disclaimer: not really a review.

This was actually my last show for 12 years. I checked out the shows at Riverport in '97 and '98 just to sorta keep up on what they were up to after sorta losing interest in '96. I remeber not being all that into it at the time but now I have a recording and I'm getting back into it. The next show I saw after this one was Jones Beach in 2010.

I basically missed 2.0 but the beginning of 3.0 got me back into the mix. I'm glad I'm back.

Ahhh, as the 12 year anniversary of this amazing show approaches, some great memories begin to flood back.
We stayed at a hotel within walking distance to the venue and I was bringing 3 Phish n00bs to their 1st show.
We had decent pavilion seats in the back center. Great sound and sight lines.

The show opened with what is widely considered to be one of the top Bathtub Gins ever. 24 minutes of pure HOSE! Gordo locks down a serious disco groove that just pulsates and drives the band to amazing places. Just a breathtaking start and the crowd is going ape shit at the end of the song. I remember turning to my Phish virgins (they had a major 'buzz' going) after this Gin and they WERE HOOKED!
Dog Log follows and it is still to this day the only one I have seen. Super rare and very well played.
Foam starts out a run of 3 'F' songs and Trey is very on point in his solo. The now uber-rare Fikus ensues followed by Farmhouse.
The debut of the reworked Vultures starts out, and the intensity is just mind blowing! Lots of peaks to end. Vultures is a very ominous song, and at this point I was speechless as the quality of the set.
Then another super rare song Glide! Keep it coming!
Set closes with a fiery Birds which was still relatively new. They hadn't explored the possibilities with Birds yet, but it was pure octane.
WHAT A SET!
2nd set opens with some spacey ambiance before Fishman starts the Buried Alive drumbeat and within a couple of minutes it was apparent this was no ordinary Buried Alive. They explored the boundaries and then some. Lots of Type 2 in Buried Alive??? Are you kidding me? This might be the only jammed out version ever! It was 15 minutes of amazing exploration. As they are winding down the version with repeated runs by Trey through the spaced out Buried Alive theme they pulled a major audible by going into a new cover, Call Me If You Need a Fool. This is the start of a trend in '98 that runs through nearly every single show through the end of the tour of debuting a cover. After the debut it segues into AC/DC Bag(which normally would've come out of Buried Alive! Outside of Atlanta 7/4/99, this is my favorite Type 1 Bag. Super high energy and lots of peaks before ending.
>Lizards! Super patient! If not for a lyrical flub in the 3rd verse, this might be a candidate for best ever. Super emotional.
>Tube---YES!! The funk is DEEP!
>Kung---whacko! Golf Cart Marathon!
>Antelope complete with Vacuum solo? are you kidding?
I was FLOORED by this set again!
The triple encore with Bittersweet Motel to close was the whip cream and cherry on the Phish sundae!
Amazing show. My n00b friends looked @ me with their flying saucer eyeballs and were slack jawed!

I truly wish that instead of releasing the 7-15-98 Portland Oregon show as a "livephish" release with this Bathtub Gin filler that they had just released this entire show instead.
The Bathtub is famous and I think it's easily in the top 3 with the Great Went and 7-21-97 Virginia Beach.
But this second set was a BEAST! The Tube>>Kung>>Antelope is one of the highlights of my phish career.

I have no idea who gave me a ride to Wisconsin after the show, but thanks so much. Your van was very, very comfortable and I needed sleep so bad my kidneys hurt.

Summer 98. Good times had by all

Alright, so most fans know the Riverport Gin (and if you don't, listen to it immediately), but you should do yourself a service and listen to the rest of this great show, as well. It's one of the best shows from the strong Summer tour.

The Gin opener is a fan-favorite and, in many peoples' eyes, the band's best jam ever. Maybe I won't go that far, but it is my favorite Bathtub Gin and sits firmly on my list of top 10 jams. It begins with a soaring opening section led by Trey, while the second half of the jam features a fantastic funk jam. This is a great example of the 4- headed monster doing its thing, where it seems like the whole band is being controlled by one brain. Each member plays awesomely in this jam, but I gotta single Mike out because he just fucks shit up, and I mean that in the absolutely best way possible. This is one of Cactus' most groovealicous moments. The seldom-played Dog Log (dedicated to Paul) makes a great landing pad for the epic opener, and then we enter the portion of the show brought to you by the letter F, featuring the first Foam since 12/6/97 and the second appearance of the SOTG rarity, Fikus. Farmhouse serves as the final breather of the set, before the fan-favorites Vultures and Glide liven things up. A short but hot BOAF ends the set. There is not a whole lot of jamming in the first set besides the Bathtub Gin (and that's a BIG besides), but several lesser-played songs are present, and I can't imagine rating this first set as anything but a 5. I mean come on, any set that contains a contender for best Phish jam ever doesn't need a whole lot else to deserve a 5 rating.

The second set doesn't have any moments that contend with the Gin, but this is still an excellent and balanced set. The set opens with Buried Alive, but this is not the typical short,high-energy tune it usually is. For whatever reason, the band decided to give it the treatment on this night, and what results is a high-quality, dynamic jam that keeps hinting at returning to Buried Alive, only to swerve off in another direction. If you Need a Fool is a fun bluegrass tune, and Trey rips in the following AC/DC Bag. This is a straightforward version, but it is definitely above-average and has an explosive build up and release. Lizards fits right in as Bag's jam winds down, and Tube>Kung>Antelope ends the set on the right foot. This Tube gets my vote for best of the summer. Its jam is a great blend of ambience and funk and is representative of the band's sound at the time. Waste>Golgi>Bittersweet Motel makes for a nice closing suite.

Long story short - Come for the Gin, stay for the rest of the party.

This was my first show. I have such clear memories of this gig. I had no idea that this was such a heater. The gin is inarguably great as is the entire second set. Pretty great first experience with phish. I went to the next three shows after this as a result of this show. Ah 1998. You snooze you lose.

The Gin opener, the jammed out Buried Alive -> If You Need a Fool second set opener, and the Tube > Kung > Antelope combo platter are out of this world, making it the best show to that point on US soil in Summer '98.

At first I was a bit skeptical about everyone piling on so heavily about this Gin opener. To be honest, after giving it a listen I have to join the chorus. This performance is fantastic, a true achievement for the band. In fact the entire show is great and the opener definitely set the tone for a fantastic night of inspired music making. Now will they please announce the Summer 2013 tour dates already!

The aforementioned Bathtub Gin was my first exposure to Phish in-concert.
The impact it has had on me since, unmeasurable.
There will be no other Gin I can more readily embrace.

2nd Set got weird, in a good way.

3 song encore was the icing.

Bathtub Gin Review:

Timings are from the AUD....

5:29 jam LIFTOFF-Standard stuff, Page on piano, Fishman working the ride cymbal
6:45 Trey finds a melody and plays 'around' it, eventually settling on trills/triplets at 7:10...Mike follows with a SICK bassline, including some slides that really funk it up. Fishman throws in a splash or two and Trey's trills and patience help to build the sound.
8:00 Trey continues on trills but throws on some effects. He goes for the "release" at 8:30, though he quickly returns and continues to play around the riff.
9:00 Sweet release, Trey hits the resolve. It seems like he's going to solo but then he continues the trill an octave higher. At this point, Page is matching him, absolutely going off and destroying the piano.
9:52 Another peak. Great interaction with Trey and Page. Trey can't seem to get off the triplet pattern he has been noodling around with but he uses it to his advantage, creating several mini-peaks.
11:15 Jam gets nasty. High energy, Fishman is hitting the splash and Trey is bending some high notes.
12:05 Here is where a typical Gin would end. If it resolved here, we'd be happy, it'd be a standard '98 Gin, nice peak, good tension, happiness all around. But no, this jam fizzles into a funk breakdown.

12:40 Trey puts on some effects, Page switches to his keyboards. Trey eventually gets on the wah, Page layers his keys and his piano to set a nice soundscape, aka, the funk scratch.
13:30 Band drops to minor. Funk is deep, total patience shown by all members.
14:10 Here is where I lose my shit. Fishman changes to the cowbell(or block?), you know something nasty is gonna happen.
14:40 Mike drops some bombs with a delay. Ladies and gentlemen, the Cactus Show.
15:35 The bombs Mike drops here remind me of a Pink Floyd sound. Page switches to the organ, Trey comes off the wah and adds some rhythmic sound before releasing into a solo. Meanwhile Mike keeps dropping bombs with the delay.

17:15 Fish switches back to the ride cymbal, Trey takes the lead with the solo.
18:30 Page is doing some nice work switching up his keys. Trey goes back to his wah and Mike once again, takes over.
19:15 Page switches to piano, Mike drops some awesome double note bass riffs. Page's switch to the piano really adds a new dimension to the jam. Fish picks up on this and starts doing that thing he does where he just abandons his "beat" and plays fill after fill.
20:00 Holy mother f-er, shit goes down. The band locks in and vamps on a nice groove.

22:50 Return to major and the Gin theme.

Overall, the version doesn't have a raging peak but it does have a lot of funk. The first 1/3, which is typical Gin jamming style, doesn't feature the straight ahead rapid fire soloing from Trey, rather it relies on layering.