Third Ball with opening act Juan Hung Low
(Phish at the Joyous Lake, Woodstock, NY June 6, 1996)
by Brad G. Serling (brad@metaverse.com)

Trey and Mike during Big Black Furry Creatures from Mars

A few weeks ago Ben calls me from upstate and says he was just up all night in the studio with Phish-even played Trey's guitar. Cool, I'm thinking. Maybe I'll head up there and see what's shakin. Last week Ben calls and says that the boys will be playing at a local bar (there's only two in Woodstock). Even better, I'm thinking, but we'd better keep this quiet. This past Wednesday I come home from a smoking Bela Fleck show at Tramp's to find a message from Ben: "Come on up! Just got back from the studio and they're playing tomorrow night. Meet me at Joshua's."

After some hummas and beer's at Joshua's (Ben's restaurant in Woodstock), we head on over to The Lake. Trey passes us on the way there. A small bar about two thirds the size of The Haunt in Ithaca or The Living Room in Providence (old stomping grounds for Vermont's Phinest), Joyous Lake is starting to fill up. Doors opened at eight and the band's not coming on till around eleven. Turns out there's an opening act called "Fish Food" - I think. The Lake's getting more crowded, and they're carding heavily at the door (thank God!). Fishman's saying he's not sure who all these people are or where they came from. "There's definitely a lot of locals, but I don't know who all these other people are. It's getting pretty packed!"

They close the doors around 9:45. Only locals scamming in their friends now. Whew!

Billed as "Juan Hung Low," the opening band is playing a cool set, but we were too busy savoring the cool breeze out on the porch. It was rapidly turning into a sauna inside.

Ben's asking Page if he can get up and play with them on "Highway to Hell." "I don't think so! Besides man, we don't know what we're gonna play till we get up there." Page retorts with a smile. A few minutes later, Ben's asking Trey. "NOT A CHANCE!" says Trey, grabbing Ben's shoulders and laughing.

The Lake is packed with anywhere from 250-300 people, it's a sweatbox, and "Third Ball" opens with Split Open & Melt. We were melting after a minute of the jam. Yowza! What an opener! A brisk Runaway Jim with a raucous jam is followed by a f-f-funky Funky Bitch. Right on

Trey plays slide with Page's beer

In the middle section of Scent of a Mule, Mike's doing some free form vocal excercises and it gets real quiet. "Highway to Hell!!!" someone's yelling. "Highway to Hell!!!!" Hmmmm.... Could this be Ben? The jamming picks up and Trey grabs a bottle of Rolling Rock off Page's keyboard and starts doing some bottleneck slide. Then he grabs a megaphone and gets some crazy feedback by rubbing it against the fret board. Sure enough, the set closes with Highway to Hell. Oooooo baby! Just for the record, Trey made sure Ben didn't make it onto the stage (although he did knock over Trey's mike stand trying)

Out to the porch for a breather during the break. Whew. Drenched with sweat and spilled beer. But feelin' fine.

After that smokin' AC/DC number to close the first set, what better than AC/DC Bag to open the second! Right into the thick of it. Did someone stoke the coals in the furnace?

Trey looks at Page and says "Let's do it! Let's do it!" - You Enjoy Myself.

Later on in the set we are treated to some new songs. 'Bout time! They've been recording up here for a while and haven't played any of the new tunes yet tonight. The first song, a mellow Trey tune a la "Dog Faced Boy," is very well received. Trey announces that it's still untitled. The next one-lookout!!! Fish says "It's better than Machine Gun." Bold. Very bold. And it ain't no lie, although this ain't no Band of Gypsies. Character Zero is a Hendrixesque rocker with great lyrics to boot (to boot). Can you say big radio hit?

Trey laying it on thick during Theme from the Bottom

The shimmering hihat vamp either means Maze, David Bowie, or possibly NICU. And the winner is..;. David Bowie. The Lake is a rain forest at this point.

Fee was a nice treat, and rip-roaring Sample in a Jar closed out the set

We all had an Oh Kee Pa during the Ya Mar encore. Then Trey let us stand next to his Fire

Now if I can only stay awake for The Meters at midnight tonight at Tramps!

Phish, Joyous Lake, Woodstock, NY  6/6/96 
Set One: 
Split Open & Melt
Poor Heart
Runaway Jim
Funky Bitch
Big Black Furry Creatures from Mars
Theme from the Bottom
Scent of a Mule
Highway to Help

Set Two:
AC/DC Bag
You Enjoy Myself
Chalkdust Torture
Sparkle
Stash
untitled
Character Zero
David Bowie
Fee
Sample in a Jar

Encore:
Ya Mar
Fire

and don't miss my New Year's Review (with audio), Sugarbush 95(lots of groovy pix), and real audio interviews with Trey and Fish....