Hello everyone. I
hope you are staying warm. What’s that you say? It’s not cold where you are at?
Isn't that pleasant. High in the mid 20’s today, with a serious wind chill straight
from the Great White North of zero this AM up here in Burlington. Part of the
price of living in such a cool place. Today I am here to talk about my all time
favorite Tour (and lots of other people I imagine as well), Fall 1997 aka Phish
Destroys America. It actually said that on some of the official posters. Who
knew cow funk at its peak could wreak so much havoc. So let’s chill out on the
couch and fire up the laptop and groove to one of the shows that made Hampton
Hampton, Phish Live at the Hampton Coliseum, Nov. 22nd, 1997.
Of all the show I
have attended, I am most proud of seeing three on this historic Tour. You
always have high expectations for Halloween, NYE, and festivals. But almost an
entire Tour? One can only wish. But Phish did it. After showing some flashes of
brilliance on the Summer Tour, they had everything dialed in after 2 shows.
Which brings us
to the Hampton Coliseum, aka The Mothership. I was a yearly stop for the Dead,
surrounded by hotels with a very much laid back community. A local told me the
locals decided the coliseum was the only economic engine they had, so they
should be as welcoming as possible. But it really entered the gallery of all
time great venues when the Dead did the Formerly the Warlock shows there on
their fabled ’89 Fall tour. Phish had played there in 1995 and 96 but they were
just typical Phish shows.
Now I know what
you are thinking? Hey Kemp, Mr. Live Music, why didn’t you do both nights?
Honestly, I have no idea. A bunch of went down so it might have been an issue
of getting tickets. Or maybe getting days off? Anyway, some of our crew was
down there for the first night and were raving about it including an Emotional
Rescue. I can still hear CC saying in a high falsetto, “I will be your knight
in shining armor”. We stayed at the semi
decent Days Inn, 7 to the room. After this, it was the Courtyard by Marriot Suites
all the way.
SET 1: Mike's Song -> I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove , Harry Hood > Train Song, Billy Breathes, Frankenstein >Izabella
[1] Lyric changed to "Michael Esquandolas."
Mike's Song and Tweezer both contained BEK teases, with the ones
in Tweezer taking place well before the segue into BEK. Fans of stage banter
will want to seek out the second set for Trey’s humorous response to the
crowd’s Destiny Unbound chant before Halley’s. The "Marco
Esquandolas" lyric in Antelope was changed to "Michael
Esquandolas." This show was released as part of the Hampton/Winston-Salem
'97 box set.
You can stream it here
Mike’s to open? YES! Think
jamming, a second jam, BE Katy tease, what isn’t there to love? The Weekapaugh
has one of the stop starts at the end. Then Hood, with a spooky keyboard lick right
before the Harry! part. That is burned in my cranium. Train Song and Billy
Breathes allowed us to catch our breath because we were about to absorb a
Frankenstein>Izabella for the ages. I love Izabella. Trey gets to unleash
his inner Hendrix and hoses the crowd down. Finally, set break so we could gather
ourselves for the awesome sauce of the second set.
Everything flows into
one another, always a great sign. The highlight for me was Halley’s. The Tweezer isn’t too shabby either. The BE
Katy just oozes ’97 funk. You like the
old school slow intro to Piper? Gotcha covered. Listening to this show again
makes me wish I had the money for the box set lol.
So there you go, my
first experience of the Fall Tour that was 1997. Up next, the old school venue
and post Thanksgiving celebration that is the Centrum in Worcester, MA.
Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
PhD Rock and Roll
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