(Published in the second edition of The Phish Companion...)

It was a cold night in November. Really cold. But what was about to go on inside the Jesse Auditorium in Columbia, MO was enough to make anyone forget about the wintertime weather outside. For some reason, this was a tough ticket and I think mostly this was due to the intimacy of the venue itself. Or maybe the previous show in Madison, which was one of the few times I have seen the band leave the stage after the encore, only to be forced back out by the crowd for a true second encore of "Fire".
Whatever it was, this Columbia `94 show is one of my favorites from that era. After a week of having Rev. Mosier onboard, this was the first show back with just plain Phish. A "Buried Alive" opener right out of the gates set the tone for the evening immediately. Short, sweet, and fierce. And that may sum up most of the first set. It was short and sweet - but it definitely had some fiery moments. A "Foam", "Guyute", and a "Disease" all in the first set was quite nice. This set ended on a soft note with "Sweet Adeline", but that only meant one thing: look out for the second set.
And look out was right. This "Funky Bitch" set opener still, to this day, is one of the most explosive, cohesive, and out there jams I have ever witnessed (A great filler choice by Mike on his recent Live Phish picks). Granted, there was plenty of this type of explosiveness during the Fall of 1994, but this version of "Funky Bitch" was outrageous.
I'm pretty sure everyone downstairs and up on the balcony was busy picking their jaws up off the floor during the breath-catching "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav". The "Cry Baby Cry" was a tremendous treat, especially for all of the Midwesterners who didn't make it out to Glenn Falls on Halloween. Then a "Curtain" and another Beatles tune, "Blackbird". Need I say more? This set was played with such inspiration and you could see it beaming from the stage. A rare "Runway `Jeff'" was followed by a strobe-light-enhanced, Trey-running-around-like-a-maniac, CK5 mind-melting "Furry Creatures".
At this point, I think everyone inside was ready for another breather and a few of the tunes they learned with Rev. Mosier were played again to bring things back down. Things were going so smoothly at this point that they decided to take an audience request, and "Harry Hood" was the tune selected. This is a gorgeous version and again, the inspirational playing continued. To be honest, they could have left the stage right after "Hood", but they decided to give us a rocking version of "Highway to Hell", complete with an evil red lighting scheme by Kuroda. A very appropriate way to end this fiery set. A beautiful "Lizards" was played as the encore and when the house lights came on the room was just full of smiles.
A funny side note about this show, the student group that put concerts on at the university had no idea who Phish was and they all took off early for Thanksgiving. After the place had cleared out a bit Brad got on the megaphone asking for volunteers to help break down the stage and load the semis. We sprinted from our balcony spot and ran outside behind the stage to volunteer. We were the last two people that signed up for this gig, and what fun it was. Got to thank Mike and Trey for such an incredible evening of music and spent the next few hours freezing while rolling gear up into the semi. I'll never forget being handed a bank deposit type bag, with a piece of tape on it that read, "Page's Piano Bolts" as we were asked to take apart the grand piano. That was a trip. And for our help they gave everyone the old white logo T-shirt and a ticket to any upcoming show. Brad, whatever happened to those bus tubes you were talking about?

This review is occasioned by the LivePhish archival release. At this point, nearly 3 weeks after the conclusion of my favorite post-breakup (or 3.0) Phish tour, Summer 2015, listening to pre-hiatus or 1.0 Phish, and perhaps especially Fall '94 Phish, is in some ways a different enterprise. You might've heard the Funky Bitch -> Jam -> Yerushalayim Shel Zahav as filler on Live Phish 18, and I suppose that's the meat of the show if you're a jamhound, but when I'm with 11/22/94, it enjoys myself.

Type II had become a phixture by August '93, but some of the Type I songs in the first set seem to blur the boundaries between Type I and II, referring specifically to Foam (which has what I would contend is a "silent jam" portion--replete with "shushing.") Guyute has a slightly atypical intro, not to mention a seemingly different timbre to Page's clavinet than what we hear circa 2015. The vocals in this show are finely tuned, though we get some typically Phishy embellishments and variations that don't crop up quite as often in the "Common Era," if you will. Bouncing Around the Room has a zip to it, and Down with Disease boasts some fine machine-gun Trey.

Now to business: the aforementioned sequence that appears on Live Phish 18! The Funky Bitch jam covers a lot of territory even considering its near-30-min. length, veering from blues, to pre-97 funk that seems truer to the "cow funk" moniker as bestowed in The Phish Book than that of '97 and onwards, at least in the synaesthetic sense that the term conjures up images of a perhaps less streamlined--or professional--variety of the polyrhythmic grooving that wouldn't be as musically goofy again by the time Phunk became the theme of arguably that entire year.

The Beatles covers are very appealing to me as a big Beatles fan and a big fan of Phish covering the Beatles, and the bluegrass segment of the show that somehow segues out of Big Black Furry Creature From Mars is accomplished both musically and vocally. I think if I'd been seeing Phish in '94, I wouldn't've tired at all of the frequent mini-hootenannies that popped up in a lot of the shows that year. Harry Hood displays hallmarks of this era of Phish, and is in my opinion one of the signature songs that best exemplify the spirit of '94, along with probably Reba, You Enjoy Myself, and Tweezer, among others (though Tweezer proved representative for different reasons.) Highway to Hell serves as a fun, irreverent, but seemingly effortless victory lap, and oh yeah, this show also has a Lizards encore.

Overall, a 5-star show to my ears that certainly merits official release, and one in which a different stripe of phandom may be on display. We know that Phish shows form out of a potpourri of factors, not least of which is the attentiveness, energy, and courtesy of the audience. It's nice to hear how appreciative phans were on this Tuesday night almost 21 years ago: how aware they seem to be that they were witnessing magic that would continue to evolve through the genuine joie-de-vivre that most characterizes Phish music--to me, at least--and the kindness of fellow music lovers who at this point in Phishtory were in on what was still part secret, part invitation--or even dare--to take the highway to the great divide of one's youthful enthusiasm for adventure, be it solely musical, or for many of these adventurers, something much greater than the sum of its parts.

This is my second favorite show of Fall '94. The first is great, though very straight forward like the majority of first sets from this era. Foam and Guyute anchor this set well and they shred on Poor Heart and Disease as usual. Really solid first set.

Now for the real meat of the show: the second set. Funky Bitch is spunky and the jam out of it is absolutely nuts. This is a jam to hear at all costs. Clocking in at 22 minutes (not including Funky Bitch proper), this jam goes the distance. I won't break it down other than to say that, to me, there are three broad, distinct sections before they segue into Yerushalayim Shel Zahav. Following that craziness is a really nice Beatles (Cry Baby Cry) > The Curtain > Beatles (Blackbird) sandwich. Next is Jim -> BBFCFM, which is energetic and completely out of left field. I love that segment! The bluegrass section of this show is strong and the audience member chosen Hood is good as well. The Lizards in the encore slot is something I will never complain about.

All-in-all, a stellar show top to bottom. 5 stars.

This is easily one of the best shows of the Fall tour. The first set is very standard for the time, although everyone loves a Buried Alive opener and its smokin and straight to the point.

The second set, obviously is where it all happens. The boys waste no time and rip into Funky Bitch with all the fixin's to boot. The jam out of this song is just epic and it is hard to find words to justify exactly what goes on during it. Its starts out fiery and frantic before settling into a sort of spacey weightless that builds into a Tweezer-like jam before dropping again into the soundscape that eventually provides the bridge to Shel Zahav. The whole set flows beautifully from there with Cry Baby Cry > Curtain > Blackbird as a wonderful cooldown before more zaniness with Jim > BBFCFM. The bluegrass was and had been, all tour, a great edition and provides another great breather to allow people to reattach their jaws to their face. The fan requested Hood is just as glorious as any Hood has been during the tour and a blistering Highway to Hell caps it all off. The Lizards encore is unexpected and welcomed with open arms and is the absolute icing on the cake for a wonderful, wonderful evening of music.

Hope this couch review helps paint a picture of what may have gone on that night, but I can tell you that listening to this has made my Tuesday night that much better.

This show is insanely consistent with an epic jam. What else would you expect from 94'?

Excellent Top Tier Foam for any era. Guyute is very strong. Although not really jammed out DWD is extremely strong and well played.

Funk Bitch starts S2 and much to everyones surprised the guys start digging into it. Right away Page starts getting into it with some great key solos. The Jam starts quick with an infectious groove that you know they're not going to turn back from. It goes into a lightspeed rollercoaster from hell before fizzling out to a very experimental and spacey jam for the remainder of the jam. The YSZ-> Cry Baby Cry sequence is fantastic. Runaway Jim is very powerful and picks up a lot of steam shredding into a very funny and great version of BBFCFM. This is followed by probably my favorite Phishgrass section of a set (mostly because of the song selection). Hood is gorgeous. Highway to Hell is great fun.

Lizards Encore? It just keeps going!

An amazing show even within the confines of an amazing tour.

Another excellent, excellent show from the highwater mark that is November 1994…I’m not sure Buried Alive has ever opened anything other than a barn burner. Right off the bat with this tune and a swangin’ Poor Heart, it’s clear the band is loose and ready slam it down. The first true testament to this is Foam, which really oughtta be jam-charted. The solo section under Page is pretty standard, but the band really starts to dim it down as things transition to Trey, until we find ourselves in silent jam territory. Trey, Mike, and Page hang on ever so delicately before that last burning light disappears. Page helps Trey bring things back up as he rakes the shit out of his totally unamplified strings. Trey’s riffing back into the solo section fixates around a really simple but awesome motif, and the band approaches the peak with patience, delivering a mega grand finish. Next up is an absolutely textbook Guyute—this song has never really been “jammed,” but this one is notable for precision typically elusive of the tune. Last major musical highlight of the first set is a flaming DwD, which features some brief moments that depart from the blueprint, but remains Type I. Nevertheless, this is a tune that delivers excellence, even when coloring inside the lines.

That said, all the rules of the coloring book are broken as soon as Set 2 begins. Even Funky Bitch proper is a spectacle of Phish at its peak. You could cut the song off right at 6:45 and it would still be one of the greatest version of the tune out there. Instead, the band gives the tune the Mike’s second jam treatment and drop down a half-step, a maneuver so smooth I have to imagine it was planned backstage. The first segment of this jam honestly sounds so ahead of its time, or at least would fit really well in a 3.0 show for its heavy focus on syncopation and groove; very Tube vibes on this one at first. But soon all semblance of groove is lost as the band takes into a dark, disorganized, and swirling segment with each member noodling in his own corner of the stage. It fits well for moment, but then stops on a whim. A soft drone of feedback and organ crescendos to a slow, looming riff from Trey, which is backed by a brooding rhythm section. Where it goes next is almost reminiscent of a Tweezer jam in groove, and features plenty of dissonant patterns and riffing. A frenetic few minutes lead us to the end of the Funky Bitch jam and into a dark vocal jam and -> Yerushalayim Shel Zahav. Similar to the one that follows Reba on 7/8/94, this song serves as a sick code for a ridiculous jam. The band revisits some White Album tunes quite nicely, with a strong Curtain Without sandwiched in between. The Runaway Jim -> BBFCFM duo is ridiculous on a number of fronts, and includes one of the more wild iterations of the latter tune. The acoustic segment of this set features three of the rarer bluegrass tunes, and a special treat with Trey on fiddle. A fan-requested Harry Hood fits well in the penultimate slot with a nice intro section, a beautiful quiet jam, and a peak as magnificent as ever. Though relatively contained, this is Hood in its golden era. Closing out with Highway to Hell and delivering a rare Lizards encore, Phish finishes tearing down Jesse Auditorium.

This isn't the best show of 1994. That honor belongs to 6/18.

This is the second best show of 1994. And there's certainly no shortage of 1994 shows to choose from.

Still, this beats 6/22 and 7/16 and Providence Bowie and, yes, even Tweezerfest at the Bomb Factory. That's not to say that those shows aren't good or that they aren't worthy of their high rating here on phish.net. Certainly they are. But Jesse '94 is Phish in its purest form.

Want a huge 30-minute jam? Cool - here's Funky Bitch.

Want Phish setlist mastery? Cool - here's Buried Alive > Poor Heart > Horn > Foam.

Want technical mastery? Cool - go listen to Guyute, the racing pig. It's perfect.

Want some variety? Cool - Remember that Funky Bitch? Yeah, that same set has a BBFCFM, I'm Blue I'm Lonesome, Tiny Little Butter Biscuits, and My Long Journey Home.

Want Hood? - Cool - here's Harry.

There are five 1994 shows that got released as part of the LivePhish series, and Jesse wasn't one of them. And you know what? That's fine because it's better than all of them and deserves to stand apart.