2009-08-11

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

from	[email protected]
date	Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 10:10 AM
subject	Phish Review 8-11-09 Toyota Park Review

  This was my 23rd show and my 2nd of this year.  Overall, I was 
relatively pleased with the show.  I will not do a song by song analysis, 
but rather just some general comments about the experience. 
  I will have to say that after Alpine Valley this year, I was a little 
worried about what the lot scene had become, and if the Phish scene would 
ever get back to what it was during their prime.  Thankfully, I am now 
reassured that the "true Phish kids" still exist and Shakedown was back!  
The cops seemed to be relatively laid back, and everyone was having a 
great time before the show.  I didn't really have too many expectations 
going into the show, because so far this summer has been pretty standard 
setlists, (which usually comes with the pre-release of an album).  I was a 
little disappointented that they played so many new songs in the first set 
(Kill Devil Falls, Ocelot, Windy City, and Time Turns Elastic) but none 
the less it was still high energy, in my opinion.  I, unfortunately, 
seemed to be in the wrong section (Mike's side), because the row in front 
and behind me sat down during Ocelot and did not stand back up for the 
rest of the show, because they were so disappointed.  I don't know if it 
took the wind out of their sails with all the new songs, but they just 
kept yelling "come on Phish, lets start the show now."  It seems that they 
were never fully satisfied.  Maybe they were coming to hear their favorite 
songs, but it was ruining the experience for everyone around them.  
Regardless, my girlfriend and I still had a great time.  I think people 
tend to forget that this is not new to Phish.  Does everyone remember in 
1994 and 1995 when Phish played songs from Hoist at almost every show, and 
the same went for Story of the Ghost in 1997 and 1998?  The phans did not 
care too much for most of those songs either at the time, but now some are 
everyone's favorites.  Phish loves the new songs, and therefore I love 
them too.  Phish shows have always been about energy and if they're not 
feeling the grooves then neither will the crowds (which many saw in 03 and 
04).
  The 2nd set was much more intense.  Wilson was sick as always, and 2001 
was a very funky version that is worth getting a copy on cd.  It seemed 
like everytime I went to the bathroom, the phans were boogieing everywhere 
(the aisles, the floor, the seats) and it made me want to leave my 
section.  Now on to the floor section.  I have to get this off my chest, 
because I just dont get it.  A buddy of mine got to about the 9th or 10th 
row, on the floor and I asked him if he saw some of the glow sticks being 
thrown at the band?  He had mentioned that there were hundreds that had to 
be picked up off the stage at intermission, and he said that there must 
have been 2 to 3 times as many during the second set.  Trey had mentioned 
during their first "hiatus" that the scene was a mess, and the glowsticks 
being thrown at the band was part of the reason for them finally having 
had enough.  They had even thought about banning them and now I see why.  
My favorite glowstick moment was during Piper at Alpine Valley (7-8-2000).  
That might have been the coolest experience ever to see millions of those 
from the top of the hill.  It really made the whole Phish experience 
unique from any other band.  However, now it has just gotten out of 
control, which is not what it was intended to be.  Why do people throw 
them at the band? If you saw someone next to you throw one at the band, 
wouldn't you think someone would say something?   Apparently it almost 
ruined Harry Hood, because they could barely concentrate.  My friend had 
mentioned that at one point, he swore Trey was going to get on the mic and 
tell people to knock it off.  Ok, why even go to a Phish show, if your 
going to throw things at the band, and also why go if your just going to 
sit there and pout because they're not playing what you want to hear?  It 
just gripes me, and this is exactly why they call Phish phans "custies."  
I hate when people compare them to t he Grateful Dead, and reiterate that 
the Phish phans can never be like true Deadheads, but sometimes I think 
they're right.  This type of behavior would never had happened back in the 
day at the Dead shows 
  Last, I love the song, but would have to say I was a little disappointed 
with the Loving Cup encore.  Only because it was very very predictable.  
If you look back on all the encores this summer, they are all very much 
the same.  You can almost expect the same encore song every 3 to 4 shows.  
They're usually the same Frankenstein, Loving Cup, Tweezer Reprise, A Day 
in the Life, Possum etc.  I miss the days with a rare Antelope or even 
David Bowie, but that's just preference and I will always love the band 
regardless.
  Regardless of what some people think, I will say that the band is 
sounding tighter than ever.  I could only be so lucky to see them again 
next year if they continue to tour.  I think they are trying to get their 
"ya ya's" out this summer by playing numerous standard and "newer" songs, 
rather than long experimental jams and "straight out of the vault" type of 
songs.  They are trying to find their groove, and figure out where they 
want this band to go this time around.  Needless to say, I will be there 
to capture their every move, because to me, they will always be the 
greatest band in the world!
 
P.S.  Hopefully Phish Festival 8 will be the biggest one yet!  There is a 
lot of potential with this festival to enter unchartered territory!
 
Peace,
Nate


from:  [email protected]
date	Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 2:35 PM
subject	Phish Show Review - 8/11/09 Toyota Park, Bridgeview, IL

ok here it goes.... honestly although i had a great time hanging with 
phriends, dancin, partyin in the lot,  i was a little dissapointed in the 
show itself. The lot was great.. we found our xtras right away and some 
delicious space cakes. shakedown street was swingin. onto the show... 

-FIST SET- 
Kill Devil Falls
Sample In A Jar
Ocelot
Paul and Silas
Windy City *
The Curtain With 
Train Song
Gumbo 
Heavy Things
TTE

KDF: meh opener. i'm not too crazy about the new songs but the jam was 
pretty good 
sample: standard 
ocelot: i do like tis new song and it had a nice extended jam 
paul and silas: soo happy to hear this! old school phish bluegrass? yes 
please! 
windy city: this was pretty cool to hear 
the curtain with: sooo happy to hear  this. it was one of the songs that 
got me into live phish. i was so happy to find out they were doing it 
"With." the jam was beautiful, kinda like a 94 hood or reba jam. very 
pretty 
train song: standard. got this one at alpine earlier this summer too 
gumbo: we phreaked! my phriend julieann called this song in the lot before 
the show. glad to hear more old school tunes 
heavy things: standard. the kydz i brought with aren't headz were so 
happy. my phriend alex though now has the hook in his mouth after seeing 
phish for the phirst time 
tte: not a phan of this tune, so boring, total energy killer 

so all and all it was a pretty bunk first set with the exception of 
curtain with and gumbo, but they proved me wrong for set two 

-SECOND SET- 
BDTNL > Carini > Jiboo, Theme, Wilson > 2001 > Chalkdust, Hood, Coil 
E: lovin cup

BDTNL: one of my new favorites, the jam was great a must hear 
carini: standard but fun 
jiboo: cool to hear, the jam was really good
theme: also cool to hear, not one of my favorites 
wilson: standard but fun 
2001: i was really happy when fish dropped that beat. really spacey 
jamming, lots of phun to dance to
chalkdust: this was rockin' and there was an extended jam in the middle, 
kind of like 7/10/99
hood: they nailed the composed part, the build up was beautiful, but trey 
fucked up the crescendo pretty bad. bunk 
coil: good closer, beautiful solo by page 

E: loving cup: standard but rockin' 

so all in all this show wan't a rager by any means but the second set 
improv is deff worth hearing. see you all at halloween! 

peace, 
adam 



jason barker 
date	Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 5:32 PM
subject	Review 8-11-09

hey there,

thanks for maintaining the site after all this time!  If the reminiscing 
at the beginning isn't appropriate for the forum feel free to chop it out.

thanks again.


=====================================================================
Review:  8-11-09  Toyota Park - Chicago, IL

First off, I have to say what a pleasant surprise Toyota Park was as a 
venue.  I was expecting a run down, oversized high school football field 
type of place, and instead I got a brand new venue with a great lot scene, 
a short walk to the seats, wide concourses, and impressive sound for such 
a large outdoor show.  And apart from guarding the general admission 
section pretty vigorously, security was very laid back (perhaps too laid 
back - the nitrous scene was a bit out of control, at least where we were 
parked).  But overall a great place to see a show of this size.

For a little context, I saw my first show (gulp) sixteen years ago, and 
for me, the 93 to 97 run will forever be the yardstick by which I measure 
my phish experiences.  I've seen them 40 times or so, and I have to admit 
that just for a couple years pre-, and especially post-hiatus I was 
starting to think the magic had worn off for me.  I didn't know whether it 
was because I'd changed, or the bad had, but I was definitely not feeling 
it the same way I had been for the previous 8 years or so.  The low-point 
was probably a Vegas show in 2002 or so, where on the way out I struck up 
a conversation with a guy, and he said "was it just me or was that a real 
disappointment?".  My reply was "It's still a better way than most to 
spend a Saturday night", but I had to agree with him that I was pretty 
restless all show long.  Apart from a killer DWD, I had kept waiting for 
"IT" to kick in, and it never really seemed to.  I wasn't bitter - a 
decade is a pretty damned good run to be obsessed with a band - but I was 
a bit sad that something that had been such a big part of my 20's and 
early 30's wasn't quite working for me anymore.  Was it just what getting 
older was about?  Or was the band legitimately just not as "on" as they'd 
been for so long?  When they finally called it quits, I wasn't nearly as 
bummed as I would have been a few years earlier.  Maybe it was time.

Fast forward to the May 31st show at Fenway Park in Boston, and I was 
hopeful that "IT' might be back.  As soon as the reunion was announced I 
realized just how much I'd missed having them around, even if I hadn't 
been enjoying the shows quite as much as I once was.  I'd heard good 
reviews of Hampton, and the recordings seemed to bode well.  I had the 
pleasure of seeing the show with some friends that I used to go to shows 
with back in the mid-90s, and we all agreed that the band seemed to be 
BACK big time.  Again, I don't know how much was me, and how much was the 
band, but whatever it was, the show instilled the feelings in me that I 
hadn't felt since the turn of the millenium.  I was so excited that I 
sucked it up and bought absurdly overpriced tickets to the Fox in St. 
Louis (yeah I know, I concede the crumminess of supporting the scalpers), 
and "IT" was still there.  The boys were back and seemed to be having a 
better time than they had been having in years.  I took a first-timer with 
me and the show made quite an impression on him as well.  Which, finally, 
brings us to the show at hand...

I went to Chicago with the now second-timer as well as a couple of other 
first timers.  We sat in the seated area pretty much directly in front of 
the stage - far away, but nearly dead center, so the sound was good 
(though the bass wasn't as full as I've heard people on the floor mention) 
and the light show was in full view.  Good crowd of people around (except 
for one uber-drunk) though everyone seemed obsessed with making their way 
down to the floor.  The weather couldn't have been nicer for an outdoor 
show, and while the beers were expensive as always, they at least had some 
decent selections.  The show had high and low points of course, but 
overall it was another great time that reinforced my feeling that good 
things are in store again.

On with the show:

Set 1:

Kill Devil Falls:  If there's anything that signals that the band is 
really back, it's the quality of the new songs.  This has quickly become a 
favorite of mine, and it's a perfect Phish song in the rocking 'Chalkdust' 
or "Julius" vein.  Just makes me excited every time I hear it.  Well 
played, with some great old school "machine gun" Trey playing during the 
solo.  If this song is any indication, the band is indeed back with a 
vengeance.

Sample in a Jar:  Some like to pick on this song because of its 
predictability, but I still love it all these years later.  The main riff 
is classic catchy Trey, the lyrics are classic Tom Marshall, and the 
chorus and solo section are about as catchy as Phish comes.  What's not to 
like?  This one was solid all the way through.

Oscelot:  A close second to "Kill Devil Falls" for me.  Someone mentioned 
in a review for a different show that "This sounds like a children's song, 
and I don't mean that in a bad way".  I agree.  Has a great laid back feel 
and was again played solid from start to finish.  Trey's soloing in this 
song has that classic staccato "plucky" sound that I like so much in his 
playing.

Paul and Silas:  Short of Poor Heart (which I like but is overplayed) I 
love any of the bluegrass covers or originals they pull out.  I think this 
was only the second time I've heard P&S live and there's not much to say 
other than that it was well played and great fun.

Windy City:  A new Page song that apparently hasn't been played before.  
To be honest, I don't have strong memories of this one after first listen, 
but I really like Page's solo album, so I'm expecting good things once I 
download the show.  At a minimum I can say Page's voice sounded great.

The Curtain With:  One of my favorites and played perfectly throughout.  
After the slowed down rift riff of the "With" section they went into a jam 
that I could swear was based on the end of "Reba".  Maybe it was simply a 
jam on the "with" riff, but whatever it was, it kicked ass.  As I'll 
mention later, I think Trey is still finding his way a bit on the slower, 
building jams (unlike the straight rocking jams where he's in the zone) 
but this was pretty strong overall.

Train Song:  It slows down the set, sure, but I love this song.  Great 
harmonizing with Mike and Trey.

Gumbo:  A rarity as far as I know, and it sounded great from start to 
finish.  Am I the only one who hears the horns in his head even when 
hearing a hornless version?  Great stuff.  And as good a time as any to 
mention that Mike is sounding particularly great.  His playing in other 
projects over the break brought me a whole new level of appreciation for 
his skill.

Heavy Things:  I'll have to buck the conventional wisdom here and say that 
I really enjoy this song.  Catchy, silly lyrics and a plucky guitar solo - 
I'm happy.  I thought Trey's solo here was particularly strong for this 
song.  Page, Mike and Trey are playing with each other excellently here, 
even if it's a "predictable" jam.  And this song is a good example of how 
Fishman can take what would typically be a pretty straightforward drum 
backing and make it interesting.  I play guitar, so I tend to talk about 
that a lot in a review like this, but at the show, it's Fishman's beats 
that I'm most often focusing in on.

Time Turns Elasic:  Unfortunately, I'll have to go along with convention 
wisdom here and say that this song needs some serious work.  The last few 
minutes are great stuff, but the journey there is pretty hard to take.  I 
hate to trash it since the band (or at least Trey) clearly likes it 
considering how often it's played, but it just doesn't work in my opinion.  
The beginning is pretty cool , but the middle is meandering and frankly 
more than kind of boring.  I really do love the the last few minutes, so I 
hope this song finds its way eventually.  The exodus of people from the 
floor to the bathrooms/beer stands was REALLY noticeable during this one.  
Unlike other songs they've worked through live ("Taste" comes to mind) 
they don't seem to be experimenting with this one, so this may be what 
we're stuck with, for better or for worse.  Maybe it will grow on me.  The 
list of Phish songs I actively dislike is disconcertingly small, but for 
now, I don't enjoy spending nearly 10 minutes of a set on this one waiting 
for those last few minutes....  I just re-listened to the Fenway version 
while writing this, and man those last few minutes are great.  Like show 
ending, leave-on-an-ecstatic-high-note great.  I hope this song finds its 
way somehow.

Overall, a great set for newcomers with a lot of approachable, catchy 
songs, and some great jamming without getting too "out there", which can 
be tough to keep up with if you're not already familiar with the band.  I 
thoroughly enjoyed it as well, but figured we'd be in for some monsters in 
the second set given the relatively "safe" playing in the first half.  

Set 2

Backwards Down the Number Line:  This one hasn't quite grabbed me to the 
extent that "KDF" and "Oscelot" have yet, but it's still a great song with 
awesome jam potential, and the jam in this one was strong indeed.  Fishman 
sounded particularly on in this one, but this is really a full band jam in 
the best sense of the word.  

Carini:  !!!!!!!  I absolutely love this song, and I'm nearly certain this 
is the first time I've heard it live, and what a version to hear!  Dark, 
dark, dark as Carinis are built to be.  Holy crap was I excited when this 
one started.  This one went on for quite a while and was interesting from 
start to finish.  I'm a complete sucker for the main guitar riff in this 
one, and I love how it manages to be both very Phishy while not at all 
Phishy at the same time.  Fishman again felt particularly strong here.  I 
commented to my newcomer friend that "next time you hear anyone deride 
Phish as hippy-dippy, remember this song".  I heard that there were some 
folks up front with a Carini banner that might have played a role in 
hearing this one.  If so, thanks to the banner people!

Gotta Jiboo:  If you only heard this song on the album you'd never know 
what it was capable of live.  I unfortunately HAD to run to the bathroom 
during this one, but I still heard most of it, and what I heard sounded 
great.  Funnily enough, the guy at the urinal next to me bitched about 
Time Turns Elastic the whole time we were standing there. 

Theme from the Bottom:  This is one of my favorite songs, and one of the 
few where I actually think the album version is the best representation of 
its potential.  I love hearing it live, but I often feel like they don't 
live up to the deeply layered, thick, soaring jam of the version on BB.  
While the main song was well played the jam at the end didn't really gel 
for me, and I think this is a symptom of what I mentioned earlier, in that 
I don't think Trey is fully there yet with the slower, moody, building, 
layered jams yet.  That's based only on a handful of seen/heard shows this 
tour, so I'm happy to pointed in the direction of counter-evidence.  Page, 
on the other hand, sounded great.  So, fun to hear, but not a terribly 
memorable version.  On a side note, my newcomer friend leaned over to me 
at the end during the "Flottum the Bottom" part and asked "what are they 
saying here?" and I could only answer "It's complicated, ask me later" :)

Wilson:  Great song, great version.  Not much more to say.  I always love 
how a song that's never appeared on a studio album or on the radio has 
tens of thousands of people screaming the words to it whenever its played.

2001:  I love this song and can barely think of a better one to hear when 
you bring 1st timers with you.  If this song doesn't get you going, then 
Phish is probably just not your thing and you don't need to waste any more 
time or money.  I've heard it quite a number of times live, but this may 
be the tightest, funkiest version I've heard yet.  If you could can Page's 
keyboard sound during this song I'd have a fucking pantry full of it. This 
song would be a classic example of when the hiatus era Trey would always 
seem to flub the BIG notes and such, but nothing doing here.  Strong all 
the way through, and the band just had an amazing groove going on 
throughout.  I could have listened to this song go on for an hour with no 
complaints.

Chalkdust Torture:  Hardly going out on a limb to say this is a favorite 
live, but while the song itself was played well, the jam didn't work for 
me.  I don't know whether this is a new direction they've been taking 
things with this one, but the jam was a bit restrained, and just when Trey 
seemed like he was going to bust things out, Fishman appeared to force 
things into the jam-ending outro riff thingy.  There was potential, but it 
didn't have a chance to realize itself.  Maybe Fishman needed to pee or 
something, because a similar thing seemed to happen in the next one...  

Harry Hood:  Ack.  Okay, this is arguably my favorite Phish song, but I'm 
a bit like a junky always looking to recreate his first high with this 
one.  Any time I hear Hood I'm looking for it to bring back the feeling of 
the first time it really clicked for me (which in my case was 12/31/93 - 
still my favorite version).  So as much as I love hearing it live, I'm a 
tad disappointed as often as I'm exhilarated.  With that 
hyper-criticalness in mind, I have to say that I found this a farily weak 
Hood overall.  The composed section was decent enough, but the main jam 
was just a mess after the initial mellow section that typically starts 
things off.  The band never seemed to be on the same page here.  This is 
most noticeable to me about 2/3 of the way through when Page and Trey seem 
to be trying to get into a slow, dissonant kind of groove thing, and 
Fishman starts playing the drums as if they're gearing up for the big 
build up to the soaring guitar that typically ends the jams in this one.  
They seemed to play at cross purposes like this for at least a couple of 
minutes.  Again, they just didn't seem to be on the same page in terms of 
where this jam was going or when it was supposed to get there.  I'm 
usually not that confident of my opinions until I hear the the recording 
of the show, but I'm going to be surprised if this one doesn't sound even 
clunkier on tape.  (yikes "tape".  That's showing my age).  Not everything 
can be a homerun.

Squirming Coil:  great song, though I prefer to end on a crazy "up" note 
than a mellower down note.  A quick "Tweeprise" or something before the 
end would have been perfect, but this was still really well played and 
good to hear.  I wish I understood piano better, because while I 
intuitively get what Trey, Mike, and Fishman are doing (usually), rock 
piano is a bit of a mystery to me.  I love how Page is often playing 
against what the guitar melody is doing, and how dissonant his playing 
often is, but I have no idea whether that is even something that is 
peculiar to Page or just what the piano is meant to do in a rock song.  If 
you're not paying attention, it's often easy to miss the piano's 
contribution, but I think Page contributes more to that "Phish" sound than 
many of us realize, even when he's not front and center.  So, that's a 
long way of getting to the point that it's always nice to hear Page just 
pound out some gorgeous piano licks at the end of this one.  Again, for 
all I know, he's doing Piano 101, but it sounds fantastic and I could 
gladly hear him continue that Coil chord progression indefinitely.  I 
don't know what a jazz afficianado would think of the comparison, but 
Page's playing here always makes me think of Keith Jarrett.

Encore:

Loving Cup:   Best. Encore. Song. Ever.  End of discussion as far as I'm 
concerned.  I think I listened to Phish for a couple of years before I 
even knew this was a cover song (or knew that it wasn't called "Beautiful 
Buzz")  :)   That's how natural this one sounds coming out of them.  I 
wish I could bottle the feeling I get listening to this one live - it 
would sell better than those damn nitrous balloons.  After the Coil 
closer, hearing those opening piano chords out of Page again was as good 
as it gets.  When I first heard the Hampton shows this one struck me as 
one of the ones that really signaled the return of the band, and this 
version didn't dissapoint either.  Great energy, great playing, great 
everything.  Trey again sounded completely on during the solo.  Couldn't 
have ended better as far as I'm concerned.


Overall a great show with some sublime highlights and a few missteps that 
were still pretty enjoyable in the scheme of things.  I feel more sure 
than ever that my Fenway verdict was the correct one, and not a fluke.  As 
I said, I hadn't realized how much I'd missed them until they came back.  
And as an extra bonus, we don't have to hassle with trading damn cassette 
tapes around anymore!  I've got the bittorent downloading as we speak.  
Now *that's* fucking progress man.

Here's to hoping to see them in October....



daren jones
date	Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 12:57 PM

subject	Phish Concert Review 08/11/09 Toyota Park

Tuesday nights concert in Chicago was a tale of 2 sets. This was my 125th 
show and my 7th of this year. I was truly looking forward to this show 
because of the reviews I'd been hearing from Red Rocks and The Gorge. I 
thought the first leg of this tour back in June was OK at best. The rest 
of the band was on top of there games but I felt Trey was still trying to 
find his swing. After last night I'm pretty sure Trey's found it and 
things are all good in the world of Phish.
First off the venue was great! There was an actual lot scene, the cops 
left everyone alone and people just looked happy. It's really nice not to 
see all that lot trash that use to be there. The vibe was excellent!
 
As far as the show goes I had my fingers crossed that we'd hear some new 
tunes because I actually like most of them. Besides one that should be 
completely reworked or put away in a vault never to be seen or heard from 
again. Set 1 started and I got my wish!
Kill Devil Falls - I really like this song and I thought it was a great 
opener
 
Sample - Fun version
 
Ocelot - O.C. a lot O.C. a lot! I also like this song and I thought it was 
really good
 
Paul and Silas - Bluegrass
 
Windy City - New Song that Page wrote. I thought it was good.
 
The Curtain with - I thought that was great!!
 
Train Song - Slow down an already slow set but whatever it was still good.
 
Gumbo - Good version but kept with the theme of the set. Mellow!!
 
Heavy Things - It's heavy things what can I say. This set is starting to 
feel a little strange at this point.
 
Time Turns Elastic - This song sucks monkey balls!!! I love Phish and 
pretty much like whatever they do but give me a break. 10 minutes of 
different jams that are slow and all over the place and then it goes into 
this crazy jam. It's not Fluffhead or YEM, those songs work towards a 
climax. TTE just is all over the place!! ITS WHAT I CALL A SET KILLER!!! 
This song needs to be completely reworked or just stop playing it!! You 
cant put people to SLEEP for 10 minutes then go from 0 to 1000mph in 2 
seconds. Maybe the album version will be better. The worst part is you 
can't even go to the bathroom during it because the whole crowd is doing 
the same thing so the lines are a mile long.
 
Overall set 1 was OK. It was good to hear Phish put a set together mostly 
of new material. The set was kinda weird but I enjoyed it besides T.T.E..
 
Let's get to the good stuff!!
 
Set 2
 
Backwards down the number line - This is my favorite new song and 
tonight's version was sick! They jammed it and it got down and dirty. Best 
version I've heard so far. You could just tell this set was going to kick 
ass. LOVE THIS SONG
 
Carini - There was crew holding up a huge banner requesting it and boy did 
they get one. High energy and Trey was just on fire!! It was a great 
version.
 
Jibboo - Solid Version, HIGH ENERGY Not your normal Jibboo, this one was 
fresh and felt new. I really like where this set was going!
 
Theme - Solid Version. More high energy and it just sounded so good. Trey 
was on fire.
 
Wilson - Perfect placing, It got the crowd rocking rolling! LOVED IT!!
 
2001 - Best Version I've heard in 9 years!! They brought the dance groove 
and everyone was getting down.
 
Chalkdust - SICK!!
 
Harry Hood - Usually I'm not a huge fan of this song late in second sets 
but they kept the energy on high and it was great. Better then usual 
Harry.
 
Squirming Coil - Not a huge fan of this song either but the set was smoken 
it was a nice way to finish the night.
 
Encore
 
Loving Cup - Do I even need to write anything? Perfect Encore for this 
show!
 
Overall first was OK beside Time Turns Elastic but the second blew me 
away! One of the best set I've seen since like 03/01/03. My faith has been 
restored and Trey is back. His confidence seems to be back. I'm a 
recovering Oxy and Heroin addict and unless you've been there you just 
can't under sand. It takes a lot of hard work and patience to find your 
stride again and he's got it back! The rest of the band is also on the top 
of there games. When the boys came back in 2003 the music felt tired but 
if this late summer tour is a look into Phish's future I'm very very 
excited. I give set 1 a 7 out of 10 only because of Time turns Elastic. I 
really enjoyed first set because of all the new stuff but T.T.E. just 
kills sets. It needs to be reworked with either a better flow into the jam 
or shortened so your not sleeping before the jam, I give 2nd set a 10 out 
of 10 and I don't give those lightly. The playing was so good and the 
energy coming from that stage was so much fun to watch and hear. Can't 
wait for Darien and SPAC!!
 
Signed - Docter Everything


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