Another archival Phish release is available for streaming and download: 11/27/96 Key Arena, Seattle, WA:
On November 27, 1996 Phish played the Key Arena in downtown Seattle, WA – a futuristic multi-purpose arena located below the Space Needle in the Seattle Center. The venue opened during the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair and was renovated into the Seattle Center Coliseum (renamed Key Arena in 1993), longtime home to the Seattle SuperSonics NBA team. Phish was near the end of a 35-date national tour following the release of their sixth studio album, Billy Breathes and the transformative Halloween Remain in Light show. The band spent two days leading up to this show jamming at Seattle’s Stepping Stone Studios, providing the launching pad for a fall ’96 barnburner. It was the night before Thanksgiving and local hero Jimi Hendrix’s birthday, which gave this show an added twist. Seattle ’96 was packed with highlights including the Julius > My Friend My Friend > Ya Mar opening sequence, Chalk Dust Torture, and an inspired Free > Theme From The Bottom – the first pairing of those two songs off the new album. Bold As Love closed the set and began the Hendrix tribute that spanned the rest of the show as Trey wished Jimi a happy birthday.
Set II flowed pretty much non-stop, starting with an extended Down With Disease > Jesus Just Left Chicago. An experimental Scent Of A Mule followed, during which Trey played and scatted the entire Brady Bunch Theme and Fish sprinkled in some vacuum. Tweezer locked into a spacious groove and dipped seamlessly into a taste of Sweet Emotion before returning to Down With Disease for an instrumental reprise. The Star Spangled Banner was another nod to Hendrix and foreshadowed Phish’s singing of the national anthem at an upcoming Sonics/Lakers game. Jimi’s birthday party wrapped up with a blazing Fire and a Waste > Tweezer Reprise encore that sealed a magical night in The Emerald City.
Setlist and notes from phish.net:
SET 1: Julius > My Friend, My Friend, Ya Mar, Chalk Dust Torture, The Sloth, Uncle Pen, Free > Theme From the Bottom, Bold As Love
SET 2: Down with Disease -> Jesus Just Left Chicago > Scent of a Mule[1], Tweezer -> Sweet Emotion Jam -> Down with Disease[2], The Star Spangled Banner, Fire
ENCORE: Waste > Tweezer Reprise
[1] Mule Duel included Brady Bunch theme scats from Trey and some vacuum action from Fish.
[2] Can't You Hear Me Knocking at ending.
The Mule Duel included Brady Bunch theme scats from Trey and some vacuum action from Fish. Fire and Bold As Love were dedicated to Jimi Hendrix on his birthday. The Disease and Tweezer combo has led some fans to refer to this as the “Diseezer.” The return to DWD contained a Can’t You Hear Me Knocking ending.
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