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While it reflects the earned triumphs and maturity of the sounds developed at the Europe shows and the shows earlier in the tour, I always think of the Great Went as the true launch point for Fall 1997. Relaxed & patient... playing with timing and various sounds dynamics... you can hear the future in a lot of the jams this weekend. Phish was cresting.

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Even though my opinion of this one is far more favorable (show #4 for me, so attendance bias maybe), great write-up per usual!

Re: the choice of Makisupa to open, I took it as a nod to them taking the stage that day at precisely 4:20pm. Sure, even at that point a 420 reference would have been cliche and juvenile, but Makisupa’s always been very tongue-in-cheek about that kind of thing (hell, just go back nine months and a day).

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Great point! Hadn't considered that.

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Dank

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It's interesting when considering the "lambasting" Trey gives the band, I never saw it that way as much as a coach's pep talk, how night and day the 1st and 2nd sets are. From the first downbeat of Wolfman's it's clear something happened backstage because they are on a mission and that groove is so deep and they are all just connected. That was my experience when I revisited the set recently anyway. What a weekend.

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I’ve always assumed Trey was mostly projecting. He was more nervous and apprehensive than he expected to be.

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