I am really enthusiastic about this show! Jaded oldbies' fondness for it may have rubbed off, but I've sampled its delights for myself and found it worthy to orders of magnitude heretofore unknown, back when I first traded for the two '97 Hampton shows on CD-R back in '98 or '99. I even remember the red ultra-fine-point Sharpie labelling on the inner rings of the discs (remember not to marker up your discs' surfaces, except the pure plastic on the inner rings!) Mike's is huge, and IIRC, resembles or presages 12/30/99's huge version by not having the fabled second jam, as well as possessing an aura of foreboding that is nonetheless "securely weird." Hydrogen is blissful, as always. Weekapaug is also extended, with funk galore and one of my favorite features sometimes found in Weekapaug, which is Page on clavinet. This version reminds me of my favorite version, 8/16/96. Right around 10:30 Mike seems to be hinting at Talking Heads' Once in a Lifetime. (Just saying!) Hood is given a lengthy excursion, as well... brought to mind is 12/11/99's inversion of the Mike's Groove > Hood formula, as that show opened Hood > Mike's Groove (and contained an all-timer second set, taboot!) Train Song makes another welcome breather appearance before Billy breathes. Billy Breathes fits well on its eponymous studio album, but I think it might not have been out of place on Rift (if it had been written early enough, though I digress.) Another example of Phishy continuity (or retroactive continuity, as you wish.) Frankenstein is fun (see 12/30/97 for a truly "out-there" Frankenstein.) I am decidedly in the majority of not being a huge *Phish covering Izabella* enthusiast. It's a great showcase for Trey and Fishman in particular, but I dunno. Just to not leave the first-set recap on a downbeat, though, this one truly does rule all kinds of ass.

See the show notes for what you're hearing--and hearing Trey respond to from the stage--before Halley's. My heart breaks a little bit to this day still when Trey moans like a monster or whatever in response to the chant What follows, however, is the legendary "Hey Mike, stay on F" Halley's Comet. This version is funky, no doubt, as most everything was in Fall '97, but in an almost fusion way, thanks mostly to Fish's jazzy drumming. Halley's concludes with ambient jamming, which would play a big role in 1998 and onwards. Whew, 26-minute Halley's, and now Tweezer?!? This Tweezer is *only* (LOL) 12 minutes long, but for that reason is one of the most concise Type-II Tweezers and really tickles my fancy. Black-Eyed Katy, how do I love thee? A great reading of BEK kind of falls gracefully into Piper, with the slower build that phans were treated to in that era compared to the dare I say rushed builds of 3.0? Contrast this set-closing Antelope with 12/6/97's version for a study in a straight, raging 'Lope versus a funk-themed 'Lope. 'Twould be interesting to see more experimentation in Antelope nowadays in 3.0 IMO. Bouncing > Tweeprise encore, no fuss, no muss. She whispered words and I awoke and stepped into the freezer. I encourage you to do the same.