Re-edited footage of the famed “Ghost” that Phish played in Prague in 1998 has surfaced on YouTube. The clip comes from the band’s July 6th, 1998 show at the Lucerna Theatre in the Czech Republic during a nine-date European run in the summer of 1998. While video of this all-time great jam has appeared on YouTube before, this clip features remastered audio of the storied jam.
In their description of the video, taper LazyLightning55a notes that it’s a “re-edit and cleaned up a bit with remastered audio of the great Ghost of Prague in 1998…..on my account, it said this was uploaded in sept, 2013, but I never took it off ‘private’. so now, ‘public’. but hey, here it is. simply smokes. peak trey. mike gordon tears ass. fun closeup at 9m49.”
The Prague rendition of “Ghost” immediately sets itself apart with a cow funk intro when the song begins out of a segue from “AC/DC Bag”. For the first three minutes, it’s as if the band cut through the lyrics and took fans straight to the spacey jam. Before long, however, Trey Anastasio drops in with the lyrics at a brisk pace. He’s not rushed, and neither is the song, but it gives it the song strong legs that will definitely be needed later. After all of those pesky lyrics, the band breaks it down once again and pumps the break on the speed it was going before. This is short-lived, though, as they immediately start laying the groundwork for the peak that puts this version of “Ghost” over the top and separates it from all the others.
Watch Phish perform “Ghost” in Prague, CZE on July 6th, 1998.
Phish — “Ghost” — 7/6/1998
[Video: LazyLightning55a]
This newly surfaced video comes at a time when Phish fans are hungrier for content than ever. Luckily, the band is obliged to give it to them with a steady stream of new songs from Trey’s quarantine, weekly archival webcasts in the Dinner and a Movie series, and, of course, Sigma Oasis. Even while many of the Dinner and a Movie selections are a little too recent for some fans, newly-surfaced clips like the Prague “Ghost” show that some people are definitely digging into the archives.