Here's another nice show from Summer 98. I don't think this show is quite as good as the three preceding it, but it's no slouch either and it's very funky. The show starts out with another good Moma Dance. This one's groove starts out pretty laid-back, but its intensity eventually picks up. Next up is a standard Beauty of My Dreams. Sample in a Jar is played with a little extra punch. Guyute is well-played and I like the placement coming after two lighter songs. Then we've got the first Ghost on American soil of the Summer and it's excellent. The jam starts out with sweet wah funk from Trey while Page takes the melody on the Rhodes. The jam picks up when Page switches to the piano and Trey starts building the melody. When Page hops on the clav, he and Trey get really hooked up in a Manteca-like groove as the jam keeps building. The jam culminates with a rocking peak and a vocal reprise from Fishman as he shouts the refrain. As Ghost dies down, Limb by Limb starts up. I love Limb by Limb so I'm always happy to hear it and this one reaches a satisfying peak. After a brief ambient outro, a nice Roggae is played. Ghost and YEM in the same set is always great, and this is only the first set. YEM is really funky and thoroughly enjoyable. Overall, this is a great first set.

Set 2 opens with a raging Llama with Trey sounding like Hendrix as he uses the wah effect for much of the song. Wolfman's Brother is slow and funky. This is a typical Piper for the period with the long building intro and the ending coda. The composed part of Tweezer is really funky, as is the beginning of the jam. However, the jam doesn't really become anything more than a little space funk before Trey plays a few blues licks and the band segues into a good JJLC. McGrupp is nice and there's an unusual ambient jam after McGrupp which segues into DwD. This Disease is a hard rocking, type 1 beast, just what the set needed IMO. The Possum, Tweezer Reprise encore is good, as well.

Overall, I like the first set better than the second set.
Highlights - Moma Dance, Ghost through YEM, Llama, Wolfman's, Jam->DwD.

This was my first Phish show. Up until this concert I had been rocking the club scene (Fugazi, Fishbone, local rock acts, etc.) and had not been in an ampitheatre since my early teenage years when I caught some heavy metal shows. So the size of the venue threw me off for the first set, which was excellent. Won't go into a song by song review but the flow and selection of everything was just perfect and the YEM to close the first set was just perfect.

But the juic was in the second set and man was it flowing. The Llama set 2 opener was blazing and they never stopped. All in all, I had so much fun getting acclimated to the lot scene, meeting great people and listening to an amazing band.

The next night in Ventura sealed the deal for me and I've been seeing as many shows as possible ever since.

It cannot be overstated how tight and fresh all the SOTG songs are for this whole tour. "Standard" type I versions of songs like Moma, Guyute, Limb, and Roggae brought the heat night in, night out. This show features two solid sets with fantastic jamming in Ghost, Limb, YEM, Tweezer (short, but sweet), and McGrupp. Ghost (High energy type 1 version) > Limb is my highlight, but I can see how McGrupp > Jam would be yours.

4/5 Standard great Summer 98 Phish show.

Get this one for McGrupp! Beautiful

This one starts off hot and heavy with an infectious Moma Dance and an overall nicely played Set I with the hidden gem of a Ghost which absolutely smokes. The setlist may not look like much on paper but the flow and vibe is all there. A fantastic YEM closes out an amazing set I and there's still lots of goodies ahead in set II.

This is one of the underrated shows of the summer. I've never really heard a major pitch for it and I was not expecting to love it nearly as much as I did. Don't skip it if you are trying to hit the Summer 1998 highlights.

This was my first show! Kicking it on the lawn, meeting some like minded folk and enjoying the day. A great night.

PHISH, SUNDAY 07/19/1998
SHORELINE AMPHITHEATRE
Mountain View, CA

SET 1:

The Moma Dance: Trey has a little extra mustard for this one. Feeling feisty.

Beauty of My Dreams: Standard.

Sample in a Jar: Standard.

Guyute: Standard.

Ghost: Fishman’s work in the very early stages of this jam is fantastic. This does have a funky interlude in the ten minute range. There is kind of a Manteca theme in the early 11 minute range. By the 12 minute range this jam is in full throat, each member is stomping on their respective gas pedal. Full speed ahead. Trey is ripping this thing to shreds in the 14’s – unabated all our raging rock and roll, truly impressive. Fish cannot contain himself and adds Ghost vocals. Awesome Ghost, easy all timer and highly recommended! >

Limb By Limb: Ripped to shreds! >

Roggae: Standard.

You Enjoy Myself: This version totally groove and funk oriented and led by Page primarily. No Trey shredding. Fun version for sure, this would have been fun to dance to live. Would recommend.

SET 2:

Llama: Nuts! Trey just goes crazy with this one. Extended and rocked the hell out! Impressive debauchery from Trey in this version!

Wolfman's Brother: Slightly surprised there isn’t more love for this one. The first part of the jam feature Mike going absolutely bonkers, it is fantastic backed so well by Page on the clavinet (I hope that is right). >

Piper: Standard. >

Tweezer: Don’t sleep on this one just because it is compact. It is super funky and chill, I love it! The loops add a lovely sonic background. The last 30 seconds when they drop into that bluesy stuff, it is so seamless, amazing Phish and then it’s obvious they will opt for JJLC or Dogs Stole Things… ->

Jesus Just Left Chicago: Smokes, but don’t they all?

McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters: Not sure who is at fault – kind of think it is Page – but the intro is sloppy, the timing is off. >

Jam: This is flat out exceptional Phish. So connected and listening to one another. At 10:08, tell me that is not the riff that begins All of these Dreams? It’s only for a second or two but it is there: https://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1998-07-19/mcgrupp-and-the-watchful-hosemasters . This jam will make you feel like you are floating on a cloud, it’s really quite incredible and can’t imagine what it would have been like in the moment. For my money, this is the best McGrupp out there! Easy all timer and highly recommended. Wow!!! ->

Down with Disease: Type I face melter – wish they ended sets like this more often, with a closed ended DWD. Not much beats it to be honest. Keep it like this – less than 13 minutes.

ENCORE:

Possum: DWD tease at 5:28. Takes the band a while to find their footing – around the 6 minute mark – but when they do they definitely bring the house down. This smokes – they crush this Possum! >

Tweezer Reprise: Standard.

Summary: Long show, longest of the tour as a matter of fact clocking in at 2:59. The second half of the first set is awesome, anchored by Ghost and YEM. After all these years, this show is still underrated somehow. The epic 7.17.98 show being right before Shoreline may have something to do with that. But this show has plenty of jewels and the best of them is the McGrupp jam but beyond this show is absolutely loaded. Take three hours out of your day and check this one out, you won’t be disappointed. The current rating on Phish.net of 4.184/5 (147 ratings) seems low to me. I would rate it as a 4.35/5.

Replay Value: Ghost, You Enjoy Myself, Llama, McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters, Jam, Down with Disease, Possum

YEM contained Things That Make You Go Hmmm... teases from Mike.
SHOW RATING
Your rating:
Overall: 4.184/5 (147 ratings)
JAM CHART VERSIONS
Ghost, You Enjoy Myself, Llama, Jesus Just Left Chicago, McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters, Jam
TEASES
Things That Make You Go Hmmm... tease in You Enjoy Myself

https://forum.phish.net/forum/permalink/1377869236

While most performing artists play single-set shows, Phish has made a career of playing two-set shows. This is almost certainly because of the precedent set by The Grateful Dead, although the practice likely goes back further than that. Playing multiple sets per show required the band to expand their repertoire quickly, and develop both their musical abilities and their physical stamina. In the liner notes to A Picture Of Nectar, Phish acknowledges that playing three sets a night, three nights a week at Nectar's "taught us how to play".

Phish also modeled their approach to first and second sets after The Grateful Dead, with the first set typically featuring tight song arrangements showcasing the band's versatility, and more experimental, psychedelic music in the second set. When the band went through a seismic shift in all aspects of their art between 1996 and 1997, they changed this perception, eliminating the "warm-up" aspect of their first sets. This resulted in some of the band's most highly regarded shows (11/17/97, 12/7/97), but also a few shows where the first set is more creative and enjoyable than the second. But even then, our favorite band would drop a couple of gems in the second half that are worthy of inspection under the jeweler's loupe.

Phish hit the ground running at the start of their Summer '98 U.S. tour, and like with 11/3/94, I find it odd that 7/19/98 isn't as highly regarded as the shows that surround it. The setlist displays several jam "heavy hitters", and there is plenty of laid-back funk along with blazing rock and roll. Tweezer is set up to carry the second set, but as with 10/27/94, this version fails to latch on to the deep funk or blissful groove like other versions from this period. But then an angular descending bass line from Mike right at the end of McGrupp flips a switch on the band, and they return to improvisational territory previously visited in the jam out of Horn four nights earlier in Portland. I find these five minutes of improv immensely rewarding and special, particularly in the context of such a mammoth show.

On paper this is almost a festival setlist, with Ghost, YEM, Wolfman’s, Piper, Disease, and Tweezer all making an appearance. And in reality, the Ghost and YEM are outstanding, with Mike starting amazing grooves in both. But while the second set starts fast and rocking with Llama, the vibe diminishes with each subsequent song. Tweezer, in particular, starts out about as strong as you can get, with loops, a dark and intimidating bass line, and a laser beam from Page. But then around 7 minutes, after Trey and Page have played maybe 3 notes over the past 2 minutes, it fades to JJLC, which is languid and My Soul-ish this go around. The McGrupp redeems a disjointed set.

Part of my full run through of Summer '98, see here

Moma starts things out, just as fine and funky an opener as it was in Portland three shows earlier. After a fairly standard run through a few more songs, the band launches into the first notable jam of the show in the form of another funky Ghost. This one is very representative of the era; patient groove-based improv, great interplay between Trey and Page, and a fun vocal reprise at the end of the jam. Limb by Limb is still in it's glory during this period and this one's no exception, though it interestingly fades into something seemingly ambient before reforming into Roggae. The YEM closer is fierce with fantastic work from Mike. Overall this set lands, though isn't quite as strong as, say, the last set that had both Ghost and YEM in it (7/2).

The second set jumps out of the gate with a Llama that feels almost deranged by the end, with Trey viciously tearing into the jam. This Wolfman has a nice Type 1 jam, though I feel like we are now past the song's creative peak. We get yet another ambient fade and then the band kicks into Piper which is, once again, surprisingly without a jam. Next up comes an interesting version of Tweezer; after vamping for a bit it seems like the jam isn't really going anywhere. Rather than force anything the band seems to accept it, and moves on to another quiet ambient interlude. This one gets bluesy, and instead of fading out surprisingly segues like silk into Jesus Just Left Chicago. It's clear that this is where the band needed to be instead of mucking about trying to make Tweezer work; this is a fantastic version. Page's organ play provides the fire and combusts in Trey's explosive solo. McGrupp is also excellent; aside from the Llama opener this set seems to belong to Page. When the song proper ends the band finally goes deep into ambient territory after teasing it several times throughout the show. It rolls out in the same territory as McGrupp's final notes, with Trey leading and nice interplay from Mike and Page. Fish comes in with a beat that almost gives this an I Am Hydrogen feel, but instead starts to grow more blissful. 14 minutes after McGrupp started, things fade out to near silence before Trey delivers some closing notes... and then Mike delves into an extra swampy intro of Down With Disease. The Disease closer and Possum>Tweeprise encore are not notably unique, but are delivered with a ton of enthusiasm.

I suppose this was to be expected after the great Gorge run, the band can't deliver at that level every night. Is this how I felt listening to 12/9/97 after having heard 12/6 and 12/7 back to back? That is to say that neither this nor 12/9/97 are bad shows, but it's hard not to feel a bit down after being that high. For sure this show has a fun Ghost, and the Tweezer > JJLC > McGrupp > Jam sequence is great listening. I can't recall having heard a Jesus Just Left Chicago as good as this one. The band just decided to explore different things this evening than the previous, but the results were still very good.