1998-11-21 Hampton, VA

 11/21/98 Hampton

Set 1

Wilson - Fun choice of opener! Surprisingly jammed out! For real, they take it to some super late-night-psychedelia kind of place with Trey just shredding the place to bits. Unique version to me! Don't miss!

>Big Black Furry Creature From Mars - Talk about a perfect 1-2 PUNCH IN THE FACE to kick the show off!!! HOLY FREAKING CRAP! EVER HEARD ANYONE PLAY THE SOUND OF A JET ENGINE TAKING OFF ON GUITAR?! NO?! WELL LISTEN TO THIS!!! Also, is this the longest non-broken-up BBFCFM?! Sure seems like it.



Lawn Boy - Yea, Trey totally wrote a setlist for tonight I'm guessing. You wouldn't think so on paper, but when listening it just slides perfectly out of the hurricane-force maelstrom we just endured. And it's wonderful as usual. Big points added for great set construction.

Divided Sky - Now that we have the "hijinks" out the way it's time for some serious music. In early 3.0 versions, it sounds like the band/Trey have rediscovered a lost reverence they maybe once had for the song that they probably lost a little bit by this time in Phish 1.0. Ten-plus years of playing a song pretty regularly will do that to you What I mean is, the first four or so minutes of this version sound a little stiff and stilted. Everything is played fine and it's overall a typical excellent 1.0 Divided Sky, but it just sounds out of place or something. Like it doesn't belong anymore, ya know? Very odd feeling with this one!!! Yes, I'm overthinking in the extreme - isn't that the point of writing stupid reviews? And then we reach the infamous "pause" portion of the song. The crowd is going ballistic! And it's a friggin long pause too - I didn't time it but had to be a minute+ of just applause, haha. In the "quiet" part for the next couple of minutes, the stiffness continues, especially with Trey making lots of little flubs. No trainwrecks or anything but more missed notes than usual. Once the "upswing" occurs around the 9:30 or so mark, it's funny to hear Trey struggling with feedback bursts. I've never heard a Divided Sky with feedback squeals, so that's pretty cool, haha. Page is going nuts, Gordo isn't super audible (listening over laptop speakers....) and Fishman is being a little more "stompy stompy" with his fills than usual. I swear, this is the most ham-fisted Divided Sky I've ever heard. Were the other 1998 ones like this or is this just an off night for it? All in all, this is an odd Divided Sky for me. But it's still an adventure so...I personally was not very impressed by this one though I enjoyed it as usual. Would love to hear opinions on this one!!!

Cry Baby Cry - BUSTOUT! First since summer 1995!!! It's not particularly amazing, sounding rusty and one of my least favorite Beatles songs, so no list for me

Boogie On Reggae Woman - 4th version since the Dayton '97 bustout. Other an excellent extended Cactus solo section, this version does very little for me. Trey even sounds like he's mentally checked out by the end and ripcords us into....

>NICU - Not a great version. Trey is still "slipping up" throughout and it just sounds a little tired overall.

Don't know why, but it really sounds like the guys are having a hard time finding their mojo tonight. The opening trio of tunes was great but everything since has been tired or "underplayed"-sounding. Very odd. Or is this a substance issue creeping in?

Dogs Stole Things - Well, color me shocked that this is the next list-worthy tune for the night! The boys sound awake again, and Trey even lets it rip after being AWOL for a few songs, pretty much. Far from my favorite song and one I'd never hope for on a setlist, but a great version is a great version. Check out Page's wonderful piano fills in the verses behind the vocals. Friggin' awesome version.

Nellie Kane - Color me shocked, vol. 2!!! First version since 1994!!!! And it's a great one!! CHECK OUT PAGE'S KILLER PIANO RIFFING THROUGHOUT! And Trey is nimble as it gets once more. Nellie Kane is awesome tonight, haha.

Foam - Page is turning out to be the MVP of the set. Gah, friggin' love his piano playing on this Foam. Trey doesn't sound as sloppy as Divided Sky but he doesn't sound super tight either. Trey tightens up by the end and this turns into a rousing Foam. Great peaking for the last couple of minutes!!!! Awesome Foam!

Wading in the Velvet Sea - Absolutely terrific! Wonderfully emotional playing tonight. Not much to say. It's beautiful!

Guyuute - KILLER KILLER KILLER. BUTCHER THE PIG! SLAUGHTER THE SOW!! Quite possible the best performance of the set so far! FRIGGIN NEXT LEVEL GUYUUTE!

Bold As Love - Good stuff but one of my least favorite covers.


All in all, an odd set. I never thought I'd hear a set where Nellie Kane was better than Divided Sky!!! The guys started the set strong, took a dive for a bit and then slowly peaked more and more the closer we got to the set break. Very interesting set. Not my favorite but I did enjoy it on the whole. 

 

Set 2

Sabotage - Ah yes. 3rd version of 1998 and last until 2011. Super fun. Freaking love Trey's vocals on this - for some reason he is just putting a grin on my face. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Adam Horowitz would be proud. Talk about a freaking blast to open the set, holy hell. Love it or hate, I friggin' LOVED it!!!

>Mike's Song - The jam wastes NO time getting funky immediately! Trey is doing his patented "wah scratching", and there is some cool repeating patterns happenning in the background. Of course Gordo is absolutely funking it up and Page is over on the organ doing stabs. Eventually Trey lays off the scratching and starts picking out some leads patiently. Everyone is locked in and riding the proverbial train together. Nobody is trying to lead, but everyone is along for the ride. Awesome stuff. This is one of those slow-build jams that just cooks and cooks, little by little, getting hotter by the second. Around 7:22 things start getting slightly metallic! Trey and Gordo lock in on a rhythmic pattern and turn the jam towards more Wilson-esque, heavy metal fare. By 8 minutes Fishman is destroying the kit and Trey is playing with his Whammy, making weird robot noises towards the heavens. This culminates in the next "plateau" where Trey goes all 12/6/97 on us, just destroying it on the wah pedal. Of course everyone else is killing it too, but what do you want me to say? This is pretty much how the rest of Mike's Song plays out, everyone just raging hard, Trey murdering his guitar, feedback squeals and all. EXCELLENT Mike's Song!!! Maybe not the A+ All Time Version Ever Played, but there's no reason this should not be on the .NET Jam Chart (it isn't!!!). AWESOME!

>Simple - Of course a Mike's>Simple is nothing new, but hot damn if that wasn't one of the smoothest transitions I've heard!!! The jam dissolves into the bliss we all know and love around the 6:30 mark. From there it just gets quieter, and softer and gentler. Softer than an infant's bottom. Absolutely spectacular playing all around, Page doing beautiful runs and Trey doing quietly psychedelic "squiggles" throughout. Around 8:30 the beat drops out leaving Fishman just doing cymbal taps. Gordo picks up on Trey's playing and he and Big Red start doing some circular kinda motifs. And by 10 minutes the ambient droning has begun - It sounds like we are chilling at the bottom of the sea, gazing towards the distant light of the sun shining through the water....They stay in this aquatic-sounding moodscape for several glorious minutes. Oh man, if you are anxious, put this on. This is some of the most soothing Phish I've ever heard. Around 13:30 the synthesizers begin to creep in and Trey and Gordo start doing lots of bendy things. Almost a country-ish vibe creeping in in a weird way. But there is still synthesizer pulsing along in the background very oddly.....At this point it feels like we've gone from chilling on the sea floor, to standing on the moon, watching the beauty of earth all those miles away, gazing at the stars instead of the sun....And just like that, it's over.....WOW!

>The Wedge - Huh. Definitely not what I would have expected to come next if I wasn't looking at the setlist!! In hindsight, it actually fits great coming out of the chill dissolution of that Simple jam!!! Great version as usual. Trey is "ON" this set - he's hitting the exactly "correct" notes in the best way. This Wedge isn't SUPER special or anything, it's just really, really friggin' NICE!

>The Mango Song - Hey yo! Didn't see this one comin', didya? Check out Page's AWESOME piano tinkling around 2:30. GORGEOUS!!!! Followed by some FLAWLESS playing from Trey...Ugh, *chef's kiss* And just, like, god damn the rest of the song is one of the most flawless renditions of Mango Song ever performed. Absolutely A++++++++ Mango. MAGICAL MANGO!!!

>Free>Ha Ha Ha>Free - Right into the main riff. No way that wasn't planned. That was a little TOO perfect. Free wastes no time getting down to business, Gordo absolutely destroying on the 4 string machine!!!! But all of a sudden in the middle of the jam they launch right into Ha Ha Ha. Now that was DEFINITELY planned! Love it. So perfect! The crowd is eating it up too, And then back into Free like nothing. Where did that come from, and where did it go?! And for 5 more minutes, cue guitar destruction. MACHINE GUN TREY IS IN THE HOUSE! LETS FRIGGIN GO!! That was AWESOME!

Weekapaug Groove - FREAKING GET IT CACTUS! LISTEN TO MIKE SHRED THAT BASS!!!! Surprisingly, Weekapaug actually gets quasi-jammed out. Trey inserts some obvious Mango Song references and the whole thing is just annihilating worlds in the best of ways. LIGHTSPEED WORLD DESTROYING MACHINE GUN EXPLOSION WEEKAPAUG GROOVE!!!! HOLY CRAP!!!



Tubthumping - Why. Why god why!? Features Tom Marshall as well as Carl on Trumpet again! It's funny hearing the guys trying to not bust out into laughter. The trumpet is pretty friggin' hysterical, holy hell


All in all, Night 2 of Hampton Comes alive was a success. On the whole, I prefer night one, but there is no arguing with the second set of 11/21 at all! The Mike's>Simple is essential listening as is the out of this world incredible Mango Song and the Free sandwich. Nevermind the "gone plaid" Weekapaug! The first set of this show was definitely the weakest of all four sets in the 2 shows, in my humble opinion. But this 2nd set was one of the best 70 minutes of continuous music I've enjoyed recently!!! Terrific 2nd set!!!