1997 Appreciation Thread

[anthrax]

SUNDAY 11/30/1997
WORCESTER CENTRUM CENTRE
Worcester, MA
SET 1: Guyute, Funky Bitch[1], Wolfman's Brother[2] -> Love Me, The Squirming Coil, Loving Cup

SET 2: NICU, Stash[1] -> Free > Jam -> Piper > When the Circus Comes, Run Like an Antelope

ENCORE: Them Changes[3]

[1] Unfinished.
[2] At one point, the lights were turned off and Trey and Mike ducked behind the onstage speakers. When the lights were turned back on, they were hidden from the crowd. Wolfman's also included a heavy metal style jam
[3] Phish debut.

Funky Bitch and Stash were unfinished. During Wolfman's, the lights were turned off and Trey and Mike ducked behind the onstage speakers. When the lights were turned back on, they were hidden from the crowd. Wolfman's also included a heavy metal style jam with Trey quoting the lyrics to Sanity and Esther. Them Changes made its Phish debut at this show.

[anthrax]

it's hard to say which one of these 3 woostah shows is the best.  hell of a run.  who was there?

[cactusfan]

Wish I'd been to any of these. Of these three, 11/28 is my favorite. An early tape acquisition for me, so I listened to this show a whole damn lot. Such a fun show. This was my favorite Ghost for a long time. Now... who knows, there's so many good ones out there.

[PIE-GUY]

it's hard to say which one of these 3 woostah shows is the best.  hell of a run.  who was there?

Pretty sure wendel has never missed a Worcester show. 

[mistercharlie]

it's hard to say which one of these 3 woostah shows is the best.  hell of a run.  who was there?

I found out today that my boss, who lives just outside of Boston, was there for her 18th birthday.

[WhatstheUse?]

The 11/30 Wolfman's is an all-time phish moment, IMO. Completely unique.

[PIE-GUY]

Never forget, Phish continued to destroy America on this night 25 years ago... 

[Buffalo Budd]

The 11/30 Wolfman's is an all-time phish moment, IMO. Completely unique.

Amen to that.

[jedifunk]

I was at this entire run. met a couple of the most important people in my life at a denny's on thanksgiving ... yeah, I was at denny's for a turkey dinner. 

show rankings
28th
29th
30th

set rankings
28 II
29 II
28 I
30 I
30 II
29 I

on my relisten the last few days, I was really awestruck by the Jim ... honestly I usually dismiss it as just a really long thing. it sort of reminds me of the 94/95 long tweezers ... where everything is quick ups and down.

this time around, I found it all quite musical. I'd say at least 90% of it is extraordinary, with the other 10% filler. the funky/bluesy jam at about 14 minutes is so unique and exquisite, its deftness, calm, pace and group cohesion are quite something.

the wolfmans is also excellent, especially the first 20 minutes before "the vamp." some really great interplay in it. not as funky as much of this tour, but its tone is 10000% fall 97.

I also love where the band goes out of both the Jim and Wolfman's ... Strange Design and Love Me are both perfect choices.

favorite jam from this run still continues to be the YEM ... so so sick. as has been said on the Undermine pods about these shows, the band is just in complete control of everything they do, master's of their craft. truly exemplified in this YEM.

other favorites include
28th Timber
28th Ghost
29th Foam
29th Simple
29th Buffalo Bill
30th Stash
30th Jam -> Piper
30th Them Changes

much like the Hampton/NC triumverant, this run is just so phish. each show is different from the next, but as a run truly showcases this band at the absolute peak of their powers, in full command of everything. and as Carla says on the 30th pod, you can play any 5 seconds from these shows and you immediately know its fall 97.

[natronzero]

Phish | Tue Dec 2nd, 1997 | CoreStates Spectrum | Philadelphia, PA

Set 1: Buried Alive > Down with Disease -> Makisupa Policeman, Chalk Dust Torture, Ghost > Divided Sky, Dirt > Taste, The Star Spangled Banner

Set 2: Mike's Song -> Simple -> Dog Faced Boy -> Ya Mar -> Weekapaug Groove, Bouncing Around the Room, Character Zero
Encore: Ginseng Sullivan > Sample in a Jar

Disease was unfinished. Trey teased Lazy in Chalk Dust Torture and Close to the Edge in Taste. Simple featured a Trey/Page musical duet.�Dog Faced Boy was played for the first time since August 12, 1996 (109 shows). Ya Mar included a fun play on the actual lyrics and a Crosseyed and Painless tease. Trey teased Izabella in Weekapaug.

Set 2 used to live in my car CD player for months at a time. That Simple -> DFB is just pure magic.

[pcr3]

The two Philly shows got me back into Phish.  After December 95, I caught Clifford Ball and the two Boston NYE shows in 96, and I was starting to feel like they had peaked and would never be able to top what they had done.  I was actually kind of getting bored of them at that point, perhaps due to overlistening to my tapes, but also perhaps because I felt like they kind of stagnated a bit in 96.

After Philly though, holy shit.  Get right back on the bus, pcr3, because they're DEFINITELY not done, and you're gonna want to be on that ride.  And now, here I am, putting on 12/2/97 to listen to while finishing my work week...

 

[anthrax]

not super familiar w/ 12-2.  just got home and put on set 2.  this mike's smokes!

[August]

First night of Philly was great. Def gets overshadowed by the 3rd, but the Ghost is tight and the whole Mike's > Week is A+
Great recording on Relisten

[jedifunk]

Philly #1 is highly underrated. Especially that 2nd set. the mikes is pretty good, but nothing extraordinary, but the flow of the set is excellent. the simple->dfb->yamar->paug is amazing. such a great flow and smooth transitions. and the Paug, holy smokes ... excellent, excellent version.

I found the ghost in set1 really good too. definitely overshadowed by the bigger versions of this tour, but its well played and felt longer than the 13 minutes it actually is.

[anthrax]

WEDNESDAY 12/03/1997
CORESTATES SPECTRUM
Philadelphia, PA
SET 1: Punch You in the Eye > My Soul, Drowned, The Old Home Place, Gumbo > Also Sprach Zarathustra > You Enjoy Myself

SET 2: David Bowie[1] -> Possum > Jam -> Prince Caspian > Frankenstein > Harry Hood

ENCORE: Crossroads

[1] Simpsons signal. Unfinished.

Drowned included a Couldn't Stand the Weather jam. 2001 contained Super Bad teases from Trey. Page teased Smoke on the Water in YEM. Bowie was preceded by a Charge! tease, included Take Me Out to the Ballgame and Baby Elephant Walk teases, a Simpsons signal, and was unfinished.