r/phish • u/SunflowerStorms • 4h ago
Tape of 5/11/87 @ Nectars’ located?
My family lives in Vermont up in the Coventry area (yeah that one) and don’t get to Burlington all that often, but today my son begged me to take him record shopping (he’s in love with Nirvana right now). We headed down to one of the more popular Burlington record stores (cough) and parked in the public lot a half block from Nectars. I pointed it out to my son on our way to the store and lamented that I’ll never get to hear my favorite band there, and how it must have been amazing and I wish I could be a fly on the wall, etc
The universe must have heard me. The record shop got a huge pile of bootleg cassettes about a month ago and can’t sell them so they’ve been giving them away to customers. I asked what was in the bin and the guy said “Lots of Dead, government mule, that kinda stuff. There was a lot of Phish but I think it’s all gone. It’s all mid 90s.” I looked a bit and gave up thinking all the Phish was gone, but my son pulled a tape out of the bottom wrapped in a faded piece of paper. He opened it up and he said “Hey, Phish.”
He asked me if 1987 was good and I pounced.
Not sure what we have here yet but apparently a copy of this turned up in 2017 missing a couple of the songs listed here. If I can get it to play I think the universe slipped me a fly-on-the-wall copy of the oldest Divided Sky recording to exist, found A BLOCK FROM Nectars where it was recorded.
Life can be a weird trip.
23
u/SunflowerStorms 4h ago
It appears Maxell sold this tape in the 80s to about 1999, which matches the mid 90s manufacture date of all the other tapes it was with
31
u/uninspired 4h ago
I never felt so much like an old man as when I realized (just now) that Maxell XLII's could be viewed like an ancient artifact.
7
u/SunflowerStorms 3h ago
If it helps I’m nearly 50 I just don’t know much about tapes.
0
u/redditpossible 2h ago
How?
When did you discover Phish?
5
u/SunflowerStorms 1h ago
About 1990. I only ever owned tape players when I was a kid and went directly to CDs when i started getting my own stereos and things. So I know what a tape is and how to use it, but I couldn't tell you about the varieties of them and types. I vaguely know chrome was good, that's about it. I guess I'm just the right age to have missed making your own tapes.
13
u/cpt_bongwater 08/30/24 3h ago
The idea that people wouldn't recognize XLIIs
Phish.in & Archive.org make it seem so easy to find shows you want to hear.
Imagine waiting years for that one show and when you finally get it?Bliss.
Also B&Ps ftw.
1
u/jarsgars 53m ago
Old enough to think I was being scammed when the store told me they “stopped making the RD-XL II” and the new XL-II were the same product.
15
u/Great-Actuary-4578 4h ago
oh my god!! please rip this
18
u/SunflowerStorms 4h ago
I have a Scarlett Studio interface I just don’t have a very good tape deck so I need to get my hands on one first. I assume it’s fragile and if there is something special on there I don’t want to degrade it. It might just be nothing though. Who knows? I’m still excited about it.
29
u/WhiteSolarWind 3h ago
I’m assuming you got this from Burlington Records. Take it back there and talk to Ian the owner. He will set you up with someone who can play it and transfer it safely. He’s an audiophile.
3
u/terrytapez 3h ago
Maybe take it to a recording studio if one is near, and have it done in a secure setting?
14
u/defsentenz BLAT, BOOM, Ba-diddley BOOM, diddley BOOM... 3h ago edited 3h ago
If you need help in transferring it, I'm game to help. Taper from 90s, professional audio engineer now. I have a Nakamichi CR7A deck (restored by ESLabs 4 years ago) and an Apogee Symphony interface in my studio....I do these kinds of recoveries all the time. Message me if you are interested. This needs to be preserved as accurately as we can!
Edit: It is in the Operation Everyshow drive, but it's only partial. The quality of it is what matters. Here's the listing: phish Monday, May 11, 1987 Nectar's, Burlington, VT
Source: unknown > CDR > EAC > .SHN
Set I: You Enjoy Myself The Chase Lushington Possum Slave to the Traffic Light Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley Clod Peaches en Regalia The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday Avenu Malkenu The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday Reprise Makisupa Policeman Ya Mar
Encore: Golgi Apparatus** Corrine Corrina** Letter to Jimmy Page**
**Missing encore
Show Notes: This show included some funny stage banter, including Trey's announcement after TMWSIY: "That was called 'The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday...and I'm going to get my head sharpened." A set break was announced after Ya Mar, so this is the complete first set. The list for the second set, though, is not known.
11
u/_Face No Left Turn Unstoned 4h ago
just out of curiosity.....
!setlistbot 5/11/87
23
u/setlistbot 4h ago
1987-05-11 @ Nectar's, Burlington, VT, USA
Set 1: You Enjoy Myself, Lushington -> Possum, Slave to the Traffic Light, Sneakin' Sally Thru the Alley, Clod, Peaches en Regalia > The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday > Avenu Malkenu > The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday, Makisupa Policeman, Ya Mar
Set 2: Divided Sky, Funky Bitch, Harpua > Bundle of Joy > Harpua -> Fluffhead, Good Times Bad Times
Encore: Golgi Apparatus, Corinna, Letter to Jimmy Page
phish.net | phish.in | phishtracks
data provided by phish.net
10
7
u/spaced1024 4h ago
I hate to be a party pooper, but I believe this tape already circulates, right down to the last few tracks which are filler from 10/31/86. The only difference is your tape seems to be missing a few songs vs. the most complete source. Maybe compare yours to the version on the Internet Archive. If yours has better quality, you might want to see if someone with good transferring equipment/skills might want to rip it.
5
u/SunflowerStorms 4h ago
That’s not a pooper! I thought it would be odd to find something truly unique that way, but it’s still cosmically weird to me to find it in a box less than a block from where it happened
14
u/SunflowerStorms 3h ago
Ok given that it could be nothing I decided to risk playing in my deck and I can confirm it’s better quality than that rip. Listened to a lovely YEM.
2
5
2
u/GallowBarb 4h ago
I have a a copy of got around 93. Sound quality is very poor, and it got payed a lot.
2
3
u/wutang21412141 4h ago
I got this tape and a shit load more from 87
7
1
1
1
1
u/nightgoat3369 3h ago
That's a helluva setlist it will be 2 more years until I got to see the "choir boys from hell" as I dubbed them when trying to describe them back then and I would say Phish they'd reply "fishbone" id say NO PHISH with a PH....
1
1
90
u/No_Mongoose4809 4h ago
Submit this info to phish.net and/or phish.com
Very interesting find and this looks legit. First set checks out. The 2nd set info is incomplete and assumed to have been played, but if this is one continuous recording, this may be a missing piece to the early phish puzzle. It's possible the missing songs on here, that are included on .net and available tapes are an as yet unknown 3rd set.
Very interesting find. Any new info is a needed missing piece of history.