i'm feeling nostalgic today. probably my favorite phish run that i ever did.
tour opener at the greek in LA. it's no berkley, greek, but it's a beautiful little venue up in the hills in hollywood. didn't have a ticket for this show, was only planning on doing the vegas halloween run, but plans changed. this show was sold out, hard. but got to the venue early, worked my ass off and scored a ticket. this show is nothing short of epic, but would be my 2nd favorite show of the 4 shows i saw on the run.
10/29/98 (Thu) Greek Theatre - Los Angeles, CA
Set 1: Julius, Roggae, Llama, Limb by Limb, Driver, Sleep (1), Frankie Says, Birds of A Feather, McGrupp, Character Zero
Set 2: Possum, Moma Dance, Reba > Walk Away > Simple > Albequerque, David Bowie, E: Something
then, on to vegas...where things got extremely strange for a couple of days ((thank you black gel tabs))
the shows were good, they did velvet underground's loaded for the halloween set, which was very cool. nothing totally over the top, and left me wanting more.
10/30/98 (Fri) Thomas & Mack Center - Las Vegas, NV
Set 1: Wilson, Meat > Scent of a Mule > Back at the Chicken Shack (1) > Scent of a Mule, Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress, Antelope, Guelah Papyrus, Lizards, Cavern
Set 2: Stash > Manteca, Tweezer > NICU, Prince Caspian, Golgi Apparatus, E: Driver, Freebird
10/31/98 (Sat) Thomas & Mack Center - Las Vegas, NV
Set 1: Axilla, Punch You In The Eye, Roggae, Birgds of a Feather, Sneaking Sally Through the Alley > Chalkdust Torture > Lawnboy, Mike's Song (1) > Frankie Says > Weekapaug Groove
Set 2: The Velvet Underground "Loaded": Who Loves the Sun, Sweet Jane, Rock and Roll, Cool it Down, New Age, Head Held High, Lonesome Cowboy Bill, I Found a Reason, Train Round the Bend, Oh! Sweet Nuthin'
Set 3: Wolfman's Brother > Ambient Jam (2) > Piper > Ghost, E: Sleeping Monkey, Tweezer Reprise
then, decision time....i had a ride back home with some friends i met up with in vegas. but, the guy i rode out to LA with was clearly in the zone, and said "fuck it, i'm driving to salt lake". so....i said "fuck it, i'm riding to salt lake with you".
so, the rumor in vegas was that they would play dark side of the moon for halloween, then they did the loaded set, which was totally fine. anyway, expecting just a really nice show in salt lake. the E center wasn't even half full, it was a long haul from vegas and everyone seemed tired. everyone but the band.
this show goes down in history with phish fans as one of the best ever, and i have to say, it could be the best show i've ever seen to this day. yes, they played dark side of the moon in Salt Lake, but the rest of the show is just retarded good as well. right out of the gates they kicked our dicks in the dirt with quite possibly the best tube ever played. nasty funk, with the start stop huge porn funk ending, right into drowned, which was ironically debuted on 10.31.95 when they played the who's Quadrophenia. the rest of the first set was pretty mellow, but very nice, with a nice and standard but rocking sample to close the set.
things were weird at setbreak (again, thank you black gel's).
there were rumors going around about them doing something special for the small crowd of devoted fans that made the trip, but i didn't really make much of them. rumors are rumors, and with phish, you really never know what you're going to get.
again...out of the gates for set two with a huge DwD into one of my favorite bust outs, mango song. moma brought back the funk and then they absolutely nailed my favorite phish song of all time, YEM. at this point i'm thinking, nothing really special is going to happen, they're just playing a fantastic fucking show....then, bam! HARPUA! this is what we travel for, and since it's known for being a segue into weird and unknown territory, i was hoping for something special. then they did it....from harpua straight into speak to me. i knew they'd play dark side in it's entirety. god, it was so strange in that place, it was fucking dripping, and the place was breathing, and they nailed the entire album.
the encore was phish being the goofy music nerds that they are with a quick rendition of smells like teen spirit. it was pretty horrible, but funny and they sent us away knowing that we had just witnessed something special.
so, yea....if you hate phish you probably didn't read this. if you're into them, you know what i'm talking about. maybe not quite on topic for this thread, but this is quite possibly the best show i've ever been to.
11/02/98 (Mon) E Center - West Valley, UT
Set 1: Tube > Drowned > Jam > Jesus Left Chicago, Driver, Bittersweet Motel, Limb By Limb, Wading In Velvet Sea, Sample In A Jar
Set 2: Down with Disease, Mango Song, Moma Dance, You Enjoy Myself, Harpua > Speak to Me, Breathe in the Air, On The Run, Time, Great Gig in the Sky, Money, Us and Them, Any Colour You Like, Brain Damage, Eclipse > Harpua, E: Smells Like Teen Spirit