First a quick setlist note: that 2001 > Magilla > 2001 looks more complicated than it is. The 2001 reprise lasts just a few seconds before Trey starts playing Tweezer. You won't mind.

...

Ramble On received canonical treatment eight shows later (and you shouldn't hesitate to seek out that performance) and is pretty much by-the-book here, but the delicate complexity of the song creeps into a wonderfully nimble Mike's Song. By this point Phish's uptempo rock tunes were benefitting greatly from the yearlong ongoing experiment in minimalist funk polyrhythms; the Mike's jam blends wah/clav funk noise and rock'n'roll anger in equal measures. It's not an era-defining jam or anything, just another quarter-hour of balls-out sophisticated jamming from a band drunk on its own power. The rest of Set One proceeds along similar lines, featuring dance jams of almost pornographic virtuosity.

Standard Piper to open the second set, a little restrained in comparison to its current form. I don't know why Wilson turns up in so many second sets; it doesn't usually keep the improvisatory momentum going (not to my tastes anyway). This version features a short metal-riff jam that holds some interest, I suppose. Then it's 2001 > Magilla > teeeeeease > Tweezer, and it's as fun as it looks on the page. This is a *really* frisky 2001! The band brings things down in a skillful decrescendo. Trey gets the idea to dive into Magilla, Fishman's with him, things are a little rickety, Page hops gladly into the fray, Fishman's skittering around on spider legs, Mike takes a brief solo - pure 'why the fuck not?' goofiness at a high level of casual expertise. (Do folks realize what a talented jazz drummer Jon Fishman is?)

During Phish's mid-90's solidification, Tweezer was one of the band's great outstretched blank canvases for experimentation, and the gorgeous 8/1/98 version recalls the song's old pre-funk variety while maintaining all the emotional depth and patience that characterize the band's music since the watershed Fall '97 tour. This is a divine Tweezer: understated, precise late-nite music that ends with dark dissolution rather than climax precisely because all four band members are prepared to follow even half-formed impulses. It's 'ambient' jamming of a sort and (unsurprisingly) wouldn't be out of place in the Lemonwheel 'Ring of Fire' set, but the darkness of the closing few minutes prefigures the evil ambience of 12/28/98. Fluffhead is the perfect tonic after this complex exploration. What a set! (There are four more songs after Fluff's Travels, but by this point the set is past peak intensity and interest.)

Get this show. Get this show.

I reviewed this show's Tweezer in 1998 on Rec.Music.Phish, and here is my two cents on it:
******

From cdirksen@earthlink.net Sat Dec 12 16:21:27 1998
Date: Mon, 07 Dec 1998 04:15:14 GMT
From: cdirksen@earthlink.net
Newsgroups: rec.music.phish
Subject: *8/1/98 Alpine Tweezer*

08/01/98 Alpine Valley, East Troy, WI

Sean Orzol and Jason (xynophobe@aol.com), among others, requested that I check this one out. Sick Wilson in this set, fwiw. After Magilla ends, Mike and Fish kick back into Also Sprach for a measure or two, before everyone leaps into Tweezer. Very smooth. Thanks are due to Mark Hutchinson for the tapes!

This version has the same punchy vibe as those from 1997-98 overall. Slower and much more funky than the versions from the first years of Tweezer's evolution. The opening segment, however, is otherwise standard. The jam segment begins around 4:40,

with a deep, rich growl from Mike. Nothing from Trey until just after 5:10, when Page plays and sustains a few notes on what I believe is the moog. The soft rhythmic chords that Trey throws down in this
first minute are practically "Moma Dance" chords, but not quite. A tease? Perhaps. Sounds like it to me. Mike leads the groove with melodious playing for this first min or two of the jam, until around

7 mins, when the groove takes on a wondrous and mystical quality! The jamming in this section is GORGEOUS! The entire band seems to soar in a semi-sweetly psychedelic haze, which builds and climaxes around the 9 min point. It doesn't climax triumphantly and melodically, though. Just gets louder. Trey doesn't begin playing anything mellifluous until around 9:30, and even then, what he plays merely complements the arguably ambient groove that Mike, Page and Fish dish out. He's not showing off (he's not lost in his own world, as he appears to be in the 10/30/98 Vegas Tweezer). This groove is DIVINE around 10:30. Mike, Page and Trey seem to weave complementary melodies and chords in and out of each other to spectacular effect (11 mins).

Around 12 mins the charming, ambient groove cools, and Trey begins noodling around peacefully, as the others gently coast beneath him. He flubs a note at 12:53, which is unusual in Tweezer.. but it doesn't dent this sweet, sensitive version at all. Trey soons begins trilling softly and sweetly and repetitively, over and over again, and overtop some enchanting chords from Page. Mike is repeating the same note in this section (13:45 now) o'er and o'er.. Wow. Hypnotic, ambient jamming. Some of the best I've heard them play all year, for sure. It isn't "typical" at all for Tweezer. An extremely unusual version.

Even around 15:30, the jam is still meandering aimlessly, but not lifelessly. At 16:20, Trey begins playing some off-kilter notes, as if to wake them out of their dreamy state and kick things into something more intense. As a result, though, the groove seems to dissipate and meander anew -- while becoming increasingly psychotic at the same time. Fish begins playing an almost LimbxLimb-like rhythm, only to drop it after a few measures when there wasn't any response from the others. It isn't long before things cool off (again) into a spacey fog, out of which Trey begins playing Fluffhead's intro, around 18:34.

I'm not very fond of the final few minutes of this version, as you may have been able to tell. It sounded like the band wasn't at all clear on where to go or what to do. It's incoherent. But there is definitely some "teary-eyed" jamming in this Tweezer, and it is worth hearing for yourself. This jam segment is also extremely UNIQUE, given what I've heard played in Tweezer in the past. For those who care, I'd give it an 8, primarily given the version's uniqueness in Tweezer history. It is about as far as you can get from "typically dark, evil and Tweezeresque," in other words. The funky flavor of the first 7 or so mins of this Tweezer didn't last very long, as I hope you gathered from the above paragraphs. This version is without question one of the most interesting versions of the last few years, though definitely NOT a "rocker" or a "rager."

If you would like to hear some killer versions of Tweezer from the last few years, I urge you to check out 11/03/96 Gainsville (one of the most excellent 1996 shows), 11/27/96 Seattle, 11/26/97 Hartford, and, of course and especially, 12/6/97 Auburn Hills and 10/30/98 Vegas (!!). If you are interested in amazing, incredible pre-1996 versions of tweezer, check out http://phish.net/reviews/archive/tweezer/ for more info.

two cents
charlie

Out of all the shows I saw at Alpine Valley, this one is my favorite. It helped that I was now feeling comfortable on tour and had a lot of the kinks worked out from the year before, but it was the band and the crowd that brought the heat this Saturday night.

Before the show started, we saw a guy sitting on the lip (of the lawn near the bathrooms) pull out a huge sack to show off to his friends. A kid in a yellow security shirt who couldn't be over 21 walked by and snatched it up saying, "Thank you," to the guy. We couldn't help but laugh at his misfortune. "Only bring what you need for the show!" his buddy yelled at him.

The second classic non-musical moment of the show occurred during set break. We walked back to the lodge bathroom area and it was horribly packed. I noticed an opening around the three step area and we tried to get over there for some space. Little did we know that the space was being created by a naked guy pissing on himself with a group of security guarding the borders until he stopped. The crowd of people looked like statues, unable to look away from this guy jabbering to himself. Writing this in 2011, I'm glad many of these moments don't happen at shows very much anymore.

Now for the music: The entire crowd went ape-shit with the first notes of Ramble On, as they did most of the night. This time the band's jukebox hit a winner. If only I had stayed on until the Vernon Downs version. The Mike's/Week wasn't nearly as hot as the version the year before, but it didn't disappoint. The rest of the first set was pretty standard rocking 98 Phish. Everyone we talked to mentioned the Esther bust out and the lack of serious jamming in the first set. We were all prepped for a blowout!

Boy did the band deliver. The short Piper bled into my first jammed out Wilson and first Magilla! The real treat of the set was the now famous Tweezer. This still stands as a top 3 version for me, maybe #1 (2-28-03 anyone?). The jam starts immediately (rare during this era) and flows effortlessly behind Mike's lead. Along with the Riverport Gin earlier in my summer run, this was the transformative moment causing me to go from a Phish fan to a total phreak. I had to go on a real tour run (more than 5 shows) and I had to do it as soon as possible. The transition into Fluffhead caused all in our area to give high 5s and hugs. This was the first show for me where total strangers wanted to hug over and over again. Here's another show where the band and crowd needed two songs to cool things down. The jukebox continued with Been Caught Stealing, but we were still in the freezer the rest of the night.

This is a good fun show that gets overshadowed by the bonner springs/maryland heights shows on one side and the killer deer creek run on the other.

being summer tour '98, what's a phish show without a killer break out. well, things start out nicely a page led version of zeppelin's "ramble on." this version is played pretty straight forward, but as they hit the melodic outro, trey jumps right into mike's song. pretty damn good for 2 songs in! this mike's song is not one for the ages, but it is a nice addition to the first set, and it works nicely into esther. weekapaugh picks things up, as trey and page drop some nice little flurries of notes. guyute is well-executed before they finally slow things down with fikus. the rest of the set is pretty straight-forward but still played very enthusiastically.

piper was not yet what it would become, but it got the crowd moving before wilson finished getting the crowd gassed up. the boys start a slow roll into 2001. the front end of this is very loose and his littered with some very well-placed cross eyed and painless teases by trey. after hitting the climax, they loosen back up. this time page rolls them right into an impromptu magilla. this is pretty well done, and obviously, it's always a treat. as they wrap this up, fishman goes back into 2001, but it's very short lived as trey rips into tweezer. this jam sounds a lot like a 1999 phish jam, but it has WAY more focus and direction. it is very laid back and very groove oriented, but it never has that directionless feel that i feel spoiled a lot of phish jams in '99. this tweezer finally gives way to a more psychedelic than normal fluff head. this one is played with loads of precision and there are some nice embellishments thrown in taboot. they slow things down with brian and robert and alburquerque before sending everyone home with rocking but standard takes of cdt and frankenstein.

having had played ramble on as an opener, surely we are done with random covers/debuts...WRONG! this one is almost as big as the sabotage that would come a week later. they really nail been caught stealing with some great playing by mike. tweeprise finishes things up in standard fashion.

all in all a great show that is very set list friendly. the 2001>magilla>2001>tweezer stretch is easily the highlight of this show. if you dig this show, you'll like the cities jam from polaris the night before, and the deer creek shows the next 2 nights will blow you away! nugs.net's free stash has great sounding copies of all these shows, a long with the rest of the summer '98 tour. get them all. there's hardly one worth leaving out!

Of all the Phish concerts I've been to, this one stands out as one of the all around best experiences for me. Song choice, jams, dancing, light show, weather, everything. The entire crowd singing along with 'Been Caught Stealing' was seriously intense.