Resolution Conflict

7/23/97, Lakewood Amphitheater, Atlanta, GA

SET 1: Julius, Dirt, NICU > Dogs Stole Things > Ginseng Sullivan, Water in the Sky, Limb By Limb, Split Open and Melt, Billy Breathes, Possum

SET 2: Punch You in the Eye, Ghost > Sample in a Jar, You Enjoy Myself -> Rocky Mountain Way Jam > Chalk Dust Torture

ENCORE: Frankenstein

Listen on phish.in

There’s a positive feedback loop on live releases, especially for jambands. Call it the “May 77 Effect” – eras with higher quality recordings garner a higher reputation from fans, so the band releases more shows from those treasured time periods, thus elevating their reputation even further. For Phish, the SBD release also means inclusion on the LivePhish platform, a signifier for pre-2001 shows that it is an Important Moment all discerning fans must hear. If there’s a Type of Fan who only uses the LivePhish app and doesn’t mess with Relisten or phish.in or The Spreadsheet, the distribution of those chosen shows creates a selective history of Phish. 

1997 is slowly grinding its way to being Phish’s May 1977, albeit with a bias towards the fall run. Of the 25 shows Phish played in November and December, 8 have been officially released, easily the highest percentage of any 1.0 Phish tour. Summer isn’t far off, with the two Amsterdam shows and four from the American leg finding their way to the premium service. But they’re a bit clustered, with the first three shows of the U.S. tour (7/21-23) all released in soundboard quality; two of them coming out in the last two years.

The July bias would suggest that the band faded over the latter part of the summer*, which seems unlikely. There’s at least one show we’ll get to in the next month that I believe would be Phish canon if the most-circulated AUD wasn’t so spotty. That wasn’t the case for 7/23, which already had a pretty strong recording on the free streaming services. But having the SBD for this and the preceding two shows certainly does change the narrative of how Phish navigated the transition between Europe and America

Us enlightened fans know that a SBD doesn’t always make for a better listening experience than an AUD, but it also doesn’t hurt, and can often reveal new depths in a show, tour, or year. The 1997 sound is one that particularly benefits from higher fidelity, as Phish moved towards texture, minimalism, and occasionally, slower pacing. In a tour with a lot of unfamiliar songs, it also smooths out some awkward crowd moments, like the misidentification of Dog Stole Things for Mound in this first set.

From r/phish

What’s most interesting is the different impressions given off by the AUD vs. SBD in the quite excellent second set of 7/23. This Ghost sounds like the version the band wanted to play on opening night, authoritative, comfortable in its cowfunk skin, and taking its sweet time past the 26-minute mark. On the AUD, the sound tips the scales in favor of rock over funk, emphasizing all the big loud parts that fill up the space under the Lakewood Amphitheater roof in the jam’s latter half. But the SBD puts the focus on the groove machine in the middle, driven by Fishman’s inhuman drumming and Page’s Dr. Fink-style synth arsenal. 

The other element the SBD reveals is what a blast Phish was having on this night. From Trey barking orders in the intro to PYITE (“Go hard!”? “Do More!”?) to Fish playing hypeman to Trey’s Pepe Le Pew shirt at the end of Chalk Dust, the whole band (okay, just Trey and Fish) are in a chatty mood. Throughout Ghosts, Trey offers encouraging “yeah!”s when the band finds yet another funk groove to settle in. Later, they’re positively giddy over the weird little klezmer progression they find in the YEM jam — a picture-perfect example of Trey’s recent comment that “During a lot of Phish jams, I’ll land on a simple phrase, almost childlike, and then run with it.” — and the ensuing, suspiciously well-rehearsed “Rocky Mountain Way,” a pure “Dudes rock!” moment that bleeds over into someone mimicking the Joe Walsh original’s talkbox solo over Chalk Dust.

To my ears, the SBD sounds more nuanced and fun, while the AUD brings out the night’s volume and intensity. The truth, for all of 1997, is somewhere in the middle – the best shows, like this one, have equal doses of both. But as the year’s public historical record slowly gets converted to soundboard, it’s possible that perception might change, and maybe it already has. Beware the May 1977 effect, and be careful what you ask for…or at least look for a matrix.

* - The Great Went, of course, is widely available in FM-SBDs, but it’s weird that it’s never gotten the official blessing from Cardinal Shapiro.