Home early again due to rain, so today we finish the first Euro 97 tour with 3/2/97 Copenhagen
On paper, this looks like it oughta be up there with the best of the tour.
Set 1
An absolutely destructive Johnny B. Goode annihilates right out of the
gate before a nicely played Uncle Pen. After a standard Sample, its into
Guyuute.
Guyuute is not the greatest version ever played. Treys playing is
hesitant and light and the whole thing is often a step away from falling
apart. Not bad, just exceptionally....not tight.
Up next we get a lukewarm My Soul. Surprisingly so. Consider this one a
disappointment. Following this, the set begins to take a turn for the
better with a powerhouse Runaway Jim>Gypsy Queen bananza.
Runaway Jim is terrific - during the "breakdown" section they take it to
COMPLETE silence before exploding back again! Suddenly, in the middle
of them raging the song, it sounds like they rip into the fast, shreddy
part of "Black Magic Woman" by Santana (supposedly it's Gypsy Queen
though). This moment comes out of nowhere in the absolute best X Factor Magic way!!!!
Fantastic!!! A true "what is going on!?" moment in the best way!!! Then
out of Gypsy Queen and back into Jim so flawlessly that nobody knew
what hit them.
This Runaway Jim is ESSENTIAL listening! WOW! That felt like something out of 1993, ala the Murat Gin, etc.
Up next Run Like An Antelope and by golly is that the quietest intro of all time until they PUNCH you
in the face at a certain point. Perfect dynamic play, lol. The initial
Antelope jam is fantastic - the guys bring it on down and get properly FUNKY!!!! Hell yes, work up that '97 cow funk!!!! Too
bad this only lasts a brief minute before they decide to return to
Antelope proper. A great "tease", if you will, of things to come. From
here they proceed to tear it up until around the 9 minute mark when the
screaming seagulls make an appearance and they transition
into....Catapult?!
X. Factor. Magic. Let's. Friggin'. Go.
Over a rapid percussion bedrock, Mike sings Catapult for us all.
Catapult is LONG tonight, lasting nearly 5 whole minutes!!! Rapid
triangle percussion and strange synthesizers are the music bedrock for
the first bit. Suddenly, the piano re-enters and the jam turns into some
kind of strange, quasi-digital free jazz freakout! But then, the jam dies out into a brief minute or two of pure ambience leading to silence.
What the hell did I just listen to?!
The silence is the perfect spot for them to quietly lead into a rare
Life On Mars!!!! Life On Mars is a nice interlude before they head back
to facemelting with a red-hot Chalkdust Torture. Dust is Dust and rips
hard. They close the set with Hello My Baby.
All in all...great set! I was worried at first - it started great
then dipped slightly before "locking in" with Runaway Jim and burning
hard to the finish line. This had a very "early Phish" feel about it.
The 1993 descriptor is accurate, imo. Both Runaway Jim and the
Antelope>Catapult are primo X Factor Phish and must hear to all
comers. Terrific stuff and a great set on the whole!!!!
Set 2
Unfortunately, set 2 (my source is from The Spreadsheet) is a different, slightly inferior AUD to the first set. That's ok....
2001 opens the set funkily and gets us grooving. See, I told you this was a 1993 show! It
ain't the Great Went 2001, but it gets into similar territory (minus
the whale siren loop) and delivers the goods for a solidly funky 8
minutes of dance-party-material. Good stuff!
Absolutely perfectly, the band slide out of 2001, Trey triggers his loopers, and the intro to Maze begins. Hold on to your hats, you can just feel this one is gonna rip! And
rip it does! Nearly 12 minutes, this is one of the longest versions of
Maze out there. Page's solo in the middle is extended for sure. Then
comes Trey all patient-like, playing with feedback and sustains, letting
the tension build before he tears our heads off.
And then holy mother of crap, feedback squalling for days, the volcano
erupts and Trey unleashes pure molten lava on our ear holes. AND IT IS
GLORIOUS. This is one of the best Maze's I've yet heard. Now THIS is
what Maze SHOULD sound like!!!!! Seriously, that Maze was MUST HEAR!
Perfectly, we then get Swept Away>Steep to allow us to cool off and
gather our heads off of the floor. And just as quickly as they came, so
they left us for...Punch You In the Eye! Hell yes, my favorite song! I will ALWAYS take this in a set! And
like most in 1997 (one of it's best years, imo), this one is totally
excellent. Killer. Waste comes next and brings it back down. I don't dig
the set placement, but I can't deny a great version is a great version.
Up next is Character Zero. Standard heat as always. Good stuff. Then, oh boy, X Factor Magic strikes again! HEAVY METAL SLAVE TO THE TRAFFIC LIGHT! This
is fantastic and hilarious, them playing around with the song so much.
It's great as ever, roughly 11 minutes long. Great stuff, not much else
to say besides the heavy metal part sneaking in. That is must hear and
hilarious.
A Tweeprize outta nowhere and a great YEM bring the show and the tour to a close.
All in all, this show was miles better than the paltry 3.3 rating
on .NET. I would easily put this in the top 5 or 6 shows of the whole
tour. Probably in the top 4, honestly. It felt like it was riding on the
residual fumes of 3/1's magic. A stellar show, imo, with a heavy
emphasis on the zany and wild side of things. Runaway Jim,
Antelope>Catapult, Maze, Slave to the Traffic Light...all must hear. I
would honestly say this show is release-worthy. It deserves so much
better than the less-than audience captures.
This show is the definition of UNDERRATED!!!! 
And with that, Europe, Spring 1997, is completed.
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