R14/W03: 08-16-1997 The Great Went, Loring Air Force Base, Limestone, ME

[Buffalo Budd]

I'll go ahead and apologize for the 3 setter but I couldn't pick one to leave out.


Phish
"The Great Went"
Loring Airforce Base
Limesone, Maine
8/16/1997

Original recording:
Set 1: Neumann TLM170 FOB -> Tascam DA-P1 (m)
Set 2 & 3: Neumann TLM170 FOB -> Sonosax SX-M1 -> Apogee AD500E -> Tascam DA-P1 (m)


Transfer: Sony R500->Sound Devices 722

Mastered: Soundforge Audio Studio 10.0a - slight volume normalization, some attempts to clean up glitches listed below (high pass filtering, "LP pop and click removal" on the affected areas), also brought down the volume of most of the firecracker pops before normalizing. Sample rate conversion 48khz to 44.1khz using iZotope 64-Bit SRC set higher than "Highest Quality" setting w/anti-alias filter. All file manipulation in Soundforge done at 24 bits, then dithered back to 16 bits using using iZotope MBIT+ with Ultra noise shaping, High dither settings. Tracked in CDWav.


Set 1/disc 1
1. Makisupa Policeman ->
2. Harpua
3. Chalkdust Torture
4. banter - kinda like the soundcheck
5. Theme From The Bottom
6. Punch You In The Eye ->
7. banter - the biggest city in Maine right now, the Port-o-let Piazza
8. Ghost
9. Ginseng Sullivan

Disc 2
10. You Enjoy Myself ->
11. Train Song ->
12. Character Zero
13. The Squirming Coil
14. outro

Set 2/disc 3
1. crowd/tuning
2. Wolfman's Brother ->
3. Simple ->
4. The Odd Couple Theme Song ->
5. My Soul
6. jam ->
7. Slave To The Traffic Light
8. Rocky Top
9. Julius
10. crowd

Set 3/disc 4
1. crowd/tuning
2. Halley's Comet ->
3. Cities ->
4. Llama
5. Lawn Boy
6. Limb By Limb ->
7. Funky Bitch (w/fireworks)
8. encore break
9. Contact
10. Lovin' Cup
11. crowd

Taper notes:
This is BARN15, the most recent release in my continuing process of transferring my DAT master recordings to a more usable format and in the process putting them out there for you to enjoy.

As I was trying to unravel in my brain the mystery of why my 1st set used somewhat different gear than the other 2 sets (I used no preamp in the 1st set but used a pre-amp and borrowed Apogee AD500 for the rest set of the weekend), amazingly I was able to remember what happened. The traffic, as anyone who was up in Maine for these shows, was unberably slow-moving. It was so slow moving that as we approached the announced showtime, it was becoming evident that there was no way I was going to make it into the show in time to record if I waited in the car with my friends to get into the lot....so I decided to hoof it into the venue....even though we were more than 2 miles away, and it was nearly 100 degrees out! I had my huge festival batteries (20+ pounds) with me, and this was before I had a bag with wheels on it like I do now (all I had was a shoulder bag with all of my gear in it). Anyway, I hoofed it as fast as I could into the venue, and was nearly dehydrated and with painful shoulders and back, I made it in and to the spot where my other friends were taping with just minutes before they started! I set up all of my gear as quickly as possible, but when they were starting, my Sonosax (mic preamp and phantom power) would NOT power up! So I quickly yanked it out and plugged my mics right into the deck. It took a few seconds before I realized it wasn't quite set properly (hence the slight distortion in the 1st 42 seconds of the show)....but it worked!

The 1st set doesn't sound quite as good as the rest of the show, though it does sound nice....but the other sets -- get ready to have your socks knocked off! If memory serves, during the break between the 1st and second set, Eric Vandercar and Dr. Rob Shiner helped me find the bad connection on my external battery pack for the Sonosax and resolder it. And to top it off, (again, if memory serves), Gary Fox had an extra Apogee 500E which he wasn't using that I threw into the mix, just for its superior A>D capibilities.


--------------------------------
Recording flaws (all in set 1):
Missing the first few seconds of Makisupa Policemean as I was unable to get my Sonosax to power up.
At 00:09, 00:27, 1:43, 2:21, 2:23 -- wind noise? (I might not have had my wind screens on initially in the rush to set up? Can't recall, but the problem seems to go away after a few minutes). I've tried to minimize them as best I could in SoundForge.
In 1st 42 seconds of the show, there are some moments of slight distortion and compressed levels until I turned on 10db pad on the Tascam DA-P1, and then some slight volume fluctuation for a short while after that while I got the levels tuned (though I have minimized this issue in Sound Forge so that the volume fluctuations are nearly undetectable).
*There are no flaws noted in the other sets*
-----------------------------------


Original DAT recording by Scott Bernstein.
Transferred and mastered by Scott Bernstein, 12/29-30/2009.

MP3s:
http://www.mediafire.com/?74cdehy69l500

FLAC:
http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=531209

[Augustus]

I totally reviewed 10-25-1996 already! 

[whatapiper]

this will be a fun one

10-25-96 is not for a couple more weeks maaaaan  :roll:

[Augustus]

this will be a fun one

10-25-96 is not for a couple more weeks maaaaan  :roll:

Ahhhh......

[Buffalo Budd]

I totally reviewed 10-25-1996 already! 

Premature.

[Caravan2001]

I'll go ahead and apologize for the 3 setter but I couldn't pick one to leave out.

Don't feel bad....Mine is a 3 set show from 90  :|

[WhatstheUse?]

I'll go ahead and apologize for the 3 setter but I couldn't pick one to leave out.

Don't feel bad....Mine is a 3 set show from 90  :|

I feel so bad for both of you guys  :cry:

[Caravan2001]

I'll go ahead and apologize for the 3 setter but I couldn't pick one to leave out.

Don't feel bad....Mine is a 3 set show from 90  :|

I feel so bad for both of you guys  :cry:

:-D...I'm just saying, my first show is kinda mediocre at best soundwise and the playing is fairly standard...Not that it was not a top5 life-changing moment, but it might not offer the same excitement to you younger cats!

[Caravan2001]

Here is an mp3 link to this show if anyone wants it:

http://www.mediafire.com/?c9lknkqsbdecs

[Buffalo Budd]

Thanks caravan for attaching the MP3s.
My files finally uploaded overnight so they're in there now.

[Caravan2001]

Thanks caravan for attaching the MP3s.
My files finally uploaded overnight so they're in there now.

No prob.....don't evenn know what source that is from, it is off of the google spreadsheet.

[khalpin]

This was my first show since the Clifford Ball(one year to the day), so there were a lot of first timers for me.  It had rained the previous night and soaked my piece of garbage $20 Kmart tent.  I ended up getting up at about 3 in the morning and going to sleep in the minivan we had rented for the weekend.

Makisupa - Nice opener for a open field full of hippies on an 85 degree sunny day.  Gooballs!
Harpua - I still get excited about this 14 years later.  It's so fucking awesome that they played this.  Finally finishing off my two unfinished Harpuas!  I like Page's organ solo here.
Chalkdust - Kinda feels like we've had three openers now.  ~7:20 Trey starts using some effects that sound pretty cool, but it's short-lived.  Most of this slipped by without me noticing anything, although Trey butchers the return out of the solo.  Soundcheck huh?  Likely excuse.
Theme - ~6:00 Mike changes key and they go off into a jam, which is pretty rare for a Theme.  It's a pretty cool little interlude.  Doesn't last too long, though.  Would've been nice if they went with it for a while.  But they return to the Theme theme for a typically good jam.
PYitE - The coolest city in Maine!
Ghost - Takes a while but they find a nice groove ~7:00 for some laid back jamming.  Kind of gets disjointed by about 10:00 into it and your ready for the next song to start.  Unfortunately, they don't let it end.  It goes on for another 5 minutes.  I guess it's admirable because they leaving it open for something to develop (which they absolutely don't do at all anymore) and some of those "moments" come by letting a jam simmer for a while and seeing what develops, but that's not the case here.
YEM - Solid composed section, although the "Boy" is a bit anti-climactic.  I like the effects-laden transition from the WUDMTF into the tramps section.  Love Page on the organ here.  Trey switches over to that dirty tone ~13:00 and things take a nice, dark turn.  After about a minute and a half we're into a new groove that's riddled with funk.  Highlight of the set, so far.  Page goes from organ to piano.  It gets even better from here.  Simmers down to some nice effects-laden(minor 3rd harmonizer) noodling by Trey.
Train Song - I'm a fan and like the placement.
Character Zero - To add some energy back into the set.  I like what Mike does during the jam.
Squirming Coil - Always works well as a set closer.  The band sticks on stage a bit longer, but finally leaves Page alone to close out the set.

The worst set of the entire tour according to Trey.

Wolfman's - Just what the doctor ordered.  I think at setbreak they decided to go out and open with a song they were very comfortable with and just relax and do what they're so good at.  Let that creativity flow. Settles into a nice funk jam ~6:00 in.  Gets kinda spacey for a couple minutes and Trey takes a back seat.  Page switches over to piano.   They're all doing a great job of contributing and not stepping on each others toes.  Just a great full-on band jam.  This has a great build.  Where they get to in the final minutes of this is probably my favorite part of all three of the Saturday sets.  It's so gorgeous.  And a great segue into >
Simple - Tasty Tranny!  A nice, pleasant jam.  Easy to listen to while not being "easy listening".  With that great jam that Page turns into the Odd Couple jam.
My Soul - Another smooth segue.  With more Odd Couple teases by Mike.  The jam/solo starts out a bit flat but really picks up in the second half.
Jam - Love these little '97 jams out of nowhere.  A few more Odd Couple teases.
Slave - Not the smoothest beginning.  Maybe it's the recording but this one didn't seem to have much oomph.
Rocky Top - I like the song and the placement.  Leo's gonna play! Sweet Page solo.  They have some fun with this one.
Julius - A couple flubs in here.  The Trey solo begins with some tasty playing and then they bring things way down, which sounds real nice.  Setbreak announcement and then back up to finish the refrain.

Halley's - The jam seems like it's not going anywhere, it's just kind of dissonant and then Trey starts singing again.  All of a sudden it takes on a whole new look and feel.  Great shit.  They take their time and slowly evolve into a nice funk jam that segues nicely into >
Cities - Fun version.  It's soooooo sloooooow.  When the jam starts, Fishman goes double time and it picks up.  Then about 11 minutes in, it goes double time again to prepare for the segue into >
Llama - A heavy dose of energy.  Trey's solo is riddled with so many effects that you can't really make it out.  It's just kinda one big 3 minute long BLEEAARGHHWWWWWUUUUSH.
Lawnboy - I like the placement.  Nobody wants to take the solo, so eventually Mike decides to take it.
Limb by Limb - Pretty standard.  I liked what Mike was doing, but this song doesn't do to much for me.  They draw out the ending as they prepare to wait for the fireworks to get ready before they kick into >
Funky Bitch - I distinctly remember the timing being totally perfect.  As soon as they dropped into it, the first firework went off.  What a blast this was.  I imagine it was the biggest fireworks display that any of the local Maine-ards had ever seen.  Great way to finish off the set.  Everyone was loving it.
Contact - 60,000 people waving their arms and singing along.  Love the funk jam.
Loving Cup - To finish out day one.

That's a BIG show to catch as your first.  Of course, day 2 would be even bigger with that second set madness.  This one started off a bit on the weak side but they turn things around right away in the second set.  My highlights were the Wolfman's > Simple and the Halley's > Cities.

[Buffalo Budd]

To begin, I can't wait for Phish to make this an official release.

Didn't know what I was in for.  Got there on the 15th and came close to drowning in our tent that night, woke up around 3am with my face in a puddle.  My GF was pissed, so we went to the Laundromat during the day to dry all of our gear.  They opened the concert gates and my girlfriend (now wife) and I stormed for as close as we could get.  Got about 5 – 10 rows back Page side and waited for a few hrs for the show to start.  Didn't drink at all or puff much back then so plenty of time to wait for this show to start.

Set 1
Makisupa Policeman –Thought this sounded like a bit of a soundcheck at the time.  Codeword was 'gooballs' as they seemed to be everywhere on the lot.  Fun light playing by Trey and cool sound effects by Page, few more rounds of the chorus and into >

Harpua – I was a serious noob at the time, only owning ALO and a couple show tapes.  Never heard Harpua before so didn't know this was being continued from the Ball, heard about that on the way out after the show.  I think my GF was wondering WTF I had brought her to at this point, LOL.  Couple of flubs in there by Trey but pretty standard as far as Harpuas go, would have probably blown my mind had I been at the Ball.

Chalkdust Torture – No break, time to dance.  I remember being locked into Mike at this point, just laying it down.  Trey is working on a theme at the start of the jam sustaining some notes, then some modulation around the 8:00 mark.  Page steps up as Trey goes out there.  Mike and Fish just holding it down, everyone going off, few peaks, then Trey botches the outro.  Oh well.  Trey lets us know that was their soundcheck.

Theme from the Bottom – Mellow jam, Trey playing with his distortion.  Trey sounds like he's teasing WTU starting around the 6:00 mark.  Longer jam than most versions, very enjoyable.  Trey's guitar is screaming and looping as they start up >

Punch You in the Eye – Another fun tune, they are rewarding all the loyal fans that made the trek up to Limestone (only 5 hrs South for me).  Fish is sounding great in the intro, Trey bringing the wah, short jam ensues.  Trey flubs the 2nd verse but recovers thanks to the other 3.  I remember my wife getting a huge kick out of Trey and Mike dancing.  They keep the sounds going as Trey welcomes the crowd saying it was the biggest and coolest city in Maine right now, points out the Port-o-let Piazza mentioning Fish christened the bathtub.  Then intros >

The Story of the Ghost – Fish's vocals sounding very clear in the mix.  Not the smoothest transition back into the chorus.  Jam is very funky to start, they are pretty locked in as it moves along.  They start to push it out there after the 9:00 mark but it is pretty constrained and doesn't achieve total lift off like some Ghosts.  Breaks down to a groove jam at the end that is pretty cool.

Ginseng Sullivan – Standard.

You Enjoy Myself – Getting another heavy hitter out of the way early in the weekend.  Composed section played to perfection.  Cool breakdown at the start of the jam, Page taking his turn, Mike turning it up, Trey still pushing the wah and Fish holding it down.  You can hear a helicopter flying over as Trey takes over, really like what he starts to develop around the 14:30 mark.  Trey and Mike begin to sync up at 17:45 and just go with it.  Trey throws in some modulation around 20:30 and keeps it going with some extreme distortion into a 'put it down' vocal jam, which is short and sweet.  Still one of my favourite YEMs to this day.  Straight into >

Train Song – Sweet, really like this ballad. >

Character Zero – I loved this tune early in my Phish career and was pumped they played it (insert obligatory noob comment).  Really enjoyed the rockin' solo, a top 5 version to these ears.

The Squirming Coil – I enjoy this song more when Trey is lower in the mix, has that subtle feel to it.  Very simple jam but beautiful, great way to end my first set of Phish.

Set 2
Wolfman's Brother – Jam is very funky with a lot of wah throughout.  Page starts using the synth around 10:30, then switches to the grand, really fun groove going on.Kind of switches directions around 12:30 and Mike seems to take the lead, Trey starts with some modulation.  Cool riff into >

Simple – Couple of missed notes but sounds pretty solid otherwise, Mike and Fish just pushing it forward.  Jam starts with some sustained notes from Trey, then cool segue into >

The Odd Couple Theme Song – Love the trippy jam that ensues here, fun stuff from Page.  You can tell what's coming and the seguefest continues >

My Soul – I know it's not the general consensus but I like this tune.  Page really laying down some nice piano in his solo and Trey gives his guitar a rest for it.  Then Trey takes his turn at it.  I love how everyone is maxing out around the 6:00 mark. 

Jam – I miss moments like this where they just decide to experiment like this.  If they can do a strage box jam, why can't they throw this in the middle of a set nowadays.  Very cool how well they are listening to eachother.  I remember thinking WTF is going on at the time.  Somewhat messy segue >

Slave To The Traffic Light – Trey seems to be having some trouble at the beginning of the song, kind of noodling a bit, maybe he didn't want the jam to end.  Some cool loops thrown in during the heavy section.  Always love the melodic jam to finish, they really know how to build a peak.  If nothing else, a unique Slave for sure. 

Rocky Top – My wife was stoked about this tune as she's a NGDB fan.  Mike messes up the lyrics in the 1st verse.  Leo just slamming the keys on his solo, so awesome.  Mike messes up the lyrics again.

Julius – They break it down really quiet for the lyrics, crowd keeping time.  The jam seems pretty standard at first but Trey gets to work on a fun lick around 4:20 that the others quickly join in on.  Then Mike starts flying up the fretboard and Trey lowers the distortion and they wail away.  This is one of my favourite Trey tones, Fish sensing every turn they take.  'A lot more strange and weird music', keep it coming!  Trey drops a hint on the disco later that night, which flew right over this noob's head.  And they end the set with bang.

Set 3
Halley's Comet – First time hearing this tune and was totally into it.  Little slip up with the lyrics but they recovered well.  I enjoyed the start of this jam, pretty standard, a little confusion as to where they want to go with it, then they find a theme around the 9:10 mark as they throw the lyrics back in.  This seems to inspire them and they take it out there, turning on the funk around the 12:00 mark.  I just love this version.  They slow it down for a smooth tranny into >

Cities – This is my most vivid memory of the entire weekend.  When I got home, I went straight out and grabbed Slip, Stitch & Pass because this tune was on there.  Very slow version, fun lyrics, they seem like they're having a blast.  Cool jam here, very slow and slick, the lyrics come back in and they speed it up a bit and add another layer to this jam.  IMO, as smooth a segue as is possible into >

Llama – Here we go, this portion of the show really sticks out in my mind.  Very wild, jumbled solo from Trey, tons of distortion.  I can still see him just being 'rock star Trey' up there.  Gets even crazier as it builds to a few peaks then is brought back to the chorus.  It almost goes off the rails before the end.

Lawn Boy – Time to rest.  Seems like nobody wants to take the lead so Mike steps up.  Page helps out a bit.  I miss the LBs where Page stays on the grand rather than just sing.

Limb By Limb – I always like a good LxL jam.  This one is pretty typical, Mike is just all over the fretboard on this one.  They break it down to a mellow, noodle jam before the refrain.  Fish is a machine, such a great beat to end this song.  >

Funky Bitch – My GF was exhausted and wanted to walk to the back of the field for the end of the set, which turned out to be a great vantage point for the fireworks.  We were pretty blown away by the effort put into this show with the fireworks and village, etc.  Cool start to the song, Trey solo pretty standard, enjoyed Page's solo more, great finish.

Encore
Contact – Just beautiful, everyone was singing along.  Great licks by Trey early on, then a smokin' funk jam.  Go Mike!!!

Lovin' Cup – Perfect end to the perfect night.

[UncleEbinezer]

Makisupa - Awesome way to get a show going.  "We are here to party!"  Keyword - Goo balls!  Speaking of which, I love

some goo balls.  Nice syth and loops.  Trey has a nice little high pitched solo.  Very playful!  Dig this a lot.
Harpua - ending Harpua from last year's fest.  Pretty sweet!!!
Chalkdust - Now time for business.  Solid version all around.
Theme - Sounds like some WTU teases/noodling
PYITE - FUNK yeah!  Nice intro!  Love the extended intro.  The patience and work among all of the members is fantastic!
Ghost - I've listened to this Ghost several times, and nothing jumps out as amazingly noteworthy.
Ginseng - solid version
YEM - Really dig this YEM.  Very tight band performance here.  Trey solos nicely over top this solid landscape that Mike

and Fish are holding down. 
Train Song - Short, sweet and tight
Zero - To me this one lacked the peaks and shreddage that a good Zero should have.  Kind of bland to me.
Coil - Really nice Coil.  Page gets about 4 minutes of lovely music on this outro.  Be-A-utiful
Wolfman's - gets very Type II and away for the funk theme.  Nice and bouncy.  At around the 17:30 mark they lock into

this sweet groove with trey playing on top of that landscape from page into...
Simple - Didn't do much for me.  Lots of Trey screeching to me.  iirc this is in Bittersweet Motel
jam - Odd Couple jam.  strayed way away from Simple.  I enjoyed this much more than the outro from simple.  nicely segued

into...
My Soul - Some vocal jam thing at the beginning.  Good version. 
Jam - What seemed to be some noodling/tuning became a nice bit of playful jamming.  Which softly winds down to...
Slave - This slave is kind of meh.
Rocky Top
Julius - has a little of everything.  Nice slow, blues, nice rock out at the end.  Solid version of Julius!
Halley's - Crowd sounds rowdy and a great way to start the set!  This thing left the theme very early.  Solid patience

all around.  Love the themes is explores.  Ups, downs and sidewayses. 
Cities - playful, funky and slow.  Joking around and loose.  ~8:40, the pace picks up and we get some nice rock/funk

grooves.  Page begins to play over top. Pace picks up and...
Llama - BOOOOOOOM!!!!  Love this segue.  So much energy and pace!  Then it quickly turns to noise for me.  I like when

Trey shreds Llama, not this screechy stuff. 
Lawn Boy - Nice timely break here. 
Limb by Limb - Really solid and emotional feeling to me.  I like to tempo and tones in this as opposed to 98% of lxl's
Funky Bitch - Rockin' bitch!!!
Contact - Love he work by Page during this Contact!
Loving Cup - Great way to end this show.

[Caravan2001]

working my way through this..starting second set now....