Business: In the interest of letting folks know what's going on with the opening of the Dead's vault, the following comes from and online chat with Bobby Weir at www.otherones.net. It's self-explanatory, and encouraging.

Bob-Weir: The master plan is to digitize the vault, that's going to take a while. In the meantime there will probably be a few more from the vault issues, stuff we've been doing all along. But Dick's notes and stuff like that are a finite resource and we won't be able to continue doing that forever. That well is going to go dry. The good news is by that time we will most likely have digitized the vault. The plan to digitize and offer it online goes something like this - I think the first part of the process is we'll do a survey on the web and see which tunes and which shows are in most demand. We'll digitize them first. Firstly we'll make them available by custom order CD. The reason being the quality of the audio material that's currently on the web is not up to anyone's standards in our organization, I think I can speak for the entire organization in that, including Phil.

The technology we're waiting for is not that far off, but isn't here yet. The end goal here is to make any show, any song, anything we ever did and recorded available over the web or custom CD by special order. So if you want every Uncle John's band from 78 to 84 you can have that. Or if you want the show where you met your significant other, you can have that. There will probably be lists that will emerge of various people's picks for the best of this or that and that will be available, virtually everything

This is also the first month of It's Official, a new segment that will focus on one officially released live recording each month. It's gonna cover everything from the most recent Dick's Picks to Coltrane- Live at Antibes, so if you've got a favorite live album to tell us about, please send in a review. This month, in keeping with the theme, it looks at disc 6 of Phish's Hampton Comes Alive.

Next Month: Since this column began a little more than a year ago, I've always wanted to do a month where I can give a little thanks to all those people who've helped my tape and CD collections grow over the years. In January Tape Cases will look at a couple gems from my collection that have come by way of B and P offers. If you want to thank some traders, or talk about some sweet piece of music that was given to you by a benevolent stranger, drop me a line. As always, any and all contributions and feedback are welcome.

Music:
Phish @ Big Cypress, FL 12/30/99
Disc 1: H2O, Light Up > Suzie, Corrina Corrina, Limb X Limb, Greeting, Native Greeting, Big Alligator, Possum, Farmhouse
Disc 2: Ghost, Ya Mar, Character Zero
Disc 3: Set II: Wilson, Curtain > Tweezer > Taste, Meat, Golgi, Wolfman's
Disc 4: Jiboo, Harry Hood, GTBT Set III: Chalkdust, Moma Dance, Antelope, The Sloth
Disc 5: Circus, Mike's > Simple > H2 > Groove E/ Boogie On > Tweezer Reprise

Water in the Sky is a throw away; a huge version of Alligator would've been a better choice. This show really opens with the first Light Up or Leave Me Alone in almost twelve years. It rocks hard, slick and groovin' with a nice segue into a full-fledged extended Jiboo jam at the end. Hot! It also drops into a really fine Suzie, the first I've truly enjoyed in years. The following bust out of Corrina Corrina completes the trinity. Such a wonderful song, played in such a straightforward manner, this song excites me the way Farmhouse did when it first showed up in 97. It's too bad that it did not have a continued presence in 2000.

Ghost- where it really happens. The intro loops rise fast upon one another, keeping the composition at a good pace. Wonderful syncopation as single instruments drop out and return en masse. The jam keeps moving with a quick Fishman and driving Mike. The loops stay in place and are all but drowned out by Trey's energetic guitar and Page's compliments. By the eight-minute mark the groove has hit a straightaway and shoots off on a clean trajectory. Page speaks up here and there but Trey is hooked on an idea and keeps running around it. The slow down eases in nicely, the loops resurface and Fish hits a delicate bell to finish. Whew!

It's still early in the show and Ya Mar is well placed, keeping the energy flowing with nice noodley playing all around.

Nothing too special about the Zero closer- just some hard edged rock star guitar and phat bass. The kind of stuff that makes you bob your head, then break into a full body jiggle with a screwed up face.

Wilson is a strong second set opener with particularly nice broad organ puddles before Aaron questions the King's ability to enjoy himself. As the wind down winds down, Curtain opens. A truly exceptional song, due both to the strange (though in this case appropriate) lyrics and odd song structure, it has become a real treat as it appears only sporadically in setlists. A tight but longish version, it was a real highlight at the show and it still shines on disc. Plus it segues into a fine Tweezer.

The composition is funky and well done. The jam begins by entering a wood at dusk- slightly uneasy but maintaining a sense of levity to keep the fear at bay. After lurking in the shadows for a while, the music finds a mountain path. But as the path reaches the higher regions, the air grows thin and a mist begins to form. It is light and beautiful and draws away the oxygen, leaving a hazy grogginess. A nice transition wakes up the crowd with a Taste peppered with resplendent drumming and cascading piano. Mike pushes the beginning of Trey's improv back into Tweezer's forest, but this time, in dramatic style, the entire band finds a peak from which to view its progress.

By this point in the show every song has something to offer. Meat and Golgi are both energetic and fun and precede a slow groovin' Wolfman's. It's stone funk until the last few minutes, when a keyboard-laden funktagion breaks out. It's a moment where the boys just can't miss.

Jiboo is one long leaden groove with Mike in control as Trey deftly, delicately slips on the surface. There is also a nice resonance with the jam from early on in the set. The following Hood is well placed and thoroughly enjoyable. The end jam is so bright and inspired and heartfelt- certainly a welcome addition to an excellent second set.

In set three, Moma Dance serves well as the introduction Antelope. The sculpted funkiness of the former contrasts nicely with the honed rock and roll segmentation of the latter. The classic jam song lives up to its reputation, shaking off the last sediments of Moma Dance, and unleashing a focused, intense musical blast, before settling into an almost Caribbean ending. Intention realized.

Mike's groove is certainly the climax of a show littered with fantastic jams. There is a fury and cacophony that could easily push you over the edge on a crowded day in mid-town, with the phones on and discman cranked to eleven. It's wild and it bears mentioning that at the show the stage was filled with a towering mountain of thick smoke, dramatically lit with reds and purples. It reached above the rafters before dispersing into the night air. I cannot escape that tremendous image as the jam convulses and foams at the mouth for the last six or seven minutes. It also bears mentioning that the reported Immigrant Song tease is vastly overstated. It happens early on and while there is a similarity, it's to a seriously slowed down version of the Zep classic, and it's very brief.

The transition to Simple is flawless and the ensuing spontaneous composition drifts into the scented dreams of a soothing lavender bath. Everyone is playing so lightly, as if to see who can be the softest, until Fishman is left delicately keeping time waiting for Hydrogen to float in. The Groove is clean with an early ALS tease followed hard upon by some classic guitar riffs.

Phish @ Big Cypress, FL 12/31/99 Set I
Disc 1: Jim, Funky Bitch, Tube, I Didn't Know, PYITE, BATR, Poor Heart, Roggae
Disc 2: SOAM > Catapult, GBOTT, Horn, Guyute, After Midnight

The opening triad for the 31st is a great grouping of songs. Jim is none too long, beginning pensively, almost moodily, and shining at the end. Bitch has slick rapid-fire piano followed by a great guitar solo. Tube is immersed in bass heavy ambient funk. All three tunes make good openers, so hitting them one after another leaves a particularly nice taste in the mouth.

The bulk of the set is song oriented with a shorter PYITE and a Bouncin'. Even the Roggae, with its placid lily filled dales and hard interruptions holds on to a form fairly firmly.

The center of the set is also the highlight. Melt is up-tempo throughout the composition, featuring incredibly constant, yet subtly varied drumming and a pronounced low end. The groove settles darkly, Page working with the rhythm section as Trey squirms through a tight passage. A lengthy sustain opens it up about a third of the way through, trudging in the hazy morass of the swamp. There is a light, a goal, somewhere in the distance and about half way through, Trey and Page make run for it. But as the haze clears, they find a vast serene lake separates them from their destination. Mike hints at First Tube but it doesn't take shape. Instead, beautifully benevolent aquatic creatures dip and spin just at the surface- breathtaking vitality. A neat groove takes flight almost twenty minutes in, and suddenly a sung version of Catapult arises, with Mike and Trey sharing vocals.

-Only at the largest concert in the world can you get away with playing a song like that.

There's nothing not to like about the energetic little groover, GBOTT. It drops into a moody Horn; while not an inspired performance, it's still a treat. The closer, of course, is the only Phish performance of After Midnight. Absolutely explosive, it funneled all of the collective anticipation for the epic journey that lay just a few hours ahead.

-We gonna find out what it is all about.

It's Official- Phish, Hampton Comes Alive, 11/21/98, Disc 3
Sabotage, Mike's > Simple > Wedge, Mango > Free > Ha Ha Ha > Free, Groove
E: Tubthumping (w/ Tom Marshall)

Like many people, I had these well-circulated tapes before they became a boxed set. There is a lot to enjoy from the collection of over six hours of live Phish, so we'll take it slow by just looking at one disc at a time. Disc 3 is my favorite disc in the set, for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the Sabotage opener. It rages, a moment of intense Arena Rock, tempered with a touch of humor in Trey's voice. The Mike's is also well done- not as flashy as the one on Slip, Stitch and Pass, but perhaps more representative of Phish at the time. It keeps a steady pace and grooves rather effortlessly, never getting too wild or crazed. Simple, however, amazing. Of all the beautiful jams that have developed out of this song over the last few years, this one is certainly one of the best. The early section is a prime example of egoless playing- everyone moving forward, but leaving ample room for everyone else. The second, quieter segment stretches- the dull, intoxicating ache of a flower opening it's petals to greet the breaking dawn. It almost comes to a complete stop before an oddly placed Wedge appears. An old favorite, it's always fun to hear as it encapsulates so many distinct memories.

Mango is also oddly placed (in fact, it's odd that they played it at all). A real treat for which the assembled crowd was truly thankful. The best part of the disc, however, is the Free > Ha Ha Ha > Free. It plows onto the scene like a freightliner slicing through fifteen-foot waves, confident and forceful. Not long into the improvisation there is a perfect transition into Fishman's composition. It works as well as any Mike's > Simple, including the one earlier in the set. And it's the drums that don't miss a beat, pulling the band back to the Free jam. Smokin'!

Groove brings closure to the event after a brief pause. Fast and loaded with slap bass, it is reminiscent of older versions- a lot of fun. The cover-encore also creates a nice parallel with the Sabotage opener. Tubthumping is just silly, and pretty poorly sung, but captures the humor and loose feeling a Phish show. This disc alone makes HCA a worthwhile buy, but when you consider all the other music. well, if you don't already own it, you should.