In late 1997, the jam band Phish was locked into a particularly tight rhythm.
When they toured the world during the twin Summer ’97 tours – which was their second privately hosted festival – the Vermont natives were pushing firmly into a much more funky and hypnotic sound inspired by artists like Talking Heads, Miles Davis and Santana.
Symbolizing their focus on the live sound, 1997 saw no new studio albums. Their only release was the live record “Slip, Stitch & Pass” which showed off their new aptitude for the groove.
However, the summer tour served as more than just a showcase for the new sound. The band was quick to begin dishing out brand new cuts from what would become their next two studio albums: the explicitly funk-influenced “Story of the Ghost” and the roots rock-inspired “Farmhouse.”
As the band entered the Fall ’97 tour, made famous under the tagline “Phish Destroys America,” these new songs – today, amongst their most beloved – were entering a golden age of exploration and experimentation. The entirety of the November and December tour is taken as gospel by many a Phishhead, with jams like the Nov. 17, 1997 “Ghost” and the Dec.
6, 1997 “Tweezer/Izabella” ranking amongst the band’s most famous.
Much of what informs the quality of these jams is the distinction between Type I and Type II.
The Type I format, in which the band plays around with the general mode and structure of the song, dominated throughout the first decade or so of Phish’s live career.
Type II jams, on the other hand, step completely out of the bounds of the key, tempo and structure of the songs they derive from, often leading to cathartic passages of psychedelic guitar fuzz and feedback.
On the “Hampton/Winston-Salem ’97” boxset, encapsulating the three-show run of Nov. 21-23, 1997, type II jams are found on each disc.
This first show somehow rings as the weakest of the three, despite how strong its highlights are.
The second show of the Hampton run is most likely to be the basis for this box set, as Nov. 22, 1997 ranks right beside the April 3, 1998 Island Tour show as the highest rated non-festival performance the band has ever played.
In a very famous moment in a show full of them, guitarist Trey Anastasio leans over to bassist Mike Gordon and shouts, “Hey Mike, stay on F!,” sparking a 20-minute jam that perfectly demonstrates the strengths of every player.
The true MVP of this show, perhaps, would be drummer Jon Fishman, who was effortlessly able to hold down the rhythm despite all the Type II changes the band sought.
Fulfilling the Winston-Salem side of “Hampton/Winston-Salem ’97,” the 11/23 show might be just as good as the 11/22 show. Although cuts like “My Soul” and “Sparkle” are not necessarily the most exciting in any setlist, the band more than makes up for it by filling both sets with plenty of opportunities for deep jamming.
If the first set was a victory lap, the second set is pure celebration.
“Bathtub Gin” was in its apex in the late 1990s, but few versions go as deep and as long as this half hour behemoth, transforming about halfway through into an arena rock instrumental akin to bands like Boston. This “Gin” cascades into a haunting ambient intro to another behemoth jam in “Down with Disease/Low Rider/Down with Disease.”
Comparing the shows of “Hampton/Winston-Salem ’97” is probably a fool’s errand, as each of the three has plenty to offer.
As much as I could say the “Mike’s Groove” or the “Halley’s Comet/Tweezer/Black-Eyed Katy” of 11/22 stack up as the best jams of the run, the 11/23 “Bathtub Gin/Down with Disease” is just as powerful and even more cinematic at times.
I was once a nonbeliever toward Phish, like many Grateful Dead and Ween fans have been throughout jam band history. These shows were a big part of changing that, and I would recommend anyone, especially fellow nonbelievers, give a listen to the highlights at the very least.
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