Mr. Miner's Phish Thoughts

The week before tour is usually when archivist, Kevin Shapiro, drops his next installment of his Live Bait series, highlighting jams from the cities of the upcoming tour. I figured I’d drop a similarly inspired playlist of my own comprised of tracks that would be great to have in remastered soundboard fashion. Enjoy the jams as we await the tour opener in Bend, Oregon, one week from Tuesday.

“Ghost” 9.12.99 II, Portland, OR

A monstrous jam that highlighted the first weekend of 1999’s Fall Tour, despite the higher profile shows in Vancouver and at The Gorge. (Portland is close enough to Bend to make this one count.)

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/2-01-Track-011.mp3]

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“Reba > Walk Away” 10.29.98 II, Los Angeles, CA

The most creative “Reba” ever played.

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2-03-Track-03.mp3,http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2-04-Track-04.mp3,http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2-05-Track-05.mp3]

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“Runaway Jim > Circus” 7.31.97 II, Mountain View, CA

This exploratory, set-opening colossus illustrates that Phish did more than funk in the Summer of ’97. One can hear echoes of Raleigh’s iconic “Disease” jam from the previous week in the middle section of this jam.

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/ph97-07-31d2t03.mp3,http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/2.02-When-the-Circus-Comes-To-Town.mp3]

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“Yamar” 7.25.98 I, Austin, TX

Though Austin has a history of great Phish jams such as ‘98’s “Tweezer “and ‘99’s “Wolfman’s”, I’m choosing something a bit more under the radar in this extended first set “Yamar” from the first set of 1998’s summer installment.

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/ph98-07-25d1t05.mp3]

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“Chalk Dust Torture” 7.25.97 II, Dallas, TX

This show seems to linger in the shadows of the many amazing outings if Summer ’97, but with it’s non-stop second set, it really shouldn’t. This “Chalk Dust” opened the frame with some spectacular whole-band improvisation during an era when the song was rarely used as a launchpad.

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Phish-1997-07-25-Chalk-Dust-Torture.mp3,http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Phish-1997-07-25-Taste.mp3]

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“David Bowie” 6.15.95 II, Atlanta, GA

This “Bowie” is quintessential ’95 psychedelia and represents a culmination of several experimental versions earlier in the tour.

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ph1995-06-15d2t04.mp3]

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“Harry Hood” 6.22.00 II, Nashville, TN

Very rarely do guests truly click on stage with Phish, but this “Harry Hood” from 2000 is one time where things definitely jived. In the first show back from Japan, Bluegrass legends, Robbie McCoury on banjo, Ronnie McCoury on mandolin, and Sam Bush on fiddle, joined the band for a beautiful rendition of their classic work.

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/2.06-Harry-Hood.mp3]

***

“Sneakin Sally” 6.4.11 II, Cuyahoga Falls, OH

Might as well throw a modern-era track on here. At the time, this “Sally” hit like a freight train and five years later, it stands the test of time pretty well.

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/ph2011-06-04t18.mp3]

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“Mike’s > Ain’t Love Funny” 8.9.97 II, East Troy WI

This snarling “Mike’s” jam segues into a haunting version of the rarity “Ain’t Love Funny” by JJ Cale.

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/ph1997-08-09d2t03.mp3,http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/ph1997-08-09d2t04.mp3]

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“David Bowie” 6.24.95 II, Philadelphia, PA

If Lakewood’s”Bowie” was the defining version of the first half of Summer ’95, this version from the Mann was the flagship version of the second. The band exhibits amazing precision and control over their improv in this piece which is an all-time classic. (Excuse the repeat)

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Track-03.mp3]

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“Ghost” 8.7.98 II, Raleigh, NC

This driving jam came at the end of the first set of ‘98’s stop at Walnut Creek and represents the most impressive passage from a relatively straight forward show. (Excuse the repeat)

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/1.08-Ghost.mp3]

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“Rock and Roll  > Theme > Dog Log” 9.17.00 II, Columbia, MD

This absolutely sublime run of jamming opened the second set of this show, one of the strongest efforts of Fall 2000.

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/2.01-Rock-and-Roll.mp3,http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/2.02-Theme-from-the-Bottom.mp3,http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/2.03-Dog-Log.mp3] Tags: Jams, Miner's Picks

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 12th, 2015 at 9:17 pm and is filed under Jams. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.