On May 17, 1992 Phish played at Achilles Rink – the Union College hockey arena opened in 1975 with a capacity of about 2,500. Schenectady was the second-to-last date on a 53-show spring tour that hit 24 states and the District of Columbia with five shows in Colorado, six in California and seven in New York before wrapping up in the band’s hometown Burlington, Vermont. The show is available for download now and streaming via the LivePhish App: http://livephi.sh/ph920517. Try LivePhish+ for free for 10-days and listening to the latest release from the Archives and the entire LivePhish.com catalog.

Phish’s third studio album and Elektra debut, A Picture of Nectar, had dropped in February. Fans benevolently plastered promo stickers depicting Nectar’s face from the album cover on toll booths and highway rest areas from coast to coast. Spring ’92 featured the new Minkin Lexan backdrops, a big batch of new songs that would form the basis for Rift, and the band inviting the audience to share in the Secret Language. Phish.net (and the Internet in general) was just starting to catch on, there was no official taper’s section yet, and word of mouth was key. The Schenectady show – with a ticket price of $5 – was a prime example as it was not listed in the Phish newsletter or hotline. It was a Sunday night, Page’s birthday, and the band was almost home after more than two months on the road.