My first Mango Song.

Musically speaking, Lemonwheel was a step down from The Clifford Ball and The Great Went in my opinion, but the previous two festivals are legendary so there was nowhere to go but down. The second set of the first night was the highlight of the entire weekend for me, which included this tasty combo of Gumbo and Sanity.

As I post one mp3 from each of the 29 Phish shows I’ve been to, I tried to avoid repeats until now. This Ramble On > Slave combo is too good to pass up. Wish Phish would play Ramble On more often.

On our way to Maine for Lemonwheel, we made a pit stop in Utica to see the Vernon Downs show. Sometimes the side trips/diversions on a larger trip end up being the most memorable portions of a trip. I think this was the case for me at Vernon Downs. The venue, an old race track, was no where near capacity. The show was filled with several choice covers and a lot of stage banter. You can easily tell the boys were having fun on their last show before the summer ending festival in Maine.

Setlist
Phish, Wednesday, 08/12/1998 Vernon Downs, Vernon, NY
I: La Grange, Makisupa Policeman, Funky Bitch, Possum, Roggae, Character Zero, Ramble On > Slave to the Traffic Light
II: Mike’s Song -> Simple > Rift, Loving Cup, Sleeping Monkey > Weekapaug Groove, The Squirming Coil
E: Burning Down the House, You Enjoy Myself

Notes: Possum was dedicated to its author, Jeff Holdsworth, and Fishman’s band in high school, Frodo. Ramble On was played in honor of Fishman seeing a Led Zeppelin concert at age eleven; Slave subsequently included Ramble On teases. This show marked the Phish debut of Burning Down the House. YEM included HYHU and Mission: Impossible teases.

(setlist and notes via phish.net)

Summer 1998, or the “Jukebox Summer Tour” as described on phish.net, featured a new cover almost every night of the tour. Merriweather’s Sabotage was the biggest surprise and most appreciated cover until the next night in Va Beach when the boys busted out Terrapin Station.

While Hampton has served as my indoor home venue, Merriweather has served as my outdoor home venue. Until the ‘09 summer tour, I had hit all three Phish Merriweather shows. Much like Hampton, Merriweather Phish shows deliver.

After catching 11 Phish shows in a matter of 15 months, I took about a nine month break only because the boys didn’t play anywhere near me from December ‘97 to July ‘98. Finally on August 8th, I was back on a little mini tour that took our crew from Merriweather to Vernon Downs to Lemonwheel.

Down with Disease > Low Rider > Down with Disease - Phish
11.23.97 - Lawrence Joel Coliseum, Winston-Salem NC

Many thought the November 23, 1997 Phish show would be a let down after the monster throw down in Hampton. We made the tired 3+ hour trek southwest with low expectations. We left the venue with an absolute gem of a show, but looking back, every Fall’ 97 show was epic, right?

Setlist
Sunday, 11/23/1997 Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Winston-Salem, NC
I: My Soul, Theme From the Bottom > Black-Eyed Katy, Sparkle, Twist, Stash -> NICU, Fluffhead, Character Zero
II: Bathtub Gin -> Down with Disease -> Low Rider -> Down with Disease, Bold As Love
E: Julius

Little did we know that the funky jam out of Tweezer would develop into the Moma Dance the next year. It was called Black-Eyed Katy in the Fall of ‘97: Moma Dance without lyrics.

The second night of Hampton ‘97 might be the best non-festival or non-Halloween Phish show I’ve ever seen. The boys were firing on all cylinders from the start. The Weekapaug is one of my all-time favorites. After set one, a friend thought the show was over because it was that damn intense. Second set was just as strong. If there was a letdown, it was the encore, but at that point, no one cared.

Setlist
Phish, Saturday, 11/22/1997 Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA
I: Mike’s Song -> I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Harry Hood, Train Song, Billy Breathes, Frankenstein, Izabella
II: Halley’s Comet, Tweezer -> Black-Eyed Katy, Piper, Run Like an Antelope
E: Bouncing Around the Room, Tweezer Reprise

Notes: Fans of stage banter will want to seek out the second set for Trey’s humorous response to the crowd’s Destiny Unbound chant before Halley’s. Halley’s included a jam based on Zappa’s He Used to Cut the Grass. Tweezer included strong BEK teases well before the segue into BEK. The “Marco Esquandolas” lyric in Antelope was changed to “Michael Esquandolas.”
(setlist and notes via phish.net)