02-17-97 Paradiso, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1: Soul Shakedown Party*-> The Divided Sky, Wilson#, My Soul, Guyute, Timber (Jerry), Billy Breathes, Llama, Bathtub Gin-> Golgi Apparatus
2: The Squirming Coil > Down With Disease-> Carini-> Taste-> Down With Disease-> Suzy Greenberg-> Prince Caspian
E: Sleeping Monkey, Rocky Top
*First time played (Bob Marley cover). #Trey flubs lyrics a few times.
[b]Set One[/b]
[u]Soul Shakedown Party[/u]
First time played by Phish, but I would have never guessed. Played "perfectly". Bob Marley cover to open up the Amsterdam show? For some reason it just seems to fitting. Page's vocals really shine on this song, and this version is fantastic. I'm sure the crowd was quite surprised by this, and the feeling of this song really sets the tone for the evening in my eyes.
[u]> Divided Sky[/u]
Just plain AMAZING. Two songs in and the show is in high gear. Quite possibly my favorite Divided Sky ever. Not only is the song absolutely nailed, the energy coming from the stage must have been able to push the crowd back a few feet. Before the lyrical section, there is some great thumping coming from the one Michael Gordon, and the swimming breezy sound coming from Page during the silent section is such a perfect sound for that moment. Also I noticed just how perfect Trey's tone is in this song, which was severly hurt in post-hiatus versions. Page begins slamming down on the keys around 7:20, which just hit my perfectly.
[u]Wilson[/u]
Another perfect song, perfect placement. More crowd interaction for this up Amsterdam group. Small lyrical flub in the second verse I think, maybe it was the microphones cutting out, not sure. Some nice, but short heavy metallish jamming towards the end.
[u]My Soul[/u]
I should preface this song review by saying the past couple of weeks I listened to almost all of the European Winter '97 tour, so at the moment I am absolutely done with this song. They must have played it every night, or every other night. Just pure overkill. Tried not to pay too much attention to this version.
[u]Guyute[/u]
Nailed version, nothing much else to say. One of those songs that doesn't necassarily rely on a jam, just how well the band is able to pull it off.
[u]Timber[/u]
Nice, slow beginning, reminds me of what this song is going to become towards the end of the year. A solid jam which seems to have a theme present in each '97 version I have heard. Around the 530-600 minute, there is a segment that reminded me of the 09/14/99 Bag, not sure what it is exactly, but that song popped into my head at the moment.
[u]Billy Breathes[/u]
Love it! Love it! Love it! One of my favorite ballad-type songs. Trey takes off from the ground and begins to SOAR around 3:58. Once again I have to say NAILED! Which basically fits almost this entire show.
[u]Llama[/u]
Very quick pace, which is reminiscent of most Llama's, but I have come to dislike the choice of Llama for the '97 sound after hearing some later versions. This one however is an exception. It really reminded me of a jam from 1993, but more mature. Not entirely Trey wailing away out front, the whole band was getting on this Llama, and it really paid off.
[u]Bathtub Gin[/u]
Another highlight of the first set. Nothing too "out of this world" from Page's first notes, but it definitely filled the song in perfectly. Inbetween the verses I thought his piano really stood out better than the beginning. Excellent fills. At about 905 Trey starts to take off once again, but in a completely different way than he SOARED during BB. The pace of the entire band quickens, and this is just another spot where the maturity of Phish made this song on the verge of epic. The full band playing is unbelievable. Full power hose. Around 1225 Trey brings the Gin theme back, and then they sloooow it down.
[u]> Golgi Apparatus[/u]
Rough segue. It seemed Trey had this in his mind, and he was doing it no matter what the band was doing. The Gin was still winding down when Trey starts singing the first line to Golgi, and it takes a few seconds for the rest of the band to get back on the same page. Other than that, a fairly standard Apparatus.
[b]Set Two[/b]
[u]Squirming Coil[/u]
An interesting opener I would not have expected to hear. Nothign too incredible or noteworthy I thought from the actual song. It ends with a nice full band jam>Page solo>full band space jam around 930. Then segued nicely into...
[u]Down With Disease[/u]
Thick, thick, thick noises coming from Mike in this beginning. The actual song is very quick, and sounds a bit rushed. The beginning of the jam sounds fairly standard compared to most explorations, but this will quickly change. Around the 700 minute mark it really starts to take off and go places. 14 minutes in it is brought down to some more slow, deep and funky sounds. A possible start/stop jam around 1545, and quickly after this came...
[u]Carini[/u]
A very quick, sudden segue. I knew it was coming, and there was still no hint I could pick up of it. It seems like they are doing something with the DWD jam, but then quickly jump ship and start Carini up. After the lyrics it instantly slows down, and that leads to a slow build up of a spacey background. The pace is heightened once again as Mike and Trey begin to "ooh" and "ahh". Around the begining of the 8 minute mark, Page and Fishman are playing extremely well off each other. I love Page's sound throughout this entire show, and this may be one of the best highlights. This jam just seems to keep getting quicker and quicker, and there is some heavy metal riffing type action at the 11 minute mark. 1340 the band is subtracted down to simply Trey's looping effect, and Fishman comes crashing in to pick the pace up again. Around 1425 it has a very Crosseyed & Painless type feel to it. I'm not saying it's a for sure jam/tease, but they did play CE&P a bunch during this tour. Maybe it was just the influence. About half way through the 15 minute mark, the band jumps back into a spacey type of distortion jam. It actually reminds me of a post-hiatus Divided Sky during the silent section at 1630. A little before the 20 minute mark, trey and Page start playing off each other, and once again the pace is quickened. Once again (I feel like I am saying that a lot), a beautiful segue into...
[u]Taste[/u]
Once the jam starts, it is at the quickened pace which a lot of these songs seem to be at. Trey tends to be way out in front of this one, and all over the place, while the rest of the group sounds like they are all staying close to home. Then comes another highlight, as...
[u]Down With Disease (Reprise)[/u]
Fishman seems to start this segue, and Trey comes screaming out, shredding those notes you love to hear when DWD is wrapping up. This is one of those moments for me where I just feel good, I can't help it!
[u]Suzy Greenberg[/u]
I wouldn't give this one a "->", more of a ">", as the music does not stop, but it is far from a jammed segue. Really nice sounding Page section about 130, before the second verse. Otherwise, quite standard.
[u]Prince Caspian[/u]
The intro is a bit slow and dragged out, and really has a nice feel to it. Once the jam kicks in, Trey really begins to soar once again, much like BB in the first set. Trey and Page play off each other really well in this version. Trey is playing an incredibly serene jam, rather than the usual "soloing" I would say comes with a Caspian.
[b]Encore[/b]
[u]Sleeping Monkey[/u]
Yes! Time to breathe, finally. This slow pace I felt was needed after what just happened in the second set. Once AGAIN, as close to perfection as you can get.
[u]Rocky Top[/u]
Love it, love it, love it! Quick and to the point. A perfect period on this great show.
Set One Highlights
Soul Shakedown Party > DIVIDED SKY
Bathtub Gin
Set Two Highlights
Everything.
Encore Highlights
Everything.
This was the first show I ever heard from this tour, and loved it from the first spin. Maybe it is because of this, but I also feel it is easily the best show of this tour. The second set ranks up there in top-10 quality. After listening to about 90% of this tour, my mind still has not been changed. If you are to get only one show from each Phish tour, THIS is the one I would easily pick from this one.
