Summer of 98! What a great tour. I remember checking out the setlists every night and thinking to myself “Holy Shit! They played Ramble On!”, “Oh my god! They played Sabatoge!”, “ What the fuck! They played Terrapin!” Needless to say, I was very excited to catch my little run of shows which consisted of Star Lake, Vernon Downs (La Grange!) and The Lemonwheel. None of those shows disappointed in the least. Funny little story…my friend Justin dropped acid and drove a van filled with 10 of us up to Lemonwheel right after the Vernon Downs show. Drove the whole night. I remember him telling me his idea earlier in the day and making sure that I didn’t mention it to anyone. If anyone could do it, Justin could. I actually slept quite well on the trip up.

Well then, on to The Gorge! You know when a show opens up with Makisupa you’re in for a treat. The entire first set is perfect (although not really a fan of Waste…perfect time for a bathroom break!). It’s even more perfect when you imagine the setting of the show. One of the most amazing venues on the planet, the sun setting, smiles all around and the best band in the world to play soundtrack to it all. Love the video of Gumbo, I wish there was more crowd shots. Look at all those dreads! Where did they all go?! I always feel really embarrassed for myself when I see videos of people dancing at Phish shows. Uhgg. Anyway, this version of 2001 is the reason why 2001 is a top 5 Phish song for me. Or...WAS a top 5 Phish song for me. I could listen to this forever. Love the HEAVY Mike’s with Trey doing his chunky guitar playing. They have total patience during this Mike’s and just go for it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. It doesn’t have to always work. I wish they would let loose like this again. I guess they still do but…you know what I mean. Such a SUPER fun ‘Paug to follow and no Simple? I sounded to me like Simple was gonna be the middle of this sandwich. The fact that there isn’t something inside this sandwich is another reason why this set is great. I have to say that I don’t really like Character Zero. It can totally rock balls at the end and all but I’ve seen it too many times and I fucking hate it. There, I said it. It’s the song that follows me around. PYITE is a great encore. I prefer it here than at the beginning of a show. Then there’s the Rocky Top. Isn’t it said that you know it’s a great show if they do a Rocky Top encore? I would say that this Rocky Top was well deserved and placed.

BB

Jibboo Crew