It was about six months into my residency in Portland, Oregon that I realized it was going to be a lot more difficult to see Phish living out here. Gone were the days where there were five shows within a three hundred mile radius of home in any given seven day period. The reason for this is two-fold, it seems. First, the west is ENORMOUS; secondly, it is a lot further from Burlington, Vermont. Is the trade-off worth it? Absolutely! No clearer evidence of this fact could be demonstrated than catching the first two-day run at the Gorge Amphitheater.

This venue is absolutely stunning. The first view of the stage I caught as I crested the hill at the back of the lawn took my breath away. The lawn slopes fairly steeply to a short set of terraces, and a fairly tight front of stage floor area. The backdrop to this is a surreal tapestry of channeled scab-lands, razor sharp coulees, columnar basalt cliffs, the mighty Columbia River, and an enormous sky.

Two geologic events have the primary responsibility for sculpting this unique terrain. The first was a massive outpouring of lava which began about 17 million years ago and lasted for about 10 million years. The second was a series of catastrophic floods that occurred near the end of the last Ice Age. These floods swept across the area as they churned from their source near Missoula, Montana to their final destination in the Pacific Ocean. It was a land of stark beauty born of fire and flood; it was thus a fitting venue for my first exposure to '97 Phish, which was frequently molten, tumultuous, and overwhelming.

Night one: while delirious from the breathtaking venue, the music was a near afterthought until "Wolfman's Brother" got me personally introduced to the "Cow Funk" sound and the new and improved Mike Gordon. "Divided Sky" at the most gorgeous outdoor venue in all of North America"...I mean come on people. Ultimately "Split Open and Melt" was the point at which the jam flood finally let loose, and this one, like the Missoula Flood before it, explored each and every channel of the scab lands behind the stage.

The second set of the first night of this run is still one of my all-time favorite Phish moments. As the lights went down, it seemed many members of the crowd were not where they wanted to be. To rectify this they scampered up or down the people-sized Habitrail paths that lead to or from the lawn. The band's visual of this from the stage must have been amusing; the "Three Blind Mice" tease before "Down with Disease" that it elicited certainly was. The "Diseezer Redux" (see the 11/27/96 Seattle show) that followed was alternately frenetic and bouncy or slow and funky. I got my "Tweezer" so the rest of the set was gravy. The encore "Harry Hood" was just plain GORGEous. In my mind, the glow-stick jam that emerged from the womb of the Great Went "Harry Hood" was conceived at the point where Trey asked Chris to kill the lights so we could get down with the outdoor vibe and the starlight. And get down with it we did.

Night two: security related buzz kill on the way into the venue; consequently I spent the first half of the first set trying to reconcile the loss of a cherished gift. Despite a decent "Bathtub Gin," and my first live exposure to both "Dirt" and "Vultures," two songs I just love now, it took a surprising "Twist" and a chance meeting with a "Fluffhead" to finally get me out of my bout of disappointment and self-resentment. With my focus on the music restored, the rest of the night was a blast. This second Gorge show was one of those times for me when the personal experience associated with the show distorts the perception of the music. As I left the show I was convinced the first night was better. Upon subsequent reevaluation of the two, I sometimes lean the other way. It is all about set and setting I guess. In the Gorge, I feel there is no better setting. However, the mindset I have carried into it hasn't always been the best. The lesson here is simple: with Phish, if you aren't having fun, you really only have yourself to blame.

Solid show front to back. Down with Tweezer Disease is Grate! Slower and funkier as they were really getting into the funk about now. 18 minute old school Ghost. Really nice Dogs Stole Things and of course the Hood under the Washington stars reflecting off the Snake river.

Priceless memories

Solid 4/5

I wish I had seen/heard as many 97 shows as the Central Scrutinizer, because I lack the perspective to say that this is a weaker show by 97 standards.

I got DAT's of these shows from Taper Steve a few years after they went down, and my god, audiences were MUCH quieter back in the day! I then got an FOB source from Jim Cowan's rig and had to relisten (pun intended)

I love Theme, and it's well played here. Ghost makes an early appearance, and is indeed a sign of good things to come. DST is standard. Divided Sky is majestic (also standard!). By Wolfman's it's clear they've warmed up. SOAM ends the set in very 97 (i.e. "weird and druggy") style. The jam gets a little out and is a sign of things to come.

Set 2

I feel sorry for anyone who was a little too spun because they're probably still describing the Disease intro to their therapist. This is the darkest, most atonal thing I've heard from 97 and I've heard probably half the year at this point. Tweezer keeps the heat up high, and melts gorgeously into JBG. Sparkle is always fun and I like it in a second set post jam slot. Fall apart! Wading is a much needed break, and the 97 versions are always fresh to me. Loving Cup signifies that we're near the end and Tweeprise seals it.

Encore

There are a handful of shows I would like to time travel to, and this encore is one of them. I've heard about this moment from lots of people who were there, but I want to see it (or not see it I guess) for myself. Musically it's fairly standard, but that's not the point. Set and setting, you know?

You can feel good about (Mount) Hood, and you can feel good about this show, irregardless of how many 97 shows you saw or have heard in retrospect.

This was my first experience with the newly funked out freaky Phish. I fucking LOVED it!
Two things- first, seeing any band you love at this venue is a religious experience (sorry Red Rocks, this is just much nicer!).
Secondly, the Disease>Tweezer>Disease second set opener is epic. Absolutely epic.
One of the best jams I have ever heard or seen them play.

This is a very solid debut show for the Phish at the Gorge, and probably the stronger show of this two-night run. Theme opener was pretty common on this '97 tour, and I gotta say, I'm kind of a fan of it in the opening slot. It definitely puts you in the Gorge state of mind. The other first set highlights are the Ghost, which they had been playing almost every show on this tour, Wolfman's, and SOAM. The Ghost jam has some really great playing from Page and can be best described as "funky clown music." Wolfman's continues the funky jamming, and SOAM caps off a fantastic first set.

The second set, however, is definitely where this show earns its stripes. This Disease brings things to the next level and segues so nicely into Tweezer. Although not the best Tweezer ever, this Disease -> Tweezer combo is 35 minutes of top-notch Phish, followed by another flawless -> into Johnny B. Goode. I love Trey asking for total darkness during the Hood encore to enjoy that awesome "outdoor vibe" at the Gorge. Wish I was back there right now

SET 1: Theme From the Bottom: Standard, loud and awesome ending before the lyric refrain.

Ginseng Sullivan: Trey picks this one with blazing speed, impressive.

Ghost: Trey takes this to full summer 97 in the late 7’s with that crazy tone. Good Ghost but never quite breaks out of the pocket. They seemed content to just sit in there until it fizzles out and ends.

Dogs Stole Things: Standard.

Divided Sky: One of only 4 times played in 97, released on Live Bait Vol. 4. LOL, dude on the Phish.in source during the long pause “Those guys are f*** idiots!” Rip roaring all timer!

Wolfman's Brother: First the funk, then the rage. The funk is fine, about what you would expect from summer 97. But the rage section is seriously knocked out of the park. They truly crush the hell out of it! This is a must hear version! Would highly recommend!

Water in the Sky: Standard.

Split Open and Melt: It’s good but nothing that really grabbed my attention or spoke to me.

SET 2: Down with Disease: Almost three minutes of effects and craziness to intro before Mike does his thing to kick this one off. This version doesn’t stand out much for me outside of the last minute and half which is pretty cool! ->

Tweezer: This one gets into an interesting space in the early 13’s. A nice mix of Trey’s pornofunk and that cool high pitched tone that debuted in 97. By the late 14’s this is transitioning into a hard rocking jam that is tinged with Sweet Emotion from Mike. Extremely cool! The hose is in full effect and then things start to slowly start like DWD. Then there is basically a full return to DWD in the early 17’s. More or less. At about 18:10 it’s obvious that this is going to go the JBG route or honestly could have gone Olivia’s Pool too, but not… ->

Johnny B. Goode: Standard. >

Sparkle: Standard.

Wading in the Velvet Sea: Standard.

Loving Cup: Standard. >

Tweezer Reprise:

ENCORE: Harry Hood – Must have been a cool moment when Trey had Kuroda turn off the lights. How long did they stay off for? Good Hood, but to me nothing really stands out. Would not care to revisit, too many other great versions. Trey says “Mount Hood” at the very end.

Replay Value: Divided Sky, Wolfman's Brother, Down with Disease, Tweezer, Harry Hood

Summary: I am not quite as high on this show as the overall rating on Phish.net: Overall: 4.315/5 (165 ratings). I would rate this as an even 4 out of 5. The first set I thought was very good, actually better than the second set – very long to coming in at 91 minutes. It is a very good show with significant highlights but there are some holes. For instance, after Tweezer the show is basically over until the encore. Big nosedive.

One of the weaker shows of 97. Just didn't play together. Trey kind of off and playing over everybody. A nice Water In The Sky. And split, tweezer, and ghost all eventually end up with a little something interesting at 11.5 minutes, 14.5 minutes and 6.5 minutes respectively, but never get anywhere great. Not much hooking up going on in this show. This is a show worth skipping.