Live Phish, Vol. 02

A typically high-energy Phish performance from 1994, recorded on the last date of a three-and-a-half month tour in support of Hoist, this second volume in Phish's archival release program was recorded at the Sugarbush Summerstage -- at the bottom of a ski slope -- in Phish's home state of Vermont. The performance is highly representative of Phish's hijinx during this period and features (among other things) the first official appearance of "Harpua," a long story-song narrated by guitarist Trey Anastasio (which features a sandwiched version of an early Phish rendition, Deodato's funkified arrangement of Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra"), and a taste of the secret language of musical cues the band employed frequently between 1992 and 1994. The improvisation that is featured here is energetic and youthful (witness the cresting peaks of "Run Like an Antelope" and "Harry Hood"), though not as interesting or involved as many of the band's other performances that year (including many that would be documented on the double album A Live One, recorded that fall). Still, the show is great fun and the band is clearly having a ball throughout, as Anastasio tries his hand at singing bassist Mike Gordon's "Catapult" with an eye toward his impending wedding, which would take place later that summer.