Phish Opens With ‘Tweezer Reprise’ For 1st Time On Fall Tour 1995

This year marks 25 years since Phish’s historic Fall Tour 1995. In recognition of that noteworthy tour and to make up for the lack of shows this fall, JamBase presents a daily retrospective highlighting a noteworthy moment from a Phish fall tour concert that took place on that date over the past 25 years (read a note on Fall 1997 here). The 25 Years Of Phish Fall Tour series runs each day between the start of Phish Fall Tour 1995 on September 27 through that tour’s finale on December 17.

Phish made their debut in Nebraska count on this date during Fall Tour 1995 by treating fans in The Cornhusker State to a memorable concert that began with the band’s first-ever “Tweezer Reprise” opener. The show took place at Pershing Auditorium in Lincoln and was one of just two played by Phish in Nebraska, as they returned the following fall for a performance at Omaha’s Civic Auditorium on November 16, 1996.

“Tweezer Reprise” was first trotted out by Phish on February 1, 1991 at Alumnae Hall in Providence, Rhode Island. The debut emerged out of “Tweezer” in similar fashion to the second rendition six nights later in Killington, Vermont. Phish next played “Tweezer Reprise” to close out their March 29, 1991 concert in San Francisco and every version that followed either ended a set or an encore … until October 21, 1995.

Leading up to the show in Lincoln, Phish fans longed to see “Tweezer Reprise” kick off a concert. Many discussions were had on the newsgroup Rec.Music.Phish and in person hoping the quartet would switch it up and lead an evening with the tune. So, it should come as no surprise the crowd at 6,800-capacity Pershing Auditorium went bezerk when guitarist Trey Anastasio played the lick that signals the start of “Tweezer Reprise” at the beginning of the night. Anastasio sported a shit-eating grin throughout the opener.

Another “Tweezer Reprise” opener would come later in the tour on November 9, 1995 at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre. Phish didn’t kick off a show with the song again until June 19, 2010 at SPAC in Saratoga Springs, New York. The next and most recent “Tweeprise” opener took place at Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater on October 23, 2018.

Phish kept the energy high by following “Tweeprise” with “Chalk Dust Torture” before “Guelah Papyrus” gave way to a must-hear version of “Reba.” Next came the pairing of “Wilson” and “Cars Trucks Buses” and a brief trip to Gamehendge via “Kung” and “The Lizards.” From there, Page McConnell sang “Strange Design” ahead of the band assembling at the front of the stage for “Acoustic Army.” Yet, the four-piece still had another huge treat in store to close their first set in Nebraska, as Phish jammed a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times, Bad Times” into a SECOND “Tweezer Reprise.”

The second set in Lincoln, Nebraska was no slouch either. “Also Sprach Zarathrustra,” aka “2001,” gave way to a standout “David Bowie.” A stellar “You Enjoy Myself” followed a few songs later before Phish fit teases of “Beat It” into “Harry Hood” and “Suzy Greenberg.” The band ended the night with the tour’s lone cover of AC/DC’s “Highway To Hell.”

Watch Phish’s first set from this date in 1995, which began with “Tweezer Reprise,” below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNbs4ShpqA4&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=thegreatboognish