(posted to rec.music.phish in April 1998 - part 3 of 4)

Saturday 4/4 -

Ok, so we knew the Tweezer opener was coming, and many of us were hoping
for horns with that Tweezer opener, but alas, all we got was a kickass
funk jam for almost 20 minutes. Oh well, you can't win 'em all.

The Taste and LxL in this set were both good, and probably better played
than I'd seen before, but I still don't like both of these in one set.
The Limb was good enough to let it slide though.

Seriously, a lot of people (including the ones I was with) are going to
deem this "the worst hour of Phish ever - but don't let them dissuade you.
True, there are some pretty crappy songs in here (including the Bitch - it
was quite poorly played) but this set is not without it's merits. The
in-concert highlight that I'm not sure will transfer onto tape (since
the Tweezer definitely will) was the Character Zero, which featured Trey
soling a-la Jimi Hendrix remaining as true to form as possible with his
foot planted firmly on the wah pedal. One of the first Zeros I really
liked hearing at a show.

Set two's highlights include the Birds of a Feather->Also Sprach
opener...two great jams encompassing the first 35 minutes of the set. I'm
telling you, people, Birds of a feather rocks! It was the only song
repeated in the 4-night run (unless you count the ASZ jam from 4/2) and
I'm sure Phish decided that the people in Providence needed to hear it as
much as the people on Long Island did. Wise choice! The segue into ASZ
was super...we never saw it coming.

The Brother breakout was definitely worth noting, especially the look on
Page's face when they finished - grinning from ear to ear. This song is
so asinine, I think it's hysterical to see people go nuts for it (not that
I don't!). Page was obviously amused, and Trey shared his joke. The
reprise was nothing more than Trey saying "thanks...we're going to play
that one more time" and hitting the riff one more time.

Next came the "radio unfriendly - cause it's really long and really slow"
Ghost (20 mins) which to tell the truth didn't do anything more than it
usually does, except it had a "I Can't Turn you Loose" tease/jam in there.

The Bowie was great, really really great, and the Hood encore was what I
at the time termed "the return of the good Hood." after there had been so
many lackluster ones this fall.