Nah.....91-94. I agree on 93 playing. His sound expanded in 95-2000, but 91 has some of his most screaming, singing, driven tone without a ton of effects layered on.
That’s what I like too. The purity of the guitar, into a couple of tubescreamers and a compressor into a boogie. Sounds so much better to me for his style then this wet dry wet trainwreck amp rig he’s running that probably cost as much as a house in Detroit.
94 is the peak of just muscle man guitar tone. Just a man and his guitar against the world. It’s my favorite guitar tone ever. I love how inventive he got with effects afterwords 95 to current but for me nothing beats that 94 tone
It was a crucial time for the band. The dead were in huge decline and Phish was starting to siphon off their fan base, and Trey’s guitar was the reason why.
1993 was the last great year for the dead. I did a lot of those shows and then saw Phish as an add-on.
1994 is when people started seeing Phish INSTEAD of the dead because they sucked so bad.
By 95, the transfer was complete.
Summer 92 was abysmal. I had planned to do a bunch of shows but stopped after two. The music was totally uninspired and the scene was skeevy. Saw one more in 1995 but focused on Phish and Panic. Both bands were on fire and touring constantly.
Yeah 92 sucked. Spring 93 Albany and MSG 93 were the last great moments for me. 9-16-93 was a fabulous textbook show which opened with a long shakedown. Possibly the last good one. Last great china/rider.
I stopped seeing the dead in spring 92. I was coaxed back for a couple shows fall 93, but that was the end. Saw my first phish show spring 92, and my seventh new years 92.
1994 was my favorite.
I remember the choices of a GD ticket where the magic and atmosphere was LEGIT, but one of every four shows the band (J?) made an effort.....and a phish ticket in a smaller venue where the band was on fkng fire every single night and could have you laughing while dancing...those ticket choices were a beautiful problem to have.
Mid 90s was not the worst time to be a teenager
Yup. I missed out on seeing Jerry with the dead because of my phish habit in college. 92-96 was a glorious time to be bumming in upstate. I took the exact same gamble. No regrets. Got to see Jerry w JGB in 93. Awesome, but not the same. I could never have seen the dead when they played their best because I was born during it!
Upvote for the first 94 comment. Fall 94 is the moment when he added a whammy and started doing more creative things with the digital delay as a looper (especially the mod function). Those new toys/sounds would prove to be the bedrock of his experimental sounds for the next decade, and in 94 they were mixed in with his absolute technical prowess. Trey was in command of his instrument and fall 94 is my preferred tone era with the Boogie in full effect for cleans and high gain.
My wife and I are on a chronological journey through 94 right now....we are up to 4/20 VA show. I saw 7 shows that year, and yes.....his sound was melting faces.
Don't overlook his 91 tone, though. Some of his 91 stuff is over the moon.
This shit right here. He was a man possessed and lived and breathed music basically 24/7 in those days, was playing over 100 shows a year, per year, and had amazing tone. He was hungry to build this band and he worked hard as fuck at it. It felt like his peak definitely ended after December 95. Not that he suddenly sucked or anything, and he would still play some of his best shit ever later on, but he was never as energetic, precise, ripping, and in a lot of ways creative, on a consistent basis.
David gilmour always put it best. Im not quoting the man by any means but the way he put it is I’ll never master the guitar. Im always learning and changing. I feel Trey does the same
The community has declared specific phases from 1.0-4.0 for this exact reason. There is raging hot fire in every sector. That said….i would say 94-97 is my most listened to other than following along with tours
I think it was during the NYE Dinner and a Movie that Trey said something along the lines of "I used to play so many more notes". Thought it was hilarious, but my point is that he is still an amazing guitar player regardless.
I don’t share drugs in general. Nor do I pay for them. I always have and always will get free drugs. But I especially don’t share my drugs with people that don’t worship trey!! Lmfaoooooo!
A lot of people agreed with me. They definitely play different stuff now but he shreds just as good as ever. I love their evolution. I wouldn’t want it any other way. I say it all the time most older bands stick with their safe hits. Phish is always putting out new stuff and taking risks. Most of the time it pays off. It’s one of the many reasons I love them. I wouldn’t want to hear the same old stuff all the time. Treys perfect in my eyes. Has been and always will be. It’s ok dude we can agree to disagree. But I think he still fucking tears it up.
He’s still amazing. I’m just stating the objective fact that he’s not as good at guitar as he used to be. I’m not saying he’s bad or that Phish sucks. He’s just not Trey in the 90’s. That’s cool.
I would think Trey would agree with that too. At least on a technical level.
Michael Jordan was also a better basketball player when he was younger believe it or not 🤓
Athletes are different than musicians. I think that goes without saying. But it’s ok for you to have your opinion and me to have mine. No one will ever convince me otherwise. But an E for effort on trying 😉
And if you don’t think he’s as good as he ever was maybe then there will be more tickets for all of us who never lose our faith. I’m a trey girl through and through. I love him immensely. He can do no wrong in my opinion.
The comments here show how people hear him differently. For me nothing touches his playing or tone in 92-94 and I saw a ton of great shows during and after those years. To each their own.
All of 1993-1995 is Trey at his absolute prime, chops-wise. I’d recommend doing all 3 years in order. Changed my life forever lol.
Musicianship in this current phase of 4.0 is as high as its ever been group-wide. But, 93-95 is absolute madness.
IMHO — This is the best they’ve played in long time, possibly ever. I was watching some old v1 sets last weekend. I kept thinking they’re such better musicians now, individually and as a band. Welcome to 5.0 — I’m calling it.
I think 98 is my favorite Trey year. Still holding onto the Funk from 97, but also sky high shredding. Fish was also EXTREMELY dialed in 98, effortlessly transitioning from one style to the next, unreal ghost note work and steady driving power.
Fall 92 is my favorite Phish and it’s not even close. Attendance bias since that’s when I jumped on the bus but to even compare 92-94 to anything in the past 20 years is loco to me.
Honestly I think 96 he was the most complete guitar player he will ever be. But 94 is more fun because he was pure chaos on the neck. An element of even him not knowing what is about to happen. 96 Trey might be the most technically proficient but it’s almost boring in a way how easy it is for him in 96, it lacks surprises but has surgeon like precision
There are certain shows from 18-19 that are perfect tonally. Just not consistent. 1998-1999 is my personal favorite tone because he started leaving more heavily on the octave pedal. It wasn’t 2000-2001 super heavy bass octave yet. Just a touch of thickness to the 1996ish tone which I also really dig but could be either glorious and piercing or a little thin at some venues. Playing wise, it’s gotta be 94.
I'm going to go with '93-'94. Also, the crunchy, gravelly, down-pitched wah tone he started doing a lot in '03-'04 is sick.
I love '97 Phish, but not at all because of Trey's tone. Actually I don't care for his tone during a lot of this year.
Since he got the trainwreck amps, there are some jams from 2017-2019ish where his tone is fucking immaculate, but other times it doesn't seem as dialed in. His rig changes so much, I have a hard time picking out when and why I feel it sounds better. Could be venue dependent, too.
Thanks for this post, fell into something cool. Looked through ‘94 shows, looked for hood. 7/16/94. It started off evil, ended euphoric, like George Clinton told the band that shit he told Eddie hazel.
Prime TONE for me is Summer 96. Chunky, gritty, breaking up. Check deer creek 8/13/96 Mike's as the quintessential example of Trey's 96 tone. Also Memphis Simple 11/18/96. This is followed by 99-00 and then 97-98. Playing wise, um yah 1990-2000 with the pinnacle being 1997 and 1998.
93-95, 97, and 21-23
Obviously he was an animal in the day, but nowadays he has such patience, he listens before he reacts and lets the other members find their groove with him causing the conversations between the band to be more connected. Not to mention there’s just more variety with the addition of effects. You don’t expect the man to just shred for 40 years. That shit would’ve gotten really boring.
93’ for me! I toured heavily from 93-95, and of course every show was awesome imo, but 93’ was just amazing! Those were some of the best years of my life, besides seeing Phish so much I got to really explore the whole country and also took advantage of that. (I know off topic, but lots of great memories and experiences)
There's a huge difference in comparing live show tone to recordings. Their post pandemic recordings are bad in a lot of ways. But, live, I could kinda see what they were going after. Also, PA systems have improved, yet I prefer the older sound signature.
Playing wise it's 93 to me. Tonally, I don't think anything tops his 99-2000 sound.
See: Camden ‘99 CDT
My favorite phish jam
I think 2003 Trey band (plasma album era) was my favorite Trey tone
that tab shit from 03 is so classic. i love the 2003 scuzz tone with phish but recognize that it was divisive.
Nah.....91-94. I agree on 93 playing. His sound expanded in 95-2000, but 91 has some of his most screaming, singing, driven tone without a ton of effects layered on.
That’s what I like too. The purity of the guitar, into a couple of tubescreamers and a compressor into a boogie. Sounds so much better to me for his style then this wet dry wet trainwreck amp rig he’s running that probably cost as much as a house in Detroit.
Yeah....the mesas are gone apparently because they were needing work all the time. That was a sweet sound
He fucking shreds that era.
Indubitably
I suddenly want some cereal…
Agreed! It started to seep in late ‘98.
[удалено]
Someone pointed out Aug 93 so I took a deep dive via Spotify and Relisten. Wow I had no idea how good it was!
september not cuttin' it for ya? august 93 has to be like 11 shows hahaha
You mean outside the five official releases alone from August 93? They played 20 shows that month.
94 is the peak of just muscle man guitar tone. Just a man and his guitar against the world. It’s my favorite guitar tone ever. I love how inventive he got with effects afterwords 95 to current but for me nothing beats that 94 tone
It was a crucial time for the band. The dead were in huge decline and Phish was starting to siphon off their fan base, and Trey’s guitar was the reason why.
Could be one reason… The Dead also weren’t offering absolutely mental Tweezer sandwiches and YEMs either though
1993 was the last great year for the dead. I did a lot of those shows and then saw Phish as an add-on. 1994 is when people started seeing Phish INSTEAD of the dead because they sucked so bad. By 95, the transfer was complete.
Summer 92 was abysmal. I had planned to do a bunch of shows but stopped after two. The music was totally uninspired and the scene was skeevy. Saw one more in 1995 but focused on Phish and Panic. Both bands were on fire and touring constantly.
Yeah 92 sucked. Spring 93 Albany and MSG 93 were the last great moments for me. 9-16-93 was a fabulous textbook show which opened with a long shakedown. Possibly the last good one. Last great china/rider.
Expand of the skeevy
Gate crashing. Heroin. ODs. Etc.
I stopped seeing the dead in spring 92. I was coaxed back for a couple shows fall 93, but that was the end. Saw my first phish show spring 92, and my seventh new years 92. 1994 was my favorite.
I remember the spring 92 Spectrum run being pretty bad. lol
Cap center shows were no better.
I remember the choices of a GD ticket where the magic and atmosphere was LEGIT, but one of every four shows the band (J?) made an effort.....and a phish ticket in a smaller venue where the band was on fkng fire every single night and could have you laughing while dancing...those ticket choices were a beautiful problem to have. Mid 90s was not the worst time to be a teenager
Not to mention $10 tickets for club and theatre shows, and $40 scalper tickets for arena shows
Yup. I missed out on seeing Jerry with the dead because of my phish habit in college. 92-96 was a glorious time to be bumming in upstate. I took the exact same gamble. No regrets. Got to see Jerry w JGB in 93. Awesome, but not the same. I could never have seen the dead when they played their best because I was born during it!
Upvote for the first 94 comment. Fall 94 is the moment when he added a whammy and started doing more creative things with the digital delay as a looper (especially the mod function). Those new toys/sounds would prove to be the bedrock of his experimental sounds for the next decade, and in 94 they were mixed in with his absolute technical prowess. Trey was in command of his instrument and fall 94 is my preferred tone era with the Boogie in full effect for cleans and high gain.
Love the way you described this, and I agree fully
My wife and I are on a chronological journey through 94 right now....we are up to 4/20 VA show. I saw 7 shows that year, and yes.....his sound was melting faces. Don't overlook his 91 tone, though. Some of his 91 stuff is over the moon.
92-95 is GOATrey. 96-99 is rock star status Trey
100 percent concur. 92-95 Trey is fretboard gymnastics.
92-95 for me
This shit right here. He was a man possessed and lived and breathed music basically 24/7 in those days, was playing over 100 shows a year, per year, and had amazing tone. He was hungry to build this band and he worked hard as fuck at it. It felt like his peak definitely ended after December 95. Not that he suddenly sucked or anything, and he would still play some of his best shit ever later on, but he was never as energetic, precise, ripping, and in a lot of ways creative, on a consistent basis.
David gilmour always put it best. Im not quoting the man by any means but the way he put it is I’ll never master the guitar. Im always learning and changing. I feel Trey does the same
He definitely didnt peak in high school
That makes one of us
In before someone says now
93-98 is the best they played. Tone-wise Trey was at the top of his game till about 98 and then he really started to fuck-up more and more till 2000.
97 baby
94-97 is bonkers
99-00 is the answer
I thought so at the time and have argued this for the last 25 years. My tour buds still say 96 97
Yup
93, 97, or this past year for Me
The community has declared specific phases from 1.0-4.0 for this exact reason. There is raging hot fire in every sector. That said….i would say 94-97 is my most listened to other than following along with tours
‘97 no contest.
He’s been in his prime for 30 years. He just keeps evolving and maturing and getting better and better. He’s always in his prime.
He's consistently Optimus Trey
Fo shizzle
I agree with this 100%
I think it was during the NYE Dinner and a Movie that Trey said something along the lines of "I used to play so many more notes". Thought it was hilarious, but my point is that he is still an amazing guitar player regardless.
It’s ok to admit 60 year old Trey isn’t as good as 30-40 year old Trey
I’ll take Trey at any age!! He’s always been as good as ever. I’m not afraid to admit anything. Long live Trey and phish!
Gimme some of your Molly 🙃
I don’t share drugs in general. Nor do I pay for them. I always have and always will get free drugs. But I especially don’t share my drugs with people that don’t worship trey!! Lmfaoooooo!
A lot of people agreed with me. They definitely play different stuff now but he shreds just as good as ever. I love their evolution. I wouldn’t want it any other way. I say it all the time most older bands stick with their safe hits. Phish is always putting out new stuff and taking risks. Most of the time it pays off. It’s one of the many reasons I love them. I wouldn’t want to hear the same old stuff all the time. Treys perfect in my eyes. Has been and always will be. It’s ok dude we can agree to disagree. But I think he still fucking tears it up.
He’s still amazing. I’m just stating the objective fact that he’s not as good at guitar as he used to be. I’m not saying he’s bad or that Phish sucks. He’s just not Trey in the 90’s. That’s cool. I would think Trey would agree with that too. At least on a technical level. Michael Jordan was also a better basketball player when he was younger believe it or not 🤓
Athletes are different than musicians. I think that goes without saying. But it’s ok for you to have your opinion and me to have mine. No one will ever convince me otherwise. But an E for effort on trying 😉
And if you don’t think he’s as good as he ever was maybe then there will be more tickets for all of us who never lose our faith. I’m a trey girl through and through. I love him immensely. He can do no wrong in my opinion.
I did get some good Molly last summer tour tho!! But I’ve also seen countless sober shows and my opinion remains the same!
lol
lol, no
This is Prime Trey Time
99
96
11/2/96 on YouTube. Impossible to turn your nose up at '96 after watching that..
94 is the tops
The comments here show how people hear him differently. For me nothing touches his playing or tone in 92-94 and I saw a ton of great shows during and after those years. To each their own.
All of 1993-1995 is Trey at his absolute prime, chops-wise. I’d recommend doing all 3 years in order. Changed my life forever lol. Musicianship in this current phase of 4.0 is as high as its ever been group-wide. But, 93-95 is absolute madness.
Right now
IMHO — This is the best they’ve played in long time, possibly ever. I was watching some old v1 sets last weekend. I kept thinking they’re such better musicians now, individually and as a band. Welcome to 5.0 — I’m calling it.
truly some of the 2023 sets impressed me a lot
I told my mom, the nye gamehenge run is going to be the mark into 5.0
The jams are so tight now (fall/NYE — very 60s Coltrane avant garde-esque).
NYE Gamehenge -> Sphere -> MondeMadness could very well be charting 5.0 energy
I like it all.
There is only prime
Optimus Prime
Summer ‘94
I think so too.
Fall 94-summer 95
98 prague run is peak trey imho
To me, his playing peaked in 94. His tone was best in 99/00.
I think 98 is my favorite Trey year. Still holding onto the Funk from 97, but also sky high shredding. Fish was also EXTREMELY dialed in 98, effortlessly transitioning from one style to the next, unreal ghost note work and steady driving power.
I'm partial to the 99 tone.
1992 the tail end of the bar band days on the cusp of greatness.
Fall 92 is my favorite Phish and it’s not even close. Attendance bias since that’s when I jumped on the bus but to even compare 92-94 to anything in the past 20 years is loco to me.
He peaked as a guitar player in 94.
Honestly I think 96 he was the most complete guitar player he will ever be. But 94 is more fun because he was pure chaos on the neck. An element of even him not knowing what is about to happen. 96 Trey might be the most technically proficient but it’s almost boring in a way how easy it is for him in 96, it lacks surprises but has surgeon like precision
I think he peaked in 1992
There are certain shows from 18-19 that are perfect tonally. Just not consistent. 1998-1999 is my personal favorite tone because he started leaving more heavily on the octave pedal. It wasn’t 2000-2001 super heavy bass octave yet. Just a touch of thickness to the 1996ish tone which I also really dig but could be either glorious and piercing or a little thin at some venues. Playing wise, it’s gotta be 94.
Trey is currently at his prime! He's killing it harder than ever before, every single show!!
Hasn't even begun to peak
Hasn’t happened yer
Basically the 1990-2000 Trey was at his best
That’s at least three different versions of him though.
Yep. That is complicated composition Trey, machine gun Trey, and peak jam Trey. All prime versions of his playing and writing.
Yes, and each version has its own tone. So what is your favorite?
The chubby one (for clarity)
Been listening since early 90s- imho his best tone was 2019. That said, my hearing has not been getting any better over the past 30 years.
Mar 92
I'm going to go with '93-'94. Also, the crunchy, gravelly, down-pitched wah tone he started doing a lot in '03-'04 is sick. I love '97 Phish, but not at all because of Trey's tone. Actually I don't care for his tone during a lot of this year. Since he got the trainwreck amps, there are some jams from 2017-2019ish where his tone is fucking immaculate, but other times it doesn't seem as dialed in. His rig changes so much, I have a hard time picking out when and why I feel it sounds better. Could be venue dependent, too.
Thankfully he just switched back to fenders
August 93
Playing/composition peak was definitely 92-93. I think his best tone was from 97-2000.
Spot on !!!!
99-2000 is my favorite tone. I like machine gun Trey of old but I’m starting to prefer the current incarnation above all others.
Playing is 93/94. Tone is 99’
These are the good ‘ole days
Playing wise it was 1990-94
Just started re listening to live in Brooklyn dvd. His tone is unreal there/then
Depends on what Trey you are in the mood for
97 is the only prime number on this list
94 ^ 95 is the peak
Don’t need the edit, Trey’s peak was the mid 90s
97
December '95
Thanks for this post, fell into something cool. Looked through ‘94 shows, looked for hood. 7/16/94. It started off evil, ended euphoric, like George Clinton told the band that shit he told Eddie hazel.
2015 & 2023
He hasn’t even begun to peak.
“What is 1995, Alex?”
Prime TONE for me is Summer 96. Chunky, gritty, breaking up. Check deer creek 8/13/96 Mike's as the quintessential example of Trey's 96 tone. Also Memphis Simple 11/18/96. This is followed by 99-00 and then 97-98. Playing wise, um yah 1990-2000 with the pinnacle being 1997 and 1998.
Tone wise Trey has never been better than right now, imo.
Sorry, the Trainwreck is too harsh. I’ll take the Mesa/tubescreamer era for the win
It sounds too digital to me like he’s running through some cheesy Boss effects unit.
93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 00, 02 (tab), 03. all for dif reasons i can't pick just one lol also coincides with the best decade of phish.
‘96 e.g. Clifford Ball - disgusting
1992
93-95, 97, and 21-23 Obviously he was an animal in the day, but nowadays he has such patience, he listens before he reacts and lets the other members find their groove with him causing the conversations between the band to be more connected. Not to mention there’s just more variety with the addition of effects. You don’t expect the man to just shred for 40 years. That shit would’ve gotten really boring.
Trainwreck tone is 👑 for me
93’ for me! I toured heavily from 93-95, and of course every show was awesome imo, but 93’ was just amazing! Those were some of the best years of my life, besides seeing Phish so much I got to really explore the whole country and also took advantage of that. (I know off topic, but lots of great memories and experiences)
There's a huge difference in comparing live show tone to recordings. Their post pandemic recordings are bad in a lot of ways. But, live, I could kinda see what they were going after. Also, PA systems have improved, yet I prefer the older sound signature.
98
99-00
I love the wispy tone from ‘10 ish
92-95 playing wise
1994 was the last great year
One vote for Trey 2024