New To Circulation: Most Complete Recordings Of Phish Colorado 1988 Run Surface
By Scott Bernstein Feb 23, 2018 • 2:48 pm PST
In late July 1988 and early August 1988 the course of Phish history was changed with the band’s first run in Colorado. The Vermont-based quartet quickly gained an audience in the state and would return in 1990 and would play shows in Colorado each year that followed until 1998. While highlights of Phish’s initial visit to Colorado were released by the band as Colorado ’88 in 2006, there was still plenty of material from the run that hasn’t circulated among fans. Today, nearly 30 years later, four of those historic performances now circulate almost in full for the first time. Phish.net has shared the story behind the audio from July 29 and 30 as well as August 4 and 5, plus, of course, the recordings themselves.
First a little background: in the summer of 1988 Phish was nearly a five-year-old band that had yet to play outside of Vermont except for the occasional gig. This was all set to change with an offer procured by the band’s bassist and manager at the time, Mike Gordon. Mike, through his future girlfriend Cilla Foster, had scored a month-long national tour put together by restauranteur Warren Stickney. There was a problem though, as departure date approached, Stickney became harder to get a hold of on the phone. When Gordon finally contacted Stickney, he learned the tour had fallen through. Stickney did offer the band a chance to play The Roma, his restaurant in Telluride, Colorado for $1,000. The members of Phish voted on this new proposal and despite lots of “no” votes, decided to go for it.
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On Monday, July 25, 1988 Phish played their usual weekly gig at Nectar’s in their hometown of Burlington and then loaded their gear, themselves and their crew into a Cube Van for the grueling ride to Colorado. “We were stuck together, but it was defining,” keyboardist Page McConnell told Relix about the 42-hour journey. “We’d never had such an intense time together and were flying by the seat of our pants.” The quartet weren’t the only ones who had been burned by Stickney, who had gained a reputation for not paying his workers or taxes. As such, those in town avoided The Roma like the plague.
Phish played The Roma from July 28 – 30 and by most accounts perhaps a dozen people attended those performances. Thankfully, Mike Lynch was one of them and brought his tape deck with him. Lynch recorded the shows and helped convince the foursome to play the nearby Fly Me To The Moon Saloon on August 3. That night was the group’s off night from The Roma and according to Jon Fishman in The Phish Book, the band found its audience.
“It was a weeknight but the place was completely packed, and they ran out of alcohol during the evening,” Fish told Richard Gehr. Phish, however, stuck to their deal with Stickney and returned to The Roma and “more or less empty houses” according to the drummer, the next few nights complete with posters that read “NEW ENGLAND’S MOST NAIVE ROCK BAND. WE DROVE 2,000 MILES BECAUSE WARREN STICKNEY PROMISED US A THOUSAND BUCKS.” As if the situation wasn’t bad enough, Phish took a gig in Aspen arranged by Stickney on their way home and promptly had their money stolen from the place where they stayed that night. “Other than that our first tour was a raging success,” Gordon recalled to Gehr.
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So now, that brings us to the current day, nearly 30 years and a Hall Of Fame-worthy career later. Fan Niel Ringstad attended several of the shows that were taped by his friend Mike Lynch. Niel lent his analog master cassettes of four Roma performances to Jeff Goldberg, who transferred the tapes to the digital domain. Phish.net has the full scoop on the technical details of the transfer. Goldberg put in “restoring and mastering work to make these recordings sound as good as they possibly can” as per Charlie Dirksen’s Phish.net writeup.
All of the audio is available for streaming and downloading here. There’s plenty to dig through that hadn’t circulated previously including performances of jazz standards “Mr. PC” and “All Blues” played by Mike, Page and guitarist Trey Anastasio when Fishman went missing. Be sure to check out the “Run Like An Antelope” from later in the evening for Trey’s tale of what happened to the drummer. Thanks to everyone involved in finally getting these historic recordings into fans’ hands. Listen to “All Blues” sans Fishman with Anastasio on drums:
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Set 1: You Enjoy Myself, Satin Doll, Walk Away, Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley, The Curtain With, Fire
Set 2: Suzy Greenberg, Skin It Back, Jesus Just Left Chicago, Dinner and a Movie, The Sloth, Icculus, Colonel Forbin's Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird, I Didn't Know [1], Good Times Bad Times
Set 3: Rocky Top, Light Up Or Leave Me Alone, Contact, Whipping Post, The Ballad of Curtis Loew, Take the 'A' Train, McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters [2], Bold As Love [3]
Mike teased My Favorite Things in The Curtain With. Sloth contained a Take Five tease from Mike. There was a brief Gamehendge narration from Trey after Sloth that contained a “Charge!” tease from Page. I Didn’t Know and McGrupp featured Fish on trombone. Good Times Bad Times contained DEG teases and ‘A’ Train contained a Flintstones theme tease from Trey. Trey dedicated Bold As Love to one of his favorite guitar players of all time, Angus Young (guitarist for AC/DC). You Shook Me All Night Long was subsequently teased and in Bold As Love, “Anger” was changed to “Angus.”Â
Set 1: All Blues [1], Mr. P.C. [2]
Set 2: Funky Bitch [3], Suzy Greenberg [4], She Caught the Katy and Left Me a Mule to Ride [5], Contact [6], Maiden Voyage [7], Corinna [8]
Set 3: La Grange, On Your Way Down, Slave to the Traffic Light, Timber (Jerry the Mule), Walk Away > Possum, Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley, Harpua
Set 4: Fluffhead, Anarchy, Dear Mrs. Reagan, Terrapin [9], Run Like an Antelope
Encore: Fire
This show featured the first known Phish performances of Mr. P.C. and Maiden Voyage. Fish missed the first two sets of the gig, prompting the band to play two sets of jazz and standard Phish material in his absence with Trey on drums. These opening sets are sometimes referred to as âJazz Odyssey,â as the lone known taper labeled his master tapes as such. All Blues was played for the first time since April 25, 1986 (119 shows). During Antelope, Trey told the story of what happened to Fish that evening and explained that Fish, who had been at the top of a mountain and, therefore, late for the gig, had to âRun like an Antelope, out of control.â Elsewhere in the set, Trey chided Fish for his tardiness. The narration in Harpua was straightforward, with no teases. Anarchy was jokingly named Whipping Post. Terrapin featured a Fish trombone solo. Many recordings of this show in circulation have the venue mislabeled as Fly Me to the Moon Saloon.
Set 1: The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday > Avenu Malkenu > The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday, Flat Fee, The Lizards, McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters [1], Alumni Blues > Letter to Jimmy Page > Alumni Blues, The Sloth, Take the 'A' Train, Poor Heart [2], Peaches en Regalia, David Bowie
Set 2: Camel Walk, The Curtain > Wilson, No Dogs Allowed, Dog Log, Suzy Greenberg, Mike's Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Satin Doll, Possum
Set 3: Big Leg Emma, Fee > Run Like an Antelope, Rocky Top, Tela, Dear Mrs. Reagan
Encore: Fluffhead
This show featured the first known performance of Poor Heart. McGrupp featured Fish on trombone. Trey teased the theme to The Flintstones in Fluffhead.
Set 1: La Grange, You Enjoy Myself > Cities -> Dave's Energy Guide > Cities, Take the 'A' Train, Funky Bitch, Dinner and a Movie, Fire
Set 2: Golgi Apparatus > AC/DC Bag, Satin Doll, Sanity [1], Big Black Furry Creature from Mars, Slave to the Traffic Light > Alumni Blues > Letter to Jimmy Page > Alumni Blues, The Lizards
Set 3: Mustang Sally, Corinna, Walk Away, Jesus Just Left Chicago, Contact, Makisupa Policeman, Whipping Post
Encore: Harpua
On the recordings of this show in circulation, both Dinner and a Movie and Slave are cut. Cities included Dave's Energy Guide teases before actually segueing into the song. ‘A’ Train included a London Bridge Is Falling Down tease from Trey. Funky Bitch was dedicated to The Blue Sevilles, a band playing across the street. Satin Doll was preceded by a Sailor's Hornpipe tease from Trey and a Jeopardy! theme tease from Page. The band brought light board operator Tim Rogers on stage for his birthday and presented him with a “Baked in Telluride” T-shirt. Sanity featured Fish on trombone. BBFCFM included a Flintstones theme tease.
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