Date:    Mon, 1 Dec 1997 07:05:13 GMT
From:    "Walter G. Holland" 
Subject: 11/30/97 "Review"

Wow. I just got back from the Worcester show, third and final night -- NICE!

Here's my setlist, which might differ from Andy's:

I: Guyute, Funky Bitch, Wolfman's Brother -> Jam*, Love Me, Squirming Coil,
Loving Cup
II: NICU, Stash -> Jam -> Free -> Piper, Circus Comes to Town, Antelope
E: Changes (by Buddy Miles)
* with Sanity teases

Well, let me say that my only disappointment was no Mike's Groove...*sigh*.
Maybe next time.

The scene wasn't really lax, but it wasn't incredibly tense...a bunch of
annoying flashlight action from the security guards, though.

GUYUTE to open was an excellent choice; Trey's playing was a bit sloppy,
but a composition of that scope is tough to play perfectly from memory --
even a musician's muscle memory fails once in a while. FUNKY BITCH was a
ROCKING, really funky version. It went on for roughly 18 minutes, as I
recall...AWESOME. Funky, but according to my notes, more of a rock-and-roll
style jam than anything else. And then WOLFMAN'S BROTHER kicked in. This
was the night's centerpiece, definitely. The jam was REALLY funky, and
wandered into something that reminded me of Slave to the Traffic Light -- a
building, dramatic jam, intensely melodic. Nothing like any other Wolfman's
Bro I've ever heard. Gorgeous -- this alone makes the tape worthwhile. The
band slipped into that riff that trombone players love -- you know, the one
that college marching bands always play when they're in the stands, to get
the audience clapping. Over this Trey started singing a free-form version
of SANITY, which brought a HUGE smile to my face. The riff got really
repetitious eventually -- Mike and Trey hid behind their amps, while Mike
switched basses, and Page and Fishman just rocked out under the spotlights.
Really nice. It SOUNDED at one point like they were ready to go into
Cities, which would have been fabulous...this should be born out on tape.

LOVE ME followed, and it was a typical treat. Mike has a ball with this
one. Mike seemed to be really active the whole night, actually -- bobbing
his head, really getting into things. This was a great thing to see. A
solid COIL followed; no real fuckups from anyone, just a well-played live
Coil. LOVING CUP was an absolute SCORCHER...easily the best version I've
ever heard. Just ridiculously powerful. Oh, what a beautiful buzz...the
first set was long, and so were the next 15 minutes.

The second set started off promisingly, with the always-pleasant NICU. Then
STASH kicked in, and we just got DOWN. I figured it would be a short one,
as they were approaching climax really quickly, but it just went ON and
ON...beautiful. Very intense, but it didn't build all the way to the
withering heights of other versions, because they wandered off into
relative major key territory, and segued beautifully (inducing a "wow" from
my companion) into FREE. Free, too, was a barnstormer. They REALLY got
funky as hell with this. Actually, that's written on my setlist: "Funky as
hell!" I guess I'm not going to argue with THAT assessment. ;^) The nicest
jam segment to Free that I've EVER heard. The beautiful jam that flowed out
of the last chord of Free was unfamiliar to me for a while -- it was just a
breathtaking melody that Trey was layering over the other boys' atmospheric
playing. But PIPER soon evolved in instrumental form, then vocal, getting
faster and faster and melting me. Just incredible. This song is stunningly
beautiful. I'd heard it once before, and love it. CIRCUS followed, and was
really touching -- not personally or anything, it's just a really nice
piece of music. ANTELOPE to close was out of control, as it should be.
REALLY short second set, but you can't have it all, can you?

The encore, Buddy Miles' CHANGES, was a real rocker. Of course, it wasn't
Destiny, but hey -- they treated us to a hell of a night of music.

Judging from the word on the phish.net, 11/29 is THE night to seek out
first. This was a REALLY good show, though -- for the Wolfman's Bro, the
Stash -> Jam -> Free -> Jam/Piper run, and the ridiculous Sanity business,
the tapes are DEFINITELY worth getting. Don't pick and choose, but get the
whole show. A bit inconsistent, but really a beautiful night of music. A
7.0 from me on the Scott Jordan Concert Review Poll.

That's it, then. I pray that I might get tapes of the Worcester run soon --
consider this, then, my only indulgence in grovelling. Take it easy,
everyone, and if you can see Phish this fall, DO IT. They're playing better
than they EVER have, and this is just a wonderful moment for them -- and us.

Thanks Benjy, Mike, Rosemary, Charlie, Andy, and everyone who goes that
extra step to ignore Corey Fields. Cheers, all!

Peace,
Wally

-----------------


Date:    Wed, 3 Dec 1997 16:55:16 GMT
From:    "James Raras Jr." 
Subject: Hartford and Worcester Run Synopsis

Worcester 11/30 (my dad's b-day show!)

Guyute opener!  Just following in the recent trend of great set openers,
crowd was loving it and was quite receptive indeed!  The Bitch that followed
was great as well, probably in my top 3 or so, not nearly as crazy as
11/22/94 but better than most every other one I've heard.  It was unfinished
and had some semi experimental jamming.

This ~32min Wolfman's was *weird*!  The jamming was cool, but the real
madness started when they started what seemed to be a Heartbreaker tease
(but in a different key I think) around 20min, then they just kept repeating
this weirdness.  Trey told Chris to turn off the lights, and from what I
hear Trey and Mike exchanged instruments (?), and then Trey sang about 3
verses to Sanity (not a full version at all!) and one verse from Esther.
The madness wound down around 32min.  This seemed as if something that would
happen at a Ween show, very dark and strange, but a must hear cause it can't
be explained in words.  My dad liked hearing Treat me like a Fool as he knew
it, but I used it as a bathroom break, where I met Chico and we briefly
discussed the prior insanity.  We thought we were in for the big one of the
three nights but it didn't top 11/29-2.

Coil was nice to hear, and I thought the set was over.  But no, we got a
rocking Loving Cup!  I can't think of many other ways I'd rather have a
first set end.  This was a strong version, not quite a strong as AmDam over
the summer, less soloing from Trey, but very nice indeed.  FWIW, everyone's
vocals sound really nice to me this tour, kudos!

NICU to open set two was cool, and we were hoping for NICU > MikeS, but
instead we got Stash which I was quite content with.  Nice version but not
as nice as Vegas 97, imo, which isn't even close to as nice as AmDam 7/2/97
or the monster 11/14/95.  Stash was unfinished and segued nicely (->) into
the first Free of the tour, I love this new arrangement, just great!  Nice
to hear, but not as nice as the 7/2/97 encore, as you can tell those AmDam
shows were nice :)

Out of a spacy jam came Piper which I had been dying to see live, I love
this tune.  It seems as if they added more Page vocals as backing if I
remember right.  Next was Circus, ugh!  Antelope was a nice end to a solid,
albeit very short set (1:06).  Not a standout version, but nice to hear as
usual.

 The Changes encore was great, although it sounded familiar I couldn't
remember it at the time.  Who *really* sings this anyways??  Anyone who
complains about this encore was obviously not at RR 96 for the Bolgi encore
the last night!

Also I want to send out a big hello to all I met and hung out with this
weekend: Beau (thanks for everything!), AJ, Ron, Steve, Brian, Boris, EP,
Dan E, Dan S, Justin, Phil, Gary, Jared, Chris, the UMASS and UNC
Greensbrough crew, Hitz, Saul, Chico, the Jackleens, Bourbon, Guppy, Benjy,
Noah, J()e, Dean, Kevin, Digital Dan, Isham, Erik Zwick (good eyes to spot
the yellow hat!), Mike O, Rob Mazuri, Sister Mary, Mike Terran (happy
B-day!), my dad and the many others who made my week a time to remember,
especially Jon, Mike, Page and Trey and the whole phish org!

Well if you read that whole thing you have more problems than me, who spent
the time and energy to write it :)  Anyways all comments etc... are
encouraged, please send them to rmp (phish@phish.net) and CC me, thanks!!

Jim

------------------------------

Date:    Mon, 1 Dec 1997 22:13:51 GMT
From:    Arthur Frankel 
Subject: 11-30 Worcester Review (long)

Hi guys and girls:

First, setlist, as I have it:

11-30-97 Worcester Centrum, MA

I: Guyute, Funky Bitch -> Jam, Wolfman's Brother -> Jam -> inSanity* ->
Jam, Treat Me Like a Fool, Squirming Coil, Loving Cup

II: NICU, Stash -> Free, Lulliby Jam -> Piper, When the Circus Comes,
Antelope

E: Them Changes**

* Part of Sanity lyrics chanted over Heavy Metal jam; perhaps some
Esther lyrics, too?

**Hendrix, Band of Gypsies

~~~~~~

Venue: Same one as the other two nights.

Scene: Same one as the other two nights, except everybody was much more
strung out due to fatigue and the shitty weather (I think Worcester
makes its own weather).

Security: Two security guards filed past us in the lower section at one
point during Funky Bitch.  One was an older guy with a pony tail who
was one of the head agents and the other was a younger guy.  The
younger guy caught a glimpse of the guy next to us smoking a bowl.  He
busted past us, flicking on his bright flashlight, and began screaming
in this kid's face.  He forced him to turn over the glass piece.

Meanwhile, while this was going on, the older, head security guy was
standing, watching his insecure sidekick bust this poor kid, right in
my way.  I struggled to see around him.  He noticed I was having
trouble seeing with him right there, so he grinned, apologized
heartily, ducked out of my way, and said to me, "I hate it when he
[pointing at the younger security agent] pulls shit like this."

They're not all bad, guys.  Remember that.

Anyway, on to the show:

The came out and took forever to pick a song.  It didn't matter,
though, once the opening section of Guyute came through.  I was elated.
Guyute is a fantastic opener, imo, and this one was excellent.  It was
marvelously crisp, most of the time, with minimal errors (mainly Trey).
Such a grand start.  The Centrum was so alive, so excited.  By the end
of this fantastic Guyute, we knew they'd end the run in style.

Next was Funky Bitch, which started off in a typically great manner.
When it came time for Page's organ solo, towards the end of the song,
they switched gears a tad and you could tell they weren't going to end
it in the normal fashion.  This one is labelled "jam" on my setlist
because it really varied, in a type II way, from the usual Funky Bitch
riff and theme.  It was a rock and roll, freestyle jam in itself.  This
was excellent.  It wasn't as obscure and "out there" as parts of the
Runaway JAM from the night before -- no, it was steady, groovy, rock
that sounded great.  They stopped on a dime to end it.  Amazing.

Wolfman's Brother kicked right in after that.  This was another song
I'd been anxiously awaiting.  Was I justified?  More than I could
imagine.  This has to be among the best Wolfman's -> ensuing jams ever.
First it went in typical Wolfman's fashion, but the jam between normal
Wolfman's groove and the coming inSanity jam is hard to explain.
You'll need the tapes.

So, anyway, they soon lock onto the most evil three chord progression
imaginable.  It gets louder and louder and the place is going berserk
-- this is perhaps the scariest jam Phish has played, ever.  It
reminded me of a Zeppelin song that I can't name.  Anyway, it was
raging, this repetitive, three chord evil song; hear this on tape.
Trey steps to the mic and starts chanting parts of the Sanity lyrics.
"Stars Suck!"  This was not Sanity; this was inSanity, and it just kept
going.  This was the evilest, coolest, most mind-blowing jam
imaginable.  I am still in awe of it.  Did I mention you should get the
tapes?  Trey tells Chris to turn off the lights.  And they jam the evil
song in the dark.  Mike and Trey go behinf their amps and Mike, I
guess, switches basses, though I was pretty confused and can't really
say for sure what happened.  Eventually, the lights come back on and
the evil groove melts away to pretty nice chording and, boom!,

Mike starts to sing, as only Mike can, Treat Me Like a Fool, which was
funny and quite enjoyable.  I'm glad I was there for this one.

Next was Squirming Coil and for a song that hasn't been played in a
while this was absolutely perfect.  There were no flubs by Trey.  It
was a masterfully played version.  Just tight and crispy as all heck.
It further increased the value of this set.

Lastly came a super, super Loving Cup.  Trey kicked my ass with a
royally bitchin' solo at the end of this one.  What a superb closer to
an amazing first set.

First and foremost: Get this set immediately.  It was by far the best
first set I've ever seen.  This set didn't have a lowlight, didn't have
one song that I could have done without.  It gets a big, fat 8.  Easy.
I wondered if set II could ever live up to it.

They opened with NICU, which is always a good song to hear, though I
was privately hoping for a Reba opener.  NICU was decently done, but
Trey screwed up in one of the refrains, I think, singing the N-I-C-U
line too early.

Next was Stash, which whooped my ass and beat, imo, the NYE '96 Stash,
which was pretty darn good.  This one peaked a few times, then became a
mesmerizing, trippy Stash jam that I totally dug.  It was hypnotic,
almost, and it was pretty clear they had no intention of finishing the
song in standard style.  It melted away, increasing in freakiness, down
to quiet, beautiful chording.  Out of this sprang, what is in my
opinion,

The most Triumphant Free imaginable.  It was perfect.  It zoomed out of
nowhere; out of mellow, quiet dissonance, and it was a Free for the
ages.  Trey plays wuch an uplifting, inspiring riff.  The roof almost
blew off the Centrum.  I had been privately praying for a Free (none
this tour, right?) and they gave it to me, in full effect.  It reminded
me of a cloudy, dark day, gray cumulus clouds overhead, and then BAM!,
the clouds part, and the beams of sunlight shine through, and a
beautiful fucking bald eagle swoops down in all its majesty and there
was Free.  It was out of this world.  It even included a funk jam in
the middle and finihsed up like on BB, which was great.  What a song
and what a time to play it.  I was very awe-struck.

Free ended and then Trey started up what is a quiet, melifluous luuliby
jam that I want on tape so bad.  It was beautiful and long and never
rushed, and it was great because the Centrum was quiet and still and
totally hosed.  Everybody was in shock, I think, at the enormity of the
beauty of this mellow jam.  Hear this, for God's sake.

This mellow jam melted right into a great Piper, my first and something
I couldn't wait to hear.  It was all it is cracked up to be.  It, too,
was awe-inspiring, one of the best moments of the show.  The place was
totally hosed by this point.  Rediculous.  This was turning out to be a
show for the ages.

When the Circus Some to Town, or whatever, was all right but not quite
the song I was looking for (Trainsong was, however.  Oh well.)  It
didn't matter much, though, cause

Antelope kicked in and that was that.  A super Antelope (as always)
that really finished the night off on the right foot.

The encore, Them Changes, took my friend and I a while to name but it
really rocked.  A very good encore.  Again, check this out on tape.

Overall, the second set was killer, not quite as good as the first, but
still utterly amazing.  Highlights would include the whole Stash
through Piper run of songs.  This set, too, is a must have, if only to
hear the Stash -> Free and the amazingly beautiful "Lulliby" jam.  So
I'd give this set a 7 on the SJ scale.

So the show, overall, would get a 7.5 or 8.  I thought it was easily
the best all-around show I've seen.  I mean, Saturday's second set was
awesome, about an 8.5 on the scale, but it didn't beat Sunday's show
when comparing the complete package.  Other sets I've seen that I'd
give high ratings to: 8/17/96-II, 8; 12/29/96-II, 8.5; 8/17/97-II, 8.5.

None of these shows, when taking into account both sets, beat 11-30-97
though.  So get the fucking tapes!  ;)

Thanks for reading,
Matt

------------------------------

Date:    Mon, 8 Dec 1997 03:48:32 GMT
From:    Justin Antos 
Subject: a different perspective?

All the reviews and discussions about Phish I've heard on the digest, and
on RMP have been from OLD skool people who add authority to their show
reviews by stating how many hours of phish they have, or how many shows
they've been to.

Well, I thought I'd offer a change, a completely new perspective - I'm a
phish newb, and I want to tell you what I think.  My first show was 11/30
Worcester.  Instead of 250+ hours of Phish, I have 30.  I've been into the
band for about a year now, and I thought people might enjoy hearing a
different perspective on things.

***Worcester 11/30 Semi-Review***
First I want to talk about Worcester 11/30, my very first show.  I came
into the show with no idea what to expect.  Before this show, I'd never
heard about the "new" style of playing which Trey describes in his
interview on Phish.com for SlipStitch.  I had never heard any live Phish
later than 1996.  Needless to say, the sound was most assuredly
_different_.  I didn't take notes or anything during the show, so this is
completely from memory and very informal.

Overall I thought the show was energiless and lacked variety and diversity,
with one exception.  There was too much emphasis on this "new style."
Don't get me wrong, I love the "new style", but I liked the old style too.

However, what I did hear that night I LOVED.  It was so different from all
those 95 and 94 tapes I had, it took me awhile to process.  That's why
these thoughts are so long in coming.

The first set that night was almost lyricless, but the resulting sound was
overwhelming.  The opening Guyute->Bitch was fantastic - even though I had
never heard either before.
Wolfman's began like the SlipStitch version, and I assumed the band had
just decided to start playing that song a little slower.  But the ensuing
jam, oh wow, it was cool.
Then came the three chord, eerie jam that they did in the dark.  What an
effect, hearing live music in the dark.  You pay so much more attention to
the music, to pick out all the little details in trills, sixteenths, tiny
alterations in Fishman's beat.  The music surrounds you, it barrages your
senses since hearing is the only one which can function.  It's a good
effect to use sometimes, because the lights complimenting the music is
really good, too.

The second set was EXCELLENT.  The spirited and bright NICU opener was a
good choice - we were on our feet and dancin'.  The Free that snuck up on
us tore the house down - the energy in the building was like a palpable
fog.  Followed soon by a great Antelope, the second set for me far
surpassed the first.  That's the best part of live music: moments of sheer
zeal and exuberance, and knowing you're sharing that enthusiasm with
everyone there.

But besides those, I found the show was pretty directionless and
dispirited.  The 3chord spacy jam went on for far too long with little
alteration, I would have liked to see Stash finished instead of wandering
out into no-man's land (that part was really cool, but it would have been
even COOLER if they had brought it back in Stash).

***PHiSH in General***
So besides those few exceptions, I found alot of the jams did exactly as
Trey said - they were less guitar-oriented, and defied the normal pattern
of jamming to a climax with "the note."

Every player having a part in the jam was very cool.  The whole band
getting into a groove was spectacular.  It heightens the impact of the
song, and heightens your awareness of the cohesiveness of the band.  That's
what Phish is known for - breaking with convention, and here's the next
example of it.

But the jams were longer, and didn't follow the convention of climax ->
ending.  Like in Stash that night, someone described the jam as "starting
out normally, then wandering off," which is true.  Every once in awhile
it's great to hear a jam take on a life of its own and morph completely
into different time signatures, styles, and tempos.  I especially like
Page's ending to Gumbo, as a result.

Here's my main point, though (I'm grateful if you've read this far):
Having *all* the jams be funky, groovy, and slower is bad.  It doesn't
spawn variety, and can very often lead to uncontrolled jamming which
sometimes, dare I say it, begins to sound more like noise than cohesive
jamming.  I love Phish because of just that - spontaneity on stage,
daringness, and variety.  To see that trampled in the name of a "new style"
saddens me.

It is good to have some jams be guitar-oriented, which build to a climax
with "the note" as Phish has done in the past.  I venture to say it is good
to also have jams which are bass oriented, keys oriented, and drums
oriented.  Blues Traveler is good at this, I think - they incorporate bass
solos, guitar solos, and harmonica solos in their tunes.

This is my main objection to Worcester 11/30, and indeed Phish's new style:
Phish seems to be going all out on this "long-jamming, funky" thing, and I
think it should be less.  I think the new style is great, but retain the
older as well.  Both are good.

Whew.  Thanks for reading, I look forward to hearing responses.  Please -
don't bash me on the basis of my "non-authority" in the matter - I fully
understand that  I'm not a weathered-veteran-with -1200-hours-and-140
shows-since-'84 kinda guy.  That was the point in me writing this - I
thought it might be a different perspective on things.

Most Assuredly,
Justin Antos

(antos@erols.com) (jantos@groton.org)
Tapelist at http://www.erols.com/antos/tapelist.txt