The Hampton buildup was out of control at this point. The incredible '97 shows, the better than we remember '98 shows. Hampton Comes Alive came out a few weeks before these shows, the anticipation was even higher than it was the year before. The shows as a whole fell somewhere in between the two years, without the stunning jamming of '97 or the stunning execution of '98. Night 1 of Hampton '99 is memorable for the jam prior to Bug, used in the reunion announcement video almost 10 years later, for the last performance of Jennifer Dances, a solid Melt, the crowd going nuts for the "everglades" line in Water in the Sky and that's about it. But night 2, last show before Cypress, time to let it all hang out. And the band did, so to speak, with a setlist that reads like a dream and playing that is at times inspired and at times mundane. The Hood opener almost seemed expected, the Hampton '99 and Phily '99 runs mirrored each other in a way. The rest of the first set ran through rarities(Dog Log, Chicken Shack), quintessential '99 tunes(Heavy Things, 1st Tube, Inlaw, BOTT) and all time favorites(YEM, Tube). A very solid set, well played, well paced, and a strong YEM to close the set.

In set 2, the party continued, starting with the "1999 time capsule" of 2001>Sand, which really summed up 1999 Phish in 35 minutes. Trey dancing on top of static grooves, with him occasionally hopping over to the keyboard to set loops and go right back to the groove. It was good, not great, but good. Horse>Silent was perfectly placed, Possum seemed out of place, but was solid and the Mike's groove to close was very good, nothing outstanding or must hear(though the segue from weekapaug into buffalo bill back into weekapaug was well done). The odd Ya Mar, Monkey encore closed out the pre Cypress days of Phish, nothing would ever be the same in just two weeks.

Beautifully melodic Hood opener(!), spunky 2001 > Sand, Weekapaug > Buffalo Bill > Groove to close, Ya Mar encore...it's all somewhere between the somewhat 'meh' 1998 Hampton run and the towering 1997 shows. Not your first stop if you're assembling a December '99 mix, but in the age of complete online mp3 archives, are such archaisms as 'mixes' even necessary anymore?!$#@#% Give this one a listen, sure. 'Whatever,' as the kids apparently say these days.

This show is very fun and well-played, but not without it's drawbacks.

The Hood opener is absolutely beautiful, and seems to draw the crowd in very well. Chicken Shack is well-played, but I've never been a big fan of the blues cover. I much prefer Jesus Just Left Chicago or Funky Bitch if they want to delve in to the blues. Dog Log is a great setlist choice, and a big rarity at the time (it still is.) Tube is good, not great, and fun. Heavy Things, Back on the Train, First Tube, and the Inlaw Josie Wales are all standard cuts from Farmhouse, which just came out. The YEM that closes the set is straight fire and one of the best late 1.0 versions I've ever heard. The only late 90's YEM that are better than this are 7/31/97, 11/28/97, 7/15/99 and 10/10/99. Trey's playing is superb and incredibly varied- he starts out with ska-like rhythm guitar, letting Mike lead the jam early, then explodes out of the gates with true rock god heroics. Amazing jam.

The 2001>Sand is 1999 Phish groove in it's most dense form. The 2001 is average great. The jam up until the first verse is a bit repetitive, but the jam in between verses, with heavy teasing of "Do You Feel Like we Do?" is fantastic. Sand, like most versions, starts to heat up late in the game after the typical delay-loop, repetitive jamming. It's one of the better versions of this particular type of Sand (I believe 3.0 versions of Sand, particularly the funk beasts we're getting in 2012, are superior to the 1.0 versions of Sand.) They seem a bit lost at times during Horse>Silent. The beginning of Possum is weirdly flubbed- doesn't seem like a song that usually would receive the flub treatment. Otherwise, it's a typically rocking version of the song. Mike's>Simple is fairly standard, but Weekapaug is incredible. The segue into Buffalo Bill in the middle is great, and features inspired jamming to achieve the segue. In terms of "cool" segues, this rates up there with the 9/17/00 Theme>Dog Log, the 10/24/95 You Enjoy Myself>Sleeping Monkey, and the 10/21/95 Good Times Bad Times>Tweezer Reprise. They slam back into Weekapaug Groove with force, and tear the rest of the song apart. Amazing Mike's Groove, mainly for the Weekabuffalo Groove.

This show was a blast! Because this concert was well over a decade ago, please excuse me in advance if any of the events are fuzzy in memory. It was either this or night or the following night, but I recall a wonderful wave going around the stadium bleachers prior to the show. It just kept going and going unlike one I had ever seen. Does anybody remember this.

The Harry Hood opener was very unexpected and I tend to like it more as a closer, but I'll take one when I can get one. The intro and instrumental section were played well, and the crowd really got into it once the post "where do you go when the lights go out?" instrumental began. The improv section was fairly solid with with a nice build-up, but the peak wasn't too overly climatic nor memorable.

Back at the Chicken Shack took me by surprise. I had been playing the song on guitar that year for Jazz combo at school, so I was stoked to hear the band pull it out, but it appeared many people in the audience were perhaps unfamiliar with the tune, as the audience was pretty quite during the song.

First Tube was charged, but nowhere close in the caliber to versions that I would hear many years down the number line (ie. check out Merriweather 2011, which murdered me!). It seemed as if at this point in time First Tube was a song which was still somewhat maturing solo-wise and still somewhat catching on with phans. Not as much of crowd favorite or as appreciated as it is today. Does this make any sense?

The Inlaw Josie Wales. A nice rarity and well played, but distracted somewhat by hollering fans. A lot of "shhhhhhhhhhhhhs" from the audience to quite the yellers, with the occasional "shut the %#@* up!"

No doubt, the pinnacle of the entire evening was the INCREDIBLE You Enjoy Myself. This is still, hands down, the best one I've seen live. Trey flubbed some of the intro arpeggio section, but everything else was totally solid. He totally let loose on "Boooooyyyyyyy!" From there on it was just off the Hook. Trey jumped off the trampoline and was immediately into a funky rhythmic groove...and he was totally into it. I vividly remember him swaying side-to-side in this repetitive groovy dance during his comping section of his solo. Just check out the youtube clip at about the 1hr & 15 minutes into the show and you'll see what I'm talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB8lfvRXIts

Anyway, the comping groove build up and then Trey let loose on his single note soloing. He just took off, with peak, after peak, after peak. It was unreal totally solid, and the crowd went berserk! He pretty much raped my ears! What also really bowled me over was the perfect ending of the solo where Trey transitions back into the original thematic groove that he started with. Fishman kicks in after a few seconds with aloose-sand like drumming which synched perfectly with the comping (1 hr 21 minutes 50 seconds into the video). So tight! The Vocal jam was also great. Haunted, buddhist chant vocalizations with a brilliant crescendo. Such a fantastic version that should not be missed.

Other highlights of the show were the grooving 2001, complete with Frampton "Do You Feel Like I Do?" teases and a well played sand. I remember being towards the back of the auditorium floor during it in a sparsely populated area where I had room to spin and act like the dork that I am. Fun! Don't miss the YEM!