"That's why I was so bummed out about the rapturous ovations they'd get in 1998 for the dumbest fucking cover songs in existence. (Not coincidentally, I stopped showgoing for a while after Fall '98.)"

I think that this was not done intentionally the 'fan the flame' of the frat boy set. I'm sure you've found yourself struck by a song you hear on the radio or just get in your head for some reason and I suspect an element of the reason Phish did those covers in summer 98 comes from this. I also suspect that they chose arguably 'dumb' (note scare quotes, not quote-quotes) songs because why the hell not? The "pornographic virtuosity" (from your review of 8/1/98, one of the first shows to feature a new cover) on display on that tour shows that their heads and hearts were in a place of getting that last 0.01% of their sound from '97 perfected and really being great.

If I ever had a band with the capability to semi-nail covers on a whim, I'd probably play some dumb stuff too. Like "Lime in the Coconut" or something. . .but doesn't the very fact that they have the ability to play whatever they want with little-to-no rehearsal suggest that they're already several notches above metal piece-toking frat boys there to get their gas on?