PHISH, THURSDAY 07/02/1998
THE GREY HALL
Copenhagen, Denmark

SET 1:

Birds of a Feather: Standard. It’s a jamcharts version, not sure why. Totally cookie cutter Birds.

Cars Trucks Buses: Standard.

Theme From the Bottom: Standard.

Brian and Robert: Standard.

Meat[1] Fun banter in here.

Fikus[1] First of five, there is a reason this tune was short lived.

Shafty: Good stuff.

Fluffhead: They play this on request. Probably should have opted for Buffalo Bill because this Fluff is very rough.

Ginseng Sullivan: Standard.

Punch You in the Eye: Standard. >

Character Zero: Wankier than usual.

SET 2:

Ghost: Searing loops to get this one going. Slow burn at first but not for too long. Turns into a total rage fest through about 13 and a half. About 30 seconds of funk after that. But around 14 and a half Trey finds this groove/theme and rides it. Has a nice sort of droning effect to it. This rolls for 3 plus minutes, really sick. This goes very ambient but only for about a minute and then they latch back onto that theme again and things gradually ramp back up a bit. This peters out right at the 20 minute mark. A gorgeous ambient jam emerges with Trey softly leading the way. The Runaway Jim segue comes out of the ether. This Ghost is fantastic, easy all timer and highly recommended! >

Runaway Jim: This Jim lives pretty large through ten and a half minutes and from there it has about 90 seconds of a beautiful, sparse jam. This dwindles down to about nothing (the crowd stays completely silent!) and then Prince Caspian rises from those ashes. Would recommend this Runaway Jim, very good version. ->

Prince Caspian: Standard.

You Enjoy Myself: Jam starts off kind of quirky with some weird time signatures and Mike dropping a few bombs. Things get quiet but not for long. At 12 and a half a strong power jam emerges, heavy stuff from Trey. This eventually finds Trey absolutely wailing away, Wowzers!! By the early 15’s he is settling and in not time he has found a theme he likes and rides that through about 16 and half. He lets things get quiet but still keeps that theme going while Mike and Fish are pummeling your face. Interesting juxtaposition. Vocal jam around 18 and it turns into Trey having a conversation with himself sort of, pretty funny. This is a great YEM! Highly recommended.

ENCORE:

Simple: Can’t go wrong with this in the E slot even if it is short – it’s still Simple. Feel like this is the bands way of thanking everyone and acknowledging how good they have it.

Summary: First set is a total throw away unless listening to debuts and some banter is your thing and then it that is the case there is some replay value there. Second set is exceptional though! I think the current rating on Phish.net 4.467/5 (120 ratings) kind of overrates this show a bit. I need more to chew on in the first set to rate it that high. Splitting hairs here but this show feels more like a 4.3 for me.

Replay Value: Ghost, Runaway Jim, You Enjoy Myself

[1] Debut.

This show marked the debuts of Meat and Fikus. Fans of stage banter will want to hear this show, as Trey was in a particularly chatty mood.

SHOW RATING
Your rating:
Overall: 4.467/5 (120 ratings)
JAM CHART VERSIONS
Birds of a Feather, Ghost, Runaway Jim, You Enjoy Myself