The Third Night of Phil and Phriends is one of the finest concerts and Best nights of my life. An editorial by Kevin Long

The Third Night of Phil and Phriends is one of the finest concerts and Best nights of my life. An editorial by Kevin Long 

 

         The Kevin Long in 1999 had very little responsibility and according to my family, even less ambition. I lived for The Grateful Dead, Phish and Steve Kimock. I had no legal job and all my time was consumed following Phish, Other Ones, S.C.I, KVHW ect. These three historic Phil and Phriend's shows happened quickly, relative to when I heard about them in Memphis, TN. This was 1999 and I was still almost a decade away from meeting the internet. Literally, when I heard about these shows no price or mountain was too high to keep me from my three favorite musical forces combining for three glorious nights at the Warfield. One hell of an expensive plane ticket and still to this day,  the most I ever paid over face value for three tickets and I was there! Something this perfect could not possibly live up to the hype. Phil Lesh, John Molo, Steve Kimock, Trey Anastasio and Page McConnell. Holy Shit! The band members read like a modern day "Derek and The Dominos". Well my friends these fucking concerts took unattainable goals and smashed them.  The first two nights were beyond perfect, they were heavenly. Up to that point it was quite possible the best shows I have ever seen. But we are here to talk about night three. 

         This band had chemistry from the word "Viola Lee Blue's". Still by the third night it was cosmic! The first set started off with a loose Instrumental "Dark Star". Instantly, you knew the night was going to be "Page-singing "Bird Song" good". The opening sequence of Dark Star> It's Up To You >Days Between >Dark Star(1st verse)> My Favorite Things(Instrumental) is so fucking good I can hardly stand to listen to it. "Kimock should join Phish," I thought to myself since his chemistry with Trey was undeniable. I will not ramble on much more since you can now watch these historical shows. Watching them brought back a flood of the best goddamn memories of my life. On this mystical run, where my three musical worlds joined together to make history. From Terrapins where Phil, Trey and Page trade vocal duties to great ends or a "Down with Disease" that melts flawlessly into "Dark Star"'s, well that would be my ideal afterlife. For three nights life was perfect and you can't put a price tag on that. Thank you to all who were involved in sharing these timeless shows on YouTube. You made this forty one year old remember just how good it got. Watch Below. 

* – w/ Donna Jean Godchaux

April 17, 1999

Set One: Dark Star (instrumental)> It’s Up To You (instrumental), Days Between> Dark Star (1st verse)> My Favorite Things (instrumental), *Mississippi Half-Step, *Bird Song (Page) 

Set Two: Terrapin Station (Phil and Trey on leads, all on backup)> Down With Disease (Trey)> Dark Star (2nd verse-Page on lead vocal), Friend Of The Devil, Casey Jones (Trey), Morning Dew> *Going Down The Road Feeling Bad> And We Bid You Goodnight 

Encore: Box Of Rain

* – w/ Donna Jean Godchaux

With the release of the "Memphish Tweezer" now on YouTube, There was Another Great Moment in Phistory Yesterday. Setlist and Video

My partner in this sandbox wrote earlier about his world being changed by "Tweezer" in Memphis. Well, I can't say it changed my world but it sure was an unforgettable show.

If you've ever been to San Francisco, you know it's a great city to live in if you don't have or don't want a car. It has such a good public transportation system unless you want to go to Shoreline Amphitheater. It's the epitome of "Cars,Trucks, and Buses" and you have to add in a 45 minutes to an hour long train ride. Unfortunately, I got a late start to the train station and finally got to the show after an agonizing cab ride through a traffic jam. The opening notes had already rang out as I was handing my ticket to the lady at the gate.

My friends took no small pleasure in letting me know I missed the "Mozambique" opener and "Guyute" is what I was hearing walking in. I took much greater pleasure in the fact Phish tore into "Ghost" as I was walking up the steps towards our place on the lawn. We had a spot that we always sat in at every show. Every now and then we sat in the pavilion but I like the freedom of the lawn to dance and they have wonderful grass to dance barefoot to Phish in. So, for me, "Ghost" was really the opener. After that they played "Lawn Boy" and I knew Page was singing it for me. The whole show was like that. Almost every song was one of my favorites. The songs came out like I wrote the set list. After the two songs I missed, it was, "Ghost>Lawn Boy>Peaches en Regalia>The Moma Dance" which has two of my favorite Phish songs and one of my favorite Phish covers and a beloved piece of cheesy Page. If that wasn't enough, after a quick "Water in the Sky" then they played "When the Circus Comes" and then a "Back on the Train>David Bowie" and a "Squirming Coil" and that was just the FIRST SET!

If I wrote a setlist for Phish it would look a lot like this. The second half kicked off with "Runaway Jim>Sand" followed by a spirited "Piper" and then a jammed out "Roggae" led to "You Enjoy Myself" and that's when my mind got blown. I knew that something special was going to happen.  Warren Haynes had sat-in for the encore of the night before, playing "Misty Mountain Hop". My friends and I had thought that since the Phil had Trey and Page onstage as his "Friends" in April, just maybe we would see him again but then a fellow fan mentioned he had seen Phil Lesh going in the artist's entrance but there wasn't any extra equipment at the start of the show, so we weren't expecting anything like what was about to happen.

What was about to happen was a YEM with Phil gamely playing along with the trampolines that led into a jam that was just Phil and Mike that went into a crazy, funky "Wolfman's Brother" that then went into freaking, "Cold Rain & Snow" which was a Phish debut. So after my perfect first set and a great second set with Phil, they went Spinal Tap and turned it up to eleven on the encore. Phish and Phil came out and then Warren came back out to a huge roar from the crowd. What we were about to see was making Phish history. It was Phish and Phil Lesh and Warren Haynes and they busted out Phish's first, "Viola Lee Blues" and it raged. Unfortunately, only video of Phish and Phil playing Wolfman is on YouTube but still, find the tapes. This show is definitely in my top ten musical experiences. I didn't get to see a lot of shows in 99' but luckily I got to see this Shoreline run because this show was a masterpiece. It had the best of both worlds for me. All the songs in the first set I loved and all the Phish songs in the second were great songs well played and then the two special guests sealed it. Sometimes, it's cool to have someone sit in but it's not always, by musical standards, a success. Sometimes it's just cool to see. Not this time, it was fulfilling in every way. So 17 years ago, yesterday. I had one of my favorite Phish experiences.

Written by: Greg Heffelfinger

Phil Jamming with Mike after the YEM

Phish with Phil Lesh "Wolfman's Brother"

9-17-1999

SET 1: Mozambique, Guyute, Ghost > Lawn Boy > Peaches en Regalia > The Moma Dance, Water in the Sky, When the Circus Comes, Back on the Train > David Bowie, The Squirming Coil

SET 2: Runaway Jim > Sand, Piper > Roggae, You Enjoy Myself[1] -> Jam[2], Wolfman's Brother[3] > Cold Rain and Snow[4]

ENCORE: Viola Lee Blues[5]

[1] No vocal jam; Phil Lesh on a second bass guitar.
[2] Bass jam; Phil Lesh on a second bass guitar.
[3] Phil Lesh on a second bass guitar.
[4] Phish debut; Phil Lesh on a second bass guitar.
[5] Phish debut; Phil Lesh on a second bass guitar and Warren Haynes on guitar.

Phil Lesh joined the band on a second bass guitar from YEM through the end of the show. The encore also featured Warren Haynes on guitar. Cold Rain and Snow and Viola Lee Blues were both Phish debuts. YEM did not contain a vocal jam and included Phil joining Trey and Mike on trampolines. The subsequent jam out of YEM comprised of solely Mike and Phil.

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