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On the heels of an exceptional Merriweather show with an encore that sent ripples throughout the Phish world, they decided to keep the crazy cover bust outs going. The death of Jerry Garcia was still a big dark cloud for many fans within the Phish community and it was no secret that it was the anniversary of his death - hint hint. 

Download Show (link sourced from The Spreadsheet)

Set 1: Punch You In the Eye, Bathtub Gin, The Lizards, The Moma Dance, Birds of a Feather, Esther, Roggae, Bouncing Around the Room, David Bowie

PYITE always signals good things are around the corner. Something about this tune gets both the fans and the band in a good state of mind. In this situation, it sets us up for a perfect run through Bathtub Gin. 

While it's hard to follow up a Gin jam like 7-29-98, this is still a fun version. Tons of energy abound pouring from the stage and the fans all knew how locked in the band was each time they dug deep into this song around this time period. Trey starts rolling the band into a frenzy about 9 minutes in to this version. Trey continues on with his energetic repetitive licks up through the 11 minute mark and it's this repetitiveness that gives this version a graceful flow. The final few minutes of the song is a complete cool down that melts perfectly back into the Bathtub Gin riff. 

Lizards is always a fun song to catch live, even if it almost always stays within it's composed boundaries. This version isn't perfect as there are some flubs from Trey during Page's solo section. Ernie Stires wouldn't have been impressed. But the song holds a special place for most fans as it tells the majority of the Gamehendge story.  

Moving from a fully composed song to a song that throws composition to the wind - Moma Dance. Recently this song hasn't been doing it for me but back in 98 this song was always a crowd favorite. Mainly because the funk that evolved during the 97/98 era was in full effect and this song was the epitome of that sound and era. 

Keeping the Story of the Ghost theme going, they land on Birds Of A Feather. Having only stretched it's wings once at it's debut in Nassau (4/4/98), the energy of this song was tightly packaged and this version holds true to form. Getting the crowd into a frenzy about 5 minutes in, this is a pure Trey shredfest. 

Moving away again from loose, rocking tunes back into Phish composition, we land on the eerie and slightly creepy tune, Esther. 

With lyrics such as "little girl you can chop of my legs and cut off my arms if you want to", you know this band doesn't quite take themselves too seriously. What I truthfully enjoy about Esther is not the story that the lyrics tell but rather the story told by the music. While Lizards is better known as the Gamehendge composition, Esther is one of Trey's greatest stories told with his notes. The imagery evoked by the changes in the music are exceptional. It's also a rather rare song to catch live having only been played 123 times since it's debut in 1988 and according to Phish.net, you have about an 8% chance of hearing it live.

Roggae at this point is only 2 months in to it's live debut so it doesn't stray too far from the album version on Story Of the Ghost, but nonetheless the soft, soothing sound of this song and it's jam are well executed. 

Bouncing is a small bump in the road on the way to a fantastic Bowie set closer. 

A set filled primarily with straight-ahead rockers or well played renditions of some of Phish's best composed pieces, the band and the fans were due for a release. What better way then through the mind of David Bowie. This particular Bowie doesn't have anything too special to write about other then it's well played and leaves you wanting more, which is what a good first set closer is suppose to do. 

All in all, this first set was fun but I'll take Merriweather over this any day. 

Set 2: AC/DC Bag[ > Sparkle, Run Like an Antelope, Brian and Robert, Waste -> Somewhere Over the Rainbow > You Enjoy Myself > Frankenstein > Chalk Dust Torture, Hello My Baby

Encore: Terrapin Station

Before jumping into AC/DC Bag, Trey has everyone turn around to see the full moon that the band gets to stare out throughout the night while playing. These days most Bag's follow the standard jam that peters out at the end but back in 98 this song was used often as a launching pad for jams and this version keeps in line with that fact. At around 7 minutes in they bear down into a funky groove, with Page plunking away at his clav and Trey toying with a few biting licks. Page eventually abandons the clav for the organ and at about 11 minutes Page's organ chords add some drive to this jam. Sensing this move, Trey hits his overdrive for a rawer sound. With the sound continuing to intensify, Trey throws on the whammy peddle and leads the band into the first true climax of the jam at about the 13 minute mark. This would prove to be the one and only high point as the next section focuses mostly on a cool down. 

A turn into Sparkle is unsuspecting to say the least. This song does help bring the energy back up but putting it in the second slot of a second set wouldn't have been my choice. What is appropriate is the Antelope that follows. 

This Antelope is a stellar version with a great climbing jam and a cool break down around 8 minutes in where Trey uses a ton of fuzz to cover up the band and out of the fuzz he comes roaring back in with the running like an antelope riff. A ferocious climax comes to a bit of an awkward stop at the 9:40 mark but this doesn't phase the band nor the fans as everyone gets ready for some calypso grooving. There's almost a plinko style jam that takes place (plinko jamming is more prevalent these days). Out of the calypso they take us home to cap off a highly entertaining and energetic stretch of music. 

Brian and Robert is a great cool down song, allowing you to take a second to catch your breath so you can talk among your friends about the jams just laid down.

Now, on paper you may say "why play two slow songs in a row in the second set". But you have to listen to this version of Waste to fully appreciate its placement and the ensuing Over The Rainbow jam that comes out of the Waste ending that then sets up You Enjoy Myself. 

The YEM is played well within the composition but unfortunately the jam is relatively flat. In fact, on the YEM jamming chart on phish.net they say that no jam exists. I wouldn't go that far but it's certainly tame. The vocal jam is almost five minutes long. If you're a vocal jam fan, this should be on your list.  If I can remember correctly Kuroda was doing some awesome light effects where he does the full 360 degree spin of the white lights. You can hear the crowd go wild a few times and I'm pretty sure that this is what causes this uproar. There's even a fan clap along that takes place. And out from the vocal jam they bring their instruments to life in sure chaotic mode. Dropping in to Frankenstein out of this chaos is well executed. 

After being slapped around by Frankenstein, they decide to keep the peddle to the medal with Chalkdust. And why not, this set had been up and down all night so might as well have some consistency towards the end. An acapella Hello My Baby to close out the second set and you have one up and down set. 

But this inconsistent set was about to be forgotten with what was coming in the encore. Two nights in a row of covers that took the Phish community by storm. While the night before it was an in your face move, this was just pure appreciation for the music that had come before Phish. It's no secret that the Grateful Dead inspired the members of Phish to play music. They covered them frequently early on in their career but as they grew into their own style they looked to shed the comparisons. Of course those who are fans know that they were more then successful in developing their own style. 

So it would take this special occasion, the anniversary of Jerry Garcia's passing, to get them to cover the Dead again. A challenging feet for any band, covering Terrapin that has a few moving parts was bold for Phish. But it's fitting given the songs traveling theme. Traveling being a common practice among Phish fans as well as dead heads. 

I have to admit, listening back they don't botch the song as much as you might think. With several screams coming from the crowd, a special buzz was certainly overcoming everyone in the arena. It even gives you goosebumps listening back today. 

Verdict: 8/10 

I probably would have given this show a lower score if it weren't for the powerful encore. The highlights during the first and second set are the Gin, Bag, Antelope and the Waste -> Over the Rainbow but all in all it was an up and down show that ended strongly.