SET 1: Paul and Silas, Axilla > Theme From the Bottom, Sparkle > Horn > Limb By Limb -> Catapult -> Kung > Maze, All the Pain Through the Years, Layla
SET 2: Roses Are Free > Simple, Makisupa Policeman, Possum -> Wipe Out -> Possum, Bathtub Gin, You Enjoy Myself
ENCORE: Roggae, Hello My Baby
Fall 98 started with Phish on stage alongside Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Sarah McLachlan, and David Byrne. It ended with a long sit-in by some dude named Seth Yacovone, after recent shows invited obscure (to normal people) names such as Tom Marshall, Carl Gerhard, Heloise Williams, and The Dude of Life for guest appearances. Two months after getting a crossover opportunity as the headliner of Farm Aid for a national cable audience, they spend multiple songs of their tour finale doing inside jokes about their soundman getting arrested for failing to vacate the hotel bar and play a medley of two of their strangest “songs,” Catapult and Kung, over intensely weird music. In conclusion, Phish is a land of contrasts.
1998, as with every other year of Phish to that point, found the band bigger and more successful than ever. The Story of the Ghost wasn’t exactly a hit record, but it didn’t do too bad either, debuting at #8 on the album charts*. They got on TV a bunch, earned 3.5 stars from Rolling Stone and some follow-up coverage for the Halloween show, released a snazzy hardcover book telling their story in their own words, and filled arenas from coast to coast (except in Salt Lake City). Four years after their ambitious Madison Square Garden debut, they were about to take over the venue for a four-night residency, occupying midtown Manhattan for their year-end celebration.
The future was wide open, so bright they had to wear shades, etc., etc. But the home stretch of this tour reveals some degree of nostalgia for smaller and simpler days. Success means everything gets bigger: the backstage party, the expectations (and ticket demand) for holiday shows, the logistics**. To their credit, Phish has never been the kind of band that complains about playing arenas and sheds – by the late 90s, large venues became their natural environment. But the annual excursions to Europe and next year’s Japan dates, not to mention Trey’s upcoming solo tour of theaters, seemed as much about recapturing the hunger and danger of yesteryear as they were about building a new audience.
In the interim, they can also remember all them times by inviting some of their oldest friends and small-time Vermont musicians to share the big stage. These segments tend to be novelties at best; I’m always here for a Cavern with trumpet and the annual Tom Marshall ironic cover, less so for The Dude of Life’s alternate Suzy lyrics and, more egregiously, singing over Tweeprise. Yacovone, who Trey met at a guitar workshop, is a very talented guitarist and vocalist playing a style of music that I don’t really like, but “Layla” is some real bar-band pandering near the end of a year that has selected so many more interesting covers (I do like hearing Trey on that coda, I must admit).
None of these appearances really derail a show – though using up 20 minutes of bandwidth in a tour closer is a bit much – but the frequency with which these throwbacks appeared in the back half of Fall 98 is a little worrisome. Phish is always at their best when they’re moving forward and trying new things, and too much nostalgia can be an aerodynamic drag on that process. To my ears, the final two weeks of the tour are much more conservative than the first half...maybe a coincidence, maybe not.
But on 11/29, with the blooze-rock cameo over before setbreak, Phish are left with one last set to muster up a proper send-off to a mostly excellent and progressive tour. And they follow through. Simple is a monster, starting out like it’s going to be yet another Trey-dominated jam before taking a breather halfway through. Seizing the moment, Page goes heavy on the synth and the jam rebuilds around it with a much stranger atmosphere, eventually giving way to oceanic roars over demonic jazz rhythms. It’s the best jam since Grand Rapids, and in the same family of Loud But Still Ambient Phish.
The Gin is equally heavy, but much sweeter and more traditional, with Trey inventing an infinite series of melodic riffs that don’t hog the ball. It’s Phish in full majestic flight, brimming with the confidence that has powered the entire year; akin to The Went Gin, but now they can just pull that out of their hat whenever they want. And it still leaves room for 7 minutes of patient texturizing that finally brings back those early-tour Siket Disc vibes, a teaser trailer for the good stuff to come in 1999 instead of the excesses.
In and around those anchors, there’s some more Paul-teasing in Makisupa, a Possum with a fun “Wipe Out” callback and a clear-cut DEG tease, and a peppy YEM that admirably performs its ceremonial end-of-tour victory lap, complete with some ludicrous robot-funk pre-vocal jam. Together, it’s a fitting abstract for the sounds that Phish has been working on all year, laced with plenty of the goofball humor they honed backed when they were playing to the size of crowds Seth Yacavone normally pulls. Without any recurring characters from the past or struggling musicians that remind them of earlier steps along their own long road, Phish manages to find the right mix of looking backward and forward. And it was all right.
* - It was gone completely by the time the NYE run started, but record sales have never been their forte.
** - The hot rumor hovering around this tour was that they were already planning for next New Year’s Eve by scouting sites in…Hawaii.
“Phish is always at their best when they’re moving forward and trying new things, and too much nostalgia can be an aerodynamic drag on that process.”
I agree and think this is, generally speaking, one of the great life lessons, as Dylan said so eloquently, “That he not busy being born is busy dying.”
Man, remember how fired up Steve got on the Dylan episode of 36FTV? That level of passion is testament to the power of Dylan’s words, and I love that you’re pulling similar lessons from our beloved Phish.