One of the major highlights of their touring years that Phish fans have referenced time and time again from 1998 was the one-off show at Vernon Downs on August 12, 1998. Eventually this particular date got added as an official LivePhish release, and it’s for plenty of good reasons.
On August 12, 1998 Phish played outdoors at Vernon Downs – a harness racetrack in the town of Vernon, NY. This was the last regular show of 23 U.S. dates leading up to Lemonwheel, a tour dubbed the Summer Of Covers due to near-nightly bustouts of new cover songs. It was Phish’s only Vernon show and a homecoming for Jon Fishman, who grew up in nearby Syracuse. Vernon’s general admission, open field set the stage for a pre-festival barnburner.
Hit the YouTube link above for an audience copy and spin-through the Talking Heads cover and head over to LivePhish to give the whole show a re-listen.
