This was my third show, sixteen years old and in the mist of a six show run. I sat 5th row center, never been that close since that night, during Wolfman's Brother I stood on my chair did a double finger point at Page and said "YOU!!!" He looked back at me, gave me smile a quick thumbs up and I was hooked for life. The guy that was standing next went nuts when I jumped off my seat back to the ground he said "I can't believe that Page just did that, how fucking awesome." I have to give my uncle a shout out for those tickets, he was director of marketing at the time. I love listening to this show, especially Gumbo, Lizards, It's Ice(One of my all-time favorites.), and oh course Wolfman's Brother.

I have been a member of this site for some time and never posted anything before. Partly because I don't have the time and partly because all the hate that people spread on these Phish sites. I have only one thing to say, if you don't like what they play or if you don't want them to play new songs then you have no idea what you are doing going to see this band. Why even waste your time and money, because you are just gonna keep getting disappointed.

JoeyC
Southside

You may look at this setlist (especially the second set) and think "meh", but there are two fantastic jams in this show in Gumbo and Wolfman's Brother. Gumbo is funky and develops into a heavier rock jam. Also worth mentioning from the first set is It's Ice, which contains a pretty long and cool jam. Wolfman's Brother's funk jam is perfect for summer and segues very well into Free. A good version of Limb by Limb follows. The latter half of the second set is a bit unusual without any of the big hitters like Tweezer, Ghost, YEM, Mike's, etc, and I think a rating of 3 is right for this show.

Maybe I was spoiled, but this was the first show I left feeling kinda, meh.... It was a great rock concert, the Gumbo alone is worth the price of admission. My girlfriend was seeing her second of five shows and that could have played a part. Thankfully, Alpine and Deer Creek got rid of the meh pretty fast.

This was a fun show. The Gumbo was super funky and cool. The piano solo in Lizards is still
burned into my memory. It is one of my favorite Lizards because of this. Mikes bass in
wolfman's>Free was rattling the entire venue. Limb by limb was very cool too. The Chalkdust was super
high energy. Treys solo was almost like an Antelope style solo. Trippy.

first Web-cast Phish performance.

Show was great, but this venue could use some serious work. Maybe a patch of grass or a tree. Just my opinion.

I was 14 years old, and I attended this show with some friends and one of those friend's mom. I owmed junta and had heard some other songs here and there. Sparkle was my first song ever.

I got a Lizards at my first show! Unfortunately I hadn't read the book. They didn't play the songs I liked from junta such as fee, yem, fluffhead or Golgi. What I mostly remember were a bunch of fans spinning in circles to music I didn't quite yet get.

My freshman year of college my roommate, throughout college, crammed phish in my ears. I liked it, but he still couldn't drag me to any winter 2003 post hiatus shows. Finally he got me to alpine on 7/19/2003, and I have never looked back (shoulda gone to deer creek).

Of course being the fan I am, of course I have relistened to my first show. The setlist is pretty solid, but it doesn't translate off paper into sound. With that being said, had I known what I know now, I would have been so pumped after this show. I know Alpine the next night was better, but I would have been there too.

I am happy to have been at both Sugar Blue shows, great energy! I agree that the sound of the venue wasn't the best but you can't argue with summer 97 funk w/Gumbo Wolfmans and Free!

Come for the Gumbo, stay for the Wolfman's. This show is definitely a little bit lower on the totem pole of shows during this summer tour run, but still has some stuff worth checking out. It is also a pretty short show, with each set coming in at just about an hour.

Gumbo has a really interesting section of "funk-but-not-funk" that kind of fits the 97 funk bill, but also does some unique things that separate it from a lot of other jams this tour. I really like how it kind of just dissolves into Lizards. I like that pairing a lot and it seemed to flow really well in this show. The rest of the first set is pretty standard Phish; the only thing that really stands out is It's Ice with a nice little breakdown jam in the middle.

Second set starts off hot with a funky Wolfman's that covers a lot of ground and is definitely a highlight of this show. The -> Free is really nice too, and I think that stretch of jamming from Wolfman's through Free is pretty solid stuff. The set seems to drop off after that, with little jamming to speak of and some odd song choices. LxL is standard-good stuff, but a mid-second-set Loving Cup seems out of place, and follow that up with Prince Caspian and you have a little bit of a lull happening. Chalkdust somewhat redeems this set, but then it also ends right after that.

I personally enjoy the IDEA of guest sit ins, but they hardly ever go over well in actuality. The novelty of this sit in is really cool, but doesn't have a ton of re-listen value. I think it would have been more well-received if Phish had played some of their own tunes without a guest for the encore, instead of leaving fans with an entirely guested encore.

The Wolfman's>>Free is really nice. The encore is also really, really nice. Not a standout show in a year full of standout shows.

One of my favorite tapes, a really special funky gumbo jam into a great lizards, but the wolfmans>free is some amazingly fluid funky grooves. Hands down one of my favorite tapes.

First Phish show that was webcast! Attended this one. Horrible venue!

SET 1: Cars Trucks Buses: Standard.

Gumbo: Very strong and long jam. This was the longest version they had played up until this point but would be eclipsed just a few days later at Star Lake. This one has a nice funk jam that eventually evolves into a heavy metal or heavy rock sort of space. Very cool. All timer. >

The Lizards: Page was aggressive in this solo!

Dirt: Standard. >

It's Ice: Trey is a little sloppy in spots in the composed section. The jam gets out there a bit, pretty cool. Definitely a highlight. >

Water in the Sky: Standard.

Character Zero: Ripped and ripped HARD. Very short first set, less than 59 minutes long.

SET 2: Wolfman's Brother: Awesome version, big fan. Lots of funk and hard rocking sections that flip back and forth. Very cool segue into… ->

Free: Standard.

Limb By Limb: Very good version.

Loving Cup: Interesting placement. >

Prince Caspian: At the time I just hated seeing this in this spot. But it’s got a decent jam. >

Chalk Dust Torture: Some excellent tension and release. Had sort of a minor key element to it with Trey hammering that Wah and not necessarily a ‘typical’ Chalkdust jam. Trey is guilty of some wanking in here. Another short set clocking in at 62 minutes.

ENCORE: Hoochie Coochie Man: Very cool.

Messin’ with the Kid: They tore this up big time!

Replay Value: Gumbo, It's Ice, Wolfman's Brother, Limb By Limb, Chalk Dust Torture

Summary: Show is a roller coaster, lots of ups and downs. Cool encore. But I walked out disappointed. One of my least favorite shows I saw from 1.0 but there are two significant highlights, the Gumbo and Wolfman’s. Phish.net has this rated as 3.55/5 (140 ratings) and that seems right on the money for me.