11/9/98 UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL
Date: Fri, 05 Mar 1999 19:28:41 -0600
From: Steve Plotkin [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: FALL98_REVIEW
1/9/98 UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL
I: Llama, Horn, I Get A Kick Out of You, Divided Sky, Frankie Sez,
Poor Heart, Dogs Stole Things, Free, NICU, Bold as Love
II: Bathtub Gin, TMWSIY>Aveenu Malkenu>TMWSIY, Moma Dance,
Slave to the Traffic Light, You Enjoy Myself
E: Frankenstein, Freebird
It was pouring rain outside, and I had a long hike from where I parked
to UIC, but it wasn't that bad. We got inside, and got seated, which was
much better than expected, because my ticket said "obstructed view", but I
was right above Fish and could see fine. Anyways...
Llama: A good, fast song to open up with. Good solos by Trey and Page.
Really got things going.
Horn: This surprised me. Good performance, with a pretty solo at the
end.
I Get a Kick: Freakin' hilarious, with Mike doing a good Sinatra
impression. Something big was coming up next.
Divided Sky: Oh My God, it was amazing. During the "ahhh...Divided sky"
part Topher turned on all the lights, which were all blue. The jamming
was very tight and celestial.
Frankie Sez: Odd, as this one can only be. A little dark, but still
good.
Poor Heart: Got things going fast- not my favorite, but ok
Dogs Stole Things: Rockin' song, one I'd never heard before. Nothing
special.
Free: What a great performance. They did a long, funky jam which was
the only time this set that they got funky and grooved (or jammed, other
than DS) NICU: I had never heard this, but its a great song. I really
like the reggae
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 19:51:46 GMT
From: [email protected]
Subject: Review: UIC 11-9-98
Well, I got mail order for the last two nights, but had to work on Sunday, so
i could only make it to Monday night. The weather last night completely
sucked. It was COLD and raining, we took a cab and I didn't take a jacket
because i figured i wouldn't have to carry it around inside (oops). Oh well,
lesson learned, especially after the downpour we were in after the
show.......and where were all the cabs last night after the concert?????? On
to the show:
The setlist for this show really doesn't tell the whole story. I got the
impression that they were trying to confine their jams to individual songs.
IE, they seemed more concerned with really exploring the limits of individual
songs rather than seguing from one song to the next. Free, Divided Sky, Poor
Heart (? no shit the bluegrass jam went on for a few minutes), Avenu Malkenu,
and Gin were all incredibly exploratory and intense despite the fact that they
didn't morph into other songs. VERY INTENSE JAMS!
> 11-9-98 UIC Pavilon show 3
>
> SET 1
>
> Llama , Horn , I get a kick outof you *
Llama was standard but really good. It got everyone energized. Everybody
seemed pretty amped before the show started, plenty of loud cheers as we all
attempted to get them to come on stage. This song fit the mood perfectly.
Horn was really cool. Personally, I dig some of their ballads, and the
guitar solo in this song just has a ton of emotion in it, in my opinion.
Haven't seen this song in concert since Atlanta, Fall '95.
I get a Kick Out of You was pretty funny. Nothing amazing, but so far this set
was progressing with a little bit of everything: a ballad, a high intensity
jam, and Cole Porter song.......
, Divded sky ( 16 1/2 min )
YESSSS!!!!!! the quintessential Phish song. The first half was pretty
standard, though I will note that there were minimal if any flubs of the
composed portions. The mellow section was really beautiful, there was some
very melodic noodling going on, moreso than in the average
Sky...eventually,they slowed to where they stopped playing compeletely.
During this time, they stood staring at the crowd for a really long time.
Naturally everyone was going crazy. But it was funny, they let everyone
scream and then it died down, and they didn't start playing until the crowd
got even more intense and started really screaming again. It felt like they
were just staring at us for over 5 mins. You could see them with huge grins
on their faces just tripping out at how much fun everyone was having. Trey
seemed to really grooving hard. AS they started to play, the first notes out
of the silence the melodic noodling continued for quite a while and
eventually built up into a glorious jam.
, Frankie
> says , Dog stole things
Frankie Says was really cool. It was very mellow, but truly beautiful. I
found myself standing and then sitting a lot. I really enjoyed the mellow
songs, but found that in some cases (like this) they almost hypnotized me into
a trance. The "ambient" or mellow noodling continued for a while, not a jam,
but satisfying nonetheless.
, Poor Heart
It actually had a jam in it of some significance. Page especially went off
during this one. He and Trey seemed to be competing for while. A pretty
refreshing version.
, Free ( 13 1/2 min ): ONE WORD --> BASS!
Free kicked ASS! Killer, super funky Bass Jamming (at some point during the
show, Mike had a solo bass Jam....i think it was here but can't remember,
someone who took notes ought to correctly identify it as I haven't seen it on
the setlist so far) Either way, the funk was in high gear during this song.
'nuff said.
, Nicu , Axis Bold
> as Love
Nicu was cool. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Axis, however was out of control. This set had everything except reggae:
Bluegrass, funk, lounge music, hard rock, a ballad. It seemed as if they were
trying to cover every musical base before the set ended. I thought that this
jam was really intense. I've only seen Axis one other time and I thought this
was the superior version. Killer way to end the set.
>
> SET 2
>
> Bathtub Gin ,
Simply put: this jam was really good. AFter the lyrics Trey kept repeating
the same riff over and over, eventually it morphed into a soaring guitar solo
that just sort of lifted up your soul and took off. An extremely satisfying
Gin, and better (imho) than the last one I saw in champaign last fall. I am
guessing that it clocked in around 20 minutes
TMWSIY>> Alvenu Malkeanu >> TMWSIY
A first for me though I've heard it on tape before. Avenu Malkenu was like a
heavy metal song, and my friend Ronna was just speechless because she had to
learn the song in Hebrew school as a child......Mike was continuing to go off
throughout this.
, Moma Dance
possibly overplayed, but a great funky song. If they keep playing it i won't
complain.
, Slave >> You
> Enjoy Myself >> vocal jam
>
pretty nice way to end. Slave was really beautiful and jammed nicely.
Between this, Frankie Says, and TMWSIY they played tons of music that made me
want to lay down and drift off into pleasant dreamland. This is not a
complaint, but they really showcased their ability to play all types of music
tonite.
> E: Frankenstein, Freebird
I've seen Frankenstein a few too many times as a closer, but they jammed it
really hard. Freebird was requested. They set up the mic and then Trey
thanked everyone and said that they had had a blast and then they asked what
they should sing. Everyone screamed Freebird and you could tell that the band
thought this was hysterical. I saw them do the a capella Freebird twice
before, both times when I lived in Georgia (7/31/93, 4/23/94) and its always
funny. I thought it was funny that all of these midwesterners would want to
hear this song that brings up pictures of southern rednecks for me. Anyway,
the "guitar solo" was really hammed up, it was obvious that they were having a
ton of fun and going all out during the song.
On a scale of 1 to 10 for me (set 2 of 7/22/97 Raleigh being a 10) this show
is a solid 7 to 7.5 Very much worth getting the tapes.
THANKS PHISH!
peace out,
DOCTOR J
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 06:39:00 GMT
From: Jdp677 [email protected]
Subject: *UIC Review/Highlights*
Monday 11/9 ROUND THREE: Is there any better way to rip into a first set than
with a Llama? Pure power, excitement on the floor, and one thing was for sure
- they mean business. It had been a while since my last Horn, so this one
really caught me off guard. Trey nailed that solo, and it was captivating to
watch him play and hear that emotion pour out. I Get A Kick Out Of You was
pretty funny, kind of strange placement though. Divided Sky was powerful and
well-played, and obviously greeted with massive applause everyone in the
pavillion. Is the pause always so damn long these days? This was the first
pause where I really payed close attention and stared at the stage during the
whole thing. It was several minutes on end, and Trey was frozen like a statue.
The tune was finished in fine form, and we got a very enjoyable breather in
the form of Frankie Says. I love this song, it is definitely one of my
favorites from the SOTG crop. Dogs Stole Things was a huge surprise. This
tune was played a bit too much last summer, and I think it is nice when it
shows up now as a kind of random surprise. Poor Heart was fun, with some hot
picking from Trey. His solo section may have been more extended than usual.
Free was incredible. It is amazing how affection for a song can return after
not hearing the tune for a while. I got very sick of Free by the end of 1996,
but it glorious last night! The highlight of the first set - definitely check
it out. Bold As Love set closer - YES!!!! Go Page! I love this one, I'm
always hoping for it and I'm always happy on the rare occasion when they
actually play it. Classic opener and closer for this first set.
I was hoping for a Gin at one of these shows, but wasn't sure if it was
happening since they had played it in Denver. Not only did we get a Gin, we
got a sick monster of a Gin to open up the second set! The jam had some great
textures, different from all the first set versions that were played this
summer. This was a great one to just close your eyes and let the magic take
over. I'm not sure how long it was, but they eventually returned to the main
Gin theme and ended the tune. It was stunning - one of the best jams of the
run. The vibe was more spiritual than the hard rocking Winston Salem version
from last fall, which was also a second set opener. TMWSIY>Avenu
Malkenu>TMWSIY was a huge treat as always. Well played, and so much fun. Moma
Dance was smoking and funky, but I didn't think it was anything exceptional -
it was just as groooovy as most of the summer versions I've heard. Slave was
gorgeous. It featured the patient patented build that makes the tune so
special. Floating along on my way to that apex, I wondered if Slave would
close the set. Well yeah, I guess they could do that . . . . or they could
jump right into YEM on the last note of Slave without missing a beat! Nice
YEM, much better than the ones I caught at Atlanta, Va Beach, and Vernon this
summer. Fiery jamming from Trey, I'd like to hear it again. Vocal jam was
very scary, and I had nice view of the lights from the floor. I was kind of
expecting a Frankenstein, and it was great to hear as usual. When they walked
over to the acapella mic after Frankenstein, everyone knew what was coming
next. Trey thanked everyone for the three shows, and he laughed and said "What
song is it you want to hear?" Freebird! Never thought I'd hear this one at a
Phish show, glad to see it has not been shelved forever. A very appropriate
conclusion to three unforgettable nights in Chicago. Let's do it again next
fall, shall we? ;-)
peas,
jonathan
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 22:02:44 GM
From: Marcus Pearson [email protected]
Subject: UIC 11-7, 11-8 and 11-9 rundown/review
11/9/98 UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL
I: Llama, Horn, I Get A Kick Out Of You, Divided Sky, Frankie Says,
Poor Heart, Dogs Stole Things, Free, NICU, Bold As Love
II: Bathtub Gin, TMWSIY > Avenu Malkanu > TMWSIY, Moma Dance,
Slave To The Traffic Light, You Enjoy Myself
E: Frankenstein, Freebird
Very nice Llama to open, it ripped. I Get A Kick Out Of Mike, Divided was
great. Dogs Stole Things even had a nice Trey solo. It just didn't matter
what they played, everything sounded good. Free had a helluva jam, I was
honestly surprised when they went back into the refrain. Bold As Love ripped
as well, nice treat.
Bathtub was awesome. Trey immediately picked up on a little riff and the whole
tune wound up being a rhapsody on that theme. It really ripped for the first
10-12 minutes or so, then they broke it down and got a little more funky with
it. This part peaked and they broke it down again into a much slower jam, then
they went back into the Gin theme but slow and with a swing beat! What a Gin.
Moma had a raging jam, Slave was typically awesome and loud and YEM really
topped off the set with a bang. Even the vocal jam was really cool. They just
couldn't do any wrong. Frankenstein brought down the house and Freebird is
just too funny. Glad they brought it back.
Bottom line: go see phish this tour! They are really playing well and these
shows have something for everyone. There are jams like 93-95, some like 96-97,
4 song second sets like fall 97 and plenty of bustouts like summer 98. If
only there were more spamming (space jamming), but I wouldn't be a very good
phish fan if I didn't complain about something! :^)
I can't wait for clevetown, cincy and mufreesboro! Look for a rundown of those
shows on Tuesday.
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 17:20:47 -0600
From: "Brian M. Gordon" [email protected]
Subject: Phish at UIC - 11/9/98 review
Hey,
Well, last weekend I will never forget. What a BLAST! Monday's show was
the best of the three I think. It just kicked ass all the way through.
11/9/98 UIC Pavilion - Chicago, IL
Set I
-----
Llama, Horn, I Get a Kick Out of You, Divided Sky, Frankie Says,
Dogs Stole Things, Poor Heart > Free, NICU, Axis Bold As Love
Set II
------
Bathtub Gin, TMWSIY->Avenu Malkenu->TMWSIY, Moma Dance,
Slave to the Traffic Light > You Enjoy Myself
Encore
------
Frankenstein, Freebird
Before the show it was cold and rainy and quite shitty outside. I made
my way inside quickly. I headed down onto the floor and headed up front.
I made my way up there to a nice spot, made friends with those around
and waited for the show.
8:04 - Llama: The lights went down and Phish took the stage for the last
night of the three night run in Chicago (even though there were
extra-curricular activities by Fishman the next night). Llama was a
great way to start off the night. It got us all kicking and dancing and
grooving right off the bat. The fun had begun.
8:10 - Horn: This is such a beautiful song. I was glad to hear it live.
They played it really soft and quiet throughout the middle solo section.
It was sweet! Trey was barely hitting the strings and the crowd shut up
and listened. There were a few "WHOOHOO!"s but for the most part, it got
really quiet and it was a nice moment.
8:14 - I Get A Kick Out Of You: "Captain Gatkin will now sing a song for
you." or something like that. Trey introduced Mike as Captain Gatkin
(Catkin?) as far as I could figure out. He said it again after the tune.
We discussed it during setbreak and "Gatkin" was the consensus. Pretty
funny. Mike,
stepped up to the mic and began the tune. After the intro, he hit the
first line of the first verse and sang "I get no kick from cocaine"
instead of champagne. Amusing. Very cool to see Mike take another song
after already seeing Love Me from the night before. Captain Gatkin!?!
8:18 - Divided Sky: Rowdy! Divided Sky has one of my favorite melodies.
This tune is a favorite of many and it was widely approved of this
night. During one part where there's that accented, bouncing groove
(it's hard to describe music in words isn't it) Mike and Trey started
bouncing/jumping in synch. They didn't have the tramps though. I bet
they wish they did. It was fun and it got the crowd up front hopping
too. When it got to the middle section with the sweet melodic guitar
section, Trey just started staring up into the sky and I swear he did
not move for like 5 minutes at least. He just kept playing the part and
was mouthing something under his breath. I think he was transformed into
one of the lizard people and was standing atop the rhombus praying to
Icculus. It was weird though as he just kept staring. When it got to the
pause (just like Deer Creek, though this blew that away), the crowd
cheered and the pause lasted a long-long time. They were just standing
there motionless as Trey prayed to Icculus. The crowd got louder and
louder. I think it was the loudest they got all weekend. Everyone was
screaming at the top of their lungs and a smile broke across Trey's
face. He couldn't help it. The crowd was raging. They finally came back
into it and continued on. Later in the song a giant balloon bounced up
onto the stage. Since Mike had a clear shot, he booted it back out into
the crowd. 16 minutes - awesome!
8:34 - Frankie Says: Relax. The world will spin beside itself and suck
you in... It was cool-down time. After the epic Divided Sky we all sat
back to relax and listen to a nice version of Frankie. Odd choice though
since the energy level was so high before it.
8:40 - Dogs Stole Things: This was a big surprise. They had almost
completely stopped playing this. I saw it at Alpine '97 and have the
tape. I like this song even though it's not one of their best jams. It
was cool to hear it since it hadn't been heard much at all as of late.
In fact it had been played only two other times this year. Cool.
8:45 - Poor Heart: This got the energy-level back up there. Really good
Page solo. It got my heart pumping and my feet hopping again. Always a
fun song. At the end, Trey signalled to keep it going, walked over to
Fish, and yelled "FREE!" It was actually a > song break but nobody noted
it like that but me.
8:48 - Free: This was really cool. The crowd roared approval for their
selection. Later into the song they kicked into the Phunk! Mike kicked
on his MuTron and started soloing and throwing in these really groovy
fills. It was great! The funk was deep. A very funky Free. 12 minutes!
Somewhere in here Trey yelled "Play it Leo!" as Page took a solo. Page
was playing very well that night. The note I made on my setlist is right
between Free and NICU and I can't remember which song it applied to.
NICU I think.
9:00 - NICU: Another great song. I love this tune because of the great
bass-line. This was another fun song that kept us hopping. It was
turning out to be a great night.
9:05 - Axis Bold As Love: Many people around me were freaking out
seriously when they went into this one. It's been played two other times
this year but there was a 27 show gap. Quite cool. At about 9:10 they
made a shift and headed into a Big Big Big ending jam. I don't remember
it really as I was probably standing there stunned. I just wrote "Big
Big Big end jam!!!" on my setlist, so it must have been big. At 9:13
they headed off-stage.
After the hellish experiences I had the previous two nights trying to
deal with the crowds in the aisles, I elected to stay put through the
setbreak this time. Besides, I was way up front. It was virtually
impossible to go anywhere if you wanted to. People just plopped down
where they were. There were piles of people everywhere. Everyone around
was very cool though. People were generous with their water and other
things. You didn't need to go anywhere unless you _really_ had to pee.
You really needed a good reason to try and venture through the piles of
people. It was fun. I got to hang with some younger heads and party with
them. It was a 47 minute setbreak.
9:59 - Bathtub Gin: The boys came back out and were greeted with wild
applause. The applause escalated when Gin started. This Gin was a
monster! As the tune progressed, I encountered a blow-up plastic 'bomb'
with a glowstick tied to the tail being passed up through the crowd. It
was passed all the way to the front and was eventually tossed onto the
stage. This tune was 'The Bomb' though. Absolutely fantastic. I grew
into some really kick-ass jams. 15 minutes into it, it took a shift and
they started playing with delays and other effects. I remember one point
where they paused and the delayed signals just rose in frequency and
then faded off into nothing. It was really really cool at the time. I'll
need to hear the tapes from this again. Then later the stage went all
red and they went into what I labeled as "the red light jam." It was
spooky and strange. Somehow at about 10:22 they made their way back into
Bathtub Gin and finished the song. It was phenomenal!
10:23 - TMWSIY->Avenu Malkenu->TMWSIY: I had been hoping for a
gamehendge set. I thought that would have been spectacular. When I heard
Trey playing The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday, I freaked thinking that
my wish was coming true. But in the back of my mind I knew that Phish
used this music as interlude between other tunes. Such was the case this
night and we got Avenu Malkenu. The TMWSIY was really cool to hear
though. I love the music! When they went into Avenu Malkenu though, I
didn't know what the hell they were doing. I don't have it on any tapes
so I didn't know what it was. I soon figured it out and scribbled it
onto my setlist even though I didn't have a clue how to spell it. There
was a notable solo taken by Mike in this song though. Groovy!
10:32 - Moma Dance: Talk about groovy... I really dig this! I was
getting into it thoroughly. Unfortunately my fun was ruined during this
tune. I was watching this guy next to me who had this giant glowstick.
I was watching him 'cause I didn't want him to throw it since it was big
enough to cause some major damage. I watched in dismay as this guy
produced a safety pin and proceeded to jam a hole into the end of it. As
I was saying "Dude, what do you think you're going to do with that?", he
pulled out the pin and glow-shit sprayed out over everyone around. It
sprayed strait up and into my face and all over my clothes and hair. I
was lucky that my long hair shielded my face. I did get some right under
my eye though and it really irritated it. The guy next to me let me use
his water to help wash it off of my face. I was pretty pissed off. I
wanted to shove the guy but it was not the place. I let it go. Oh well.
So, I missed most of Moma even though I was standing right there.
10:42 - Slave to the Traffic Light: Awesome. This lifted my spirits
quickly and I was back into the groove. Any performance of this is good
in my book. I didn't make any special notes about this one. I think I
got to that place again where I contemplated reality for a while. It's
amazing how Phish can do that and make you forget about everything else
for a while. So, it must have been good. Slave lasted 12 minutes.
10:54 - You Enjoy Myself: Just when you thought the show couldn't get
any better... YEM!!! Some people noted a segue from Slave into YEM but I
didn't think so. I may have still been off in that place though :)
Someone else said they went strait into it without a pause from Slave.
They pulled out all the stops in this one though. During the jam I made
note of the 'swells.' They were playing around with these swells in
volume and intensity in the jam that would build and then subside...
build... subside. Really cool! They broke out the trampolines and did
this whole synchronized trampoline bit. They were bouncing along and
then faced left, then back, then right, then forward... back and forth
and here and there. I could just imagine those guys rehearsing this! It
had to have been planned out ahead of time unless they were using some
sort of musical cues. It was great. There was a great solo from Mike.
Trey stopped playing and actually put his guitar down a moment while
Mike went off. I was loving it! Trey came back into it and as the jam
went on, Trey started mouthing his guitar lines into the mic, and then
stopped playing as they all moved to the mics and began the vocal jam.
Wow. The lights were the key factor here and you might not understand
what was up just hearing the tape. The light beams moved from the
ceiling down across the crowd and the stage to the back and then back up
again. So the lights were 'rolling over' as they matched their
"wooooowwwwooooowwwwoooowwwwowowowow" vocal nuances to the lights. It
was very very cool to be there. YEM blew us all away. They ended the
vocal jam strangely and headed off-stage at 11:16.
When they went off stage, the house lights came on. Everyone freaked out
and started screaming and booing and yelling. The crowd got really loud
and the lights eventually went back down. They came back on a minute
later.
11:17 - Frankenstein: This was cool enough for me. They really jammed it
out. I made a note about some sort of delay jam that happened in there
somewhere. I made another note about something but it's completely
illegible. It must have been cool, whatever it was.
11:22 - Freebird: After Frankenstein wrapped up, they all came out for a
final bow it seemed. Then out came the mic stand for the a capella song.
The people in front condensed and everyone filled in behind them. I was
standing like right there. Man was it cool! Trey said they had a great 3
nights. He seemed to have trouble coming up with the words he wanted to
say. You know they had a really good time in Chicago. Trey then asked
with a laugh, "What song is it you want to hear?" "FREEBIRD!!!!!!" was
the response from the crowd. It was too much. They did it pretty good.
It was just a treat-and-a-half. Icing on the cake. It was a great way to
leave us with giant smiles on our faces. At 11:28, the show was over.
I was dazed. It took a good long time to get out of there. I saw a girl
being taken out of there strapped to a stretcher. I don't know what
happened but I hope she's OK. I collected myself and headed back out
into the cold and rain. I met my friends at the car, had a beer, and
went home.
Monday night was giant! It was probably the best show of the three
nights. I won't soon forget it.
As far as the scene goes, it was pretty mellow outside each night,
probably due to the weather. I think the biggest problem there was
people without tickets. As I was going in on Sunday, the girl in front
of me wasn't let in because they insisted her ticket was fake. She
probably bought it from a scalper. There was the usual amount of trash
left behind. That really bugs me. It's not like there wasn't trash cans
all over the place. As I was talking with a friend about S.O.S. in the
lot Sunday, I saw several people pass us looking for tickets. There was
trash laying there on the ground next to us and there was a huge
dumpster not 10 feet away. Then, a girl came up to us looking for her
dog. There were a bunch of dogs there. I don't get it.
The scene wasn't really all that bad though. Despite what some said, I
think the security was pretty relaxed all weekend and did little more
than keep an eye on us. They were trying to get people out of there
after show but that's about it. There wasn't really any nitrous around
either. I only saw a couple balloons all weekend.
I had a GREAT time. I hope you enjoyed my ramblings.
GROVEL: If you or anyone you know knows anyone who might have knowledge
leading to the acquisition of a tape of any portion of the 11/7-9 run,
PLEASE let me know! I and many others would greatly appreciate it!
Brian
"THE MORE SERIOUSLY YOU TAKE YOURSELF AND OTHERS, THE MORE SERIOUSLY
YOU WILL BE OFFENDED AND DISGUSTED" - Charlie Dirksen
ION VEIN - Melodic Progressive Metal - http://www.ionvein.com
11/9/98 - UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL
Expectations ran high for the first night of the UIC run. Of the three nights, this
would prove to be the most overcrowded inside. I was headed to the show with a
group of 10, one of whom was seeing his first show, and one of whom was seeing
his 41st show. When I attend shows with people who are unfamiliar with the band, I
can�t help but see the performance through their eyes to some degree. This provides a
certain objectivity that is nice to have from time to time, but I wouldn�t want to
experience every show this way. In any case, my feelings on Saturday�s show are
certainly colored by the fact that I was with three people who are relatively unfamiliar
with Phish.
The UIC Pavilion is a pretty dark, cavernous place, and something about it reminds
me of a scaled down version of the Spectrum. Maybe it because they are probably
about the same age. I don�t know.
Our seats were not very good. We were in the upper level near the top, almost
directly across from the stage. The sound was pretty muddy up there, but I had
improved sound and seats to look forward to the following two nights.
I thought My Soul was a great choice for the opener. A good old fashioned rockin�
tune to get things going. This song hasn�t suffered from the overexposure it did in
1997 when everyone got sick of it with good reason. Now that it gets played with
less frequency people can enjoy it for what it is, a simple, fast, 12-bar blues rock
tune. This had the energy in the Pavilion pretty high.
When Mike�s Song started up the place went nuts. It seems like the trend is to play
Mike�s Groove in the first set these days, and you won�t hear any complaints from
me. I�ll take it wherever I can get it. This typically beautiful version was jammed out
very well, but not for very long. It was a standard, driving Mike�s jam, with little
evidence of funk. This, along with Weekapaug, would end up as the first set
highlights by far (no surprise there).
I always hope to hear Hydrogen between Mike�s and Weekapaug, but I�m beginning
to think that this may never happen. The seven (!) tunes between Mike�s and
Weekapaug were spotty at best. When I saw Trey go for the acoustic as Mike�s
ended, I thought we were in for a rare treat. I fondly recalled the mini-acoustic set
from Deer Creek �96, and hoped for more of the same.
Driver was fun; a mid-tempo tune with lyrics that sounded pretty funny. I hope this
doesn�t start to get overplayed though, because there isn�t much to it. As Brian and
Robert started, it sounded exactly like Trey was playing the organ intro to After the
Gold Rush on his guitar. I think many in the crowd thought so too, because the
ovation was pretty loud. It may have had something to do with the sound where we
were seated, but this Brian and Robert sounded very thin, and Trey may have been
playing off-key. Something just wasn�t right. Also, the �Ooo-Ooo-Oooo�s� sounded
very awkward in this setting, although I love them on the album. Not a good
version. I have enjoyed the electric versions I�ve heard of this song, so maybe they
just shouldn�t do it acoustic.
A very well played The Wedge recaptured some of the energy that had been lacking
on the previous two songs. I don�t think I�ve ever heard a version of this song that
has been as jammed out as this one. That�s not to say this one raged, but Trey�s
soloing seemed a bit more intense than usual, and seemed to last a little longer than
usual. It was a very good Wedge.
Limb By Limb followed, and contained a jam that started weakly and picked up
toward the end pretty nicely. It was a good version, but somewhat disappointing. I
maintain that I like the old Limb By Limbs better, without the abrupt stop before the
jam starts. If I recall, though, this one did return to the vocal part at the end of the
jam, which was nice.
Fikus is Fikus. You know whether you like it or not. For me, it is like Swept
Away/Steep. It provides a great mood on the album, but I don�t care to hear it
performed live. Billy Breathes is another song that rarely, if ever, sounds better live
than it does on the album. Usually it is the vocal part that gives Trey problems, but
on this version he seemed to struggle to keep the guitar solo together. In any case,
this was a typically rocky version, and it sapped any energy from the crowd that The
Wedge and Limb by Limb had built up.
Beauty of My Dreams provided a much needed energy boost, and a nice bluegrass
infusion taboot! This is a song I really like, but there are other country/bluegrass
tunes I like more (Ginseng, Poor Heart). (I think I�m one of the few Phish fans who
wouldn�t mind if they played significantly more bluegrass numbers). Mike had a nice
bass solo at the end that was sort of a prelude to Weekapaug.
This Weekapaug was great, with the band clicking on all cylinders. Trey�s soloing
was piercing, and a couple times he had to resist going off on one of his Guitar-God
tangents, but he managed to stay locked in with the rest of the band for the most
part. By the time he said they were taking a break, I was quite satisfied. But they
continued to play for about three more minutes, accelerating the pace the whole time
in a way that is sort of reminiscent of Sparkle. Things sort of fell apart toward the
end, but they were playing so fast, it sounded okay. All in all, Weekapaug put a
raging end to an average set. I have heard a few people say that they were amazed by
this set, but I just don�t think this will bear out on tape.
The set break was a nightmare; I should�ve just stayed in my seats. I have never seen
the hallways at an indoor show so crowded, it was unbelievable. We were probably
violating about a dozen fire codes, and if we weren�t, the codes need to be revised.
There were simply too many people there.
The second set proved to be pretty interesting. AC/DC Bag opened things up nicely,
but the ambient jam that followed was a little bit too long (maybe even a lot too long).
Ghost was awesome. This song seems to have really developed an identity, and I
like it quite a bit. The jam was a building, rocking one that featured a nice mix of
funk and straight-ahead rock. By the end of the jam, the band was pretty much
raging and I was sad to see the song end. (Incidentally, glowsticks were beginning to
be tossed around with greater frequency than the previous night, but thankfully, few
people seemed to be launching them at the stage).
A nice Reba followed, but there seemed to be a little sloppiness during the composed
section. The exploratory jam was typically great, and the crowd appreciated the
whistled ending.
Farmhouse is a tune that I immediately liked when I heard it on Conan O�Brien last
fall, but the versions I�ve heard live seemed to be lacking something. Not this
version. It sounded much fuller than it ever had before, and the guitar part at the end
was really rockin�. Never has this song sounded so BIG. It was definitely worthy of
its set closer spot, but in all, the set seemed really short.
The Guyute encore was great. There were no noticeable flubs, and the crowd seemed
more into things than they had all night. While My Guitar Gently Weeps was okay. I
had never heard Phish do this tune, and I assumed that when they do play it, Trey
takes a more impressive solo than he did this time. But it was fun to hear, and two
song encores are always good.
Overall, the show was better than Madison was, but still not great. I will not seek out
tapes of either of these sets, but the versions of Weekapaug, Ghost, and Farmhouse
would all make nice filler.
Jon Murphy
[email protected]
Outside, lot was in full swing, not really too much trouble, despite the
8 trillion cops there, and
so many mounted police.... very mellow tho, i saw one guy getting hauled
away, but apparantly
he was making it quite clear to EVERYONE that he had lots of acid for
sale. Keep it cool and
you'll be allright. Got inside and it was *still* cold! so wet! so
cold! its all cool once the show starts
tho, place got hot (and loud) quick :)
Llama: Im generally a fan of real big 'knock you on your ass before you
realize they took stage'
openers, and llama isnt it. Pretty standard and it did get the place
rockin, page took a noticablely
cool solo... Somethin bigs comin next, i can feel it!
Horn: Ok not quite, still a very fun song. Seems like they *could* jam
on the little progression thing
in the middle of this one... maybe some day. Standard horn, a crowd
favorite, kept the vibes up but
nothing amazing
I get a kick out of you: hehe haha. I really dig mike singin stuff like
this... trey introduced him
(multiple times before and after the song) as somethign like 'captain
gordon' or 'cacti black tie' or
something
Divided Sky: Oh yes, the fun begins. Is there anyone that doesnt like
this song? the composed
section was _nailed_ and the jam, although a bit shorter than i
expected, was right on target,
very high energy d-sky, but nothing shocking (seems to be the theme of
the set thus far)
Frankie Says: Nice mellow flowiness to follow an intense sky, but not
one of my favorite new songs,
cant comment much.
Poor Heart: I really love the bluegrass, and this is a great song, and
again very high energy, but
i was ready for more jams
Dogs stole Things: Again, ready for more jams. Had this been a year ago
i woulda been upset
(as upset as one can get at a phish song), but they hadnt played it for
a while, and didnt fool me
into thinking it was All Things Reconsidered at the begining.
Free: I've *always* been a fan of the old free (see 10.31.95), but after
the cheese - arena rock
intro, things got *FunkY*. Not funky in a normal way either, this was a
pretty unique jam, ive not
heard much like it.. They could have easily kept playing with it and
ended up at Moma Dance.
For Free, i was pretty darn happy w/this jam :)
NICU: Wow, never seen this, and its a favorite. We decided this song
should be the
"Slinky" theme song... sounds weird i know. Standard NICU, but what an
odd song to close
the set with...
Bold as Love: Wow again! another new one for me, and what an outrageous
animal!!!
I hadnt heard this song at all (on cd, tape, original, cover, etc) for
quite a while...
Page *Nailed* the singing, as well as the keys, and the reprise thing at
the end cought me
totally off gaurd as i hadnt heard it for so long, but the end was
*Smokin!*. Very HOT
set closer! My God@!.
Overall, not too much jammin, but when they did, it was HOT, and no
cheese songs to
speak of for the most part...
during the setbreak i talkted to the guy sitting next to me, all he
wanted to hear was slave,
all i really wanted to hear was YEM (hadnt seen one in 13 shows except
for deer creek 96),
very interesting :)
II:
Bathtub Gin: Ive seen this song 7 or 8 times, and they all have been
smokin, but this one takes
the cake. I wasnt wearing a watch, but it had to hit the 20 min mark,
and every moment was
beautiful.. Trey didnt stick with any one theme too long, kept it
evolving... right back into
the gin riff for the ending. Definitely a must-hear
TMWSIYALVENUTMWSIY: Sweet! when was the last one of these?? Id never
seen one, and
never really noticed how beautiful the TMWSIY is... Alvenu was rawkin
like you would not believe,
had everyone groovin to some crazy jewish (i think) verbage...
Excellent, even if it doesnt vary.
They *really* should get this onto rotation again, even if its just once
a tour.....100% old school phish.
Moma Dance: Finally some serious funk (quite a change to wanting funk,
as opposed to the last year or so
when you get kinda burnt out on it). Somewhat short MD, not real
exploratory, but definitely welcome
by all in attendance. Nothing special, set has shown 3 very different
facets of the music.
Slave: Well the other guy won, theyre playing slave and no YEM for me.
I wanst too upset tho,
this was a wonderful slave. The beginning was pulled off with
perfection, eveyrone hitting the
notes *just* right, extremely tight. The jam was awe inspiring, and
made me feel buzzed...
slave ends, and trey does a little drum roll thing w/his hands to tell
fish to keep it rolling,
and i think to myself... 'heh yem would be sweet but that would never
happen'.
YEM: it did. I was grinning so hard i hurt the next day. I cant really
comment on most of this, as i was
floating just from the fact that they were playing the one song i had
been yearning to see for over a year,
and they were playing it *after* slave and *after* what was already a
great set. The jam was sick (to me
at least), and DAMN the vocal jam was killer. SO much better than the
one i saw at deer creek. this one was
at least 8 min long, and the lights were pure insanity. This one song
made me remember why i had spent
the entire weekend in chicago, why ive spent 100's of bux on tickts,
cd's, blanks, postage, hq decks, etc....
This was, for me, the quintisential (sp?) phish moment.
The lights came on, but that was so ok with me... however, we as a
collective audience were
apparantly not going to stand for not having an encore, and the place
ERUPTED. I mean LOUD.
So loud.... my god. Ive never been part of a crowd for anything where
there was this much enthusiasm
(that goes for pretty much all of sunday and todays show actually... the
enthusiasm)... the lights slowly get a little dimmer,
and it gets even more loud! this is not possible@! Aye lights out, and
they come back on to a crowd that is
screaming louder than anything you can imagine.
Frankenstien: Not really a suprise, but who the hell cares? this was all
just extra
icing on the best cake ive ever had, as far as i was concerned... As
usual for the show, Very tight and
well played.... trey walks all the way over to page, and i have no idea
whats going on, i couldnt believe
they werent done!!
Everyone is screaming for freebird, obviously word was out that it was
played at vegas (or wherever it was
played).. trey says "what song is it that you want to hear?" and gets
replied to with 11000 ppl screaming
freebird at once... so insane, i couldtn believe this....
So they do it, ppl are laughing their asses off, screaming, hooting,
shushhing, then actually most everyone
gets real quiet to hear them... very cool.
What a show. 1st set was good, 2nd set went from great to ideal (as far
as im concerned) then the
encore went to mars. Phish, thanks for such a great ending to such a
great string of shows....
and Thanks for such a great weekend to all who were there, i will no
doubt remember
it for ever :)
peace :)
matt
[email protected]
Well, this was the last of the UIC Run, and I knew we were in for a
good one. Also, everyone at the edge of the parking ramp was leaning
over and smiling at the boys as theyt exited their bus and entered the
UIC, which also was a good omen for the evening. This was my tenth
show, and I hadn't heard YEM since my 1st show, so I felt like I just
HAD to get it. Oh well, on to the setlist:
SET I
LLAMA: Upbeat, whipped the crowd into a veritable frenzy within minutes!
HORN: Unexpected, and one of the most pleasant tunes I have ever heard
I GET A KICK: I saw this at Deer Creek this summer as well, and it was
even more hilarious this time
DIVIDED SKY: I called this, I knew it was going to happen, and when it
did, the smile on my face got a whole lot wider...phat jam, BTW
FRANKIE SEZ: Nice cool-down tune - this is one of my favs off of the
"ghost" album recently released.
POOR HEART: Wow!-they actually sort of "jammed" in the middle a bit -
the crowd REALLY liked this one!
DOGS STOLE THINGS: YEEAAH!! Blues!! Some criticize this song, but I've
always enjoyed it, for some reason.
FREE: This was one of the definate highlights of this show, w/ a long,
funky jam and extra guitar intro thrown in at the end.
NICU: Finally, I hear NICU, at my tenth show! Loved it!
BOLD AS LOVE: Last time I heard this, they encored with it...I like it's
placement in this show much bettere..Trey wowed everyone with his
interpretation of the Hendrix classic.
SETBREAK: During the setbreak, I was talking to two guys at the water
fountain - one of them said he was jonesin' for a Tweezer/Reprise type
of set, and the other said he wanted to hear Slave and/or YEM. I added
that Bathtub Gin would be nice....what a coincidence.....
SET II
BATHTUB GIN: This was a MONSTROUS, SICK, FUNKY, 25 minute version that
got everyone in the UIC groovin'!
TMWSIYAVENUTMWSIY: The intro seemed longer than usual, but always nice
to hear.
MOMA DANCE: Bring in DA FUNK! Ever since the first time I heard this
song, I've loved it - still do!
SLAVE: For some reason, this Slave really got me going, I thought the
set was over, but lo and behold,
YEM: Awwwww shiit! Me and my buddie almost freaked out when they went
into this, because the last time we sat at a show together (My 1st show,
his 2nd) we heard it as well! Crazy Lights, vocal jam madness, etc.
They tried to trick the crowd by turning on the house lights after YEM,
but we knew better........
ENCORE:
FRANKENSTEIN: I always love to hear Phish's interpretation of this song
FREEBIRD: This REALLY caught me off guard, since they've already done
the song once this fall, I really didn't expect it. PHAT encore!!
Well, I drove straight home to MN after the show, but I'm still in
shock from the experience. Best I've seen yet! Peace, everyone!
Dan
I'm not going to review the whole show here, just one song. The show
was excellent, with a 30 minute Bathtub Gin jam and some cool song
choices, but I just want to take some time to praise the "Bold as Love"
first set closer.
Oh my God.
I wrote that Trey's rock star craziness was at an all time high in the
second set of 11/8/98, and it was, but nothing could prepare me for the
mind blowing explosion of metal guitar insanity that this "Bold as Love'
produced, especially in the part of the jam after the false ending.
For any lead player, playing a Hendrix song is an invitation to
comparison, and all I can say, with all respect for Jimi, is that Trey
performed quite well. This was maybe my best Phish on stage moment, with
the possible exception of "Rock and Roll" from the night before.
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