This show doesn't quite reach the heights as the previous night, and seeing as they played some of the bigger jams on night one, it's no surprise this show doesn't quite stack up. That said, it's still a well-played show with some highlights worth checking out.

The Gin>Foam opening combo is really tight and gets things started off on the right foot with 25 minutes of solid music. The Samson Variation is a fun little ditty, and then you have a whole stretch of standard Summer 97 songs in Dirt, Vultures, and MMGAMOIO. The Twist through LxL segment is definitely the highlight of the first set, check out this segment for sure. Standard Zero set closer.

Second set, although well-played, is a little awkward in song choice and in jamming, which was more sparse than night one. Nothing really stands out as "must hear," but all of the songs were well-played and make for a good set of music. A little odd to have the acapella song and then the set closer. Pretty standard encore as well. If I were revisiting Summer 97 shows, this one would probably fall a little lower on the list overall, since there are so many great shows to choose from.

With so many jam vehicles off the table from being played the night before, this show suffers a bit from a lack of jamming, at least of the Type II variety, but at the same time this allows several songs that are not usually show-stoppers to take center stage. Check out all of the noteworthy jams and you'll see what I mean. Another great '97 Slave closes out a date that doesn't really fit the mold for a late 90s Phish show but still provides plenty to chew on.

Only time I ever got backstage. My friend "P" got em and she took me to meet Mike. Don't remember much except shaking his hand and seeing a hot tub back there with lots of people(girls) partying. Beer was already drained from the cooler. Saw Fishman back there but not, Trey or Page. You think the view of the river is sweet from the seats, imagine partying backstage in a hot tub. I then walked a long ways back to the onsite camping and partied into the morning. "P" stayed behind and raged like she always did.

Only trip to the Gorge so far and it culminated a 4 show journey from Phoenix, up the coast on the 1(mostly, sometimes 101) to Shoreline and then the Gorge. Unfortunately skipped Ventura to do some touristy stuff but it was cool. It was my first real time spent in California and I wanted and see some stuff. Smoked pot on the steps of 710 Ashbury and hung out in the Haight. Necessary stuff I thought at the time.

I've read a lot of Grate reviews about GD shows at Ventura and hind sight I would've loved to go and see it for myself. I guess it's a shitty venue but the locale next to the ocean totally makes up for it. Also of course for that Gin->Cities.

Anyways these Gorge shows were real good. Not a bad show of the 4 I saw that Summer of 97. Each one having some spectacular jams/song selection. The night before this is the better of the 2 imo, but this is still above average.

Solid 3, maybe 4. I give it a 4 in a 5 point scale.

Phish makes good use of new and old tunes.

Gin doesn't cover much territory, but having it as a show opener is always special. Foam is the business, top shelf version without a doubt. It expresses all the nuances of Foam and it's all the better because of it. Samson Variation was really cool after Foam. You can clearly see it's connection to Foam, and how they're similar. You get a couple new songs in Dirt , Vultures and Twist, slowly simmering and getting character. Twist has a nice little jam coming out of it testing it's potential. Also the segue from Twist to Jesus Just Left Chicago is superb, JJLC is also noteworthy because of Pages extended and inspired solo.

This is definitely a show where I prefer the 1st set over the second. The second set has some ideas that would eventually grow to make great sets later on in the year. Julius has a little stretch to it but isn't anything new and spectacular. Simple is strong but not exploratory. Fluffhead is a very straight forward version, well played but still bare bones. Lifeboy is a great choice after the ending coda to Fluffhead. Highlight of the Set is likely Taste, slowly growing the delicate intensity that would eventually lead to bigger and better things as the year progressed.

Solid Encore. Slave is strong and Bouncing is bouncing.

Overall not a top tier '97 show. But an inspired 1st set is always welcome.

On a scale of every show ever, these are probably a 3 out of 5. On the scale of 1997? I'd go closer to a 2. Maybe even a 1.5 for the 2nd night!

I've often wondered if the pressure of channeling the spirit of Hendrix lead to a small breakdown in will for these shows. On Jimi's home turf, they faltered for the first time this tour. Granted,Summer 97 is hellaciously strong, and the few below average shows- both Gorges and the 2nd night of Deer Creek would have still been strong outings in 1996 or Fall98 through 2000. There is just something missing from these shows. Something that shines through loud and clear during most of the other stops.

Perhaps it was fatigue? The 22nd they were in Raleigh, the23rd in Atlanta. The 25th and 26th in Texas, the 29th in Phoenix and 30+31 in Ventura. Pretty tough tour schedule! The spectacular 2nd night at Shoreline definitely would have drained mortal men after such a whirlwind of smoldering pyrotechnics, rubber band funk and sludgy Melvins-Esque thematic jamming.

The Gin> Foam is nice but messy compared to the reprise of that segue atAuburn Hills, Twist-> Jesus, particularly the last few minutes of Twist is excellent. Nice sludge coaster for the PAC NW. Limb is a tiny bit below average for the tour but Zero continues a trend ofbuttetly incendiary versions. Forgot how awesone this song was during this summer!

Julius is probably the 2nd set highlight which is saying something about what a great Julius it is- stretching at its boundaries for over 13 minutes- but says a little more about the fairly uninspired set following it. The Simple-> Fluffhead segue is nice and delicate but nothing earth shattering, and the Taste subtly flexes its newfound freedom to the same degree as Julius. Sweet Slave encore closes the stand down.

Night 1 is a little stronger, but not by much. Set 1 is the best set of the Gorge with a very nice Theme and Melt. Ghost and Wolfmans are the first funk jams that feel a little rote instead of bursting with exuberance and inspiration the way most of the jams had up until this point. The DWD is quite strong, especially the sludgy, swampy coda that mutates into Tweezer. Tweezer on the other hand feels like a throwback to some of the songs worst tendencies in 94 and 95. They play thematic Russian roulette the entire time and never settle on anything. One of the brilliant things about 2012 was Phish's way to slip through multiple segments in a jam without anything feeling unnatural or forced. This is all force, no flow.
Velvet Sea seems to have some extra oomph, and the Hood is frankly gorgeous.

All in all, plenty of highlights interspersed, but they seemed to hit a tiny wall that kept these shows from reaching the heights of previous stops in Texas, Atlanta, Ventura, Phoenix, Raleigh and VA Beach.

Seek out the Twist-> Jesus, Melt, Julius, Hood, Slave, Vultures, and DWD. Maybe the Tweezer if you're interested in hearing a mishmash of groove based jamming and schizophrenic impatience. Divided Sky is nice on video as well.

It's a testament to Summer 97 that shows can have this many highlights and be firmly in the bottom of the barrel. They really pick things up on the 6th and 8th as Summer kicks into high gear again!

SET 1: Bathtub Gin: Decent jam out of the gate. >

Foam: Mike is completely lost for at least the first minute of this one. Like he completely forgot how to play the song. They hadn’t played it since 2.21.97 so I imagine they hadn’t practiced it considering all the new tunes were probably taking up all their time.

Samson Variation: Last time played, you won’t have any argument from me. >

Dirt: Standard. >

Vultures: Standard.

My Mind's Got a Mind of its Own: Standard.

Twist: Very strong Twist. Has some serious summer 97 crunch too it and that along with Page’s video games effects really packages together well. Very cool segue into… ->

Jesus Just Left Chicago: it rocks hard for sure.

Limb By Limb: Cool jam. Gets minor chord for a brief moment, feel like Page was pushing the envelope here. Pretty good jam but nothing I would ever pursue for a relisten.

Character Zero: face melter per usual.

SET 2: Julius: Trey lays way back on this one as Page leads the way on the B3. They eventually bring the house down as you would expect. >

Simple: good version, pretty last couple of minutes >

Fluffhead: Strong end shred!

Lifeboy: Standard. >

Taste: Absolutely smoked. This song was a Master Class by now.

Hello My Baby: Standard.

Frankenstein: Standard.

ENCORE: Bouncing Around the Room: Standard.

Slave to the Traffic Light: a great version. Trey’s solo is clean and inspired with a few held notes that hit hard. Would definitely recommend!

Replay Value: Twist, Julius, Taste

Summary: So far, set I is my least favorite set of the US tour. It’s choppy and uneven compared to all that had come before. Phish.net has this as 3.964/5 (139 ratings) – that seems too high. I would be good at 3.75/5.

A nice taste and a nice twist. Two songs they were crushing recently. Nothing spectacular though. Julius gets into a little something around 9 minutes in. But overall, not a great show. Decent Zero and decent limb, another show they were putting great energy into this tour and really nailing, but this one wasn't quite as strong as others from this tour. I enjoyed the Sampson variation too and fluff head was nice too, nothing out of this world, but gets pretty sweet in the middle. Nothing to write home about and not a show I'll be playing much in the future

Vultures is killer as well. Really good.

This was the Page show of the pair, so try not to be too down on it.

I remember many Dead shows where Jerry was not on so Bobby or Phil had to take control. They were still killer shows as long as one of the 3 was on. But true that if Jerry was on, it was a top show.