, attached to 1997-11-17

Review by hiddenaway

hiddenaway This is a top 5 phish show of all time for me, no question. I was not at the show, I heard it on a mix tape maybe a month after the show. When I heard the Tweezer, I knew I was listening to Phish on a night when they were channeling the energies and allowing something special to happen.

The highlight by far here is the sublime Tweezer, my favorite version of all time. I'll put it up there against Atlanta 6/14/00, '95 Memphis, '94 Bomb Factory, 12/16/99, anything. Were there longer and more exploratory versions of Tweezer? Sure. Fans often point to the 12/6/97 Tweezer that followed soon after, but in my mind, this one blows them all away. Every one of those might go through a rough patch when, even for a second, concentration and the music was broken. This one was flawless from beginning to end.

A Page-led odyssey, the Tweezer simply is the most patient jam I've ever heard Phish play, placed perfectly in their expansive funk phase on 97-98. The patience of the space funk section in the beginning. Then Page at 9:10, awesome! Trey rips a bunch of space loops, while Mike and Page keep it chugging along. Trey lays back with cow funk chording before letting loose some fantastic melodic work in the solo starting at 10:33. Sooooo smoothe! Page at 10:50 are you kidding me? Maybe deepest cutting Trey melody of all time occurs at 12:29. Wow that's hot! Honestly folks listen to this one more time again, and tell me you aren't taken away by it. It's really something special.

And to think - that was the first song of the show! Other outstanding songs/jams to come from this beauty were the very popular Reba, Ghost, and of course the YEM from the second set, one of the best YEMs ever. I don't usually spout hyperbole on Phish shows, but I just had to put my .02 in for this show, because it along with Island Tour '98 remain my favorite Phish of all time. Fantastic Tweezer. Classic, classic stuff.


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