11-29-96 Cow Palace, San Francisco, CA
1: Frankenstein, NICU, Cars Trucks Buses, Character Zero, The Divided Sky, Bathtub Gin, Life on Mars, Maze, Suzy Greenberg
2: Wilson-> Simple-> Sparks-> Sparkle, Taste, Swept Away-> Steep, You Enjoy Myself, Waste, Harry Hood
E: Sample in a Jar
Now here is a SOLID Phish show. You can tell NICU is a little unrehearsed but by the time they get to Divided Sky they got their shit locked in tight. The guitar work in this DSky is phenomenal. The Bathtub Gin is not bad…it doesn’t really go anywhere too crazy but at least they kind of felt that and didn’t drag it out. A nice Life on Mars? precedes and absolutely amazing version of Maze. Trey does some really unique stuff in the middle of his solo and builds a good amount of tension, before it releases and they build back the tension in the standard Maze fashion. Definitely a good one to check out. Then a nice funkay Suzie to round out the set.
This second set is very nicely executed and has some really awesome jams. The Simple is really really good. Though shorter than many others during this tour, it gets exactly where it needs to go for an awesome segue into a nice Sparks bust-out. A trio of Billy Breathes tunes next and then what I think is the best YEM of the year. This is the perfect blend between the more rhythmically complex pre-97 improv and the 97 cow funk. Mike and fish are so locked in on this jam it’s ridiculous. They spend a few minutes laying down the hard funk, then they break it down nice and quiet while Trey has a nice mellow solo. Then they build back into the B&D section, this one being a lot slower and funkier. Very awesome. Had meself a little dance party first thing this morning while rocking this out. The Hood is also the prefect closer for this show and it is a beautiful version with a screaming finish.