Reliving my days of Phish: Part II

Before reliving the glory that was 12/6/97, I wanted to give a shout out to Sho_nuff for putting together some great Soundboard mixes and sharing them with the community. Really amazing stuff.

1997

12-05-97 Cleveland State University Convocation Center, Cleveland, OH

1: Ghost, Wilson, Funky Bitch, Black-Eyed Katy, Sparkle, Runaway Jim-> My Friend My Friend, Ginseng Sullivan, Limb By Limb, Character Zero

2: Stash, Bouncing Around the Room, Julius, Slave to the Traffic Light, Lizards, Loving Cup, Chalk Dust Torture

E: Bold as Love

As I recall, I went to this show with my boy NB, and PH and JG who we would end up chilling with the next night as well. We also met up with RC who I ended sitting with while NB chilled with another tour staple PS. This show would be my first out of state Phish show. We stayed at a pimp hotel downtown where there also happened to be some Greek formal with some hotties from John Carroll U. So I had some bad seats for this show, Page side, second level and I had to stand next to possibly the worst dancer I had ever seen in RC. He looked like a complete jackass dancing, seriously, probably as bad as Elaine from Seinfeld. To top it off, I had an expensive and cool Fitch sweater that was stolen. Oh well, shit happens.
Musically, I thought the show was good but nothing really stands out. Obviously, Phish was bringing the 97 funk at this show with Ghost, Black Eyed Katy and such. And I got to see the first of way too many Axis: Bold as Love encores. Definitely not a show I would put in my top 25, but eh, we were learning the ropes on tour.
After the show, we walked in the cold for miles like lost children, searching for our hotel.
The show the following night at the Palace of Auburn Hills would affect me deeply in how I relate to Phish.

12-06-97 The Palace, Auburn Hills, MI

Soundcheck: Dog Log, AC/DC Bag, Ginseng Sullivan, Black-Eyed Katy

1: Golgi Apparatus, Run Like an Antelope, Train Song, Bathtub Gin-> Foam, Sample in a Jar, Fee, Maze, Cavern

2: Tweezer* -> Izabella** -> Twist -> Piper -> Sleeping Monkey -> Tweezer Reprise

E: Rocky Top

*Trey teases the music from the the segue that comes out of "1983...(A Merman I Should Turn to Be)" (Jimi Hendrix). *With the start/stop funk jam that repeatedly surfaced during the Fall Tour (may have oringinated in the 11-28-97 Worcester "Ghost").

First of all, somehow my buddy NB was able to score 5 3^rd row tickets to this show Page side. The day he got the tickets was the same day I took my SATs and also the same day that Michigan beat Michigan State in football where Charles Woodson made the greatest interception in football history. The catch was so amazing that to this day, Michigan State will not allow the release of the film and photos. Michigan would go on to win the National Championship at the Rose that season and I would be admitted to enroll at the U the following fall.
Back to 12/6/97. We sat 5 in the third row, NB, CC, JG, and PH. The Golgi opener would just get the crowd fired up for the funky Antelope that would rock the house next. The first set rounded out solidly with great Phish staples like Sample in a Jar, Fee, and my first Phish song, Maze.
The second set makes my top 5 moments of Phish ever. The intro gets your heart thumping with Fishman’s drawn out beats until the rest of band breaks into the goodness of Tweezer which would rock out for 20 minutes. Tweezer would lead into Isabella, a song which I was unfamiliar with but could tell was a Jimmy Hendrix tune. An amazing Twist would follow and segue into a beautiful Piper that took a lot of time to build. When I hear these songs, I feel like they were so much more refined than later versions. These songs were really entering the Phish repertoire around this time and these are some really great versions. So nearly an hour of jamming fades away into a beautiful Sleeping Monkey and an exhilarating Tweezer Reprise. Looking back, we probably witnessed one of the best Phish sets ever that night, and we were lucky to have been so fortunate to see it that close.
Rocky Top rounded out an amazing night of music. This show and the way it invigorated me would influence the years of ahead of on and off touring with Phish. I recommend everyone have a copy of the second set at the very least, and I would happy to send one to you if you happen to comment on this post. Thanks to PH for taking some good photos of this show and giving me a copy.
I would not see another Phish show until July the next year in Columbus, OH in what would turn out to be a very long and memorable day. Did you know that you can sleep in your car in a Wall Mart parking lot?
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the story of my 4^th and 5^th Phish shows. 12/6/97 was amazing and, even though I didn’t attend, the next night in Dayton is also a legendary performance. Thanks for reading and Jah bless.