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1997-07-30

VENTURA COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS · Ventura, CA · Summer U.S. Tour 1997 Era 1.0

Set 1: NICU [5:44] > Wolfman's Brother [11:57] > Chalk Dust Torture [11:17] notes ↗, Water in the Sky [4:05], Stash [15:20] notes ↗, Weigh [5:11] > Piper [5:04] > Cars Trucks Buses [4:48], Character Zero [8:55]
Set 1 total: 1:12:21

Set 2: Punch You in the Eye [8:37] > Free [13:48] > David Bowie notes ↗ -> Cities [5:12] notes ↗ -> David Bowie notes ↗, Bouncing Around the Room [3:43], Uncle Pen [4:13], Prince Caspian [8:56] > Fire [7:42]
Set 2 total: 52:11 7 of 9 timed

Encore: My Soul [5:32]
Encore total: 5:32

Timed portion: 2:10:04 across 17 of 19 songs — a floor, not the show's length.

Times come from phish.in and are shown only where one track maps to exactly one song. Segued songs are often released as a single bundled track carrying one duration for several songs, and a song played twice in a set can't be told apart — those get no time rather than a made-up one. 2 of 19 songs here are untimed for that reason (or because the show isn't on phish.in at all).

Soundcheck

Twist (with Chuck E’s in Love lyrics), Blues Jam, Makisupa Policeman

A soundcheck isn't part of the show and counts toward no song's play total or gap.

Notes

Trey teased Yours Is No Disgrace prior to NICU. Wolfman’s included a Fire (Ohio Players) tease from Trey and a Take Me to the River jam. The Bowie intro featured Fish on vaccum and included a Simpsons signal; Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, was reportedly in attendance. Bowie also contained a When Johnny Comes Marching Home tease from Mike. This show was released as part of the Ventura box set.

Teases

Fire (Ohio Players) — Trey

When Johnny Comes Marching Home — Mike

Gap chart

How long each of tonight's songs had been on the shelf, across all Phish shows. The gap is always as of this date.

Song	Times played	Last played (overall)	Last played before this show	Gap
NICU	163	2026-07-27	1997-07-23	3
Wolfman's Brother	254	2026-09-04	1997-07-25	2
Chalk Dust Torture	530	2026-09-05	1997-07-25	2
Water in the Sky	89	2026-01-30	1997-07-25	2
Stash	464	2026-08-01	1997-07-26	1
Weigh	48	2026-07-24	1997-03-01	30
Piper	212	2026-07-14	1997-07-21	5
Cars Trucks Buses	89	2025-07-20	1997-07-26	1
Character Zero	269	2026-09-04	1997-07-25	2
Punch You in the Eye	172	2026-07-25	1997-07-23	3
Free	244	2026-09-05	1997-07-26	1
David Bowie	481	2026-07-22	1997-07-26	1
Cities	112	2026-07-08	1997-07-01	13
Bouncing Around the Room	499	2026-07-22	1997-07-26	1
Uncle Pen	213	2017-08-05	1997-07-05	10
Prince Caspian	189	2026-09-04	1997-07-09	8
Fire	139	2026-07-14	1996-12-02	50
My Soul	96	2026-04-25	1997-07-22	4

gold = bustout (long gap) · red = jam chart · [m:ss] = phish.in duration (click it to listen) · hover a song for its gap.

Jam-chart marks are curated by hand and lag the shows — the most recent months are sparsely marked because nobody has written them up yet, not because the jams were weak. See coverage →