Phish Played Through Walnut Creek’s Thunderstorm

The weather refused to stay outside the music at Phish’s July 22, 1997 Walnut Creek show. Rain, thunder and lightning hit the Raleigh amphitheatre during the second date of the band’s U.S. summer tour. Phish kept playing.

“Taste” became the night’s most obvious meeting of music and weather, with the storm plainly part of the performance preserved on film. The second set offered a different kind of event: “Down With Disease” gradually gave way to “Mike’s Song,” a transition the band singled out when announcing the concert’s DVD release.

That five-camera recording became Walnut Creek in 2008. The venue now carries the Coastal Credit Union Music Park name, but the old name still identifies a Phish night whose most unpredictable participant never needed a ticket.

Explore the Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek venue guide.

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