Mike Gordon gave me a ticket to this show!

Long story short: Bunch of my buddies and I were all going to Clifford Ball. We live in upstate New York so decided to make this trip, as well.

Out of the 10 of us that went, me and 2 others didn't have tickets to this show. My 2 buddies and I walked around trying to get close so we could at least hear the show. About 10 minutes before the show, while we were leaning on a fence close by, I see Mike walk out into the park (the show was at an an amusement park). I immediately walked over to him:

"Hey Mike"

Mike: "Hey, what's going on?"

Me: "Just walking around looking for a ticket.."

Mike: "How are you going about doing that?"

Me: "Just walking around hoping..."

--He reaches into his pocket, slaps a ticket into my hand and walks back into the show.....my buddies stood there with their jaws at the floor. I peaced them out, headed right in just in time to hear the beginning of Wilson!

Needless to say, it didn't matter what they played that night, everything was perfect!!

This show is hot from start to finish. Top 10 of 1996. There is also a high quality recording for free stream at http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1996-08-14/ . This mix is very good. I have been listening to every show in order from 1989 onward and I am currently here. I've listened to others from every era out of order over the years as well but with phishtracks and the spreadsheet I'm going baxk and listening to them all before the tour of 2015 kicks off...so I have some experience going into this review

Wilson: rocking opener with an extended crescendo jam at the end. Trey makes nice use of wowwa pedal and delay loop. Not for everyone but cool sounding for sure. Nice seguey into DWD. 9/10 for creativity.

DWD: Well played with a nice slow build in the jam section. Trey uses palm mute and the interplay with page is quite melodic. At 6:20, the band takes off. Stays mostly type 1 driven by mike. A very good version. 8.5/10.

Fee: Solid. Nuff said. 9/10

Poor Heart: rips per usual with a unique jammy intro. Treys licks sound like a chicken. Killer. 10/10

Reba: Good composed section. Fishman leads the way here. The jam starts slow and page is on the fender rhodes. Nice patience between trey and page - very melodic! Beautiful bass lines from mike. 8.5/10.

Mango Song: Reba ends without whistling and goes right into mango, one of my favorite songs. Page sounds great here. The boys harmonize nicely. The solos from Trey and page are above average and creative. 9.5/10

Gumbo: good versionversion nice wawwa. Nothing special though. 7.5/10

Stash: super tight . 8/10

1st Set: above average first set with nice song selection. Fun upbeat set. 8.5/10

2nd Set!!!

Runaway Jim!!: extended type 2 killer version 9/10

YEM - composed section is tight, mikes got the dwd tone on his bass digging deep and bouncy as trey overlays with some blues riffs @ 9:30-11:55...the jam is clean and vibes without trey getting too weird with dissonant notes, which I welcome at times but not in y.e.m., I like the more melodic precise focused riffs and this version has it, the vocal jam is more interesting than usual. 9.5/10

The horse --> Silent and CTB....all good

Tweezer - clocks in at just over 19 minutes..now i don't always love tweezer, some are more interesting, blissful and melodic than others , I dig the darker ones for sure but sometimes they can get chaotic. This tweezer f'n rocks. It goes quasi type 2 quick with a speedy maze-like jam at 7:45, that starts soaring with the boys on all cylinders at 8:30 and again blazing at 10:50-11:15...one who knows tweezer well would consider it all type one exploratory jamming but at 11:30 we are in full type 2 territory...from 11:45-12:15 would be perfect mystery jam...at 12:20 we are back in funky type one territory with trey making a really squirmy ripping solo...really cool and creative piece from 12:50-13:50...then trey brings back some power palm muting to get into a cruising tweeze jam with trey using tremolo, wawwa and blazing the pentatonic scale..from 16-17 min mark the band is bringing it full circle and end with the classic poke you in the eye jam, groovy and greased up and funked up..18:45..ooh baby .9.5/10

Theme --> crackling Rosie --> hyhu....nice jam in theme, the boys harmonize well with no flubs, the chorus is especially melodic, page's voice is swell. Fish has fun with cracklin rosie per usual and hyhu is page on the organ ripping it up. 8/10

Sample is short and tweezprise follows 8/10

Julius encore - it is over 10 min, they thank thank the crowd for allowing them to play in the land of chocolate and play it for a friend Matty. This version smokes. 9/10.

overall - a very good show and def should be added to your library.

This was my first Phish show and it was a blast! The music was good and the lot was fun. The band left a great impression which would bring me coming back 100 shows later.

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

For some reason, this show gets trashed a bit. Maybe it's because people were expecting a throwaway at the final show before the Clifford Ball. Maybe it's because the monster drive from Noblesville took a lot of energy from the folks on tour. Regardless, this show easily ranks as the show at which I had the most fun and contains some great jams taboot.
This was to be my only show of the summer of 1996. Work was hectic so I couldn't go out west, and the Clifford Ball coincided with the start of my college year so I would be missing that. So, because much of the summer touring was in Europe, I hadn't seen a show in eight months. Damn, was I ready!
During the day, I met up with some old friends and met some new ones, including one (heya Dave!) who would become a frequent show partner. We all walked around Hershey Park, riding some rides and staring at many of the long lines. It was hot that day. In fact it was beyond hot, and the inner tube ride that cooled off our little group was as welcome as those little shower spigots they had placed throughout the park. I remember eating ice cream in the food area and having it melt in my hands. I ate dinner before show time in that little restaurant just inside the gates of the park, and our table was one of the liveliest in the joint. Due to an administrative mix-up at the gate, I wound up getting my park admission refunded to me after a conversation with the park manager. So I got to walk around the park with friends for free and know I would be seeing my favorite band that night.
The beginning of the show was fun and danceable, and the little jam "Wilson" and "Disease" was nice. The musical highlight of the first set, though, was the "Reba". Our group was on the lawn near the security barriers, and we had a great view of the stage. During "Reba", Trey was playing expressly for that little girl who was sitting on her daddy's shoulders in front of the stage. It was truly a beautiful moment, and I wish I knew who that little girl was so I could thank her and her daddy for such a fantastic jam! For most of the first set, we were hosed down with squirt guns from the security guards, who were trying to keep any of us from getting heat stroke.
The "Stash" in the first set remains one of the greatest visual spectacles I have seen at a Phish show, as mother nature provided the best lighting effects this side of Chris Kuroda. The backdrop behind the stage was transparent, and there was a castle-like building atop a huge hill in the distance behind the stage. As the sun began to set during "Stash", a crimson light was slowly cast on that hill. As the "Stash" jam peaked, the sky burst bright red and provided a surreal backdrop to the jam, complete with that castle on the hill.
It was the second set where the jams really kicked in. How can anyone complain about a set with "YEM", "Tweezer", and "Runaway Jim"? Perhaps the perceived problem with this show is that none of these songs stand out as a hundred percent, knock-you-on-your-ass version, but they were all solidly played. The "Theme" was nice, too, and the "Cracklin' Rosie" brought a smile to everyone's faces.
The "Julius" encore was the nightcap to one hell of a day. I remember being surrounded by some of the truly beautiful women whom I had spent the day with (yes, Marcie and Liz, because I know you are both reading this, I still think of the both of you every time I hear this song) and swinging them around to the revival beat. Fact is, I can't think of a better way to spend a day.

WTF?!?!?! how this show gets underrated is beyond me...
one of my favorite tapes fa sho

This is easily one of the best Phish shows ever. This second set is classic material!! ;-0 anyone arguing this point is nit-picking. I remember people thinking we were going to hear a full Gamehenge at this show. I had tix for Cliff Balls so I was amped to hear this show.

the Second set is where its at but I'll get to that later.

The Wilson opener is heavy and tight. awesome. Nice weird jam at the end also. umm its more than that though. its a signal that this is no ordinary show.. buckle up!!!

the jam into DWD!! LISTEN TO THIS!! then listen to them a month prior in Europe. this was a band on a mission. They stick with the theme but what a theme it is!!! so jubilant. awesome jam. Fish continues his rapid growth that we see culminate next year but the rest of the band rides him and his set for a tight ,major key jam you can dance to forever!!

REBA!! the written part was played a little fast for me but perfect. the boys were on fire. when the jam starts is magic. Fish goes to the rim shot.. it's a beautiful thing.. with the snap of Fish's snare the band returns to the theme after a wavy tangent. they proceed to kill it. Reba fans will not be disappointed. TYPE II for a few bars then just Trey Rockstar
MAng Song is def one of my fav songs. beautiful.
Stash! at this point this is an above average 1st set
Ambient . Type II jam. for a minute u forget wht song is being played. Fish is just out of this world!! the end is ridiculous

If the show ended there it would be a semi-classic. but the second set is just off the chain!!!!
RUNAWAY JIM opener is a game changer...
This was the set that was traded the most for sure after the show. It's mainly because of this Jim at 15 min set a tone for the set. . It gets banannerrs at the 5:50 mark. then they just let the notes fly. then the clasic moment at 9:00!! Fish lays four to the floor and its dance central!! Trey gets on his set and Page makes it glow

right into a classic YEM!! no joke. every part. on point. loud. rock. the general rule is the lower Trey takes the band the louder they will get.... listennnn ;-) anthem. sick... i challenge anyone to find 5 better YEM jams . ...anyone ??? lol

Not a huge Tweezer fan lol ( takes to long to get going for me lol ) but this is solid. Mike lays the hammer down and Trey gives us a taste of his brain. so sweet. we follow Trey on a beautiful ride GLORIOUS!!
great octave work from the tension and releas masters!
A must listen!!

This show is a classic

This show should not be overlooked. The difference in quality between this show and those surrounding it is marginal, and for all intents and purposes, this show is just as strong. The Wilson post-jam is sweet and nasty. The segue between Fee and Poor Heart is flawless. The Reba is quite powerful. The Jim has a nice strong percussion jam in the same vein as NYE '95. YEM and Tweezer both get good workouts as well. Highlights are aplenty in this oft-forgotten show. Don't sleep on this one.

I believe this was my second show but by this time in the 90's its hard to put it together. We were on our way to the ball, about 40 of us in a caravan. I remember a lot of people didn't have tickets. Somehow we ended up with a cat named fluff or that's what we called it. My friend brought the cat into the show and we are still not sure how he managed it. If you saw a 300 lb dude with dreads with a cat in the show, that was Fluff. He lost fluff at the show, he spent most of the time looking for fluff while the rest of us looked for our minds. Can't tell you much about the show but it was a blast. I just remember asking myself why am I at an amusement park themed off chocolate. We got reunited with fluff at a rest area in upstate NY.

SET 1: Wilson: -> Jam > - Standard Wilson but the jam that is tacked on at the end of it is seriously nasty – big fan of this. What a tone setter this must have been!

Down with Disease: Wow, now playing this big gun indicates clear intent that they have big plans for this show I would think! Really strong, hard charging Type I version here!

Fee: Feisty little jam after the typical ending mostly with Trey and Mike playing off one another. It’s not very long, probably less than a minute but pretty cool! ->

Poor Heart: Standard, cool transition out of FEE.

Reba: Absolutely aggressive and fast paced! At nearly 12 minutes Trey starts holding a note, not for too. Big, big peak. Just a scintillating version right here, highly recommended!

The Mango Song: Standard. >

Gumbo: Standard.

Stash: Really solid Stash! It’s not on jamcharts but it can’t be far off from it either. It gets there as far as I am concerned!

Hello My Baby: Standard.

SET 2: Runaway Jim: Absolutely insane and balls to the freaking wall! Then into all that percussion. And then to the moon and back with the effects and everything, wow! Awesome version and highly recommended! Trey lays down that delay effect at the end and man it sounds like it is about to go into 2001 but no! Good Lord! >

You Enjoy Myself: Niiiiiiice! Trey DESTROYS the second note, fans are PUMPED. Huge yell going for BOOOOY. Trey destroys the solo; this is absolutely inspired. Not sure how this didn’t make jamcharts?

The Horse > Silent in the Morning: Standard.

Cars Trucks Buses: Odd choice. Standard. >

Tweezer: Let’s go! Total face melter through 11 and a half. Things get choppy for a couple of minutes but then ramp up big time around 14 and a half. Smoking. Killer Tweezer.

Theme From the Bottom: Standard. >

Hold Your Head Up > Cracklin' Rosie > Hold Your Head Up: Standard.

Sample in a Jar: Standard. >

Tweezer Reprise: Standard.

ENCORE:

Julius: Standard.

Summary: 4.279/5 (136 ratings) Plenty of goodies in the first set! The second set started off very strong but then cratered. I bet they were holding back for the CB. Phish.net has this rated as a 4.279/5 (136 ratings) – I feel like that is a bit strong. I would be good at a 4.0 of 5.

Replay Value: Jam, Fee, Reba, Stash, Runaway Jim, You Enjoy Myself, Tweezer

This was my first show having had listened to Phish just about exclusively for almost a year. I was a rookie at being at a show. It rocked my world. I had to carry my then girlfriend out during the Tweezer jam from in front of the soundboard under extenuating circumstances. That Tweezer jam is straight up nasty. I actually saw Slayer the week before in Philly and you can hear a Slayery feel to a lot of Trey's playing. While I was carrying her out under serious distress, Trey was slicing me up like a dagger, Page was punching me in the guts, Mike was knocking my knees out, and Fishman was tripping me. Everyone was OK in the end but I learned a lot of lessons at my first show. The music overwhelmed me in a great way and having already known all the tunes, my familiarity gave me a surreal body mind and spirit connection to the whole live experience that is Phish.

I have listened to this show a lot since. It ranks high in energy, nasty and spot on playing. Just the Tweezer jam alone is worth a listen.

Great first set which is weird to say since the 1st usually isn't as great as the 2nd. Worth the listen.
But all around great show before the Ball.