Best Show Ever! Submission – Eric Martin

Lakewood Amphitheater

Atlanta, Georgia

7-4-1999

It was the 4^th of July.  The party starts early at phish shows… you’d show up to the parking lot around 3:00 PM for a show that won’t start until 8:30 PM.  You’d have some beers, sit under a shade tent, you’d either be grilling, or you’d go in search of someone else grilling (“Get your sexy grilled cheese!  One for $2, two for $3!  Two slices of bread with the butter spread, sexy grilled cheese!”).  Jam sessions in the shade with friends, or you’d just go walking.  There’s some great people watching in the Phish lot.

Phish has no openers and plays two sets.  The first set was blistering with some amazing guitar work, but it was set two where the magic happened.  Ghost > Slave to the Traffic Light.  At this point, the sun has set and Chris Kuroda’s legendary light show is in full effect.  The Ghost went into some dark, spacey improvised jam that lasted about 13 minutes until it seamlessly blended into the intro the Slave.  The Slave was played very well.  It’s the Slave jam where the memories were made.  It starts very sparse.  Trey, Mike, and Page are dancing around the A, G, D, E chord progression, without actually  landing on it.  This beautiful soft melody grows and builds until Trey starts the meat of his solo, a simple repeating pattern with fills to break up the monotony.  Eventually, they are playing the most intense progression I’ve ever heard and the crowd, all 19,000 of us, are going absolutely nuts.  It was the only time music, not the words, but just the music has made me cry.  Tears of absolute joy.

Here’s the soundboard recording of the segment, if you’re curious… you don’t have to like Phish to appreciate it:

-Eric Martin

(Waiting on that 4^th big box, y’all)