Andrew's 1998 Phish Island Tour Review - 4/2/1998

Editor's Note: The Phish's The Island Tour was an unexpected 4 night run of shows in 1998 that have stood the test of time as one of Phish's standout performances of all time. A few years ago, I found this treasure - Andrew's Island Tour reviews on gadiel.com. Enjoy.

Well, just got back home to Burlington (the old home place)... Lets see:

4/2 I: Tube, The Tube opener was a thrill, caught me totally off guard, I was in the balcony at the beginning and front row lower by the End of this song. The jam was pretty albeit very short, in comparison to the sick falls (i.e. 12/7) into... My Mind: When's this show taking place 98 or 93?!!! Always a good country tune... Sloth: A great tune, good placement, lyric flub at: "Aint got no friends." ... NICU: A little rusty sounding but THE lick always gets me, trey flubs 2nd to last chorus line, laughs... Stash: SICK SICK SICK, very stash like at first but unrecognizable by the time they get to Horn. They were singing/humming the words to something that i didnt recognize right befor the segue... Horn: Another one i didnt expect at all, never thought id hear this one. Nothing really original happening here though. Waster: The outro is getting there. I think eventually you'll see some setlists that read Waste->whatever, or maybe even Waste->Jam, I dont know, i always thought that about sample too. Chalkdust: Much faster than usual, Trey was rippin through this one, you could tell we were in for a hell of a run at this time. The jam was really smokin but nothing really new to write home about. SET I: 1:00

II: PYITE: Much longer introduction ala Flynn except even longer, very funky, you could tell we were about to get funked out of our minds... Simple: Possibly the only non funk jam of the evening, a really solid simple which brings us to... Birds of A feather: Not only is that what everyone is calling it, thats what its called, Trey introduced it pretty clearly:"what do you think that one was called? Thats right birds of a feather..." really solid Rock/Funk song this one could be REALLY good... Wolfman's: A good tune, i almost wish that they would tone down the frequency that theyve been playing this one, the original Phish funk jam (besides Contact, weigh, but really the first one to have a real long funk jam) The jam goes right into... SNEAKIN' SALLY: I LOVE THIS SONG! i was so pumped at this point that no matter what happened i was goin home happy, good work on the jam, some original stuff goin on funkwise... New Song: Contrary to what ive been seeing im pretty sure (90%) that he was saying:" the world will turn itself inside and suck you in..." Not really a song that i connected with but who knows... Twist Around: Good song. If every twist around had a jam like the one that followed this one, id take a twist around every day of the week and twice on Sunday :) -> Jam: Possibly the best of all of the FUNK jams of the past year (Its the best these ears have heard) the light show during this was phenomenal, i cant believe that there hasnt been more discussion about this jam, honestly i have NEVER seen anything like it, i dont know how to describe it. It was like Space Funk and it was working perfectly, the jam climaxed after a fairly substantial amount of time(i don have the numbers) and went nicely into... Sleeping Monkey: a personal fav of mine, the 'Home on the train' by Fishman seemed especially fulfilling and the outro solo sounded very nice, i thought this would end the show but... Rocky Top: Packed with energy, everyone loves rockytop (or they should :)

Encore: GUYUTE: I must be the most jaded human alive to have expected another tune after but it must have been post-Albany syndrome hehe, no let downs here though, if it was up to me i would eat, sleep and breath Guyute until my final breath. 1:25 All in all a great show, the second set was funked up and i could tell the boys meant business for tomorrow night...(review to follow at a later date).

Andrew - Jbriggs@together.net

Click here to read Andrew's original post on gadiel.com.