7/19/98 - Shoreline Ampitheatre, Mountainview, CA

Trey said it best 7/31/97 when he said Shoreline was
a "very special place to play."  I always enjoy making
the 2 1/2 hr. trek from Sacramento.  I saw countless
dead shows there and it is a very neat venue.  My friend Mike and I
got into the lot about 5:30.  The scene was pretty mellow but right
away a "twilight zone" event took place.  After the 7/31/97 show, my 
friends and I grooved in the lot to an outstanding tape
by Spyro Gyra.  Before the show on 7/19, I dug high and low for the
tape to bring along for old times sake. Couldn't find it.  We pull
into the lot and the car we
parked behind is playing,,,Spyro Gyra! The same tape!
Tonight's gonna be a great show!  Time to go in.

No reserved seats for us,so we made our way to the lawn,and found a
pretty good spot in the center,where we could see the whole stage and
would have a good view of the screen that would show us an even better
view.
At about 7:35 out come the boys in bright neon t-shirts,Fishman in
dress. And away they went....

Moma Dance:  I was dying to hear an explosive opening such as Runaway
Jim, but the Moma Dance began...first real mellow and then working
itself into a very nice funky little groove.  The feet began moving
and before long I found my groove with this one,,very nicely played.

Beauty of my Dreams: Alot of fun...Trey's guitar was sounding very
good and loud...promising a great show to
come.

Sample in a Jar:  I was really glad to get this one,as I had read it
had been done a few days prior. Great energy in this one...Everyone
seemed to be having a great time,,lots of smiles

Guyute:  Yes! Now I was happy..while i enjoyed last years shoreline
show,,the first set was overrun with new songs.  I enjoy hearing a new
song or two,,but give
me an even balance...Tonight was more what i liked to hear.  The jam
in this Guyute was fast and furious.  Trey was hitting notes perfectly
and everyone was enjoyin' this...

Story of the Ghost:  Bathroom break.  Phish opened the 
7/31 show with this.  It was too quiet,too mellow, imo,
not a show opener.  I came back as they were getting into the
jam,,,Wow! Have they re-worked this song or what?  This jam was
absolutely phenomenal...They took their time with it,and kept building
it and building it,I began to sweat from the furious dancing of this 18
minute Ghost.  One of my highlights from this Set.

Limb by Limb: I like this song alot,,,it was fun to groove to and the
jam was right on..

Roget: Never heard this song before,,,It was very good,
and as it mellowed out I was hearing in my mind the possibility of a
Chalkdust Torture,,,when...Bam!

You Enjoy Myself:  This is my friend Mike's favorite song I
think,,,and I can see why...The jams up until the vocals were so
perfectly played,,,such energy,,the crowd feeding off of it and Phish
feeding off the crowd,,Everybody was jumping up and down and having a
great time...Page really went off on his keyboard solo
that just wouldn't end! Mike's bass solo was great,and Trey again,,was
ON...Oh yes,,the trampolines were as always a Blast to see! Now the
screen was on and you could see up close,,these guys were having as
much fun
as we all were....

The set closed and my friend and I were very excited for the 2nd
set...Shoreline is now in association with something called AMD
Tours...during the setbreak a man
in a red AMD t-shirt grabbed a young kid who somehow managed to
smuggle in a bottle of beer. Ok,,bad Will(the young man's name) but
take the beer and send young Will on his way...Wasn't gonna happen,,He
has Will by the arm and he's saying "You're coming with me."  I'm
thinkin, the people in front of this guy loading the glass pipes are
okay but damn it,,you bring a bottle of beer into Shoreline,,,You're
takin away from our sales! Your goin down Mister!  Will is saying
going with you where? why?  This guy from AMD Tours is calling for
backup!  All of a sudden...Will makes a break for it,,up the
hill,,,the crowd goes wild,,AMD Tours is in hot pursuit over the beer
smuggling hoodlum,,,the crowd chants GO WILL!!!! Up the
Hill,,over,down,,,People make a road block for WIll! Get in this guy's
Way!  I"m screaming GO WILL!!!!!!
AWWWWW!Comes over the crowd...and then boos,,Young Will the beer
smuggling monster has been apprehended..Nice Job AMD TOURS,,,another
one bites the dust...Will,we live and learn,,,,nice try though,,maybe
they let u stay!

It's 9:45,,where's Phish? I hope they're not turning into set breaks
the dead used to throw...You could almost go home and come back
between one of those...
Aww here they are! Man,,,it's so neat when the lights go off and it's
under the stars,,glowsticks everywhere..

Llama:  What a way to start a set! This Llama exploded!
the jamming was intense,,Page was goin off and then Trey comes in
rockin,,,then spacin out a bit,,and then more rockin! The crowd was
really into this,,

Wolfman's Brother:  Another pick from my friend,,,he's 2 for 2 on the
night...Wolfman's has gotten so funky lately,,and this one funk was
definitley in the house,,,It was a nice mellow groove that brought
smiles to everyone...Again,,,by the looks on their faces,,the band was
havin a blast...

Piper:  I've never heard this song,,only read about it..so I was
excited when it began,,,The girl in front of me apologized ahead of
time as she was "going to probably bump into me a thousand
times,,dancing to this one." She was so excited to hear it,,and i know
why...
The lyrics were fun,,the vocals sounded GREAT,,and the 
intensity was unbelievable! I gotta get this song on tape...

Tweezer: My friend called another one!  Again,a bit surprised as they
just played this at Porland Meadows...but we'll take it...Nice
jam,,not really spacey,,but good...They could have jammed it a bit
more,but instead opted to go into...

Jesus Left Chicago:  I'm not much into the blues thing these days,,but
this version brought me back..Page's vocals were great,,and his
playing was Sizzling! He kept going back from Hammond to Piano,,and
back to Hammond,,,it was great!  Then Trey came in and blew us all
away,,,Man,he looked happy this show...

McGrupp: I love this song! I love the beautiful piano work of Page on
this song,,and i was very pleased to get this one again...  It lived
up to expectations...during Page's solo everyone kinda stopped and
just watched and listened,,it was so beautiful... then Mike would come
in on the bassline and it sounded wonderful...This went into about a 7
minute jam and wasn't sure if it was a song or improv,,nothing is
listed for it so it must have been the latter...this was the only slow
part of the show for me,,not much goin on with this jam..

Down With Disease:  Four for Four! My friend called four songs on the
night,,I batted Zero,,No SOAM,,NO FOAM,,No It's Ice,,,Oh well back to
DWD,,,One word,,,
WOW!!!!!! From Mike's bassy intro to the very end,,,this DWD SMOKED!!!
The jam just kept rocking and wouldn't stop!  The band was so ON
tonight,,,I can't imagine they were any better in Orgeon or Washington!
I knew this would be it,as it was now about 11pm
Possum was being whispered as the probable encore...

Encores: Possum,,,,Possum it was,,,ANd what a performance,,great
jamming,,great energy,,the vocals were there,,,What a show! Thanks
guys!!! but then,,,,
Yes! Tweezer Reprise!!! Another repeat,,but so what??
It was done very well,and one last treat for the fans before ending an
absolutely wonderful show..the band had a blast,,,my friend and I had
a blast,,and it seemed everyone in attendance did as well...Damn! I
wish i was on my way to Irvine,,,Anyone with this tape,,please be
kind!!Get a copy! Highly reccommended show...Thanks again Phish,,and
we'll see ya next time!
Mark Massi
Sacramento,CA
Maze72@Yahoo.com




Set1:

Moma Dance-Well I simply love this song and personally they can play this
tune at every show I attend!!!! I personally was glad they played it 4
times on the west coast! This has been cleaned up and made into a super
Phunky dance tune. Mike just absolutely rocks the house on this one! 

Beauty of my Dreams-Normal, no flubs.

Sample-Again, normal with some good guitar work by Ernest Drum (Trey)

Gyute-Nicely done, trey had his shit together that night and it is very
evident on this tune!

Ghost-Can you say FUNK TO THE MASTER!!!!!!!!!!!! I love the new intro and
this one was dripping with sweaty PHUNK!

Limb by Limb-Not as good as Portland, but it had its moments! Well played
definately showing the crowd who's in charge!

Roget-I'm not too sure I can evaluate this song properly. I'll have to wait
for the tapes!

YEM!!!!-I couldn't believe that this was my very first YEM!!! I have been
seeing PHiSH since '92 and I saw all of these wierd shows none of which had
a YEM! Finally I saw tramps, and brad sands! Killer YEM!!! 

Set1 Verdict: (7 of 10)

Set2:

Llama-Finally, just the way I like it! A Llama set opener!! Just the way
this song should be played, hard, fast and ready to kick your ass!!! This
was no slacker!!!! This just scorched! I'm most fond of Llama first set
opener's though! Like (11-25-94) beserk!

Wolfman's->Piper-NIce I have been waiting to hear this combo since I got my
Europe '97 tapes! I love this combo. Phunk right into the sweetness, you
can't go wrong. Piper was also done the way I like it, Page soloing instead
of trey. I like this song so very much and when page takes over I love it!

Tweezer->Jesus Left Chicago- I really like what they are doing to tweezer
these days! They are moving away from the tired style of old that just
makes tweezer start over and over. They are really moving this tune! Jesus
Left Chicago was really nice. Page was hot! Trey really had his blues licks
down! This one may have rivaled Dayton (my last Jesus)!

McGrupp->Dw/D-Thank you Mr. Minor!!!!!!!  I absolutely have been dying to
hear this tune! It was so well played. and page was hot once again! McGrupp
rules! Folk's this Dw/D absolutely raged! INSANE!!!!!!!!! This may be the
highlight of the show! 

Encore:
Possum->Tweeprise- We were selling Possum stickers and we were thinking
that they would never play possum but we were wrong! They sure did! Not as
raging as say (DAYTON 12-7-97,MSG 12-29-97) But nice to hear definately!
Tweeprise was also nice, a great way to end a pretty high energy show!

Set2 Verdict: (8 of 10)

Show Verdict: I thought that this show while well played was lacking
something for some reason. I really don't know what it was, actually I do
(RELAX) It really needed Relax somwhere in there! I would have placed it in
the spot where Roget was! That would have made a perfect segue in between
Limb by Limb and YEM! But I don't play stadiums and coliseums and my name
isn't Trey,Page,Mike,Jon so I guess I'll just have to wait till fall to
hear my RELAX!!!!!!!!

Get this show, actually get every west coast show! They are all good! The
best ones yet. No show has even come close to this show or any from that
lovely run!!! But The smokin' creek and alpine should prove to be really
hot!!!!! 

bOBBY sHORTCUT sHOWS



"It had a beat and you could dance to it." Like American Bandstand, this
Shoreline show came across like a collection of highly danceable but not
mentally challenging songs. Because I particularly like jams that I can
dig my brain into, I'd rank this the least favorite of the 5 shows I've
seen (ie, below last year's Shoreline, VA Beach and both Hamptons). My
husband, who's not a dancer, *severely* panned this show- it's like it
wrecked his weekend! But fortunately I really love dancing, so I still
found the show enjoyable.

Both sets were chock full of energetic and/or funky, very grounded
and body-centered music. Moma Dance set the tone right off, and served as
the linchpin of the show, since they kept coming back to that song's
feeling. For example, YEM had to be the funkiest version I've ever heard,
and I loved the way Mike had the Moma (BEK) bassline going during the big
crescendo. It was an interesting contrast to last year's YEM at the same
place. Ghost too was hip-deep in funk, and I wondered if they especially
picked it to play here again to demonstrate the difference from last time.

I was very glad to hear Moma Dance, but Roget was the other new song I
wish I had gotten to hear more of. Unfortunately, Circumambulating
Tripping Guy chose this song to transform into Circumambulating Naked Guy.
Ultimately I guess he got shuffled off to Buffalo before any injury, but
all I could get from the music was maybe a sense of thoughtfulness. Too
bad it will probably now always be the Plaid Underpants Song to me. :)

Of other quieter parts, McGrupp was another repeat from last year that I
enjoyed, though it was not radically altered like Ghost. What really
struck me here was the difference between  East and West Coast crowds.
During Page's quiet piano part, the crowd (at least around me) was
*listening*, not hooting; it was practically pin-drop quiet. The same
went for Trey's quiet guitar solo in Jesus (though Page was truly the
star of that song, and on the mark all evening!), and also the absorbing
pre-DWD jam. The latter instrumental was so discrete I thought it was one
of the new songs.

I wished fervently that part could have gone on for much longer- it had to
be the spaciest bit of the show- but I'll be darned if they didn't choose
that moment to grant my only pre-show wish, for my first live DWD! So
playing-on-hot-coals energetic, that with the equally radiating Llama it
made a perfect pair of bookends for the second set. And Tweezer Reprise
was like the firecracker "salute" after a firework's starburst.

So, I predict this will make a great party tape, not a lie on the floor
and journey tape. For instance it seemed about as diametrically opposed
to last July's Amsterdams (some personal fave tapes) as you can get. What
a versatile band! I just hope they come back to the spaciness sometime
again...

BTW those plaid underpants were still lying on the lawn when we left.

--
Diana Hamilton -- hamilton@umbc.edu -- Baltimore, MD USA

The last 5 songs of the first set really worked together nicely.  I really
liked hearing Roget again -- a mellow groove, sure, but a nicely developed
song that builds to an interesting climax.

The Disease from this show no doubt changed lives.  Llama was equally
raging, but not dripping with as much trippiness.  Trey was jumping up and
down, doing huge
guitar strums so hard that he'd fall to one knee sideways during DWD.

Page brought out the serious goods during Jesus left Chicago and especially
during McGrupp.  Trey's accompaniment & soloing during Jesus seemed
less flashy and more pure-bluesy than versions I've seen or heard before.
Mike was poppin' all night -- seemed like he got a new supply of bombs to
drop before this tour started because he was definitely the star the first
5 shows.  Keep it up Gordo!

ONE YEAR M.I.A.: SHORELINE REVIEWED

This is a long review.

I hadn't seen, heard, or actively listened to Phish in a year prior to last
night's show.  The last time I saw the band live was at the Gorge nearly a
year ago, and my musical interests have changed a lot since then.  I
haven't thrown in a Phish tape in nearly that long; I did listen to the
albums a few times, though.  This is from a guy who's been actively seeing
the band since spring '93, seen over 25+ shows and at one point had 300+
hrs on tape.  Keep this MIA factor in mind when you read this review,
though, because for that reason I'm not going to comment on how good a
particular version of a new song is in relation to xx/xx/xx; I have no idea
how good the new tunes were last night comparatively, only how good they
sounded to me, having never heard them before.  

I was really jazzed for last night's show.  I realized it would be the
first time in over 4 years that Phish would play songs I hadn't heard
before, didn't know anything about, and didn't even know the names to.  I
wouldn't be able to keep an accurate setlist!!  The freshness was
incredibly appealing, and had me incredibly excited as the show began.

The two sets were so different that they warrant different sections:

PART I: THE FUNK

The Moma Dance opener could not have represented the first set better.
Restrained, funky, minimalist jamming that reminded me of MMW at times; the
funk that was around last year has developed into something even smoother
and more articulate.  I'd agree with Cassius (who I chatted with before the
show) that the band has made a conscious decision to focus their efforts on
the individual tone and placement and quality of each and every note.  The
funk that dominated the first set was notably cleaner, tighter, and
generally more polished than anything I'd heard out of Phish of the past.

However, I had mixed feelings on this "new" sound (again, I have no idea if
Fall '97 or Europe sounded like this).  In one sense it's incredibly
impressive: the band is listening to each other better than ever before and
often times creating a whole sound that can only be described as a sum of
its parts.  Very MMW-ish, at it's best.  However, as soon as Trey took the
lead these jams tended to roam into Arena Rawk territory, which is a bad
thing, IMO.  I love the minimalist funk; I just don't like the direction
the jams went after that.

The other problem I had with the jamming in the first set last night was
it's ubiquity: It popped up in all the major jam vehicles -- Moma, Ghost,
YEM -- in nearly identical form.  Mix it up a bit, yo!

The first set reminded me a lot of the first set of last year's Shoreline
show.  Besides the setlist -- Ghost, Limb, and YEM -- the set had that same
light and funky feel.  Speaking of which, the new arrangement of Limb is a
step up, and Gyute has never sounded better.  That song could be the
absolute bomb if put on an album!!!

Roget was a mixed bag.  Some cool stuff, but overall pretty fruity.  The
vocal melody in the end reminded me of All Apologies (Nirvana).  This may
sound odd, but I think this song would be great if played by a less
virtuoso, more pop-oriented band like Pavement or Radiohead.  In that it's
a good song, but I think when Phish steps in to perform it they can't help
but make it a bit too refined for my taste.  But still, I can see this
being cool on an album.  I like the psychedelic groove towards the end that
was drawn out last night.

YEM was good to hear, but nothing compared to last year's version.  Pretty
much straight funk groove.  A very long set, though, at a bit over 90 min.,
I think (again, similar to last year).


PART II: THE DOUBT CREEPS IN

To be honest, I was a little bummed at the break; I was digging the show,
but nothing had "wowed" me yet.  To be honest, it seemed like the boys had
lost their edge.  Not that I didn't enjoy the music -- it was excellent --
but, well, it didn't kick my ass like I'm used to.  (Last year's YEM kicked
my ass, for example.)  It was impressive, but almost felt like a day at the
office.

PART III:  THE ASS-KICKING or THE DOUBT GETS BOOTED OUT

Set II, however, was A BAT OUT OF HELL.  It was like night and day compared
to the first set; it sounded as if they had snorted a shitload of coke at
the break and came out completely fired up.  As with Moma in set I, the
Llama opener completely set the tone for the rest of the set.  It was
fierce, firey, and totally inspired.  Talk about an ass kicking.  Great to
hear something so fundamentally raucous.

Wolfman's was excellent.  Not so much the jam, which was good but not
extraordinary, but the groove that carried throughout the song.  This is
one example of how the band has applied their funk expertise to the old
material, and it sounds great.  This jam faded to space rather quickly, and
out of the mellow churnings came what, for me, was both the surprise and
the highlight of the show: Piper.

The only Piper I had heard prior to last night was 6/25? Lille France, and
I was completely unprepared for last night's ride.  My thoughts on this
will probably reveal my MIA status, since I have no other "jammed" versions
to compare it to, but I felt last night's Piper deserves to be on a live
album.  I just loved it; a great song performed to perfection.  I was
consistantly impressed at the band's patience in forming and then building
the rather odd refrain; Fishman especially wowed me in his refusing to play
a straight 4/4 rock groove but rather let the groove swirl around his 16th
note bass-driven rhythm.  I loved it.  If someone knows of a better Piper,
please point me in that direction; this is another song that, in proper
form (like last night), could be a priceless addition to a studio album.

(Obviously by this point I was eating my less-than-awed setbreak words.  I
was going nuts, frankly.)

The Tweezer was met with a shout of joy, and that shout lasted about as
long as the song itself.  Very, very short Tweezer, though hypnotic and
interesting while it lasted.  Back to the
four-alien-voices-conversing-in-unison type jamming that was so prevalent
at the first Gorge show last year.  I love that shit.  As Tweezer died down
Trey began playing some bluesy licks as the band gently textured the space
behind him, finally falling into a blues rhythm that eventually mutated in
Jesus Left Chicago.

I'm not a big fan of this tune -- I sat down -- but I suppose this version
was among the better ones.  Trey's soloing was excellent.  I just don't
like this song that much.

McGrupp was another surprise, seeing as they played it (again, in a similar
position in the set) last year.  Parts of this song reminded me of some of
the newer Phish compositions (Roget, esp.).  I thoroughly enjoyed it; a
funny moment came when Trey began to play during Page's solo, and Page flat
out GLARED AT HIM.  (Trey quieted down after that.)  

Out of the space that usually follows McGrupp came Disease.  The Disease
can only be likened to the Llama that started the set: ABSOLUTELY ON FIRE.
I'm not talking on fire like the Clifford Ball DWD is on fire; I'm talking
on fire like you've heard Llama and Birds of a Feather get on fire.  I'm
talking LOUD, BALLS TO THE FUCKING WALL Disease jamming that was just about
as awesome as I've heard Phish get.  I absolutely *loved* this Disease.
Everytime I thought it had peaked the band (read: not trey, not fish, but
THE BAND) stepped it up a notch and I shook my head in disbelief.  One
word: ENERGY.  HEAR THIS DISEASE.  Of course this ended the set; mid-way
through the Disease jam my friend Justin (similar Phish history) turned to
me and said "There is no WAY they can follow this with anything!!!"

The encores started where Disease left off.  Excellent, excellent encore;
best in recent memory.  Possum was perfectly executed with Trey using a lot
of bluegrass, nearly slide-guitar licks and allowing it to build to a
furious climax.  Tweeprise took Disease and Llama and finished them off.

The second set of this show is basically why I like Phish.  To sum it up in
one word: ENERGY.  To sum up the show as a whole: an exquisite musical
performance, though I liked parts of it better than others.  But very, very
impressive.  This is a band that has honed their talents and pushed their
boundaries.  The old stuff sounds great, the new stuff sounds...like it has
potential :), and the band is obviously concentrating on their articulation
and overall sound like never before.  For me, it all came together in the
2nd set, though the first set was exemplary of other talents and entirely
necessary for that to occur.

Thumbs up.

Darius

darius.zelkha@oberlin.edu
http://www.oberlin.edu/~dzelkha/

"WOW"  just about sums it up.  Phish made what is becoming an all too
  rare occurrence over the past few years:  a Bay Area appearance at the
  Shoreline Amphitheater.  I could go off on how disappointed I am that
  they really haven't played a string of shows in the area in nearly
  two years, and haven't really played an extended string in nearly 4, but
  I won't, because if the shows continue to be of the caliber of last night's
  Shoreline show, then at least I'll be able to live with the fact that the
  old cliche, "It's quality, not quantity" is indeed true (and just deal with
  the fact that I'll have to fly elsewhere to fill my yearly quota of shows;
  next year's spotlighted venue:  Grey Hall in Freetown Christiana!!).

  Let me start be saying that I'm sure that last night will not rank very
  high on the summer's tour best, mainly because the show was a bit high on
  structure, and usual show highlights of Tweezer and to a certain extent,
  both YEM and Wolfman's didn't reach the heights that we know they're
  capable of.  But lets's face it, the bar is significantly higher for those
  tunes than most others, and even last night's versions, while far from
  being "Bests" were all still quite tight, had great grooves, and made
  for one hell of a great headbobbin' time!

  Now, onto the setlists:

  I:  Moma Dance, Beauty of My Dreams, Sample, Gyute, Ghost, Limb
  by Limb, Roget, YEM

  II:  Llama, Wolfman's Brudda > Piper, Tweezer > Jesus Left Chicago,
  McGrupp > Down with Disease

  E:  Possum, Tweeprise

  MOMA DANCE got the funk going right from the get go.  A very cool
  tune that I've read is a reworked Black Eyed Katy.  The groove was thick,
  and it was a great way to get people moving.  The little Moma Dance itself,
  while
  being quite complex, is sure to be embraced by many of the youth in this
  country, and is sure to appear on American Bandstand soon.  I'd have
  to guess that it was anywhere from 7 to 12 minutes long.  Followed by

  BEAUTY OF MY DREAMS, which was played the way the country/bluegrass
  tunes of the evening should:  tightly and with precision.  What a great
  little
  ditty!

  SAMPLE was cool to hear, and I think a lot of people were relieved to hear
  something they knew.  It was my sister-in-law's first show, and not only did
  they play a Sample, but also two other tunes off of Hoist, the only Phish CD
  she currently has.  Talk about being blessed!  Sample was good, but lacked
  the intensely hot guitar solo that can sometimes finish it up.  A very brief
  break and conference took place, and the wee bit of hints that were thrown
  out
  pointed in one direction, and one direction only:

  GYUTE!!!  Although I'd seen this tune a few other times, including
  Providence,
  12/94, and have heard many on tape, I have not heard one that was pulled off
  they way it was pulled off last night.  It may have been my Phish induced
  state
  of bliss, but I didn't hear one miscue.  It was right on the freakin money
  and as
  tight as you could ask for.  A nice little dark section thrown in around the
  second
  verse area, and everything else right where it should have been, and right
  where
  you expected it.  IMHO, it was brilliant.

  GHOST followed up, and about three quarters of the way through this
  beautiful
  version I realized that the band had indeed come to play, and was still
  very intent on "Destroying America".  The funk was thick in the Ghost, and
  just
  when I would start to think that they had played themselves into a corner,
  another
  new and completely original theme would emerge.  Excellent excellent
  excellent.  That
  Anastasio kid sure can play.

  LIMB BY LIMB was fun as usual, and sounded great, but after the previous two

  songs, my brain was somewhat ready for a break, and even though the tune
  was played very well, I couldn't keep up.  Love those lyrics though, they
  just
  suck you in.

  ROGET next was my first time hearing the tune, and I really like it as a
  break song:
  it's mellow, has decent lyrics, and with all Phishmusic, has a hook that
  gets into
  you and just won't let go.  These guys are truly amazing.

  the YEM closer was unexpected, and just like last years Shoreline show,
  added probably a good 20 - 25 minutes to an already beefy first set.  Cool
  funk,
  bass and drums, and the tramps made for some good visual candy for a
  firstime
  Phisher-woman.  Not the mammoth version like last years, but still, the
  groove was
  thick, and if you weren't boogieing, you weren't listening.

  Now if the first set was Phish-circa97/8/pornofunkersters, then the second
  set
  was Phish-circaearly-mid90's/machine-guns trained on the brains.

  LLAMA was hands down the fiercest version I have ever seen.  Hands down.
  It kicked ass right out of the shoot and just kept building and building
  until it
  nearly knocked me on my ass.  The boys laid notice right then and there that
  this
  second set would be very different from the groove of the first.

  WOLFMANS was very cool, had a bit of the first set groove going, but quickly
  built
  and then dissipated very sweetly into

  PIPER.  Yeeks, this tune'll make your neck ache for days after the show.
  The build up
  is even more intense than it was just a mere year ago, and by the time they
  returned
  to the verse for the second time they were going so fast that I personally
  had to open
  my eyes and stare at something stable in fear of being knocked on my ass for
  the
  second time in three songs.

  TWEEZER.  Ahhhh sweet sweet Tweezer.  Whereas I can see some Tweezer's
  completely losing newbies, this one had a beautifully sweet groove that it
  held
  onto for a short bit, jumped over to another groove, and then quickly
  started to
  hint at the Jesus beat.  I started to think Jesus maybe a minute or minute
  and half
  before it happened, and the transition itself was sharp, extremely tight,
  and was
  the kind of thing that makes you swear these guys must have practiced that
  shit!!

  JESUS JUST LEFT CHICAGO raged.  Page was on all night long, but give him
  a tune of his own, especially when he's already having a great night, and
  you have
  all the makings of a wide-grinned cocktail, on the rocks, no water thank you
  very
  much.  Page just owned this Jesus, and the interplay between him and Trey
  during
  some of the solos was just jaw dropping.  They must practice that shit too!!
   Page
  enjoyed Jesus so much, that he also took a short extended solo in the
  following:

  MCGRUPP.  A somewhat unusual choice I thought given that had played it last
  year at Shoreline as well, and almost in the same place in the show, but
  I've
  always had a soft spot in my heart for this tune, so I wasn't complaining.
  McGrupp
  has definitely been effected by the porno-funk, not nearly to the degree of
  other tunes,
  but the effects were definitely there, and the extended Page solo before his
  usual
  ending solo was very sweet.  Made me hope for a Coil.  McGrupp dissolved
  into a
  bit of a space jam thing that eventually led into the

  DOWN WITH DISEASE type space jam that seems to prelude many version of this
  tune these days.  This was easily the best version of this tune that I have
  heard, with
  the "Old Phish" ruling the roost for this particular Disease.  The solo was
  incredibly
  beautiful the entire way through, whilst continuing to rage at a pace that
  almost
  put me on my ass for a third time in the set.  When they came back to the
  "Na Na Na Na
  Na Na Na" part, I very nearly exploded.  Simply put, this Disease is the
  thing that makes
  people come back to shows over and over again.  My wife was
  at her 5th show, and has always had a good time, but she just can't stop
  talking about
  that Disease, it just turned her world completely around, and gave her what
  sounds to
  be the essence of the Phish musical experience.  This was truly one hell of
  a Diseased Worm!!

  the POSSUM encore was very enthusiastically received, and instantly became a
  huge
  sing-along.  The jam smoked, but by this point my head was spinning so hard
  that any
  hope of objective judgement was gone, and I'll have to listen to the tapes
  to hear exactly
  what went down.  Suffice to say though that by the time the jam was done, I
  was (again)
  drenched in sweat, the entire room was spinning at an alarmingly rapid pace
  and the
  Cheshire cat had nothing on what was going on on my face.

  the TWEEPRISE, although expected was glorious in it's lighted chaos, as
  Kuroda proved
  for the umpteenth time that evening that he is indeed the fifth member of
  the band.

  The outro music of "How Deep Is Your Love" from Saturday Night Fever was the
  perfect
  nightcap by which I attempted to pick my brain up off the floor, tried to
  utter a few
  comprehensible words (unsuccessfully I'm sure), put my shoes back on and
  wander
  off into the cool Mountain View evening pondering the very compelling
  argument my
  favorite band just made about blowing off work for the next two days and
  heading down
  south for another heaping dose of the good stuff.   As I write this I think
  of my
  compatriots heading down the 101 for tonight's show and focus on one word:
  MAINE.

  See ya'll there!!

  Mike