Best Live Phish CDs

For sound quality I really like 8/13/96 from Deer Creek. One of the best sounding live discs I've heard and two solid jammin sets. In my opiinion Phish was really at their peak from '92-'96 so discs from that time period should really shine. I'm also partial to the "Hampton Comes Alive" box set, but that may be because I was at those shows.

Jond,
Good call. The Deer Creek came right on the heels of the 3 night stand at Red Rocks. I did all 3 nights there with my tape rig and got some really tasty tapes.

I did the Broome County Arena show as well and really like my live tapes from that too. They stand up pretty well against the commercial release.

Dewinkle,
Not commercially available, but widely traded are the "Camp Oswego" weekend shows 2 nights, six sets, great shows.

Thanks guys. I do own the ones mentioned with the exception of Camp Oswego. I need to hunt that one down.

slipknot, was there a particular source for oswego that you had in mind? i have the FOB schoeps that's going around and its not great. i now see that there's a U89i for the 18th which probably deserves a listen.

Dewinkle, i shy away from the official releases because, to me, they don't sound the way the actual concerts sounded. too sterile or something, not to mention the cost involved in buying all of them.

if you wouldn't mind checking out some audience recordings, you must get Big Cypress (NYE 1999>2000). the neumann u89 of both days and the schoeps of 10-30-99 are so sweet sounding. The music was out of this world, too.

Ketchup,
My own source tapes from that weekend (AKG 480/61 & Earthworks SR77>Lunatec V2>Apogee a/d1K>Tascam DA P1) are pretty good. IMO, far too many people see Schoeps and think it's everything...And, I think the FOB crowd at some shows were way too in front of the sweet spot.

Give a listen to AUDs from the 7/12 Vernon Downs show if you can. Taper's Section vs. FOB. Taper's Section tapes hold up really well. I think the bigger difference in FOB comes INDOORS. Outdoors, the music has less reflective interference and has a chance to bloom. When yer FOB and right on top of it, your mics can't pick up the gel 'cause you are way in front of it. I think the exact opposite is true indoors.

I need to pick up a CDR setup and get some of these DATS into circulation. After over 15 years of taping, I sold off all my gear, and am listening to the fruits of my labors.