Spoiled by an all time Great!

Phish Live Shows
#1

I’m sure many of us know that feeling of catching an all time Great Version and how splendid it is. When what the band does with a particular song is so out of this world that you’re left to think about it for weeks, maybe even months after that particular show. And then something happens. You see the song performed again, and it just doesn’t do it for you the way it used to.

I was listening to 4/3/98 the other day and the Antelope from that evening was the best version I had ever witnessed or heard. I closed my eyes and revisited my memory from that show. It was pure bliss. Then I started thinking about other 'Lopes I caught thereafter and remember feeling a little disappointed by them. Sure its unfair. But I’m human. I mean don’t get me wrong I enjoyed them, but it was just…different.

Does anyone else have a particular song Version like this,or am I just a Brat.

#2

I feel the same way about that Antelope. For me the only ones that comes close are the Halloween ones from 95 and 98, but you really can’t beat the Island tour one IMO.
My song though that was spoiled is Gumbo. Without the horns I just feel like this song is missing something, though this has been echoed by many people.

#3

The Great Wents “Simple” is the version that spoiled me. For some reason it takes me to that special place and time seems to stop for a moment or two.

I remember BigB recommending another version he felt I would like if I really enjoyed the Went version…Too bad I can’t remember which one it was before I could get around to hearing it. If you can remember BigB that would be so cool… Sidenote I just took the Coventry print you sold me to the framing gallery yesterday and now I’m more ancy to get it back then a connoisseur on the way to a medicinal club.

#4

DAVID BOWIE 12/29/94

Somebody else will probably mention that other type II Bowie, which I’ve never heard, but this one always screams to the top of the pile for me. Even the legendary 7/30/97 Bowie -> Cities -> Bowie is nowhere near as good as this. Every Bowie I hear I think “this is good, maybe even great for a Bowie…but it’s pretty much the same thing as always…”

#5

I believe the one i mentioned was from the Gorge in 97. Perhaps it was another but off the top this one comes to mind. Maybe it was the mountain winds swirling on my face that night or maybe it was just the right time and place for this song. Either way it was quite memorable and inspiring that night! Another great version is from New Year’s 96. I had a blast that night in Boston!

Personally i feel this way about the Boogie On from Chula Vista. It was the first time they took a Boogie out so far and it is probably my single favorite live song i heard in my 13 years as a fan.

#6

Right on Greg.
This was the first Bowie I ever heard, and the first Phish song I really got into. Needless to say almost any other version (aside from a few) actually strike me as a good song to listen to. I don’t feel this way about any other songs either. Just this one.

#7

I get hung up on specific versions all the time!

And strangely, lots of times it has more to do with the vocals than anything else. Lizards 3-12-88 has got a great lead vocal delivery all around from Trey, and I’m very much partial to it for that.

Wilson from 12-31-92 completely spoiled me. I think I’ve only recently begun to not instantly & helplessly compare it to that one whenever I hear it. It was the first recording of it I ever had, and it’s a good 'un. Trey nails all the solos and the high vocal notes, and Page does the Jeopardy! theme in there somewhere.

There are a few studio versions like that for me too … Split Open & Melt just isn’t the same live for me, even though they really usually perform it well. I LOVE that vocal on Lawn Boy that the guest vocalist sings … don’t have my CD handy, don’t remember her name … anyway those vocals are sweet, and the way the layered Trey wailing at the end serves as its own unique skewed take on the Phish jam … I just love that one. Same with Bouncing, actually on that album. Except Page ain’t no lady. But he sure never sang it that way live.

I realize (as I was reminded just a little while ago!) I’m an oddity in that the jam is less consequential to me … that a version of SO&M with no real jam could spoil all versions with jams. But please realize the spoilage is relative, and the damage is completely marginal. I still loves me a good SO&M live … in fact I ought to break out that 12/29/94 again and pay better attention this time.

#8

piper from 12/06/97. first one i ever heard/saw, and to this day it is unbeatable to me…

#9

not to contradict Desmond, but the 10/30/98 Antelope is king to me, followed closely by the Run Like A Big Black Furry Antelope on 3/12/93.

Anyone have any opinions on the 98 Ween Wolfman’s?

#10

I literally haven’t heard it in probably at least 1 year. The whole disc is an enigma to me. I have to ask myself before I play it: “Do I really want to listen to this? Why am I doing this?” I used to play it semi-regularly in college during those late night stoned/drunk fests. It seemed OK then. Now…it’s just scary. I don’t like scary Phish that much. So basically, and I’ve said this many times before, I can only play it if I’m in the right mood. Which doesn’t happen very often. I don’t think the playing is bad, necessarily, but it is…different. They went OUT THERE.

#11

I personally WOULD call the 98 Wolfman’s an all time great. It was one of the most experimental things they dropped all year, and IMO it worked for what they were going for. I wouldn’t say it spoiled me, exactly, since most other post-96 Wolfman’s jam, but it’s up there with the more experimental ones.

#12

^
I would almost call it THE most experimental one, no?

teh_edit: or are you referring to quality?

#13

I agree totally. It is really creepy.
and WAY out there.

#14

My two favorite Wolfmen are the ones that go way out there and get kinda spooky. 10/31/98 and 11/30/97. I can’t really get sick of jams that are that experimental. I also can’t listen to them all the time, who has that kind of time? I know Wolfman’s in great when it gets funky and lively, but that jam has some deeper, darker parts that they only get to on occasion and I am very thankful for those occasions.

#15

What do you think of the 12.29.03 Wolfman’s, GR?? Its not scary or very experiemental like those ^ two versions, but this is probably the best straight-forward funky version of this song I can think of.

6.25.04 is another one to check out for some borderline “scary” sections. It starts out funky, but then veers off. The jam certainly isn’t as long or good as either one you mentioned, but it definitely strays from typical Wolfman’s jamming. And it is still finished! Very cool stuff!

#16

8/14/04 “Friday”

this was the first time i heard it and since then i just cant bring myself to accept another!

[/sarcasm/ironic sincerity]

#17

Awwwww!!

#18

IMO the best Wolfman’s Bro’s were played in 1999! Antioch, Charlotte, Great Woods, Oswego, Shoreline(with Phil Lesh), Cinci, and Big Cypress!

#19

Stash sickness from 11/14/1995 Florida.

Only two I can think of that come anywhere near that one are 10/30/1998 Vegas, and 07/08/1994 Great Woods.

#20

Never heard it I don’t think…if I did, it really didn’t stand out. I’ll go search for a version of it when I get home.

And I think I agree with Will…That Stash really does make every other one pale in comparison. I don’t think any version of any other song makes others pale, but that Stash is something else.