Saw Phish for the first and only time in when they were the opening act for Leon Russell / Edgar Winter at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz back in ‘89 or ‘90. I was there to see Leon, but much of the crowd seemed to be there to see Phish — they knew the lyrics to every song. I’d never even heard of them before. They played some noodling jams, but other than that didn’t remind me of the Dead at all. Key signatures were changing by the minute. Prog rockers, which the Dead never were. Didn’t like their music at all. ...but I do like the Dead.
I’ll check out the ‘77 Tuscaloosa Dead show bootleg for your “I Know You Rider” shout out...lol: https://archive.org/details/gd1977-05-17.sbd.stretch.5420.shnf
Just listened to that whole Tuscaloosa show from 5/17/77. They were on their game that day. Impressive versions of Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo, Brown-eyed Women, Terrapin, Tennessee Jed, and a few others. Unfortunately most the audience chatter between songs was edited out, so I didn’t get to hear your request for I Know You Rider.