The latest LivePhish official release features a 1990 show at The Marquee in Manhattan, notable for John Popper joining in during the second set on harmonica and vocals. On December 28, 1990, Phish would play their first of three shows, with tickets ($13.50) sold out for the 950-capacity club.
Phish first played New York City in spring of 1988, climbing through the clubs from Kenny’s Castaways, one-offs at Tramps and Ukrainian National Home in ’88-‘89, and eight shows at The Wetlands Preserve between ’89 and September 1990. This was Ron Delsener Presents’ first Phish show, starting a relationship with the legendary promoter that continues today. In addition to sparking Phish’s career-long relationship with Delesner, this show was where Sue Drew, a young Elektra Records A&R rep who initially noticed the band on a CMJ Magazine cover before picking up ‘Lawn Boy’ (calling it “the strangest album I have ever heard”), caught her first show. Both these connections spawned alliances that helped define the band’s future. In addition to signing them to Elektra, Sue introduced the band to their booking agent, Chip Hooper.
“I was completely blown away. The crowd was one thing because they were all so into their own little world and into the whole music, but the band was just incredible. The musicianship was amazing. And from that minute on, I just became obsessed with them as musicians, and so I started paying attention to where they were playing.”
Sue Drew
The Marquee performance on the 28th marked the start of the band’s second-ever holiday tour, a three-night run including this show, Campus Club in Providence on the 29th, and their second consecutive New Year’s Eve at Boston’s World Trade Center Exhibition Hall.
Phish had released their sophomore album, Lawn Boy, in September 1990, and five of those songs made it into The Marquee setlist. Their instrumentation at this time included Page on a Yamaha CP70 electric piano and Hammond B-3 and Mike on a Languedoc bass, which translated palpably to the soundboard DAT recording.
Musically, highlights abound in this holiday run kick-off – Set 1 featured a “Runaway Jim” > “Foam” opening combo with a “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” tuneup and holiday shoutout from Trey. “Llama” followed by a powerful sequence of “Colonel Forbin’s Ascent” > “Fly Famous Mockingbird” > “Mike’s Song” > “I Am Hydrogen” > “Weekapaug Groove.”
Set 2 starts with a pairing of “The Landlady” > “Possum” features a seamless “Squirming Coil” > “Tweezer” > “Manteca” > “Tweezer” > “Oh Kee Pa Ceremony” > “My Sweet One” > “Divided Sky.” “Tweezer” was fast becoming a classic, having been played more than 40 times since its debut that spring. and only the second time it was split up in a sandwich (9/20/90 Tweezer > Buried Alive > Tweezer). Blues Traveler frontman and Wetlands alumni, John Popper, joined in on harmonica for “No Good Trying” (Syd Barrett) > “Hold Your Head Up,” “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” and “Funky Bitch”.
The Marquee 1990 was recorded by John Paluska, mastered by Fred Kevorkian at Kevorkian Mastering with post-production by Kevin Shapiro. Get the new release here.
Setlist via Phish.net
12/28/1990 THE MARQUEE New York, NY
Set 1: Runaway Jim, Foam, Horn, Reba, Llama, Colonel Forbin’s Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird > Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Golgi Apparatus
Set 2: The Landlady > Possum[1], The Squirming Coil -> Tweezer -> Manteca -> Tweezer > The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony > My Sweet One > Divided Sky, No Good Trying[2] > Hold Your Head Up[2], Don’t Get Me Wrong[2], Funky Bitch[2]
Encore: Bouncing Around the Room, Highway to Hell
[1] Charlie Chan and Random Note signals. [2] John Popper on harmonica.
Possum contained Charlie Chan and Random Note signals and a We Wish You a Merry Christmas tease. Page played a few notes of HYHU before No Good Trying. No Good Trying through Funky Bitch featured John Popper on harmonica.
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