11/25/98 Albany, new york, Pepsi Arena
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 00:33:58 EDT
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 11/25/98 Albany, new york, Pepsi Arena
This was my first Phish show, so i was really excited!
Me and a couple of my friends woke up early and took a train to the city.
From there we got on a bus to albany. we got to albany around two o
clock,
so we had a lot of time to hang out, meet some people, eat some goo
balls,and
party in the eight story parking garage next to the arena. i happened to
stumble upon some phatty doses at about six o clock so i was set. before
entering the arena i had a confrentation with a man size uno card.
set 1: pyite,my soul,roggae,ac dc bag,life boy,david
bowie,sleep,driver,good
times bad times.
set 2: 2001->golgi apparatus,drowned->prince caspian, piper,yem, been
caught
stealin'->llama.
e: something, guyute, free bird
by the time i was in my seat i was definately trippin'. my friend
was also halucinating on phatty fungus.
i loved pyite as an opener, it had lots of energy, and i love how
phish mixes in the land lady. my soul was also a great dancing song. and
then it was time to sit and chill while roggae was being played. i love ac
dc bag so it was a real treat for my first show, and i was surprised to hear
life boy. now, since ive been to more shows, i think bowie is my favorite
song to hear live. i love how the end part keeps repeating itself and then
dying down and then coming back again. i definately had to sit down for
sleep and driver but i was back up for good x bad x.
at the break i tried going to the bathroom but i got completely lost.
all i could see were arrows pionting up and down on the walls. soon i
ended up in the bathroom and then back in my seat.
i also loved hearing 2001 as an opener. the lights were outstanding
and the sound of the arena was pretty good. golgi had almost everybody up
and grooovin'. i sat down and got lost in the lights during drownded and
caspian and piper. yem was awesome. included tramps and vocal jam which
took my mind for a spin. i was cool to hear been caught stealin'. everytime
i hear phish do a cover i think its better than the original, most of the
time. llama has probably the most energy of any phish song thats out there.
i went nuts!
when they came back out i didnt know ''something'' but it was good.
what phish song is bad? guyute was awesome and free bird blew my mind away.
i had never heard them do it and i was amazed.
after the show was over i could not believe what had just happened.
then me and my buds had the worst wait of my whole life. we had to wait in a
bus station for four hours for the bus back to the city. it was not fun at
all. but it was worth it.
Date: Thu, 26 Nov 1998 15:43:06 GMT
From: BotchAlism
Subject: Albany Review
This was my seventh show. First in Albany.
Set 1
1. Punch You In The Eye: This is a great show opener because it has tons of
energy build up. This was a good version with the band enjoying stretching out
the intro.
2. My Soul: My Soul is an all right tune in moderation but certainly wasn't one
of my picks for this early in the night. It was completely average.
3. Roggae : I think that the third song of a show is very important. I love
Roggae but I think this would worked better when we needed a break. This was a
good version. The jam had great interplay but it seemed that during the verses
it was a light sloppy groove wise.
4. AC/DC Bag: You got to love AC/DC Bag. This was counted off way to slow
though so it was kind of killed early on. They picked it up though in the
double time section of course. The outro jam was very intense and and peaked
very hard but it seemed to me the band wasn't really grooving as tight as they
have. Just a touch off. They raged so hard on it though I would still say it
was a slightly above average performance.
5. Lifeboy: Ok if you're gonna do a ballad it's a nice choice to do a rare one
and one of my personal favorites. This was well played and enjoyable but I
don't think we really needed a slow tune in this placement.
6. David Bowie: I was expecting maze due to the mid set placement. Bowie was
great. The composed section was tight and the jam was fantastic. When they
started up almost everythin stopped except for Mike laying down a cool few
measures solo. There was a point in the jam where they all kind of swiched from
the minor chord to it's relative major so the jam had kind of a Hood sound
instead of stock Bowie for a while. Then it was back to Bowie for a multi
peaking jam before the normal bang your head ending. Highlight of the first set
easy.
7. Sleep: jammer, ballad, jammer ballad. This was bad placement of a nice
little tune that was over very very quick.
8. Driver: ditto
9.Good Times Bad Times: Very well done. A lot of fun. Page did the Plant high
part very well. They got very intense with this one as well sounding alot like
their jam on fire. This was a good energetic set closer to an uneven set.
Overall a pretty average set yet the PYITE, Bowie and GTBT males me give it a
6.
Set 2
1. Also Sprach Zarathustra: My favorite second set opener. This was an audio
and visual treat. the fog and lights matched perfectly with the wet drippy funk
that the band was playing. Trey was using his toggle switch alot for a onoff
effect.
2. Golgi: Kind of rare now adays. Very energetic from band and audience alike.
The crowds was probably more into this tune than any other except yem.
3. Drowned: I was listening to 12/31/95 on my way to the show and thought it
would be nice to hear this. I think Mike sang this better tonight than any
other version I've heard them do. His high parts were in tune were they are
usualy flat.
This had a long angry dissonant jam on the drowned theme. It sounded like Trey
was using an ocatve down effect on his guitar. The jam began to slow down very
very smoothly and it seemed like page was very willing to get type II switching
to his funky boards but trey wasn't into it and started playing:
4. Prince Caspian: This was the same as it ever was same as it ever was. It was
stock standard good. Nothing extra exciting. This wen right into
5. Piper: I love Piper. It is almost noe exsistent but there's something very
moving about it. usually. The glow stick wars start up and the song goes to
hell. Goodbye playting hello watching glowsticks, Goodbye listening hello
throwing and cheering glowsticks. I beleive every band member was hit or had
their equipment hit by Glowsticks. The song was very below average. instead an
emotional peak it just kind of built because it had to. Stop the glowsticks
they suck. They hurt the music. That's why I go not to drink puke and chuck goo
balls.
6. YEM: It's always a treat to hear this. Great placement. Totally typically
great YEM. Tramps. Fun. Great Vocal jam. You've heard it before though. it was
a balst as always.
7. Been Caught Steelin: Trey told the tramp man not to bring them out again
when he took them away. So we had Page do his Plant, Mike do his Townshend, and
now Trey doing his Farrell. I was hoping we'd get to hear Fishman do his
Marvin:) Good.
8. Llama: I though for sure that Been Caught Stealin would end the set but we
get a bonus average Llama.
Encore
1. Something: I think the band new that the first set had been a little lacking
so they throw down a great encore. Something was very well played. The audience
and the band were loving it.
2. Guyute: Cool another one. Smokin' Guyute a few flubs but they were on the
relatively easy parts. Great emotional soaring performance. Trey's SOTG vocal
effects are now live in concert too.
3. Freebird: and yet another accapella: Freebird cries everywhere. I was very
psyched to hear this. Great stuff. The security guard right in fdron of the
stage who had probably never even heard phish looked at them during this with
a what the hell are these guys doing look on his face. Now all we need is That
Smell Accapella.
I'd give the second set and encore a 7.5 This is greatly helped by the
fantastic 20 min. encore. 2001, Drowned, YEM all were highlights, Over all i'd
give the show a 6.5 Great stuff in there. Probably mind blowing if it was your
first show. These guys always deleiver though. They can always get to a level
where they are kicking ass even if they aren't breaking new ground or playing
best ever performances.
Botc
hAlism
--------------
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 23:11:13 GMT
From: Rurrats
Subject: albany review (long?)
11/25/98 Pepsi Arena, Albany, NY
I: Punch You In The Eye, My Soul, Roggae, AC/DC Bag, Lifeboy, David Bowie,
Sleep, Driver, Good Times Bad Times
II: 2001 > Golgi Apparatus, Drowned > Prince Caspian, Piper, You Enjoy Myself >
Been Caught Stealin', Llama
E: Something , Guyute , Freebird
After being shut out in new haven and missing a ghost> halleys> tweezer
trifecta I know I would have loved, I was hoping for some high energy phish
tonight. The expected punch opener was solid as the crowd surrounding quickly
got down to the business of getting down. Not the ten minute intro I continue
to wait for, but certainly full of fluid grooves.
A brief pause and then, my soul. No surprises here. Noticed most of the front
floor was motionless as trey wailed away and wondered what thoughts run through
his head in such situations.
Thought the roggae that followed may have been the best I've heard. This song
is definitely aching to fully open up and came close tonight. Really well paced
mellow grooves that you can just let your body slip into.
Heightened sense of anticipation as the phish contemplated the song to follow.
Sick bags and I have taken to meeting on a regular basis at shows in the past
year and I was looking for a little continuation of the burrowing urgency of
this summer's va beach bag jam. Bass and drums were locked and this bag felt
big from the beginning. Unlike the just mentioned va beach bag they did not
dive head first into the darkness but rather allowed themselves to be sucked in
by it. Sucking us along with it. This bag just continued to grow, roaring full
throated at the frenzied masses of platform dancers. Page digging in and trey
chasing after as bass and drums remained unflappable, flat out refusing to be
denied. Full on body rocking action. The jam eventually slid into a quick
sparer section that led to lifeboy. Not the greatest transition solely because
the shift in momentum was a little hard for me to swallow, but smooth
nonetheless. It seems to have been some time sing I last saw this one live and
it gave me a moment to consider whether a lit cigarette was worth potential
expulsion. Lasted a little longer than expected and received loud cheering at
end, not to mention throughout. It felt like time for a bowie. The thought in
my head as the intro began was that they were about to "kill bowie". In a good
way. In the best of ways. The bag had been mere foreshadowing. They were about
to wreck shit up and there was nothing we could do to stop them. In the end,
not entirely true, but that was the general feeling vibrating the air. The
intro was, in my fairly sobered mind, epic. Just great sound as I attempted to
recall the intro to all songs on dark side. Very similar effects in the intro
as those in the opening of the utah yem. In the end, a powerful bowie is what
I'll call it. It seemed to miss a step at some point. The step to true
immensity. But then again, we were still in the first set. Thought for sure
that that would end it, but trey decided to step to the mike and get quiet with
sleep and driver. Not much to say about those. Decent songs but as music, they
will never take me to the points of self discovery and openness that say, a bag
jam might. Anyway, rarely ones to end things on a quiet note before the break,
I tried to fathom what they might close with. Good times, bad times was, to me,
a sick call, and taken to a driving, pulsing level that left me speechless and
smiling. It almost seems strange to me to rave about a good times, bad times
but it is all I wanted to do at set end. Best ever. In retrospect, it seems as
though (perhaps) trey felt the bowie fell a little short of his intentions and
decided to slow it back down and then take another crack at ripping our heads
off. If so, he succeeded.
Setbreak: a frustratingly relentless security type decided to begin a night
long stakeout of the platform we had sacrificed our seats for. Apparently a
little more dancing going on than he was comfortable with. Anyway, break ended
earlier than expected.
And 2001 began. Solid but not the HUGEness that we might have hoped for. That
we did hope for. Also, not the 2001 > twist I had hoped for but that's beside
the point. Golgi continued the momentum and , like vegas, was really enjoyable.
At this point, it became clear that trey was visibly excited about things in
general. Drowned was the second great call of the night and was suh-moking.
Great drowned that worked its way into the full band improvisation that is
apparently being referred to as "ambient" due, I hope, out of respect for the
sickass beauty of the went 4th set. No real spaciness however, just top notch
playing from all four. As complex as it is simple. This eventually landed in
the world of caspian. Not my favorite place in the world, but I was willing to
visit, clinging to the small hope those final chords might not be a foregone
conclusion. At this point I was thinking caspian yem to close the set but am
now not sure why. Curiois as to how long that drowned was. Anyway, this was not
to be as piper lifted itself from the silence caspian had left behind. Now, due
to its triumphant glorious nature it's a bit hard for me to "critique" piper. I
have loved this song since first hearing the lille 6-25 tape. The spring piper
with the outro jam was like a dream become reality and the merriweather version
had by body shivering with joy. The intro section here was so so sweet if
memory serves. Other than that its hard to say. It was great. I and the crowd
went apeshit. That the nature of the song isn't it?
Now the YEM. Fuh-fuh-funky ass yem. Full on 97 start stop fizunk with the 98
thickness taboot. Words will not do justice to the full body high one has no
choice but achieving when dancing to this yem. It was THAT good. Hear it.
And the fact that been caught stealing followed was just ridiculous. Even the
johnny on the spot gave up trying to restrain the mad energy that abounded.
Third great call was followed by the fourth as trey screamed llama towards
anyone in his general vicinity. Blistering energy that left the crowd
simultaneously exhausted and aching for more.
Encore:
Something. Guyute. Both standard, well played. The crowd seemed to want
something more. A natural reaction to the raising of standards as of late. Trey
seemed to be dying to come up with something and, basically, looked like a kid
at christmas minus the fact that most kids at christmas are not that wrecked.
Freebird was, basically, a mess. Unintentionally hilarious.
I'll pass on the overall comments but am curious as to yours. Post em.
I'll see you at a biscuits show,
Patrick
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Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 07:58:25 GMT
From: Jekat
Subject: albany brief review
hey well since i was just thinking that i reviewed all the other shows i saw
this fall i guess i should try to do all the rest too..wasnt gonna do albany
review but here goes...
traffic was a nightmare. drive through the bronx was riduculous. so i was
running real late and having visions of last years show where i got into the
show just after the funky bitch 2001camel walk opener.. So I got into the
parking garage at 8ish only to drive in circles and have to leave to find
another garage cause it was full. i walked in to the ending notes to PYITE.
Also had to stop to readjust my sock cause they were patting down ankles which
sucked.
My soul was next pretty good.. this song is ok if placed early in the set.
roggae was pretty slow and hypnotic..i kinda like it but its very slow..lights
are pretty good for this song, pretty mellow.. ACDC was next..crowd was real
psyched everyone singin real loud...this was a pretty raging acdc..not like UIC
which was all spaced out, this was like circa 95...real great stuff..
Lifeboy was pretty cool to hear again...the lyrics sorta disturb me cause
they sing about god not sure why exactly...good standard version..Bowie
next...spacey intro almost like the wheel sorta with trey doing some sort of
effect then he started jamming what might have been a real song like vabeach
97..intro is long...rest of bowie was real good...just raging...sleep and
driver were next..acoustic...i like driver, sleep i hafta hear again that was
my first time hearing it...A majorly Trey led rockin Good Times Bad Times
closed the set.
set II opened with a nice 2001...not super funked out but solid..golgi was
very interesting...ive never seen a crowd so into golgi...the crowd singing was
so loud..Drowned next YES! i have never seen drown live before (60+shows) and
really want to hear it ..real great version.. i always thought page sang this
for some reason.. but apparently it's mike.. page was leading the jam here for
a little while..great jam then trey started up his theme song...
Caspian was real mellow..was expecting trey to go nuts like madison after the
naked guy but it was real calm sorta slavelike..piper next.. basically what
happened..as the song starts some people realize it's piper and yell.. also a
few people throw glowsticks.. as more people start yelling cause they realize
its piper, more glowsticks are thrown cause the people think they are cheering
for the glowsticks...i was way up high rear section page side so i saw exactly
what happened..thought it would be cool sorta like the nassau antelope glowwar
but this was bad.. so many going onstage purposely..trey was in the middle of
singing a line when he had to duck left for a second to avoid the incoming and
missed the end of the line...good piper..ending not jammed out at all..
YEM..real good opening..maybe trying to top the '95 version trey? they
played tweezer in newhaven like '95..bathtub gin at worcester anyone? very mike
led jam to start..eventually leading into a people clapping then the band sorta
goes with the beat sorta thing jam...pretty good but it seemed like the band
wanted to escape the clapping, fishman changing the tempo a lil bit..ok vocal
jam...seen a few that were very similar to it.. i prefer the more unique
ones... they did that thing where one row of lights swings around the stage
vertically doing circles...
Been caught stealin was great..people not as into to it as they were UIC it
seemed and no trampolines...LLama was a weird choice but it closed the set.
maybe had somethin to do with the llama thing they did last year at albany both
nights.Encore: Something...this was amazingly great..i totally know this song
but didnt know what it was called so I didnt know this was the song they were
covering..real great.. they seemed so psyched to be playin it.. page sang real
nicely..lotsa beatles stuff lately eh=wmmgw, cry babycry...i bet aditl comes
back soon or blackbird...Guyute..standard good stuff..Trey was totally bouncin
off the walls while they were setting up for freebird... then they had a
presong huddle so i thought they would do something new but freebird was
great...crowd was noisy, yet much quieter than the uic crowd for freebird.
great stuff...great show...well..off to worcester now...peace......
Lingering slowly melting away,
jeff
------------
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 08:30:44 -0500
From: willjune
Subject: Albany rocked!
On the way to the Knick, there were two minor 5 car accidents, about a mile
apart(NYS Thruway)luckily this was only a short delay. As I'm driving some
dude next to me is leaning out the window yelling "Got any extras?" I
yelled back "No Dude sorry". AS usual there were so many ticketless at the
show. The scene isn't to fun when all you hear are whiny heads screaming
for their ticket. You try and talk to someone, but the noises of the
ticketless get louder. When I saw peaceful heads just holding a finger up,
it was relief from the yellers, especially ratty drunk wookie chicks. If I
had any extras I would gladly give it to someone who's mellow and into the
music. Anyone else sick of going to shows and hearing that cry? It would be
nice if everyone could have a ticket, but thats not the case at most shows.
Security was doing a thorough pat down on the way in, but after that they
were very lax the wholeshow. It was like they know where sophisticated
concert goers who know what were doing once we get their, we don't need
their help, and for the most part we control ourselves.
My seats were behind the stage, and I sat their for awhile, but decided
to move to the upper section, direct center. Right when I found fun seats
the lights went off, and the band came out. I could tell instantly it was
going to be Punch by Trey's noodling, they built the intro to Punch for 5
minutes seeming to take their time. Getting a feel for things before they
dove into the set. Punch was tight fast, got the crowd soaring, they segued
into MY Soul which was unbelievable, Trey just exploded his solos, and they
seemed to extend it, by several minutes.THey segued from their into Roggae
which seemed kind of flat, and awkward. I was hoping to see this tune as
well, but it didn't have that feel I get from SOTG. After a little
discussion on stage Ac/Dc Bag came next, Trey seemed to take solo after
solo, just ripping his heart out with every note the crowd going
wild in response. The way they ended this tune has to be heard, they were
buiding the climax, and it got to this quiet place where it just ended.
I've never heard AC/DC end this way before. The band even seemed surprised.
Lifeboy was sweet, and peaceful, quite the opposite of AC. After Lifeboy a
spacey intro led to a rocking but short Bowie. It seemed to me that the
band was grouping 3 songs together,The first 3 were connected the next three
were separate, yet totally connected. THe last three were like a mini set.
TWo of the three new tunes, Water has a cliched feel to it, though DRIVER
is such a beautiful introspective song. I wouldn't be surprised if the next
Album is all-acoustic. GTBT was sick, Phish are the greatest cover band
that ever lived. THe litltle jams were so trippy, it didn't soung like ZEp
anymore.
Intermission hallway was like a train ride that stopped and started
without any control, it completely swept you up. I loved it. At one point
the lines of people I was in just stopped, another line of people moving in
the opposite direction went cruising by us very fast we just watched them
flow by like some surreal dream, everyone started laughing. Reminded me of
that surreal scene in Amistad, when the two ships go by each other, one
carrying slaves the other high society types. At one point I noticed I
was at section 111, which was where I was headed so I got off the train.
SET2- Sat behind the stage on Paige's side. 2001 opened, nice flow got
everyone moving, even this conservative woman sitting next to me. Being
behind the stage I could see the fog machines billowing out their fog
engulfing the entire stage. CK's lights were enchanting on the fog. When
Golgi started up the crowd went nutz. It was as if they had just busted out
Destiny. I wasn't nearly as excited. THe crowd also was singing so loud, I
don't have a clue what inspired everyone, but it seemed like everyone wanted
a Golgi, and they got one. Drowned was excellent, I'm not a big Who fan, but
I could see how psyched Trey and Paige were to be playing it, and they
played it long and thick. Prince Caspian was next, and I felt lt was the
only throw away tune all night. I would have been so pleased to hear The
Wedge. Pc was so bland. I had a feeling Piper was next, and sure enough
they slowly went into it, it took the crowd awhile to know what tune they
were playing, once they did glow sticks started popping up everywhere, most
of them landing near or on the stage. It was interesting to watch, but came
nowhere near the war of 97. Piper was nice as always, but there was no jam.
Yem followed and as much as I like this classic, it was standard, and short.
Though of course extremely well played, just watching Fishman play his drums
on this tune blew me away. HE is such a master, and always seems to be
pumped full of energy.And CK's lights were right on the money. Been Caught
Stealin by Jane's Addiction and LLama closed out the set. Both were
enjoyable, Llama seemed to go by to fast.
Encore: 3 songs- Something was absolutely stunning, Paige on vocals, I
just stood with my jaw dropped, they sounded just like the Beatles, only
better because its LIVE, and its Phish. Guyute was another stunner,
beautifully played, so much feeling in their playing. Trey was so pumped
when they finished he was bouncing up and down while the others stayed calm.
A stage hand brought out a large mic, and I guessed with Thanksgiving an
hour away they would do Freebird, and they did, much to the delight and
amazement of the crowd. Good show with great moments for me I would
recoomend that you try and see a set from behind the stage, and watch
closely as they play their instruments, especially Fishman. He'a monster!
Scoontar Show #38
-----------
ate: Sun, 29 Nov 1998 01:34:17 GMT
From: Guyute25
Subject: *Albany Review*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<{{{{}}}}> Phish - Pepsi Arena, Albany, NY - 11.25.98
Sorry this review is late; I was busy yesterday and thanksgiving and didn't
have access to a computer. Anyway, on to the review. We arrived on the lots
at about ten to 7, and figured we should get into the venue. Even though we
didn't stick around for long, I did see a lot of action in the cramped space
outside the Arena, and also ran into some friends. We just wanted to get to
our seats ... we found them - floor, directly left of Paul if you're facing the
band on stage - and were settled.
The show started at about ten after 8. Trey stepped up and started strumming
that firmilar teasing lick that starts off AC/DC, Ghost ... you know. He hit
it for a *really* long time and I was just about to collapse from anticipation
when Punch You finally opened up. I kept thinking it was going to start!
Anway, it *rocked* and was completely flawless as far I heard. The intro
(before the "Hey!'s") also sounded very stretched out. An excellent choice to
open the show.
My Soul's faint opening notes cranked out ... I was surprised by this
Punch/Soul opening combo as both were played last year at 12/13 Albany. Not
much to say about this one although I am not one of the fans who constantly
disses this song; I actually enjoyed it throughout. Roggae appeared next and
the placement of this one seemed a tad bit odd if you ask me. It was groovy,
though, and I am starting to like it more and more. AC/DC Bag gave the set the
real kick that it needed. It started off pretty slow, and once the jam set in
they diddled around in the funk for a little while, not really seeming to know
where they were going. Soon, though, the jam cranked up into Machine Gun
Trey!! It wasn't extremely long but was your rocking, classic Bag.
Lifeboy provided the needed breather; and although it was a rarity, I would
have rather heard Dirt. This one seemed to go on for a while and every time I
thought it would stop it started up again. David Bowie ... ahhh. Yeah. This
was great - the opening segment was lots of fun, and the jam started off fairly
spacey and then just ripped. Trey was highlighted again - he was _on_ the
whole night. The Sleep / Driver segment was sort of blah for me ... I wanted to
hear the new songs sometime but preferably on tape. They didn't really do much
for me at all. GTBT was a strange move to close the first set, as it closed
the first set at the last albany show, but was still classic GTBT. It rocked,
to say the least.
Overall, the first set seemed very rock/guitar oriented ( My Soul, Bag, Bowie,
GTBT). It unfortunately, at times, seemed to suffer from a lack of direction.
Not at all bad, but a little weird at times. A mixed bag for me. My
highlights were definitely AC/DC Bag and Bowie. Setbreak was shorter than I
expected - someone said they clocked it at about 35 or so minutes.
The second set opened with 2001, and they started to get funky here. Some
long, drawn out 2001's bore me as I am sick of the same old delay loops, but
this one worked. I liked it a lot - the peaks were great. And the lights, well
... I'll just stick with that quote "An ASZ without the lights is like a
grilled cheese sandwich without the cheese." Right on to whoever said that.
Golgi slam - segued, if you could call it that, off of the end of Also Sprach.
For some reason, the crowd went absolutely _buck wild_. I mean it; they didn't
cheer louder for any song that night than they did for Golgi. And they cheered
pretty loud. The whole place sang along, especially during the "ticket stub"
lines, which was cool. Not too badly flubbed, and nice.
Now we were entering that high real-estate space in the middle of the second
set. Drowned came out and roared - they nailed this one. The jam was awesome,
with the whole band doing great work, especially Trey, who was putting out some
sick riffs. This was the hose of the show for me. Golden Hose. My heart sank
as Caspian segued out of Drowned (btw, this was the only *true* segue of the
show. It disappointed me to see how the band is sort of holding back in this
aspect, as opposed to the risky moves they took in Fall 97, morphing their way
from tune to tune). I was hoping for a rocking Caspian - like I heard of from
the Fillmore show back in October, but this was just your standard Caspian. I
was delighted to hear Piper next. The band did a great job with this one
musically; the glowsticks came out here. It sort of pissed me off to have to
be looking all around, trying to dodge the hard pieces of plastic, instead of
concentrating on the music. The band got hit a number of times. Piper ended
with no jam, sadly.
YEM, my call of the night! I was ecstatic. The opening segment was clearly
flubbed a few times. "Wahhhhhhhh Boy!" was tons of fun, as were the tramps. I
don't remember too much about the jam except that it was very nice and not too
long. The vocal jam was _awesome_ and very tripped out with Kuroda's actions.
Been Caught Stealing and Llama were two nice additions to a set that I was
sure would end with YEM. btw, if I remember correctly, the band didn't say one
word to the audience the entire show. No "we'll be back in 15 minutes," no,
"thanks for a good show." Zip.
The encores were great - Something, Guyute and Freebird. Guyute was pretty
much flawless as I heard and Freebird is probably the funniest thing I have
ever heard Phish produce. To see it was completely hilarious. Trey was
pulling a great air guitar!!!
Overall, I had a great time at this show. The first set was about 80 minutes,
and the second set / encore was 95 minutes or something like that. My
highlights were AC/DC Bag, Bowie, Drowned, YEM and the encores. They were also
fairly generous length-wise which was cool. The only real downers for me were
Caspian, glowsticks, and the slight loss of direction from the first set. I
would reccomend aquiring this on tape and can't wait to hear it myself ( p.s. -
shameless grovel ;-).
Alec
"Have a good time, and don't do anything I wouldn't do, or else you'll be
riding on the BACK OF THE WORM!!!!" - Trey, 7/21/97
11/25/98 - Pepsi Arena, Albany, NY
Date: Sat, 26 Dec 1998 00:04:55 EST
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: FALL98_REVIEW
11/25/98 Pepsi Arena,
While getting psyched for next weeks run I thought i'd submit a review for
the only show I got to see this fall. After last years Pepsi Shows
(especially 12/13) I was very excited and new this would be a great show.
The anticipation was high amongst me and my friends as we tried to figure
out what we wanted to hear the most. I was also excited because it was my
friend Josh's first show. Then the lights dimmed and out came the boys.
PYITE-Josh had called this one and it was great to hear them open with
despite being a repeat from last years shows. The Landlady parts were
great and it seemed like the reprises at the end went on forever, which
was ok with me.
My Soul-Was kind of dissapointed to hear this one. It wasnt as strong as
last years at the Pepsi but it wasnt drawn out either.
Roggae-I was glad to hear this one and I had been hoping to hear it. Its
one of my favorite songs off Ghost and this version I thought was done
pretty well. Trey seemed very peaceful in the end of the jam and seemed
like he would be content playing it forever.
AC/DC- I was really glad to hear this one and it got the crowd moving!!
The jam was great and lasted quite a while. An excellent bag!!
Lifeboy-I wasnt expecting this one at all and I don't think anybody was.
It was nice to hear and I thought I heard some Rift teases before the last
verse but nobody else seemed to hear them. Guess i'll have to listen to
the tapes to see whether or not I was hearing things.
Bowie-Good to hear but Bowie has never been one to really get me going
like it does for most. I much rather would've heard Divided Sky.
Sleep & Driver-I enjoyed Driver much more than Sleep. They seemed like
good tunes but I was in the mood to rock out.
GTBT-And thus I did. An excellent GTBT. Better than last years. The jam
was incredible but I new it would end the set and it did.
Overall- A typical first set, with more jamming than usual. Probably
about a 7. Highpoints IMO were PYITE and AC/DC. The only real low point
was My Soul.
Set II
2001-I loved every minute of this one. The lights and fog for this were
great two. I expected the boys to really let this set out in the open but
going into GOlgi that really didnt happen as early as I would've liked.
Golgi-Typical Golgi, nice to hear but not a lot of jamming.
Drowned- I had totally forgotten about this one before the show and wasnt
expecting it at all. But this version was extremely tight and the jam was
the best of the night in my opinion. Josh went nuts during this one which
helped me to enjoy it even more.
Caspian-A letdown after such a great jam but it was good to catch a breath
too.
Piper-Always great to hear, and the glowstick war was great too. Some of
the band members got pegged but they kept the beat pumping.
YEM-I was expecting this one and it was great to hear. Mike and Trey
bought out the tramps and seemed to be having fun. A bit shorter than
most YEM's but the light show for the vocal jam blew my mind.
BCS-This one really got the crowd going and it was a fun song to hear.
Llama-Dissapointing after such a great BCS. This version seemed sloppy
too. Not a great close.
Overall- This set I enjoyed quite a bit. I give it a 8.5. Highpoints
were Drowned and BCS. Lowpoints were Caspian and Llama.
Encore
Something-After keeping up with the nightly setlists I wanted to see how
Phish handled this one. In fact they handled it very well. Trey sounded
great playing Harrison and Page sang it very well. An excellent cover.
Guyute-This one didnt really get me going as its growing more common than
it used to be, but it was good to hear nonetheless.
Freebird-Hadnt heard the way they did this one before and I laughed my ass
off. I loved every minute of it and it was a great closer I think.
Overall- A pretty solid show. I dont think it was as good as last years
12/13 show but good nonetheless. I give it an 8.
Peace,
Seth
Date: Mon, 07 Dec 1998 04:34:43 -0500
From: Jeffrey Pollock [email protected]
Reply-To: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: FALL98_REVIEW
11/25/98 Pepsi (KNICK) Arena, Albany, NY
I. PYITE, My Soul, Roggae, AC/DC Bag, Lifeboy, Bowie, Sleep, Driver, GTBT
II. 2001 Golgi, Drowned Caspian, Piper, YEMBeen Caught Stealin', Llama
E. Something, Guyute, Freebird.
This show was the first that I've seen since the Lemonwheel due to
that adult stuff like jobs and college educations. I had been keeping
myself updated on what the boys had been up to leading up to this showso I
knew that I was in for a good time. One thing that I noticed in
Albany was that the security was real tight and there were a ton of
young "phans" However, this did little to deter my enjoyment of seeing
Phish in my own backyard.
PYITE was a great opener that got things going right away. I
recognized the opening licks by Trey that is similar with recent
versions of this song. It was a slight suprise since they played it
last year in Albany, but this fact would be repeated throughout the
show. Still, who could complain with this as an opener?
My Soul brought everyone back to earth. It was the standard
version, and again was a repeat from 97.
Roggae is probably my favorite new tune of the batch. I heard the
versions from Vernon and Lemonwheel but I thought this one topped them
both. The little jam at the end is what makes this song and has great
possiblities of going places. By now I was begging for a pick me up,
and...
AC/DC Bag did just that. This picked up where Punch you left off.
This was a serious version, as Mike and Fish took centerstage on this
one. The fifth member, Chris also did his part as the lightshow was
incredible. It didn't jam out like I had hoped, but a bag is a bag,
nonetheless.
Lifeboy gave us a chance to catch a breath. It was debut for me,
and was cool to see.
A brief pause and then Fish started tapping that hi hat, and the
boys backed him with some spacey shit that could only mean Maze or
Bowie. I was hoping for a Bowie, and boy did I one. One of the best
versions that I have heard aside from 12/29/97. This featured some
intense jamming that was without a doubt the highlight of the 1st set.
I could have sworn that I heard Weekapaugh teases, but no one around me
seemed to notice. A stellar version that brought smiles to the sold out
crowd.
I knew that there was a chance that I'd see some acoustic, since it
was popping up regularly this fall. It was nice to see them do Sleepand
then Driver, but I could have done without it. Still, I could not
complain since I thought the set was over with Bowie. I knew that they
wouldn't end it with an acoustic song so it meant at least one more.
GTBT was a great way to end this set. A rocking tune that was also
a repeat from the year before, but it was a much better version. Page's
"I know what it means to be alone" always gets a loud cheer from the
crowd. Some nice work from Trey at the end led us to the setbreak very
content.
-Overall it was a good first set. Personal highlights were the PYITE
opener, Roggae, AC/DC and Bowie. Personal low was getting told by a
group of 14 year olds that we were in their seats. Oh well, I didn't
need them once the lights went out.
2001 got things going for the last set before Worcester, and I hoped
they wouldn't save everything for that upcoming weekend. It was another
repeat from last year, but like PYITE, it didn't matter. I could seesongs
like these 20 shows in a row and not have a bad thing to say. I
don't remember anything special, but a great way to open the set. I
figured that this would go into something, but the last thing I expected
was...
Golgi Apparatus. I was excited to hear this. It's one of my old
time favorites that led to like this band. Though Golgi's usually don't
lead to mindblowing jams, it's a song that's short and sweet and picks
up the crowd. Good choice in my opinion.
An even better choice was Drowned. This was highly unexpected and
only increased the energy that 2001Golgi had built up. I felt
fortunate to have caught this, as it is not played as much as it
should.I was beginning to this we were in for a real treat until the
first chords of Caspian were heard.
Not one of my favorites, especially since it was another repeat. I
did catch myself groovin a little to the solo by Trey, But all in all I
was eager for the next song.
Piper slowly emerged, and if memory serves correctly this version took
longer to finally build up to its fast pace. While it was another
repeat, it is another one of my new favs. Still have no idea what they
sing in the chorus, but it doesn't matter.
YEM came next, and had most of hoping they would try and top that
epic 95 version. Though that may have been asking a little much, this
was well played. I have noticed that recent versions of this song have
been much shorter, and this was no exception. Though short, it featured
some nice work by Chris and a very entertaining vocal jam at the end.
They brought this into...
Been Caught Stealin.' In a year in which Phish has focused on its
variety of covers( Terrapin Station, Ramble On, Gettin' Jiggy... and of
course Dark Side, Why Not BCS?
I didn't really pay attention if they made any major flubs, I was too
busy smiling at the fact that they were playing Janes. I thought this
was a real treat and thought it was encore time, but...
They decided to play Llama. This confused me, due to the placement
and the fact that it was another 97 repeat. It was pretty sloppily
played, I would have been happy if they had ended it with BCS.
E. Something is a slow Beatles tune. I don't really remember much
about it.
I was psyched to hear the opening to Guyute, always a crowd
favorite. The band has aknowledged this by recording it and playing
more these days. It seemed like a standard version, but still good to
hear. However, they would have to pull off something huge to top the
Guyute/ Antelope encore from last year.
Then they brought out the accapella mikes to the front which kind of
dissapointed me. I'll take an instrumental tune over any accapella any
day. Unless that song would happen to be FREEBIRD. A huge suprise,
even though it had shown up on a few recent setlists. The band did
laugh throughout, but if they were having fun then I definitelty was.
The ending vocal section sent us all into the streets of Albany with a
serious case of premagrin.
* For the show, personal highlights were PYITE, Bag and Bowie in the
1st, and 2001Golgi, Drowned, and Been Caught Stealin' and Freebird in
the 2nd and Encore.
Hopefully I'll see you at MSG. -- JLP
Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1998 08:00:44 -0600
From: "Gallant, Pat" [email protected]
To: "'[email protected]'" < <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>
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