Phish & Dave Matthews Band Cover ‘All Along The Watchtower’ In 1994
By Scott Bernstein Apr 21, 2020 • 6:34 am PDT
Phish has famously gone without opening acts at nearly every concert they’ve played since they reached the mid-large size venue circuit. There have been a few exceptions, most notably the Dave Matthews Band who opened a handful of shows for Phish in 1994. One of those performances took place on this date in 1994 and it featured both bands teaming up for an extended encore.
DMB first opened for Phish on April 20, 1994 at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, Virginia and also kicked off the festivities the next night, April 21, at Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Following DMB’s opening set and a pair of sets from Phish, drummers Jon Fishman and Carter Beauford returned to the stage for a drum duel. The rest of Fish and Carter’s band mates then emerged for an exciting jam that even hit upon a riff that bears similarities to Bob Marley’s “Exodus.”
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Out of the improv, Matthews began a cover of Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower” with both bands quickly falling in line behind him. Phish had never performed “Watchtower” in the past and have only played it once since, while the cover is a staple of DMB’s shows.
Here’s audio of Phish and Dave Matthews Band covering “All Along The Watchtower” on this date in 1994:
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Set 1: Chalk Dust Torture, Sparkle > Foam, Glide, Split Open and Melt, The Lizards, Down with Disease > If I Could > Cavern
Set 2: Also Sprach Zarathustra > Maze, Fluffhead > Mike's Song > I Am Hydrogen [1] > Weekapaug Groove, Scent of a Mule, Big Ball Jam > Possum [2], Amazing Grace [3]
Encore: Drums [4] -> Jam [5] -> All Along the Watchtower [6]
Foam contained a brief Dixie tease from Trey and Possum contained an All Fall Down signal. The guest trampoline jumper during Mike’s Song was then-nine year old fan Katherine Lang. Hydrogen contained the lyrics "I walk awakening on the misty fields of forever." Amazing Grace was performed without microphones. The Drums Jam featured Carter Beauford of the Dave Matthews Band; the rest of the encore (including the Phish debut of All Along the Watchtower) featured the entire band. All Along the Watchtower included a Theme from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly tease from LeRoi Moore. The opening act was Dave Matthews Band.
[Originally Published: April 21, 2017]
