Tonight we're gunna party like it's...

Phish Live Shows
#1

It’s 1:30 in the morning and I can’t sleep because I’ve been listening to Phish and playing video games and and and…
Whoops sorry let me start again.
I was just re-listening to 12/11/99 and thinking about how it’s one of those “perfect” shows on paper and yet also delivers in reality. That got me thinking more about 1999 which is I believe one of the least understood and listened to eras of Phish-dom. I have only listened to 7/10/99 and 12/11/99, but while looking through setlists tonight I saw a lot of great things in the 99 tours. I think the year gets a bad rap for a few reasons, but correct me if I’m wrong:

  1. 99 seems to be the year when flubs started to show up more frequently. I recall hearing that the band were partying a lot before/after shows from 98 onward and practice wasn’t there as much.
  2. Some jams had a tendency to be repetitive or samey sounding. I’ve read more than a few shows where people deride the boring, repetitive trance jams of Sand and Gotta Jibboo.
  3. Some jams were too long and ambient. There’s a specific Wolfman’s Brother from summer 99 I remember reading in the Phish Companion about. Someone said it would cause “all but the most caffienated fans to nod off.”
    Naturally I’m not sure I believe these since I’ve loved all the 99 I’ve heard so far. Feel free to retort and give us a better overview of this misunderstood year.
#2

I enjoy a bit of 99 to be honest, not my favourite year but still good. I uploaded 10/2/99 a while back, it’s superb, the links probably still work…

What’s the crab in my shoe mouth thing by the way?

#3

bigb is gonna love this thread. and the ‘crab in my shoemouth’ is from manteca.

#4

Greggers does this mean you haven’t heard the Chula Vista show? The “Boogie On” goes down in Phishtory as possibly the best version ever.

#5

I don’t know why anyone would listen to ANYTHING from this year!

sheesh

waits patiently for bigb to appear

:-*

#6

^ way to bait him! LOL!!!

i dig on some '99 from time to time. G2K, for sure that chula vista show is a fun one…the boogie on gets all the credit, but it’s a solid show front to back, IMO. but, it’s true, definitely a year that gets overlooked, and one that i need to get more of…i probably only have a dozen shows from '99, at most.

bigb, suggestions on the gems of '99???

#7

Shit I have heard 9/18/99. I forgot about that show!! Another great one.

#8

here are some i love that get overlooked.

7-3-99 Just sick from start to finish with my favorite Meatstick ever!
7-12-99 Mike get’s so thick during the second set it sounds like your under water(aquafunk!)
7-15-99 Pretty solid first set but the second set is a type 2 party!
7-17-99 Some of the best 4 layer funk i ever heard. Don’t miss this YEM!
9-9-99 Lot’s of debut’s like 1st tube and Inlaw. Second is tip top with a nice Ha Ha Ha and Rippin Ghost,Tweez,Yem love!
9-22-99 Crazy loopy 2001 to start the night. Very dark eery feeling at this show. It’s fun to be scared!
9-24-99 The Sand>Misty mountain hop is not to be missed
9-25-99 R&R>2001>Frankenstein is stellar
10-4-99 I compare this show do abag of the dankest pot but a few seeds thrown in! Reminded me of a 97 setlist!
10-7-99 Tube Nicu and Fluffhead(that’s just the first set) One of my favorite Mike’s sandwhiches is in the second with a great Mcgrupp.
12-2-99 A Yem for the ages!
12-3-99 One of the best Hood’s ever IMO
12-16-99 This Tweezer could challenge 12-6-97 for the crown!
12-30-99 Overshadowed by the next night i would put this show up against any from the Went or Lemonwheel!

#9

I will agree that I sometimes thought this to myself at a couple of the shows that I saw that year, specifically the DWD at Oswego, and maybe the Wolfman’s a little bit, although te Sneaking Sally was a nice treat to break up the monotony, and the Drowned from 12/13 to kick of Set II (Hartford, I may be off a day or two). Although this second one was a 30 min jam, it was meandering and dull. I don’t think that I have heard it since (and I am perfectly willing to give it another shot as I was not really disappointed by the show overall- duh it was the boys) I can attest that my lesser trained friend did in fact fall alseep during this. I felt it only prudent to wake him once things got moving again. HE claims it was the goo-ball.

I guess I offer this up as a testimonial to how SOME of the music started to change, which is to say, not all of it was this way.

#10

If anyone was sleeping at this show, it was only to bone-up for the next night (and they should be ashamed for missing an excellent three sets that left some questioning if they could top it the next day. Oh yeah, they sure as hell did)

#11

They could be talking about the 7/13/99 Wolmans that,after one of the most smoking first sets Ive ever seen,opened up the 2nd and went out into nothingness and completely killed the shows momentum.

#12

^Really? I guess I’ll have to go back and listen to this one again, but I thought both of those Great Woods shows smoked all the way through (maybe it’s just that they have melted into one in my memory). I don’t remember (isn’t that always the way) having those “Where are we going” thoughts there. And yes, the first set was a very hard act to follow.

#13

Someone send Greggers a “PROJECT 1999 CARE PACKAGE,” stat!

Don’t forget the Hampton shows in December, folks! The 12/18 is one of my favorites!

#14

For some reason any 99 show I get is just fucking awful quality. This is the only year I have not been able to find good recordings of, which is why I tend to shy away from my 99 shows.

#15

9-29-99, Treys birthday. Fucking awesome.

#16

^ Day before Trey’s B-day but they sung Happy B-day anyway cuz the 30th was a travel day!

#17

^ true.

#18

Oswego is so good.

#19

'99 is a pretty damn interesting year to me, for some reason

I probably only have half of the shows from that year though, and I haven’t listened with too much dedication.

7.13 set 1 is one of my favorites though That set just fits together so very nicely. And of course 7.25 is a monster.

I still haven’t heard 12.2, which sucks

#20

^
12/2/99 is a good show.

GIN!!!

(just ask Brett)