Well, this was without a doubt the strangest, darkest, varied and unpredictable Phish show I have ever witnessed. SOAM had some very nice moments. The Third Stone From The Sun teases were cool, although Trey struggled to find the notes. I didn’t think Billy Breathes was that great at this show. It sounded to me like Trey struggled a bit through this. Listening back so many times and years later, I think it sounds pretty darn good.

Bye Bye Foot— I’m glad I got to be there for this little Fishman delight. This was the last of 4 total times played. I’m not sure why this never developed beyond Summer 97.

The 2nd set is very hot and cold throughout. Cities and Bowie are obvious highlights, both being over 20 minutes. Back in these days it took the band longer to get to that place of total improvisational bliss. I’m not entirely sure these got there but they are still nice to listen to and great reminders of the buzz surrounding these late Summer 97 shows.

The Rotation Jam was very fun to watch more than anything. Listening back I’m not sure there is anything worth documenting here. Rock A William was actually pretty funny at the show. This is another Fishman creation and the last of 5 total times played. So yeah, this was a big night to retire some of Fish’s compositions.

Good Times Bad Times in deed on this night. From the dark jam in Bathtub it was clear this was not going to be an ordinary show. This was my first show since the holiday 96 run and it was obvious to me at least that this band was in a big transitional period. I love the Summer 97 shows. This was the most explorational phase in their 30 year (at the time of this review) career. As with any exploration you are not always going to find gold and rainbows along the way. However, it is the path taken that defines the outcome…er something like that. Fall 97 was just around the corner but still a thousand miles away.