1997-06-20 Prague, CZ

 Today it's 6/20/97 Prague, CZ

Set 1

Taste - A terrific 11 minute version to open the show! An absolutely phenomenal version, it just goes and goes and goes, peaking and raging hard. Totally bombastic in the best way!!!! Stellar way to open a show!!!

>Jam - Out of the end of Taste comes a very strange jam! This is separate from Taste, hence the segue. Trey begins a quirky rhythm while Gordo hits bass FX. The mood is tense! Fishman spastically tries to enter the jam and the whole thing gets a screwed up, quasi-latin feel going. This is bananas, I've never heard anything like this. This is strange, X Factor Phish as it gets!!! Things proceed to get even stranger and more screwed up the longer this weird "jam" goes one. What the hell even is this. I have no words. Just go listen to it. What the corn, man!?

>Cities - Eventually the strange, weirdo jam morphs into a more steady rhythm and Trey takes the chance to launch the band into a spirited and uptempo, ULTRA FUNKY version of Cities. A wonderful 7 minutes of awesomeness. Absolutely stellar, A++++++ version of Cities. Perfection in every way. A type 1 GOAT for sure.

Horn - Strong version with a cool bass solo outro jam!!! Very unique!

>Ain't Love Funny - Dude, where are they pulling this stuff from tonight?! The guys plod through this weirdo song and then....take it Type II!!!! X FACTOR MAGIC LET'S GO!!!!!! They spend the final few minutes working in some amazing, delicate areas, just moseying along, relaxing it up all strange-like. This is really hard to describe, I've not heard another jam like this. Dude!

>Limb By Limb - And into Limb they go perfectly!!!! A solidly strong version building off of the momentum established with the Taste opener. The guys take their friggin' time and just lay into it in the most perfect way.

I Don't Care - Second and final performance. Ever. This lasts nearly 7 minutes and goes into full blown Type II dark, ambient space!! Truly unique and absolutely must hear!! Psychedelic meltdown!!! What the hell! X FACTOR MAGIC STRIKES AGAIN!!!!

Run Like An Antelope - Out of the psychedelic insanity comes a red-hot Antelope to close the set. Great stuff and great version!


All in all....WHAT THE HELL WAS THIS SET?!?!??!!? The strange choice of cover, full-blown black hole Type II out of nowhere, that I Don't Care....The show is only half over and it's already the show of the tour so far by a MASSIVE margin! The boys are deep in the X Factor tonight, and it's oozing out of every pore. They need to release this show, pronto!!!!!!!

 

Set 2

David Bowie - Talk about yer massive opener! This one exceeding 20 minutes!! Massive in every way, this is an ultra-lengthy nuclear meltdown, basically. Not my cup, but if you're a Bowiephile, it's a must!!!

Ghost - 11+ minutes on this one. This is type 1 uber-funk all the way. So incredibly fantastic in every way, it just lays into the funk HARD. Ghosts do not FUNK like this anymore!!!!!

Bye Bye Foot - Very rare BBF. BBF is BBF. Good stuff.

Ginseng Sullivan - Odd to get in the middle of the 2nd set. Sounds great but Ginseng is Ginseng.

Cavern - Is Cavern

Twist - Ooh, 13 minutes on this bad boy! Does it's regular Twist thing all the way until 8:45 when it suddenly gets real quiet and chill-like. Late-night Twist, yo. From here it proceeds to get all "porno funk" vampy. The guys just lay into the vamping and ride that wave hard until Page reintroduces the Twist theme around the 12 minute mark. This one didn't go SUPER deep, but it sure went deep enough and absolutely impresses. Fantastic.

Bouncing Around the Room - is BATR

Julius - is Julius

Circus - Is Circus

Rocky Top - is Rocky Top


All in all, this was by far the strongest gig of the tour so far. The first set was the better of the 2 imo. Set 2 had a few highlights (Bowie, Ghost, Twist, but was mostly just excellently played Phish-by-numbers, so it loses points for that. Still, a heater of a show with a great balance of the strange and the normal. They need to release this one, pronto, imo. Killer.