as i mentioned in the my review of the 12/29/97 show, it is really a tough call to say which of the ny run shows from this year is the top dog. i tend to lean toward this show, but anyone that wants to argue 12/29 or 12/31 ,well, who am i to say. they all have their moments.

this show starts off with one hell of a grand moment. the triumphant return of sneaking sally. this is a nice funky opener. sure, it does not reach the depths of say the one from deer creek in 03 or the gorge in 09, but as an opener and a first time play since the 80's, this one is pretty gravy. this one dips nicely into a surprisingly good taste. this, the second song in, stands out as one of the musical highlights of a pretty stacked show. trey, in particular, is very strong on this one, with some good support from page. the rest of the first set is pretty "high-end standard." stash stands out as a good early show jammer.

the 97 ny run seemed to serve as phish's "best of 97" shows. they repeated a lot of killer grooves and some seques that wowed in the fall and summer tour. this ac/dc bag is a good example of that. they hit some really nice funky grooves. they revisit the past glory of the now legendary dayton show. they tinker with psycho killer here, but they drive past it and go alot further. this is a truly original jam with some friendly nods to the supremely great playing through out the year. eventually, this one finds its way into a very sharp mcgrupp. page really steps it up here for an eery solo. harpua blows the place up. there is an interesting story about a pentagram, which explains some of the "decorations" inside the garden. also, tom marshall comes out for a pretty humorous take on 500 miles. they come out of harpua and blaze into their new "hendrix toy," izabella. this one rocks out and drops right into a vewry nice harry hood. the hood jam just takes off and never comes back home. this might be the most focused jam of the ny run. trey and page expertly navigate through this thick hood jam as they eventually find their way into the most overplayed song of 97, my soul. sure, people griped all fall when this popped in like 3 out of every 4 shows or 2/3, whatever it was, but i have feeling, there was not a lot of bitching when they jumped into this one. most would assume that would close it down, but they give sleeping monkey a quick walk through before kicking into a very nice guyute. this bad boy is flawless, and it closes down a monster set in style. this is another tune that helped make 97 what it was. like fluff head in 09, this one had not been seen for a hot minute, and the times that it did come out were few and far between. then in 97, this song got lavished with attention. being played so much, they really nailed this one night in and night out. good stuff.

well, phish was already past curfew, so they made the executive decision just to rock out for another hour- hell, they payed for it. after being played heavily in europe, carini had had no love in the u.s. this one really catches the crowd off guard, and it gets them nice and jacked for this very nice extended encore. the black eyed katy that follows, another 97 keeper, really went deep. this was not your average 1st set version. this is the we have played straight until 1am in so long funk! they get so immersed in the funk that they find themselves back where they started, right in the depths of the sneaking sally reprise. the double dose of funk sent the crowd into a frenzy, and the phish threw a nice big cherry on top, frankenstein. once again, this is not your average version. everybody took this one to the absurd deep end making sure to get their hours worth.

this show, despite a somewhat standard 2nd half of the first set, is loaded with unique music and killer jams, even for 97. plus, the fact that this one went well past the curfew gives it some extra cool points.

highlights:

set 1:

sneaking sally>taste, stash

set 2:

bag>mcgrupp, hood>my soul, be katy>sneaking sally reprise