ummm...i'd like to apologize for being the shoe throwing perp...by the time this show ended my face was dripping off of my skull and i forgot i even HAD feet which made the shoes i was carrying completely obsolete...and, at that very moment, the stage seemed like the perfect place for 'em...again, neither before nor since have i thrown ANYTHING at or on the stage.

Met the band before the show in a health food store. Requested Cities. Trey said he will try to remember that. Asked Page about the theremin. He started laughing. The guys were super nice. Gave my extra to the girl at the register. Great 2 days.

I have a different perspective on the second half of the 2nd set that doesn't view it as an inter--band power struggle with 17 minutes of "nothing going on"

Cities is absolutely excellent, the Ramble On-Esque jam towards the end is the sound of summer boiled down into 5 beautiful, breezy minutes. The drop into GTBT is a trip if you think you're hearing Ramble On, but it fits in perfectly. The biggest hiccup of the set in my opinion is that Trey seemed to think they were going to ride the breakbeat of the "I know what it means to be alone!" segment out into a funky jam, a slight miscommunication ensues but they recover nicely. Fish is throwing down some awesome beats, Trey unleashes some scintillating evil riffs and eventually the theremin kicks in. Lke most theremin jams, they get into some cool spaces that don't sound much like normal Phish. Great stuff.

Now for the bone of contention.

In 1997, Fishmans suit and lack of mums and vacuum was viewed as an expression of a maturing band who wasn't into shenanigans. Forget Europe and all the batshit crazy stuff that happened there, forget Walfredo and Rock A William. Fishman wore a suit and had no time for jokes!
So in the middle of maybe the 2nd weirdest set of the US Tour up until that point (va beach 2, though this one out-weirdos it eventually), Trey abandons his guitar about 12 minutes into GTBT, goes to steal suited up Fish's drums and Fish won't let him! This doesn't feel like a stunt to people? Or a James Brownian tension heightener before the greeziest man in show biz takes center stage? Nevermind that the Rotation Jam sounds totally awesome. It was all in fun! Rock A William makes its US debut and absolutely SLAYS. I'd take this over a vacuum solo 100/100 times.
The other 60% of "dead time" in the set is even more excellent. One of, if not THE longest Bowie intros ever, complete with an old school digital delay loop jam dragged out and twisted into a psychedelic masterpiece.

Don't sleep on this show. It's different, and that's what we see them for, isn't it? There's nothing like the Pranksters 4 days later bringing the show to a staggering halt for awhile. Just crazy improvisation bursting out of what is basically a 3.5 song set.

I'd give this show a 4.5/5 on any scale. One of the most unique second sets ever, one that proves that Phish didn't have to lose their sense of humor in order to lose themselves in the improv. And didn't need to skimp on the jams in order to have good gimmicky fun.

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

“Here comes the joker / we all must laugh / cause we're all in this together / and we love to take a bath.”
Deer Creek is more than just a concert: it’s an event. This is a result of many factors, including the numerous places to camp nearby. It feels like you are camping in the middle of nowhere, while many of theses campsites are actually the private homes of kind local Noblesville residents. These camping locations themselves become the scene, with great vibes and few hassles.
The main reason the venue is held in such high esteem is the caliber of shows that have occurred here in the past. A typical Deer Creek show is never typical. I was lucky enough to see Dead play here from ’91 through ‘94, as well as Phish’s debut in ’95. Inside the pavilion is the best sound, always crisp and clear. While it’s great for the audience, it’s also a favorite among the musicians who play here.
This is a smoking first set that tops most second sets as far as setlist. Four powerhouse jams carry the set with a rare “Bathtub Gin” opener (only the sixth one ever), “Down with Disease”, “Split Open and Melt”, and “Harry Hood”. The “SOAM” has a large, spacey section, foreshadowing versions played in ’99. The “Hood” is one of the best versions of the tour, and one of my all-time favorites. There is a point deep in the jam where Mike’s bass becomes prominent, sounding moody and reflective. This mood eventually changes, and as the music converges you will be feeling good.
We were lucky enough to have second-row seats for this one, but by set break everyone had collapsed the seats of the first five rows and it became standing-room only. The set opened with the Talking Heads’ “Cities”, catching me off guard. We were celebrating, but most people seemed to have no idea what was going on. This song was rare (the first East Coast “Cities” in three years) and after Ventura I didn’t expect to see it a second time on the tour, and certainly not as an opener.
The song starts out with a slow groove, and has a very spatial sound. As Trey develops a solo, Mike pushes the jam along. At six minutes, the song takes a turn as Mike changes the tempo and Fishman tightens up. This jam slowly becomes funkier, as Trey weaves in and out of the locked rhythm section. At eleven minutes, Trey begins to layer his guitar with a sound reminiscent of “Free”.
At fourteen minutes, the jam collapses. Trey then begins to strum a beautiful rhythm pattern, one that I have subsequently heard at other shows in different songs. It is defiantly a semi-composed jam that the band is familiar with. After Trey’s intro, and on cue, Mike starts up a flowing bass line and the rest of the band dive in behind him. Page begins to overlay nicely sparse chords, leading to a long beautiful piano piece over Trey’s rhythm. At twenty minutes, the jam begins to peak. As Trey begins to turn up the fuzz, Fishman breaks down the beat and becomes focused on the one.
At twenty-three minutes, the one smoothly becomes the opening notes of Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times/ Bad Times”! The audience went crazy, and the energy in the pavilion was intense. The jam out of “GT/BT” is very similar to the early jam on “Cities”, again with laces of “Free”. At twenty-nine minutes, Page gets up from the keyboards and takes a solo on the Theremin.
The music then turns spacey as Trey sets a delay loop on his guitar, and instigates an instrument-switch jam! In Page’s absence, Trey takes over on keyboards, and Mike takes over on guitar. At thirty-three minutes, Page ends this highly experimental Theremin space jam, and takes over on bass.
Mike soon puts down the guitar and kicks Trey off the keyboards. Trey walks over to Fishman, ready to switch instruments. The crowd loved every minute, and the noise built in anticipation of Fishman coming to the front of the stage. But nothing happened! Fishman just kept drumming, acting as if Trey was not even there. It was bizarre, and felt like we had hit a skip in the record. This moment of Trey hovering over Fishman was stuck.
This is when I started to analyze things, mainly because I had all the time in the world. This was going to be Fishman’s first time to coming to the front of the stage in the fifteen shows so far this tour. Although he had sung “Bye Bye Foot” three times, that’s not a cover song with a vacuum solo! His last cover song performed in the U.S. was Syd Barrett’s “Bike” on 11/7/96. Another thought was Fishman’s dress. He hadn’t worn it all tour. He came out on stage every night in a three-piece suit. Was he looking for respect with this new look? Was he giving up on the goofy cover songs and playing a vacuum?
It is my theory that the band instigated this instrument-switch jam in a sure attempt to get Fishman to the front of the stage. I believe he had no idea this was going to happen, and in retaliation he was contemplating not getting up from the drums. As time passed, I was able to watch the band's facial expressions closely from the front row. Page kept looking over at Mike, both looking annoyed. Their music even begins to convey this sense of annoyance.
“Where I end and you begin / I want to find that line / and cross it back and forth / until it's erased.” So how would this deadlock end? Would Fishman get up and sing? What would happen if he didn’t get up? How long would Trey wait, and just stand there? Eventually someone would have to give, right? I started to think about how stupid Trey might look if, after standing there all this time, he walks back over to the guitar. These were the things I was thinking about, and vocalizing to my friend. You could feel the tension growing on stage. The audience was confused.
Over seven minutes later (at forty minutes), Fishman bows down from the duel and gets up. What had just happened? My favorite aspect of this sequence is that for one brief moment, Fishman was in total control of the band with the other members at his mercy. Although they may have instigated this switch, they underestimated the ease of ambushing Fishman.
To my delight the band broke into “Rocko William”; this is the first time they played it in the U.S. Fishman picked up the guitar while Mike remained on keyboards and Page on bass. Fishman’s humorous singing talents are at their best on this song, and his guitar playing is pretty funny as well. I would give anything for a photo of the band on stage during this song. For most of the song I exaggerated worshipping Fishman to help fulfill his Johnny B. Goode fantasy. It was so much fun!
At forty-six minutes into the set, the song comes to a close and the opening beats of “Bowie” begin shortly. I do not remember this, but from the tapes it sounds as if Trey starts the opening drum beat of “Bowie” before handing over the sticks. This would make sense because this is where things get even more peculiar. Fishman's (and the rest of the band's), first attempt to start the main section of “David Bowie” is purposely flubbed by Trey. I’ll never forget the evil look Page gave Trey, as if to say "don’t involve us in your games." The main section of “David Bowie” just happens to begin with a sequence that is started by Trey. Suddenly it was clear, Trey turned the tables on the band and now they were eating out of his hand. Fishman made a number of attempts to get the song started, but they were stuck in the pre-“Bowie” space babble, with Trey nowhere to be found. At fifty-one minutes into the set, it appears that the song is going to start, but Trey fools them again and the music falls apart.
Over nine minutes later and suspiciously a few minutes longer than Fishman’s previous antics, my theory grows more evidence. In reflecting on these events over two years later, I feel even stronger about my interpretation of the events that happened at this show. Until now, I had never broken down the set by minute and I had no idea that Trey’s hold up of the band was longer than Fishman’s. The music before “Rocko William” and after “David Bowie” is not like normal Phish space segments. There is essentially nothing going on with the band for seventeen minutes of the set. Why would the band waste so much time on this argument in front of the audience? What statement was Fishman making by not getting up? Who was it directed at? And what was Trey’s follow up all about? Was he really getting even with Fishman by outdoing him by a few minutes? Unfortunately, we will probably never have the answers to these questions.
“David Bowie” suffers as a result. Trey sounds uninspired, while Mike and Page carry the song to its end. (The set ends at seventy minutes.) This is one of my favorite songs and this version is still very disappointing. Even more frustrating is the fact that it had the potential to be a monster ending to one of the hottest shows of the year. Although I find the whole shenanigan a little disturbing now that I know they wasted seventeen minutes, at the time of the first incident I was rooting for Fishman and on cloud nine.
The “Cavern” encore seems a little fitting. I have no idea what the song means, or what anything I had just seen means. Oddly, when Trey sang, “Take care of your shoes,” someone decided not to take the advice and threw a pair on stage.

This Cities is one of the biggest jams of the tour, really capturing the open-air feeling of the season, and peaks with a lovely I-IV jam that (to my ears) deliberately invokes 'Ramble On.' Enjoy!

Got me hooked on them for life!!

Thought I'd throw in my two cents on this one. There is a lot to like about this show, certainly starting with the must hear versions of Split Open and Melt and Cities. Split goes DEEP, like "we're on the bottom of the ocean floor" deep, and Cities goes PORNO FUNK into wide-open jamming. I think the jam evokes Franklin's Tower, the Grateful Dead song, listen and decide for yourself.

So, those are the must-hears, but this show also has a nice Bathtub Gin opener, a flowing Down with Disease, a Billy Breathes with a BEAUTIFUL Trey solo, and Harry Hood's darn near perfect as far as I can tell.

The second set, as some folks above have mentioned, is a different kind of creature, but give that David Bowie a listen. There aren't many like that one, where Phish takes their sweet time getting to the song, and set up some interesting sound scapes in the process. As for Good Times Bad Times>Rock A William, you know, it was more about the moment when it was done, not about hearing it 14 years later on tape, but how many Theremin solos have you heard from Page? Give it one listen, I won't hold it against you if you don't give it two.

Great show, highly recommended.

For my particular Phishy tastes, this is without a doubt a keeper. Highlights galore, great playing throughout, beautiful peaks and lots of dark, dark, evil chaotic Phish. If you like dissonance-filled and chaotic, unpredictable jamming, this show may be for you. Highlights:

1) Bathtub Gin: Merely sets the stage for everything to come. Great playing and a nice little jam that fades into bliss before becoming Sparkle

2) Down with Disease: Out the gate, Trey's playing is full of frenzy and energy that continuously lands. Trey's instincts are on fire. Stellar Type I jam

3)*Split Open & Melt*: I imagine that this is on the soundtrack that plays in Hell's lobby. A chaotic SOAM jam that never loses coherence, we get lots of evil, rabies-infested Phish with a brief interlude of helium bliss, only to explode back into more insane noise-filled dissonance. And at the conclusion, the band sticks the landing back into the SOAM theme. Stellar jam

4)*Harry Hood*: The patient yet insistent building to this peaks is worth the price of admission. It's like the band is pissing in my ears, and I have a golden shower fetish. Hose city.

5)*Cities*: Funky vibing to start set II. At this point, I'm just a little gravy ball in this '97 crowd,. Put me on some biscuits, let's get soggy. At ~16, the jam transitions from gravy funk to some Sunny D brightness. Uplifiting and bright, Page really shines in this part of the jam. Breakfast of Champs

6)*Good Times, Bad Times->Rotation Jam*: How did this bluesy rocker melt so quickly into a snaking psychedlic romp? Oh hold the phone, cause Page is going to the Theremin!? And Trey is playing nasty melodies of the undead?! And this zombie groove... yeah this is some satanic seance shit. Wondeful! Let's dance in goat blood!

7) Rock A William: All the preceding noises set this creepy number up well

8)*David Bowie*: The extended build up here is just fun, and the delay loops keep it interesting. Once the song starts, the jam gets to this pretty contemplative place fairly quickly, and I'm happy to meander here for a while. But then around ~14 min, Trey plays this venom-laced chord to transition a motion to murkier waters, and at ~18:30 Trey & Page are trading percussive attacks before the whole band growls back into the Bowie theme. Beautiful version

How anyone can say this Cities didn't reach pure improvisational bliss is beyond me. I put it up there with the absolute best (if not THE best) Phish jams of all time! It's amazing from start to finish, beginning with some really dirty funk and moving into some raging rock n roll, but something happens around the 15:30 mark, and the next seven or so minutes contain the most beautiful, uplifting, and magical moments of music I've ever had the privlage to experience. Even listening back to it now fills me with the same feeling of pure joy that it gave me seeing it that night in Indiana over seventeen years ago. And I'm not sure where people hear the Ramble On similarities. I definitely hear hints of Franklin's Tower more than Ramble On. I also don't understand the complaints about the rotation jam. Would you rather hear another version of Bouncin' or some cool psychedelic weirdness? I'll take something unique like this any day, though you're sure as hell not going to get anything interesting like that these days...Add in the ridiculous Split and Bowie plus great versions of Disease, Gin, and Hood (before it was ruined by glow sticks), the (sadly) last version of Rock A William, and an absolutely raging Good Times Bad Times, and a show this good today would blow post 2009 audiences out of their collective minds...God I miss 90's Phish

It's all about the SOAMelt. Yes, the Cities jam is great but if you're a fan of Melt jams then you've got to hear this one, clocking in at around 18 minutes. About midway through this furious, dark jam Trey starts to tease a riff from King Crimson's Larks Tongues in Aspic (for which Trey has confessed his undying love for), the boys pick up on it and they proceed to develop this riff into dizzying heights of intensity before dropping into some lulling space psychadelia that builds back into the Melt theme.

A must hear version at all costs!

Attended, probably the wildest Phish show I have seen. Put me on the moon.

SET 1: Bathtub Gin: Can’t beat this to open a show! Strong jam and shows clear intent that the band means business and intends on delivering the goods. ->

Sparkle: Standard. Keeps the energy high. >

Down with Disease: Wow, wouldn’t have called this in the three hole in the first set! Short and has plenty of fire in the belly. >

Dirt: Standard.

Cars Trucks Buses: Standard.

Billy Breathes: Standard.

Split Open and Melt: As the jam opens up Trey is using that signature summer 97 tone. Buckle up because things are about to get VERY weird. The theme that Trey catches around 10:35 is amazing – I believe this is the Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part Two tease. Really ramps up the tension. This goes on for roughly two minutes and if you were like me, I was really white knuckling it through this section. Things get quite mellow around the 13 and a half minute mark and strangely seem to be getting uplifting. Around 14 and a half Trey has had enough and starts to whip the band into shape to take us into the homestretch. Third Stone from the Sun tease starts at about 15:53 – Trey even briefly incorporates this into the ending coda - amazing. From there, the band just absolutely blitzkriegs our faces into the ending. Lord have mercy, that was insane, one of the all time greatest versions of one of Phish’s signature tunes and I was lucky enough to be there on a major headful. The crowd goes totally wild – I seriously the pavilion would collapse – never heard an outdoor venue go that berserk - and there is a long pause until…

Bye Bye Foot: Probably a good thing they slowed it way, way down. Folks were losing their stuff; I know I was. I needed this badly. Interesting that Mike gets a solo after Fish’s lyrics instead of Trey. It’s cool but I prefer Trey there – that 7.22.97 just blows me away every time. >

Ginseng Sullivan: Standard.

Harry Hood: Around 9:16 is where this one starts to break away from the traditional and head towards minor key jam territory, led by – I believe - Page. There have been nights where I have listened to this jam on repeat, I feel like I know it by heart. At 10:02 Trey starts a run that will end up as likely my all time favorite. It’s iconic and gives me major goosebumps. Listen to that soul pouring out of his guitar at 10:30 and beyond. 11:20 – gorgeous. 11:44 the release. Tears of joy flowing. Trill, trill, trill – 12:03. 12:20 begins the gradual climb and ramp up to the ecstatic climax. It’s not the biggest crescendo of Hood ever – but everything comes before it – in my humble opinion – is one of the best Hood jams ever.

Set your watches when we play the last chord – don’t get caught in the bathroom – lol – the band knew where the general headspace of those in attendance were and they were intent on messing with many this evening – that became even more clear with what was about to happen in the second set…

SET 2: Cities: Wooooooow. I had been dying to hear this and bam, here it was. Things start getting very weird with that signature Trey summer 97 tone in full effect, super crunchy. Once things begin to settle down around 15 and a half but just shy of 16 minutes things get very up tempo, uplifting and this is turning into a major chord jam! Here comes the HOSE. Check out Mike in this section laying down the most beautiful bombs. Page was not ready to let go of the weird though, playing with all kinds of strange effects. Trey just strumming away, I can imagine him strutting around the stage like a rooster. This is such an amazing segment; one I will never forget. Things get a hard edge to them once again around 22:50 as Trey starts laying the groundwork for… ->

Good Times Bad Times: Wooooooow!!! Did NOT see this coming. It’s so, so rare to see this show up here in the second set. Only about 15% of all times played has this not closed out a set or a show. Exceedingly rare to get it in this slot let alone what they did with it! They don’t go for the big rock ending, instead they just keep jamming. For a brief moment around 5 and a half Fishman tries to end it and is denied. Here is where things get very, very weird and I lost all my marbles ->

Rotation Jam: All the rotation stuff on stage and the heavy use of that super creepy Theremin, just sent me over the edge, lol. ->

Rock A William: So creepy, so weird. I had lost touch with reality at this point. Completely on the moon. Children of the corn line gets a big ovation. ->

David Bowie: This intro is one of the more psychedelic experiences of my life. Huge loops cement the back ground. Mike and Trey trading off on the nastiest licks. 3:30 for the enormous win. Then they take that awesome segment extremely high. Trey keeps repeating that same phrase, you know the one. Other than the super crazy intro, the Bowie itself is unfortunately quite average.

ENCORE: Cavern – Standard. Trey being Trey after it, staying in the spirit of totally messing with people most of the show – See you here tomorrow night in 45 minutes – I’m just kidding you can leave now, lol.

Replay Value: Split Open and Melt, Harry Hood, Cities

Summary: Totally agree with the current rating on Phish.net of 4.533/5 (270 ratings). Very, very strong show and left such a deep impression on me. I literally did not speak for about an hour after this show. Was completely blown away. It was a very quiet ride back to the campground, lol.

The Cities is the main attraction here. The last 5 minutes are some of the best floating hose Phish you can find. I was trying to find what the jam sounds like, and some other people were saying it sounded like Ramble On or Franklin's Tower. It doesn't really sound like Ramble On, and it only bears a small resemblance to an instrumental Franklin's Tower.

So I did some research and I think I found what it (kind of) sounds like: All I Want Is You by U2 (1988). I heard it on the radio and I immediately thought of the 8/10/1997 Cities. So if anyone else has a comment I would like to hear what they have to say about that.

Well, this was without a doubt the strangest, darkest, varied and unpredictable Phish show I have ever witnessed. SOAM had some very nice moments. The Third Stone From The Sun teases were cool, although Trey struggled to find the notes. I didn’t think Billy Breathes was that great at this show. It sounded to me like Trey struggled a bit through this. Listening back so many times and years later, I think it sounds pretty darn good.

Bye Bye Foot— I’m glad I got to be there for this little Fishman delight. This was the last of 4 total times played. I’m not sure why this never developed beyond Summer 97.

The 2nd set is very hot and cold throughout. Cities and Bowie are obvious highlights, both being over 20 minutes. Back in these days it took the band longer to get to that place of total improvisational bliss. I’m not entirely sure these got there but they are still nice to listen to and great reminders of the buzz surrounding these late Summer 97 shows.

The Rotation Jam was very fun to watch more than anything. Listening back I’m not sure there is anything worth documenting here. Rock A William was actually pretty funny at the show. This is another Fishman creation and the last of 5 total times played. So yeah, this was a big night to retire some of Fish’s compositions.

Good Times Bad Times in deed on this night. From the dark jam in Bathtub it was clear this was not going to be an ordinary show. This was my first show since the holiday 96 run and it was obvious to me at least that this band was in a big transitional period. I love the Summer 97 shows. This was the most explorational phase in their 30 year (at the time of this review) career. As with any exploration you are not always going to find gold and rainbows along the way. However, it is the path taken that defines the outcome…er something like that. Fall 97 was just around the corner but still a thousand miles away.

after ripping deer creek apart in '96, the boys came back for another 2 nights.

they came out guns blazing with a nice bathtub gin opener. page destroyed the keys in the intro. after a pretty typical but solid bathtub gin, they find their way into sparkle. i lively sparkle leads into a nice first set down with disease. this one does not go out too far, but it entertains none the less. dirt is a nice little cool down, and ctb gets the crowd up and moving again. this momentum is promptly killed by billy breathes. a good song, but maybe not the best spot for it. soa melt makes up for it though. they really hit a free rolling, hendrix'esque jam before they roll into bye bye foot. good to get fishman on stage. ginseng was a nice up beat break before they delved into a monster harry hood. gordon sounded very strong on this hood.

the cities set opener is a real barn burner. they take this one way out there going through funk, to space, and back up to rock and roll before slamming into good times bad times. this good times gets into a very cool weird jam, especially when page moves to the theremin. unfortunately, they move to the rotation jam, which causes some weird inner band turmoil. you can read the review pulled from the phishing companion. it about covers the rest of the set.

overall:

there are some great jams in the first set, especially the back half. meanwhile, the quality in the second set is very much front loaded. cities kills!

highlights:

set 1
bt gin, melt, hood

set 2
cities>good times bad times

This is not so much a review as 2 things I noted while listening:

- There's a Ramble On jam/tease in the Cities, from about 18-20 minutes on the AUD recording I have. It's at least Trey & Mike doing it so I think it can be labeled a jam instead of a tease.

- The Good Times Bad Times is unfinished.

The Gin, SOAM and Hood get props, and they should. And set two is pretty underrated. But the Disease is definitely one of the most underrated imho and one of my favorites. Go dig that one up and crank it loud.

Before I even start, I just have to thank Cory Ferber for that great review! Don't expect any such insight from me.

This goes down as one of the most UNIQUE shows I've ever seen, along with the "Merry Pranksters" show a few days later in NY and the "Phil" show in 99 at Shoreline.

In many ways, the 1st set was superior to the 2nd; with a monterous SOAM, Bathtub Gin, and a rare 1st set Hood.

The 2nd set is much more memorable, however, with the long, crazy rotation jam, culminating to what? .... Rocka William? I was not familiar with this song as they had only played it once or twice before and I had not yet heard the tapes. But... it was awesome! Fishman is not a great singer, as we all know, but he sounds great when paired with the right song, and this was one of those.

Damn, this show kind of has it all. Coming on the heels of a killer show the night before, this night delivers even more of the goods. Highlights include Gin through Disease, SOAM, Hood, and really the whole second set, although some of the Rotation Jam goodness is lost in translation on tape.

They kick things off with a really strong three-song opening sequence, with the Gin and Disease both getting the special treatment. There are a few standard 97 tunes in there, and then the epic SOAM jam. Definitely check this one out. A rare treat in Bye Bye Foot and a rock solid Hood, with Trey really urging the fans to be prompt during setbreak as the band would be back in EXACTLY 15 minutes, set your watches, don't get caught in the bathroom...

This second set is quite a treat. Cities is a masterpiece and should have been played at every show in 1997. GTBT is standard-great, and the Rotation Jam through Bowie to complete the set is pure Phishy madness. I'm sure the Rotation Jam and Rock-A-William were completely insane in person, and although you can get that feeling on tape, both tunes are kind of odd and not super-listenable more than once. Bowie, equal in length to the Cities that opened the set, brings home this grand set. If I had to pick two jams from this show, I would go with Cities and Bowie. Check em out

For my particular Phishy tastes, this is without a doubt a keeper. Highlights galore, great playing throughout, beautiful peaks and lots of dark, dark, evil chaotic Phish. If you like dissonance-filled and chaotic, unpredictable jamming, this show may be for you. Highlights:

1) Bathtub Gin: Merely sets the stage for everything to come. Great playing and a nice little jam that fades into bliss before becoming Sparkle
2) Down with Disease: Out the gate, Trey's playing is full of frenzy and energy that continuously lands. Trey's instincts are on fire. Stellar Type I jam
3)*Split Open & Melt*: I imagine that this is on the soundtrack that plays in Hell's lobby. A chaotic SOAM jam that never loses coherence, we get lots of evil, rabies-infested Phish with a brief interlude of helium bliss, only to explode back into more insane noise-filled dissonance. And at the conclusion, the band sticks the landing back into the SOAM theme. Stellar jam
4)*Harry Hood*: The patient yet insistent building to this peaks is worth the price of admission. It's like the band is pissing in my ears, and I have a golden shower fetish. Hose city.
5)*Cities*: Funky vibing to start set II. At this point, I'm just a little gravy ball in this '97 crowd,. Put me on some biscuits, let's get soggy. At ~16, the jam transitions from gravy funk to some Sunny D brightness. Uplifiting and bright, Page really shines in this part of the jam. Breakfast of Champs
6)*Good Times, Bad Times->Rotation Jam*: How did this bluesy rocker melt so quickly into a snaking psychedlic romp? Oh hold the phone, cause Page is going to the Theremin!? And Trey is playing nasty melodies of the undead?! And this zombie groove... yeah this is some satanic seance shit. Wondeful! Let's dance in goat blood!
7) Rock A William: All the preceding noises set this creepy number up well
8)*David Bowie*: The extended build up here is just fun, and the delay loops keep it interesting. Once the song starts, the jam gets to this pretty contemplative place fairly quickly, and I'm happy to meander here for a while. But then around ~14 min, Trey plays this venom-laced chord to transition a motion to murkier waters, and at ~18:30 Trey & Page are trading percussive attacks before the whole band growls back into the Bowie theme. Beautiful version