Show Notes
This was Phish’s 17th known 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.