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Apr
21
85

Phish - 1985

The Bowl in Center of Campus, Goddard College
Plainfield, VT, United States map

Show Notes

This was Phish’s 18th show – the revived Goddard SpringFest.  The date is unsure – it was the 1st Sunday following the date in Mike’s journal that mentioned Mike hooking up with Page.  According to Nat Woodard, it could be 4/14/85 instead.  This show marked the 1st time Page saw Phish.  Nat, who also created the very 1st Phish t-shirts, helped organize and book the bands along with Page and Kevin Crochetiere.  Nat wasn’t a student but instead a “faculty brat” who remembered SpringFest from the 1970’s and suggested its revival.  They were only able to get a $400 budget, which Nat spent on a sound system for Friday and Saturday.  By the time Phish played on Sunday, the rented system was gone and they had to improvise gear.  The soundman had friends in a UVM band called “The Few” who wanted to play.  Nat called The Few and they were willing to play Sunday.  A stage was built in front of Giles dormitory on campus and Page played with Pueblo Fever (a local R&B band full of older dudes) on Saturday.  Pueblo Fever shared members with Something Quick, which was the classic late 1970’s Goddard band that always played SpringFest.  On Sunday a band showed up in a van and Mike jumped out.  Nat asked “are you The Few?”  They answered “”no, we’re Phish.  The Few couldn’t make it.”  Page and Nat noticed that Phish had a P.A. system.  They were the only act “scheduled” and there were maybe 20 people milling around for this historic show.  The set consisted of mostly Grateful Dead covers – someone asked if they knew any Dead, and they responded by playing a couple hours of GD.  Page and Nat were dumbfounded by Fish’s playing.  Nat recalled Page saying “wow these guys are good.  I should jam with them.”  Page had recently been playing with Thomas McCommas and Jim Pollock but was considering giving up playing live to become be the in-house studio keyboard guy somewhere in Texas.  Thankfully that never happened.