Phish used to love the Finger Lakes region. Might be tough to believe these days. The last time they played CMAC (née Finger Lakes PAC, or FLPAC) in Canandaigua was 2014. They’ve eschewed the area since the massive curveball that was thrown at their planned 2018 festival at Watkins Glen, which was cancelled due to area flooding and related potable water issues. Between Darien Lake, CMAC and earlier Watkins Glen festivals, the region was a regular stop on Summer tour and Rochester would pop up occasionally on Fall schedules. Nowadays, area fans have to be satisfied with a triennial summer stop in Syracuse, which depending on who you ask, could also be considered a part of the Finger Lakes region.
It’s a shame though. I’ve seen every Phish show at CMAC, and every one at Darien Lake and Syracuse’s newish Lakeview Amphitheater to boot. CMAC is the best of that bunch by most any measure. Most Phish heads likely know the Finger Lakes shed venue for only one reason, the epic 1995 set-spanning “Tweezer” known as the “Fleezer.” As good as that was, their time at the venue doesn’t start and end there.
In 1992, Phish premiered at FLPAC as an opener for Santana. It was a formative tour for the band and while their short opening set isn’t all that noteworthy, the experience of seeing the band later sit in with Carlos and his band was eye-opening for this young fan and for many others in attendance I am sure.
Two years later, on July 14, 1994, they returned on their own, bigger, more experienced, and with their best-selling studio record Hoist released earlier in the year, which received a major publicity push. They were nearing the end of a non-stop touring front half of the year. But there were no signs of fatigue on this night.
I was working for the summer at a sleepaway camp not too far away. There’s really no better way to spend the summer as a teenager. Even as fun as it was, days off were necessary and looked forward to. And there was no better way to spend those days off then taking in some live music. So when a good band announced a show within an hour drive, or if we wanted to stretch it, in some cases much further, tickets were purchased and days off were scheduled. So Phish playing in the Finger Lakes in the early-mid 90’s was perfection really.
The band took a workman-like approach on this night. No breaks, no banter, just solid high-energy playing from start to finish. There wasn’t a best-ever version or any highly notable jams, and not much in the way of rare-nuggets. Each and every song is played flawlessly with creative abandon. You don’t need a “Stash” to go for 30 minutes when it snags a killer riff immediately into the jam. The flow throughout is effortless and relentless, no letup. Even the ballads hit with a fresh vibrancy that pops…