This is great! And the cycle of emotions is very relatable even for a non Phish fan. An all-time-great experience on paper that’s more mixed in reality, with real life concerns like exhaustion, needing to pee, etc.
Had that most recently the second night of Solid Sound this year. A half dozen songs in, Wilco starts playing A Ghost Is Born in full, unannounced! Holy shit! But I’d been standing on the packed field for hours and was flagging. Felt like sacrilege to wander off during Spiders (Kidsmoke) to find the ice cream stand but I needed a boost. Glad I did, gave me that second wind, even though I lost my killer spot and ended up sitting on a hill way further back.
You are the GOAT for sustaining that set in full for the sake of this very generous essay. Happy New Year to ye! and thank you for taking on mammoth endurance energy to create this whole project tour after tour (perpetually 25 years later).
My memories of Big Cypress are indeed hazy - my 17 year old self did not have the foresight to remain sober and drink coffee - oh well. Listening back to the whole set for the first time in 25 years (in 3 separate sessions) brought back some memories, but I also had some of the same impressions you had listening to the Phish boys play this almost too long set. There is a lot of joy, fatigue, and deliriousness that all equate to a very memorable experience and legendary show. Can’t wait to relive 2000 Phish with you kind sir.
Listening to last nights NYE show while reading your excellent review. Thinking about how 25 years ago I was bummed I couldn’t make the trip to Big Cypress due to my boss wanting me to stay local for Y2K since I was the IT guy at a law firm. Thanks for all your reviews, looking forward to the 2000 shows.
Thoroughly enjoyed this past year of writing Rob and I have more appreciation and nuance into Phish in '99 now. I was expecting you to go heavier on the "What now?" element the band always talks about for this show, but it was actually a real treat for you to give us such a deep dive into the music and the dissonance between being there/listening in full 25 years later. That last sentence is definitely a sentiment I think we've all had. Sick of Phish until shortly thereafter we're not.
Anyway, first non-nostalgic review I've ever read on Cypress and nice to get a scope of how monumental it was alongside a dose of the reality of the experience.
totally. i realized that after I finished that there's a lot of room in 2000 to go there. whereas only one chance to really look at the show so carefully.
also thoroughly enjoyed the dot net exchange with Tom Marshall. Digging back into the archives like that is such a treat.
Bad Ass!! Now I feel like I have to do it. I wish I could remember if I even tried to do the Meatstick or not, there was a lot of laying down happening at that point LOL. See you in May!
This was a great read! Felt like I got the most perspective on big cypress that I have ever gotten. The pictures were a great addition. I did not go to Big Cypress and always regretted it. But I also knew that I would likely have been so spun at that time that I would not have enjoyed it the way I should have. Your review reinforced that to me.
Thanks, as always, for recapturing some of the highlights of youth!
Great write-up, Rob. Like the band, you earned a six-month break.
This is a great companion to the After Midnight podcast. The most memorable part of the pod is that all four guys were back at their homes by noon. They were done.
Amazing write up! I have to say, though, I honestly feel that the ROSES might be the greatest jam of their entire career. I think it was definitely one of the high points of Jon Fishman‘s entire drumming career. So I’m a bit disappointed to hear how much you disagree with my assessment. But thank you for taking the time to write all this. It’s been truly an enjoyable experience.
Well, OK. Here goes. My personal opinion is that this was/is the greatest concert ever played by any band in the history of mankind. And the Roses jam in particular, followed closely by the Drowned>AM and the Sand>QT are the pinnacles of this Long Gig.
One of the band’s primary goals with The Long Gig, which you briefly mentioned, was that they wanted to discover what sort of jamming would emerge once exhaustion set in, after they finally stopped thinking. When exhaustion set in, would they stop overthinking and simply feel their way through? Would their spirits sync together in perfect harmony once their brains shut down?
I do believe that the Drowned>AM and the Roses jams are the band proving their Long Gig thesis, that once exhaustion set in, they could achieve a special sort of jamming, unique in particular to this concert. I think they fully achieved their thesis goal with the Roses jam in particular.
You called it “unintentional free jazz.” But you didn’t mean it as a compliment. It is that unintentional free jazz that is so uniquely awesome, to my ears. I don’t hear a “mess” in that Roses jam. It is jazz, but what I hear is more orderly and cohesive than it is messy. I hear an exceptionally rhythmic jazz experiment, led by Fish/Mike, that evolves into a beautiful journey of a jam. I love listening to it, perhaps more than anything else in their catalog (the only exception being the Gorge ‘11 R&R>Meatstick). When I hear this Roses jam, it really does sound like the band fully accomplished what they set out to with The Long Gig. That Roses jam sounds like their individual brains were shutting down, yet melting together and becoming one collective brain. It is a precious jam, and they’ve played no others like it in their entire career.
This is great! And the cycle of emotions is very relatable even for a non Phish fan. An all-time-great experience on paper that’s more mixed in reality, with real life concerns like exhaustion, needing to pee, etc.
Had that most recently the second night of Solid Sound this year. A half dozen songs in, Wilco starts playing A Ghost Is Born in full, unannounced! Holy shit! But I’d been standing on the packed field for hours and was flagging. Felt like sacrilege to wander off during Spiders (Kidsmoke) to find the ice cream stand but I needed a boost. Glad I did, gave me that second wind, even though I lost my killer spot and ended up sitting on a hill way further back.
Rob!
You are the GOAT for sustaining that set in full for the sake of this very generous essay. Happy New Year to ye! and thank you for taking on mammoth endurance energy to create this whole project tour after tour (perpetually 25 years later).
My memories of Big Cypress are indeed hazy - my 17 year old self did not have the foresight to remain sober and drink coffee - oh well. Listening back to the whole set for the first time in 25 years (in 3 separate sessions) brought back some memories, but I also had some of the same impressions you had listening to the Phish boys play this almost too long set. There is a lot of joy, fatigue, and deliriousness that all equate to a very memorable experience and legendary show. Can’t wait to relive 2000 Phish with you kind sir.
Listening to last nights NYE show while reading your excellent review. Thinking about how 25 years ago I was bummed I couldn’t make the trip to Big Cypress due to my boss wanting me to stay local for Y2K since I was the IT guy at a law firm. Thanks for all your reviews, looking forward to the 2000 shows.
Thoroughly enjoyed this past year of writing Rob and I have more appreciation and nuance into Phish in '99 now. I was expecting you to go heavier on the "What now?" element the band always talks about for this show, but it was actually a real treat for you to give us such a deep dive into the music and the dissonance between being there/listening in full 25 years later. That last sentence is definitely a sentiment I think we've all had. Sick of Phish until shortly thereafter we're not.
Anyway, first non-nostalgic review I've ever read on Cypress and nice to get a scope of how monumental it was alongside a dose of the reality of the experience.
Plenty of time for "what now?" next year!
Or, uh, this year, I guess.
totally. i realized that after I finished that there's a lot of room in 2000 to go there. whereas only one chance to really look at the show so carefully.
also thoroughly enjoyed the dot net exchange with Tom Marshall. Digging back into the archives like that is such a treat.
Where is the Tom interview? I don't see it linked and cannot find it online.
I honestly have no idea - it's something I printed out and put in my scrapbook sometime in 2000.
Watching them on youtube come out in the hot dog I had to wonder if any of them were thinking: "I'm not sure I can do this."
.....and we'd never hear The Beatles' Here Comes The Sun the same way again.
Bad Ass!! Now I feel like I have to do it. I wish I could remember if I even tried to do the Meatstick or not, there was a lot of laying down happening at that point LOL. See you in May!
This was a great read! Felt like I got the most perspective on big cypress that I have ever gotten. The pictures were a great addition. I did not go to Big Cypress and always regretted it. But I also knew that I would likely have been so spun at that time that I would not have enjoyed it the way I should have. Your review reinforced that to me.
Thanks, as always, for recapturing some of the highlights of youth!
Great write-up, Rob. Like the band, you earned a six-month break.
This is a great companion to the After Midnight podcast. The most memorable part of the pod is that all four guys were back at their homes by noon. They were done.
Amazing write up! I have to say, though, I honestly feel that the ROSES might be the greatest jam of their entire career. I think it was definitely one of the high points of Jon Fishman‘s entire drumming career. So I’m a bit disappointed to hear how much you disagree with my assessment. But thank you for taking the time to write all this. It’s been truly an enjoyable experience.
Say more! I'd love to hear an argument for it.
Well, OK. Here goes. My personal opinion is that this was/is the greatest concert ever played by any band in the history of mankind. And the Roses jam in particular, followed closely by the Drowned>AM and the Sand>QT are the pinnacles of this Long Gig.
One of the band’s primary goals with The Long Gig, which you briefly mentioned, was that they wanted to discover what sort of jamming would emerge once exhaustion set in, after they finally stopped thinking. When exhaustion set in, would they stop overthinking and simply feel their way through? Would their spirits sync together in perfect harmony once their brains shut down?
I do believe that the Drowned>AM and the Roses jams are the band proving their Long Gig thesis, that once exhaustion set in, they could achieve a special sort of jamming, unique in particular to this concert. I think they fully achieved their thesis goal with the Roses jam in particular.
You called it “unintentional free jazz.” But you didn’t mean it as a compliment. It is that unintentional free jazz that is so uniquely awesome, to my ears. I don’t hear a “mess” in that Roses jam. It is jazz, but what I hear is more orderly and cohesive than it is messy. I hear an exceptionally rhythmic jazz experiment, led by Fish/Mike, that evolves into a beautiful journey of a jam. I love listening to it, perhaps more than anything else in their catalog (the only exception being the Gorge ‘11 R&R>Meatstick). When I hear this Roses jam, it really does sound like the band fully accomplished what they set out to with The Long Gig. That Roses jam sounds like their individual brains were shutting down, yet melting together and becoming one collective brain. It is a precious jam, and they’ve played no others like it in their entire career.
There. How’d I do? Did I convince you?