Essays on every Phish show on its 25th anniversary by @robmitchum.
Joined January 2012
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Long time no see!
Good news: Phil & Friends essays coming this week.
Bad news: I'm still on Substack, haven't decided where to migrate yet.
Also, I have successfully weaned myself off this site, so find me on BlueSky going forward. ✌️
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The finale of 1998 marked the end of Phish's imperial phase. But they went out partying, as Prince would have them be.
phishcrit.substack.com/p/imp…
The 1998 NYE run summarized the preceding year as well as any in the 90s, which meant that one show had to be weirdly all over the place:
phishcrit.substack.com/p/rem…
The final 2001 of 1998 completed a trilogy of monumental versions and provided a montage of the year's accomplishments:
phishcrit.substack.com/p/bey…
25 years ago today, Phish moved into the Garden for its first full NYE run and wasted no time making it weird.
phishcrit.substack.com/p/big…
It was inevitable that the show after 11/27/98 would be a hangover, and it was a rare recovery day for a tour that has only accelerated:
phishcrit.substack.com/p/tur…
It sure sounds like there was a secret ingredient behind 11/27/98, and it works out just fine...for now:
phishcrit.substack.com/p/sno…
On the night before Thanksgiving 1998, Trey leaned into an effect that would play a big role in the following year:
phishcrit.substack.com/p/pla…
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While the arc of 1998 has bent towards minimalism, there's a rebellion afoot in Phish, and 11/24/98 showed who's responsible:
phishcrit.substack.com/p/the…
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Almost lost in the madness of Hampton '98 is one of the finest executions of a classic and flexible Phish device:
phishcrit.substack.com/p/int…
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When it came out, Hampton Comes Alive filled in a few dozen missing pieces of the Phish public record in capturing one of the fall's wildest runs:
phishcrit.substack.com/p/mis…
11/19/98 picked a setlist closer to both my tastes and the fall's strengths, but only made it to the verge of a breakthrough:
phishcrit.substack.com/p/sea…
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11/18/98 has its charms, but it's not ideal listening in every setting:
phishcrit.substack.com/p/hi-…
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In a show with a bunch of heavy hitters, the most interesting parts of 11/15/98 were in...Mule and Velvet Sea? I'm as surprised as you are:
phishcrit.substack.com/p/sce…
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Phish’s 1998 stop in Cincinnati paid tribute to the local dish, with lots of ingredients arranged haphazardly:
phishcrit.substack.com/p/fiv…
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On 11/13/98, Phish kinda sorta maybe made another nod to the Grateful Dead. Accidental or intentional, it was cosmic harmony:
phishcrit.substack.com/p/mud…
