, attached to 1997-08-17

Review by Campster

Campster Sure, it's been done, here's another Went Review.

Set 1 opens in breezy fashion with the Wedge. Like the Makisupa in the previous show, it's a great table setter for a festival.

Beauty of My Dreams and Dogs Stole Things are fine, but not exceptional. It's not the strongest start to a show, but Vultures follows up and is always a treat.

Water in the Sky brings back a mellow vibe, but surrenders to an incendiary Maze that lights a fire, only to be doused by a mellow Bouncin'.

While the majority of the set is a little bit uneven to this point the ensuing Tweezer>Taste is some classic '97 stuff, with a funkified Tweezer featuring a Cities jam and a Taste (in its finest year?) that features a temendous solo by Big Red. Carolina closes the set.

Overall, it's a set with plenty of fun, but most folks probably start with the Tweezer.

Set II opens with the rumbling of DWD and this version is a doozy. Fiery soloing, yields to some upbeat blissful playing, followed by some slow & dark space funk that features Mike and Trey trading licks and treating the listener to a wonderful concluding bit of interplay.

The long version transitions nicely into the Went Gin, which is of course notable & ranked by most as one of the best jams the band has ever played. The upbeat hose is at the very least inspiring and it deserves its place aside Riverport as the best Gin the band has played in their career.

The surprising but perfectly played segue into Uncle Pen is equal parts weird and perfect.

2001 is given the full treatment as the band members take turns painting during the absolutely funky madness of a 20+ minute version of the tune. While it segues into the Art Jam which is a cool moment, it doesn't quite carry the musical muster of the previous songs.

Hood closes the perfect set in majestic fashion. Trey instructing CK5 to lower the lights for the ensuing jam is magic as it progresses from delicate to magnificent and all things in between, with Trey giddy as a child over the first ever Hood glowstick war.

Overall a perfect set, with nothing at all to complain about. It's perhaps the finest set in the band's history?

Set III is not much in comparison to the previous 5 festival sets. However, there are some moments to enjoy for sure. Buffalo Bill is slightly jammed out into NICU, which is a cool set opening. Weigh Guyute & Dirt are all adaquate. SOAM is very cool with a good DDL jam. The Caspian is perhaps the set's highlight & it is a very good version indeed.

When the Circus Comes, Tweeprise is a great conclusion.

Overall this show contains the best set of the festival (if not band's career), however the other two sets do not quite carry the majesty of the previous day's performance. Still an easy 5/5 and essential (repeated) listening for any phans.


Phish.net

Phish.net is a non-commercial project run by Phish fans and for Phish fans under the auspices of the all-volunteer, non-profit Mockingbird Foundation.

This project serves to compile, preserve, and protect encyclopedic information about Phish and their music.

Credits | Terms Of Use | Legal | DMCA

© 1990-2024  The Mockingbird Foundation, Inc. | Hosted by Linode