In 1993, Phish was touring following the release of their fourth album Rift, and rapidly expanding into colleges and theaters as word spread about their renowned live performances. St. Louis '93 captures the band at two standout shows on consecutive tours at the 1,750-seat Beaux Arts style American Theatre.
The first of the two American Theatre shows was April 14, 1993 - dubbed the "Roger Proposal" show when Trey's old friend Roger Holloway decided to propose to his girlfriend Jennifer onstage. Trey and Roger conspired to make the proposal. Highlights of the April show included a creative Stash/Kung/Horse mash-up, Roger's Proposal to open set II (she said "Yes"!) followed by AC/DC Bag and My Sweet One for the newly-engaged couple, You Enjoy Myself > Spooky > You Enjoy Myself, and a dreamy Harpua > Runaway Jim. The encore was dedicated to Roger and Jen "on the road of life." Phish's second show at the American took place August 16, 1993 during the legendary summer '93 tour, which found the band taking exponentially bigger risks while exploring the outer limits of their repertoire. The August show kicked off with a non-stop sequence of Axilla > Possum > Horn > Reba > Sparkle. During I Didn't Know, Fish used Voodoo and his Madonna washboard in an attempt to push back the waters of the Great Flood of 1993. Unique interstitial jams connected many of the songs in set I and added an extra element of mystery. The St. Louis Reba was an improvisational masterpiece. Possum, Foam and Split Open And Melt were all superb as was the only Mike's Song > Faht > Weekapaug Groove combination ever played.
St. Louis '93 was recorded in stereo from the soundboard by Paul Languedoc and mastered by Fred Kevorkian.
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