Date:    Mon, 8 Dec 1997 06:29:01 GMT
From:    Scott Silton 
Subject: 12/7 Mini-Review

Someone told the band it was my 50th show... they made sure to keep the
setlist fresh and funky!  Its hard to imagine becoming jaded with shows like
this one.

Set 1: (75 minutes tops)
AC/DC Bag -> Psycho Killer(whole song) -> Jesus Left Chicago, My Mind's Got a
Mind of Its Own, It's Ice -> Swept Away/Steep -> Ice, Theme from the Bottom,
Tube->Tube 'Jam Reprise' -> Slave to the Traffic Light

Wow!  What a killer set.  The JLC totally brought the house down, and the
Psycho Killer was sweet to hear.  MMGAMOIO hasn't been around for a while,
right?  First time I've heard in since 93 I believe.  The Ice had a few
problems but Page was king and the Swept/Steep middle was well placed.  The
Theme included a gorgeous Trey solo (it sounded to me like he was breathing
through the guitar).  Then TUBE!!   WHOO!  I've been waiting years to catch
this, and then the bust out THE FUNKY VERSION for me!  The middle of Tube was
a cool funkified jam, which they went back into after having wrapped the song
up (it was more or less an untitled funk instrumental I guess).  Then Slave.
Totally made up for the Cleveland fiasco -- this was a momentus Slave.  And a
momentus set.

At setbreak, I told my neighbor, "they can play shorter sets if they are going
to be that good!".  Once again the band was listening.

Set II  (62 minutes):
Timber Ho, Wolfman's Brother -> "Boogie on Reggae Woman" > Reba,
Guyute, Possum

Encore  (5 minutes):  A Day in the Life

Timber was nothing special, but the Wolfmans->Reggae Woman was kick ass!
Great segue and great tunes.  The Reggae Woman song is apparently a Stevie
Wonder cover (so I heard).  Reba and Guyute were sweet to hear although
neither was stellar.  Possum included a repeated tease of a lick I didn't
recognize, and in general was toasty.  ADITL was a bit of a letdown I suppose
but even that hasn't been around for a while it seems and nothing could be a
letdown from this fine show.  Short, but sweet: 35 minutes shorter than
Cleveland but way more fun!

Whoo!

I give the show at least a 7.  Nice setlist, nice segues, some cool
jams, breakouts, debuts.  Especially sweet from the 14th row... thanks to MO
for hooking me up!

goodnight,
Scott
silton.1@osu.edu

------------------------------

Date:    Mon, 8 Dec 1997 22:44:55 EDT
From:    Cardinal 
Subject: **12-7-97**Setlist And Review****

Setlist

12/07/97 Ervin J. Nutter Center, Dayton, OH
I:   AC/DC Bag > Pycho Killer* > Jesus Left Chicago,
     My Mind's Got A Mind Of It's Own, It's Ice > Swept Away > Steep >

     It's Ice, Theme From The Bottom, Tube, Jam > Slave To The Traffic
Light
II:  Timber Ho!, Wolfman's Brother > Boogie On Reggae Woman** > Reba,
     Guyute, PossumE:   A Day In The Life
* Talking Heads Cover, Last time played:  Concert Hall,  Toronto
Ontario Canada, 8-9-93, out of the YEM vocal jam... -AS
** Steve Wonder Cover. Last time played 3/21/88 [821 shows!]


Somone mentioned that they had played Psych Killer more recently then 88,
however, I think if one was to take a look, '97's was the first *full* version
with lyrics since '88.  Anyways, on with the review....

AC/DC Bag-      Good way to start the show, this one was high energy and got
the crowd immediatly energized.  Good call.  Before this even got 5 minutes in
though, Trey began teasing that oh-so familiar chord that reminded me of the
intro. for Cities.  Acutally, that wasn't far off since Trey started...

Psych Killer-   Excellent!  I haven't seen them do something this surprising
so early on in a long time.  Definate kudos, and this was a finely excuted
version of this song that was very enjoyable.  Things were going great so far.
The jam segued after 7 minutes or so into....

Jesus Left Chicago-     Unbelievable.  Even though this song is not one of
my favorites, you definatly had to admire the direction this set was taking so
far.  A+ for effort.  This version was definatly on.

My Mind's Got a Mind of Its Own- First quick trans. song, but I haven't heard
this at all yet, so I didn't mind one bit.  Plus, it's not overplayed at all.
Things were still definatly on track.

It's Ice-       Not a bad call at all for this time in the set.  Only, I wish
they would mix it up more a bit on this song.  This was excuted pretty well, no
major flubs I could catch, with the jam section segueing into....

Swept Away->Steep-      Definatly appreciated the placement for this as well,
although you could tell that an It's Ice reprise was coming a mile away.  Still,
I didn't care, it was all so good thus far.

It's Ice-       As said before.

Theme-          This seemed to fit perfectly in with the set's momentum.  Once
again, I'm not the biggest theme fan, but if there's one thing this set really
had going for it besides some nice jamming, it was major set cohesion.

Tube-   Funny, I saw both Tubes from last year (Palace and Deer Creek '96) and
this one beat the hell out of both of those.  Paige's solos were great, Trey
also I believe helped extend this version way out, thus, the Tube Reprise jam.
Gold, solid gold as they say.  Several times, I thought I heard them tease
Slave, but thought to myself that it was too early since they had just played
that 2 nights ago, however....

Slave-  Nice segue from Tube Reprise jam to Slave.  Also, this slave was very
tight, nice intro. and jam section, great set closer.

All in all, one of the best first sets I have seen in a while since 8/13/96
and 1st night deer Creek '97.  WOrth an 8 or 9.

Set II

Timber Ho-      My friend and I were hoping for a Cities opener, since they
played one talking head's cover, why not another?  Alas, we got the Timber Ho
instead.  What I liked about this was that it was short and sweet, actually
a really good way of jump-starting the set.  This segued beautifally into....

Wolfman's-      Ah, very happy to hear this one.  This version I was tighter and
better then Champaign's (excluding Champaign's post lyric jam of course :), with
another short, but sweet jam, leading way into...

Boogie on Reggae Women- My lord, so many breakouts and rare songs in one show!
I had no idea what this one was until someone told me.  This song continued
on with the set's momentum.  Very enjoyable, well jammed out, although
interesting to note, only 25 minutes or so had  passed.  But who the hell cared?
The post lyrical jam continued on for a bit, having both my friend and I guessing
what the heck they would come up with next.  All I was hoping was that a
buzzkill wasn't coming up next (i.e. Caspian).  I wasn't disappointed.

Reba-   My god, things were going great so far.  My first reba since
Champaign 96, and while I thought Champaign's was better (one of the best of
the year IMO), this reba was definatly better then your average reba. The jam
in this was built up nice and slow, but I thought the climax jam was  just a
shade less then other Reba's that comprise some of the greats (i.e. NYE '95
or even Champaign '96 again).  Reba ended and they leaped right into...

Guyute- Now, I'm not the biggest fan at all of Guyute.  Perhaps it's just the
fact that one exactly 95% of the song beforehand, with little improvision,
except for a few exceptions.  However, after the previous 4 songs, I didn't care,
and this particular version of Guyute was quite good (for those guyute
enthusiaists out there).

Possum- When they started this one up, I knew we were likely seeing the
end of the 2nd set.  This possum definatly above average, as far as Possum's
go, another gem to seek out for those Possum fans.

E:  A day in the life-  After such a monumental 1st and 2nd set, It wasn't
likely that the encore was going to be anything especially large.  Privately,
I was hoping for a Hood, but knew the odds of that were fairly low.  Instead,
A day in the life.  I was sick of this song in '95 and '96 since it was
played *to*death*, but here, didn't mind it at all.


Overall show impressions-       THis whole show stands on its own from
top to bottom.  As far as I can tell, one of the best of this whole tour,
definatly top 5 for fall.  Absolutly get the tapes for this one if you can.

Josh C "Cardinal"

------------------------------

Date:    Mon, 8 Dec 1997 01:14:18 GMT
From:    Nick Zuiderveld 
Subject: 12/7/97 Dayton Review

12/7/97 Ervin J. Nutter Center, Dayton, OH

I:  AC/DC Bag > Psycho Killer > Jesus Left Chicago, My Mind's Got A
Mind Of It's Own, It's Ice > Swept Away > Steep > It's Ice, Theme From
the Bottom, Tube, Jam > Slave to the Traffic Light  (1:10)

II:  Timber Ho!, Wolfman's Brother > Boogie On Reggae Woman > Reba,
Guyute, Possum  (1:00)

E:  A Day In The Life

Alright, first off this is the first time I've posted a review, so
bear with me.  First off, to those of you who weren't at the show, it
sounded just as good as it looks, so I highly suggest looking for it
on tape.

SET I

AC/DC BAG:  I had very few expectations for a set opener, and this got
the show off to a great start, the crowd was instantly energized.
They were all playing excellently, and as soon as the jam segment
started, the jam started changing almost immediately and within only a
few minutes we were exported to something completely different.  I
didn't realize what was happening until the vocals came in, and sure
enough it was the Talking Heads'

PSYCHO KILLER:  I'm not sure if this was the complete version or not,
they only sang a couple verses, but it was fun to hear, I'd never
thought Phish would play this, so it was totally out of the blue.
After the last verse, they went into a jam, very nice, and a bit
surprising for the first set, considering the trends of this tour.  I
was very pleased to hear what was happening, it was a strong jam, high
energy, kept everyone dancing.  The jam was at a quick tempo until it
gradually slowed down, and ever so beautifully segued into...

JESUS LEFT CHICAGO:  I'm a big fan of this song, and it was perfectly
placed in the set, something a little less hectic than the previous
jam, I even thought I'd be able to slow down, but that was not the
case, this Jesus Left Chicago was excellent, they milked it for all it
was worth.  Nothing out of the ordinary, but just damn tight; Page
kicked the hell out of his solo, and Trey's part was just as strong.
I really enjoyed this version, all around excellent.  They finally
ended and we were allowed at least a few seconds to relax our weary
feet, this was a great way to begin a show, I knew this was going to
be a great show.

MY MIND'S GOT A MIND OF IT'S OWN:  What's funny is I'd been talking
with my best friend all weekend about how I'd rather hear this song
than any of the other country ones for once; lo and behold here it is!
There's really little to say about this, it was light-hearted and fun,
and something less intense than the beginning of the set.

IT'S ICE:  At this point, I'd learned I wasn't going to be able to
expect anything, and this was a welcome song.  The last time I heard
this was the last time they played it, Tinley Park, and though this
song doesn't have a whole lot of variety from one to the next, I loved
this one.  They were playing it about as tight as it can get, and when
they reached the middle, quiet part of the song, I was pleased to hear
them do something different here, and I was VERY happy to hear them go
into...

SWEPT AWAY > STEEP:  There couldn't have been a better selection to
place in the middle of Ice, it really brought out a solemn atmosphere
that fit like a glove.  As far as Swept Away > Steep goes, it was
standard, but it's placement was the great part, and after a short
pause at the end of Steep, Ice was back and it was great!

THEME FROM THE BOTTOM:  It's taken me a while to like this song, I
wasn't too impressed with it when I first heard it, but it's
definately grown on me.  When I heard Fish start up the drum beat, I
was slightly disappointed, but that feeling lasted about 2 or 3
seconds.  This was a standard Theme, but I really enjoy the jamming
they do with it nowadays, and it was done nicely here, but overall, I
can't say this version is going to make the headlines.

TUBE:  Tube!  This was the Tube of Tube's, unbelievable!  Trey walked
around on stage telling everyone what was up before-hand, and I heard
later that someone had a Tube sign, and all I have to say to that
person is this: Thank You!  After the second verse, they started
jamming and Page took us somewhere else, the jam that evolved was very
similar to the post-Isabella jamming from Detroit, very funky, very
fun!  After about 8 minutes of excellent funk-jamming, Trey brought us
back into Tube for the end, and it was executed perfectly!  I really
can't say enough about this Tube, definately the best version ever
played, hands down!  What came next surprised the hell out of me.
They had completely finished Tube and were just preparing what to play
next, Trey calling the shots.  He counted out the beat and all of a
sudden they started out in the middle of a jam, it sounded distinctly
similar to the Tube jam and the post-Isabella jam from the night
before.  They jammed out on this for 5-7 minutes, I can't be sure, and
then Trey struck the initial chords to

SLAVE TO THE TRAFFIC LIGHT:  Always a welcome set closer!  I'll never
hear too many Slaves, this one was great, again nothing out of the
ordinary, but that doesn't mean anything when you're talking about
Slave.  Great as usual, nice build-up, very melodic, and an excellent
way to end a superb set!  After such a great set, I couldn't imagine
what they'd bring out for the second set.  The first set had lasted
about 1:10, and every bit of it was power-packed.  After 45 minutes of
solid waiting, chris cut the lights and we were once again on our
way...

SET II

TIMBER HO!:  As you can tell from the setlist, there aren't any
spectacular segues out of this Timber, but don't let that disappoint
you, it was good for what it was worth.  Only about 10 minutes, but
the Burlington boys used those few minutes for the forces of good.
The jam segment was done well, and though I was a bit distressed to
hear them go back into the end of Timber, it was still a solid
version.

WOLFMAN'S BROTHER:  The Nutter Center went wild for this song, in fact
just about every song in the second set, but anyway, this was a cool
Wolfman's, though I'm a bit biased since the last one I saw was from
Champaign, and that speaks for itself.  The jam was still just as
funky, and I was really enjoying the groove as I noticed the gradual
change into a familiar song....

BOOGIE ON REGGAE WOMAN:  I absolutely love Stevie Wonder's funk, and
if I had my way, Wolfman's and this song would always be bound
together, and if you don't believe me, just listen to the tapes.  This
song fit perfectly here and as soon as I heard the opening words to
this great song, I went nuts!  Mike hit the bass part better than I'd
ever imagined and I couldn't believe how tight it was, especially
after how many?  821 shows since the last one?  This is a must hear,
the energy in that place was so strong that it couldn't be sliced with
a piece of paper!  The jam directly after Boogie slowly evolved,
sticking with the thick funk sound, until Trey started playing

REBA:  Something about this show, they just kept on playing songs I'd
like to hear, and this was one of them.  Phish was really playing off
the crowd tonight, and it showed here.  The composed part was the
composed part, fun fun fun.  The jam part was great, a step above most
regular reba's, very long, jammed out, Trey played it to the limit,
and it was absolutely beautiful!  They brought it up as high as this
song can go and when it finally ended, no whistling, which was cool
because it just would've brought down the tempo of the evening.
Overall, a great Reba worth listening to more than once!

GUYUTE:  Oh did the place go nuts when this popped up.  As far as
Guyute's go, this one was superb, Trey played this so well, I heard
things I've never heard in Guyute's before, so needless to say I was
impressed.  If you ever had to hear one Guyute, this one would easily
suffice, done to perfection.  Since Guyute's don't have a jam-segment
and is pretty much all composed, you might think, oh well, another
Guyute, but it was just excellent, loved every minute of it!

POSSUM:  Possum!  They had some fun with the intro, and at this point
my feet were so tired I didn't think I'd be able to hold out for this
song, and if it wasn't for how damn well they played it, I probably
would have sat down.  Man did they play, it seemed that this second
set just got off on the right foot and just never calmed down, it
wasn't so much as a strong jam-set as much as a strong song-set, and I
couldn't argue with the song choices.  The Possum was great as a set
closer, the whole place was on the same plane, a great connection
between the audience and the boys onstage, and though it was only an
hour set, I didn't feel disappointed.  A great end to a great show!

ENCORE:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:  I wasn't sure how long it would take for them to
bring back this song, so I was very pleased to hear it again.  It was
standard for ADITL, but that just means it was great.  Great choice
for an encore.

I had an excellent time at this show, the song choice was great for
the entire two sets, and the energy going through the arena was
sky-high.  I advise everyone to get the tapes to this show.
Highlights for me were AC/DC > Psycho Killers > JLC, Tube, Boogie On
Reggae Woman, and Reba, but the show was stupendous overall.  I hope
my review was alright and gave anyone a fairly good view of the
show...

A Devoted Phan,
Nick Z

----------------

Date:    Tue, 23 Jun 1998 23:48:10 -0500
From:    Justin Antos 
Subject: 12/7/97 Dayton - Best Show of Tour

I've just been stuck in the car for a few days, and I've spent the time
listening to the vast majority of my Fall Tour shows.  After this, I've
come to realize that 12/7/97 in Dayton was probably the musical
highlight of the whole tour.  Granted, essays such as these are really
subjective, but I've tried (operative word here: tried) to flesh out my
opinions with rationale and citations rather than a simple "I think it's
good. So there."

First of all, during the Fall 97 Tour I was only able to catch a couple
shows here in Worcester because of school and all that real life stuff,
so I was definitely not in touch with the live experience of the tour.
I'm speaking solely on the basis of the tapes.  I've heard the entire
Fall tour except for a few scattered shows.  In my opinion, tapes tend
to reveal the true musical quality (barring the atmosphere, experience,
etc) better than recollections which may be influenced by things just
like the aforementioned (i.e., I thought 4/4/98 Brother sucked until I
heard it on tape).



Here's the setlist, but I'm not going to do a formal "review" of every
song:

1: AC/DC > Psycho Killer > Jesus Left Chicago> My Mind GAMOIO > It's
Ice> Swept Away> Steep> It's Ice, Theme, Tube, Jam> Slave
2: Timber Ho > Wolfman's > Boogie on Reggae Woman > Reba, Gyute, Possum
E: A Day in the Life



This show was truly legendary.  It contains all of the elements that
constitute a famous show: return of songs of olden times, unusual
covers, continuations of previous shows, an excellent musical mix of
Phish's GREAT versatility, some short songs and some long jam songs,
revived songs, a balance of old material and new material, crowd
pleasers, and FANTASTIC runs of absolute musical delight.  If the band
planned this setlist out beforehand, I commend them on this masterpiece.

For 12/7, Phish brings back a Stevie Wonder cover, "Boogie On Reggae
Woman."  This is the second time they had ever played it, the first
being 3/21/88 I (ref: HFB http://www.phish.net/hfb).  Just like the
revival of Sneakin' Sally on 12/30/97, the return of this song is a
great surprise.   Admittedly, Trey doesn't know all the words, but the
band adapts their jam so flawlessly to the basic rythym that you really
have a hard time figuring out when the jam stops and when the band
concentrates on segueing.  I almost guess Trey just started singing the
words spontanaeously and the band picked right up for the chord change.

There are old songs balanced with new songs.  Old tunes include Reba,
Slave, and AC/DC Bag, and among the ranks of the (fairly) new were Swept
Away, Steep, and Jesus Left Chicago.  There are fast songs like Tube, My
Mind, and It's Ice; there are slow and spacy songs like Slave, Theme,
Reba; and most importantly there are those wonderful Phish trademark
songs that are neither and a mixture of both: Gyute, the opening of
Reba, and the cover of ADITL.

The Psycho Killer is a great cover, too.  Phish's version is so
different than to the Talking Heads: Phish breathes new life into a
dying song once again!  Trey imitating the Heads is hilarious :-)

It is worth noting Wolfman's Brother.  This song is definitely one of
the most improved songs for 97, and 12/7 is no exception.  I wouldn't
say this version is outstanding amidst some of the other greats that
came before and after it, but it's a solid jam.

The opening Bag>Psycho Killer>Jesus is a great piece of musicianship.
The Bag is, in the typical 97 fashion, fairly on the funky side much
like the 11/21/97 II before it, and the segue into Psycho is killer.  I
almost like Phish's version better...  Another great run is Ice>Swept
Away>Steep>Ice.  I fearlessly compare it to the Bowie>Catapult>Bowie
4/17/92.  Both Swept Away and Steep are great examples of Phish's newer,
softer, tighter harmonies - and the fact that it was seamlessly
sandwiched in the middle of an older song makes it all the more
enjoyable.

Which brings me to the highlight of the whole show: the Dayton Tube
sequence.  Suffice it to say, the Dayton Tube is probably my favorite
peice of music by Phish right now.  If you don't like funk, you won't
like the Dayton Tube.  They jam this one out perfectly, and yet they
stay within the bounds of  the song (with the lyrics, the heavy metal
bit in the middle).  It's a fast, thick funk jam.  Trey doesn't fall
into the "too much chording and not enought soloing" trap.  Page works
wonders, as does Mike.  Then they stop and start up a jam, which most
agree was a continuation of 12/6/97's Tweezer>Izabella run.  The 12/6/97
might have been from 11/28/97 Worcester, too.  (on a side note, Phish
did the continuation for me again from Tweezer 4/3/98 to 4/4, and that
time I was there).  If you haven't heard the Dayton Tube, DO IT SOON!
Get a copy of the first set, or request it as a filler, something!

Throughout the show, Phish struck an incredible balance that most of
their shows miss.  The cool experimentation usually found in a second
set started from the beginning of the first set - a notable feature in
of itself.  The only way the show could have been better/more varied
would have been with something A Cappella like Halley's, or maybe a
Gamehendge tune.  The Tube was incredible.  Phish integrated funk,
blues, country, good old rock and roll, and that uniquely Phishy genre
which is so difficult to categorize.  To me, the show represented what
Phish is all about - lots of fun, very different musical styles,
shedding new light on old music, and superb musicianship. It truly was a
musical extravaganza.  I highly recommend this show to anyone who has
not heard it, and I cast my vote for it as the Show of the Tour.

Please CC all replies, seconds, flames, criticisms to me.

------------------------------------
Justin Antos

antos@erols.com * antos@fas.harvard.edu
http://www.erols.com/antos
"If your dog or cat ever dies, I'll buy you a ewe"