This was the final night of a four-show run Phish played with Karl Perazzo, and one of the rare shows in the band's career with a guest on stage from the first to last note. While not every song benefit from Perazzo's presence, there's some great playing here. Trey backs off regularly during the band's exploration, giving several of the jams a more percussive feeling.

The Runaway Jim extends nicely and the audience tape I listened to reveals Perazzo pushing thejam. Another excellent 1996 Theme, during an era when it was a setlist stalwart. But it's the second set that really brings the funk.

Timber sets the percussive pace followed by a perfectly clean version of Divided Sky. The Tweezer is "exceptionally funky" as Mr. Dirksen once put it, with a percussive breakdown and a lot of Page. Simply outstanding, and one of the great versions of the year.

The China Cat tease that occcurs right before they kick into the Possum is quietly played, but very distinctive and great to hear.

Tune in for the Tweezer, it's worth the ticket.

My main focus here is the Tweezer, which is phenomenal! That being said, this show, like much of '96 seems a bit underrated. The show opening My Friend and Jim are both excellent. I love this 1-2 combo. The rest of the first set is well-played and quite energetic, with a few too many tunes that don't really go anywhere to make an impression. However, the Theme is very solid and I'll never complain about NICU popping up in a set. Karl Perazzo's presence adds some nice fills along the way.

Like set I, with the exception of Tweezer and Divided Sky, much of set II is fine but doesn't knock my socks off. Sadly, even Karl P.'s presence doesn't catalyze the band to much higher ground.

The Divided Sky is a notch above average and I'm a bit surprised it didn't get some noteworthy recognition here. Karl does contribute significantly, especially in the closing portion of the tune where things get smokin' hot.

Now, let's get to the heart of the show. This Tweezer is exceptional and is one of my recent favorites. I've been thinking a lot about the band's evolution into the funkiness of '97 and this version is a prime example of one of those evolutionary steps. Several of the other Tweezers from this tour offer the same (e.g., 11.11.96, 11.18.96, 12.1.96). A couple of other select jams offer additional glimpses into this evolution, such as the Crosseyed & Painless from 11.2.96 and the latter portion of the jam following Mike's on 11.6.96.

This Tweezer just rips and is worthy of multiple listens. It is during this tune that Karl and the band really click and they rage together throughout.

The rest of show returns to being solid and energetic, with the China Cat tease at the start of Possum being noteworthy.

The Divided Sky is very good and the Tweezer is excellent. The rest of the show is worth a listen but nothing exceptional.