A phantastic hometown show. It's awesome to see phish 20min from home. Especially when they're playing this well.

A monster first set speaks for itself. Seek out this maze if you like them dark and bizarre like I do. A majestic hood to close the set is always great.

First tube rocked as usual, but the tweezer->makisupa is where it's at. Cactus made this one especially funky. Add a ripping chalk dust to close and you have a winner.

At least that's what I thought until the next night at the pyramid. WHEW!!!

I don't usually write reviews but after seeing this great show w/o any I just had to try & do it justice. I'll start with the venue itself. Its on top of Oak Mountain, a big mound just south of Birminham, AL. At the time of this show there was no pavilion/shead....just a stage. Behind the band the lights of Birmingham created a beautiful backdrop. The "Wolfman's" opener was a nice, quirky way to start things off. But!....it gave no hint on what was to follow. Next was "Sneakin' Sally" which raged! Second song of the 1st set?! I was mind-boggled! Well, "Tube", "Ginseng Sullivan", "Maze", "Velvet Sea" & "Hood" rounded out the rest of the set. "Roggae" was in there too but that was my bathroom/beer break song during the late 90's.
A really good "Farmhouse" started off the 2nd set. Thats right I said it! "1st Tube", "Tweezer" & "Chalk Dust" were all really tight. The "Makisupa" was a lot of fun. The "YEM" was incredible with a "Sweet Home Alabama" quoted vocal jam that seemed to please the locals & folk on tour equally! "Halley's > Tweeprise" as an encore was an inspired choice.
Musically the boys were on fire! From the start you could tell they were having a real fun time up there that night! Trey even said something to that effect at the end of the 1st set. Just an all around great show with a fun setlist in a special, outta the way venue. Pick up a copy of this show, you wont be disappointed!

I was not there, so I can't speak for the live experience. Musically however, Farmhouse is a total gem from this show. Wow! So many great songs in this show, I highly recommend listening.

OAK MOUNTAIN AMPHITHEATRE
Pelham, AL

SET 1: Wolfman's Brother: Crowd is super pumped before the start of this. Composed section is really snapping and popping, Mike sounds GREAT. Big ol’ loop at 9:15. Solid jam, nothing that will knock your socks off with historic respect regarding this song – but what a way to get this show underway!

Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley[1] – Not played since Oswego, 26 show gap. Nice, funky little jam but this doesn’t really merit being on jamcharts, right?

Tube: Pretty much any version from 99 is bound to impress. This one is no different.

Ginseng Sullivan: Standard >

Roggae: Mike dropping big bombs!

Maze: Smokes! Must have left many craters.

Wading in the Velvet Sea: Perfect placement and played perfectly, would re-listen for sure – this one has something extra.

Harry Hood: Unbelievable version. I hold this version in high regard. Great version regardless of ANY era. To close a first set is extra special. Trey gushes about how much they love the venue. ‘Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do.’

SET 2: Farmhouse: Has that extra something, played with a lot of heart and emotion. Great opener!

Heavy Things: Standard.

First Tube: Energy is through the roof at this point. Fans are frothing at the mouth, and then…

Tweezer: Fans are rewarded! Just the third of four Tweezer’s played on the entire tour. Sick loops employed to kick the jam, multiple layers. Headspace!!!! Trey and Mike team up in the 8- and 9-minute range to perfection, playing off one another. Just incredible. Trey is lead in the latter 9-minute range. I LOVE how the loops remain constant through the jam, always present and adding an extra edge. Trey lays back in the 11.5-minute range, deferring to Page. But a theme is discovered largely by Trey in the early 12’s. 13 even Trey breaks everyone out of this loudly and the fans love it, but this is brief, and they delve back into that theme. The fans are son engaged that a Chicago style clap along comes about around 14:50, and the band completely follows the fans, so awesome!!!!!!! >

Makisupa Policeman: Huge ovation once Makisupa is realized Key word schwaaaaaag There are so many cool effects going on in this one, for me; it is difficult to tell who is doing what. I love that! Trey on mini keyboard at 5:13 but only briefly. This jam is lengthy and awesome. Great pick for Live Bait volume 19.

Chalk Dust Torture: What a jolt to the system coming out of that mellow Makisupa jam. They are briefly out of sync in the early going, but only briefly. Fans going off throughout – this show has SOOOO much energy. Little sloppy towards the end, but it is all about the ENERGY.

You Enjoy Myself: Wow. Could not be a better set closer. Absolute perfection. Nirvana section is sublime and patient. 5 minute mark Page and Trey get pretty crossed up but just briefly. The funk jam that breaks out here is to die for. Imagine fans were just getting down so hard to this. At 17 minutes they go for the vocal jam.

ENCORE: Halley's Comet: Sloppy, Trey struggles a good bit >

Tweezer Reprise: Ripped!

Second set summary. Wow, just wow. This show is one I will hold near and dear as long as I can breathe yet did not attend. From the opener to the closer, the band recognizes energy and returns it in spades. Beautiful night in Alabama. It’s cool how Phish can light crowds on fire outside of their traditional strongholds and this show is a perfect example. Fantastic set and show. Would rate this higher than I know most would: 4.5 out of 5. Fight me!

[1] No vocal jam.

The YEM vocal jam included Sweet Home Alabama quotes.

Fun show. The band was having a great time, sounds like the audience was too.

Dance party extraordinaire to kick off the show, with Wolfman's, Sneakin Sally and Tube. Lovely Velvet Sea and Harry Hood to finish set 1.

Opening set 2 with three new tunes was....interesting. They're all well played, and the crowd seemed to be into them, but, yeah....that's the beauty of live music. Sometimes it holds up, sometimes not so much. That back half of the set though, good stuff. Slow, slinky Tweezer, Makisupa, standard/great Chalk Dust, and a BIG YEM.

Last outdoor show of the year, til Big Cypress that is. Glad they eventually made it back to Oak Mountain.

4 stars!

What an awesome show!

Set one starts off as an all out funk fest with an Extra Funky Wolfman, Sally, & Tube. I can't think of too many shows that have a 3 song pairing of funk quite like this. Mike is laying it down the whole time. Roggae is noticeably powerful as Trey adds a lot of character to it. Maze is great and leads to gigantic peak as it should. Wading is in a bizarre slot but Trey seems to want it so it works. Hood is a very solid cap to the set with some very inspired guitar work by Trey.

Set 2 starts with the odd pair of Farmhouse and Heavy Things, very normal for first set but not the second. But that is ok because Farmhouse is fantastic, one of the best versions I've heard. And heavy Things? Well it's the same one you'll get for the next year. Tweezer is the typical slow funk you come to expect from this year and it morphs into a looping decay feedback frenzy. The segue into Makisupa is pretty cool, it's one of those "How did they get there?" type of segues. YEM is played very well. Solid after jam with what appears to be a longer than usual vocal jam. Everything is solid.

Average Encore.

Front to back this show is very strong and carries very little flaws. It has energy, fun, and inspired playing. I like.

I don't usually write reviews but after seeing this great show w/o any I just had to try & do it justice. I'll start with the venue itself. Its on top of Oak Mountain, a big mound just south of Birminham, AL. At the time of this show there was no pavilion/shead....just a stage. Behind the band the lights of Birmingham created a beautiful backdrop. The "Wolfman's" opener was a nice, quirky way to start things off. But!....it gave no hint on what was to follow. Next was "Sneakin' Sally" which raged! Second song of the 1st set?! I was mind-boggled! Well, "Tube", "Ginseng Sullivan", "Maze", "Velvet Sea" & "Hood" rounded out the rest of the set. "Roggae" was in there too but that was my bathroom/beer break song during the late 90's.
A really good "Farmhouse" started off the 2nd set. Thats right I said it! "1st Tube", "Tweezer" & "Chalk Dust" were all really tight. The "Makisupa" was a lot of fun. The "YEM" was incredible with a "Sweet Home Alabama" quoted vocal jam that seemed to please the locals & folk on tour equally! "Halley's > Tweeprise" as an encore was an inspired choice.
Musically the boys were on fire! From the start you could tell they were having a real fun time up there that night! Trey even said something to that effect at the end of the 1st set. Just an all around great show with a fun setlist in a special, outta the way venue. Pick up a copy of this show, you wont be disappointed!