Phans can now relive one of the band’s most exploratory performances from the fall of 1999: the September 12 show at Portland Meadows. This newly remastered archival release, curated by Phish Archivist Kevin Shapiro, is streaming today on the LivePhish App and is available for download at LivePhish.com. The set captures a crisp, sunlit Sunday evening in the Pacific Northwest, with Phish arriving fresh from a Vancouver tour opener and a triumphant two-night stand at The Gorge.
Portland Meadows—once a historic dirt racetrack turned open-air concert venue—hosted just over 10,000 fans on this night. General admission lawn tickets were priced at $28, and with a slightly earlier curtain time of 6:30 pm, the atmosphere was charged from the moment gates opened. In the year prior, Phish had debuted at the same venue on the opening night of summer ’98; that show eventually became “LivePhish 17.” Now, nearly a quarter-century later, the fall ’99 performance gets its own definitive treatment, preserving both the band’s adventurous spirit and the electric energy of a crowd gathered under a late-September sky.
Set One unfolds as a rare instrumental showcase, beginning with “First Tube” for its second live opener in Phish history. That early burst of synchronicity gave way to “Poor Heart” before the tremolo-laden “Mozambique,” which Phish performed only five times throughout the 24 shows of fall ’99. The momentum built further with a twenty-minute “Bathtub Gin”—a rollicking, galloping jam that pivoted into an impossibly tight, swinging peak. From there, “Back on the Train” and “My Mind’s Got a Mind of Its Own” set the stage for the evening’s first “Frankie Says,” a playful nod to Phish’s springboard into looser improvisational territory. “Birds of a Feather” soared next, and “Lawn Boy” offered a quiet interlude before the first set closed with an eleven-minute “Possum” that had fans on their feet.
After a brief respite, Set Two exploded with an uninterrupted suite of deep-foraging jams. The journey began with a thirty-minute “Ghost,” whose multi-modal exploration foreshadowed some of the tour’s most expansive improvisations to come. From there, “Runaway Jim” drifted through spacey textures and seamlessly morphed into “Roggae,” providing a rare treat for fans who cherish these transitional moments. The set’s tempo ratcheted back up with “2001,” stretching out into a patient, almost ambient odyssey—Trey Anastasio’s guitar scatting and trance-like melodies eventually vaulted into the trampoline-driven climax of “You Enjoy Myself,” one of Phish’s most celebrated compositions. When the dust settled, only one encore remained: a ten-minute, heartfelt “Theme From the Bottom,” a fittingly reflective coda that left the Rose City crowd breathless and satisfied.
Engineering the original recording was longtime Phish soundman Paul Languedoc, who captured the 9/12/99 performance to digital multitrack. Years later, mixer/master Jon Altschiller returned to those tapes to create this definitive stereo mix, striking a balance between warmth and clarity that highlights every nuance—from Page McConnell’s Hammond-tinged keys to Mike Gordon’s funky bass undertones.
Set One (September 12 1999, Portland Meadows)
• First Tube (7:54)
• Poor Heart (3:06)
• Mozambique (4:09)
• Bathtub Gin (19:05)
• Back On the Train (5:02)
• My Mind’s Got a Mind of Its Own (2:33)
• Frankie Says (6:08)
• Birds Of a Feather (8:16)
• Lawn Boy (2:49)
• Possum (11:28)
Set Two & Encore
• Ghost > (30:15)
• Runaway Jim > (8:48)
• Roggae > (7:23)
• 2001 > (10:14)
• You Enjoy Myself (22:39)
• Encore: Theme From the Bottom (10:29)
