Phish Summer tour 99 part DEUX!

11 days after returning back to Detroit from the Nashville>Atlanta run, we set off for Oswego, NY on the night of July 16^th. We had a big crew with us for Oswego that included LE, her sister BE, NB2, JG, bigD, and my good friend NB. For those of you who are not familiar with Oswego, it’s not far from Syracuse and Vernon Downs where Phish had played the previous summer. The drive there isn’t bad (6 to 7 hours) and we encountered no problems at either border going through Canada. We arrived at the end of the line of cars at Oswego sometime in the middle of the night, but would not set up our campsite in the dust until mid-morning the next day. I don’t recall if I got any sleep before the show on the 17^th.

I remember the shakedown at Oswego being very vibrant, but the weather was extremely hot. I remember BE getting very sunburned and having major raccoon eyes from wearing her shades. I forgot to mention that PS was there with JD (and maybe someone else) but they spent most of their time in their air-conditioned RV. Pfft!

And now for the setlists….

07-17-99 Oswego County Airport, Volney, NY

Soundcheck: Also Sprach Zarathustra, Blues Jam (about "Mr Sausage", one of the vendors near the 2nd stage; to the tune of "Dear Mrs. Reagan"), Beauty of my Dreams, Carini, (more?)

1: Tube, Boogie on Reggae Woman, Birds of a Feather, Guelah Papyrus, My Sweet One, Roggae, Tweezer -> Have Mercy*, Taste, Character Zero (~1:30)

2: Funky Bitch**, On My Knees**, On My Knees Reprise#, Down With Disease*, Wolfman's Brother -> Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley -> Wolfman's Brother -> Timber (Jerry), You Enjoy Myself

E: The Squirming Coil, Tweezer Reprise (2+E 1:55)

*Trey on keys. **With Son Seals. #Short blues jam played as Son Seals exited.

07-18-99 Oswego County Airport, Volney, NY

1: Punch You in the Eye, This Is a Farmhouse, Water in the Sky, Bathtub Gin, Get Back on the Train*, If You Need a Fool*, I'm Blue I'm Lonesome*^, Beauty of My Dreams*, The Moma Dance, Reba, Chalk Dust Torture

2: Runaway Jim# -> Free, The Meatstick**, Guyute, Axilla##, Llama (1:00)

3: My Soul, Piper### > Prince Caspian > Wilson -> Catapult^ -> Icculus^^, Quinn the Eskimo, Fluffhead

E: Harry Hood^^^ (3+E 1:50)

*With the Del McCoury Band. ^Del McCoury broke a string. **Trey explains the record attempt; Sofi Dillof dances on-stage dancing; Guinness Book of World Records staff videotaping the event; the record was not set. #With "Psycho Killer" jam. ##Entire Part I. ###With glowrings, and Trey on keys. ^Followed by banter and toying, all continuing an E chord from the end of "Wilson" (which was never finished). Trey gabbed about TV, books, and Deep Purple, teased "Smoke on the Water," compared it to "Cat Scratch Fever," and more. ^^Followed by more talking, band introductions, a mention of the fan group CK5, and teases of "Miss You" (Rolling Stones). ^^^With fireworks.

What can I say except that the music was truly amazing. I really commend the band for putting on the festival in the middle of the tour and the location was convenient for Phish’s strong northeast pull. It was really great to hear Have Mercy since I had been introduced to it during a Bowie on a 93 tape I had. I really can’t say a whole lot more about the show since I have not actually listened to the first night since being there. I would love to get a copy of it because the show had so many great highlights. I remember the jam with Son Seals. This was one of Phish’s few concert experiences where side bands like Son Seals and Ozomatli were playing. In fact, I had seen Ozo twice already that summer when they toured with Santana.

I remember much more about the second night for some odd reason. The Free was something that really got me excited along with the Icculus. I have listened to this show since and it is definitely a show to have. The band was having great fun this night. After the show, NB and I got incredibly lost for what seemed like an eternity, but finally located our campsite and enjoyed the cool down. Oswego was a great time.

The next morning, I woke up exhausted and sunburned. Cloud cover and the light rain made for relaxing travel weather as NB, LE, JG drove to Niagara Falls for the night. The rest of our crew headed back to Detroit to pick up the tour later. We found a HoJo to stay at, got some dinner, and visited the Canadian side of the Falls for a few beers.

The next day we headed for Toronto. I remember the venue (Molson Amphitheatre is right on the shore of Lake Ontario with a surrounding park), and that NB and I had some pretty good seats once we found each other. The music was great and I remember the first set as being pretty long. I just got this show recently so I’m going to take a good listen soon. Here is the setlist.

07-20-99 Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto, Ontario

Soundcheck: My Soul, How Long Has This Been Going On, Dream Weaver

1: Chalk Dust Torture, Sample in a Jar, Cars Trucks Buses, The Sloth, The Divided Sky, Waste, Ghost, Wilson, You Enjoy Myself*

2: Twist, The Moma Dance, What's the Use, Train Song, Also Sprach Zarathustra, Misty Mountain Hop**

E: Guyute, Hello My Baby

*With Caribbean "hey ho" vocal jam. **First time played (but played in soundchecks since ~1993); Led Zeppelin tune.

This was a solid show, and it was great to be able to see a show in Canada. I regret not going into downtown Toronto (and still have not), but there was not enough time.

After the show, we really didn’t have a plan of where to stay so we got on the road. NB and I were the only ones of our group to be going on to the show the next night in Pittsburgh, so we sought out a hotel room. Unfortunately, we knew really little about where we were in Canada, and even though some differences are slight between the U.S. and Canada, somehow in the U.S. you never feel too far from civilization on the interstates. We found this horrible little hotel run by an Asian family in the middle of what seemed like nowhere. They didn’t seem too happy when we ended up cramming 5 or 6 people into that little room. It was cozy and every Phish fan has gone through it at some point. They were happy to see us take off early the next morning.

The next day, NB and I got on the road, went back through Niagara Falls, and headed south to Pittsburgh for the show at Starlake. We met up with my good buddy JCT and SK at a Super 8 motel. We headed to the show with high hopes, especially since we saw Mike “Cactus” Gordon for the 2^nd time on lot before a show. Unfortunately, I do not have very many positive things to say about the music that night. I wasn’t very impressed, but every show can’t be unbelievable (just wait until my review of 4/15/04). Here is the setlist.

07-21-99 Star Lake Amphitheatre, Burgettstown, PA

1: AC/DC Bag > Cities, Gold Soundz*, Ginseng Sullivan, Limb By Limb, Funky Bitch, The Moma Dance, When The Circus Comes, Taste, Bittersweet Motel

2: Mike's Song > Simple > My Left Toe > Prince Caspian > Weekapaug Groove, Golgi Apparatus

E: Brian and Robert, Bold as Love

*Pavement cover; first time played.

After the show, we witnessed something pretty bad which added to my negative recollection of the Starlake show. We watched some head get beat up really bad by some other guys back in the parking lot, perhaps for selling fake drugs. Since it was dark, it wasn’t something that drew a huge crowd and we didn’t really do much so not to get involved and get the wooks riled up. I was happy to make our drive back to the Super 8 that night and get a good night sleep. It was great hanging with JCT and SK, but we pretty much had a few beers, played some cards, and called it a night. Our plan was to skip the show in Columbus (taking into consideration our Wall Mart experience from 1998) and instead drive up to West Lafayette, IN to meet up with CC.

If I am correct, CC had not been with us to a show since the Palace in 1997. He was stuck in West Lafayette for the summer taking classes which I imagine to be pretty damn boring. He didn’t originally plan to go with us to Alpine, rather just Deer Creek, but I believe we had extra tickets and he didn’t have much to do. It was nice to get a night off from touring when we crashed in West Lafayette, except that drive up to Alpine from there would be an absolute pain in the ass the next day.

The Midwest in the middle of July is really damn humid, and the Mazda still didn’t have air-conditioning. And the summer time is the prime time for road construction as was the case on the way to Chicago. We (ok, I) made the big mistake of not taking the Indiana Toll Road>Chicago Skyway and we go stuck on 80/90. After not moving in our car for about a half hour, I tweaked and got off the road. We ended up on a road called Indianapolis Ave which runs north-south and is no more than a few miles from the Illinois Border. We were trying to make up time and get to the skyway when I found myself being pulled over by the cops for driving 59 in a 35 zone. Obviously when anyone gets pulled over, you get pretty nervous and these cops totally freaked me out by asking me to get out of the car and get into the back seat of the cop car. I now realize they likely did this so that they could write me the ticket in their air-conditioned vehicle, but I was still a little paranoid. They recognized the name of my home town and asked about an infamous kid from our town who had gotten a lot of press for fooling around with some females that were a little too young. We had a few laughs, they didn’t write me a ticket for reckless driving (I think anything 20 mph over is considered reckless), and they let us go on our way. I paid a hefty fine later and some points were added to my driving record, but nothing worse.

From here on forward, my ex ladyfriend acquaintance will be referred to as “Shafty” although all of us including myself are deserving at the title at some point.

So we dropped my ladyfriend Shafty’s place in Chicago before going up to Alpine. I believe she went to the show, but I don’t know that we stayed at her place after the show. I’ll need a little help. In any case, here is the setlist from Alpine 99.

07-24-99 Alpine Valley, East Troy, WI

1: Guyute, Fluffhead*# > The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday > Avenu Malkenu > The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday > The Wedge, Character Zero** (1:11)

2: Tweezer* -> Catapult## -> Tweezer, The Mango Song^, The Happy Whip and Dung Song, Waste, Chalk Dust Torture^^ (0:56)

E: Glide, Camel Walk, Alumni Blues, Tweezer Reprise (0:21)

*Trey on small keyboard. #Trailed into a lengthy jam. **Trey waves his guitar to produce feedback. ##Trey and Mike sing "Catapult" over "Tweezer." ^With glowrings. ^^Start/stop jamming; Trey waves his guitar to produce feedback.

This show was great. We got a long Fluffhead out of it, a great Tweezer set, and some major rarities for the encore. I have really good memories of the music at this show, but I remember little else about the experience. We had okay seats I recall. I think that I got incredibly lost after the show (which has happened to me more than once at Alpine). I have listened to parts of this show before, but the recording quality is rarely spectacular at Alpine Valley. There’s always a ton of people you know at Alpine, so you know if you were there.

After crashing at Shafty’s house and being treated to gourmet cooking by Shafty’s mom (sick bacon cheeseburgers), we drove back down toward Deer Creek. This would be our first year camping at 40 acres, under the tree that we would call home again in 2000. CC and NB would end up camping under the same giant tree in 2004. I believe our full crew consisted of myself, NB, CC, then PS and NB’s sis QB came down from the big D. LE, JG, JTC, SK, BE, & NB2 were also there at another campsite. So we had pretty much everyone from the Summer 99 gathered in Deer Creek to see Phish’s final 2 shows of the tour.

I really took a liking to the chill, laid back style of the 40 Acres campsite. For those of you who have never been to Deer Creek, it’s a venue in the middle of corn fields. Drums echoed from the woods, people talking while you sip the tastiest beers and take in life with the fellow heads around you – I was living. Our first year, they even had showers at 40 Acres, although going into one of those icy well water showers after sitting in 90 degree humidity will completely take your breath away. The local folks at 40 Acres sold sweet corn and other good food. It’s hard to describe to people who cool the feeling to be a part of a little colony, living without luxuries, in the middle of cornfields and woods. I felt a part of the coolest get together ever conceived.

^^^Babble tangent^^^

And after a mile of walking to the venue, I witnessed one of the best Phish shows of my life.

07-25-99 Deer Creek Music Center, Noblesville, IN

Soundcheck: Mike's Song, Back at the Chicken Shack, Beauty of my Dreams, Day Tripper, (more?)

1: Meat*, My Friend My Friend -> My Left Toe -> Whipping Post**, Makisupa Policeman#, I Saw It Again, Boogie on Reggae Woman, Cavern## (1:03)

2: Birds of a Feather^ > Walk Away, Run Like an Antelope^^, Suzie Greenberg^^^, Hold Your Head Up > Purple Rain### > Hold Your Head Up, You Enjoy Myself+

E: Loving Cup (2+E 1:30)

First time as show opener; bass solo. **Trey on vocals. #Keywords were "gooballs, brownies, stink kind, nugs and kief"; Trey announces lighting director Chris Kuroda's birthday and asks everybody to sing; Trey interrupts "Happy Birthday" to say, "We're going to get you so wasted tonight"; Mike takes a "Happy Birthday bass solo"; Fish says, "You roll up a fat spliff and you don't pass it to no one" (in a Jamaican accent); Kuroda takes a one-minute silent light solo, then thanks the band for the birthday wishes after "Makisupa." ##Trey waves guitar to produce feedback. ^"My Left Toe" teases. ^^"Stash" tease; with glowrings. ^^^With Page start/stop jam; "I Wish" (Stevie Wonder) teases. ###Fish forgets lyrics; improvises. +"Boogie on Reggae Woman" jam.

I am pretty confident that we were in the Pavilion both nights. I had the time of my life at this show. The Meat was a good laugh of an opener until Trey begins My Friend, My Friend into an ambient jam (My Left Toe), the music got dark then Trey started rocking out Whipping Post, a song that my close friends had really grown up on back in the day. Makisupa was a celebration, and the Boogie On was jammed out for a long time. The second set Birds>Walk Away was amazing, the Antelope was amazing, Page was tearing it up on the Suzie, we got Fishman running around like a mad man, a sweet YEM and a classic Loving Cup. I firmly believe this was the best show of 1999 and could be the best show I ever saw. Just absolute fun.

We headed back to our campsite for some late night relaxing. The show was so good that the show the next night wouldn’t be able to top it. I hear people really put down 7/26/99 but I didn’t care that the show wasn’t that special. At this show, Trey mentions how cool the Phish scene was in light of the mayhem at Woodstock. I totally agree, and there was no place I would rather be at that moment in my life. Here’s the setlist from 7/26

07-26-99 Deer Creek Music Center, Noblesville, IN

Soundcheck: Birds of a Feather (on tape, from the night before), (more?)

1: This Is a Farmhouse, Get Back on the Train, Vultures, Sleep, Gumbo > NICU, Beauty of My Dreams, Bathtub Gin, Mountains in the Mist, Axilla*, Stash**

2: Wolfman's Brother, Piper, Theme from the Bottom > Down with Disease, Jam# > Split Open and Melt##

E: Woodstock^ > Julius (2+E 1:26)

*With "Axilla (Part II)" ending. **With long intro and glowrings. #Lots of feedback. ##Followed by Trey talking about Woodstock '99, how different the Phish scene is, how happy he is to be a part of the latter rather than the former, etc. ^First time played; unfinished (Joni Mitchell tune).

Nothing too special about this show. I was bummed out that the band decided to go into Split Open and Melt toward the end instead of 2001. Everything else was fine and I wasn’t too disappointed about this being the end of a long tour. I had seen a great amount of music, been to a lot places, chilled with a lot of great people, and would have great memories for a lifetime. It’s too bad that I don’t remember more, but there are other things I choose not to talk about. I want to thank everyone who was there to share these good times – you guys rule.

That’s about it for Summer Tour 99. Considering I went to two Santana shows, a Trey show, a DMB show, an Allman Brothers show, and a few other small gigs, this was a summer to remember. Thanks for reading.

Peace.

PHISH SUMMER TOUR 99 Part I

1999 was undoubtedly the best year of Phish that I witnessed. I believe that 1995 was the peak of Phish for those who had really grown on them reaching the pinnacle of success in the venues they played, but 1999 was the peak of Phish’s musical endeavor. I saw a total of 16 Phish shows during 1999, the most of any year during my personal career.

Longtime tour staple NB had suggested that we head south for the first few shows of Phish’s summer tour in 1999. While I was not totally on board with the plan at first, I finally agreed to go and I have no regrets whatsoever about going. The shows were solid and I was going to see Phish’s first July 4^th shows ever. And I loved my first venture to the south - really friendly folks down there.

It took us sometime to get out of Detroit due to the traffic associated with the Detroit fireworks, but we eventually got cruising south on 75 toward Nashville. NB and I really didn’t have a plan for if we were going to stop that first night or just get to Nashville early. Well, the car made the decision for us when we discovered the windshield wipers on the Jeep Wrangler didn’t work, so we stopped at a hotel in Middletown, OH – a city halfway between Dayton and Cinci. By the stroke of luck, there was an actual Jeep dealership and shop in Middletown, so we got the car repaired relatively quickly and continued on with our journey the day of the show.

Before heading to the First American Music Center, we sought out some campground in the vicinity of the venue. Unfortunately, everything was full which would later prove to be a good omen. So, without a plan again, we headed for the venue.

The minute we got out of our cars, we saw someone quite familiar cruising around the venue – none other than Phish’s bassist Mike Gordon in his golf cart. NB ran over and got a handshake while I fumbled to find a camera. I saw him for a second before he took off. It’s kinda weird how Mike just likes to cruise around and see what’s going on, but then bolts when a crowd gathers. I suppose I can understand. We also ran into an old friend of ours, FR, with his dog. The weather was warm and beautiful and the people were friendly down in Nashville. Here is the setlist from the show.

07-01-99 First American Music Center, Antioch, TN

Soundcheck: I Saw It Again, Water in the Sky, Brian and Robert, Mountains in the Mist

1: Punch You in the Eye, Billy Breathes, Guyute, Wolfman's Brother*, Beauty of My Dreams#, Doin' My Time#^, Roggae#, Water in the Sky#, Get Back on the Train#, Poor Heart#^ (1:12)

2: Down With Disease, Prince Caspian > You Enjoy Myself**

E: Character Zero (2+E 1:04)

Set 2 short possibly due to thunderstorm. *With Jerry Douglas on dobro. #With Jerry Douglas on dobro, Ronnie McCoury on mandolin and Tim O'Brien on fiddle (and lead vocals on "Doin' My Time"). ^Gary "El Buho" Gazaway on trumpet; each guest took a solo. **Trey on small keyboard before vocal jam.

This show really stands out as a great musical experience for me and really got me hyped for the rest of the tour. I also have an outstanding recording of this show – the first set is especially a show that you can really sit back and listen to with a group of friends and family.

The second set is when things started to get really crazy. Although our seats were in the pavilion, we were on the side and could still get a good birds-eye view of the sky around us. As you can see, the second set was only 3 songs long, but it was one of the most intense moments of Phish that I had witnessed to that point. A thunderstorm developed around us with intense lightning that went along with the beat. By the time YEM had come on, the sky had lit up with lights that seemed to just go along with Kuroda’s lights and the music. It did not begin to rain until the show was finally ending, but by the time we got to the Jeep in the parking lot, we were literally stepping in 1 inch puddles. We made our way out of the venue quickly and got back on the road heading south to Atlanta.

Had we not had the windshield wipers fixed on the car, we would have been in some dire straights after that show. The thunderstorm was very intense. About 15 miles down the highway, we decided to attempt to find a hotel to stay at. We ended up staying at a Super 8 that was incredibly cheap and pretty damn nice. It was a quick solution in the chaos of the rain.

The next morning, we got up early to try and get a decent place to camp down in Atlanta. I remember the drive through the smoky mountains of northern Georgia quite vividly. We arrived at Stone Mountain campground midday on July 2^nd. Stone Mountain is a campground/resort-like area not far at all from downtown Atlanta. There are small streams that run through the campground, and we were lucky enough to get what seemed like one of the last spots left. We happen to set up camp near some other cool phans who were in town for the shows.

NB didn’t bring a chair. He tried sitting on my tripod chair until it broke on him and nearly stabbed him in the groin. It was hot in Hotlanta.

We chilled the first night at the campground, making some friends around us and getting a nice buzz on. We had some fireworks too and fireworks were going off all over the resort. And, Stone Mountain puts on a laser light show on the mountain, so we were able to see that from a distance. Oh, and NB bought a nice chair for himself.

The next day, we visited NB’s aunt, uncle, and cousins in a northeast Atlanta. We were able to get a nice shower and meal in before heading down to the venue on the southside. Kudos to NB’s family for taking us in that day and the next day before the show and allowing us some nice chill time in their beautiful air-conditioned home.

All I can really remember about Lakewood Amphitheatre is that’s it’s in a bad area of Atlanta. The lot seen was okay, and the southern ladies looked quite fine however. We had pavilion seats for both nights of Atlanta. Here are the setlists from the shows.

07-03-99 Lakewood Amphitheatre, Atlanta, GA

Soundcheck: What's the Use, Rock-A-William, Wading in the Velvet Sea, Wading in the Velvet Sea

1: Chalkdust Torture, Gumbo, Sparkle, Cavern, Taste, When the Circus Comes*, Tube, Funky Bitch, NICU**, Waste, The Meatstick (1:21)

2: Twist -> Piper, The Moma Dance, Mountains in the Mist, Run Like an Antelope, Contact, Little Drummer Boy (1:03)

E1: Little Drummer Boy#, Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey^ (0:08)

E2: Harry Hood^^ (0:14)

*Unfinished. **Trey on small keyboard. #Fish on snare, solo; with alternate lyrics. ^With Page's father, Dr. Jack McConnell, on vocals and kazoo. ^^With glowrings.

07-04-99 Lakewood Amphitheatre, Atlanta, GA

Soundcheck: Wading in the Velvet Sea, Wading in the Velvet Sea, Wading in the Velvet Sea, Wading in the Velvet Sea, Rock-A-William, In a Hole, (more?)

1: My Soul, Ya Mar, This Is a Farmhouse, The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony > AC/DC Bag, The Wedge, Vultures, I Didn't Know*, Fast Enough For You, David Bowie (1:23)

2: Ghost -> Slave to the Traffic Light**, The Horse -> Silent in the Morning***, What's the Use, Wilson^, Mike's Song -> Sleeping Monkey -> Weekapaug Groove

E1: Carini^^, The Meatstick^^^

E2: The Star Spangled Banner#

*"Vajonna (Flagina?) Fishman" vac solo (wearing only stars-and-stripes boxers). **"What's the Use" and "Dark Star" teases. ***"Little Drummer Boy" tease and glowrings. ^Trey flubs the lyrics; plays "air guitar"; swings guitar, using his effects pedals and feedback to manipulate the sound. ^^With Pete Carini; lyrics mention Mia Hamm (Trey was wearing a Mia Hamm jersey). ^^^Chorus-only reprise; with crew and fans on stage doing "The Meatstick Dance"; after the song, others leave Trey and Mike on-stage to do the dance alone. #A cappella; band in stars-and-stripes (Fish: boxers; Trey and Page: pants and vests; Mike: tank-top underneath, revealed during the song); ended with eruption of fireworks.

Both of these shows were amazing. Not a lot stands out from the first night except the Meatstick. This was the beginning of the Meatstick. I actually liked it a lot more before they added that cheesy dance to it. The Moma Dance was good, and the Hood, and the Slave for the Traffic Light. The Fast Enough for You from the second night is one of the most emotional versions I have ever heard. The highlight of the whole experience was the great encores, especially the July 4^th double encore with the acapella version of the Star Spangled Banner followed by the most unexpected and amazing fireworks display I had ever witnesses. I was literally cheering at the top of lung in awe of how amazing the experience felt. It was truly one of the top 5 Phish moments of my life.

After the show, I met up with my good friend KP who we ended up driving back to Detroit. She took us on a long tour of the Lakewood area finding her car and saying goodbye to her friends. We walked back to our car to find NB letting off some mortars. The drive home was long, but it was worth it to drive through the night and get back to Detroit, which we did just before noon the next day. KP slept the entire drive home. In retrospect, I should have made the same trip down to Atlanta the next summer, but I was beginning to get burned out with Phish by 2000.

So I hope you have enjoyed Phish Summer Tour 99 Part I. The second half of the summer tour would resume for us at Oswego, NY two weeks later. Thanks for reading and stay tuned…

The Phish from Vermont in Chicago 11/7 & 11/8 1998

I was fortunate enough to go see 2 Phish shows in the city of Chicago in the fall of 1998. I had just begun school at Michigan, so we got a few Michigan folks together including PH who was with us at 12/6/97., and AK whose father picked us up on a snowy highway after my car crash on the way to Grand Rapids 96, and I believe AK's ladyfriend AK also joined us. In fact, I believe we stayed with someone associated with AK's girl AK (older brother perhaps) that put us up in a high rise near Wacker and Michigan. This would be my first official trip to Chicago in my life. I would end up traveling to Chicago a lot and I even lived there briefly. In any case, the setup we had was perfect for my first visit, despite how ridiculously cold it was. And here's the setlist.
11-07-98 UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL

1: My Soul, Mike's Song, Driver*, Brian and Robert*, The Wedge, Limb by Limb, Fikus, Billy Breathes, Beauty of My Dreams, Weekapaug Groove (1:13)

2: AC/DC Bag -> Ghost, Reba, Farmhouse (0:56)

E: Guyute, While My Guitar Gently Weeps (0:14)

*Trey on acoustic guitar.

11-08-98 UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL

1: Taste, Carini*, Love Me, Ride Captain Ride, Fee, Paul and Silas, Roggae, Water in the Sky, Stash**, Cavern# (1:06)

2: Chalk Dust Torture, Meat, Rock and Roll##, Down With Disease^ -> Piper, Wading in the Velvet Sea, Run Like an Antelope (1:08)

E: Been Caught Stealing^^ (0:04)

*Trey added verse about the streaker from the 11-06-98 Prince Caspian. **With "Fikus" bass tease by Mike during the jam. #Trey messed up the lyrics while tapping guitar pedals, and laughed at his mistake through the rest of the verse. ##Velvet Underground cover (from Loaded). ^Ended with a 3/4 minute Ambient Jam (with a Baba O'Reily-type sequencing loop and spacey synths from the "Cold As Ice" intro). ^^With trampolines.

The Been Caught Stealing Encore was the highlight, great Mikes & Ghost, and a sweet Antelope with a reggae beat ending ala 12/29/97. Phish played really, really well both shows and I'm disappointed I didn't stay for the 3rd night. In all honesty, I remember more about visiting the city of Chicago for the first time than really much about these shows so I'll be ending my 1998 Phish experience very shortly.

Phish in 1998 was a true adventure, a time when everything was still new and I had shown how ridiculously far I would go to see this jamband from Vermont. Phish is addicting because of the energy this band exudes in 3 hours of your life each time they play. I really regret not going to the show in Grand Rapids on 11-11-98 because of my chance to see this song called Tela. It would be a long 8 months before I would see Phish again and make my first official road trip south to Hotlanta.

Thanks for reading.

PHISH SUMMER 1998 Part II

A week or so after we returned to Detroit from Deer Creek, we set out again to see the last leg of Phish's 1998 Summer Tour. Unlike the first leg, we weren't cruising in a spacious air-conditioned Suburban but rather my royal blue 89 Mazda MX6 (which I have long sold but still see driving around with the Run Like an Antelope sticker still on the bumper). The crew of people with us consisted of longtime tour staples NB and PS for the entire journey and I also recall cruising down to Pittsburgh with others but the only person I can seem to remember is Scalpy (To'R). So we embarked on the drive to Pittsburgh which normally takes no less than 5 hours to get to from Detroit. Unfortunately, there was a huge car accident on the interstate no more than a half mile ahead of us that required helicopters to treat those in need. In the meantime, some trucker in front of us had just gotten his new ride and rig so he showed us that. Pretty lame, huh? What else do you do when it's 90 degrees, you're in the middle of eastern Ohio, your car doesn't have AC, and you can't go anywhere because the road has been shut down?

Anyhow, here is the setlist from Starlake 98.

08-11-98 Star Lake Amphitheatre, Burgettstown, PA

1: Trenchtown Rock* > Julius > Wolfman's Brother, Time Loves A Hero**, Bittersweet Motel, Reba, The Sloth, Ginseng Sullivan, Fee, Maze, Sample In A Jar

2: Runaway Jim#, Meat, Limb By Limb, When The Circus Comes, Down With Disease

E: Wilson, Golgi Apparatus

*First time played (Bob Marley cover). **Little Feat cover. #With "Maria" (from "West Side Story") quote.

My good friends NB and CC are some of the biggest Bob Marley fans I know, seriously. For NB who was at the show, this was a great way to open the show. And that may be one of the only thing I remember about this show was remembering NB with a big smile and a "hey hey" when Trey started singing "One good thing about music....when it hits, you feel no pain." If you look at this show besides the Marley tune, it is about as average of Phish show you were going to get. Of course I had a great time because Phish was still so fresh and new to me, but I was still waiting to hear tunes like 2001 and Mike's Song, some of the great Phish staples and fan favorites.
After the show, about 6 of us (including Scalpy) crammed into a little hotel room somewhere in the Pittsburgh area. And for those of you who don't know Scalpy, you will soon when the guy has his own HBO stand-up comedy special. Scalpy couldn't come with us to the show in New York the next night and instead traveled home to Detroit. He ended up going to Maine for the final shows of the tour, but we never ended up finding him up there. Sorry Scalpy - the days of post it note message boards was a tough era man, but the method will always work better than a Nextel phone.
So the next morning, NB, PS, and myself ventured north toward Syracuse, NY. The actual show was in a town called Vernon. The show was set up on a horse track, so not only were we stepping in mud at points, but there might have been a little dooky in their too. We arrived to show slightly late, but only ended up missing one song. Setlist.
08-12-98 Vernon Downs, Vernon, NY

Soundcheck: Runaway Jim, The Old Home Place, Ginseng Sullivan, Treat Me Like a Fool

1: La Grange, Makisupa Policeman*, Funky Bitch, Possum, Roggae, Character Zero, Ramble On, Slave to the Traffic Light (1:10)

2: Mike's Song > Simple** > Rift, Loving Cup, Sleeping Monkey, Weekapaug Groove, The Squirming Coil

E: Burning Down the House+, You Enjoy Myself++

Apparently this show was close to Fishman's hometown (Syracuse), and they were urging him to sing a song. *Keyword was "Burnin' Down" (see encore). **With "Jesus Just Left Chicago" tease. +First time played (Talking Heads cover, from the album "Speaking in Tongues"); with alternate lyric "Vernon Down the house." ++With "Hold Your Head Up" and "Mission Impossible Theme" teases; alternate lyric "drive me to Vernon."

This show was unf*ckingbelievale. Great weather, cool location, general admission stage (so we got close), and a spectacular setlist. I downloaded this show months ago and really relived how great it truly was. I use a lot of the songs from the first set when I put together mixes for people. Everything about this show was unbelievable and I finally got to hear my Mike's Groove. The covers were great, especially that Ramble On in the first set.
We took our time after the show not knowing if we were going to get a hotel or start heading toward Maine. It's too bad that we didn't get to pre party before the show because the scene was very cool at Vernon Downs.
We got back on the road and started heading directly north from Syracuse toward the Canadian border. Now, I don't want to be cocky, but we were all decently smart kids even though this was our first real road trip unsupervised, and we were only 18. We know that when you go into a foreign country, you best go across as a law abiding citizen. Well, the mounties found something that had the remnants of something that they tested and determined was something...long story short, we spent over 2 hours at the Canadian border AND we were strip searched. Of course, we had absolutely nothing to hide so they eventually let us on our way.
At this point, it was 5:30 in the morning. I had been driving and I needed to get some sleep which I did while someone else drove up the St. Lawrence River, into Quebec, heading for the top of Maine. I woke abruptly to realize I was in Montreal, we were in the middle of morning rush hour on a weekday, people were driving on our ass at 75 mph, and when you want to change highways, you have to cross about 10 lanes in 10 seconds to do it. You Quebeecs drive like a$$holes! (sorry, had to say it). It was a beautiful morning of driving up the St. Lawrence River, a part of the world I had never really seen. Canada is definitely our chill neighbor to the North.
We arrived in Limestone, Maine around 1:30 in the afternoon and again our car was searched going into the U.S. The advantage of taking Canada to Maine was to avoid traffic coming up from the South, and the route itself is somewhat more direct than taking the U.S. After crossing the border, we found a small hotel, got some pizza, and crashed hard. I am almost positive that that day, which started in Pittsburgh 30 hours earlier, was the longest day of my life to that point. We got a good night of sleep in before heading into the campgrounds at Loring Air Force Base the next morning.
We got into the campgrounds and set up our spot midday on the 15th. We geared up and headed toward the gates to make a dash toward the front of the stage. Since I was the chubby kid with my 2 skinny buddies, my job was to carry our gear in while NB and PS made the run. Well, PS made it in pretty close but nearly passed out when he got there. NB ended up hurling half way to the front, but made it there soon after. We would get extremely close for all 6 sets of the 2 night tour finale which made the experience that much more memorable. Here's the setlists for these shows.
08-15-98 Loring Air Force Base, Limestone, ME

1: Mike's Song > Simple, Beauty of My Dreams, Roggae, Split Open and Melt*, Poor Heart, The Moma Dance, The Divided Sky, Water in the Sky, Funky Bitch > Cities** > Weekapaug Groove (1:51)

2: The Wedge > Reba, Gumbo^ > Sanity, Tweezer > The Horse > Silent In The Morning, Chalkdust Torture, Slave to the Traffic Light^^ (1:25)

3: NICU > David Bowie, Strange Design, Limb by Limb > Brian and Robert, Loving Cup

E: Halley's Comet > Cavern, Tweezer Reprise (3/E 1:20)

4: Ambient Jam+ (0:55)

Lemonwheel Day One. *"By request, for a little boy named Sam." **Third verse was about "The Garden of Infinite Pleasantries," instead of the normal verse about Memphis; with "Sneakin' Sally" teases. ^Jam out of which sounded very much like "Tweezer Reprise." ^^With glowstick war. +After Tweezer Reprise, Trey explained that the band wanted to do something to combine ideas from The Clifford Ball and The Great Went, going into detail about the band/fan artwork from last year, and announced that the band would do a free-form ambient jam (lyric-less; nearly an hour long; "in the Brian Eno style of ambient music"), surrounded by candles that were made by the audience throughout the day. There were no other lights used during the jam (the band used only the light from the candles), which Trey explained is similar to the idea of what happens during a glow-stick war, with the light for the band coming from the fans. Because candles were placed throughout the stage, Trey explained that they were in fact playing in a "temple of fire" (as advertisements for summer tour shows had announced). After finishing the jam, the band picked up tiki torches, lit them using the candles, and lit a small stone (?) temple (which was left burning overnight and throughout the band's performance on Sunday).

08-16-98 Loring Air Force Base, Limestone, ME

Soundcheck: Jam, Ginseng Sullivan, Back At The Chicken Shack, Jam, She Caught The Katy, Dog Log, Blues Jam/Instrumental, I Gave My Love A Cherry, Please Send Me Someone to Love

1: Ginseng Sullivan, Bathtub Gin > Rift, Punch You in the Eye, Lawn Boy, Ya Mar > AC/DC Bag, Frankie Says, Birds of a Feather, Guyute, Possum (1:38)

2: Down With Disease -> Piper -> Ghost* > Fluffhead, When the Circus Comes, Wading in the Velvet Sea, Hold Your Head Up+ > Sexual Healing++ > Hold Your Head Up, Run Like an Antelope# (1:41)

3: Sabotage > Also Sprach Zarathustra, Wilson, The Mango Song, Character Zero, Bittersweet Motel, While My Guitar Gently Weeps (0:55)

E: Harry Hood*, The Baby Elephant Walk^ (0:25)

Lemonwheel Day Two. *With glowstick war. +Long and drawn out; Fish introduces "his band": Trey Anastasio on drums, Mike "Cactus" Gordon on bass, "Chairman of the Boards" Page McConnell, and himself as "Bob Weaver." Fish introduces the next song as "a love song about a turtle" (which would have been "Terrapin"), but instead he performed Sexual Healing ("a much better song anyway") after "his band" finally ended "Hold Your Head Up." ++Includes "Sounds of Love" vacuum solo. #With "Sexual Healing" teases in the intro. ^Henry Mancini cover; see 12-01-92. Trey lit a tiki-torch (that looked like a "giant fake doobie") and used it to light a fuse which ran up Page's side of the stage, across the backdrop, down Fish's side of the stage, along the fence to a giant elephant-shaped structure near the stage, which came to life as fireworks went off both above it and from behind the stage. Fish made elephant noises with a trombone. Then, as they played the song, the elephant blew water out of its trunk (while smoke came from underneath it) and led the crowd towards the campground.

The Lemonwheel was quite an experience. It is kinda funny how you can fall into your own little world with 70,000 people around you jamming out to the music. I was really impressed with the sound quality of putting on a show that big. There are so many great highlights to the shows including the Mike's opener, meaning there was a Mike's Groove in back to back sets. The Gumbo on the first night was superb, and the glowstick war during Slave was unbelievable. We were so close and in the center - we were literally showered with glowsticks. And to witness the Ambient jam with the stage lit in candles to cap off a great night of music...I truly felt part of something special. I know this too sounds quite cheesy, but I felt community with the experience of Phish and I realized these would be some of my fondest memories for the rest of my life.
The second night of Lemonwheel was energizing, especially with the Sabotage opener in the third set and my first 2001. I think this version of 2001 has some really cool movements, perhaps the best 2001 I personally witnessed.
To top of the night, Phish lit a fuse and blew up this huge elephant (like an elephant you might see at a parade) that led us out the gates of the concert venue toward our car for the long drive home. The festival was a great time spent with great people, listening to great music. The whole Summer Tour in 98 was such a novel experience for me in my life. We saw parts of the country I had yet to see, I got to see my first outdoor shows of Phish, we camped, and I learned more about traveling to foreign countries.
The drive home was fast. Of course we had our car searched AGAIN going into Canada, and then I was forced to drive in the most dense fog I had ever seen. We were literally driving 25 mph on the interstate because of this fog. 6 years later when I would make the same trip home from IT, we would drive in the same fog. We did not get searched coming into Detroit (because they are cool) and we got home safely.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my Summer 98 tour experience. I would see Phish again in the fall during my first of many trips to Chicago. Peace yall.

PHISH SUMMER 1998

I had just graduated high school not two months before I officially "toured" with Phish for the first time. I can say that I "went on tour with Phish" but I didn't see the whole tour. To say that you have "toured" with Phish, you have to at least have gone to 3 locations or seen more than 4 shows in a run. That's pretty standard IMO. Whenever Phish would do a short tour like Island tour in Early 98 (2 shows on Long Island, 2 in Rhode Island) you saw four shows which would be a standard short tour. Most of Phish's tours were at least 10 shows other than an occassional improv performance here and there.

For those of you who have absolutely no idea what Phish is, here is Phish in a nutshell and what it has meant to me.

Phish developed out of Vermont in the early-mid 1980s. They evolved into the huge grossing touring act they left as when they hit big arenas and amphitheatres in 94 and 95. They have a bit of east coast bias, especially when it comes to the final shows of an extended tour of 10 or more shows. I saw my first show in 1995 at the ripe age of 15. Phish can play just about any kind of music they want: rock and roll, blue grass, techno, funk, jazz - what would be collectively be known as cow funk (see Vermont). The people touring with Phish are an interesting and diversely or conversely or inversely minded crowd who share a common love for Phish's improv jams, a great party, and maybe a little of that hippie togetherness. By the end of all of it, it was just great to be with the people you had partied with and survived the long drives with over the years.

Phish would decide to break up in May of 2004 for God knows why. But really, I'm not going to lose sleep over not seeing Phish ever again. I accept it as a part of my youth that will stay with me for the rest of my life. And that is why I want to memorialize it on this blogspot.

Back to business. The Summer of 98 went down in history like the Summer of 94 and that rockin Fall of 97. (what did I just write?) The first Phish show I saw that year would be in Columbus, OH at the Polaris Amphitheatre. It would be my first outdoor Phish concert. Here's the setlist.

07-31-98 Polaris Amphitheatre, Columbus, OH

1: My Friend My Friend, Ya Mar, Roggae, Rift, Cities*, Water in the Sky, Stash

2: The Curtain > Free^, If I Could, The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday -> Avenu Malkenu > Twist -> Izabella, Julius, Cavern

E: Punch You in the Eye, Slave to the Traffic Light

*"Oye Como Va" (Santana) jam at the end; theme recurred in "Julius." ^With an "Eminence Front" (The Who) jam.

This show was amazing. There was big crowd of us down at this show including NB, CC, PS, PH, JK, LE, and even my “bro” JF. I remember sitting with NB & LE on the lawn at the show. The version of Free could be the best Free the band ever played, and the rest of the second set rocked too. I had not listened to the first set until recently, and you discover the first set was perhaps as good as the second. The Cities played in the first set is arguably the best version of Cities Phish ever played. A great musical experience to say the least.

After the show was a little bit more crazy. While we had traveled down to Columbus from Detroit in a packed suburban, some of the crew decided to make a dash for the Alpine Valley (Wisconsin) show the next night. NB and I were more content with taking our time until Phish would play in Deer Creek (Indianapolis) two nights later. (Just keep in time, at this point in time, we were newbs and didn’t know that we could have driven straight to Deer Creek and set up camp late at night). So NB and I were quite awake after the Columbus show so we started driving toward Deer Creek. We had planned to get a hotel not long after we left Columbus, however as we got farther away from Columbus and closer to Deer Creek, we realized we were not going to find lodging or camping anywhere. Why you say? NASCAR and the Brickyard 400.

The fans of NASCAR had booked every single hotel room within 120 mile or more radius of Indianapolis. There was no place to stay. Finally, after driving until 5 in the morning, a kind woman working at a hotel informed us that we could sleep in our cars in the Wall Mart parking lot down the road. Yes, I slept in a car in a Wall Mart parking lot AND I ate White Castle for breakfast. Let’s just say it was not the most comfortable sleep ever, but it would have to do. To make matters worse, only an hour after getting to sleep, someone began operating a machine to clean the parking lot that was ridiculously loud. The machine would approach the car, get louder, drive away and then repeat. Lets just say, we got some shitty sleep.

The next morning after White Castle, we would sit in the longest traffic jam ever as NASCAR descended upon Indianapolis. We would see other “heads” in this traffic jam as well, one who would have their mini van run into by a NASCAR fan. And lest we forget that it was like 90 degrees out plus the heat from the cars.

We finally arrived at the on-site camping at Deer Creek around noon or 1pm and set up camp near some trees. We had a whole day and night to relax until the show the following night. I was particularly taken back by the size of the “shakedown” (the local hippie marketplace) at the campground and little did I know that we were only 1 of several campgrounds hosting fans down in Deer Creek. In later years, we would migrate to other camp grounds around Deer Creek. The next morning, JK, PH, and PS would arrive and set up camp near us as well.

There really isn't a lot to say about the 2 Deer Creek shows except that they were awesome, particularly the Divided Sky, David Bowie, Rhinocerous, Ride Captain Ride, and the Antelope. It was all really amazing music to me at the time. I remember that we had pretty good seats (pavilion) for both nights I believe. Here are the setlists from the shows.

08-02-98 Deer Creek Music Center, Noblesville, IN

Sound Check: I Can't Turn You Loose, Better Believe It Baby, If You Need A Fool#

1: Roggae, The Divided Sky, The Horse > Silent in the Morning, Too Much of Everything, Boogie On Reggae Woman, Reba*, Weigh, Birds of a Feather (1:10)

2: Possum, Ghost -> Lifeboy > David Bowie^, I Get Kick Out of You^^, Loving Cup (1:03)

E: Harry Hood+, Bittersweet Motel (0:18)

#Played several times. *With whistling. ^With "Possum" and "Divided Sky" teases. ^^First time played (Cole Porter cover from "Anything Goes"; made famous by Mel Torme; also performed by Frank Sinatra, Ethel Merman, et. al.); Mike on vocals (introduced by Trey as "Captain Gactain"). +With glowsticks, and "Ramble On" (Led Zeppelin) tease by Mike..

08-03-98 Deer Creek Music Center, Noblesville, IN

1: Rhinoceros*, Halley's Comet, I Didn't Know**, Ride Captain Ride***, Cars Trucks Buses, The Moma Dance, Strange Design, Character Zero (1:05)

2: Gumbo, Axilla, Limb by Limb, Meat, Hold Your Head Up > Bike^ > Hold Your Head Up^^, Tube, The Wedge (0:54)

E: When the Circus Comes > Run Like an Antelope+ (0:25)

*First time played (Smashing Pumpkins cover); allegedly has been part of soundchecks for years. **With vacuum solo. ***Blues Image cover; last played 12-30-92, 486 shows earlier. ^With a second vacuum solo. ^^After which Trey calls Fish "Bob Weaver." +With lyric "Bid you to have any spliff."

These would be my first 2 of 11 shows at Deer Creek, a venue located in the middle of corn fields for those of you who have never been. In any case, the shows rocked and we got back to Detroit safely. We would head out to see Phish again in another week. The story gets even crazier as we go on.

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading.