A fine show. The second set opens with a 35-minute Wolfman's > 2001; the Wolfman's Bro hits one of those my-god-this-band-is-tight peaks around the 14-minute mark. If things get a little repetitious thereafter, you can doubly console yourself: 1) 'I live a life of privilege, to be able to complain about such things'; and 2) 'At least it's not that insufferable 11/30/97 Wolfman's coda, right?' The rest of the set is charming, though doesn't Slave > Chalkdust seem a little...backward to you?

Just gotta give another shout out to this Wolfman's, HOT Damn! In the middle of a tour that's just brimming with funk, I can't think of anything else from the tour that's funkier. This is not the best show of the tour, but it does contain one of the best, if not the best, jam of the tour, and the rest of the show is still super solid as well. A must for a fan of 98.

Must have show for your collection from Summer of '98 for the following reasons IMHO....

(1) SBD available @ PHISHOWS.COM (get this show!!!)

(2) Moma Dance --> Jim is one of my favorite openers in the entire archive as far as combinations go and these two versions sound very tight

(3) Stash and Taste both are played superb

(4) Wolfman's --> 2001 brings the funk and sounds real tight and I def. agree with WAXBANKS's observation

(5) MULE --> HA HA HA --> MULE reveals the band is having a blast and is in the mood

(6) Slave has a very well played climax and otro

(7) Chalkdust to end the 2nd set on a strong, intense note!

Just my $.02

I came here to say the same thing Penn42 said - this Wolfman's is incredible, one of the few things in the phish world that I think is under-appreciated. it has the slow and steady strut right from the start, then unfolds and sort of shapeshifts for a few minutes. it evolves but it doesn't really grow, so patient. sick, relaxed lick starts 10:30. it's like the most mature hey-hole jam they've played. a few minutes later that little section ends in some fog and emerges into a power jam that totally goes where you hope it does after faking you out. patience is rewarded. and then you get to chill out in some space before they bust into 2001.

just a great jam. must-hear.

Definitely a great show all around. Moma is a nice opner and the Jim jam hits some great peaks and gets a little dark for a minute. Stash and Taste are great and you can't got wrong with a rockin' Loving Cup set closer.

The 2nd set starts with a fantasticly funky Wolfman's that's gets straight-up dirty. 2001 keeps the funk going and the SOAMUle Ha Ha Ha sandwich keeps the energy going and is a downright fun listen. waxbanks is on the money with Slave>CDT being backwards but a great way to close the set nonetheless. Character Zero encore, meh, but this is a very solid show. The Wolfman's>2001 is certainly a must-hear for any phan IMO

PHISH, FRIDAY 07/24/1998
CYNTHIA WOODS MITCHELL PAVILION
The Woodlands, TX

SET 1:

The Moma Dance: Standard. >

Runaway Jim: The shift at right about the 8 minute mark transitions the band into the funky realm. Check out Fishman at the 8 and half minute mark, the man is possessed, such a talent. I especially like the theme that Trey creates at 9:48 and rides for a good bit. Good Jim would recommend.

Bouncing Around the Room: Standard.

Stash: Pretty good version.

My Soul: Standard.

Taste: Standard.

Golgi Apparatus: Standard.

Loving Cup: Fire in the belly with this one, has extra mustard and extra time too.

SET 2:

Wolfman's Brother: Jam starts off funky as it typically does. In the 8 minute range Trey focuses on some staccato picking. This leads to that crunchy tone that emerged in summer of 97, really good stuff and transitions. Mike is throwing down in here and another few minutes of funk. In the late 13’s though, the funk peters out and the band is actively searching for where to go from here. They find the direction at 14:53, and it’s rock and roll and Trey is leading the way. Look out below, things are about to get loud and wild. By the 18 minute range Trey has guided his mates into a heavy metal jam. But here comes more funk at 18:39 – heavy on the wah. But wait, he is weaving that heavy metal in and out of the funk. Nasty!!! This finally settles around the 20 minute mark and the next three minutes are full of deep space and ambience per the 1998 handbook. Highly recommend jam right there, one of the best Wolfman’s they have played! >

Also Sprach Zarathustra: Had to see this coming from a mile away. First jam hits at 5:00. Second at 9:00. Groovy stuff! Great placement too. >

Scent of a Mule > Ha Ha Ha -> Scent of a Mule: Standard. IMHO, this knocks the second set off kilter, and it never recovers sadly enough.

Slave to the Traffic Light: Reminiscent of a 3.0 Slave, no breathing room after the end of the composed section with the heavy metal outro. The jam seems rushed and has no oomph in the climax, very vanilla Slave >

Chalk Dust Torture: Standard.

ENCORE:

Character Zero: Standard.

Summary: Outside of the Jim jam and the Loving Cup face melting closer, there is nothing to hang your hat on in that first set. Played it safe. The second set starts off very, very strong with that Wolfman’s all timer and a nice 2001 but if falls off a cliff after that. I am not nearly as high on this show as Phish.net as their current rating is 4.097/5 (93 ratings). I can’t give it a 3.5 average rating because of that Wolfman’s but that is what my gut tells me to do. I will bump it another .2 – 3.7/5. They could not maintain that momentum that they had built with those West coast shows.

Replay Value: Runaway Jim, Loving Cup, Wolfman's Brother

Scent of a Mule contained a quote of the theme from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
SHOW RATING
Your rating:
Overall: 4.097/5 (93 ratings)
JAM CHART VERSIONS
Runaway Jim, Loving Cup, Wolfman's Brother
TEASES
Theme from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly tease in Scent of a Mule

A pretty good show that circulates in SBD. Interestingly, the taper hooked up his DAT to an assisted listening device that outputs a SBD signal for the hearing impaired. The recording itself is overly compressed with static throughout. My version is a matrix that has the timing slightly off, giving it a slapback echo effect. I still prefer it over the straight AUDs, but its not a great recording so you may prefer the audience tapes.

The show starts off with another funky/solid Moma (is 98 the best year for this song?) which segues nicely into a Jim that gets a little bit of extra ambient/funk treatment at the end. In 98 it was commonplace, but getting a jam like this in the two hole would be considered something very special these days. The rest of the set is pretty standard up till Taste which gets a little something extra and dips back into that 98 quasi ambient territory. The undisputed highlight of the show is the Wolfman's which goes on for 20+ minutes and includes great funk jamming that gets increasingly more sparse until it fades into ambient territory and floats into a nice 2001. SOAMule is notable for the Ha Ha Ha in the duel section. A standard (read pretty) slave helps lead into the closing rockers: CDT and Zero.

Highlights: Jim, Taste, Wolfman's 2001

3/85 /5 sold B+ Phish.

I loved this show. The crowd was fresh and enthusiastic...it seems like the wooks stopped in Austin and skipped this one. The venue was very nice...trees, brooks and walking bridges. It kind of reminds me of Blossom but perhaps even nicer.

It's mostly a Type 1 show but most everything is excellent. RJim, Stash, Taste, and Slave were particularly good.

I took a first-time friend to this show and hooked him easily.

Give this one a listen...it deserves more praise.

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

After a great run things have started to peter off. This is a GOOD Phish show, with a very GOOD setlist, but not a GREAT Phish show. Most songs here are standard for '98 (again GOOD). The first set has a nice Bouncing Around the Room cool down before going into a nice run of songs, and caps with a hot Loving Cup. As far as the second set goes, honestly, the Scent of a Mule > HA HA HA > Scent of a Mule is fun, and the triple whammy of Slave/Chalkdust/Zero to close the set and encore is great rock energy.

Oh but I skipped a few things there, didn't I? It seems we have something that is common during this era i.e. Phish playing "top heavy" sets, where the jams come out early. This show is a great example, because we have two sets that are played that way. The first set starts with yet another stellar '98 Moma Dance opener, and then breaks out into a very fun Runaway Jim jam, with an upbeat energy that feels light years away from the ambient cooldown Jim jam from 7/2. And the second set does the same, kicking off with a fantastic and compelling Wolfman's Brother jam (wasn't I just declaring that Wolfman's jams were past their prime a few shows ago? I take that back) that segues into a somewhat shorter but still sublime '98 version of 2001.

On second thought maybe this was a great show? Hard to say when the purpose of this re-listen is to prove that Summer '98 is as strong as Fall '97. While the back two/thirds of both sets don't have anything jam chart worthy they're all great songs played really well, and the front portion of both sets make for great listening. This is a long form review after all, and when I look back at this show I'll probably just remember the great Runaway Jim and Wolfman's > 2001 from this show and just think, "yeah, those help prove my point."