Tonight (Tuesday, July 7th), Phish will dig deep into the archives to premiere a very special video of the second set from their May 1st, 1989 performance at a small club in Northampton, MA as the fifteenth episode of their ongoing archival webcast/cooking series, Dinner and a Movie. Tune in below at 8:30 p.m. ET and scroll down to follow along with our 5/1/89 Stream Companion.
Phish Dinner and a Movie Episode 15: 5/1/89 Set Two, Northampton, MA
The fifteenth episode of Dinner and a Movie follows the 8/31/12 “F— Your Face” show, the 7/27/14 Merriweather “Tweezerfest”, the 7/25/17’s Baker’s Dozen “Jam-Filled” night, Magnaball night two (8/22/15), last year’s first night at Mohegan Sun (7/9/19), the first night of the band’s 2016 Halloween run in Las Vegas (10/28/16), the final night of 2017’s Mexican destination event (1/15/17), the band’s first of three nights in Alpharetta, GA in 2018 (8/3/18), the out-there 1997 U.S. tour opener featuring a guest appearance by LeRoi Moore of Dave Matthews Band (7/21/97), the improv-heavy second night of their 2018 Madison Square Garden New Year’s run (12/29/18), 2013’s Friday night at The Gorge (7/26/13), the band’s 1995 debut at Deer Creek Music Center (6/19/95), the fiery Wednesday night at The Mann in 2015 (8/12/15), and an evening at the iconic Greek Theatre in Berkeley, CA from 2010 (8/7/10).
This week, Dinner and a Movie will take us way back to the early days of Phish with a performance from 1989. This episode unseats Episode 12 (6/19/95) as the oldest performance to be featured as part of the archival series. This is also easily the smallest venue to be featured as part of Dinner and a Movie, so the stream will appropriately benefit the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), whose mission is to preserve and nurture the ecosystem of independent live music venues and promoters throughout the United States during the ongoing pandemic and onward. Independent venues exist in every state across the country; they were the first to be closed, they will be the last to open.
Normally, we use the Stream Companion as a way to provide context on the show, the tour, the moment in Phish history we happen to be reliving each week. That’s all made possible by the hard work of Phish fans, from the tapers who meticulously recorded and disseminated hundreds upon hundreds of shows to the fine folks at Phish.net who have built such an incredible resource for researching the statistical minutia of the band’s many, many live shows through the years. This week, however, is a little bit tricky.
This Northampton show highlights the band as they were still cutting their teeth as a regional act and getting a foothold in markets within the Northeast, long before their every note was cataloged and documented. This is years before LivePhish, ages before webcasts—a literal lifetime ago for many fans set to tune in. The only audio recording of the show in circulation via the usual taper channels is missing most of the first set and all of the second. Since tonight’s webcast will feature only set two, we’re left with just a setlist and a handful of notes with which to prepare for the stream.
Thankfully, along with their announcement of this week’s episode, Phish provided plenty of info to help set the tone for the unusual Dinner and a Movie we are about to enjoy:
On May 1, 1989, Phish played the Universal Joint in the basement of Pearl Street — a club in Northampton, MA located downtown at 10 Pearl St. in a space subsequently known as 10 Below. It was an all-ages show with $6 tickets and an extra $2 charge for those under 21. This was a formative time for Phish, who were just about to release their first official studio album, Junta. This Tuesday’s Dinner and A Movie features a 67-minute Set II from that night, and marks the first time it has ever been shown publicly.
Keyboardist Page McConnell also shared his recollections about the show and the chance encounter outside the venue that allowed the set to be captured on film:
A Note from Page:
As I recall, the video for this show came into being rather spontaneously, without too much forethought or planning. As we were setting up our gear, in a basement club in Northampton, MA, we were approached by a well-dressed, diminutive gentleman. As best I can remember, his name was René. And he was there to pitch his video idea to us. For a nominal fee he would shoot the band’s set with one camera, artistically. He spoke with a French accent, almost spitting at us in a kind of broken English, with an urgency that was quite compelling. As his pace and volume increased, he kept saying it would be “avant-garde.” And the more times he said “avant-garde” with that thick accent, the more I believed him.
Needless to say, he got the gig. And we got the video.
The audio was recorded by our friend and former manager, John Paluska. The audio and visual sat in our vault since 1989, but had never been properly synched up (the videotape lacked audio). Jared Slomoff did a great job matching them up, so you all could enjoy it this week. According to Kevin Shapiro, we have used all the existing audio, but there are still a few audio pauses and hiccups along the way. Our apologies.
Rene’s use of the fisheye lens, the “negative image” effect, the odd angles and abrupt movements…I’m not sure it all adds up to “avant-garde.” And, at times I wish he would settle down. But, he went for it, and there is no denying that Rene’s camera work brought a certain excitement to the overall shoot.
After watching some of the video, I looked to see what sort of shows we were playing back then. It was a really fun time for us. We were starting to get gigs every month around the Northeast at clubs and colleges, and still playing regular gigs in Burlington at The Front and Nectar’s.
This video captures some of that youthful energy that is nurtured and developed in small clubs like this one all across the country. Some of the places we played are still around, but many clubs are just barely hanging on now, which is why this week we are proud to be supporting the National Independent Venue Association. #saveourstages
Enjoy,
Page
With that, we’ll take a quick look at the setlist. The first set looks fantastic on paper, filled with the sorts of songs Phish fans chase today. Back then, however, seeing “You Enjoy Myself”, “Esther”, “Alumni Blues”, “Split Open and Melt”, “The Lizards”, and “Golgi Apparatus” in one set wasn’t unusual. Don’t forget, this is 1989—at that point that list comprised a sizeable chunk of their original repertoire. Of note, this is the first Dinner and a Movie show to feature the series’ namesake instrumental, “Dinner and a Movie”, but since it opened set one, it won’t be featured on tonight’s stream. Still waiting for that one.
The portion we will see begins with a classic “Mike’s Groove” before moving into a rendition of Allen Toussaint‘s “On Your Way Down”, a common cover in the late ’80s that hasn’t resurfaced at a Phish show since 2011. “Possum” is up next, and according to the setlist notes on Phish.com, leads into some Gamehendge narration before and after a take on the always-outlandish “Icculus”. The Gamehendge theme continues from there with the central pairing of “Col. Forbin’s Ascent” and “Fly Famous Mockingbird” before the set closes out with “David Bowie”.
It’s unclear whether or not the video will contain the show’s encore, an antics-filled rendition of “Contact” featuring a cameo by Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon‘s “You Enjoy Myself” trampolines. Here’s hoping that René kept shooting for the curtain call.
Tune in tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET to travel back to a time when Phish would play Gamehendge in basement clubs to a couple of hundred people on Monday nights. This is going to be good.
Setlist: Phish | Universal Joint (Pearl Street Ballroom basement) | Northampton, MA | 5/1/89
Set One: Dinner and a Movie, You Enjoy Myself, Esther, AC/DC Bag, Alumni Blues > Letter to Jimmy Page > Alumni Blues, Take the ‘A’ Train, Split Open and Melt, The Lizards, Golgi Apparatus, Good Times Bad Times
Set Two: Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, On Your Way Down, Possum, Icculus, Colonel Forbin’s Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird, David Bowie
Encore: Contact
Notes: This was Phish’s second show at the Universal Joint or “U-Joint” (aka 10 Below), located in the basement of Pearl Street at 10 Pearl Street in Northampton. It was an all ages show and tickets cost $6 with a $2 surcharge for those under 21. The audio was recorded by John Paluska and set II was video taped by a random French guy off the street named René, who approached the band before the show. Trey delivered a Gamehendge narration before and after Icculus. Before the encore was a short presentation of Page’s new haircut (with drums) and Trey’s congratulations to Jim upon completion of his thesis on the Categorization of Sound. Mike announced Contact as being “by Aerosmith” and “a song”. During Contact, Trey and Mike jumped on mini-trampolines in addition to the traditional band/audience arm waving. After Contact, Trey said “we hope that all your tires take you back to your abode tonight (safely).”