Set List
Show Notes
This was the opening night of the band’s third European Tour and was Phish’s second (and last to-date) performance at Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Capacity for this show was 2100, tickets cost £11.00 and the show was sold out. The band and crew had tech. rehearsal at the venue the previous day where they worked on mostly new material including My Soul, Taste, Billy Breathes, Walfredo and Rock A William. This show featured the 1st Love Me (Elvis Presley cover written by Leiber and Stoller and sung by Mike), My Soul (Clifton Chenier cover) When The Circus Comes (Los Lobos cover) played by Phish. This show also saw the debut of two new auto-biographical originals: Walfredo and Rock A William, both of which involved the band members switching off from their usual instruments. Walfredo had Fish on bass/lead vocals, Mike on guitar, Page on drums and Trey on piano. Rock A William had Fish on fretless guitar/lead vocals, Mike on piano, Trey on drums and Page on bass. Trey teased Close To The Edge (Yes cover) during the Jam that followed Punch You In The Eye. Maze was unfinished and segued into the debut of Rock A William. A poster triptych featuring this show, 2/17/97 Amsterdam and 2/18/97 Paris won a 1997 Award of Excellence from the Communication Arts Design Annual for Best Poster Series. After this show the band and crew traveled 240 miles (plus a ferry crossing) to Brussels, Belgium. The Winter 1997 Doniac Scvhice Phish News set announced the European tour: “the big news of the moment is a return trip to Europe in February. All shows will be two set, headline shows with no opening acts. There are a number of first time visits on the itinerary, including Berlin, Copenhagen, Munich, Florence (Firenze), and Cologne.”