Somewhat ironically, this was one of only two shows I had heard from Summer '95 at the time it was released. I have since gotten my ass in gear and heard quite a few more, because this was a great tour. But I digress...

This is a pretty sweet show punctuated by a really wonderful Mike's Groove. I'll take me a Contact as the "meat" any day! The Mike's in particular is really inventive and has a unique Mike solo section. He plays some really nice melodies. Weekapaug rages nicely, and even gets a little weird. All told, that 35+ minute stretch in the second set is the highlight of the show (and one of the higher points of the tour), but there are still some other great cuts to see here.

Summer '95 was a great tour for Split; this one is relentless. So dissonant. So intense. Foam and Slave get decent workouts as well. Also, Spock's Brain. Everything else is served straight up.

Not a classic show in the grand scheme of things, but a really fun listen nonetheless.

Three stars. It is what it is, an in-studio appearance. I would almost say that this is inessential, but the cover of Carefree should be heard.

One of my favorite Hoods here. I'm surprised it's never received any attention.

I'm going to say something controversial: I've always felt this show doesn't live up to the hype. And I certainly think it is the weakest of the three on the release. However, it's also Fall '97, so there really isn't that much to complain about. Maybe it's because I have no real connection to Emotional Rescue as a song. I don't mind it, and I have even, after quite a few listens, learned to appreciate it's really mellow jam, but in the end it really isn't that big of a deal to me. I also initially found the Ghost to be pretty underwhelming. It's by far the most mellow of this hallowed tour and, like Emotional Rescue, I have learned to appreciate it more with a few re-listens. Bag -> Slave is by far the best part of the show, IMO, but other than that, there isn't that much else to see. Split rages pretty hard, bul ultimately fails to reach somewhere that really grabbed me, PYITE is one of my favorite set-in-stone songs, so that was nice, and that's about it.

This show is plenty of fun, but I don't feel it's a classic like the next two nights.

This Wolfman's is the jam of the run, far as I'm concerned. The Tweezer, Bowie, Disease, Carini, and Ghost are all strong as well, but I don't think any of them reach the level of creativity of this Wolfman's. (To be fair, Carini two nights later is right up there, but it hasn't stuck in my rotation as long for some reason.) From the Mike solo, to the Drummer Boy jam, to the 6/8 finale, this jam is in a league of its own when it comes to jams out of this song. There isn't another one like it.

The jam has three sections: the pre Drummer Boy, Drummer Boy, and post Drummer boy jams, and the best part is the whole thing still feels like a single succinct idea. I suppose you could even argue there are four or five sections since the pre DB jam, following my analysis, is by far the longest of the three. The pre DB jam features some great Trey/Page interplay, the aforementioned Mike solo, a great tension filled build complete with an appearance by Machine Gun Trey, and a great release and come-down into the DB jam.

The DB jam is absolutely wonderful, Trey's tone is just so damn beautiful. Hearing the audience sing along is great too. And to top it off, the funk drops so good afterword. All Trey has to do is give one little wah-laden chunk and the crowd erupts. Then comes the great transition into the 6/8 and the great build to the end. The band tears the ending of this Wolfman's up! Very energetic.

A jam for the ages, if you ask me. Hear at all costs!

classic bowie here

A lost gem of 2000, most notable for four songs.

Least influential of the four was Oh Kee Pa. It was the only time Oh Kee Pa showed up in 2000 after only appearing once in 1999. It was also its last appearance of 1.0.

But the Suzy that Oh Kee Pa lead in to was sublime and, IMHO, the best Suzy ever played. After a standard, but intense version, the band brought the song to an end. But after they hit that final chord and held it a few seconds, the band launched into a good 10-or-so-minute easy-to-dance-and-groove to jam. It maintained an upbeat tempo and rhythm throughout.

The second set opened with Drowned, a song that has become very infrequent in 2011 and 2012, which is a shame because, frankly, its awesome. This one - clocking in at around 30 minutes - is a masterpiece. But its a masterpiece driven by Fish, Mike and Page. In fact, Fish was just awesome throughout this entire show.

After the 30 minute masterpiece, they > into Crosseyed and Painless, which is also jammed out for a good 10 minutes. Crosseyed had been played less than 10 times at that point and you can really hear a huge difference in how it sounds when they play it now. If you are a fan of spacy jams, this one is for you. Not so great to dance to in the moment, but to just sit back and listen to now is amazing.

And after Drowned > jam > Crosseyed > jam, they > into Dog Faced Boy as a nice cap to 45 minutes of incredible jamming.

Great show. Highly recommended.

Having some non-phans over for an evening and want to play show audio that people can chill hard to without feeling overwhelmed the vast musical terrain that a band like Phish can cover? This is that show.

Just got done listening to tis one. pretty decent show. I gave it a 3/5 but the Ya Mar was awesome! might be the best ya mar ive ever heard besides the funk one from 97, cant remember the date right now but anyway still good show and great ya mar

My first show. I was 16, my parents dropped me off and waved goodbye telling me to "have a good time". And I absolutely did. Granted the ARCO Arena is probably the worst venue to see Phish in, but at the same time, you're seeing Phish, so no complaints. I was fairly green at this point and my favorite songs were Stash and Brother and was hoping they'd play both not realizing that Brother is a pretty rare song. I remember them playing with this ferocity that was infectious and just loosing my mind when they broke into Stash and did the chanting. Shame for how sober I was I don't remember more details. Pretty much just chilled up in the seats stage right (Page side!) and took it all in. Had no clue that it was such a treat to get two legends to join them on-stage (Apflebaum and McEuen), thought it was all just par for the course. Safe to say I was hooked from that point on. My next show at the Shoreline in 97, was even more tasty. Thanks Phish.

I remember sitting poolside at my friends house back in the late 70s listening to 'Waiting For Columbus'.
We all loved Little Feat back then. I just couldn't believe how fortunate I was to see Phish cover the whole album.
This show also contains one of the best 1st sets of 2010.

Completely average show. The only song to write home about is the YEM, which has lots and lots of fun interaction throughout. Mike absolutely slays the ending of the Trey jam. It's unfortunate that the bass and drums jam to follow is a little lackluster, but man does he nail the ending of the Trey portion. Nail it I tell yah!

This is a really good show. This is also a really odd show. Who ever heard of a Chalkdust -> BBFCFM -> Sample -> BBFCFM segment smack dab in the middle of set II? What about a Julius in slot three? Setlist wise this show just doesn't seem to make all the much sense to me, but it totally works. Every song that is jammed gets a really nice work out. Everybody should be familiar with this wonderful type II Reba, great Tweezer, and peaking Hood. Also, Bowie! The Landlady even gets a nice unique jam. Trey holds a single note for a long time and Fish takes over bringing lots of energy to the jam. This is Grade A Pasteurized Phish!

Get it, get it, get it!

Hello, my name is NYE '94, and I'm a truncated show.

It's embarrassing looking at my 3-set peers and withering in comparison. I mean, as a whole I'm shorter than three hours, none of my sets top sixty minutes, and my second and third sets barely top fifty! I'm a New Years Eve show! What gives?

Sometimes I try to convince myself that it's the content that matters, but I just don't know. What's a unique Maze with a super patient Trey solo and a sweet Mike's -> Buffalo -> Mike's sandwich in the second set if that set is so short? If I'm being honest, I suppose my second set, despite it's brevity, is really quite stellar. However, I can't for the life of me start to feel good about my first or third sets, which are filled with perfectly fine renditions of some great songs, but are really nothing special.

I guess I'll just go sulk and oft be forgotten at NYE '96's place.

This show is not exactly a barn-burner compared to some other shows from this period, but it is not without material you'll want to hear. The opening Wilson has a long intro and the part before Blat Boom is also extended. Reba's jam is average but still satisfying. The set-closing Antelope is extremely hot. It's the highlight of the show if you ask me. The Tweezer in the second set contains several minutes of good jamming, but it's a relatively tame rendition compared to others from the month. It seems to me that this is a 3 star show from the time period. Seek out the Antelope!