PHISH, FRIDAY 12/12/1997
PEPSI ARENA
Albany, NY

The delete monster reared its ugly on this one after I had finished a descriptive review. Oops! This one will be sparsely described unfortunately.

SET 1:

Funky Bitch: Great opener gets the energy flowing. No standard ending to this one – instead, Trey puts loops into play and this one segues into 2001 ->

Also Sprach Zarathustra: Awesome placement! Clear intent has been delivered from the band to the crowd that they mean business tonight! In between the first climax and the second climax – it is very spacy, sparse and ambient let by Mike thumping away. Would recommend this version, dance party USA with nice length. Segue into Camel Walk. >

Camel Walk: Another funky tune! Very nice.

Taste: Another notable version but this one is known more for Page’s section than Trey. Would recommend. 1997 was THE year for this tune! Would recommend. >

Bouncing Around the Room: Standard.

Tweezer: Out of the composed section this one is slow, funky and deliberate. It marches along in this vein until the mid-11 mark when Trey shifts this into a hard rock overdrive. By the late 12’s they dissolve this into an ambient section with loops and then three minutes later segue it into Train Song. Really good stuff here, would recommend. Not as good as Hampton, Denver, Auburn Hills, or Hartford but there is a place for this one in the replay value halls of fall 97 >

Train Song: Standard. >

Character Zero: Sir Wanks A Lot.

SET 2:

Saw It Again[1] - The one an only jammed out version ever which I always found so odd. This tune has potential to be a jam vehicle, but this is the only time they took it out there. This one rocks out hard for 5 or 6 minutes and then has an ambient section and then segues neatly into Piper. Would recommend. ->

Piper: The best Piper of the tour ever at this point. Alternates between hard rock and roll and quieter moments. It goes back and forth like that throughout its length 19 and a half minutes. Great stuff. Would recommend. >

Swept Away > Steep: Standard. >

Prince Caspian: Trey seriously puts on a clinic in the jam section. He truly rips this one. >

Jam Very cool quirky jam, and then a hard driving rocking jam and then into beautiful ambient space – this section is gorgeous - and then segues neatly into Izabella. Would recommend. ->

Izabella: Another rocking version of Izabella >

Tweezer Reprise: Standard.

ENCORE:

Guyute: Standard.

Run Like an Antelope: Fairly straightforward but it does get the blitzkrieg treatment. Long encore selections! They just didn’t want to get off the stage.

Summary: Really cool and unique show. Atypical for this tour. Less funk and more ambience than was the norm. Very unique setlist. They were saving the tour closer to throw down a greatest hits type of show. I agree with the current rating on .net of 4.286/5 (203 ratings).

Replay Value: Taste, Tweezer, Saw It Again, Piper, Prince Caspian, Jam

[1] Extended jam.

Trey teased Super Bad in 2001. Saw It Again contained an extended jam. Antelope contained a Buried Alive tease from Trey. The opening act was J. Willis Pratt & We're Bionic.
SHOW RATING
Your rating:
Overall: 4.286/5 (203 ratings)
JAM CHART VERSIONS
Taste, Tweezer, Saw It Again, Piper, Prince Caspian, Jam
TEASES
Buried Alive tease in Run Like an Antelope, Super Bad tease in Also Sprach Zarathustra