone else singing at one
point, or if it's Page's voice that just gets really raspy on "You might not
see him in person..." but it really adds a kind of smokey-lounge, blues
legend feel to it.  Then the Chalkdust, which I can usually live without,
except for what month this Chalkdust was played in.  What do you think an
8/93 Billy Breathes would have sounded like?  No...wait...don't think about
that....