From: Ethan White 
Subject: Hartford 10/23/96 review

Review of Phish at Hatrford, 10/23/96

	My 10th show, and I got a lot more than I expected.  Last night�s
stellar setlist made me feel like I �missed� the great show, but tonight
really convinced me otherwise.
	Not much lot scene, and security was LAX at the gates.  They didn�t
even pat me down.  The Civic Center isn�t too large, and I sat at the
back of the arena, on Fish�s side about halfway up.  The view was great.

PYITE: Niiiice way to start a show.  Done as always; sound wasn�t quite
loud enough yet.

Poor Heart: Trey�s little solo stuck out.  Some new, fresh jamming in
this.

AC/DC Bag: Nice jam, got intense and spacy, bringing it to a nice
climax.

Foam: I had been hoping for a Foam for a long time.  Finally!  Not the
best, but I enjoyed it a lot.

Ragtime Gal: LOUD audience

Character Zero: Nice jam and vocal jam!  This could become a great, long
jam soon.

Rift: Fun.  You know, it was Rift.

Theme: Called it, and loved it, even though the jam didn�t really go as
far as it used to.  Much more controled.  A tad dissapointing.

Antelope: Called it, and it was great!  Like in the AC/DC, they used
distortion to build the climax.  VERY smoking.

Set 1: 60-65 min?  Wasn�t being too accurate.

Set 2 (w/ another drummer, couldn�t hear what Trey said his name was).

Brother: Wow. I actually called it as a �yeah, right! That�ll never
happen� opener during the set break.  Fantastic. Not too long, sort of
like Clifford Ball. (But w/ no Ben and Jerry!).

Ya Mar: This is where the 2nd drummer really made his presence felt. 
(I�m writing this before the official setlist has come out, so I don�t
know his name).  They went into a drums section; I�m tempted to call it
Ya Mar>drums>Ya Mar.  This percussiony Ya Mar was HUGE.

Tweezer: Jam was Tweezeresque for a while, then it got textural and beat
oriented (like most of the set!).  Trey was on his kit for a while (3
drums!), then took the jam to a fantastic build until they hit the
Note.  (15-20 minute Tweezer I think).  

Lizards: Fun.  Trey�s voice sounded tired.  End jam as glorious as
always.

Suzy: I thought this with a Reprise would end the set.  Page was really
on.

Slave: Yessss.  The build was especially beautiful.  It reminded me of
the Plattsburg Slave, also a great version.  Set closer for sure.

Julius: But what do I know.  I know everyone says theirs was the �best
Julius ever,: soI won�t say it.  But it was INSANE!!  Just listen to
it.  If every Julius is now like this (and I�ve heared plenty but none
like this), then all I can say is get ready!

Encore: Chalkdust.  Unexpected, VERY hot.  Nice finish, but I was a bit
dissapointed with no Reprise.

Set 2: 75 min (?) encore: 5?


Great show with an outstanding second set.  The second drummer really
made this et unbelievable.  Get the tapes and listen!  They really
reminded me why I love them so much tonight.

Also, enough with the damn laser pointers!  

$0.02

Ethan
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Eric N. Cross" 
Subject: Ahh...Hartford rocked!

Okay, so my gut reaction to the Hartford show is that it rocked (mostly in the
sense of good, loud rock'n roll). I had a great time (no substances) and it was
evident that the whole crowd did as well (perhaps a couple of substances).
Here's a quicky (I hope) rundown of good things, and bad things (if I find any
to dwell upon).

Set I: PYITE, Poor Heart, ACDC Bag, Foam, Ragtime Gal, Character 0, Rift, Theme
from the Flottom, Antelope

Only a couple real throwaway tunes in the first set. Most everything was nice.
I always like Foam. Zero had a good jam (for the tune). Theme was cool to hear,
but unfortunately the crowd wanted to clap along (booo) and try to create some
kind of heavy downbeat that is NOT there in the song. That was annoying, and
sounded very devilish when stepping back and listening to it, hmmm....Anyway
the set finished on an upswing of energy and Antelope typified this. Good
energy was there on Antelope, as Trey kept pushing for those high notes and
switching gears. I didn't think it was a great one, but it was good to hear
close out the set, leaving room for much more to come, and that much more came.

Break music was Miles' "Kind of Blue" (ahhh, what an album, very mellowing
effect, this was very needed. For the high octane rocket fuel that Trey and Co.
were swallowing backstage was about to kick in).

Set II: Brother, Ya Mar, Tweezer, Lizards, Llama, Suzie G., Slave, Julius
E: Chalkdust

The set opened with Brother, which also found a second drum kit on the stage
(in front and to the right of Fishman). So who's on drums, we were wondering
through the song (a brother of the bands??). Nope it was Bob Gulloti, of
Michael Ray's Krewe and also STTA. I was very excited when he was introduced
after Brother, which was great to hear (and recognize and know this time
around). It had lots of energy (kinetic and Potential) seeping through it. Ya
Mar next got everyone dancing, and Trey's solo was nice, and following that was
when the set just took off. The vocal interlude was vocalless. Instead we got
1-2 minutes of a drum duet. Trey was going wild urging them to take another
chorus again and again. He was having lots-o-fun dancing around. This is when
it got good, as Tweezer followed quickly on YM's heels. Ahhh, Tweezer....At
this point the beat was heavy, and Trey was all over it, all over the beat.
After loud instrumental screaming after the vocals, we got some good stuff from
everyone. Gulloti's voice was great, just adding an extra flair that everyone
was playing off of. Gulloti plays the tubbs loud and hard. I won't waste space.
So Tweezer was a highlight for me. Lizards, with great Trey solo (we all know
the solo) but Trey was _into_ it at the end, just beautiful, beautiful. Great
accents from the percussion section on every song this set. Lots of stuff to
listen to. Now back to the rock songs. Llama started off smoking, and never let
up. How can anyone sing that fast? The crowd was going wild after every song in
hear, loudest cheers after Lizards probably. Suzie G. just took that energy and
built on it. Everyone was singing along (or was it just that I was too loud to
hear anyone else?). Page had a great solo in hear, using all his tools (except
the Theremin). Clavs, piano, organ. He was switching off all over the place.
Everyone was so up after this song, then what better release than Slave. I dug
it a lot. Gazing around the arena, from my low vantage point, I watched how the
masses of people just moved and moved. The jam was awesome. It got loud and
then it got louder and so on. Mike and Trey playing off each other. Bob and
Fishman had really nice cymbal work at the beginning, creating a beautiful
landscape to just lose yourself in. Another great song. The only downward turn
in the set was the selection of Julius. But actually Julius rocked out hard as
all the other songs before it did. The crowd was loud after the band left the
stage. My friend said he saw them giving hugs to each other. The crowd was
loud. When they came back, they kept it up and ended with it up. Very good
encore choice of Chalkdust (does it ever get played here?). Trey's solo sounded
like it was straight from the Antelope jam (maybe it was in that minor key). I
don't know, but it was hot, and I was sweating. 

Anyway, that's a lot of words I wrote, and as I look back at what I wrote, I
see as how it could be "slightlty" biased, but hey, how could it not. I had a
great time, and obviously it's reflected here. Somethings are fact though.
Gulloti was there, and Trey was wailing in the rock guitar mode tonight. Other
than that all I have to say, is why not bring another drummer to every show?

Thanks for reading my overzealousness through to the end,

Eric 

"That's it. Go home." ferris
------------------------------------------------------
ubject: Hartford Setlist & review 10/23/96
From: mchoh@emerald.tufts.edu (Mark Choh)

Set I: PYITE, Poor Heart, AC/DC Bag, Foam, Ragtime Gal, Character Zero,
Rift, 
Theme From The Bottom, Antelope. 
>>  
Set II:  - with Bob Gillotti, he played on Surrender To The Air
  Brother, Ya Mar, Tweezer, the Lizards, Llama, Suzie Greenberg, Slave,
Julius

E: Chalkdust Torture

>  
>  
First off, let me say this show was amazing.  The second set was probably
one of the best sets I've ever seem them do, and Bob Gulloti added so
much.  There were a lot of ticketless at the show, and security was fairly
tight about dancing in the aisles and stuff, but no major problems.  

PYITE - cool opener, cool dance by Mike & Trey. When Trey started the palm
mutes before the song, I was sort of hoping for Tube (I know, a longshot,
but it's ok to wish anyway)

Poor Heart - Poor Heart is Poor Heart, but it smokes, and this one smoked
more than anyone I've ever seen.  I think the jam section was a little
extended.

AC/DC Bag - seemed a little slower than usual, but rocking nonetheless.  I
love it when Fishman goes into double time.  

Foam - Fishman began this, and I thought it was the Wedge for a few secs,
but then Mike started his bass line.  My first Foam, and more jammed out
than I remember.  Definitely a great song.

Ragtime Gal - basically the only song of the night I was disappointed
with.  I just think they should get a little more variety with their
barbershop quartet act.  I love all the songs, but I'd like to hear
Amazing Grace or Sweet Adeline more often, and they should bring back
Freebird, Carolina, and Memories, among a few.  

Character Zero - rockin' version of a rockin' song. Only two BB songs
tonight, and they just happened to be the two best songs (IMHO) on the
album.  Jam was pretty long, probably around standard Julius jam length,
with a mini-vocal jam at the end.  Very pleased.  

Rift - a song that I don't notice much on tape, but amazing live.  The
light show is cool.  Oh, by the way, Chris was definitely on tonight, as
much as Page, Trey, Mike, Fishman, or Gulloti were.

Theme - the other BB song of the night, this rocked the house.  Probably
the highlight of the first set.  Great jam, amazing build.  Cool vocals
during the end part.  Just a great song in general.  

Antelope - This was a *killer* Antelope.  Actually, it was probably about
average as far as Antelopes go, but an average Antelope is undescribable. 
Great closer for a great set.

Set break was average length.  Was extremely pleased with the first set,
although I hoped it would get a lot better.  They set up Gulloti's set in
front of Fishman's on the right side of the stage.  Me and my friend
thought it was for the mini-acoustic set, thus we were a little pissed,
but then Gulloti came on for the second set, and although I didn't know
who he was until Trey introduced him, he rocked the whole set through.

Brother - I mean, if a set opens with BROTHER, how can it not be amazing? 
Totally unexpected, I nearly shit my pants when Fishman started the beat. 
Much better than the Plattsburgh one (although Ben & Jerry added a nice
touch).  But the jam in this was awesome.  You could tell Trey was already
beginning to have a blast having Bob Gulloti out there. 

Ya Mar - best I've seen....ever.  It's hard to explain in words, but this
Ya Mar was the best Ya Mar I've heard or seen *by far*.  Trey's chording
was very distinct and added a lot. Bob Gulloti's drumming added so much to
this song, creating fills over Fishman.  During "Leo's" jam, Trey went to
his drum kit for a few minutes, creating this crazy three person drum jam
with Page just going nuts on the Moog.  No little spiel by Mike at the
end, but with a jam like that, it's one that I can do without.  

Tweezer - I was kind of hoping they wouldn't play this, but when they did,
I wasn't upset.  Rockin' Tweeezer.  A little spacy in the middle as
usual.  At times, Bob looked a little lost in the jam, although he
probably wasn't.  Cool lights, average length, probably about 20 minutes. 
Some great work by Page, and if I remember correctly, I think Trey may
have gone to his kit during this one too.

The Lizards - The Lizards is pretty standard most of the time, but it
always smokes, and Trey's solo at the end is one of the most beautiful
things Phish plays (see Slave)

Llama - this was *fast*.  It seemed a lot faster than a standard Llama,
but it had a crazy couple minute jam segment.  Great, high energy song
that often gets overlooked.  

Suzie Greenberg - A crowd pleaser that can rock.  And this one did. I
can't stress enough how cool it was to have Bob Gulloti up there.  His
drumming sounded so well with Fishman's.  

Slave - this was pure magic.  Slave is pure magic, and this one was among
the best of Slaves.  Not much to say, but those of you who have seen Slave
live probably know what I'm talking about.  I was expecting a Tweezer
Repriese, but..

Julius - great version.  I don't remember who said, "everyone thinks that
every Julius is the best they've ever heard."  I don't know how true this
is, but tonight's Julius was the best I've ever heard live, but it's only
my second.  But it did smoke

Chalkdust Torture - never seen it as an encore before, but it was great. 
Lots of energy, Trey was going nuts this whole show, and it came to a
climax here.  Pure phistacy.  

On the Scott Jordan Scale I'd probably give this show an 8.0 with the
first set getting a 7.0 and the second set getting the 9.0 it deserves.  I
had high expectations for Hartford (especially with it being the only
sold-out show of the tour (not including hallowee )), and they surpassed
those expectations.  You guys missed out on a great show if you didn't
go.  

-Mark
----------------------------------
Subject: Hartford review part 1
From: Andrew C Stackhouse 

Holly # 20 Batman, talk about a show!

The show really
began, as it always does, on the highway.  I hit the toll at the Conn
border, and there had to be 20 phishmobiles in the traffic around me.
Everybody was young, happy, blarring bootlegs on their stereos, it was
really that cool happy surrogate family sorta feel that you always get.
Dreank aton of beers and smoked some doobage and made my way in, where I
immediately lost Barry, as I was ON THE FLOOR WAY UP FRoNT and he was in
the rafters.  I enjoyed a beer and sausage (mmmmmmmm
saaaauuuuuusaaaaggggee)   The show opened with Punch You In the Eye, and
the place was on
fire.  The vast majority of the crowd seemed to be wel experienced with
the seen, at least on the floor, and there was a derthage of tiny boppers.
The band ripped through, and trey was punching his fist in the air,
obviously as excited as we were..  I would assume their previous 2 shows
at Madison Sq Garden had dulled them to the impact of play a more cozy
(8000 v 20000 seat) arena.  The played a 100 mph Poor Heart next, which
had everybody up and dancing, which segued into a funky powerful ACDC Bag.
The band was smiling trey was psyched and they tore into a well jammed
Foam.   Comming down for a second, seemingly to catch their breath, they
did an a capella Rag Time Gal, which people were a little loud during.
This was followed by a good Character 0, considerably more complex than
the studio wersion, but still not quite there.  They hoppped onto Rift and
then Theme from the Bottom, the first long song of the night,The set
closed with a killer as always Antelope 

Set 2 opened with Brother, last heard at the Ball acompianied by Ben and
Jerry, yes THAT Ben and Jerry, and old tune which gets little play and is
always fun.  Well I cant read my arm (thats where I wrote it) and Im in
the middle of photo, so you will get the rest later. 

Ok where was I, oh yeah, second set, second song.  It was Ya Mar, a
frockling cover, with a funky groove that people love to dance to.  At
this point the band simply took off.  They played a long ass Tweezer with
a killer jam and brought that into Lizards which everybody went nuts for,
this went into an electric Llama, played so fast so loud, everybody
screeming, at which point they played perennial fav Suzy Greenberg,
another ass kicking rock and roll multiple climax crow pleaser.  At this
point they audience was emotionally spent from being so up dancing so hard
and screeming for over an hour.  So thye gave us a break and recharged our
soul with the mystical Slave to the Traffic Light.  I should mention that
the accoustics for this show were superb.  The band set up quadra sound,
giving us om the floor an foor way aural assault for the first and second
sets, but for Slave allowed the pulsating harmony of the peice to dip
softly into our spirit.  They closed the show by not letting up forget
what a powerful rocking night it was by jamming a hard core julius for
more than 7 minutes.  The crowd responded with 10 minutes of deafening
shouts, cheers, applause and Phishy merriment.  They band returned, the
crowd beak several laws of physics by getting LOUDER and they ripped Dave
Lettermans favorite, Chaolk Dust Torture, the most rockin of all Phishs
rockin tunes.  The crowd left peacefully as always, despite the cramped
concourse and exits, in a state of shock we had actually been lucky enough
to be there, and that it wasnt 11 and we still had time to rage.  The lot
security was SO COOL. Politly asking us to finish our beers and be on the
way and you guys are so lucky i wish I had the night off nice meeting you
sort of friendliness WAY to rare to found in the security business.  Camp
trin trin was fun, though it was a school nite so there wasnt a ton
happening, and I slept in and made it home in time for practice, but not
class.
keep the phaith 
stack
----------------------------------
From: Martin Goldstein 
Subject: Review of 10/23/95

I know there's already a few reviews of this show....but

I:PYITE, Poor Heart, ACDCBag, Foam, Ragtime Gal, Character 0, Rift, Theme 
>From the Bottom, Antelope

II:Brother, Yamar, Tweezer, Lizards, Llama, Suzy> Slave, Julius

E:Chalkdust

Can you say payback for New Haven (12/2/95) kiddies? I thought so.

The scene around the Civic Center was ok. I guess hanging out in Hartford 
at all is kind of grim, considering...but Phishphans make the heart sing. 
Really LAX security. I think the lady behind me said it best when she 
howled, DAMN I coulda brought a six footer in here! Anyway...

Punch YouITEye: An excellent opener, as usual. Long, groovy, builds to a 
great climax and it a blast to shout along to. Landlady jams very tasty 
with Page really tickling the keys. It worked on 12/31/95 as the opener, 
adn it works here.

Poor Heart: Uhhh..let's not be too predictable guys! I called this one 
during Punch You, and it as actually a pretty decent Poor Heart. Nice 
soloing, good Fishman fillers..etc.

ACDC Bag: Called this one too, but actually wanted to hear it. Great hard 
rockin' bar band song as usual with the usual build up jams towards the 
end. Can't complain. Trey was having a field day, and as a matter of 
fact, he was unquestionably MVP tonight.

Foam: They hadn't played this on tour yet, and I had kind of forgotten 
about it. Pleasant song..a bit boring, but I can think of worse. Since 
when does the whole band stop playing to let Trey solo? Standard jams.

Ragtime Gal: Uneccessary

Character Zero: ooooh yeah. AIE! AIE! This one makes the translation from 
BB to live form very well. Awesome Wilson-esque Trey jams towards the end 
with a short vocal jam. Lots of howling towards the end that kind of 
reminded me of Perry Farrell, the guy from Jane's Addiction. Chris hits 
the lights well on the chorus.

Rift: Rift is Rift, but it annoys me less than others of it's type, I.e. 
Guelah, Bouncin' Golgi etc.

Theme From the Bottom: Gorgeous song and a fine version. Why the hell was 
the audience clapping? This song isn't supposed to have heavy downbeats. 
Oh well.

Antelope: Powerful and fine set closer. Spacey buildup to the usual 
orgasmic Trey solos at the end. Ya know, just when you think they're 
going to stop and do the quiet part, it only gets faster and louder. 
Crazy lights...even an average Antelope kicks ass. Set the Gearshift!!

A second drummer, Bob Guilotti (STTA Cosmic Krew) added much to the 
second set.

Brother: Ummmmm...whooooa. There goes my call. Awesome jamming with great 
help from the second drummer. Fast, fanatical stuff. Trey was having some 
fun with the lyrics. Who the hell thought they were going to open set II 
with Brother? Keep this one for good guys.

Yamar: One of the better ones due to drummer #2. Groovy, Jamaican style 
fun as always. Instead of Mike's usual scat-howling during the break, we 
were treated to an insane 2 minute drum duet. Trey was going nuts telling 
the guys to take more and more choruses. Tight solos throughout, make 
this one a highlight.

Tweezer: Well, we knew we were gonna get slammed with this because Mike's 
and YEM were on 10/22 and they hadn't done a Tweezer yet. Usually makes 
me complain,(especially 'cuz this is my 4th Tweezer out of 6 shows) but 
not this time. This was "rock god Trey" Tweezer. Total wank during the 
jam part. Trey thought he was Hendrix or something due to the amount of 
bobbing back and forth, hair thrashing and guitar worshipping he did 
during the jam. The spacey part had both drummers and Trey on percussion, 
(3 drummers?) but this ain't no Rusted Root show baby. Fine Tweezer that 
came to a definite close, which may explain the lack of a Reprise.

Lizards: Lizards is always pleasant. Doesn't change much, but Page seemed 
especially on during the solos, and Trey was just grinning hard at the 
end.

Llama: Two drummers make this one twice as nice. And fast! Insane 
version.

Suzy: Definite crowd pleaser that works. Great chorus as always, and Page 
was doing some really swanky synth stuff during the breaks. Maybe a 
little slower than usual, but tons of energy and big Kuroda lights during 
the chorus. Not one to complain about Suzy. This more or less segued into 
..

Slave: A beautiful and much cleaner version than the one I heard on 
12/28/95. Plenty of eardrum splitting climax notes and a beautiful 
psychedelic landscape throughout. Trey was once again doing his Hendrix 
thing. What a ham. Thought this would end the set...but

Julius: Way to go. This song was become a high speed jamathon. Everyone 
says that their Julius was the best ever, and this one was damn good, but 
I really can't tell the difference due to the pretty simplistic jamming 
nature of the song. The one on 12/28 might have been as good..who can 
tell, it just ROCKS! DONT TAKE ANOTHER STEP!

Overall, the second set was a giant blast of energy that never let up. 
Impressive! I was thinking something like Sleeping Monkey>TweezerRep. 
fpr the encore, but the Chalkdust encore was a surprise, and a very good 
way for Trey to sustain his supremacy for the night. Incredibly good and 
energetic show that more than makes up for New Haven of last year. 
Ragtime Gal and Rift were really the only lame songs of the night. PYITE 
opener, Julius closer...what more do you want? 
DAVE GOLDSTEIN NPDP32C@prodigy.com
----------------------------------
From: Zachary Scheiner 
Subject: 10/23/96 Hartford - Setlist & Review (long)


>Greetings all,
>
>First of all, before I get to the review of last night's show, I'd just
>like to turn rant mode on for a second. For the record, I'm GLAD that
>people disagree with me about the 10/22 Watchtower. Hear that, I'm GLAD
>that people disagree with me! We're different people damn it, we're
>probably going to disagree about at lot of things! I was psyched when I
>read Dan Nooter's post explaining why he liked the Watchtower because it
>was a well-thought out, different perspective. However, I _really_ don't
>like it when people say, "Lighten up, man!" or, "If you're gonna
>complain, why don't you stay home!" How boring would the phish.net be if
>everyone loved everything Phish did and rated every show a 10? The
>phish.net is _about_ criticism, positive AND negative. If nobody
>complained or criticized the band, Charlie Dirksen's reviews wouldn't
>exist, the Concert Review Poll wouldn't exist, hell, people's lists of
>their favorite tapes wouldn't even exist. So, I say, here here for
>disagreement!! BUT, and this is a big but (no I'm not talking about Buddy
>Miles' ;-) we should agree to be civil and polite in our disgreement. We
>should at least attempt to respect each other's opinion before we flame
>them. OK, rant mode off. Sorry, that was a bit longer than I expected.
>Here's the setlist from last night (I'm sure someone will flame me 'cause
>they've already seen it):
>
>I: Punch You in the Eye, Poor Heart, AC/DC Bag, Foam, Ragtime Gal*,
>Character Zero, Rift, Theme from the Bottom, Run Like an Antelope
>
>II**: Brother, Yamar, Tweezer, Lizards, Llama, Suzy Greenberg, Slave,
>Julius
>
>Encore**: Chalkdust Torture
>
>*a capella
>**Bob Gullotti from STTA and Cosmic Krewe on drums for Set II and Encore
>
>
>Pre-show: Lots of ticketless, fair amount of vending, unlike MSG you
>could tell that this one was sold out. No hassles getting in, security
>inside was mellow, my seats weren't so hot but the sound was fine. Great
>pre-show music, Bob Marley!! Not everyone was dancing like when Bob was
>played before 12/4/95, but it put me in a good mood nonetheless.
>
>Set I: Punch You in the Eye is a great show opener. Lots of energy, great
>Landlady part in the middle, I was pumped. Poor Heart was standard,
>didn't do much for me. AC/DC Bag was a little below average. It seemed
>like Trey was motioning to Fishman to speed it up a bit, but it still
>kind of slogged along. Foam was a treat, I really like this song. Ragtime
>Gal was okay, one of my least favorite a capella's though. Character Zero
>was fine, I still like it live a lot more than the album, but the jam is
>nothing special. Next, Rift. I was psyched to hear the opening notes to
>Theme, as it's my favorite song from Billy Breathes. I thought that the
>jam had a lot going on, really pretty, but I can't remember any
>specifics. I'll be psyched to hear the tapes. I was waiting for an epic
>jam tune in the first set and Antelope was it. A good Antelope,
>definitely nothing special, but Antelope is always great to hear and is
>one of my favorite set closers. Overall, I think this set is the perfect
>candidate for a 5 on the Scott Jordan scale. A great set of music, but
>very average for Phish.
>
>Set II: Kind of Blue between sets...nice. Brother opener!! Nicer! My
>first Brother live. About midway through I noticed another drummer and
>drum set on stage right. Who the hell's that, I thought to myself? I also
>thought, this is going to be a coool set. Trey introduced him as Bob
>Gullotti, whom I recognized as the other drummer of Surrender to the Air
>('cause I saw them at the Academy), but not as the drummer from the
>Cosmic Krewe. Yamar followed and it was a kick-ass Yamar! Definitely one
>of my favorites. Fishman and Gullotti has a great drum duo in the middle
>which Trey absolutely loved. Trey also had a great solo. This Yamar also
>featured three drummers playing with Phish for the first time _ever_
>(correct me if I'm wrong). Obviously, Yamar was a highlight of the
>evening. Tweezer followed and I assured my friend that with an extra
>drummer it was going to be a _crazy_ Tweezer. Instead, it remained pretty
>straight-ahead a la the 12/2/95 New Haven Tweezer, with some excellent
>Trey soloing until the last few minutes when Trey joined Fish and
>Gullotti on percussion and it became a wee-bit spacy. Definitely an
>above-average rocking Tweezer, but not as good as 12/2. Lizards was nice,
>I just LOVE Trey's solo at the end. It's music so beautiful I can lose
>myself in it. A pretty standard Llama followed which was nice. A good
>Suzy was next with a decent jam section. At this point I realized that
>the entire set had been good! No slow-downs, no throw-away tunes! I was
>psyched for every song. Gearing up for a slow one, I was speechless when
>I heard the opening notes to Slave. Just a gorgeous song, and a gorgeous
>version. I find it hard to compare Slaves, I don't even have a favorite
>although I love the one on ALO. This one definitely blew me away. Again,
>preparing for a throw-away tune, I was pumped to hear Julius! Of course,
>it was the best fucking Julius I've ever seen! No, I'm really serious, it
>was :-) A great way to close the set. This song _always_ rocks. Overall,
>this set was solid, and incredibly CONSISTENT. I thought Bob Gullotti
>made a great contribution on drums and had no noticeable problems fitting
>in. He, literally and figuratively, didn't miss a beat. On the Scott
>Jordan scale, I give this set an 8.
>
>Encore: Chalkdust Torture provided a great end to a great show. My friend
>and I were expecting a Tweezer Reprise, which didn't happen, but it
>didn't matter. Chalkdust gave us enough energy to last all the way home.
>
>Overall, I'll give the show a 6.5. An average first set and a great
>second set. GET THIS SECOND SET!
>
>Thanks for reading, I hope everyone enjoyed these three shows as much as
>I did. Only a week until I'm on a plane to Atlanta for HALLOWEEN!!!!!!
>
>Zach
>
>"Phish never listens, to what I say... play Live/Dead on Halloween!"
>
>