PHISH, SATURDAY 08/01/1998
ALPINE VALLEY MUSIC THEATRE
East Troy, WI

SET 1:

Ramble On[1] - Saturday night at Alpine and they open with this? You kidding me? That is seriously unreal. Incredible opener and debut! >

Mike's Song: Very solid offering right here. Nothing too crazy but it does have some length, energy and passion. We are off to a great start here. Cool segue into Esther. ->

Esther: The only time this has been played after Mike’s – very cool and creative. Big bust out – 139 show gap. It had been played many, many times after Weekapaug. Not a perfect version as Trey has some difficulty with lyrics and there is a slight misstep in the climax but all in all this was executed nicely >

Weekapaug Groove: They eventually take this one to funky town and then execute a stop start which the crowd goes nuts for. Big climax with some thrilling trilling from Trey around 9:27. You would think that would be it but nope. From there they take it back up to hyper speed, rage it around for a while and then into the closing lyrics. Super fun version would recommend.

Guyute: Standard.

Fikus: Standard.

Birds of a Feather: Standard.

Lawn Boy: Standard. >

Funky Bitch: Standard.

SET 2:

Piper: Standard, but great way to open the set. >

Wilson: Could have used something jammier here but this keeps the energy ramped way up. >

Also Sprach Zarathustra -> Magilla > Also Sprach Zarathustra: Groovy 2001 leads into a Magilla, big surprise and bust out with a 69 show gap. Mike gets a solo in Magilla. Fun segment of the show and an interesting sandwich. Honestly, it’s not even really a sandwich. I mean, they do go back into 2001 but only for a few seconds and then into Tweezer. >

Tweezer: One of my favorite versions of all time. It has everything, it really does. The funk, the hose, the rock and roll. It stays within itself too. I am struggling to put this into words, but I think the best way I can describe this one is that it never tries to do too much. It’s very organic in that manner. This jam starts off just as the Portland California love jam does, dominated by Mike and Fish with Trey and Page laying in the cut and adding color and texture. Very nice ramp up to a nice wall of sound in the mid 8’s and by the late 8’s out comes that glorious hose and everyone gets soaked. But again, they don’t overdo it, they give us just enough and then move on to the next idea. The next three minutes are low key fantastic, so great. The whole 13 minute section is gorgeous, low key but so pretty. Things stay mellow from here until the mid-16 minute range when things ramp up rather quickly and they build up a good bit of tension which melts away by 17:00. The next minute or minute and a half is them slowly winding this down into almost nothing and then into Fluffhead. Easy all timer and highly, highly recommended. >

Fluffhead: Strong version, incredible placement.

Brian and Robert: Standard. >

Albuquerque: Standard. >

Chalk Dust Torture: Standard.

Frankenstein: Standard.

ENCORE:

Been Caught Stealing[1] - Wow, just wow. The summer of covers just got a lot more interesting. People had to have been losing it to this. >

Tweezer Reprise: Standard.

Summary: Super strong show with one all timer and Weekapaug as a strong anchor in the first set. The current rating of 4.552/5 (277 ratings) seems a little strong for my tastes. Yes, great show no doubt. But from where I am sitting with two items that I would revisit (Weekapaug and Tweezer) I am feeling like 4.3/5 is a better rating.

Replay Value: Weekapaug Groove, Tweezer

[1] Phish debut.

This show was webcast live and marked the Phish debuts of Ramble On and Been Caught Stealin’ as well as the first Esther since October 19, 1996 (139 shows). Page teased Gimme Some Lovin' in Weekapaug. 2001 contained Crosseyed and Painless teases from Trey. Chalk Dust included a Jean Pierre tease from Trey and a Shake a Tail Feather tease from Mike.

SHOW RATING
Your rating:
Overall: 4.552/5 (277 ratings)
JAM CHART VERSIONS
Weekapaug Groove, Magilla, Tweezer, Fluffhead
TEASES
Crosseyed and Painless tease in Also Sprach Zarathustra, Jean Pierre and Shake a Tail Feather teases in Chalk Dust Torture, Gimme Some Lovin' tease in Weekapaug Groove