these dublin shows are a ton of fun. of course, going into the u.s. summer tour in '97 these were great tapes to pass around so all the fans could get a taste of the new tunes.

theme from the bottom was a good opener, and it was very well-played. dog stole things seemed to be very promising, but it really didn't ever do too much. beauty of my dreams was some nice snappy blue grass. billy made for a nice breather. limb by limb made a promising debut. fish still had not nailed the drum beat, but he does a damn fine job here. trey sounds strong here too. they bust the first jam of the night with the newly revamped wolfman's brother. this was is not the best, but it still has some nice funky grooves. velvet sea provides another breather and it sets up a fine set closing taste.

stash gets the second set going in fine form. this is, as usual, a nice dark jam, and trey brings it home nicely. maze keeps that deep dark vibe going before a nice light and bouncy water in the sky. this and vultures debut well. in fact, outside of ghost, i think vultures may be my favorite of the dublin debuts. after some new material, the boys delve back into their old bag of tricks for a really nice slave to the traffic light. page has some lovely playing on this one. chalk dust hits a nice funk/rock jam that works well into the debut of phish classic ghost. olivia's pool or oblivious fool or hell whatever you want to call it, works very well out of ghost. they flash their new funk muscles on this pairing. i'm not a big character zero fan, but who cares after a show loaded with new music.

then, this is one of my favorite encores. it's no vegas '96 but hey. i'm a huge sly and the family stone fan, and i would love to hear stand make a triumphant return. phish played this one really well, and they really nail the big "stand break down." as if that weren't enough, let's debut another nice soul/funk/rock classic. they rip right into hendrix's izabella, and they certainly do this one justice. it would never become a regular part of the rotation, but it came up in some key spots in key shows. in particular, if you like izabella, check out columbus '98 and auburn hills '97. both of these shows are stellar.

while this show does not have any completely mind blowing jams, the boys are full of energy springing a bunch of new material on the audience. ghost and limb by limb would really develop in the next two years, and vultures, in my opinion, has remained a lovely treat to get at any show. i love listening to these shows just to demonstrate how far phish has come....

This show is important for historic reasons with all the debuts (First LxL! First Ghost! First Izabella!), and is a nice show, but it's far from an essential addition to your collection. It's a transitional show -- they've mastered the Billy Breathes material (Theme, Billy, and Taste are all excellent) and are just getting their feet wet with the SotG material. They also start to bring a little of the funk that would explode later that year. Check out the unfinished Chalkdust jam that eerily hearkens back to the Wolfman's from the epic 3/1/97 show that would later be parsed into Slip Stitch and Pass -- but instead of -> JJLC, we get -> Ghost [debut]. Nice. Did I mention this is the first Izabella?

Oh, and @pnumatic, I don't think that's a Frankenstein tease. That's how that Sly and the Family Stone song goes. Pull it up on YouTube and skip to about 2:20...

This is a watershed CDT. They totally spurn the normal rock jam. It doesn't morph into a funk jam, it starts that way.

If you like overanalyzing and reading too much into Phish stuff, this CDT is definitely worth listening to. On top of the pure funk jam, they have a nice patient segue into Ghost, which would become a huge funk vehicle for years to come.

This CDT definitely a giant leap forward in terms of 97 sounding like 97.

Unique and interesting Tour Opener

A lot of tours open with the guys unloading a bunch of new material. Sometimes all at once and sometimes spread out. This is one of those shows where they just unload.

Limb By Limb is the first interesting part of the first set to me, only because it is a strong version for a debut. Wolfman really gets things going as it goes into a nice groove jam pretty quick. Fish starts laying it down and Trey follows. Great groove and a great picture of the funky jam style that makes 97' so legendary. Taste is also pretty strong.

Stash is quite strong and a preview of what is to come later on in the European tour, nothing to ground breaking or new but just a great extended version. Maze keeps the intensity going after Stash and is played very well. Slave is in a bizarre placement mid set and is fairly straightforward. CDT is very unique as it goes into a very funky jam midway and does not ever return to CDT proper. It has a very strong segue into the very first Ghost. Ghost doesn't really drift off but it's a great solid first version. The segue into Olivias pool is also very cool. I love that they are segueing into these brand new songs like they've played them for years.

The encore to me is likely the highlight of the show. You get two debut covers both played fantastically. Stand! even has a funk jam in it that moves it in the first of several great segues into Izabella that is played so inspired that you almost mistake Trey for Jimi for a second.

Overall a really good start to the tour. Nothing epic or legendary or necessarily memorable. Just a solid fun show.

This is perhaps the funkiest Chalk Dust Torture out there. The jam immediately abandons normal Chalk Dust fodder and slows down into funk-town. The segue into the debut of Ghost is flawless and the following debut of the short-lived Olivia's Pool is nice too. That 20 minute stretch of the second set is the only part of the show that really begs listening, but the rest of this debut filled show is a hoot as well. The other major highlight for me is the debut of Water in the Sky, one of my favorite mellow non-jam Phish songs, I just love it.

The show is loads of fun, but for all intents and purposes inessential. Listen at your leisure, no need to rush to this one.

Nothing spectacular here except for two highlights. The first is the fantastic Theme opener. What a way to open a tour! Trey hits the high notes several times and the rest of the crew never misses a beat. The second is the mass amount of new songs getting played for the first time. Even though some of them feel a little shaky at times, the chalk dust torture segue into ghost is out of this world. Top notch segue right there! Definitely check out the theme, otherwise, move on.

SET 1: Theme From the Bottom: Soaring version, great as an opener here!

Dogs Stole Things: Debut – sounds good!

Beauty of My Dreams: Good energy, well played. >

Billy Breathes: Trey definitely rusty in parts in his solo. First show of the tour, not that surprising really.

Limb By Limb: Debut. Not too shabby for its first time played.

Wolfman's Brother: This jam has an aggressive edge to it! Trey definitely in rockstar mode during this one. This eventually transitions into a deeply funky space with Page doing some serious work. Would recommend! >

Wading in the Velvet Sea: Debut. Sounded good to my ears! >

Taste: Really strong version being that this is the first night of the tour.

SET 2: Stash: Super solid! Not an all timer nor a jamcharts version, but this one is better than your average bear.

Maze: Trey has a massive build up on this one before he lets loose a blistering climax. Brilliant Maze, top notch – would recommend!

Water in the Sky: Debut. Solid.

Vultures: Debut. Very solid!

Slave to the Traffic Light: Pretty good actually! Trey rushes through the ending a little bit leaving the guys behind. It’s not that bad but if you are paying attention, you will hear what I am talking about. Solid B – I would say. >

Chalk Dust Torture: Check out the funky little breakdown in this one – super cool, I love this. So different than what I am used to out of a CDT jam. This is fantastic! Nasty, nasty segue (perfect) ->

Ghost: Debut. The first ever, should be near and dear to every fan. Typical of these early versions, it has that sort of herky jerky nature, not sure how else to describe it. Although the last minute or minute and a half or so has a solid rock and roll jam to it. Rock solid debut! ->

Olivia's Pool: Debut. >

Character Zero: Rock and roll.

ENCORE: Stand! Debut. First and last. Very funky! ->

Izabella: Debut. Nice segue, obviously practiced. This version is properly ripped.

Replay Value: Wolfman’s Brother, Maze, Chalk Dust Torture

Summary: Cool tour opener filled with debuts. Fun show! Would rate it a 3.6 out of 5.

Definitely a Frankenstein tease in Stand.

although the forshadowing clouds in the sky vaguely reading "phish" the day prior (6/12), the famed 6/13 occurance, regardless of what skeptics have to say about the remainder of 1997, was countdown and liftoff. trey and page's spontanteous combustion of musical genius was something to behold, striking the flint with a force to be reckoned with that i knew, deep down, would rebirth in a mere 3 years

IMO, this show is just alright. a highlight, in my opinion, is the first set mid energy NICO. too bad trey forgot 8 verses in cavern and mike fell asleep during that not too special formula failure YEM

fucking mike, sometimes mistakes his hair for one of those dual night time eye patchesand nods of during not very special lulls in YEm