Part of my full run through of Summer '98, see here

So we've finally arrived at one of the points of this tour I've been waiting for. Now angling back upwards the last few sets after sinking to the low point of the tour, the band kicks this show off with Bathtub Gin, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The jam starts off in typical Bathtub Gin fashion at 5.5 minutes, with Trey riffing a bit around the theme. Fish and Mike are holding this one down steadily at first. The theme begins to get more uplifting approaching the seven minute mark, and Trey starts to ascend. At this point Fish and Mike have perked up as well. Mike is laying down some great lines as Trey begins to range into bliss territory after the eight minute mark. Page is really selling it as well and the joyous theme continues to build... we are back in Gorge territory here as the band is not rushing the peak, instead patiently bouncing through every variation of the theme they can think of. At eleven minutes in Trey and Page are finally hitting full bliss and Mike and Fish are accenting the hell out of it. Trey and Mike really are in the zone at about 12 minutes in and they start to turn the jam inward, and at about 13.5 minutes they have re-entered funk ambience mode with Mike really leading the charge. At just under 14 minutes Mike strikes up a new theme, finally leaving the key of Gin, and Fish god bless him, is right there with him holding down the new groove. The rhythm section is in full control now and we are now in a kind of funk march unlike anything related to Gin at all. This goes on for several minutes until Trey finally fully re-enters the fray at about 17 minutes. Trey's theme here is fantastic and kicks the band's energy back up a notch. At 18.5 minutes the band has settled in and now they are sinking into THIS theme and seeing every path it goes down. Page and Mike are trading licks and Fish is driving this one harder and harder as they approach the 20 minute mark. This is now feeling more funky again, but maintains the pulsing beat of the earlier theme. Page is driving the theme at 21 minutes, first on clav and then on piano, and the jam starts to slow down and you can feel that descent is imminent. Everyone starts to slide out and then finally, Trey lets the Gin theme ring out at 22.5 minutes and the band changes key to follow, and we end things with a triumphant note in Gin proper at 23.5 minutes. Some consider this the best Phish jam of all time and it certainly makes a strong case. This is pure communication and feels like an amazing ride with everyone contributing. Some others might be go deeper or longer or darker or brighter, but as far as long form but self-contained jams within the confines of one song, this has to be on the short list.

The Dog Log dedicated to Paul Languedoc feels like it could be the only follow up here to a show that started with a top tier jam. Foam also feels perfect here as it has some thematic similarities to the second half of the Gin jam. Fikus provides a welcome break, and the band follows up with mostly standard versions of good songs for the rest of the set (though the new Vultures arrangement is a tad bit shaky here). Honestly, that is all they needed to do after that Gin jam to open though.

The first 2.5 minutes of this second set is ambient haze until an unexpected Buried Alive emerges. At about the 6.5 minute mark, rather than wrap up the typical arranged ending of the instrumental tune, Trey takes off and starts to elevate. This feels like a delicate build on Trey's part, contrasted by Fishman still holding down the traditional Buried Alive rhythm until they hit 8 minutes. At that point Mike starts to drop into a new pattern and Trey goes into more of a rock rhythm with Page building tension. By 10 minutes Fishman is moving away from the typical Buried Alive script but still maintaining the driving feel of the song, while the rest of the band is back to exploring space; we drop into another ambient section that is repeatedly punctuated with the Buried Alive main theme. At 12 minutes Trey goes into a new theme, backed by loops and Page's piano, with the rhythm section still holding down that unrelenting sense of motion that Buried Alive generates. By 13 minutes or so the band is fading out with more teases of the primary theme before smoothly segueing into the debut of If You Need a Fool (which is very well done).

The central portion of the second set is a double dose of Gamehendge, though in weird order, with a jamless but very hard-rocking AC/DC leading into a measured Lizards. After this there is a bit of a pause, so the crowd must have been more than relieved when the band kicks into Tube. This is another great '98 version, meaning the song is still hitting it's peak. The ending is punctuated by descending ambience that leads into Kung. The Antelope closer has a particularly playful intro with Fish on the vacuum and ends the set in a raucous fashion. The encore feels fairly normal with Waste going into Golgi, but then the band makes the unusual decision to end things with Bittersweet Motel for the second time in a three show stretch. Either way, a three song encore feels like icing on the cake.

The show is really defined by the two jams at the start of each set, which contradict each other in a lot of ways. While both showcase the bounds of the band's creativity and drive to explore, the Gin feels like the band is completely telepathic and locked in tight and absolutely rocks, while Buried Alive is blurry and ambient, with that tightrope-walking, bottom could drop out feel the entire time, but still never gets away from them. Everything else is gravy, though the playing is solid, the song selection is great with some fan favorite rarities (Dog Log and Kung), and the finish is strong with another fantastic Tube and a fun Antelope to close out. We are 100% back in "Best Phish Ever" territory here after what felt like a lull, and still plenty of shows to go before we hit the end of this tour.