Phish Podcast ‘Undermine’ Starts Revisiting 1998 Island Tour

Phish pulled off an instant classic four-night run featuring two shows each in Uniondale, New York and Providence, Rhode Island from April 2 – 5, 1998 dubbed the “Island Tour.” JamBase partner Osiris Media’s Undermine podcast devotes the final four episodes of its fourth season to the Island Tour with the initial installment out today.

Today’s episode focuses on the opening night of the run — April 2, 1998 at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. Phish lyricist Tom Marshall and co-hosts RJ Bee and Benjy Eisen give context to the Island Tour and dig into the first show.

Marshall reveals the Phish crew member who came up with Island Tour moniker. The three co-hosts then take listeners through the show pointing out such highlights as the debut of “Birds Of A Feather,” a stellar “Stash” and an incredible transition from “Wolfman’s Brother” into “Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley” that Eisen calls “one of the best segues perhaps Phish has ever done.”

Season 4 of Undermine left off with show-by-show recaps of Phish’s Fall Tour 1997. Eisen, Marshall and Bee explain why the Island Tour is a continuation of 1997 for Phish hence the decision to include the run in Undermine’s fourth season. “All four nights are perfect,” Bee exclaims.

Watch today’s episode of Undermine below: