On September 12, 1999, Phish arrived in Portland, Oregon, on the heels of a Vancouver fall tour opener and a two-night stand at The Gorge. It was a Sunday night – the band’s second Portland Meadows show in just over a year, following up the summer ’98 tour opener that was eventually released as ‘LivePhish 17.’ Portland Meadows (closed in 2019) was a historic dirt racetrack that doubled as an outdoor concert venue on an open-air stage in the 10,000-capacity grassy field with aluminum bleachers. Tickets were general admission and cost $28 with a slightly earlier-than-usual start time of 6:30 pm. This show and Boise after it were both bookended by days off to accommodate the lengthy drives, and both shows provided a heaping helping of exploration and profound improvisation that demands repeated listens.

Portland’s Set I kicked off with First Tube (Phish’s first First Tube opener) soon followed by another instrumental, Mozambique. This was only the second of five times that Phish played Mozambique, all during the 24-show fall ’99 tour, following its 1998 introduction (with lyrics) at Trey’s 8-Foot Fluorescent Tubes solo debut that also begat First Tube. An uplifting Bathtub Gin stretched out with a galloping jam and a swinging ending. Back On The Train and My Mind’s Got A Mind Of Its Own led to the first Frankie Says of two fall ’99 versions before Birds Of A Feather, and a Possum closer.

Set II was a non-stop, five-song barnburner starting with Ghost > Runaway Jim > Roggae. Ghost stretched out to 30 minutes of scintillating multi-modal improvisation – a precursor to the Boise AC/DC Bag that followed a few days later. Runaway Jim came next, turning spacey and melting into a pretty Roggae. 2001 > You Enjoy Myself provided another deep excursion and slick transition to extend the setlong flow. 2001 > YEM was patient and ethereal with some Trey scatting before the trampolines. Theme From the Bottom was a rare and unexpected encore that capped an incredible night in the Rose City and made the long drive to Idaho feel just a little shorter.

9/12/99 was recorded by Paul Languedoc to digital multitrack and mixed and mastered by Jon Altschiller.

Set I:

1. First Tube (7:54)

2. Poor Heart (3:06)

3. Mozambique (4:09)

4. Bathtub Gin (19:05)

5. Back On The Train (5:02)

6. My Mind’s Got A Mind Of Its Own (2:33)

7. Frankie Says (6:08)

8. Birds Of A Feather (8:16)

9. Lawn Boy (2:49)

10. Possum (11:28)

Set II:

1. Ghost > (30:15)

2. Runaway Jim > (8:48)

3. Roggae > (7:23)

4. 2001 > (10:14)

5. You Enjoy Myself (22:39)

Encore:

6. Theme From The Bottom (10:29)