2009-03-06 - Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA

please review the show, not the other reviews....

from	Nuggz
date	Sun, Mar 8, 2009 at 11:57 AM
subject	March 6, 2009 @ Hampton Coliseum
 
This is my Cayman Review:
 
Legendary, historical.  I can proudly say that my wife, my best friend, and I 
that we saw "The return of Phish" after four sad years.  This was my eighth 
show, and in my opinion, it was the greatest show ever played.
 
It may have been the hype and build-up, the energy of the crowd, or the sheer 
anticipation of seeing Trey, Page, Fish, and Gordon together again on the same 
stage, but night one was "the shiz".  The moment Trey played that first note 
and we knew that they were opening with Fluffhead, I couldn't help but smile, 
laugh, and cry.  A new era had begun.
 
They sounded different.  They sounded better.  They sounded alive.  They 
sounded incredible.  The energy they had on the stage had not been seen in a 
long time.  Our last shows were the New Year's Run in Miami going into 2005.  
We thought those shows were incredible....but add all four of those together 
and compare them to March 6, 2009 - NO COMPARISON!
 
Trey was more energetic than I had ever seen - his jams were amazing.  The 
tones of his guitar reminded me of Jerry, his energy and enthusiasm reminded 
me of seeing him with his own band.  His facial expressions were back and he 
had a couple of new moves!
 
Paige seemed to be having the time of his life, like he was as excited as we 
were to be a part of it all.  His voice sounded incredible and his "solo" 
during Lawn Boy (Saturday night) was so cool!  He jammed on the organ more 
than I had heard before and everyone dug it.
 
Gordon's silver looking hair bounced around just like we had remembered from 
years past.  It's hard to tell whether he's having a good time or not, but 
when he and Trey danced together, bounced together, and scissor-kicked 
together (in sync), we knew he was glad to be back.
 
Fishman sounded terrific, it is unbelieveable all of the different movements, 
tempos, and rhythms that he can have going through his head all at the same 
time.  He was spotlighted a couple of times on the first night, but he never 
busted out a crazy drum solo.  It was sad to see, and we can only hope that he 
enjoyed being back on stage with everyone as much as we did. 
 
I am not a music critic, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, 
but I believe that after taking all things into consideration, this was the 
BEST SHOW EVER.  Being at that first show was priceless - a mastercard 
commercial should be made out of this experience.  The three of us "show 
goers" had made a pact that if Phish EVER played again, that we would be there 
- no matter what!  I am so proud that we could all go together to enjoy.
 
I must thank my wife and Str for helping me make this trip across the country 
possible.  Thanks to Snatch for taking care of the house and the crazies while 
we were gone.
 
I must note the acts of random kindness by Str - he gave his extra ticket away 
to one lucky Phishead on each of the three nights.  Miracles DO happen - just 
ask Deanna from Savannah on Friday night - and ask anyone who attended 
Friday's show - we are lucky to be living in the "Phish Era".
 
- Ngz.

 
 from	 Chris 
Johnson date	 Sat, 
Mar 7, 2009 at 12:07 PM subject	Fwd: 2009-03-06 Hampton Coliseum, Hampton VA

If I were asked to interpret the statement that Phish is trying to make by 
opening with Fluffhead, it would be this, "Hey everyone. How's it going? 
Remember us? You're looking good." That's it. Bold. Confident. Short and 
sweet can't be beat. Except the song lasted sixteen minutes long. And 
during those sixteen minutes, I don't think any of us could believe what 
we were really listening to. I think many of us here at home had a hard 
time believing that we weren't listeing to some .shn's we just downloaded 
from bt.etree.org. The band kept bringing us back to the present. And 
coming back was like waking from a dream with the words, "they're back," 
on our lips. 
Throughout, the night, I was astounded with Page's play. It seemed more 
confident and demanding than anything I have ever heard from him. I first 
noticed the difference in the first few melodic jam bars in "Stash". I 
kept an ear out for him the rest of the night and was astonished at the 
change. 
I have been listening to a lot of tapes from the 80's lately and have 
noticed how strong some of their sets were. I have been thinking in the 
past several weeks how interesting it would be to hear them delve really 
deep back into those old days. And even though they ended up playing a 
song from every one of their studio albums except Round Room and 
Undermind, it really did feel like one of those early shows. You had Fish 
on the vaccum during "I Didn't Know." You had a couple of A Cappella 
sweets including "I Didn't Know" and "Grind."  You had new fresh jams in 
"Stash" and "Harry Hood." You had a classic cover in "Loving Cup." You 
even got a taste of what is to come in "Backwards Down the Number Line." 
And even though it was a brand new, it felt old, Like Jackson Browne's 
"Running on Empty," or Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way," or The Band's 
"The Weight." There was a little bit of everything. 
It was a reunion worthy of the wait. And despite its greatness, they 
weren't even at their best. There were a few missed lick's on Trey's part 
and some of the classic culmination's seemed to sputter, namely at the end 
of David Bowie and Harry Hood. But that is what is amazing. As fun as it 
was, as amazing as it was, there is more to come. And it is going to get 
better and better and better. It is so good to have Phish back. Not just 
the four of them, but all of us. It's good to be back. 
Here is my GHI rating: 2.89/5.00
81/140 Stars=.578= (2.89/5.00)

Set 1: 			Set 2:
Fluffhead: *** 		Backwards Down the Number Line: ****
The Divided Sky: *** 	Tweezer: ***
Chalkdust Torture: *** 	Taste: **
Sample in a Jar: ** 	Possum: **
Stash: **** 		Theme from the Bottom: **
I Didn't Know: **** 	First Tube: **
Oh Kee Pa Ceremony: ** 	Harry Hood: ***
Suzy Greenberg: *** 	Waste: **
Farmhouse: *** 		You Enjoy Myself: ***
NICU: **
Horn: *** 		Encore:
Rift: *** 		Grind: ****
Train Song: ** 		Bouncing Around the Room: ****
Water in the Sky: **** 	Loving Cup: ****
Squirming Coil: **
David Bowie: ***  
 
from Dan McNulty 
date Sat, Mar 7, 2009 at 10:17 AM 
subject	Phish Show Review 3-6-09
	
To the Phish.net crew

I am proud to say that last night was my first Phish show.  It seemed 
ironic that when I first started listening to Phish, they had just 
announced the breakup, and I couldn't make it to any of the shows in 2004.  
So, for the past 5 years, I have been in the dark about what it means, and 
what it feels to be at a Phish show.  Despite the breakup, I became an 
obsessive phan, downloading shows off etree, buying as many live phish 
downloads as possible to feed my obsession.  So while I am a complete noob 
to the scene and the live experience, I know all the songs, all the 
changes, and all the highs and lows to the fullest extent possible that 
tapes can give me.  Moving on.

The lot
First off, all the staff at my hotel in Newport News were wearing tie die 
to mark the occasion, which I found terribly awesome.  The drive was 
short, although traffic was backed up getting into the lot.  Once parked, 
people all around brought out their beer, while I went to the gate (stayed 
stone cold sober for the show, didn't want to miss a thing).  Even by 3 
pm, the crowd was lining up, so I stayed in line and chilled with the 
people around me.  A personal thank you to all the vets who I chatted with 
(thanks Joe from Minneapolis!) The crush to get into the Coliseum was 
pretty ridiculous, but I didn't care.  As soon as I got in, I made my way 
to the floor, and got about 5-10 feet from the rail, Fishman side.

Set 1

I'm sure other people will do a song by song review, so I'm just gonna go 
through my personal highlights.  Before the lights went down, I was 
chatting with the guys around me, predicting what the first song would be.  
One guy said PYITE, another said Chalkdust, another said AC/DC Bag.  I 
swear to you on my life that this is the truth, I said the following:  
"I'm gonna go out on a limb and go with Fluffhead."  It made perfectly 
logical sense to me.  What better way to show everyone that the band is 
serious, and play the song that they refused to play post-hiatus?  So, the 
house lights go down, the boys come up on stage, and just bask in the 
glory of the cheers of the crowd.  Then...
FLUFFHEAD:  All it took was the first few notes, and everyone went batshit 
insane.  I started hugging everyone around me.  Everyone started dancing 
like crazy.  The whole place sang along in euphoria.  This was the single 
greatest concert experience of my life.
Divided Sky:  One of the guys next to me was talking before about how he 
had never seen Divided, and with his luck, they would play it Sunday when 
he wasnt gonna be there. He got his wish.  Beautifully played.

After the craziness of Chalkdust and Sample, Stash was a welcome breather.  
Even though its such an intense song, they played a real nice, easygoing 
jam.  Kinda jazzy, and very relaxing.  I Didn't Know was a great surprise.  
Fish was introduced as "Dad."  The mic wasnt working for the first part of 
the vacuum solo, so Trey rushed over to the drums to buy a little time for 
the mic to work, and it did. 

Oh Kee Pa was well played, followed by Suzy.  A great little funky jam in 
between verses, with Page on fire.  Fish had trouble getting his mic to 
swing around after the second verse to do his thing, but got it after the 
third.  Farmhouse was surpisingly great, with some great soloing by Trey; 
probably one of the best versions I've heard.  At this point, we were all 
wondering when the set was gonna end.  The boys just kept on playing-NICU, 
Horn, Rift (WHOOO), Train Song, Water in the Sky (a really beautiful, 
slowed down version, old school!)

Squirming Coil was an awesome touch, and what I figured would have been 
the end of the set. Instead of leaving the stage, Fish kicks in the 
hi-hat, straight into BOWIE!!!!!!!!!!!!   I mean seriously?!?!?!?  This 
just seemed like some crazy surreal phantasy.   I could not believe it.  A 
pretty straightforward version, but tightly played, and the ending was on 
fire.  Perfect way to end a 2 hour first set!!!!

During the set break, I had to sit down and pick my face up from the 
floor.  I was exhausted.  I couldn't believe how insane that first set 
was.  Water was drunk in mass quantities.  A half hour break.

Set 2

Backwards down the number line is a pretty nice song.  I like it so far, 
not sure how much jam potential there is, but good soloing by Trey.  
Followed by a great Tweezer.  Lots of funk in this one.  Mike owned this 
song.  A really nice funky jam with some great riffs frm Trey, then it 
moved into a spacier jam, that segued into Taste, the only true segue of 
the night.  A great, tight, Taste.  Possum was just sheer joy.  Up to this 
point, this show reminded me off all the shows I listened to from 94-96.  
Just great, tight playing, with Trey shredding.  First Tube was  nice and 
energetic, and then HOOD.  Are you kidding me??? Are they leaving anything 
for the next two nights???? They played the hell out of hood, with only a 
minor flub by Trey during the Mr. Minor section.  The peak during the end 
was so beautiful I could had cried, but I laughed instead out of sheer 
joy.  Waste was wonderfully played, and really hit home with me.  Perfect 
time to play it.  It was about 11:30 at this point, and I figured after 
the monster first set, they would only play about an hour long second.  
Wrong.  1, 2, 1 2 3 4 YEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I love this song 
with all my heart.  To hear it after so many monster songs played before 
it, it was so overwhelming.  I couldnt believe it.  I dont even care if 
they flubbed the beginning (someone said it might have been a joke??? 
Doesn't matter, it was hilarious regardless.)  Trey made the funny mistake 
of saying "Shit" instead of "God", then made up for it with "God Shit."  
Just so intensly awesome.  Everybody danced.  The jam was good, and Mike 
had an amazing solo, followed by a haunting, crazy vocal jam. 

Encore

Grind was fun to hear, barbershop style.  The crowd initially greeted 
Bouncing with lukewarm enthusiasm, but when the giant balls that were 
hanging from the rafters fell to the floor, everyone was just in awe.  It 
was such perfect imagery, and perfect in so many ways to have actual balls 
bouncing around the room.  One giant ball made its way to Page, who was 
watching as it slowly made its way to him, and then exploded in a cloud 
dust over his head.  Loving Cup was the closer (must be saving Tweeprise 
for Sunday maybe?) and capped the most amazing show of my life. 

After five years of just listening to the band, seeing them live for the 
first time was a revelation.  The lights, the people, the tramps, 
everything that you can't get on tape was just made everything about Phish 
so much clearer to me.  I can't thank them enough. 

Dan McNulty


...these are reviews of the show via recordings...

from	Tom
date	Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 8:45 AM
subject	ph2009-03-06 Review

First of all I wanna say what a pleasure it is to be rating these shows.  
Thanks to Phish and everyone in their organization for putting it back 
together and in style!  I was not at Hampton, but most people I have 
talked to say it was great, some say the time of their lives.  Also Thanks 
to Phish for the free MP3's�a nice tolken of gratitude to all the Phans 
out there!  Welcome back Phish!  It has been such a long, long time!

About my Rating System: I have 3 criteria that I use to rate the shows. 
First I rate the songs individually, based upon performance of the 
particular songs, then compute a Raw Score based upon the rating of the 
song, and it's length vs. the length of the set.  I also rate the song 
selection, based upon my likes and dislikes.  The third criteria is 
segues/flow of the set and jamming.  The three criteria are added up and 
divided equally, and the set rating is determined.  The encore is rated 
the same way. The final show rating is the two sets, which are worth 90%, 
and the encore, wich is worth 10%. Also I was not there, so only audible 
sound is a factor, not other environmental ones.

Here is my review of ph2009-03-06 after hearing it twice:

Fluffhead (16:17): Solid opening, nice playing up through the Clod, sloppy 
just before Bundle of Joy is very nice�build up very nice��Arrival pretty 
solid, not epic, floats in mid stratosphere. B .12

Divided Sky (14:11): Starts smooth, gets a bit rough in patches, mainly 
Trey's guitar, but he comes back pretty strong at the end, the flutters 
again. C+  .10

Chalkdust (7:28): Comes out of the gate fast, musically.  Trey's voice is 
a bit fluttery, minimalist solo-ing at first, then jumps into the deep end 
cannonball style, with real good Page and Mike accompaniment, nice finish 
musically, vocally, still meh. B- .05

Sample (6:06): Stated lyrics,at first, then Trey really struggles with 
singing the chorus.  Needs help if they want to play this song, couldn't 
hear Page at all until near the end.  Trey very reserved in his solo.  
Walked thru this standard. Page comes thru at the end with the keys to 
make keep it from being a total dud.  C- .04

Stash (12:22): Starts of real strong, the boys must have practiced this 
one a great deal.  More vocal problems in the Whoa O whoa O O, when Trey 
seems to have let a croaking woodland animal sing his part.  The rest of 
the composed part is pretty clean.  Jam starts out quiet, with Page and 
Trey exchanging introspective licks, then gets dark, and mildly moody.  
Mike and Fish are a bit absent.  Page takes over at 7:30, they throws a 
few licks in, the boys follow, Mike tries to build it up at 8:00 and Fish 
follows at 9:00, but Trey is off in Electric Ladyland. Page is chording 
and thee build up starts again at 9:45, and by 10:00 it gets tight, back 
into the theme.  Trey wails away at 10:20, some real nice playing all 
around, peaking back and forth.  At 11:20 Trey hits a real nice peak, but 
it ends too fast!   Maybe so maybe not comes in right as he starts coming 
like Arnold in Pumping Iron!  A nice build up, small release, but one 
nonetheless�B .09

I Didn't Know > (4:03):  First contact with the audience, very brief, but 
funny�as Trey introduces Fish as "Dad".  Cool, very nice sounding vocals 
all around.  A .03

Oh Kee Pah (1:49)>: Well played. A- .02

Suzy (5:42): Nice.  Decent, vocally. Nice work from Page.  Notice a trend 
yet?  Of course you did, I did.  Needs the horns though.  Funny Yeah yeah 
yeah yeah yeah from Fishman at the end. B- .04

Farmhouse (5:21): Very strong vocals, great soloing from Trey.  Top notch 
version! A+ .05

NICU (5:09): Good opening, Trey playing a few extra notes, but they were 
good ones.  Full sounding vocals. Trey nails the guitar work, and Mike.  
Mellow "Play it Leo", who played it it, and well. A- .04

Horn (3:44): Straightforward and well played.  As usual. B+ .03

Rift (6:25):  A few minor slips, but solid overall.  Nice tempo. B+ .05

Train Song (3:15): Gotta love Mike!  Very well played! A .03

Water in the Sky (3:59): Ummm ok.  Not the 97 version�or the improved 
bluegrass version.  More country than the earlier.  Vocal timing off. Not 
great, but not too bad.  C- .02

Squirming Coil (7:30): Was that a Sleeping Monkey tease at the beginning?  
Hmm.  A good Coil.  Few mistakes, and good energy, nice Page ending�B .06

David Bowie (10:29): Pretty freaky, Bowie!  Good opening, lots of energy, 
throughout.  Strong finish!  A- .08

Set 1 Overall Rating (1:56):  For sheer length and songs it should be a 
clear A, but there were some bumpy moments, maybe nerves. 

Raw Score: B- .80  Song Selection: A .93 Segues/Jamming B- .80

Overall: .85 B  .38

2ND Set

Backwards Down the Number Line (7:09): New song, short jam, but well 
played�I like it!  B  .07

Tweezer (12:50)>:  Strong Start, then quick stops�restart into mellow but 
good Tweezer, with decent jamming with a nice segue into Taste.  B- .11

Taste (9:21): Melted into from Tweezer, good opening, decent singing, but 
Trey a bit off on chording.  Page bright and pleasant (as usual).  Jamming 
not especially good at first from Trey, but the others are on. He starts 
to catch up at 6:20, then is up and down for a bit, but cant get to where 
he needs to be and it is a bit painful.   Resolution is a welcome thing at 
7:55.  A bit of trill redeems himself at 8:33, but overall the jam is off 
and his ending is rough too.  C .08

Possum (8:25):  Starts out good, but waddles a bit, and vocals not that 
strong.  Picks up some momentum, then soars for a bit and a big crowd 
reaction as they go off for a few seconds!  Vocals improve in the 2nd 
stanza, and the whole thing just works, then finishes ok�.Nice version 
overall. B-, but for the second of hotness, which bring it to a B .07

Theme (8:39): Page.  Kinda weak vocals from the onset here too, yet good 
musical structure. Cool effects from Page after asleep in a box. Jamming 
decent, Page stars.  Trey trying to find something, but doesn't go too 
far�and lead into From the Bottom From the top, which is really good, then 
the whole thing just melts away� B- .07

First Tube (7:19): Solid. Trey throws the loop delay, which I personally 
love!  I'd love Phish to add more of this added to their music, throw down 
in their style with a touch of effects ala Floyd, Radiohead or Flaming 
Lips mixed in! Trey plays this one very well, as he does most times.  
Ending is good.  B+ .07

Harry Hood (13:54): Cool opening, nice funk from Mike, need more of this 
funky stuff from him!  Solid from all of them, really. Good stuff.  
Audience real enthusiastic.  Running smooth, then uh oh! Trey butchers Mr 
Miner!  After all that good ice cream!  Maybe Ben and Jerry paid him off?  
;) But moving on�it it gets better�they got Mr Miner revived in a big way, 
but the slaughter returns at 10:45�and the boys try to keep apply the 
turnicate, but it is too late, Mr Miner gets the Poster Nutbag treatment, 
chokes a few last breaths, then kicks the bucket!  Poor guy killed in cold 
blood (hadta put that since I just watched Capote�and at points Treys 
guitar rivaled Truman Capotes annoying voice �) Sorry heads!   Time of 
Death 13:50.  D+ (good opening) .10

Waste (5:35): Trey still having voice problems, but the music is good. B-  
.04

YEM (21:28): Did they do it on purpose or not?  I would say it would have 
been a hilarious joke, but judging from Hood, I say not.  Just need 
practice.  Trey stops this one(like in 03), and jokes about it.  Anyway 
they get it back together and they soar into the peak which just sustains 
soooooo nice, before the big build up and kinda weak (gurgle?) into�"Boy, 
Man, Shit?"  Oops Trey messes up, then jokes about it with "God-Shit", 
which makes the audience laugh (with him- which is good), then he laughs 
all the way thru wash uffizi, and repeats "shiiiiit" and more laughter 
ensues back into wash Uffizi.  At least they can laugh at themselves, like 
they always have!  One of their most endearing qualities.  Onto the jam - 
they hit it with hints of funk, wailing guitar that peaks out nice, not 
the best ever but one of the better jams of the evening, and Mike even 
gets a bass solo (!) and the vocal jam and was so hilarious that it knocks 
this rating up a notch�B  .15

Set 2 Rating: 

Raw Score: C .76  Song Selection: B .85 Segues/Jamming B- .80

Overall: .80 B-   .36

ENCORE: 

Grind (1:58) Well done and funny as hell!  One song that doesn't translate 
well into the studio, but great live! A .15

Bouncing Round the Room (3:58) Big groan from crowd, and this is a throw 
away because of the shenanigans and Trey laughing I understand, Bouncing 
is not a great encore song�unless it is followed up by another song, hmm. 
C .23

Loving Cup (7:09):  Page again!  Hot!  Great redition of the Stones 
classic!  A! .52

Encore rating: Raw Score: A- .90  Song Selection: B .85 Segues/Jamming B 
.85

Overall: B+ .87   .09


Overall Show Rating: 
Raw Score: B- .81  
Song Selection: B+ .89 
Segues/Jamming B- .81

Survey says:
B  .8376



from	scott shulimson
date	Sun, Mar 8, 2009 at 6:20 PM
subject	Phish Hampton 3/6/09
	
	
Admittedly I was not at this show but I've seen almost 100 Phish shows 
since '91, from Big Cypress to NYE 2002 to conventry.   I've listened to 
the soundboard of this show a few times now.  I'm sure with the hype of 
the scene and the buzz in the air in Hampton it's hard to be objective, 
but I have to wonder if I'm the only one noticing, the emperor plays no 
guitar. Yeah that's an over statement. The last part of the show Trey 
finally plays like he means it, but the first 3 hour Trey appears to have 
little to say (musically speaking) and his attempts are plagued with more 
wrong notes and false starts than the worst post-hiatus nights.  I was at 
Coventry the peaks from that run are better than anything from this show.

The other three band members sound great and there is a freshness and re 
invigoration in the band's sound. Trey's tone is chunky and solid and they 
obviously have rehearsed some of the trickier compositions... but where's 
the hose? Whenever a song got to the part where Trey is supposed to drive 
it home (think Taste or Theme) he totally struck out. I think over the 
course of this year they will get tighter and more inspired (I hope) but 
for now this comeback show appears to be the most over rated show ever. 

I love Trey and the boys and have high hopes for Phish.  I'm happy for 
everyone at Hampton, and think the run is getting better each night.  
Don't want anyone to think I'm being negative just for the sake of it. 
It's just that everyone seems so caught up in the hysteria they aren't 
noticing the obvious, Trey isn't riding his blissful waves of hosalicious 
musical Ecstasy. That will change I hope.

Scott


from	Jud Coleman
date	Sat, Mar 7, 2009 at 3:08 PM
subject	Review of Hampton 03-06-09
	
Many thanks to Phish.net for a great site....

I just finished listening to the entire show via the free soundboards put up 
by phish.com.  Huge thanks to Phish for an amazing idea, getting out these 
boards by 8am this morning.


Some things to note before the review:

I've been to 20 shows from 98' to 04', First being West Coast Summer 98', Last 
being Alpine 04'.

Listen to nothing but 90-94 when I first got into Phish in 96'.

Was very critical of Post-Hiatus Trey issues, Bad drugs were killing the 
music.

I was not thrilled to hear the band reformed, it needed to end, the scene was 
a mess.


Now on to the show.

1st Set

Fluffhead: I called it months ago, makes perfect sense to play this to open. 
Well played but tentative in parts, Trey seemed a little nervous. Page was 
spot on. Fish seems to have a new kit, snare and cymbals sound a tad 
different. 

Divided Sky: Again well played, but with the slightest hint of timidness. Trey 
seems to want to float around and get his bearings instead of flying off into 
the cosmos. Once again, Page just owns that Grand Piano.

Chalkdust: A very ripping version of this tune, Trey sounds much better 
vocally then 2004, Amazing what kicking the junk can do for ya. Kudos to Trey 
on some nice soloing.

Sample: Not much to say about this song, very standard, straight forward 
version. Never been a song to right home about. Once again Trey sounding much 
healthier.

Stash: A very pleasing version with an abundance of depth in the middle. A 
seemingly virgin crowd did not respond as intensely to the clapping parts as 
others. Not Epic, but a good start, this will be insane by Mid-June.

I Didnt' Know>Oh Kee Pah: Fun with some Vacuum Solo difficulty at the end, Oh 
Kee Pah was a nice treat.

Suzy: A little slow, but again well played, nothing spectacular. 95' was the 
"Year" for Suzy.

Farmhouse: Great soloing by Trey, I like when they try to rip it up a little 
in this tune.

NICU: Nothing special, Im not a big fan of this tune, Again in 95' they liked 
to jam this out.

Horn: NAILED IT!!! I love a good Horn and they lifted my spirits with this 
one.

Rift:Nailed it again. Getting the tempo right is sooooo important to this 
song, too fast it gets very cluttered. Page was on fire.

Train Song: SONG OF THE NIGHT!!! Are you kidding me......Gordon kicks ass!!!!

Water in the Sky: F-, The tempo is terrible, the song used to fly around and 
bounce, this version made me cringe.

Coil: Great call, very clean and sweeping as it should be.

Bowie: The MONSTER 1st set (Lengthwise, not jamming wise) ends with a splendid 
Bowie, again the theme for the first set was "well played", not insane by 
95-99' standards. Just shy of 2 hours, not bad........

THANK YOU FOR PRACTICING AND BIG THANKS TO A SOBER TREY!!!! JUST SMOKE A JOINT 
AND RIP LIKE THE OLD DAYS!!!!


2ND Set

Backwards Down the Number Line: New Song, Tom Marshall sent it to Trey on his 
birthday. Very Poppy. Seems fun.

Taste: Lacked Flavor, no pun intended. This song should go bonanza. 12-14-95' 
is the best Taste in my mind, with Fish doing the special intro. This version 
was flat.

Possum: Love it, Trey rips pretty nice. Great Job all around.

Theme: Mellow and flowing, could have gone places but Trey again seemed to be 
hesitant.

First Tube: You can never really go wrong with this jam. Will branch out more 
by Mid-June.

Harry Hood: D- at best.....The band did not practice this well. Mr. Minor part 
is awful. Jam goes nowhere at the end. I did not feel good about this Hood.

Waste: Fantastic little solo by Trey, very strong version of a very standard 
song.

YEM: Worst version of the song ever, They murder the beginning and Trey said 
they need to start over and then play it wrong again. Trey forgets to say God 
and ends up saying God-Shit......Jam cooks a little but the Vocal jam is 
really cool.....Practice this PLEASE!!!!!!!

ENCORE: Grind-Bouncing Round the Room-Loving Cup: Grind is silly and Bouncing 
is standard but the Loving Cup was great, Really cool end.


Not bad for 4+ years off, but this show is very low on the mind-bending super 
jams.....Great for all the people who have never seen Phish live.....But Vets 
will laugh at this one....

Overall Rating: C-

 

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