I started listening to Phish in 2013, when jam charts still had red highlights for “essential versions.” It didn’t take long to find the 7/17 2001 on the chart. I have been waiting almost 10 years now to hear a quality recording of that show, and the Gorge 98 box set answered my prayers. However, I completely overlooked this show and it is fantastic. There are so many great versions of phish classics in the first set including Squirming Coil, Stash, Reba and Antelope. They all feature a nice blend of melodic jamming with Trey really pushing the peaks of Stash and Antelope off the edge of the gorge. Antelope has extremely fun and musically great beginning and closing segments as well, which was a nice surprise.

The second set doesn’t stand out to me on paper but I really enjoy every song. Especially the Moma Dance and an underrated David Bowie that goes from laid back grooving to full on rock out and should be mentioned on the jam charts. I’m a sucker for a late 90s Tube>Slave combo and this one delivers. The sound check is also a really nice and fun laid back groove that is worth checking out multiple times. If I could get specific with the rating, I would give this show a 4.4/5. The CD box set was definitely worth the purchase and I can’t wait to download some HD digital files whenever they are finally released.