There was a time when Phish wouldn't think twice about booking shows around the holidays, leaving only a few waking hours to spend with friends and family. While it wasn't that they didn't care about family in the early days, their priorities were clearly geared towards their music and the growing scene that surrounded them at that time. A scene that ultimately drove the band to break up in 2004.
While you have to respect their decision these days to take more time to spend with those they love back home, one can't help but long for those older days when you would head out after Thanksgiving to go burn off all those extra calerories at a show.
Some of the more memorable "Phishgiving" moments happened just down the road in Worcester during back to back trips in 97 and 98. Below are some of the highlights from these memorable runs.
Download and stream all of these tracks over at this soundcloud playlist
YEM > I Didn't Know - 11/28/97
Some C&P teases - remember, this is before crosseyed & painless was a regular jam. A segue into I Didn't Know, cutting off the standard inaudible vocal jam? This has my kind of YEM written all over it.
Ghost > Johnny B. Goode - 11/28/97
This set wasn't doing too much until it landed on this Ghost and it found its groove. If you are Ghost junky, go get this version asap. The JGB is just icing on the cake.
Runaway Jim - 11/29/97
This Jim stretches nearly an hour long. While that doesn't automatically make it a great version, and whether you are a fan or not, it's hard not to respect a band that takes a risk by playing free form for nearly an hour. This jam starts our fierce, with the band throwing their darkest funk on the table. The dark funk flows right into some dark Trey wahwah licks at around the 12 minute mark which eventually leads the band into a slow, bluesy section with a tinge of ambient layered over the blues riffs. This goes on for some time with Trey, Page and Gordon trading off riffs. This takes us up to about the 20 minute mark where Trey starts flirting with a Little Drummer Boy melody but it never materalizes and eventually there's a collapse and the band begins searching for their next groove. Fishman starts picking up the pace and the others follow in his footsteps, bringing the sound to a feverish pitch. Page pounding on his keys, Trey is making his guitar wale through the use of his wahwah and Gordon is laying on a thick bass line. We're not even at the half way mark folks.
I'll spare you a review of the entire song. Just listen and enjoy.
Funkty Bitch > Wolfmans - 11/30/97
While the second night may have the epic Jim that everyone remembers, the real gem of this run is the 3rd night. Starting out with this one two punch with one of the best versoins of Bitch. A full on crowd clapping funk fest oozes out of the standard blues rock jam. Then you follow that up with a monster of a Wolfman's. The Wolfman's jam starts out a bit standard but slowly moves into that 97 dark funk groove. All of this while still in the first set? Oh, right, it's just fall 97 standard flare.
Stash - 11/30/97
I'm a Stash junky and if you are like me, go and grab this version now. Seriously, stop reading this and download now.
Wipeout set - 11/27/98
The entire second set of this show includes a smattering of Wipe Out teases. From the opening Buried Alive all the way to the encore. Sets like this often are fun to be at but not so great in a playback. That's not the case here as the energy throughout the set comes across and then some through your speakers. A must have set for any Phish fan.
Download entire show from The Spreadsheet
Download soundboard from livephish.com
Gumbo, Tube > DWD - 11/28/98
I dream of Gumbo openers that go into space funk territory. Can you really ask for a better way to set the tone for the night? No matter what or how they play the rest of the show, you should be in a relatively good mood. To add Tube and DWD to the mix of the opening sequence just makes it one of those "they could play what ever they want and I would go home happy" kind of moments. As it would turn out, the rest of this show isn't all that great so it was good they started out with a bang.
Limb x Limb > Catapult > Kung > Maze - 11/29/98
LxL has started to see a resurgence of late in terms of not just being a set filler. But man, back in its hey day of 98, this song sure could set a room on fire. And this one is one of those five alarm type fire situations. The Catapult > Kung was played with a cool vibe underneath the odd chanting and acts as a great bridge between two hot jams. This Maze keeps the torch lit by LxL going.
Bathtub Gin - 11/29/98
After a standard romp through the Gin jam, with cllimatic peaks galore, this puppy settles down into a quite, meandering jam that showcases Fish rocking his cymbals and keeping the pace fast while the rest of his band members surround him with ambient sounds. This is 98 ambient at its best.Trey, unable to contain himself for too long in the ambient space begins to fire off a few fast licks, matching the pace of his drummer. The end is a bit weak but the meat of this one makes up for the lack of direction at the end.
