HT Giveaway: Phish – Hampton / Winston-Salem ’97

From the moment Phish left the stage at the Lawrence Joel Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem on November 23, 1997 Phish fans have been angling for an official release of the band’s epic three-night stand that ended that evening. The group’s devoted followers have finally gotten their wish with the release of Phish – Hampton / Winston-Salem ’97 via JEMP Records on December 6.

Phish – Hampton / Winston-Salem ’97 is currently available for pre-order through Dry Goods. This 7-CD set includes every note played at the Hampton ’97 shows on November 21 and 22 as well as the November 23rd scorcher in Winston-Salem. We also get a 17-minute soundcheck jam from the first night of Hampton and a version of Back at the Chicken Shack from the Winston-Salem soundcheck. There are a number of bundles available which adds items such as the 2012 Phish Calendar and a Pollock ’97 tour t-shirt along with the box set. Everyone who pre-orders the box set from Phish Dry Goods will receive a full 45-track MP3 download of Hampton Winston/Salem ’97 on the release date plus two previously unreleased Hampton/Winston-Salem related tracks from the Phish Archives.

As part of our Everybody Wins When We Plug Something And In Return They Offer Us Free Shit To Give Away program, we’ve got three copies of the complete Hampton / Winston-Salem ’97 box set to giveaway PLUS a Black-Eyed Katy bundle which includes a t-shirt and 2012 calendar. To enter, simply leave a comment below detailing your favorite part of that weekend, either in person or from a recording, musical or otherwise. You can enter a second time by following us and then tweeting that Hampton / Winston-Salem ’97 moment. Let us know by including both “@hidden_track” AND “#hws97” in your tweet. We’ll give you a third chance to snag one of the sets by leaving your favorite Hampton / Winston-Salem ’97 moment on our Facebook wall. Once the contest entry period closes we’ll tally all the entries from our comments section, Facebook and Twitter and pick four winners at random.

Here’s the fine print…

  • To enter the contest, leave a comment below telling us your favorite moment / memory from Hampton / Winston-Salem ’97
  • You can enter a second time by leaving a similar comment on the wall of the Hidden Track Facebook Page
  • You can enter a third time by following @hidden_track and tweeting your favorite moment / memory from Hampton / Winston-Salem ’97 and including both “@hidden_track” AND “#hws97” in your tweet
  • Your comment(s) must be left by 11:59 PM EST on November 25
  • Anybody entering more than once a piece on Facebook, Twitter and at the bottom of this post will be disqualified, tarred and feathered
  • Four winners will be selected at random from all entries
  • The first winner chosen will win the Black-Eyed Katy bundle, while the other three will each receive a Hampton / Winston-Salem ’97 box set courtesy of Phish Inc.
  • HT staff members are not eligible to win

So far we’ve been privy to three incredible sequences from Hampton / Winston-Salem ’97…

11/21/97 – AC/DC Bag -> Slave to the Traffic Light

11/22/97 – Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove

[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Mikes.mp3]

11/23/97 – Theme From The Bottom > Black-Eyed Katy

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169 Responses

  1. The Halley’s Comet jam from 11/22 is, in my opinion, one of the single defining moment of Phish improv. It never fails to raise the hair on the back of my neck.

  2. Ghost>Bag>Slave. Outrageous. Really tough to find the brightest spot of this run. They were firing on all cylinders.

  3. Halley’s Comet[2], Tweezer[1] -> Black-Eyed Katy > Piper, Run Like an Antelope[3]

    ^FTmuthafreakinW. top notch phish right therrrr

  4. From my journal after the NC show:

    Phish take their pre-encore wait on the side of the stage, no more than 15 feet from our row. They come back and the opening to Julius takes us all a little off guard. For a moment I thought maybe something like Julius> Sample, but then I realized how amazing the Julius would be if I just listened. So I did. And it blew me away. I would look up and see Trey, playing one of his favorite songs with a huge grin on his face. That helped me pick up the energy a bit, throwing my spinning arms way out in front of me and stomping my feet — maybe throw my long hair around in circles. My eyes were closed most of the time, but every time I looked up, I kept seeing Trey with that huge smile, looking right at our row. I’d make eye contact for a second, then turn down again because it was just too intense. It actually felt like my heart was on fire. The same thing happened about six times throughout the sick climax of the song, Trey still staring me down. It kept on going, too, unlike any Julius I’d ever heard. This was for and away the best Julius my ears have witnessed, and I felt I had some input on that. Everyone in the row agreed that Trey was working off us, but I didn’t believe it until Shawn told us in the parking lot. He said that from across the venue, he could see our row and that Trey was feeding off our us. “You guys made that Julius,” he later told us. Pretty intense.

    It was warm outside on the lot, all of my senses were reeling with adrenalin, and everyone was just psyched on what I called “for the third night in a row, The Best Show of my Life.” Yeah, I know, but it was.

  5. Id like to take my Hampton tapes to Sears to get a 10×13 wall portrait taken. I’d probably spring for a few wallets, too.

  6. Gotta give it up to the all time Halley’s Comet. You can just tell they were going for straight dirty molasses funk right out of the gate.

  7. The incredible energy when the first notes of Mike’s song were struck, still gives me goosebumps to this day when thinking about. My buddy Steve-O and I just looked at each other and couldn’t believe they were opening with Mike’s! Still one of my favorite concert moments ever!

  8. Phish fans taking over Hooters and Holiday inn rolling out a tv by there indoor pool late night to allow phish fans to watch bootlegged shows on VHS w no trouble a brewing.

  9. AC/DC>Slave!! Bag’s been a favorite since ’92 run first heard it! Gotta luv those choppy licks, and if Slave can’t get u going…

  10. Next to the roadtrip I took to Hampton in a friend’s van (George) with several close college friends, one of my favorite memories is pulling my friend Danielle from the packed floor by the stage to the back behind the soundboard where we had all the room in the world to dance to the unreal Ghost, Bag>Slave…what a weekend!

  11. This was near the beginning of the phish phunk movement and nothing said phunk for me like the start of mikes… great shows… brings me back to the good ol days…

  12. Winston ’97 was my first show. I was 15 and a buddy from high school talked me into going. The venue was just a few miles from home and I had been to numerous sporting events and concerts there over the years. I had no idea what to expect but it apparently made such an impression on me that I’m still seeing Phish some 14 years later. I’ll never forget the opening notes of “My Soul” and the amazing energy in the building. I’m so happy then band has decided to immortalize these shows in a box set.

  13. the 2 nights of Hampton were my second an third show. I remember being so confused when they started the emotion rescue. My pals and I could not figure out who the hell was singing there for a few minutes! Then walking out after just an unbelievable show and seeing the mothership all lit up. That place has held a special place in my heart ever since, as it does for many others

  14. Couldn’t pick a musical highlight, but my favorite part of the weekend was raging front row center both nights. Can’t beat it…

  15. My fav memory would be, all of it? Listening to Slip stitch over and over all the way to Hampton. Sleeping in the car behind the Dennys in Hampton after the first night. Driving to Raliegh after the second night, sleeping in the car again because we couldnt get my friends to come to the door and let us in. Then hitting up Winston the next day. My 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Phish shows. Havent been through an experience since. What a great 3 days!

  16. This was my second time seeing Phish. the first time was in Winston in 1995 and I just didn’t get it. After two years of listening to more stuff, this Winston show had me smiling from ear to ear from the start! My friends and I (some of which I didn’t even know at the time) still talk about this legendary show.

  17. the ambient breakdown in Bag–> Slave is unreal…its that sort of transcendent Phish jamming where you feel like you are hovering 2 ft above the floor. I never got to attend these shows (I was only 8 yrs old in 97)- but when I listen to the auds and especially this remastered clip- it takes me to that special place that I cherish so much….just gotta surrender to the flow 🙂

  18. Emotional Rescue opener. Great song, but weird in a way that makes it a perfect Phish cover, and jammed out like few if any debuts have ever been

  19. My favorite aspect of that weekend came before the first note was ever played. I was a senior at UVM at the time and decided to make a last minute trek to the Mothership to catch Phish during what would eventually become a tour of legend. After a stop at Lafayette College to join forces with a few high school friends who were students there, we headed from Easton, PA to Williamsburg, VA. As my car wasn’t equipped for a big group, our posse hitched a ride with a couple of fellow Phish trekkers (let’s call them Bill and Ted) who had a nice big truck. One issue: for the 3 hour car ride down, they spoke nothing but Phish every minute of the way, all the time; wall to wall analysis. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Phish, but I also like to maintain a well rounded battery of conversation topics – baseball, current events, whatever…(back to Bill and Ted in a minute).

    So we arrive at our group’s female friend’s (also high school crew) establishment at the College of William & Mary called ‘the Hippie House’ on the night of 11/20 and we were raring to go. Where to we asked? “The Green Leafe Bar!” our NJ homegirl says, and we were off…

    We roll in and the place is hopping, people literally bouncin of the walls. After a look, a headshake, and then a closer assessment, it’s none other than Ernest, Paige, and Mike getting their swerve on…there was no division between band and fans…everyone was just hanging out, just having fun and exitedly awaiting the upcoming run of music…I remember Trey amidst a big table of revellers, just ordering huge trays of Tequila shots, one after the other…Paige was as nice as cld be, we spoke briefly about growing up in the same NJ town (Basking Ridge) It was a good ole time had by all…

    So the night was winding down and given that our hosts at the Hippie House were a group of 8 attractive girls and very persuasive, that’s where the band wound up meandered to for a late night…

    Back to Bill and Ted…so folks and band are sitting around the living room passing VA’s finest or whatever, and the two dire hards who could not stop talking Phish for 4 hours to the point where I was gonna pull my hair out are all of the sudden amidst their heroes and a cloud of smoke…stunned silence ensued, stage fright to the max …I think Ted managed to ask Paige if he recommended Maxell XLII’s or IIS’s for bootlegs before having to gasp for his next breath…I also remeber Mike walking around the house with a Lawn Nome…make of that what you will…

    I recall reading quotes from the band remembering this era of their career (I think in The Phish Book) saying that after the Europe tour of that year they were coming back to their roots and just enjoying the experience again (presumably after a year when they were exposed to their first real dose of main stream music industry pressures etc) and alot of that came with just hanging with fans and simplifying things…

    My lasting memory of that night and a level of appreciation that I have maintained since came in the front yard at around 4am…Trey was playing with a yo-yo just kind of waiting for the rest of the band to gather and take off and a few of us were also out there just hanging out…many shots and drinks and whatever else were had up to this point and I remember a Dude Brah in our extended group that I didn’t know very well going up to Trey and saying ‘Dude, I don’t have tickets to the shows, can you hook me up?” and Trey simply said “What’s your name?” and DudeBrah responds “James”…and with that, Trey and the rest of the Phish lads went back to their shuttle and took off…

    I thought to myself “Dude, give the guy a break, it’s 4am”…

    So the next day we walk up to will call at Hampton and James goes up to the window and walks away with 2 tickets and 2 back stage passes for each night…I’ll forget my feeling at that moment – I was impressed and proud all at the same time…impressed that Trey remembered this guy at all let alone his name and his request…but also proud that I loved and associated myself with a band that cared so much for its fanbase and their experience (truly personifying ‘All our Intent is for Your Delight’)…the personal connection I felt with the band and the music then was solidified ten fold at that moment and it has never wavered since…

    We then had a blast for the rest of the weekend and had our minds blown by two amazing shows…Thank You Phish.

  20. Wow, one of the great boxed sets that I own is Hampton comes Alive, from their ’98 run. I would love a chance to listen to these shows too, only saw them in Alpine that year.
    -Tom

  21. I remember waiting outside of the LJVM for my brother to arrive from VT after our long drive back from Hampton. I hadn’t been to a show with him since summer ’96 and I was very excited to see him again. Tons of free tickets in the lot and everyone looked exhausted. Second set is one of my top three Phish experiences ever. Did anyone else go to Ziggy’s afterwards. Damn, I loved that place.

  22. The Theme>Black Eyed Katy. I remember at the time thinking that BEK was a cool Phishy version of a Meteres song!

  23. My favorite moment was when I pulled in the lot for the first time. Back then the internet was still small and I had no idea what the coliseum looked like.

    Also I almost didn’t make it.

    My best friend and I decided to do Denver to Worcester. We went out to Denver with some friends from Tulsa, OK. A friend of thiers wanted to go and check out Phish. That’s all it took he was hooked. He offered to drive us on the rest of the run. So we decided to skip Chicago and go to Tulsa and pick up his car. We arrived early in the morning and crashed. We got up around noon and went to grab his car. We get to his house and his car is stolen!!! I was crushed. We retreated back to my friends house and tried to figure out how in the hell we were gonna make it from OK to VA. After 3 or 4 hours of arguing the phone rings and it’s the police. They found his car and nothing was wrong with it except the ignition lock was broken. We hopped in and took off. We were going pretty fast to make up for time and we get pulled over and I get written up for no seatbelt cause I took it off so I could sleep on the back seat.

    Anyways when we pulled into the lot and saw the “Mothership” all was forgotten. Not to mention the the weather was like 65 degrees. It was perfect!!!

  24. My favorite moment was without a doubt the 2nd set on 11/21. That and the lot post show. Great times as always at hampton.

  25. I heard 11/22 first, and it was that Halley’s Comet that hooked me on ’97 Phish. Later, it was one of the first pieces of music I ever shared with my girlfriend. We’ve since seen 14 shows together, all over the country!

  26. The ominous mood that is conjured up by the fierce, gargantuan version of Haley’s Comet that perfectly encapsulates the fall 97 sound.

  27. Well, 11/22 is Aunt Ebeneezer’s bday, so that was a must have recording for us. Killer show, without a doubt. The mothership always takes flight and that def. comes through. Can’t wait for the official release!

  28. 11/22/97 It’s gotta be the Halley’s Comet (my wife’s fav Phish). So amazing is the Tweezer>Black Eyed Katy also.

  29. My favorite moment is the emotional rescue opener from night #1. Let everyone in the building know what they were getting themselves into for the weekend… PHUNK PHEST!

  30. My favorite moment, while not sure if it was intentional, it’s the extra run thru between the verses in the Mike’s Song. To me, right from the start of the show, tells me something good is gonna happen and ya better be paying attention.

  31. Favorite Musical moment: Antelope, followed closely by Mikes…

    Favorite non-musical moment: pulling into the next parking spot in the parking lot next to my twin brother (who was coming from North Carolina, while I was coming from New York)

    Extra: 1st phish road trip w/ ScottyB!!

  32. My Favorite moment of these shows was when they played “Punch You In The Eye”. At that time it was my 8th show and the first time I ever heard them play it. Of course by then I realized and came to expect to always hear something new or different at a show. This has been something that the band continues to do and therefore will always make me want to continue to attend.

  33. Wasn’t there, but I’d like to win the box set so I can be there now. Then I’ll tell you what my favorite moment was.

  34. My favorite moment was looking at my friend Dan during “Slave…” We had driven down over night from Amherst (Umass) and were a little tired I guess and had a sort of shaky first set. I even had to convince him a tiny bit to join me on the floor for the 2nd set. By the tenth second of “Ghost” all that was behind us. During “Slave…,” as Trey was playing the really big parts and the yellow and white lights were moving slowly up the floor from front to back, I looked at Dan who was standing at a 45 degree angle–leaning back that much but feet still firmly on the HC floor–with a smile on his face thinking “this, then tomorrow night, then Winston/Salem, Hartford, and Worcester!”

  35. Emotional Rescue – and hearing all the random “ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh,ooh-ooh-ooh-OOH”s after the show in the lot/in the hotel all night/all the next day (they pop up on the AUDs, too).

    Also, Slave & Hood.

  36. best wave ever! nearly got rid of my tickets in champaign. so glad i didn’t! never felt so much energy being shared by a band and the crowd. it is so good to hear these recordings surface in this quality

  37. My first Phish show was 7/31/97. I had done a B+P for a show or two, but the Hampton 97 run was the first trade I ever completed (I sent my copies of 7/31 and 8/2 as part of the trade). I knew the moment I popped in the tape and heard Emotional Rescue that the Smashing Pumpkins were no longer my favorite band.

  38. Is this some sort of cannibalistic death chant, as the crowd was tring to get mike to agree to a destiny by singing the first verse.

  39. Legitamitely the best two nights I have ever seen took place in Hampton 97. From the moment I walked in and was in awe of the pandimonium inside to the moment when Mikes song started off the night, it was magic. Funny story, a buddy who I was with sold his and his girls tickets to the second night after being dissapointed by the 2nd set of night 1…….LOL dissapointed….to this day we all occasionally pick up the phone, shout 11/22/97 into it and hang up on his ass!!!

  40. I had never seen a crowd so riled up before the band even took the stage. we were doing the wave, the whole bit. no security at hampton helps. Then they hit us with an incredible mikes groove. my favorite show of all time.

  41. I’m gonna go with….
    1. naked dude beating off at setbreak during second night Hampton. I know other people saw this, as well.

    2. late night moe. after winston salem…Al got glowstick crap in his eyes and basically couldn’t play after that.

    3. drive back to charleston after ziggy’s…geting pulled over and arrested for a goo ball and glass. somehow they missed all the herb

    memories….epic weekend…life long friendships basically started that weekend. bittersweet writing this due to Randy(my main phish buddy) passing unexpectedly about a month ago. see you at the gorge my friend!

  42. my favorite moment from the hampton/winston-salem ’97 run came via a story my friend told me that on the 2nd night of hampton, i believe it was during the 2nd set, he witnessed at least one person in the crowd fall to their knees in jubilant praise of what was occurring that night on stage. Saved by phish, indeed!

  43. Favorite part was being blown away and not believing my ears at hearing the weekaprise, closely followed by Trey’s hilarious response to the Destiny Unbound chant.

  44. The moment during the intro to Harry Hood on 11-22 when Page plays the weird “Star Trek”/intergalactic riff on his synth and the crowd goes nuts– sounds like a spaceship getting ready to take off, which of course, it did.

  45. A truly great three day weekend. So glad i got to go to all three nights, can’t wait to hear the new cd’s. Thanks PHISH !!!

  46. Getting IN! I bought tickets on lot for the 3rd night from the same guy I bought tickets from for the 1st night. Well when I get up so they can tear my ticket all of a sudden the older gentleman looks at me and tells me the ticket is fake. He didnt even look at the ticket! Long story short I asked if he could get a 2nd opinion and when he turned his head I bolted in. Turns out both tickets were fake and I got lucky the 1st night. These shows mean soooooo much to me.

  47. Loved this run. Pure funk at its finest. The Tweezer and Halley’s Comet are AMAZING. 11/22/97 was actually the first Phish tape that I ever owned. Got it through a random trade in the mail, and it really changed my life. I got rid of my tapes a long time ago, but I still kept that one. Remember J-cards, God, tapes. Maxell II all the way!

  48. My favorite part is the Antelope from Hampton, I had this experience one time of heading over to a friends house in college. I knock on the door for about 5 mins before he opens it. He is absolutely raging the Antelope. He proceeds to sit me down, listen through it two full time, with multiple plays each time of the peak. Just fist pounding and jumping on the couch. The energy is on another level, well the Phish level. We talk about that day all the time, and during peaks of Antelope live I see myself sitting on the couch comparing what is happening before my eyes to this Antelope

  49. the DWD>Low Rider>DWD doesn’t get enough press. the boys were having a ton of fun when they went into this.

  50. My first tapes were DAud1’s of both Hampton shows that I got for free from a generous RMPer by coming up with a clever set of Xmas gifts I’d give to the boys (original thread: http://bit.ly/rMiGGg). I will never forget hearing the first moments of the 11/22 Mike’s when I popped it in – it was the first bootleg I ever heard, and it hooked me for life.

  51. Walking out of Lawrence Joel, the four of us looking back and forth at each other speechless, until someone said, “What just happened?” WOW, just plain WOW! Bathtub Gin went to another place that I have yet to experience since.

  52. I gained a greater appreciation of Theme I had not had before hearing this version. One of those shows I wish I had been in attendance for, without a doubt!

  53. I remember writing an exclamation point (!) on the j-card of my 11/23 tape after Fluffhead. It really brought everything to a new level for my 13 year old self.

  54. Some friends and I drove up to WS after the Clemson/SC game. A friend of mine snuck in and somehow 10-15 people shuffled right in behind him. Killer show, remember that second set being epic. Easily the best Gin I’ve ever seen live. The DWD>Low Rider was icing on the cake. Then we decided to drive home to Clemson after the show. Let’s just say I’ve made better decisions in my life.

  55. Best thing about those 3 shows-
    Going to the show!
    Worst thing about those 3 shows-
    listening to Hampton and wondering why I didn’t go to these shows!

  56. Fave moment is the Twist. Got the tapes and fell in love with this song with the WS show.

  57. The builds in Black Eyed Katy (11/22) are just awesome, as are the five solid minutes of mind-blowing in Antelope before they bring it back down. There are tons of versions of this song, mostly doing the same thing, but I’ve yet to hear more awesome from this part of the jam.

  58. Can’t wait to hear the Theme again—also Emotional Rescue and Dogs Stole! hope this is a sign of them returning!

  59. I have to say my favorite moment, on recording, is the Theme From The Bottom. Always been one of my favorite slower Phish songs, but this one was just great.

  60. The Mike’s Song is so laid back, even in the beginning. It’s the perfect example of the slow, funk-laden attitude the band took during the fall 97 tour.

  61. Walked in a little late and the place was going nuts. I asked the happy fellow I saw first what it was they opened with and he said Mike’s Song. Yes! Celebration ensued.

  62. The first thing that I remember is hearing Emotional Rescue from the hall and running with my dear friends to our spot in upper Page side to really start dancing. And that was only the beginning! All of night 2 was absolutely amazing as well. Hampton ’97 has always been on top of the list of my most memorable and meaningful shows.

  63. The best part of that weekend as in all 97 and earlier shows was the crowd, the people, all surrendering to the flow as one. Which did its part in feeding the band, the fuel for a great ending to a mosteriosly funky run. Go Phish Go!

  64. My favorite part of the run is the Theme–>Black Eyed Katy. I know, I know, obvious choice but honestly, it shows the breadth of Phish. The articulate, slow build of Theme that oozes and murks around the depths of nowhere yet continues to build and build into a triumphant Trey solo. One could say, “You had me at Theme” but with the gentle segue into Black Eyed Katy, you welcome the beat up broad with the funkiest of smiles. Lo and behold the beaten bitch whips and twists, funk groove after funk groove, only to leave you wanting more and more.

  65. It’s funny that the destiny chant never worked, but this time at least it got ackowledged. Relentless phish in the zone, start to finish briliance!!!

  66. Favorite moment that sticks out has to be the Mike’s Groove opener on Sat night. My excitement is always highest right at that moment when the lights go down, with the anticipation of the opener. I love that feeling! And that night, the opener did not disappoint. Mike’s used to be my favorite song, and man was this a golden age for that tune.

  67. I will always love the BEK, or the instrumental version of the Moma. I remember the first time hearing the BEK and my friend turing to me and saying, “That’s the pure sound of Phish”. It still makes me smile.

  68. 11/22 remains my all time favorite show from start to finish. the first set happens to be the best first set in phishtory and the second set.. cant wait to hear this run in HQ! these discs will never leave my cd player!

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