Phish has provided some memorable moments (to say the least) over the years. The quartet’s ability to meet the moment and exceed expectations is what keeps fans coming back night after night, tour after tour, year after year.
With Halloween musical “costume sets,” wild New Years Eve gags, huge bust-outs, and zany antics, the band has made a career playing the right songs at the right moments. With that in mind, few moments in Phish history stand out as much as the encore on August 9th, 1998, when Phish blessed the audience at the Virginia Beach Amphitheater with a very special cover of the Grateful Dead‘s 1977″Terrapin Station” suite, a passage played in tribute to Jerry Garcia on the third anniversary of his death.
The day began with a lot of anticipation, as the band was coming off a hot night at Merriweather Post Pavilion that featured some incredible covers of “Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley”, “Sexual Healing”, and a high-energy debut of “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys to close things out. With August 9th marking the third anniversary of Garcia’s untimely passing, fans were eager to see what, if anything, the band had in store to honor the Grateful Dead leader.
Phish kicked things off with a smokin’ first set. Opening with “Punch You In The Eye”, the band then delivered an early standout jam, stretching out an early “Bathtub Gin” to over fifteen minutes long. A rare first set version of Gamehendge favorite “The Lizards” followed and helped to keep the energy at ridiculous levels. Hot versions of “The Moma Dance” and “Birds Of A Feather” came next, and quickly followed by rarity “Esther”. After a swampy run through “Roggae”, the band quickly played “Bouncing Around The Room” before closing things out with a raging thirteen-minute “David Bowie”.
Phish got the second set on the road with a 15-minute speed-funk “AC/DC Bag” featuring a tease of “Electric Funeral” by Black Sabbath. The jam eventually fizzled out into a quick “Sparkle”, which was followed by a fun “Run Like An Antelope” that heard Trey Anastasio in classic exploration mode, working his way through the jam with ease as he searched for the perfect combination of notes. Trey’s energy was infectious, and Page McConnell and Jon Fishman eventually caught on and turned the jam into a thunderous crescendo that led into the song’s peak.
The band slowed things down with for the next few songs, with “Brian And Robert” getting trotted out before a great version of “Waste” led into a debut, instrumental performance of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”, which many in attendance viewed as the night’s appropriate yet not-too-heavy-handed tribute to Garcia.
Though Trey, Fish, Mike, and Page had covered the Grateful Dead in their earliest days, they had spent the previous 15 years consciously separating themselves from the Dead catalog and establishing themselves as their own creative entity. By 1998, there had not been any crossover between the Phish and Grateful Dead worlds—members of Phish hadn’t yet performed in Phil Lesh & Friends or been a part of Fare Thee Well–and members of the Grateful Dead had not yet sat in with Phish.
After the heartfelt “Over The Rainbow” moment, the band immediately picked things back up with a huge “You Enjoy Myself”. Phish had the crowd in the palm of their hands when they started up “Frankenstein”, and continued to rip it up with a raging version of “Chalk Dust Torture”. To finish set two, the band moved to the front of the stage for an a cappella cover of “Hello, My Baby”.
Fans could already file this show in the “all-time-great” category by the time Phish returned for the encore, but the show officially became a “classic” when the band played the first notes of their “Terrapin” encore, and the crowd absolutely lost it. Phish had never covered the Grateful Dead at that scale, and to play one of the band’s most celebrated, complex pieces of music on the anniversary of Jerry Garcia’s death was received with overwhelming joy from the Virginia Beach audience. Grateful Dead fans have always had a hard time accepting Phish, but this stellar, emotional performance of the “Terrapin Station” suite was one of the first major milestones that saw Phish accepted into the Dead community.
Thanks to YouTube user righteousrabbi, fans can relive this perfectly poignant moment in Phish’s career. Listen to Phish’s version of “Terrapin Station” today, and pay your respects to Jerry Garcia in the most fitting way possible: the music.
Phish – “Terrapin Station” – 8/9/1998
[Audio: righteousrabbi]
RIP Jerry. We miss you every day.
Setlist [via Phish.net]: Phish | Virginia Beach Amphitheater | Virginia Beach, VA | 8/9/1998
Set 1: Punch You In the Eye, Bathtub Gin, The Lizards, The Moma Dance, Birds of a Feather, Esther, Roggae, Bouncing Around the Room, David Bowie
Set 2: AC/DC Bag > Sparkle, Run Like an Antelope, Brian and Robert, Waste -> Somewhere Over the Rainbow > You Enjoy Myself > Frankenstein > Chalk Dust Torture, Hello My Baby
Encore: Terrapin Station [1]
[1] Phish debut.
Notes: AC/DC Bag included an Electric Funeral tease. Somewhere Over the Rainbow was played for the first time since August 13, 1996 (152 shows). Terrapin Station made its Phish debut at this show, as the band commemorated the third anniversary of Jerry Garcia’s passing.
[Originally published 8/9/17]