This is my favorite SOAM of 2015...it doesn't have much competition but the jam packs a punch. The effects and textures from all 4 are fantastic

I'm not 100% sure I agree with @TweezingSpaceRanger ("What? n00b100 doesn't want a 3.0 jam highly recommended??!?!?!?!" *clutches pearls in disbelief*), but it's a pretty close call. This is *such* a dark and gruesome version - there are versions from even 1993 that aren't as nasty as this one (8/14 immediately leaps to mind). 7/13/14 has a quite good first set (to say nothing of its famous 2nd set), and this is a huge reason why.

This should be highly recommended. The chanting part is mind boggling phish and the landing is patiently drawn out and executed to perfection

One of the best first-set jams ever, and probably the most contentious (certainly the Denver Ghost doesn't invite the same kind of debate), in that it's a weird animal that can be hard to embrace as easily as something like the super fun 11/6/98 SOAM or the vicious piledriver that is the 12/7/95 Melt can be. But it's a true roller-coaster ride, in that you (and the band, probably) have no real idea where the band's going next, and its wealth of creativity and willingness to leap into the void here and there make it certainly worth a listen at least once. I personally think it's an incredible piece of music, all the more so because it's harder to embrace than pretty much every other great 3.0 jam.

Also, there is probably no chance they didn't do that ending on purpose.

I've gotten into my share of disputes about Coventry (especially when viewed in the prism of the modern era, which features a band that is almost *one hundred percent* different from the band that took the stage on this date), and jams like this one or the Bag or the soundcheck or whatever get tossed at me as to why Coventry should be celebrated and even why 2.0 still outdistances 3.0. But, to me, it isn't so much the improv that matters (shit, this is an improvisational band that was stretching improv to its breaking point nearly every show by this point, I'd HOPE they could play a good jam) as the first part, as denoted in the jam chart description - the "ugly" composed section that starts things off. I get my fair share of stick for loving Type II above else (which, I'm sure, sets me apart from the rest of the online community), and it's not always undeserved, but even thinking (let alone listening) to the way they butcher Melt and Glide and just about every goddamn song they play on both dates is why I can never, ever bring myself to listen to Coventry again. At the end of the day, I respect the band, and I respect their music and the craftsmanship of their compositions (even the ones I don't like). Why would I want to listen to a show in which *the band* cannot bring themselves to respect *their own* music?

THE highlight from Coventry. If you need any convincing to give Coventry at least one listen, listen to this jam. Emotional peaks and valleys run throughout and it's true what it says about the last 5 minutes: it is the emotions of everyone in the area all forced through tired hands, tired eyes, and tired minds to create some of the most beautifully sad music in history.

One of the best in the last 15 years.

One of the truly bizarre and wonderful ventures phish took us on in 1999. A year which the band explored the decomposition of grooves and focused on the space created in between or after. This jam along with the Bosie Bag, Portland Ghost, Deer Creek BOAF, Niigata Ghost, Raleigh Tweezer, and Austin Wolfman's are all moments that bought Phish to perfect the 99 sound at Big Cypress.

almost like a maximalist groove here^ , this jam is shows an absolute mastery of groove style jamming where every member of the band is speaking out, almost like soloing, at once. there is a SICK video of it on youtube, check it out for a full experience. also the second set is incredible, has a cool loop jam in makisupa and a RAGING funky bitch and a unbelievably gorgeous simple. trey is on fire in this show too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiNixnMFlDA

There's no shortage of Type II monster Melts out there from every incarnation of the band, so I think you can make room in your heart for one that just leaps into punchy funk right out of the song proper and stays there for its entire duration. Mike and Page, in particular, really contribute to how exceptionally catchy this jam is. I think of this one like I think of 12/7/95 - a prototypical Melt for its era, with the nasty piledriver rock of the mid-90s replaced with the smooth minimalist grooves of the late-90s.

This is the slowest version of SOAM that I've ever heard, and somehow that makes it even better/funkier.

This is a great, somewhat unique version where the jam is not centered on Trey's soloing but on a dark whole band groove. I would love to hear a SBD of this one some day.

Have a listen here: https://soundcloud.com/dan-mielcarz/split-open-and-melt-7-1-95

Whenever I start to feel like I've "heard it all", it's always refreshing to return to the jamming charts and check out some recommended versions that I haven't heard yet. I thought the 10/29/94 Spartanburg SOAMelt was insane, but 10/25/94 definitely has that one beat. The AUD on the spreadsheet is ok, but this Melt is a worthy candidate for inclusion on a From The Archives broadcast

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Unfinished. Monster 20+ jam. Best SOAMelt ever?