PHISH, FRIDAY 07/24/1998
CYNTHIA WOODS MITCHELL PAVILION
The Woodlands, TX

SET 1:

The Moma Dance: Standard. >

Runaway Jim: The shift at right about the 8 minute mark transitions the band into the funky realm. Check out Fishman at the 8 and half minute mark, the man is possessed, such a talent. I especially like the theme that Trey creates at 9:48 and rides for a good bit. Good Jim would recommend.

Bouncing Around the Room: Standard.

Stash: Pretty good version.

My Soul: Standard.

Taste: Standard.

Golgi Apparatus: Standard.

Loving Cup: Fire in the belly with this one, has extra mustard and extra time too.

SET 2:

Wolfman's Brother: Jam starts off funky as it typically does. In the 8 minute range Trey focuses on some staccato picking. This leads to that crunchy tone that emerged in summer of 97, really good stuff and transitions. Mike is throwing down in here and another few minutes of funk. In the late 13’s though, the funk peters out and the band is actively searching for where to go from here. They find the direction at 14:53, and it’s rock and roll and Trey is leading the way. Look out below, things are about to get loud and wild. By the 18 minute range Trey has guided his mates into a heavy metal jam. But here comes more funk at 18:39 – heavy on the wah. But wait, he is weaving that heavy metal in and out of the funk. Nasty!!! This finally settles around the 20 minute mark and the next three minutes are full of deep space and ambience per the 1998 handbook. Highly recommend jam right there, one of the best Wolfman’s they have played! >

Also Sprach Zarathustra: Had to see this coming from a mile away. First jam hits at 5:00. Second at 9:00. Groovy stuff! Great placement too. >

Scent of a Mule > Ha Ha Ha -> Scent of a Mule: Standard. IMHO, this knocks the second set off kilter, and it never recovers sadly enough.

Slave to the Traffic Light: Reminiscent of a 3.0 Slave, no breathing room after the end of the composed section with the heavy metal outro. The jam seems rushed and has no oomph in the climax, very vanilla Slave >

Chalk Dust Torture: Standard.

ENCORE:

Character Zero: Standard.

Summary: Outside of the Jim jam and the Loving Cup face melting closer, there is nothing to hang your hat on in that first set. Played it safe. The second set starts off very, very strong with that Wolfman’s all timer and a nice 2001 but if falls off a cliff after that. I am not nearly as high on this show as Phish.net as their current rating is 4.097/5 (93 ratings). I can’t give it a 3.5 average rating because of that Wolfman’s but that is what my gut tells me to do. I will bump it another .2 – 3.7/5. They could not maintain that momentum that they had built with those West coast shows.

Replay Value: Runaway Jim, Loving Cup, Wolfman's Brother

Scent of a Mule contained a quote of the theme from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
SHOW RATING
Your rating:
Overall: 4.097/5 (93 ratings)
JAM CHART VERSIONS
Runaway Jim, Loving Cup, Wolfman's Brother
TEASES
Theme from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly tease in Scent of a Mule