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

Here we are, final regular show before the festival. The band kicks off with La Grange, and while it's not as good as the Texas bustout a few weeks earlier, it makes for a good start. Makisupa is fun and Funky Bitch has some nice work from Page. After some banter about Fishman and his high school band, the band rolls into another great version of Possum. Roggae makes for a nice cool follow up and feels as strong as any version from the tour. Character Zero feels like it could be the closer, but at the end fades out into ambience that Trey jokes is a song Fish wrote in high school. With that the band hits the second rendition of Ramble On this tour. At first, it seems like a straightforward performance like the Alpine version, lending a lot of it's energy from performances of the more frequently favored Zeppelin cover of Good Times Bad Times. But then shortly after seven minutes the band does something that they had NOT been doing with these unique covers this tour, and instead takes a left turn. After a brief reprise of the theme the band introduces elements of space and then starts to jam in the '98 style, quietly but surely exploring the theme and seeing where it takes them. This one leans very heavily into ambient space, but every time you start to think you don't recognize the song anymore the theme is teased again. Slowly new elements emerge in what is a very familiar style... and the payoff comes in the form of a wonderful segue into Slave to the Traffic Light. This is a particularly delicate Slave, playing off of the excellent jam that preceded it. Trey brilliantly teases Ramble On as the Slave builds with gives this version that little something extra. All this energy really fuels the peak of this version and makes it a standout.

Set two and we are kicking things off with another nice Mike's Song. The initial jam gets menacing in a unique way. And then after eight minutes it starts to take on a new form as the rhythm section bend the jam in a completely different direction. The jam falls inward for a few minutes before the 12 minute mark, at which point Trey reasserts the theme and starts building momentum. The build stalls out at around fourteen minutes at which point the band patiently but aggressively builds an even more menacing tension. This is just stellar. Finally the band achieved peak, and then slows the tempo going into Simple. This version features a sudden shift into a bluesy vibe shortly after the nine mark that is really unexpected, but not seemingly out of place in this show either. This one eventually fades out as well and moves nicely into Rift. This is another great, rocking Loving Cup in a late set spot, leaving room for more fun before they close out. A standard Sleeping Monkey comes next, before the band delivers a rocking Weekapaug Groove. The band could have ended here but, maybe in an effort to build stamina going into a festival, the band kicks off one more song and closes with a beautiful Squirming Coil instead.

The encore embraces the Summer 1998 ethos with another cover debut, with "Vernon" Down the House. The performance is far from perfect, but it's another enjoyable hit of endorphins. The band knows better than to close with this though; after yet another Fishman shot by Trey and an HYHU tease, they wrap up the show with a great YEM, featuring multiple teases and a tight jam.

This is another strong show. The meat is in the middle though, with the top highlights being Ramble On > Slave and the Mike's Song set 2 opener. This lacks a truly signature jam like the show before it, but the setlist is quite good and it's highlights can hold their own, and it has a bit more of a fun vibe going into Lemonwheel.