, attached to 1997-12-03

Review by westbrook

westbrook As I said in my review of the previous night's show, these Philly shows both have at least one great set in them. This show is more balanced than 12/2, but this first set sticks out to me maybe even more so than the second set. For me, the first set is near perfect. PYITE and My Soul is a high-energy opening pair, and I absolutely love the jam in Drowned. It starts out rocking, but develops into a captivating funk jam with great flow. Drowned is strong enough to carry this set on its own, but the band had other plans. I'm a big fan of Phishgrass, so I think The Old Home Place works well after Drowned. The final trio of songs in the first set is played without a break and each of the songs is jammed a good amount. Gumbo has a nice funky jam that turns dark before segueing into a solid 2001, which brings out the funk again. As the last note of 2001 rings out, YEM begins and the crowd explodes. Good YEM, but nothing crazy. Excellent first set.

Set 2 begins with a long, exploratory Bowie that reaches some very interesting musical places, some dark and some light. The jam after Possum is right up there with the Island Tour Cavern (also out of Possum) for funkiest thing Phish has ever played. Great start-stop jamming (very similar to the previous night's Ghost) and the lick Trey plays at 4:58 is one of my all-time favorites. It would be difficult for me to choose between Drowned and this jam for my favorite part of the show. The jam ends with a great slow down segue into a well-played Caspian. Frankenstein, Hood, and Crossroads wrap up a pretty damn good show in the middle of a tour filled with them.


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