Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2000 23:59:45 EDT From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: damn i just saw the 2nd nite setlist at rosemont ... i went to the first night they ripped it up ..it was sweet trey caught a glowstick...HUGE glowstick war...LOTs of energy..crowd involvement in meatstick, wilson, yem, poor heart, slave...intense show best indoor show i have seen in a while
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 17:06:01 CDT From: Alex Mack [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: 9/23 review Another kinda so so day in chicago weather-wise did absolutely nothing to let down my excitement for another day in paradise. Once again the lot was an OK scene but an overly large presence of chicago's finest kinda killed some of the buzz. Once again right in as the doors opened after 6, straight up on the floor to about 20 ft. back trey side. You know the wait was only less than 2 hours but it seemed REAL long! Finally the lights went down & we got: Come on Baby Let's Go Downtown - cool rocking song, didn't recognize it & had a feeling it was a first-time for phish. I love seeing those one-timers, I've gotten this and We're An American Band which was also real cool. Knew something real cool was coming after that and we got.. MOMA! Yeah now we're talking. The funk was getting pretty deep on the dance floor here. Trey jammed this out real nice. Frankenstein - this was where this set started to really heat up. Rocked out, super-tight, Page absolutely tore up the moog solo, you could tell he was psyched. Completely tripped out my whole group. Afterwords the band conferred, & I saw mike come up to the mike - Halley's comet! Hell yeah! My first, I was glad it wasn't rushed at all, slower like the 7/13/99 version. I was extremely pleased at how the jam at the end completely rocked out for a bit then it all went down to a total space funk, completely dark & sinister. Amazing. I have in my mind a perfect picture I told myself to remember, it's an entire arena getting down with my favorite band milking a funk progression to it's limits, basically expanding my fragile mind despite a lack of me taking things that are supposed to expand minds. My show highlight (basically the frankenstein>Halley's->Fee>STash) Faded into... FEE! The boys are on, & they're here for a special gig. No megaphone, but I was completely engulfed in the music at this point. Ended & went into... Stash - I didn't think this would close the set, I must admit. The composed sections were on fire though. A glowstick war ensued, right after the (oh ohhh oh ohhh ohh) parts. I think Mike & Page both got blasted by the sticks, they stopped playing momentarily. It ended & they were out. It was really well jammed out, but it could have been a total keeper, & the glowsticks kinda fucked it to be honest. Everyone, I think glowstick wars are fun as hell. They look amazing, the band digs it as long as they don't have glowsticks hurled at them (anyone who says that phish doesn't like them hasn't heard 8/17/97 II, which BTW is must have). Setbreak is fun. If you're on the floor you know. Finally in midst of fun the lights went out! ;-) BOAF: This was cool. No, it's not my favorite phish tune but it's a cool sinister funk that rocks way out. Tweezer: I have gotten this a lot lately! The last 2 alpine shows & now, Oh no I bet they'll close w/ TweePrise too. This was a very well jammed tweezer. Just for the record, (to my ears) none of the chicago show jams really went "no where." They all seemed to have direction. Phish has got to be playing at their peak. Watch out for the rest of the tour. The slowed down ending went into... NICU: Good reggae-ish tune, love to dance to this one but in the middle of the 2nd set? I'll stop there because I don't want to seem like a spoiled phish brat! Scent: This was cool, my first Scent. The bluegrass tunes are way fun to dance to & stuff but like NICU (even though the madness in this tune is way fun) it still seemed much like a first set tune, not the meat of the 2nd set. Oh well, still way cool. FEFY: Beautiful. My first, & I must say I enjoyed it thoroughly. I know this kind of contradicts my opinion on NICU & Scent, but oh well. PIPER!!!: This was absolutely insane. Around 20 minutes of pure craziness. They took this shit to the moon & absolutely exploded. Died down eventually into... char. O: Good rocking tune, a bummer merely because I knew it would close the set. Go Trey!!!! Encore: Sleeping Monkey: Special song, never gotten it before. Fishman's part was way cool, I love that dork. Trey rocked out the end as well. Predictably went into: Tweezer Reprise: OK I danced my arse off. I love the end of tweeprise when the lights all go around & it feels like the arena is spinning. Well this show was most definately hot, highlighted by the 2nd set Piper and the frankenstein>Halley's->Fee>STash run. Not as great as Friday's show (which is at the top of my show list tied with my first show 11/16/96) but great still. A great cap to my phish shows for a while, since I don't know how long it will be until I see them again. [Insert shameless grovel for HQ copies of the chiago shows here...]
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 17:31:28 -0500 From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: can you post this on the Allstate 23rd show? And other shows that have the same problem?
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000 22:21:13 -0500 From: Michael Gagliano [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: rosemont 9/23 Rosemont #2 was an interesting night to say the least. Rain still dominated the mood - dreary and wet. The first Downtown opened up the night to my surprise. How many times now have we got an obscure cover to open a show. I think it's great. This was just straight forward 12 bar blues at its finest. Moma Dance would follow and raise the energy level up a notch. Can't play this one enough if you ask me! The next 2 selections seemed so out of place, but they rocked!!! Frankenstein>Halley's! CMON! What a treat. This Halley's led into a somewhat ambient jam that didn't last more than 8 minutes. Fee is always welcome and it was well played with no vocal flubs. Stash wailed like usual, but the glowstick war that ensued seemed to piss off the boys and before we knew it, the house lights were on. When I looked at my watch and saw 55 min I knew Phish was pissed. Very short but no complaints!! The second set was like a roller coaster ride. Up and Down. Up with a great Birds, Tweezer and Piper and down with NICU, Mule and Monkey. The Birds opener kicked ass. Straight ahead jamming by Trey. There was no let up with Tweezer either. The jam out of Tweezer was unique. Somewhat ambient with a blues-style jam the led into NICU. They went through the motions on this one. Most people were excited to hear Scent of a Mule. I wasn't one of them. Although rarely played, this song goes nowhere. Fast Enough was beautiful. They really took their time with this and segued seamlessly into Piper. This Piper took me where I wanted to go - The Moon. The jam out during and after was so furious and cosmic. The post Piper jam was fast as well. Not the usual midi-style jam that has become standard. Character was OK. I've seen this end many a show. The encore reeked of compromise. Monkey>Tweezerprise and we were out of here. Good show, just had higher hopes. See ya in Frisco!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gags
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000 03:55:45 -0500 From: moose1121 [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: sat allstate The show was nice night, less rain and jus mist comin down. Got there jus at the beg. of the set which started at 7:55 Come on baby let's go downtown: Young cover, first time played by the band.....surprise opener, :05 Moma: nice...wanted to hear some funk for tonight's show, nice jam :09 > Frankenstein: TIGHT! Page, Gordo, Fish, Trey....nice compositions and jamming :11 > Halley's: standard, second of the tour, sisnt mind it at all :10 > Fee: expected this one to be played, first time of the tour short :05 > Stash: very nice w/ glowsticks....tight jammin :13 Set over..."WHAT" but oh well, 6 songs..53 min, figured the second was gonna rock and it def did the deed...thinkin they were gonna open w/ jibboo or 2001 but instead they went with...... Birds: standard but nice crowd pleaser and got the momentum back right away :06 Tweezer: very nice...decent funk not the funk that i wanted to hear tonight but gratifying and new that once i heard the reprise it was all over tonight but i was happy w/ this and moma and didnt want to think about that jus yet and then i got this :17 > NICU: LOVE THIS SONG....standard :05 > Scent: one of the highlights, talked about songs....Page kickin slow ass jam solo brings it up a notch into the Tarentella, very happy to see that w/ trey and gordo doin their little 2step and then gordo solo; spotlight on his ass and then back into scent :11 Fast enough: new a slow song but this one, off guard but a very nice surprise :04 > Piper: Trey keys, Trey feedback, Trey popped balloon w/ his guitar, glosticks,,,very nice jam :23 > Zero: not expecting this wanted to see Weekapaug but not too shabby, standard :07 Hour Twelve set was hoping longer after the short first set but eh what can ya do but jus go with the flow 4 min of crown cheers and *poof* there goes the lights E. Sleeping monkey: Tubbs, Page....weird encore but a VERY NICE tune to hear :05 > and here it comes, once i heard the licks im like damnnn the show is over.....Reprise: high intensity as always and surprised about the tweezers after they were played at this years alpine show....:05 nice setlist and surpassed last night but i was hopin for a stellar show out of one of these...no Jr. Blue or Sugar Wells for appear. wanting to hear Possum at these shows always a high intensity song but was played at both alpine and last years allstate but i was a very satisfied phan tonight!
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 10:48:07 CDT From: J Shepard [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Rosemont Review Here's my reviews for Rosemont. ~Spaceman Spiff 9/23/00 Rosemont Horizon After a killer show Friday, the crowd was even more excited pre-show Saturday, and the first set was great. Let's Go Downtown was a great opener, great song and one that kind of says, "we're going to rock tonight." Everyone was dancing and pumping their hands in the air. I was behind the stage for Saturday's show, I liked it back there. You see what the band sees, and you can see everything Fish and Page do. Moma was cool, nothing incredible though. A good, average Moma. Frankenstein was fucking amazing. So heavy and so trippy. Page kept unleashing all these fucked up space blender sounds. Frankenstein was maybe the highlight of Saturday's show for me. Halley's was next, this was shaping up to be a great set. Long jam after Halley's, good, varied jamming, lots of different parts in the jam. Fee, no megaphone, I told Becky and Josh, "this is the first Phish song I really liked." After Fee, Stash started and Becky leaned over to me - "This is the first Phish song Josh really liked!" Stash was pretty good. I was ready for second set to blow me away. I was walking back to my seat when Birds of a Feather started. T. Heads funk makin me dance all spazzed out as I walked throught the crowd. Not bad. I was real happy to hear them start Tweezer, it's one of my favorite songs. This was not a great Tweezer, though, it was dark and funky but not THAT funky. Very dark, pretty slow for the most part, lots of different textures. NICU was cool, got everyone dancing again, and we were right behind Page, it was cool how he got all lit up by Kuroda after "Play it Leo", and went off, I think the best view of Page is from behind the stage. Scent of a Mule was great, the jam got bluesy and then it was just the Page and Trey part, they were playing together really tight, Mike came in and added a cool groove, I can't remember really what most of the jam sounded like but I remember I really liked it. During FEFY, I told Jason we were going to get a real fast song next, I was thinking LLama. It was Piper. I love Piper, but the previous night I had this discussion with Jason and he told me he hated it, he sat down and looked all bummed. Josh and Becky had left to go dance in the back aisle. Piper was a pretty standard, rockin version. I was hoping to see Trey jumping all over the place like he did at Polaris, but he didn't. Still, at the end, I was looking at Jason and thinking, "whatever you say about this song, you can't deny that they are tearing it up at the end." Character Zero was Character Zero. It was kind of cool because I saw my friend Mulcahey at setbreak and he was having a great time, and I know (of course) he loves hearing that song so I was happy for him. Overall, I thought the second set was kind of weak. Scent was prolly the highlight. Therefore, I wasn't expecting a great encore. Roses Are Free would've been nice, again. It was Sleeping Monkey, first time I've ever heard it live, it was standard. I enjoyed it, we could see Fish clearly from behind as he hammed it up. The inevitable Tweeprise, and Rosemont 2000 was history.
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 15:17:53 -0400 From: Gary Nader [email protected] Subject: review of 9/23 First of all I would like to say that Glow sticks are cool to look at throw, BUT PLEASE DO NOT throw that sticks at or near the stage!!!!!! Why the hell would you want to hit anybody on or near the stage with a glow stick that could take out an eye! With that being said- on to the show! We did not go on Friday, but got into town about 11PM and partied w/ some friends! It was fun and then some people who were at AllState showed up and I got the low-down! Looked very good on paper- I was upset that they played Slave and YEM, but oh well! I saw the 10/31/95 show in this arena, but it looked a lot different than it did in 1995. As for security- they were not being very cool at all. We did park for FREE- so that was cool, but there were cops all over the place. Just let us have some fun- we will not hurt anyone! As for the show- I was very excited b/c we had GA floor seats. When we got in- we got pointed in the wrong direction and then the band went on. We went in to see the opener and..... Let's Go Downtown. I did not know what it was, but I really liked the beat. I knew it was either a cover or a song from Trey's solo tour. It was very upbeat and smooth. A very good song to dance to, very enjoyable. I did know that the boys had never played this one before! Next was... Moma Dance !!!!!!! I really wanted to hear this, then BAM- second song! It was played very well and the crowd was rockin! Trey was sliding through Moma and Mike was laying down the law. The band was in sync and going at it!! We atarted to make our way to the floor when.... Frankenstein!!! started- YES!! I love this massy Edgar Winter group instrumental. And it was in the middle of the set- not a closer or encore! They were playing really tight and not missing a beat! Just how we like it. The crowd was very into the show and the band was having a great time! We finally got settled on the floor for.. Halleys! We had just heard this at Blossom and I was VERY surprised to heat it again- esp. so quickly. I figured that if they were going to play Halley's- it would be out west, but its a great song and very welcome! They really jammed this Halley's, as theyb did on 9/18/00. It was a much different jam, but worth hearing. That is one of the things that I love about Phish. We can hear the same song less than a week apart and the jam is completely different. They are masters! This jam was pretty funky, but somewhat surfaced! The jam ended up at.. Fee! I have not heard Fee in forever (10/19/96 I think) I was glad to hear it. This was old-school Phish! Then came a very nice jam after Fee that lasted about 15 minutes or so. Very nice jam that went many places! The jam culminated into.. Stash!! This Stash really took off and did NOT stop at all. They were playing the hell out of it then. I saw a f--king glow stick hit Trey, then Mike had to dodge one. I saw Trey's face and knew that they were going to end the set. As soon as I saw that- I told my girlfriend that the set was over and it was. Trey had a huge smile on his face, then stupid glow sticks- end of the set! Set break was cool- ran into some buddies, partied down. I was interested in what the second set would bring! Were they mad, pissed or was everybody making a big deal out of the glow sticks?????? They came out for the second set and looked pumped! They atarted the opening chords of Birds! I haven't heard this in a while so I was happy with it! Mike was on, Fishman was jazzy as ever, Page was racing through Birds and Trey was rockin'!! The jam in Birds was very, very good! They really have taken this song places that I never thuoght that it could go! Birds was very emotional and fluid- WOW- I was taken back! At set break I told my girl that I would be very surprised if we would get out of AllState w/out hearing a Tweezer or Runaway! Well we got the Phat ass Tweezer! I love the beginning of Tweezer- they were rocking the hell out it and everyone was loving it! This Tweezer was pretty long, but not too long. The jam got out there, but stayed in the confines of Tweezer! Very upbeat and smooth as they glided through this huge song! The jam ended up at ... NICU! I like this song, but a little disappointed fir NICU to be in this slot. I see it was a first set song. They played it very well and totally convinced me that it was well placed! Once again they prove me wrong. The nice NICU slid right into..>..> Scent of a Mule! Take those lazer beams away!!! Wow- Scent- very, very unexpected! The duel was good ad they played this song quite well! I was surprised to hear it, but it really took off as one of the highlights of the show! Fast Enough was next! I really like this song. I always have- very trippy and a nice cool down! I was thinking about a possible Piper and that is what we got! The beginning was very good and just built and built and totally rocked the house down!! It just kept going and they jammed the hell out of it- Seriously! Massy JAM!!!! This slid into..>..> Character Zero! I am not a big fan of the beginning, but the jam is ALWAYS good and this Zero did not disappoint at all! They played the hell out of the one as well! Every time that I hear Char Zero- it is better and better! I was hoping for a Rock n' Roll or something that I had not heard in a while. We got Sleeping Monkey!! Hell YES! This was a nice surprise and played well. It has been a while for this one as well! Then of course- into Tweeprise- that totally kicked ass! All in all I had a BLAST, but the quick, glow stick related ending to the first set was a Big bummer. 9/23 was the final show of the Fall 2000 tour for me. I am sad that they are taking some time off, but I think that it is for the best. They need a rest, we need a rest! It will make us appreciate them more and vice-versa! If anything- they need along, extended break. To me they need to get away for a while and then come back FRESH and ready to go again. We will all benefit from a hiatus os the boys! I hope the rest of the tour is fun! Until next time~ Hugs and love- Gary
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 20:35:22 EDT From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: hears all i have to say about rosemont the show was kick ass. the band was hot and the music was great. i could have not picked out a better night of music. now..for those who where there..i dont need to review the whole show for you. and for those of you who where not..there are plenty of other full reviews for you to read. and all i wanted to say was that the reviews these days make me sick. what the hell is everybody writeing about. it drives me up the wall when u say "stash was good. but not as good as 07-14.00!" the dates dont really matter here. but i get the point. who are you to say that they where not as good. or that they played it alittle different. it is impossible for phish to play a song the exact way twice. why do u have to mention different date at all. why cant u just review the show instead of past shows as well. its horrible. if they played stash alittle week. so be it. say that. dont compare it to other times. ITS ALWAYS GOING TO BE DIFFERENT. NO ONE CARES THAT U LIKED THE 7-14-00 BETTER THAN THE ONE WE HEARD TONIGHT. THEY WILL NEVER PLAY IT LIKE THAT AGAIN!!!! and another point that is not good. why are u poeple throwing in what u wanted to here. i dont care if u wanted to here harry hood instead of sloth. (or what ever the song may be) who cares about what you wanted to here. phish is up there playing there hearts out there. and they are doing it because its what they love to do. so what that they played bouncing around the room again. do u think they would of played it if they didnt want too. they played it because they wanted to . and they wanted u to hear or. who knows why the played it. but it was for a damn good reason in all of there minds. and you are not in the band. who are you to say "not limb x limb again" So in the end. i feel thats some of you people are beeing to harsh on them. you should love them for what ever the do or play. and stop complaing that they didnt do as well as another date. chances are that only handfull of folks know the exact show u are talking about anyways. i know u are reviewing what they did. but review that alone. its a review and now a comparrison. i love phish and hate to see them bashed is such a way. bash them if they suck..or played like they where drunk and stoned! dont bash them because they didnt play the exact set list that you and you alone wanted to here. and dont bash them because the song was not as good as it was on an exact date.
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000 06:52:07 GMT From: Kevin Liska [email protected] To: [email protected], [email protected] Subject: Allsate show 2 review !! Kevin Liska Allstate Arena (Show 2) 9/23/00 Actually got to this show on time! boys hit the floor at 7:52 or so... set I: Come On Baby, Let's Go Downtown (4:10)- just learned that this is a Crazy Horse cover. Neato! It was very nice and danceable. Momma Dance (11:10)- Very groovin. Extended. So many forms. Not enough words... Frankenstein (5:05)- right on! Page demolished us with his moog solos. Excellent! Halley's Comet (14:05)- Great song, a lil' slower than usual methinks. The jam was very groovy. It went places. Probably my highlight of the set. Seemed to go on phorever (only 14 min?), and as it dies down, the bassdrum kicks in for...> Fee (6:30)- A nice usual Fee. We all knew it. Always welcome. ... Stash (13:10)- Here we go! We got a humungous glowstick war after the "Cries to his cohorts, asleep in the trees" part. This jam was also very on. It slowly meandered and melted us like the Halley's jam. Can't believe it ended the set though? set break 35-40 min i think. i can't think. Set II: Birds (9:40)- I like this Birds. Probably better than my last one (7/12/00). Very nice. We ALL knew what was next :) Tweezer (15:40)- Well it's about time guys! Great jammed out Tweezer. Had some interesting changeups later on (especially in the drums) and rocked throughout. Quickly did the slow-down ending, and then... NICU (5:00)- Play it Leo!! A great NICU to keep the juices flowing after a wonderous Tweezer. Scent of a Mule (8:45)- u gotta be kidding me? Great stuff!!! during the duel, Page played for a short time, then it was both Page and Trey jamming together for a while. They were right on! The usual full great ending, and we start up... Fast Enough For You (7:25)- A nice slow one to coool off on. Not too shabby. I dig it. Piper (19:25)- Great Piper as usual! No glowsticks due to the one during Stash I guess. The jam slowly died down to ambience with Mike taking control with some lovely bass melodies! Very great! Then everyone else joins in for a nice long ambient soup. I like it a lot! Eventually it dies down and we get... Character Zero (8:20)- A usual Zero closer. I don't think the band was drained by this time, I think I was! Very good. Enchore: Sleeping Monkey (6:00)- Thank you guys! The greatest. Always. Tweezerprise (3:30)- But of course. A nice short/sweet show. I think I prefer last night's, but i'll take this anyday. good night from Chicago Until next time...
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 16:38:43 -0500 From: Peter Norman [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: 9-23 Allstate review After being stuck in line last night and missing the first half of DwD, I decided to get to the parking lot a lot earlier today. It paid of. Actually saw the whole show this time. Damn near a first for me as far as Phish goes. And what a show it was too (with the exception of the short-ass first set). This was only my fifth show, but I still expected to get a couple repeat performances (heck, I had like five the previous night), but to my surprize, the only song of the whole night I'd heard at a previous show was Character 0. I was psyched about that. He're a small run-down of the songs played that night. Come on Baby, Let's go Downtown: This song was a GREAT opener. I love the obscure cover openers. As soon as I found out what it was, I went and found my copy of Neil Young's "Tonight's the Night" and was just astounded at how much better Phish did this song than NY (no criticism of NY, I LOVE NY) but Phish just smoked this song and the lights were very peaceful during this song. Moma Dance: Totally phunked up the arena. Danced like mad during this one. The jam was out of this world. I was so wound up in it, I didn't even realize that they'd segued into. . . Frankenstein: until they were already half way though it. Very smooth segue. Page was on fire for this one. Trey seemed very excited about the Moog solo. I loved it. This was definately cool. Halley's Comet: A friend of mine who was at 9-22 desperately wanted to hear this song and I felt so bad that he had to miss it. Didn't keep me from totally enjoying this fun, quirky song. I thought Mike was starting Harpua when he first started singing because I couldn't hear too well over the crowd (both nights at Allstate seemed WAY to quiet. I could barely hear a lot of the times). Fee: When Fish started the bass drum for this one, I thought we were gonna get a Dark Side of the Moon set again and I went nuts. When Fee started, I was disappointed for a second, then totally got into this one. The audience sang this one so loud, it was a real trip. Very fun. More greatness from Page. Stash: Yes and double yes. This is one of my all time favorite Phish songs. The guitar riff in this one is just so genius. This was a beautifully rendered version. I was grooving so hard to this one. The glowstick war was no match for last nights, but was cool just the same. Then, tragedy struck. They finished the song, and people started WHIPPING the glowsticks at the band. Phish, seemingly angered, unplugged and RAN off stage. What!?! No!!! That is not cool. Should have fit two more songs on that set. Throwing glowsticks at the band is NOT COOL. KEEP IT CONFINED TO THE AUDIENCE!!! How would you feel if you were trying to play music and assholes were chucking hard little peices of glowing plastic at you? I'd be pissed as all hell. I don't blame them for doing that short set. Setbreak: seemed kind of depressed because of the short set. BOAF: YES!!! Great way to open the second set. This song is so good. Trey went wild during the solo to this one. Very cool. Tweezer: This was Mike's time to shine. I totally focused in to the bassline to this song. He slapped it out so well. The jam was again all Mike. He was so on fire during this one, I can't even explain. Maybe it was just because the bass was louder in the mix than normal, but you couldn't help but notice it. Excellent Tweezer. NICU: Really fun bouncy song. The guitar riff for this one reminds me of Jethro Tull for some reason. Ultra cool song that the audience sang along with really well. SOAM: Very funny. I read a review that said this song was played because of the laser=glowstick reference. I hadn't thought of that, but it certainly makes sence. The dual part of this song was sweetness. Trey's and Mikes little dance was hilarious. Kudos to Mike for holding that vocal note. Fast Enought for You: Such an improvement from the studio version. Very beautiful. Charming little song that I can't seem to get enough of. Piper: This was one of the highlights of the whole Allstate run IMHO. The jam out of this one was one of the best experiences I've ever had at a concert. I'll admit Piper can sound sloppy and disjointed sometimes, but this version was pure bliss. Trey did a little more keyboard work. It wasn't as cool as last nights Tube keys, but was nice just the same. More great bass work from Mike. That little melody he was playing at the end of the set was so beautiful. I thought it was Page at first. When I realized it was Mike, my jaw hit the floor. This was just so great. You've got to hear it on tape. Character 0: My third time hearing it, but it rocks so I could deal with it. I was wondering if they were gonna do TweezRep at the end of the set or end of the encore. The set ended with this one, though. Encore: Sleeping Monkey: Very cool little beautiful song. Kudos to Fish for singing the verse. The audience went nuts for that. Trey's guitar solo during this one brought a tear to my eye. Tweezer Reprize: I couldn't hear it, but I could see Trey pounding out the lick and I knew the show was over. This is probably the best song that Phish does to close a show. Definately rocks. Leaves the stage smoking and the amplifiers humming. Had the first set been a little longer, this would have been the perfect show. As it was, it was still excellent. Piper, Moma Dance, and Stash were the highlights for me. Overall, this was a fun show that I'm proud to say I attended. Hope to see Phish again really soon. PS: I left out Wilson in my review of 9-22 so here it goes (thanks Bill for pointing that out to me). I didn't really notice anything out of the ordinary. I think it's amazing the way people can point out this song so quickly. I thought the first note was just Trey accidentally hitting the strings a little bit. Last year's at Redbird had the "Rock Star" ending. I think it's a lot funner, but the regular ending is cool to. It get's jammed out a lot differently. Keep the phaith!!! ________________________________________________ Erik Norman mailto:[email protected] http://www.prairienet.com/banjo
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 02:38:49 EDT From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: 2nd night rosemont review This was my 1st show of this tour. We got to the show at about 7:50 we followed the cops directing traffic around and found ourselfs in the lot of an office building about a 25 minute walk from the arena. A cop directed us to a lil hospitality bus and it drove us to the door. We walked in the arena and found 100's of people looking for extras. Once we finally were inside we went in the first aisle we could find and i was looking at page from the 1st level. Frankenstein greeted us and I asked around and found out that Moma dance and "some cover" was what we missed. I finally had a good groove going and the 1st set was over. I heard Halleys, Fee and Stash in their entirety and that was that. Lots of glow sticks flying around that looked cool, and i didnt notice any hitting the band. Second set was much of the same for me. Very short!!! I liked hearing the Mule, with the duel. NICU, Fee and piper were nice, but the show was just missing something for me. I had a fun time, but was just lacking.
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 10:22:47 -0500 From: Joe O'Toole [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Chicago review Just got back to Kansas City after the two Chicago shows. Hoping for something good tonight in KC, but I missed Carini, PYITE, and Ya Mar last night. These were a few I would have liked to have seen. We'll see. Friday nights show was incredibly good. Highlights included DWD opener and Dogs Stole Things. A long 1st set that ended with YEM, which was nice to hear. The entire second set kicked ass! Incredible! I was beginning to see a problem develop with the glowsticks Friday night and hoped that people wouldn't continue to piss off the band. But to my surprise, some of you fucking idiots didn't learn your lessons. Saturday night was a disaster. I don't blame the band at all for cutting everything short. The show started out with Come on Baby and I was looking forward to some good stuff. But everyone insisted on trying to hit the stage with glowsticks. Real cool, guys. For this show, we sat directly behind the stage. As the band was walking off stage after their shortest set since god knows when, I could see Trey shaking his head and talking to Fishman. Any guesses as to what he was saying? Maybe this was a clue to stop fucking throwing sticks at the band. But it proceeded to happen two more times in the second set. God, I would have cut the show even shorter if I were them. Why ruin a good time, Chicagoans??? I should have known when I was standing outside in line and a few guys tried to get everyone to rush the door. Was anyone near me to see this? Damn, there are some stupid people out there. Well, I'm looking forward to the show tonight and I'm confident we won't see jackasses throwing stuff at the band here in KC. So maybe we'll see something great. For Christ's sake, they're pulling out some new stuff and playing some cool stuff like Halley's more often now. Let them finish up the tour in style. Do you really want to piss them off right before a long break? Think about it, my friends. Oh yeah, anyone catch the reason they played Frankenstein? There were about 8 or 10 people standing in front of the stage with Frankenstein masks on. Good call guys. Longshot for tonight: GUMBO or The Curtain. More realistically, I wouldn't mind seeing Mike's Groove.
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000 23:11:00 CDT From: SETH STINE [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: 9/22-23/00 CHICAGO Hello...I'm not writing this review to give a song by song description of the shows- I know how I am when I'm reading reviews. I just am too damn impatient to scroll through 15 people's interpretation of Dirt or something. SO! I will say that BOTH the Chicago shows were pretty average. The first set of the first night (9/22) was packed with songs that could have also been played in the second set. ( e.g. DWD, Bathtub, Meat, Slave, YEM ) But then again, you will not here anyone say 2 years from now, "WOW, remember that YEM from Chicago 00'!," etc. You get the idea. Second set of the first night had an INCREDIBLE Reba! Definately the highlight of the set. They closed the set with Antelope. *Notice I have not placed any adjective in front of Antelope...the middle segment, RAGING..But has anyone else noticed how Trey hasn't been into the last part lately. It's almost as if he is WHISPERING the "SET THE GEAR SHIFT FOR THE HIGH GEAR OF YOUR SOUL" part. The band seems to be lethargic also in that same segment. The second night (9/23)had a great first set, but it was soooo short. 54 minutes. Can almost fit on one side of a 90 minute tape (ala Grateful Dead). Moma Dance ..holy shit, they have been playing this like it's the last song they're ever going to play. Atlanta, Deer Creek, and Chicago- the best Moma Dance's I've seen, all in the same year. The Halley's Comet is worth mentioning also. No boring, sloppy, delay loop jam here. It locked in so many different grooves and went in so many directions. The Stash that ended the set was ALL OVER THE PLACE. The poorest rendition of Stash I've ever heard. The second set highlight was Tweezer>NICU>Scent of a Mule. I will not go in detail but this run of songs and the intensity at which they were played was amazing. FINALLY we got a Tweezer and it didn't over stay it's welcome. ( I think it was around 11 minutes long) Piper was also better than any other Piper I've seen except the one from Cincinatti on 12/3/99. It was followed by an interstellar jam that made me forget there was a band of musicians creating what I was hearing. A stagnent pool of weightless notes which were taking my thoughts to a dozen different places. VERY SPACEY. All in all, I think Trey is playing 10 times better than he was on summer tour. He isn't hiding behind Mike anymore. Even the Sand and Wolfman's in Cincinatti (9/20) had a straight up, raunchy rock and roll ending to it. Those are my thoughts...hope they give someone the idea of what they missed....or possibly what they DIDN'T miss. TAKE IT EASY, SETH STINE.
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 12:56:23 -0500 From: Nancy D. Mariano [email protected] Subject: Review of 9/23/00 Fortunately for this night I was able to fight my way to the front and was able to enjoy Phish very close up which is always a VERY nice treat. I agree with everyone, Allstate sucks and the people who run only have half a brain and refuse to use that half. Ample parking was available but they insisted on pushing everyone together in one area. Last year and this year they have never been able to do a good job of communicating to the fans as to where you can enter and where you can get wristbands for the floor. All very simple tasks, requiring nothing more than a sign or two but obviously way too much efforts for the idiots running allstate. I do admit that they do a good job of keeping those with GA on the floor and those without in the seated area which prevents the floor from getting too crowded which is nice. My major comment is something that I am sure that has come up a number of times for all shows and it is regarding the TOTAL lack of respect for those that we are all there to go see. The glowsticks are old and stop throwing them at the band. Seriously people, what the hell are you thinking when you throw a glowstick at Trey. Yes I admit it is somewhat cool when he catches it but please. The glowstick thing started three years ago, was cool when it started but has just simply become a hazard for fans and for the band members which we are all supposed to respect. Everytime Trey got off the stage someone would throw a stick at him. STOP IT! I am sure that he does not appreciate hard plastic objects thrown at him so stop being such a dick and keep the glowstick in your hand. I really bothers me how trigger happy people are with their glowsticks. Not only have people forgotten about recreating that moment from the great went with harry hood but people will find any excuse to start a glowstick war. I just do not understand why people will throw anything at the people they are there to see. It totally threw Trey off during Stash (i think) at one point when he had to snap out of his 'zone' to dodge a glowstick. PEOPLE SHOW SOME RESPECT. It is not difficult to do. Other than that the show was good. I thoroughly enjoyed it, of course i was front row so what is not to enjoy! i was disappointed in the length and i wish i had seen more energy from the band. I would almost say that I could see the upcoming rest for them is much anticipated and needed by the band. Come on baby let's go downtown was a nice surprise bc I always enjoyed that song from trey's tour. It was cool to realize afterwards that it was the first time Phish played together. It was fun to see them play Frankenstein (most likely egged on by a balloon that made it on stage with Frankenstein written all over it). Halleys Comet was exactly what I wanted to hear at that moment - something a little different and a lot of fun. Bit like i said before, more energy would have been nice. Dont get me wrong I thought it was a good show and good times were had by all. Maybe next year it wont rain......
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 16:41:24 -0500 From: "Walls, Jeff (DT-ORL)" [email protected] To: "'[email protected]'" [email protected] Subject: Overall review of both Chicago shows A review for Chicago. Both nights. Highlights! Anybody who didn't think the 1st night was the best of the tour to date is got a problem. The DWD opener absolutely rolled! The jamming was fast and loud then Trey locked into a trance like guitar progression that faded in and out for what seemed like 5 minutes or so. It was very danceable and really a new movement in his guitar playing. Then the Bathtub Gin was another groove jam that again built into a trance like state with Page blasting out some great textures and Mike and Fish really thumping behind Trey and his wailing guitar. It was a jam that left me gasping for air. I was about 3 deep in front of Page, and the band, especially Trey, was having a great time. All smiles and really focused on each other. Not like Cincy. Dogs Stole Things was deep and dark, and my first one. I like it live. The Slave! This Slave exploded! A version unlike any I've heard, the band really pored a lot of emotion into this. Trey lead another wild progression from chill to explosion. Even Heavy Things had me bouncin! I think Trey likes playing this. He had me locked into a groove with his solo. To finish this exhaustive set was Y.E.M. and it was another bomb! He caught a glowstick, which sucks, and the BOY! part was louder than usual. Simply the best first set I've ever seen! Even Rosemont in 95'. Second set was just as good if not better. No review. Highlights for the second night are Tweezer and Piper. The whole show was amazing, but my energy was sapped due to the maliciousness of the assholes who throw glowsticks. Mark my words. I am not a peaceful loving hippie. I was raised into Punk and I embrace their ideals more than the Phamily's ideals.. If I catch someone throwing a glowstick at the band next to me, I will throw that person. I know it's not the best solution, probably not even close, but these idiots ruin the show for me at times and the nice true fans don't do enough to stop it. Fuck it. The scene is shit now anyway. Regardless, the Tweezer was long and had many breakdowns into psychedelic funk. It would build into a release then slow into space then when I thought they were slowing they would lock into a totally different groove that they would work into a frenzy. They did this 2 or 3 times until fading it completely out. Then the Piper! SHIT! This was to the point of nonsense. At times they were just banging away! Then they settled into some grooves, then Mike did a solo, then Fish was doing some jazzy shit, then he was a human drum machine, then the band decided to mind fuck everyone. It was the sickest, most psychedelic Piper I have ever heard. I realize this isn't a real technical review, but for you serious fans out there, these two COMPLETE shows are a must have. STOP THE GLOWSTICKS!! STOP THE GLOWSTICKS!! STOP THE GLOWSTICKS!! P.S. If your the chick that was right in front of me the first night. We were right by Page. When the band came out for the encore you whipped a glowstick right at Mike and hit him in the back! If you or a friend read this I want you to know your the biggest fucking idiot I have ever seen! Please. Do not come to the shows anymore. Please step in front of a moving vehicle. Thank You.
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 00:13:04 -0400 (EDT) From: ryan [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: phish 2nd night rosemont First off, I have never been to this venue, but I have heard it sucks. It was of course raining when we pulled in at 4 o clock. One thing that of course sucks is the airplanes flying over every 5 minutes. It is so damn loud and annoying. Anyway, the shakedown was crowded as hell. Lot's of "6 ups". Parking lot is always fun anyway though. On to the show: Nice seats. Sec. 101. 12 rows up. The lights go down and hear they come. This place was loud. I mean, this crowd was pumped!! The thing that sucked was the shitty acousitcs. Through the whole show I could never tell what song they were starting until they were a few seconds in to it already. COME ON BABY LETS GO DOWNTOWN: Had no idea what this was. It was catchy and fun as an opener anyway. Crowd was really into it. Short and we dropped into.... MOMMA DANCE: This was funky as hell. The intro was loooong. This was old school soul funk. Better than the Momma Dance from Deer Creek, and that was a good one. This was thick with Funk. It finally slammed into..... FRANKENSTEIN: Holy shnikees! This was huge. It was just straight up hard ass rock and roll. It started to wind down and had everyone thinking that something big was coming next and then... BAM! right back into Frankenstein!!! The crowd erupted! It was deafening! Balls to the wall rawk! It finally ended and we got... HALLEY'S COMET: They just played it in Ohio, so it really was a surprise. It was excellent of course. One of the most fun songs they play. Just a total sing along, and it was so much fun. The jam out was gooey(er) than usual. Thick, but still plenty of energy and excellent jamming. The crowd totally ate it up. It wound down and dropped into.... FEE: Already saw it at Deer Creek, so my little fettish with Fee was already gone. I still thoroughly enjoyed it. No Trey flubs on the lyrics (I think. Who knows? The acoustics suck, so its hard to tell.) And then.... STASH: Yes! I called it. Always liked this song, and even though it was never a fav. of mine, I always wanted to catch it anyway, thinking that seeing it live would change my mind, and it sure did. It was huge. I danced my ass off and when the glowstick war started, I wouldn't have been anywhere else in the world. However, my mind quickly shifted gears, as I saw TONS on glowsticks landing on the stage. What the hell? I saw Page get hit and I believe Mike did too. This is ridiculous. Glowsticks are for the audience, how is the band supposed to play and dodge glowsticks at the same time? I was totally bummed. Stash rocked on anyway and when it ended the band quickly shuffled offstage. I thoroughly believe the reason that this set was only 53 minutes long is because of glowsticks. If I was the band I would be pissed. They are trying to put on a show and they have assholes throwing glowsticks at them? Do you not like Phish? Is that why you throw shit at them. Anyway, since we were 2 songs short of a full set, I was pissed. Totally the crowds fault. Ok. Setbreak: The vibe was weird. People knew that the set was short and they were not happy. It just was not cool. Very mellow setbreak. Got back to seats in time for... BIRDS OF A FEATHER: I like this tune. It was not that long so that's good. It's just a good song. Next we got an over due... TWEEZER: Yes. Mike was phat. Just like every other Tweezer. I thoroughly enjoy the slightly re-worked beginning. Very powerful. This was a good Tweezer as far as Tweezers are concerned. I had fun. NICU: Standard. Fun song. SCENT OF A MULE: YES! YES! YES! Can you say "Mike"? This song was awesome. Of course I couldnt tell what it was at first, but as soon as Mike starts singing, how can you not be happy? This was totally unexpected, and seemed to have a subliminal meaning "I hate laser beams" (GLOWSTICKS!!!) I wish someone would take those laser beams away. The duel was nice, nice dancing here by trey. Very odd duel, it was fun as hell. Then they go back into SOAMule and Mike holds that first note for as long as humanly possible and the crowd erupts. This was absolutely a highlight FEFY: Old school ballads are cool. I enjoy this much more than Velvet Sea, Dirt, etc. This was a chance to cool down and just relax for a few minutes. I love this song, and was totally satisfied. PIPER: Alright! Way to pick things back up. Not my choice, but I'm not making the decisions am I? This was excellent. The jam was just off the wall crazy as most Piper Jams are. Unfortunately it faded into an ambient jam. I'm not crazy about that, but it was calm and Mike sounded nice during this. This then dropped into.... Character Zero: In the words of Krusty the Clown "Uuuuuuuugh!!" I saw this at Deer Creek and this was yet another "carbon copy". It is a great rock song, but it is just too overplayed and predictable to end the set. Oh well. I still enjoyed it and it was a kick ass Zero, with strong vocals and jamming. Encore: Crowd was play-off intensity. It was so loud. It was amazing. I thought for sure, we would get something huge. Something massive and we got.... SLEEPING MONKEY: Cute song. I think this was another message "The feeling's not the same in fact it's getting pretty tame it's just not that great anymore" I think that sums up the way the band is starting to feel towards some of the audience. Assholes who throw glowsticks. I'm sure they don't feel that way as a hole, but just for tonight it made sense. It was a fun song. Hoping for something else before Reprise but to no avail. Here it came. TWEEPRISE: Standard kick ass. It was fun and yet another stupid-ass glowstick war starts. The band almost ran off stage after they took they're bows. They were gone like a flash. Who can blame them after dodging glowsticks all night? In the name of everything that is sacred, stop throwing glowsticks at the band! That is why the show was short and why we only got a Sleeping Monkey encore. It was still a great show. Musically, they were tight as hell. Their voices sound so good, even with shitty acoustics. So much better than my first show (1st night at Deer Creek). I had the time of my life before and during the show. It was great. Thank you Mike, Trey, Page, and Fish. "She said 'I HATE LASER BEAMS'...."
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000 23:16:54 -0500 From: Brandon Michael Kropp [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Review I am a relatively new phan but I am a huge phan. I was bummed to hear about the "haitus" but I understand why they need one. Saterday was the last show that I am going to see for a LONG time assuming that they take next summer off. That was my 8th show so I have not seen enough. Now my last impression of a show is the band walking off while being pelted by glowsticks. I wish they would not even had played TWEEPRISE because Sleeping Monkey was the way the band really felt, and Rosemont did not desearve a TWEEPRISE. Needless to say, I am bummed. LOVE and all that stuff Brandon P.S. Sorry Phish
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000 23:04:30 EDT From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Rosemont(Allstate) We all know this is one of the greatest bands in the world, right? So why do people feel the need to throw glowsticks at the them. The sticks are fine, I guess, as long as they're kept in the stands, not on the stage. How would you like standing up there being pelted by idiots hurling things at you? Also, as always, the cops were horrible....saw 4 of them pounce some kid. Sorry if I sound negative. Friday's show blew me away and Saturday was right on, even though the first set probably would have been longer if it weren't for the sticks. I can see why they want some time off but I will defiantly miss them. I only get to 4 or 5 shows a year and treasure every one of them. Peace and Love Randy
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000 21:57:17 EDT From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: review of saturday night The scene outside the Allstate Arena was very odd. There was something in the air that made it seem like Phish wasn't really going to play long tonight. The cops were everywhere and even shut down my grilled cheese, and hot chocolate stand. Also, I saw way too many 15 year old kids getting dropped off by limos. It's ridiculous. Anywase onto the show. Come On Baby Lets Go Downtown: Very mellow. Very nice way to start off the evening. You could tell how excited Trey was. He appeared to be in a good mood and it seemed that he really wanted to play here for the second show. Moma Dance: Hell yeah! I have been waiting a while to hear this one. Nice and funky. Frankenstein: I have been waiting to hear this one since Alpine 98. Totally awesome, and once the song was coming to an end, I was calling a HYHU. But instead... Halley's Comet: YES!!! I have never heard this one except for one tapes. It made its debut here at the Allstate for all of us to hear. The crowd and especially the band was having a great time at this point. Fee: I have been waiting for this one since Champaign in 97. The crowd was going nuts during the chorus singing louder than the band. Again, the band was having a great time until this point. Stash: The crowd screamed so loud I was barely able to hear the opening chords. The whole band was having a good time, then the glowsticks came. Why? Yes they are fun until someone launches them onto the stage then everyone else does? It was a killer Stash, and I have been dying to hear it. It was cut short because the band was dodging glowsticks the whole song. Because of the glowstick war we were cut short of about another 30 minutes of music. Set II: BOAF: Totally an uplifter. I was very happy to hear it. It seemed like it was cut short for some reason. Tweezer: Yeah!!! Pounding drum intro like at Alpine 99. Total rocker except for the glowsticks which ended the song rather quickly. NICU: YES!! Play it Leo. Nice long organ solo, Got the crowd moving once again. Scent: I was going absolutely crazy during this song. I loved every second of it. Fast Enough for You: Nice little breather until the raging song that was to come... Piper: I have never heard a longer or more raging Piper ever. If you get the tape for this show, listen for some Let It Be tease during Page's Organ solo right before Trey's solo. Zero: Nice segue. I knew it was going to end the set. Phish seemed rather pissed at the crowd, and I dont blame them. Nice Zero, to end a relativley short set. :( Encore: Sleeping Monkey: I love this song. It was very well played. There is nothing really else to say except the inevitable Reprise was coming. Reprise: Nice, raging reprise. Tons of fun until those glowsticks came out again. Three times in one show is crazy. Overall the show was very good. Short, but good. To anyone who was throwing the glowsticks on the stage, please don't do it again. Thank you Phish, and I hope you don't hold a gruge against the Allstate fans. David
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000 18:01:20 -0500 From: Michael D. Weil [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Chicago 9/23/00 Stop throwing those damn glow sticks at the band. The show was good except for the careless throwing of glow sticks. Please don't throw anymore at the band unless you don't want to see them anymore. I have to agree with Delilah, "You better stop that laser game". I can't get over how much the scene has changed, everyone needs to chill out, take a break and realize why they are going to the shows. take care, Mike
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 03:38:38 -0700 From: Matt Hollo [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: allstate 9/23/00 I totally agree with what everyone has been saying about the glowsticks. I know I may be beating a dead horse, but it really can't be repeated enough. Everytime I go to a Phish show i dread the part when the glowstick war is going to break out, because i know im going to see a bunch of people throwing them up at the stage. Why would anyone do this? To see how many the band can catch? I can't imagine the band being able to concentrate on laying down their best stuff when a bunch of idiots are throwing stuff at them. I know that definitely had an effect on this show. I was sitting about 15 feet from the stage Trey side and I could see the disgust and loss of concentration on his face in the middle of stash when the glow sticks started coming at his head. And people weren't just lofting them, they were throwing them at the stage as hard as they could. All you have to do is listen to the tapes and find the part in stash where Trey botched the lyrics really bad. Why? Glowsticks. I saw him bow and start leaving before the rest of the band. There's no reason this should happen. I was really saddened and angry at this point. I was truly hoping that they would finally come out and make an announcement about people throwing glowsticks at the stage. I felt sorry for the band because they come out every night and play their asses off, and they get pelted with hard objects. Is that any way to treat the best live band in the world? I know that the majority of Phish fans are peaceful, loving people who would never do anything to hurt the band. Its that small minority of people that are going to ruin Phish shows for everyone. Please, please, please, stop throwing glowsticks at the band. And yes, I know, the glowsticks look cool, but doesn't Chris Kuroda do a pretty damn good job of lighting too? Matt
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 13:16:18 EDT From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Allstate Arena First off, I thought both Friday and Saturday night's shows jammed. I was far too far away from the stage to see much of the mayhem that many of these reviews have alluded to, but I do know the whole glowstick thing has run its course. Expecting people to keep their sticks in the audience is obviously too much to ask. Plus, I find it hard to believe that all people throwing these annoyances have as much control over where they land as Kerry Wood has over his fastball. All though I'm going to miss going to shows during the hiatus, I think the band deserves a vacation and not only from the road and playing, but from the very people who go to the shows to flip out on ecstasy, spark up bowls as though they're watching the Andy Griffith show instead of the greatest live band on the scene right now, as well as the drunk fifteen year-olds who spend setbreak re-applying glitter to their faces and calling mommy on their cell phones to make sure she fires up the wagon and picks their herd of friends up at 11:30 sharp. Folks, Phish is the best thing going. There is no comparison, no matter how much you bitch about song selection preference and other selfish rants. Even though it is a favorite word among reviewers on this site, there is nothing "standard" about Phish, but when it becomes standard practice for any one of the fellas up on stage to get hit by hard plastic, I think we need to re-assess the situation, and move in a different direction. As for Mike, Page, Jon, and Trey, have a whale of a vacation, and may it not include nightmares of laser beams. Thank you Phish. Chris
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000 16:38:09 -0500 From: DelilahJones [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: TAKE YOUR LASER BEAMS AWAY 9/23/00: After an exciting opening with a Phish concert debut, an intense Moma, and an unexpected,, awesome 1st set HALLEY'S, we were getting ready to top last night's unbelievable and untoppable show...you could tell the band was as into it as we were as they ripped through Fee and the crowd sang along for the chorus....to appease the clap-happy audience, our boys broke into Stash and the crowd could not hold their wad as they shot their glowsticks in the beginning of the song-- I believe glowsticks hurt and if anything is going to get thrown it should be glowrings--regardless, someone seemed to get the idea that after paying $30 (or sneaking in like the guy next to us had done) they reserve the right to chuck shit at the band. These are the only Phish we have, why would we want them hurt??? I saw Mike get hit twice during Stash, and Trey missed a couple of lines while ducking away from sticks being fired at his head. "I hate laser beams". Having said that, I can't believe any real phan would ever intentionally hurt the band but their stage was covered in sticks that they had dodged or had been decked with. It was no surprise that after a harrowing Stash the boys took a quick bow and walked off the stage 2 songs short of a full 1st set. The set break energy was considerably lower from the night before and anyone who didn't see the band get hit could tell that something was different or uncomfortable. Birds seemed shorter than usual but Tweezer was mean and you could tell Mike was getting into it as he found a deep groove and the rest of the band melted into it...NICU was great and then Mike broke into Scent of a Mule....and when I heard Mike sing with absolute conviction "I hate laser beams" and Kitty feeling laser beams being fired at her head, I couldn't help but flashback to the glowstick war of the 1st set. FEFY made me more introspective about the whole thing. Then, after a roaring Piper, Mike took the reins over again playing a dark and moody extended bass solo that you have to hear. Character 0 was awesome but then when the band took a bow and went to leave the stage it started all over again...glowsticks at the band...more than a few and more than that. During the encore to hear Trey singing, "The feeling's not the same, In fact it's getting pretty tame, It's just not that great anymore.." made me realize this scene needs a vacation and I can see why we won't be seeing our boys for a while...during the inevitable but rockin' Tweeprise I saw Page get hit with a stick while others continuously flew past the band. Then the band almost ran from the stage and with good cause; the sticks kept flying towards our Phish. They are the only Phish we have and we all know how much they truly mean to us. "You better stop that laser game". peace, love, and smell my mule, delilah
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000 22:00:27 -0500 Subject: 9/23, i am not jeff, i am [email protected] Yo. I really wanted to review this show. The first night at Chicago was definitely a solid show. They played a lot of staple songs and they played them great. However, the second night was more to my liking. The improvisation was unbelievable. Downtown was phat. Pretty good, Pretty short, never heard it until now The Moma Dance was ridiculous. Unbelievable energy, place was rocking Frankenstein - wierd placement, awesome Halley's was solid I was very happy to hear a fee, my favorite part being that cool little groove that they find at the end, however, the clapping kinda fucked shit up a little bit, very unnecessary like in the yem the day before, still very good Stash for me was the highlight of the first set, have had my ups and downs with song, but right now i am so up, great band crowd interaction, good lights and all, but the stash itself was so good, tre screwed up vocally, kinda cool actually, reminded me that are humans similar to myself, cancel that last statement, im all for glowsticks and this war was awesome, but who aims for the stage, someone nailed mike and they left seemingly pissed, maybe we would have heard another song, i dont know, great great set though the second set listwise may not indicate how good it was, but it was so sick so good, must be heard boaf, like it alot, it rocked pretty hard never been happier, tweezer was so sick, what a cool cool jam, set blurred a little, but if this was the jam where they slowed up a bit and went into thet israeli theme music, then whatevr, tweezer is awesome wasnt happy to hear nicu, was happy afterwords though scent of a mule was the highlight of the show except for maybe stash, ive read reviews and been like what the fuck scent of a mule amazing, let me tell you it was so good, the middle part where they just slow down, dont have words to describe it FEFY- very underwaterish, tre wailed wailed, believe me Character zero pissed me off this summer as an encore, it was awesome, it rocked, such a good set my first monkey live, happy as hell, tweezer reprise for me is what a dildo is to michael jacksons ass if anybody cares, i want to pose to you a dliemma i was in: during some point in the second set, they slowed down and played so well, i was feeling so good and these two kids behind me were saying shit like, I feel like theyre gonna play this or that, like smack dead in the middle of stash saying something like theyre going into mikes song, these kids were obviously soemwhat young and probably on ecstasy and would not shut up, so in a musical rage, i proceeded to say shut up, probably about eleven times, and i dont feel bad about it, i take phish music very seriously, while i love everything they do, i enjoy being critical and analyzing myself, but some people have to realize that there are times,(specific times) where maybe you shouldnt start philosophizing with your friend about the arranged arena seating, or times when you shouldnt clap, so there is my dilemma, I like to clap and I like to talk, I am only 20, Am I old? Was I once as big of a nerd as the kid behind me, maybe im a nerd, or maybe the scene is just evolving (better or worse) depends on the person, either way, the music keeps getting better, phish is awesome
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000 11:25:48 EDT From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: second night at allstate All I have to say is stop throwing the glowsticks on stage and hitting the very people we came to hear. Mike and Page did not seem to be enjoying getting hit several times. They got distracted and annoyed. Keep the glowsticks confined to the audience or Phish is not going to be excited about playing anymore in a warzone. Peter Roose
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