R11/W06: 12-13-1997 Pepsi Arena, Albany NY

[fauxpaxfauxreal]

When I was on aol in the 90's, Jwillispratt used to come in and try and spam us with ads for his albums...

...his tagline was "FISH PLAYS ON EVERY ALBUM!!!!!"

I think he might have been border line retarded.

[G. Augusto]

Ya Mar - I think they wanted to recapture the energy that opened the previous night's show with a jammed out anything. Nice drum breakdown before Trey's solo. Jam comes right after. Just kinda goes on and it really never figures out if it wants to rock or funk out.

Axilla - Little shaky in parts with a part II outro.

Theme - Trey nails the ascending riff. OK version, but can't hold a candle to the next version they played.

Ginseng - Sweet Trey solo!

Design - Piss break.

Sample - Dump break.

Vultures - This ones gets pretty lengthy. Mellows and spaces out nicely for the jam portion with a really nice return to the main theme.

Tube - Pretty laid back and mellow funk. 'Taint no 12-29!

GXBX - Some timing issues during the intro.

NICU/PYITE - 2 acronyms to open up the second set. You know what that means, right?

Ghost - Here comes some MEAT! Some low-key start/stop action gets it going. Jam really soars ~10:30. Kinda falls apart and noises out into >>>

Mike's - Legendary version. You can tell from the beginning that this one has a little extra on it. Mike is just disgusting up and down this one. *LUV* Page's dude right in the middle of all the dirty funk. Jam gets pretty spacious and ambient briefly before a return to the dude funk. A few "Back of the Worm" references thrown out by Fish, too. 'cot. Into >>>

Llama - Raging into mellowness. Theme of the night?

Circus - Oddly placed. Worst vocals EVAR?!

Week > Catapult > Apaug - The Catapult is actually pretty trippy in a minimal way. I think they wanted to make this Weekapaug extra special, but I don't think it really delivered.

Hood - Yeah.

My Soul - Meh soul. (I actually like this song)

Coil - Mike gets a little lost in spots. Cool way to close the Tour with Page out there.

Aside from the Ghost > Mike's, the rest of this show never did much for me.
Kinda reminds me of 11-29, where everyone knows the Jim, but the first set is just a bunch of throwaways.
I just hated a bunch on this show.
I'll give it a mercy B.

[khalpin]

Design - Piss break.

Sample - Dump break.

:hereitisyousentimentalbastard

[justjezmund]

Design - Piss break.

Sample - Dump break.

:hereitisyousentimentalbastard

shit sounds like its from a '10 review  :-P

[Superfreakie]

Design - Piss break.

Sample - Dump break.

:hereitisyousentimentalbastard

shit sounds like its from a '10 review  :-P

dude, August brings the hate no matter the era  :rawk:

[justjezmund]

crashing laptops make me take forever.  But heres mine finally.


12/13/97

Pepsi Arena, Albany, NY

Ya Mar - Starts good and leads to some great breakdown before diving into the quintessential fall 97 groove.  Sounds like a tweezer a bit too, but it could just be the booze.

Axilla I - Nice one I like it.

Theme - Love this tune. 

Sullivan - Diggin some bluegrass

Strange Design - Song always reminds me of old school burn rides.  Cool tune for first set.

Sample - Trey really wails on this one, brings it.

Vultures - Couple small mishaps but I love vultures, cool little jam in it to makes me smile.

Tube - Nice and funky

GTBT - EACH AND EVERYDAY!!!!!  Energy closer.

II

NICU - Nice and bouncy

PYITE - Still my fav intro to any phish song.  This set goes right where I like it.

Ghost - Complete lack of SUCK! Love when this shit starts to pick up steam, rage fest in my room.

MIKES - BRING IN THE DUDE!!!!!

Llama - MOAR RAGE!!!!  Fine by me.  Kinda like the little soft throw down. 

Circus - Time for a slowdown.

Paug>Catapult>Paug - Sweet sweet dance funk>peeing machines>FASTER FASTER!!

Hood - 3.0 fake out LOL.  Nothing short of spectacular this one is.


E

My Soul - I like it.

Coil - Does not disappoint, send em home with a smile boys.

My review might be blunt at points but don't let that distract from the fact that I LOVE THIS SHOW!  One of the first recordings I ever got and I still throw it in on a semi reg basis.

Shows an A in my book.

[WhatstheUse?]

1997-12-13

Set 1

YaMar - And we're off! I can only imagine the buzz there must have been going into this tour closer, HOT off the last 2 nights in a row (and the entire tour for that matter.)  You know that they are making a point to make this tour closer count, and an 18 minute YaMar opener is one way to do that.

First, I LUV how Trey gives Fish a little drum break before he starts his solo - this song IS really all about the drum beat...  Stays normal yamarish jam until 8:40 when they slam into the ending but Trey (strangely) starts up Ya MAr at about half speed. I wonder if they had talked about his beforehand? Either way, the jam is grooving and quickly falls into the Fall 97 rocky feel.  It kinda rocks out for a bit, but in a spacey, groovy way -- no huge peaks or anything, just soaring Trey before they drop into that dirty 97 funkiness. Kind of sudden ending --->

Axilla - RAWK OUT!!!

Theme - Gorgeous version.  While Trey has lost some of the chops he had in 94/95, his soaring 97 style is a perfect fit for Theme jams.

Ginseng - Nice Bluegrass treat.  Real tasty solo by Trey, with all the bends in the right places!

Strange Design - Nice cool down

Sample - Trey's solo actually rocks pretty hard.

Vultures - Nice! Only version of Fall tour, which is a bit surprising since they played it fairly frequently that summer.   I'm no expert on versions of this song, but I'd bet that this is one of the best of them.  It gets real spacey, and more jammy than usual, kudos to Trey. He really leaves a lot of space in his playing which allows Page and Fish to fill in nicely -- towards the end it dissolves into psychedelic, floaty, nothingness that I could live in I love it so much. A+ version.

Tube - Booyah! It's Fall 97 and they are playing Tube. Is there much else to say?!?!  This version usually gets looked past since it's squeezed between the two epics (12/7 and 12/29) but the funk is strong!

Good/Bad Times - Excellent way to end the set.  Liked the modulatory(?) thing they did at 3:50

Going into this second set.... I'd be expecting big things...

Set 2

NICU - My only complaint about this show.  They really should have just opened with --->

PYITE - Nice extended vamp on the intro.  97, ftw!  Lots of space and loops @ the end.  Blam0! Right into -->

Ghost - The funk is heavy right from the start. Fishman is feeling it, and being extra playful with the "composed" part of this song.  Hey, look! They actually can nail the pause part!  Uhhhh yeeeeaaaaaaa Goooorrrrrddoooooo making sweet funky love to his bass.  Wow.... it is not until almost 8 and a half minutes in that Trey even takes a melodic solo line, up until that point he was just grooving and making musical textures.  Holy Trey! Start to REALLY take off @ at 10:30.... what a rager.  Nice little outro ditty -->

Mike's - Epic version. Being in attendance for this one must have really been a treat.  HILARIOUS Mike vocals during the start that even gets Trey laughing ------------>  Diiiirrrrttyyy, Diiirrrrttyyy Funk. Just ridiculosly diiiirrrttyy.  Mike's "Dude" is awesome beyond belief, and Page's "Dude" is one of my favorite moments of Phish EVER.  This is the best band ever.

Llama - Badass segue that doesn't lose the energy for a second! That's what it's all about. This one is a mellow rager, like Aug said --->

Circus - I lied that NICU was my only complaint... I don't really dig this song much. Nice solo though.

Paugapult - Back to business. I agree with Aug that they seem to be really going for it on this one, last big jam of Fall 97 tour... catapult WAS pretty trippy. Really pushing the ending jam. Fun version.

Hood - Again, I think the band was trying to suck this jam for everything it was worth and really attempt to harness the energy of that entire tour.  Lights off jam.  Beautiful ambience -- Trey almost sounds like he is playing a violin at one point.  Kind of shocking when fishman lays down the shuffle beat!  Blistering Trey ending!!! FANTASTIC VERSION!

My Soul - Something makes me think that they chose to do this during the encore break because Fishman did the shuffle beat during the Hood.  I wouldn't be as psyched if this were the solo encore song, but it works well paired with ---->

Coil - I couldn't ask for a better way to end this show / this tour.


This show is an absolute A+ in my book and a glimpse into Phish at one of their many creative peaks as a band.

[McGrupp]

Set I

Ya Mar - Weeee here we go! Love this version- prob my fav! Super 97'y, great grooves, great rock - awesome jam.

Axilla - mmmhmmm

Theme - I agree with what scotty said - this version is gorgeous. Trey's tone sounds so buttery. Love it.

Ginseng - Love me some bluegrass. They did this one up right.

Design - I like this song.

Sample - Sort of weird placement imo, but a pretty epic solo from trey.

Vultures - Always a treat for my ears . This version is pretty unique imo, really dig it.

Tube - FONK

GXBX - Love this to end a set or a show. Love this song. Heet!

Set II

NICU - Nice semi-mellow way to start a heater of a first set. I like this choice in a weird way.

Punch - Yup

Ghost - Nice short version. I really love this one - trey starts a theme pretty early on and it goes into rage mode. Boom!

Mikes - This is where shit gets serious. SUPER heavy and intense from the very start. Absolutely love this version. I can't say anything that hasn't been said already in regards to the whole BRING IN THE DUDE thing, but obviously I love it. This is the phish band I adore.

Llama - Super killer segue. Hawt. Energetic. Awesome.

Circus - Meh.

Paug - pult - Paug - I do really like this sequence. I enjoy mike's "aaayyyyyayyyayyyyyyyayayyyyyyyyy" vox and the subsequent crowd cheers. Also I think the second half of paug is pretty awesome.

Hood - Nice standard (standard for 97 means awesome!) version - also was very surprised when fish goes to the shuffle beat. Nice ending

My Soul - Eh.

Coil - Mmmmmmmmm. Satisfaction.

I give it an A. One of my all time favorites.