New Phish Archival Release: Columbia, Missouri 1994

1994 still stands as the last year Phish embarked on full tours of the U.S. in the Spring, Summer and Fall. The quartet played over 120 shows during this breakout year and would never even hit 100 again. While 1994 was filled with a mass quantity of Phish, they were also incredibly consistent as most shows from the year have at least a few standout moments. Then there’s the best of the bunch, the 1994 performances filled to the brim with goodness and one of these performances took place at Jesse Auditorium in Columbia, Missouri on November 22, 1994. An official recording of one of the stars of Fall ’94 is available now via LivePhish.

Pulling into Columbia, Phish had just finished a series of shows featuring special guest Rev. Jeff Mosier. Mosier not only performed with the band at each show during his week on the road with them, he also taught the foursome a lot about bluegrass. The reverend documented his time on Phish tour with his trusty camcorder. But, again, the stop in Columbia came right after Mosier left tour. His influence can be felt in Missouri as a swath of the second set features the band’s all-acoustic bluegrass lineup. Shockingly, the bluegrass sequence begins with one of just three acoustic endings to Mike Gordon’s normally heavy metal number “Big Black Furry Creatures From Mars” in Phish history. Trey Anastasio shows off the fiddle skills Mosier taught him on “Little Tiny Butter Biscuits” and the quartet delivers gorgeous takes on new additions to the repertoire – “I’m Blue, I’m Lonesome” and “My Long Journey Home.”

Another unique aspect of Columbia, Missouri 1994 is the inclusion of two songs from The Beatles’ White Album. Outside of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” Phish performances of White Album material have been few and far between since the band famously covered the double-LP on October 31, 1994 at Glens Falls Civic Center. The Missouri faithful were treated to one of just three “Cry Baby Cry”s Phish played after Halloween ’94 and the only “Blackbird.” Yet the money shot of the night came at the beginning of the second set when Phish lit off on a jam for the ages out of “Funky Bitch.” This unusual and quite lengthy jam covers plenty of ground and foreshadows the improvisational styles the Vermonters would develop over the next three or four years. By the time the lilting melodies of “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav” come in, those in attendance had witnessed one of the better jams from one of the better years in Phish history. Don’t sleep on the first set either with a “machine gun” heavy “Down With Disease,” early “Guyute” and dynamic “Foam.”

Head to LivePhish to purchase Columbia, Missouri 1994 which can also be streamed by LivePhish+ subscribers.