Justin, our friend Gupper and I did the Great Woods shows on through Oswego this tour. There was TONS of hype leading up to these shows since they hadn’t played there since 95 and it seemed like they always played some hot shit at this venue. This was also the venue where they last performed Gamehenge in its entirety. The night before was pretty crazy with the Foreplay/Long Time opener…I’m not sure if I’ve been in a more excited crowd in my life. We stayed at a nearby state campground for the two nights and they didn’t seem too happy about having a bunch of Phish kids staying there. Besides the 100 other rules of the campground, there was NO alcohol allowed in the park. It didn’t matter if you were 101 years old, no alcohol allowed. Justin and I, of course, snuck a bunch in (they were searching every car). I think I remember us purposely hiding a 12 pack not really well towards the back of the trunk so that if they found it they would think that they got all our beer but little would the know that we had another case very well hidden up towards the front of the trunk. They found neither. We had a nice fire, met some dude that was walking around and played us pretty much ANY song we requested on Justin’s guitar (Divided Sky, Blackbird) and also got busted drinking by the park police. For some reason they were nice enough to tell us to call it quits and didn’t really harass us anymore. What a pain in the ass though to sit around a fire and NOT be able to drink a beer. Not right…AT ALL. I remember the lot a little bit…lots of pavement, hot. At the time I was really into KVHW. It’s not a drug, it was a band. Fucking great band. They were playing at the Wetlands the first night Phish was playing at the PNC center and I really wanted to skip the Phish show and see KVHW. Justin and Gupper weren’t as thrilled with the idea. Not sure if I would have even done it today knowing what an awesome show 7/15 was but damn I’m pissed I never got to see KVHW.

Anyway, onto the show. Halley’s is fun but Trey’s alarm clock bugs me now more than it ever has so it’s hard to block it but it was great and the -> into Roses is perfect. I’m sure Justin and I were just about pissing ourselves at that point since we were both HUGE Roses fans, and Ween fans for that matter. Folks say this Reba is really good…I don’t know, maybe. Carini is what Carini was back then and I always enjoy a Funky Bitch in the first set. The Wolfmans is where the fun starts and gives you nice mix of funk and a touch of ambient/space that was popular around this time. It’s great to listen to and definitely the highlight of the show. You know what? I like Bug. I don’t know why but I do. I feel like I should hate it because it always shows up at the WORST times but for some reason I get into. The line “nothing I see can be taken from me” speaks to me for some reason. OK, another confession, I’m totally gay for Mountains in the Mist and I think the end of a second set is the PERFECT spot for it. Fuck you. I love the song. I want it deep inside me. Fuck you. Antelope was great…love the Meatstick teases. I had yet to hear Meatstick at this point but Gupper saw it at Merriweather a few nights earlier so we were clued in when it opened up the second set at PNC. I doubt any of use picked up the teases on this night. Normally, Possum to close a set would be a letdown AS ALWAYS, but tonight it featured Scott Murawski on guitar so it’s was acceptable. I actually knew who was Scott was since I saw Max Creek a few times in Buffalo previously! (thanks Jimmy T! “MAX CREEK”) In case you didn’t know, Scott plays guitar in Mike’s band now. Don’t know why they choose to play Tuesday’s Gone but it was great and again, the crowd goes wild.

Glad I got to listen to this one again and I need to go back and listen to night one as well. I don’t remember being totally blown away by either show but they were both a lot of fun. All that’s what it’s all about guys! FUN!!!!!

BB

Jibboo Crew