(Published in the second edition of The Phish Companion...)

Everybody who has been to a show knows that the joy is in the total experience. The music draws everybody together, and it is as if all the people are just cells in one big body. I think the friendship felt at Phish shows is a phenomenon unique to the jam-band scene. There really is a wonderful camaraderie that seems to just flow from person to person at a Phish show. I would be content often to just sit in the parking lot and watch the parade of people pass by me. Everybody there is different: different jobs, different families, different cities, but for an afternoon or an evening, they are all feeling the same thing. That is some powerful energy.
I was at Lakewood in Atlanta in August of 1998, and I will take away an image from that show that most others probably didn't even notice, and, really, there was no reason they would have. I guess that is my point: The great thing about a Phish show is that everybody comes away with a different favorite moment.
Here is the moment I took away from Lakewood. "Oh Kee Pah" got things started, and the split second it ended, they broke into a great "Suzy Greenberg." Upon hearing the first note of "Suzie," this guy about ten feet in front of me with long curly hair (in a Fletch, Lakers-style headband) jumped as high as I think a human can possibly jump. One arm clenched in a fist, straight toward the sky. If you've ever seen the Simpsons episode that ends in Millhouse (holding a poodle) jumping up as high as he can, then you know what I'm trying to describe. If you haven't seen it, just picture one dude jumping as high as he can because he is so pumped. That is what I am getting at. That guy was so psyched to hear "Suzy Greenberg," that I automatically was as stoked as he was. That is the beauty of a Phish show. The energy just flows from person to person.
Lakewood was an awesome show, thanks to both the band and the crowd. Thanks to Phish for playing "Roses Are Free," my favorite cover. Thanks for playing a killer "Fluffhead." Thanks for taking a chance with "Running with the Devil" (it worked out great). Thanks to the crowd; as long as you are feeling good, so am I. Thanks to the dude with the headband who was so excited to hear "Suzy Greenberg," you made my show. Anyway, it's silly to try and sum up the Phish experience in words, it just doesn't work. So I am gonna stop trying, but thanks for letting me try.

this "wolfman's" tops my list of fave versions (along with greenville '98), and there's little if any wagon-circling to be had on it....the boys locked into a trippy groove from the onset, eventually morphing into an old-school floydian-type ambient groove, and nary a moment was wasted. also worth mentioning was that "caspian" & "down with disease" were downright nasty versions, both jams performed with crushing volume, bordering on metal. perhaps they were simply in the mood to crush some skulls, which could explain why they followed that up with a "runnin' with the devil" encore. good times....

Super high energy opener Oh Kee Pa > Suzy perfect for a sweltering afternoon on the lawn lawn lawn at Lakewood. Any time a show opens with Oh Kee Pa I think is a good indication that the band is locked in and ready for a ride and this was certainly an above average show overall. The 'Roses' was was a treat though it is a straight ahead rendering. This was my first introduction to 'Roggae' and it remains one of my favorite all-time Phish tunes.

Some solid bustouts follow - 'Cracklin Rosie' and 'Talk'. The money jams occur during a particularly deep, dark second set with explorations of 'Wolfmans' and 'DWD' that are definitely worth a listen. My buddy who was with me at this show had seen quite a few (40+) finally got a 'Mango' here and was totally stoked about it.

The story with the 'Running with the Devil' floating around the lot post-show was that the David Lee Roth Band had played Lakewood the night before and had apparently left such a mess behind that it delayed Phish's setup and entry to the backstage area. Hence the one-off 'tribute' to the Gigolo himself.

All in all this is a great show, definitely worth a download. I think the spreadsheet version could use a more thorough treatment if anyone is keen to polish up this diamond in the rough.

My first show... and man, as a 17 year old kid I had no idea what I was about to witness. The scene grabbed me immediately as I had never seen anything quite like it. Roaming the lot and through shakedown was an incredible experience.

The show blew me away, and of course has led to seeing a total now of 75 with more already on the horizon. I've met so many amazing people on the journey and look forward to meeting many many more.

Wolfman's > Talk!

A nice, sweltering ATL afternoon in early August.. my best friend's birthday and my 1st show.. to start, a GREAT Oh Kee Pah –> Suzie, followed by a SOLID rendition of Roses are Free. Roggae & Beauty of My Dreams follow then... Vultures makes it’s appearance in a perfect slot and is performed quite beautifully, the energy is palatable from the get go.. you can tell they are locked in and on a mission tonight... Train Song and Billy Breathes fill the air until a 1st set of highlights kicks into high gear... I'm speaking of course of the AWESOME run of a spot on / killer / face melting Fluffhead, followed by a GREAT Moma Dance! Then.. Fishman with the Vacuum in the 1st set?... YES PLEASE! HYHU –> Cracklin’ Rose –> HYHU with a first set closer of My Soul.

Wow. Just let that soak in... a perfectly played & executed first set of phantastic playing that saw phourteen songs / yes 14. For the years to follow, especially after the millenium show (Was there too), this became unheard territory, you'd be lucky to get a show w/ 14 songs in the 2000 - 2003 Phishtory Phase, however, I digress...

Very nice and the best first set I’ve ever heard. By the way, I’m a first set fanatic.. I LOVE 1st sets of Phish shows.. don’t know why, but I bet it has something to do with this first show in ATL.

The 2nd set starts with a roaring Birds of a Feather with Phish locked in and popping energy at the seems.. then an awesome version of Wolfman's Brother follows, and lasts a good 14 - 15 minutes, musically running the gammut on styles and eventually settling into a great groove, as above mentioned "Floyd-esque" type groove.. which disolves gorgeously into Talk, which I might add is performed quite nicely - the best TALK I've ever heard, and then here we go - a ragging NICU –> Prince Caspian (my personal fav performance of this as they are simply ripping tits with this one! ~ a MUST listen) –> The Mango Song (YES - very nice...) is just Glorious, all capped off with a great Down With Disease.

Then, a PERFECT AND ONLY cover of Van Halen’s “Runnin’ With The Devil” followed by a spirited YEM w/ Runnin’ With The Devil teases in the Jam...

Literally, my favorite show I’ve ever been too for a number of reasons... Mainly, how the guys were playing. EVERY band member is locked in and stoking the coals of the phire on stage.. they are definately a band beyond description on this phine Atlanta night! I'm lobbying.. no I seriously contend that this is a perfect candidate for the next Live Phish Release... this is the best show I've ever seen.. by any artist.

Please – release this nugget for the phans ears to enjoy... I definitely enjoyed myself and think everyone else would too!

The Circus Is The Place For Me.....Summer Tour Memories 1998

At a young age I was introduced to music and all of it's glory (my father was a big fan of "Prog Rock",ELP,King Crimson,Rush) so at the age of 16 when I heard my first Phish song I was immediately hooked.Never having been to a "real" concert (I used to sneak into clubs in Providence,R.I. to see Max Creek,but they were club shows) I had no idea what I was in for when at 17 I caught my first Phish experience at The Clifford Ball.The people,the setlists,the energy,it all produced a life changing sensory overload that I believe all Phans have experienced,however I was left wanting a bit.I had a great many friends who had spent years on Dead tour (I was lucky to be in the Lot for a couple North East shows,but never ended up with a ticket) and the prospect of travelling this great country of ours while catching a show every night was like a dream that existed just outside of my reach,until the summer of 98 arrived.I had worked 2 jobs all winter to save and through hard work and dilligence my older brother and two friends managed to line up tickets for Lakewood Amphitheatre all the way up the coast to the finale of The Lemonwheel!I've seen a ton of shows before this and after but that summer will always be special to me not just for the memories,but for the INCREDIBLE music that the boys dropped on us during that amazing stretch!This summer is known for the band playing a number of covers for the 1st time but this fact tends to overshadow some FANTASTIC playing all around!The week of travel leading up to Lakewood our little troop of travellers spent time in The Blue Ridge Mountains outside of Asheville and discussion led to the fact that "Vultures" was a song that we desperately wanted to see,and Lakewood delivered!!!It's a fairly standard version by comparison but the set is not!The Oh Kee Pah > Suzy opener is always a great way to kick off a show but I fell in love with the "new "songs that summer,in this case Roggae.I remember the lights perfectly matching the mood of this song.The rest of this show had more personal standouts,my 1st Billy Breathes,1st set Fluffhead,my 1st Birds of a Feather since The Island Tour,and a SICK Nicu > Caspian >Mango Song > DWD,but the shocker was the Running With The Devil in the encore!!!!The boys playing Van Halen???Crazy.The following Day saw a strange day of weather that started out with sunshine and heat,and an unexpected shower right before the first set prompting the boys to open with Water In The Sky and Drowned.I had grown accustomed to the 97' Water and Ghost so I was surprised by the then "New" arrangements and found myself really digging them!The Forben's > Mockingbird saw a narration by Trey about the lunar eclipse (that was clearly visible from the lawn at Walnut Creek),and this show's cover was a lovely 'Albuquerque" that found itself sandwiched between a scorching "Simple" and "Limb by Limb"!Next is the show that had us all discussing whether or not this was the tour standout or VA. Beach (which i'm SURE you all are familiar with!!).Merriwether Post Pavilion was,compared to the other outdoor sheds we had seen so far beautiful!!The landscaping outside the venue was meticulous and it surely seemed to be much smaller than the others,but this show saw MANY personal standouts that years later still find there way into my headphones regularly!"The Wedge"and "NICU"opener was a PERFECT way to start the show,but the real scorcher was "Sneaking Sally > Guyute"!!!This Sally starts slightly choppy but wastes no time picking up steam and barrelling into an amazing jam that is filled with ups and downs until finding it's way to "Guyute" (A song that in '98 was still not in regular rotation if memory serves").Next is my only "Fikus" and it's placement was great as it served to wind us down after that sick pairing!Now this brings us to the 2nd set.This set alone has ALWAYS stayed with me out of all of the shows before or after because of it's beginning!The "Cavern" opener alone is enough for me,but I personally regard this as the best Cavern I have EVER heard (Certainly up there with the 4/5/98 Providence Island Tour Version)!Trey begins with the guitar riff subtely,next Fish comes in like a freight train,Followed by Mike,and finally Page and after a measure Fish locks it all in by closing the high-hat!If you have'nt heard this version do yourself a favor and give it a listen!And frankly give the whole 1st section of the set a listen as the list is as follows "Cavern > 2001>Tela >Piper!!!We got 2 covers this show as Fish belted out the first east coast "Sexual Healing" and the encore featured the boy's first attempt at "Sabotage"!!!This show was so far the hidden jem of the eastern run!The next night went down in history for it's encore but truly the whole show was sick start to finish.We had all had the discussion that anytime "PYITE" opened a show it was destined to be great and this time did NOT disappoint!!!A 1st set "Gin","Lizards" and "Esther" had us believing the end would see a standard wind down but instead they closed it out with a monstrous "Bowie"!!!The second set was also great but the cannonball was this eve's cover of "Terrapin Station".Now for some personal history,when I was 10 years old my best friend lived across the street and his mother was a massive Dead fan.I had grown up listening to what my father liked and had never heard The Dead until one halloween on the way to the mall I heard "Terrapin Station" in her car.This brilliant composition pushed me to learn how to play music and shaped my outlook for the rest of my life,teaching me alot about composition that i later applied in my 6 year tenure as lead guitarist of R.I. based prog band ITW.It truly was my game changer,so to hear Trey open with that unforgettable riff?I have NEVER before or since seen an audience scream louder than they did that night in VA. on the 3 year anniversary of when Jerry passed.It was emotional and mind-blowing,truly.I'm going to skip Star Lake as it has been released (And I was DEATHLY ill for this show.I was there but was in a haze.),I will mention the cover "Trenchtown Rock"opener and the face melting Sloth,but moving on to Vernon Downs.The overnight stay in a hotel room payed off and refreshed us and Vernon was the last show before the tour-ending Lemonwheel which I will also skip as my 3rd Phish Festival is a story for another day.Vernon was a pleasant 2nd to last show as it was not an amphitheatre but rather a large Race Track with a big stage right in the middle.I had the great pleasure of chatting with Page before the show and was in high spirits.They kicked off with a great "La Grange > Makisupa >Funky Bitch (FB being a song that we'd seen ALOT of along with Mike's that summer,but never got sick of) and a great "Ramble On >Slave" to close the 1st set.So there was our cover for the night right?Weeell not quite,after a "Mike's >Simple >Rift pairing and a GREAT "Sleeping Monkey >Weekapaug" we got the TRUE cover of the night...The Talking Head's "Burning Down The House" (as well as the 2nd YEM encore during our trip) for the Encore!!!!!An exceptionally perfect song for the gents to cover with some lyrical wordplay ("Vernon Down The House!!!")!!All in all I feel that my brother,2 friends and myself truly could not have picked a better way to spend our summer.I've since settled down,gotten married,and had a lovely daughter,but will never forget my summer in paradise following around a timeless band on an epic journey.Hope you all enjoyed my story,be well Phamily! Shangho

KILLER SHOW!!!!!!!!! The Wolfmans>Talk is one of my favorite jams they ever played. Ya'll check it out.

Relistening to the whole Summer 98 Europe/US and got to the Wolfman's and I said "this is good stuff". Nice long Fluffhead. DWD is solid too. Onto Walnut Creek!

PHISH, THURSDAY 08/06/1998
LAKEWOOD AMPHITHEATRE
Atlanta, GA
Soundcheck: Sleeping Monkey, The Wedge, If You Need a Fool, Dog Log -> Jam -> Sexual Healing

SET 1:

The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony: This old school tune ignites the venue with an electrifying burst of old-school energy. >

Suzy Greenberg: The 'old one-two punch' that never fails to leave a lasting impression.

Roses Are Free: 5th time played, and everyone was probably hoping for a similar version of 4.3.98 but this one was played close to the vest like 12.11, 12.31, and 7.25.

Roggae: Standard.

Beauty of My Dreams: Standard.

Vultures: Standard.

Train Song: Standard.

Billy Breathes: Pretty good solo.

Fluffhead: Love it, great placement.

The Moma Dance: Standard.

Hold Your Head Up > Cracklin' Rosie > Hold Your Head Up: Interesting that Fish gets another spotlight again so soon after the last one at 8.2 Deer Creek.

My Soul: Standard.

SET 2:

Birds of a Feather: Standard.

Wolfman's Brother: An immersive musical odyssey as the jam transcends the boundaries of solid funk, evolving into a captivating mellow, ambient groove. Almost has a DEG feel in the mid 9’s. Trey messing around with an NICU type theme in the mid 13’s and the crowd responds to that big time around 13:45. Would recommend. >

Talk: Standard. Odd placement.

NICU: There is that NICU that Trey couldn’t get out of his head from Wolfman’s. Unfortunate placement though. >

Prince Caspian: Oof. Terrible placement! >

The Mango Song: Standard. >

Down with Disease: Unapologetic heat of straight-forward hellfire. Nice set closer.

ENCORE:

Runnin' with the Devil[1] - So much fun. The cover tour rolls on.

You Enjoy Myself: Funky with stop start jamming. Fun jam to end the show but not one I would seek out for a relisten.

Summary: First set is about as by the book as they could get in this era. Outside of the strong Wolfman’s and a very fun encore, the second set is more of the same. This is a very average show for this tour.

Replay Value: Current rating of 3.888/5 on Phish.net is too high for my tastes. I would have this pegged as a 3.5/5. The definition of average.

[1] Phish debut.

This show marked the Phish debut of Runnin' with the Devil, which was also teased during YEM. Trey once again referred to Fish as “Bob Weaver” after Cracklin’ Rosie (played for the first time since August 14, 1996, or 148 shows).
SHOW RATING
Ratings are currently offline.
Overall: 3.888/5 (>50 ratings)
JAM CHART VERSIONS
Wolfman's Brother, Prince Caspian, You Enjoy Myself
TEASES
Runnin' with the Devil tease in You Enjoy Myself