The Hampton buildup was out of control at this point. The incredible '97 shows, the better than we remember '98 shows. Hampton Comes Alive came out a few weeks before these shows, the anticipation was even higher than it was the year before. The shows as a whole fell somewhere in between the two years, without the stunning jamming of '97 or the stunning execution of '98. Night 1 of Hampton '99 is memorable for the jam prior to Bug, used in the reunion announcement video almost 10 years later, for the last performance of Jennifer Dances, a solid Melt, the crowd going nuts for the "everglades" line in Water in the Sky and that's about it. But night 2, last show before Cypress, time to let it all hang out. And the band did, so to speak, with a setlist that reads like a dream and playing that is at times inspired and at times mundane. The Hood opener almost seemed expected, the Hampton '99 and Phily '99 runs mirrored each other in a way. The rest of the first set ran through rarities(Dog Log, Chicken Shack), quintessential '99 tunes(Heavy Things, 1st Tube, Inlaw, BOTT) and all time favorites(YEM, Tube). A very solid set, well played, well paced, and a strong YEM to close the set.

In set 2, the party continued, starting with the "1999 time capsule" of 2001>Sand, which really summed up 1999 Phish in 35 minutes. Trey dancing on top of static grooves, with him occasionally hopping over to the keyboard to set loops and go right back to the groove. It was good, not great, but good. Horse>Silent was perfectly placed, Possum seemed out of place, but was solid and the Mike's groove to close was very good, nothing outstanding or must hear(though the segue from weekapaug into buffalo bill back into weekapaug was well done). The odd Ya Mar, Monkey encore closed out the pre Cypress days of Phish, nothing would ever be the same in just two weeks.