In 1991, Phish was on the precipice of a breakthrough. The group was graduating from the small dive bars and college shows they had consistently performed up until that point to filling larger venues across the country. To cap off a thoroughly successful tour with Giant Country Horns in July of ’91, the group hosted a free gathering in Auburn, Maine, on August 3rd, 1991, at Larrabee Farm, also known as Amy’s Farm.

During the free show on the 42.8-acre property, Phish played three sets, bringing a congregation of fans that was, at the time, unprecedented in size for the band. The performance at Amy’s Farm foreshadowed the band’s bright future, with the day’s festivities widely considered to be a precursor to their now-famous festivals, a tradition that began in earnest with 1996’s The Clifford Ball.

Last week, a high-quality video of “Poor Heart” from soundcheck for Phish’s performance on Amy’s Farm on August 3rd, 1991, surfaced, thanks to Vimeo user and Phish.net co-founder Matt Laurence. More videos have started to surface, including “Crimes Of The Mind” (soundcheck), “Bitchin’ Again”, a Steve “Dude of Life” Pollak original, as well as “Wilson”, which served as the first set opener for the legendary ’91 show. Brief banter between Amy, the band, and the crowd can also be heard prior to Phish jumping into “Wilson”.

As JamBase reports, Laurence explained that he has a full video of the entire show on VHS (minus the encore) and anticipates releasing more of the video in the future after he pairs the video with higher quality soundboard audio. JamBase also explains that Laurence chose to release the soundcheck video independently from the rest of the show given that there is no soundboard audio of the soundcheck currently in circulation.

Enjoy these newly surfaced videos, and hopefully we continue to see more in the upcoming weeks. Many thanks to Matt Laurence for releasing this to the masses and preparing more video from Amy’s Farm to release in the future!

Phish – “Crimes Of The Mind” – Amy’s Farm, 1991

[Video: Matt Laurence]

Phish – “Bitchin’ Again” – Amy’s Farm, 1991

[Video: Matt Laurence]

Phish – “Wilson” – Amy’s Farm, 1991

[Video: Matt Laurence]