UPDATE 5/18: This release has been officially confirmed by Phish! The eight-CD set is available through Phish’s Dry Goods website, and can be bundled with various goodies like t-shirts, backpacks, and more. The full collection will be available on June 16th.
While no official announcement has been provided by Phish, it seems that the band will soon be releasing a box set comprised of all three shows from Amsterdam in 1997. Jambase keenly points out that both Amazon and CD Universe have the album listed, with each citing a June 16th release date on the JEMP Records label. JEMP is an acronym for the band members’ first names – Jon Fishman, Ernest “Trey” Anastasio, Mike Gordon, and Page McConnell.
Phish toured Europe during 1997, and ultimately played three shows in Amsterdam – on February 17th, July 1st, and July 2nd. The first of these three shows saw the debut of the fan-favorite tune, “Carini,” while the other two featured humorous dialogue about killer worms that inhabited the Amsterdam canals.
Here’s the Amazon description of the box set:
An all new 8-CD Box Set from Phish’s infrequent European shows. Full shows from 2/17/97, 7/1/97 and 7/2/97 at the Paradiso, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. On February 17, 1997 Phish first played Paradiso, a converted former church turned rock-club/cultural center with a capacity of about 1500. Over the next four months, Phish logged three breakthrough shows at this historic venue where the intimate setting pushed the music to new heights again and again. From the Soul Shakedown party opener and fluid, psychedelic improvisation-clinic-of-a-set II (Down With Disease > Carini > Taste > Down With Disease) on 2/17/97 to the “back of the worm” Ghost opener, Reba and another peak transcendent Set II [Fish Keyboard Jam > Timber (Jerry) > Bathtub Gin > Cities] on 7/1/97 through the Mike’s Groove Sandwich and must-hear Stash > Llama > Wormtown Jam plus the double encore of 7/2/97, these three shows spread over 8 CD’s comprise some of the most experimental music Phish ever played. The three shows on the Amsterdam box, the only Phish shows to-date at Paradiso, combine to deliver the full impact of a shared peak experience in an exotic locale seamlessly integrated and sizzling with creative intensity. The shows were recorded by Paul Languedoc to multitrack tape, mixed by Jon Altschiller and mastered by Fred Kevorkian. Pick up this set and prepare for transport to the canals of Amsterdam…to the back of the worm.
Full setlists can be seen below, courtesy of Phish.net.
February 17, 1997 Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Set One: Soul Shakedown Party[1], Divided Sky, Wilson > My Soul, Guyute, Timber (Jerry) > Billy Breathes, Llama, Bathtub Gin > Golgi Apparatus
Set Two: The Squirming Coil -> Down with Disease -> Carini[2] -> Taste -> Down with Disease > Suzy Greenberg > Prince Caspian
Encore: Sleeping Monkey > Rocky Top
[1] Phish debut.
[2] Debut.
July 1, 1997 Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Set One: Ghost[1], Horn, Ya Mar[1], Limb By Limb -> Ain’t Love Funny, Saw It Again[1], Dirt, Reba, Dogs Stole Things
Set Two: Jam[2] -> Timber (Jerry) > Bathtub Gin -> Cities -> Jam[1], Loving Cup > Slave to the Traffic Light
Encore: When the Circus Comes
[1] “Worm” banter.
[2] The second set began with a Fish piano solo that evolved into a jam, as the rest of the band eventually joined the stage and Fish moved to his drum kit.
July 2, 1997 Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Set One: Mike’s Song > Simple -> Maze, Strange Design, Ginseng Sullivan, Vultures, Water in the Sky > Weekapaug Groove
Set Two: Stash -> Llama -> Wormtown Jam[1] -> Wading in the Velvet Sea
Encore: Free
Encore Two: David Bowie
[1] Narration sung to the tune of Swingtown. Trey warned fans about the “killer worms” that inhabit the canals of Amsterdam.