Part of my full run through of Summer '98, see here

Water in the Sky provides an unusual opening, but I guess it was raining there that night. The Drowned is energetic; it doesn't go off the beaten path bust still feels like a jolt of '98 jam energy i.e. let's explore one theme to it's fullest before we move on. This Frankie Says has a darker outro, and Trey channels some of the Frankie energy into the start of this version of Stash. This Stash is not deep but it rocks hard. Brian and Robert supplies the requisite cool down after that. This is a great Foam as well, quieting down to nearly silence before Trey and company carefully and delicately scale back up to the closing. It's good to hear Bittersweet Motel in a set and not the encore this time around. Ghost feels much the same as Drowned or Stash did, it doesn't go very far out of bounds but it rocks, albeit at a slower pace. Then, because of the Eclipse that was occurring that night, the band busts out Colonel Forbin's > Mockingbird for the first time since the evil David Byrne version from Halloween 1996. It's unusual hearing the narration (explaining how Forbin ended up eclipsing the moon) during a '98 show since that was a schtick that they had mostly left to the past at that point; but overall it's a fun narration and the two songs are well played (the end of Mockingbird feels a bit spotty, that's all).

Chalkdust provides an energetic start to set 2 in an unexpected opening slot. The band doesn't skip a beat and immediately starts up Mike's Song. This Mike's is rocking energy to start, and continues to slowly ramp up that energy as it goes, building great tension. Past the nine minute mark you are dying for a peak but the band seems to be teasing a ramp down instead. By 12 minutes the band has ramped up and down multiple times, taking us on a wild journey. At 13 minutes the band finally ascends the peak to great release and slams joyously into Simple. This Simple is quick and delicate. Albuquerque cool down follows, and we'd expect the show to take back off after this. Instead we get a fairly subdued Limb by Limb followed by another cool off with Wading in the Velvet Sea. The band closes things out with a serviceable Weekapaug, but overall, the band seems to have lost their drive by the end of this set. The Funky Bitch encore does nothing to change that; the band seems tired.

Overall this doesnt' hit as hard after the run that preceded it. It's too bad because just one signature jam here paired with this unique and rare-at-the-time Forbin's > Mockingbird could have been enough to make this show get talked about. This show has a nice Foam and a good Type 1 Mike's Song, don't get me wrong, but neither is enough to elevate this show. Too bad, because the show here the previous year was a barn burner (and a personal fave).