Ryan is bang on, here. I saw Great Woods through Starlake on this tour, and this show, with the possible exception of Oswego, was definitely the highlight. There's not much to find fault with in the first set when you get a hot PYITE>Ghost to start things off. But when the first 50 minutes of Set II read Meatstick, SOAM->Kung->Jam, you gotta figure some special shit has gone down. I really love the style of melodic ambient jamming the band winds up partway through the Meatstick, which you could argue was their forte in '99 . The 12/7/99 Bathtub and Big Cypress Sand->Quadrophonic Toppling come to mind as analogous examples. I too have wondered when the boys will turn Meatstick back into a jam vehicle, it just works. The SOAM->Kung->jam is almost the inverse of the Meatstick, straight-up fierce and aggressive, but still relatively purposeful. The wall of sound they end up in before Kung is heavy and awesome, and then the raging ensues. SOAM had a kind of renaissance in 99, and this is certainly one of the better versions ... a precursor maybe, to the 12/31/99 SOAM->Catapult that should need no introduction. Don't go expecting THAT kind of groove here--that shit only happens once a millennium. Still, 7/15/99: you're alright. I've yet to track down a great sounding copy of this show; get on the archival release Live Phish!

Can't really fault the first set, with a reasonably good (and surprisingly fast-played, given how often the band tends to luxuriate in the jam) Ghost, some nicely played versions of Phish standbys, and a gigantic, propulsive YEM that zips along as though Wile E. Coyote tied his rocket skates to it. The second set, though, is something special and one of the best sets of the summer. Meatstick starts things off, which doesn't normally augur well for my enjoyment of a set, but then Trey starts talking about the Guinness Book of World Records, and then the song finally gets interesting with a foggy, ambient-laden jam that you would naturally expect to flow out of Meatstick. The jam peters out, and in a fog of white noise 2001 appears to be kicking off (Fish's beat is quite obviously 2001), but Mike launches into the SOAM bassline and that's what we get instead, and this SOAM is a monster, one of the best ever played.

The SOAM jam starts out in typical fashion, albeit with more zip than usual in keeping with the energy of the entire show - it's like the 1994 Phish was playing 1999 style, if that makes sense - and then starts whipping back and forth in tempo, before finally settling on the usual, loop-heavy dreamy jam of late-90s SOAMs. Then, entirely out of nowhere, the band rolls into Kung, with a heavy and squalling accompaniment behind it, then launches into another fast-paced jam, with effects aplenty from Trey to really add some weirdness to the affair (Mike's bassline really keeps everything glued together here - and that Shine quote is a hoot). The jam slows down at about the 20 minute mark to let everyone catch their breath, then explodes into a wild peak, Trey really letting loose with both the manic solos and the high sustaining notes, Page clanking away on the piano and keeping pace. After a few minutes of said peak, the jam slows back down and becomes both more contemplative and more like the usual SOAM jam, an intense counterpoint to the previous high-octane jam. This is such a chilled-out, almost beautiful jam, and it practically demands attention (and good headphones) from the listener. From that jam comes Bouncin', this show's "let's all relax now" equivalent of Number Line following Carini at 12/30/12 II, and then an extended Chalk Dust that flies along with just as much speed and energy as the opening PYITE (with an Antelope-like trill-off for good measure). Between that, the extended Meatstick, and the SOAM madness, this is a high-class second set. B&R/Frankenstein is just fine as an encore.

To me, the choice for show of the summer is basically between 7/25, with its wide-ranging and always surprising second set, and this show, which is as focused, energetic, and of a piece as 7/25 II was a bunch of great parts stitched together into a great show. This is one of the shows of the summer, and of the year. Absolutely recommended.

I can hardly believe it--both that it happened and that I heard it--but I just want to add here that at about the 1:40 mark in the Jam in the 2nd set (after Kung is complete), you can plainly hear Mike quote Collective Spirit's "Shine."

The jam after Kung contains a really long take on a Split Open & Melt jam, which seems to start up around 7 minutes with the band starting to weave towards a "normal" Melt ending, which then mellows out- but from 8 until 11 minutes (on the really nice source thats on the spreadsheet) it's unquestionably a Melt jam. This then continues to sound "Melty" to varying degrees until about 15:00 in.

I'd write this setlist as
II: Meatstick> Split Open & Melt -> Kung -> Split Open & Melt*> Bouncin

* Unfinished

Maybe ->Jam -> Melt2 -> Jam> or ->Jam-> Melt Jam or just Melt Jam? Not sure how Phish.net would notate it, but i'd say it's worth a relisten to see how you guys would treat it. Amazing improv all over this set, I really like the way it flows as a cohesive whole. The Kung is super intense! Interesting but perfect Bouncin' placement!

(Published in the second edition of The Phish Companion...)

I saw a ton of shows on this tour, and the first night in Jersey may well be my favorite Summer `99 piece. Simply put, the jamming starts early, and doesn't let up. The first set is littered with fabulous song selection and placement, from the slick "Ghost"� to the lovely "Axilla"� > "Theme"� and the raging "YEM"� closer. The boys had been playing great first sets up through this stretch, actually, from the Camden "Chalk Dust"� and "Gin"�, to the "Foreplay/Longtime"� and "Curtain"�, "Halley's"� of the two Great Woods shows. But whereas the Great Woods shows had second sets with as many lulls as high points, this second set in Jersey was a thing of beauty.
"Meatstick"� skeptics should hear this version. It clocks in at about twenty one minutes and has some of the best jamming Phish did in `99. Bar none the best one out there, and a great example of how good a jam vehicle this song can be. I've been waiting for them to take advantage of that potential like this ever since, to no avail. The early segment has some playful banter about setting the world record in Oswego, and then once the dance is out of the way launches into a really intricate, spacey and danceable jam that I've listened to countless times since. Fans of the epic 4/3/98 show at Nassau should hear this jam. Very much in the same vein as the "Roses"� -> "Jam"� -> "Piper"� -> "Jam"�, if you get my drift. As if that weren't enough, the "SOAM"� -> "Kung"� -> "Jam"� runs a full half hour without letting up. The "Melt"� caught us off guard, having been just played (fantastically) in Great Woods, and sounded almost like a "2001"� tease. But it leads effortlessly into the highest energy "Kung"� you'll hear, with harmonic vocals towards the end that just push the boys in a balls-to-the-walls jam that last seventeen minutes.
Absolutely fantastic show.

Trey teased Oye Como Va by Santana during the YEM jam.

Summer 99 was my longest tour to date. Of those shows, this was by far my favorite. The band was loose, experimental and ready to freak out the House of Blues webcast audience. I was lucky enough to have seats Page side about 12 rows back and survived a run in with the NJ State Police earlier in the day (sorry Corey!). Any show that opens with Punch has a lot of potential. When Ghost followed, we knew the band was motivated. Ghost had a hurried pace, a sense of urgency that continued in jams the rest of the night. Instead of letting the band gallop through a long repetitive jam, Trey's spacey effects told a chilling story. Even the slowed down ending (ritardando) showed the band was moving together as a unit. This was just a warm up of things to come, but the Ghost set the tone for the rest of the night.

The set continued with a song based theme (thanks for The Sloth) until the opening notes of YEM. This is still my favorite version I have ever heard in person (Thanks for releasing the sbd!). Trey was on a mission to shred and peak after peak threw the crowd into a frenzy. The vocal jam that followed was much better in person. The recording can't replicate the lights, dynamics and vocal experimentation that the band engaged in. I have heard vocal jams that I like more, but none that were so much better in person.

1999 was the year of the Meatstick, but by this point, I didn't want to hear it again. How does the band remedy this? By playing the most jammed out version to this point. 9 minutes of inspired Meatsticking made me rethink my opinion of the song. Slow, methodical and breezy, I had a grin from ear to ear. The SOAM that followed was one of the craziest musical roller coaster rides I have ever taken. About 5 minutes into the jam, after Fish had changed tempos about a million times, Corey says, "This sure ain't the blues anymore," in reference to the web cast. When the dust finally settled, I actually needed a BATR to find my way back to Earth. The Chalkdust wasn't 7-10, but along with Frankenstein, provided a rock and roll ending to a show that was all about outer space.