The Mockingbird Foundation
I: Bouncin’, Gumbo, Runaway Jim, The Wedge, Alumni Blues, Waste, Suzy
Greenberg, Sample, My Friend My Friend > Guyute (54:24)
II: Makisupa*, Sand, Magilla > Tweezer, Julius, CTB**, Axilla II, Chalkdust,
Free***, Faht****> Catapult > Tweezer Reprise (48:04)
Encore: Poor Heart#, Golgi (6:06)

  • – "Rise up in the morning time I smoke a little herb. Rise up in the

evening time, I’m searching for the word."

  • – with Wilson tease
    • – End of Session version.
      • – Last played 12/2/95, 342 shows. (Courtesy of ZZYZX’s Phish Stats)
  1. – A cappella

Bouncin opened the show rather lacklusterly, followed by Gumbo. Jimmy
Buffett’s brilliant reading of the song found it revealing its true
Caribbean roots. As hilarious as the lyrics are, they’re even funnier coming
from Buffett’s mouth. Gordon Stone’s uplifting rendition of Runaway Jim was
next. While there was no real jam to speak of here, this tight version
brings out all the beautiful melodies that this song contains. One of the
best jams of the night came next courtesy of Amfibian. Tom Marshall and
company’s gentle version of The Wedge featured an extra verse which
preceded
an epic journey off into space. Working around a simple bass line, Marshall
and his band mates filled the air with odd sounds and effects leaving the
original chord progression behind. A rare Alumni Blues followed which
got a
huge roar from the crowd. This stripped down version lacked the pent-up
aggression of the original and dragged on a little too long. Waste
showcased Dave Matthews performing a song that may be best suited for him as
his truly beautiful voice hit all the right notes. Son Seals unleashed a
fury of guitar licks on Suzy Greenberg with a brilliant climactic
solo that
was bursting with energy. Once I heard the opening chords to Sample I made a
bee-line for the bathroom. My friend told me I didn’t miss anything. To end
the first set the Vermont Youth Orchestra proved that Trey has a future as a
serious composer with Guyute and My Friend, My Friend. This
version allowed
the intricacies of the arrangements to truly shine. All in all, a short
first set that had a few hot moments, but lacked in overall energy.
During the set break I ran into an old friend who said he heard from someone
who knows Chris Kuroda that someone "really famous" would come out during
the second set. Sometimes I wonder who starts these rumors.
The Wailers opened the second set with a tight Makisupa. With a
slight
alteration in the bass line the song took on a whole new life. The ending
featured a fun freestyle rap that helped the song lead into Sand. The
Tom
Tom Club’s version brought out many of the dance elements with only a slight
hint of the song’s original melodies of the song. More freestyling
ensued, adding a true reggae/dub feel to the tune. Michael Ray and the
Cosmic
Krewe’s clever blending of Tweezer and Magilla showcased how
these two songs
may actually be long-lost cousins. Merl Saunders’ funky interpretation of
Julius was free of vocals until the end where they burst into the
memorable
chorus. Project Logic and John Scofield kept the funk going during Cars
Trucks Buses that found Logic and the legendary guitarist trading licks
back
and forth from turntable to guitar. Midway through, however, the tune took a
left turn with sampled drum beats and sound effects complete with a Wilson
chant. Axilla (part II) clearly benefited from the Preston School of
Industry’s low-fi approach, but The Villains’ rendition of Chalkdust
made my
eardrums bleed (some may consider that a good thing). The lead singer’s
annoying "bow-ba-BOOOW"s got old real quick and I’m almost positive I heard
someone in the band exclaim, "Stop that!" near the end of the song.
Things
got even more peculiar during Free. This version lacks any
resemblance to
the Free we all know except for the drawn out "Freeeee" sung in the
middle.
The Boredoms make music that actually sounds like outer-space. From the
ambient soundscapes of the Boredoms came the true highlight of the night.
Lake Trout’s performance of the final leg of "Picture of Nectar" begs to be
heard by all true fans of Phish. Taking Fishman’s underappreciated
Faht and
blending it with drum-n-bass rhythms, morphing into the weird and
wonderful Catapult (and finally exploding (and I mean exploding) into
a triumphant
Tweezer Reprise the boys from Lake Trout find something in Phish’s
music
that unfortunately no one else on these discs find, maybe not even Phish. A
truly epic performance of the highest caliber. Knowing I had just heard the
jam of the night, the encore turned to be nothing more than fluff filler: a
disappointment. The Stanford Marching Band’s rendition of Golgi
Apparatus
and FRED’s Poor Heart can only be described in one word: cute.
Overall I’d give the show a 7.5 or a B. The highlights are a stellar
Wedge,
a fun Makisupa and the legendary finale of the second set. If
anything, get
this for the Faht > Catapult > Tweezer Reprise. From what I hear
there
should be some good quality copies of this show going around. Check out
etree.