Phish didn’t play their very best version of Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein” on Halloween but they might as well have. The 11-minute space-funk freakout that occurred to close out the historic December 30, 1997 show was fit for a day like today. 

Out of the iconic heavy prog riff emerged a black hole that Phish gladly jumped down, like Ralphie in IT trying to retrieve his paper boat. What they found down there was a whole new world that took them to another sonic dimension, capped by a Jon Fishman vacuum solo in the dark. I mean, look at this next level of terror as Fishman sucks from a vacuum with nothing but candlelight surrounding him. 
“Frankenstein” isn’t a song often associated with improv, typically reserved for that punch in the gut after a lengthy jam is finished. But on the penultimate day of one of Phish’s very best years, it got taken around the world and then some. It was so good, in fact, that Trey Anastasio forgot to plug his guitar back in following the jam. 

“Hope we didn’t play too long for you,” Anastasio remarked at the conclusion of the four-song encore that also included the first “Sneaking Sally Through the Alley” in over eight years. No, I’d say it was just about right. 

Watch below.