Since it's been almost 16 years since that very night, it's hard to give a review from my "in person" perspective so this review will be primarily based on a re-listen thanks to the recording made available by The Spreadsheet. In fact, unless otherwise noted, these reviews stem primarily from downloads that you can find at this impressive collection put together by Kevin Hoy (@hoydog23). For your streaming pleasure, we'll be using the YouTube uploads courtesy of The Aquarium. 

Download Show (link sourced from The Spreadsheet)

Set I: Runaway Jim, NICU, Wolfman's Brother, It's Ice, Billy Breathes, Ginseng Sullivan, Split Open and Melt, The Mango Song, Frankenstien

The first three songs - Runaway Jim, NICU, Wolfman's Brother - are standard versions albeit energetic. The Runaway Jim has some extra mustard given this was the bands first of four Holiday Run shows that would end at Boston's Fleet Center for New Years Eve. A perfectly positioned "It's Ice" gives the crowd a bit of a jolt from the straight ahead rockers that preceded. During the slow down portion of the song where the band becomes quite and the song prepares itself for a run to the finish line, Page's piano solo soared out over the crowd, giving us a glimpse of who will undoubtedly end as the MVP player when all is said and done. 

Enter our first ballad of the night (but not our last), "Billy Breathes" is hot off the heels of it's album debut, of which many fans felt was the bands best studio effort to date. Nothing helps get the feet tapping again than some bluegrass so the boys give "Ginseng Sullivan" a ride only to lead into the first stand out jam of the night - "Split Open and Melt". 

SOAM's jam enters with scat like funk with Trey and Fish riffing the heck out of each other. Trey would eventually move this into full throttle, showing us just what this song was made for - machine gun Trey licks. Around the 9 minute mark, the quintessential tension that is built throughout this songs jam, gets released as if an atom bomb was just dropped on the Spectrum, and the crowd erupts reaffirming that the band are indeed hitting all the right notes so far. 

They opt to cool the pace with "The Mango Song", a questionable choice given SOAM had put everyone in a dancing kind of mood. But it's hard to argue given the popularity of this song among fans was and always has been at the top. As quickly as the show had started, the set comes to an end with a rousing rendition of the Frank Zappa song, "Frankenstein". As the Zappa favorite comes to an end, the crowd erupts just as much as when the boys first took the stage confirming how much energy was brewing among the Philly crowd that night. While short, the set packed a punch and it's hard to find any flaws in the songs played. But there's also not too much that could be looked back on as "epic" or a "must hear". Quite simply a fun set of Phish music that would be hard not to like by even the most casual of fans (i.e. my wife). 

Set II: Makisupa Policeman, Maze, Bouncing Around the Room -> Digital Delay Loop Jam -> TMWSIY -> Avenu Malkenu -> Mike's Song -> Strange Design -> Weekapaug Goove, The Star Spangled Banner

E: Johnny B. Goode

While the first set started out with tons of energy, the second set ironically starts out with a more laid back vibe as they roll out the reggae tinged "Makisupa Policeman"..."Stink, Stank, Stunk" were the chosen lyrics by Trey, most likely referencing the song from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Makisupa segues perfectly into "Maze". Perhaps the laid back start was more a way of getting everyone to settle in and prepare for the onslaught that would eventually take place in the second song of the set. For a long time this was at the top of my list to hear at every show. There's no question that it was this night and this version that helped position itself in my brain. The shear menacing sound of this version and the screeching of Trey's guitar as the song leads up to its epic peak is mind numbing to say the least. As with all of the songs up till this point, there is barely any flaw to speak of in this "Maze", with every point in the song being hit as designed.

Watch this version of Maze on Youtube

But as quickly as the energy kicks in, it's quickly brought back down with the poppy, often cringe inducing second set pick, "Bouncing Around the Room". Up to this point it's almost as if the boys don't want to jump full steam ahead with the energy that has been floating throughout the arena all night. But this would all change the moment they ooze into a Digital Delay Loop jam.

This jam was known, unbeknownst to me at the time, among fans as a jam that you only heard if you were in the mist of a special kind of night. These days a delay loop jam is standard practice, but in these earlier jams Trey uses a special kind of delay pedal, Ibanez DM 2000, whereas the "Ghost" era uses a Boomerang phrase sampler (source: Phish.net). They melt into "The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday", a beautiful instrumental, and then into the always fun "Avenu Malkenu". Instead of jumping back into TMWSIY as they often do at the end of Avenu, they hit the breaks and pop immediately into "Mike's Song". 

A dark, but standard, run through Mike's leads into a slow down jam that ultimately ends up as a segue into our second ballad of the night, "Strange Design". Another stand out from the Billy Breathes album helps prep the masses for a dance off worthy version of "Weekapaug Groove". 

Hands down the jam of the night. This 'Paug comes filled with high notes, low notes, funk notes, break beats and most importantly, chairman of the board notes galore. As mentioned at the top, Page was on fire all night long and the band must have noticed it as well since they give Mr. McConnell a chance to show off his chops by finishing up the song on his own. As they pull the song's main riff back into the fray, they hit the main chords a few times until they hit them no more leaving only but the sound of keys being tickled to death by Page. A 5+ minute piano solo makes this one of the better Page performances I've seen to date.

They close things out by singing "The Star Spangled Banner" acapella style as a tribute to the late Kate Smith, a Philadelphia Flyer legend. And in fitting fashion given the energy in the building all night long they encore with Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode". 

The Verdict - 9/10 

This setlist, while maybe nothing amazing to look at on paper, is in fact a work of art. There may not be any jams that you may call "monsters" or "epic" but the fluidity of the show is top notch. If you have to listen to any thing from this show, start it from the Digital Delay Loop jam and go from there. This entire section flows like water. I also have to be a little bias when it comes to the rating. I mean, it was my first show!  

I've found clips from this show and have a partial playlist on my YouTube channel. Watch it here.