So here's another long thread - this one about taking my recently departed mentor, Sam Pilafian, to his first #phish show.

(For context here's my thread on his passing including a thing I wrote: https://twitter.com/drewphish/status/1114554673741086721)

He is the hippest tuba player to ever live. Played on Pink Floyd's The Wall. Prolific composer, arranger, performer, pedagogue. Jazz, classical, completely free improvisation, everything.

I knew he would love #phish and I desperately wanted him to see a show.

So I flew to Arizona under the guise of "checking out grad schools" (I was only a sophomore!) Sam agreed to come with me to 12/9/94 at Mesa Amphitheater (4200 capacity.) To say I was excited to see him see #phish is a grotesque understatement. I couldn't wait to see his reaction.

Show opened with Llama - the same song that opened my first show. Trey's solo is immediately crazy, angular, jarring '94 noise. Band raging underneath it. I'm rocking out while keeping my eyes on Sam the entire time just waiting for a reaction. #phish https://relisten.net/phish/1994/12/09/llama?source=118155

And then at the 2:54 mark Fishman ripped off a violent quarter note triplet fill. At that moment, Sam thrust both fists in the air simultaneously while screaming "FUCK YEAH!" and then start to rock the fuck out. He was in. Less than three minutes. #phish

This was possibly the most validating moment of my entire life. A music legend and my mentor completely "getting it" with his entire soul and being less than three minutes into the first tune. He wasn't screaming at me. He was screaming at them. Game. Set. Match. #phish

Next is a phenomenal Foam that in true '94 style features the entire band dropping out during Trey's solo. Here's a guy who won the Naumburg Chamber Competition in 1976 watching a rock band play chamber music for thousands following 3-minute wall of sound opener. #phish

It builds from nothing to glorious heights w/ Fishman basically playing a drum set concerto over Trey's solo until everything goes boom.

We take that shit for granted. That's not normal for a rock concert! He was blown away. Just like I was 343 days earlier @ my 1st show. #phish

Next was Guyute. Some tire of it because it never changes. But that song is a compositional masterpiece. And this is version is almost flawless. The flow. The matching phrasing, articulation, dynamics, drive. The explosion into arena rock. He was knocked out. #phish

Even stuff like the always leaning forward accelerando in Sparkle that was perfectly executed is musicianship @ its finest. They're so good at that stuff we pay it no attention.

Then the band starts singing an a capella tune. The same band that played that tweaked opener. #phish

The acrobatics of It's Ice. The stunningly gorgeous Page solo in If I Could. And good lord the unhinged set-closing Antelope. Sam caught one of the best Antelope's of all time in his first set. It will take your breath away. #phish https://relisten.net/phish/1994/12/09/run-like-an-antelope?source=118155

He got the full breadth of the #phish experience in one set: Power. Intimacy. Shredding. Dissonance. Perfectly executed technique. Hijinks. All before set break. And he was in for ALL OF IT.

I won't go tune by tune for the second set because you get the point. But oh my god the Tweezer. THIS FUCKING TWEEZER. It is a 26-minute opus that goes from the darkest #phish places to soaring heights. It's one of the greatest things I've ever witnessed. https://relisten.net/phish/1994/12/09/tweezer?source=118155

There is a full-blown Slave jam IN THE TWEEZER. I lost my shit when that went down and Sam was laughing at my #phish nerd ass coming completely unglued. Sometimes you know a jam is in the pantheon as it's happening. And Sam was there.

Afterwards he talked about admiring the creativity of the Big Ball Jam and how it involved the audience in actually making the music. He was knocked out by @jfishman600's stage presence during both I Didn't Know + Cracklin' Rosie. "The audience was eating out of his hand." #phish

He was blown away on so many levels: The compositions. The improv. The storytelling. The interaction with the audience. The stage presence. The versatility.

Did I mention this was the most validating night of my life?

Sure could use an official release @shapsio! :) #phish

Sam ended up also attending 10/11/95, 7/29/97 and 7/31/03. He went to that '95 show without me because I was in Chicago. He said he wouldn't miss it. #phish

Okay this is the longest thread in the history of the internet. I just wanted to share how my favorite band in the world absolutely blew the barn doors off of a musician who had played with and seen basically everybody and it was the greatest thing ever. #phish #TheEnd