7-15-99 -- PNC Bank Arts Ctr, Holmdel, NJ

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Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 23:17:01 -0400
From: Mike D [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: webcast review


with the new cable modem, the 100k stream worked, looked, and sounded fine
almost the whole show.  froze up twice but back on in seconds. loved it!
more more more!!! 

Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 20:05:54 -0400 From: David Goldstein [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: 7/15 Webcast I wasn't going to write a review of a webcast, but apparently there's been others who have done so, so here's a breif synopsis. Traffic getting into the venue was more or less non-existent, save the pile of clothes in the hallway outside the computer room. Lots were surprisingly empty too, but no cops! I'm the happy owner of one of those famed cable modems, and this allowed me to view the webcast at the highest stream. The overall quality of the webcast at this level was astoundingly good. The sound quality was extremely crisp, in stereo, and the only real complaint is that the vocals were too low in the mix for the first set. This was recitified by set II. Multiple cameras allowed for several angles, the transitions were smooth, and the video quality was great as well. The connection to the server was cut a handful of times, but it was easy relatively easy to get it back. A few technical gaffes aside, I can easily say it was the best quality webcast I've witnessed, and actually allowed me to get a good idea of the show. I'm not going to go into huge detail, but here's a few observations. The first set was one of the lengthier ones in awhile, and chock full of goodies like the jam in Ghost and the VERY rock and roll YEM jam. Not the usual Oye Como Va-esque jamming, but Antelope rock. A great deal of the rock and roll that was SORELY missed in set II of the 7/13 Tweeter gig was touched upon in that YEM as well as a nice Axilla. As good as 7/13/99 I, not better. The second set, at least from the comfort of my chair w/ Bass ale in hand, appeared to be fantastic, and full of the randomness and rock that reminds me of why I like the band. It was first time seeing Meatstick, and I've still been unable to get the chorus out of my head. Nice jam. The dance segment was cute, and at least judging from his endless smiles, and seemingly 'out of it' demeanor when describing the Meatstick dance (not to mention his paranoid "what!?" when Fish yelled "MACARENA!"), it seemed that Trey may have been indulging in certain illegal goodies during setbreak. Page's wife is a cutie. The previously stated theory seemed to carry over into Melt, which had Trey basically speaking the vocals, laughing hysterically at this, and then yelling back and forth to Fish who kept speeding up and slowing down the beats in what can only be described as a very interesting way to jam SOAMelt. Kung was unexpected and contained several extra "Stand up on your heels!!!!" courtesy of Trey, and the resulting jam was equally intense and random. None of the ambient, layered (re: dull) stuff we saw at Great Woods. Bouncin' was Bouncin', and Chalkdust, while not being the transcendent 7/10/99 version, was extremely good for a "standard" version. They fell apart before the last pre-"can I live...!", resulting in a section with no drums, only guitar, and then the drums kick in right before the huge chorus! Woohoo! Rock is dead! Long live rock! When the band is this rowdy, it's a joy to watch. Solid encore to what appeared on my monitor to be the best gig in awhile. Mucho thanks to HOB for a job well done. dave g.
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 09:28:03 -0700 From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: web cast show Thank God for modern technology and the HOB. I am a New Yorker living in the SF Bay area for career reasons this summer. The show did wonders to kill my insane jealousy and envy of those in attendance( like my flatmate in the 1st row center). As a phan since 91( and who the hell knows how many shows), I must say the guys get better everytime I see them. Mt highlight of the show was The first half of the second set Meatstick->SOAM->Kung-> ambient style Jam w/ MG on the SOAM bass line and the others in left field somewhere. As a veteran of too many Suzy greenbergs, I have to say I love it when they just float off into space like that. IN the reviews some phans are giving th guys shit for that. They must not be listening to the same shows I am. I challenge those of you with your "jukebox" mentality to just listen, I mean really listen. It's fucking beautiful. They could play that shit for days on end and I'd love it. Do we really need to hear ANOTHER antelope instead of letting the Boyz lose their mind. I have to put my two cents in and ask why in the setlist there isn't a note on the Jam after Kung where MG went back into the SOAM bass line while the others were out in space? After missing out on the whole summer tour to learn the ins and outs of cyber investment banking, listening to that show made me feel like I just made it to the Oasis. Thanks HOB and all the cybergeeks involved !! I'll see everyone in Nassau and Albany.
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 01:55:02 -0400 (EDT) From: nick osen [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Phish webcast review Hats off to HOB for a wonderful webcast, fantastic sound and reasonably smooth video (only one or two dropouts even with my 28.8). How nice to sit in a lazy boy chair and watch a show! The only draw back was that the second set was one of the worst I have heard from Phish (though the 'Kung' was a nice surprise). They all sounded tired, perhaps we will see them take a well deserved sabatical next year. Still, they are the best live band I have ever seen on my computer! Nick (Toronto)
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 14:37:02 +1000 From: u984239 [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Review: 7/15 PNC Arts Centre Review: Phish at the PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, New Jersey I was watched this on the web cast. Flew home from holidays 4 days early to catch this one at uni in Canberra, was really excited. It took me two hours to get it going, like many people had "security" codec trouble according to Media Player. It turns out, the link that House of Blues gave us to "Download Media Player" was a link to an old version. Downloading the new beta version gave us all the codecs and it worked... finally. All I caught of Set I was the last 2 minutes of You Enjoy Myself, but at least I finally had it working. Watching Set II was alright, a bit chunky. I'd lose the connection every now and then. The 56k stream was pretty reliable, but the 100k stream was of a quality I have never seen on the internet before. The audio was full stereo near cd-quality soundboard, though the picture would usually bog down to one frame every five seconds. But Webcasts always have problems. This is my fifth, and only one has gone off without a single hiccup. Most have problems, this is to be expected. Even so, the music was pretty good. Meatstick: Great. Highlight of the whole night. Funky Synth stuff. Reminded me of Kraftwerk a bit, maybe it was just Page's cool retro synth. The best part was when Mike and Trey got dancing at the front of the stage, leaving Page and Fish to play the whole song themselves. Sounded sensational on my earphones. The jam afterwards was cool, fairly straight forward and laid back, reminded me of Ween 98. SOAMelt >> JAM: Not a big fan of this song, but this was a weird version. The Jam at the end just went into an all our crazy-fest with a freaky Kung in their and all sorts of stuff. A lost the connection here and there, so I can't remember it too well, but it went on for like, half an hour and was just scary and weird. But still good. It was good to see Trey play around withsome loops and stuff on his keyboard too. Bouncing: Yawn! Chalkdust: Good. Trey was smiling the whole time. A bit of a weird version, Trey added some weird effects doing a psycho machine gun thing and Page bashed away on the piano moreso, and the last verse after the solo was done weird, with just Trey and Page playing the first bit. Encores: New arrangement of Brian and Robert, stretched longer without the ooow-oow singing that made it well known. Reminded me off Lifeboy a bit in that respect, almost acoustic-ish in it's scalled down form. Frankenstein: Good as always, nothing too spectacular. All in all. What I saw of the show was good. Realy bummed about missing the 25minute YEM, and PYITE>>Ghost from the first set. Anyhoo, living in Australia means I can't see too many shows, and this is the next best thing. Worth coming home from holiday for, and getting up early in the morning for (9am!!!). -Dylan
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 23:57:22 EDT From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: 7/15/99 New Jersey Tonight was a first. Got to see Phish on the net for a cybercast. The show started out okay but what the hell was that 2nd set about. 50 minutes of the "blob" with a little Meatstick and Split Open and Melt thrown in for good measure just doesnt do it for me. Then, it was time to pick it up and the Phab Phour went into Bouncin'. I can honestly say, that might have been one of the worst Phish shows ever. Since I wont be seeing the boys until Alpine Valley and Deer Creek, I can only hope they have gotten whatever the hell tonight was out of there respective systems. "keep whats important and know who's your friend" (and know when to kill a jam).
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 21:07:01 -0700 From: Bob R [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Holmdel 7/15/99 WebCast Review Holmdel 7/15/99 Review (Written during WebCast) 7/15/99 PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ I: Punch You In The Eye > Ghost^ > Farmhouse, Horn, Poor Heart, Axilla*, Theme From The Bottom, I Didn't Know**, The Sloth, You Enjoy Myself II: Meatstick*** > Jam, Split Open and Melt > Kung > Jam**** > Bouncing Around The Room, Chalkdust Torture^ E: Brian & Robert, Frankenstein * w/ extended "Don't Shine That Thing In My Face" jam ** w/ Vacuum Solo *** Trey explains that in Oswego, they are going to attempt to break the record for the most people dancing to the same dance at the same time in the same place. (The record is currently held by The Macarena) Then he and mike performed the meatstick dance. Also available here online. **** w/ Shine & Meatstick teases ^ w/ Llama Jam This was the first time I had listened to a WebCast of any event. And after seeing the guys at Lakewood on 7/3, I was eager to hear more. At that show, I saw one of the finest first sets of ANY BAND that I had ever seen. The amazing "Twist->Piper" and "Antelope" of the second set had me craving more of the "arena rock" stylings that Phish has evolved into. I got on-line with House of Blues at about 7:20pm (EST) to check out the online show at Holmdel. I was actually running late back to the apartment and figured that I would probably be shut-out with my slow-poke 28.8K line. However, after some codec installing by Windows Media Player, I got some nice hip-hop floating through my speakers (and not bad sounding, taboot! ;-). I could tell that this was HOB's selections as there was no crowd. Soon (about 7:40) a gentleman came on and asked us to rise for our National Anthem (??). A nice rendition by what sounding like the Mormon Tabernacle commenced (sorry, no Phish a capella) and then the hip-hop started back up again. But now we had some video of the stage dimly lit and various happy folks in the audience awaiting some sonic bliss. I was in that group too, until a "lost server connection" error at 7:59. Oh shit!!! Don't shut me out now, HOB!! But I just reclicked the URL and got right back on. However, I got the feeling that I wasn't going to be able to relax and let the show just go (like on a radio). I would be reconnecting to the server A LOT tonight (guess it's bout time I got a 56K line, or how bout a cable modem...where are those anyway?). Soon that "magic sound" of the audience going off and the guys were on stage.... SET ONE: On 8:14pm PYITE - Trey got the groove on this right from the start. The entire band clicked in behind him. Got groove? From the get-go here folks! Through my somewhat cheap multimedia speakers, some of the vocals were a little distorted, but all instruments were fairly clear (though I heard some kind of phase during a lot of this song and others, especially at louder moments). Of course, near the end of Landlady was the perfect time for my ISP to drop my connection. Thanks guys!! Ghost - I get back online as Trey's delay is just beginning to fade. Nice intro funk led to vocals that sounded a bit off-timed (but I say tha everytime I hear a live "Ghost", so maybe it's MY ears that are off). A slow funk afterwards soon sped up into some "fast ambient" (my best description) with Trey out in space during most of it. Very nice light show for this from my screen. All the sudden (about 13 minutes in) Trey starts doing "Llama" chords. The band kinda picks up on this and they jam around in a quick manner. Then it just kinda died with bombastic chords near the end (about 16 minutes) and fell into... Farmhouse - I remember this from Conan O'Brien. Nice tune, probably a good rest from the speedy jam before. Vocals sounded out of harmony some, but that could have been my connection. Nice Page solo. Trey gets his $0.02 in with his usual melodic fashion and the band follows him on a soaring jam that made this song for me. As soon as you think he's ready to give up, Trey would just take it to another level. Nice vocals ended it and then we got... Horn - Wow!! I hadn't heard this in a while and it was always a fave for me (check out Columbia SC '94). Trey played the solo a little differently from when I last heard it. Still a very nice build at the end there. The vocals led right to Trey hitting the rhythm for.... Poor Heart - Another song I haven't "seen" live in a while. Mike had the vocals going on, but seemed like they hit the jam a little earlier than usual. Page went off then passing it to Trey just bubbling over with energy. They finished this one up about as fast as they started it and then we were in for... Axilla - Hell yeah, these are all songs I had not seen in Atlanta. And not on tape in a while, either. Extra cool ;-) Don't really remember anything special, but well-played. The "dream" jam at the end went on for a bit and quietly led us to... Theme - I'm really beginning to regret not being in Holmdel now. Another song I had wished for in Atlanta. After the vocals, Trey started soaring again (ala Farmhouse) and again the band responded, in an almost majestic way. Page was playing great counterpoint to Trey all during this jam (I noticed them playing off each other more at Atlanta as well...maybe a benefit of the new stage setup?). It almost seemed like they didn't want to stop! The vocals brought with it a short feedback jam and then... I Didn't Know - Great! Here comes the Electrolux! I think Trey called him "Madonna Fishman" this time (and Mike "Michael Jordan"). The usual vacuum antics that always entertains ensues until closure and... The Sloth - Alright!! Another cool rare tune!! And of course, I get cut off again (man, that really blows the energy of a song!) and I'm having trouble getting back in. Says I have an "invalid path name". Bullshit! I want my Sloth! I guess everyone finally got the buzz and is trying to get on-line. Thus I miss almost all of the song and get back during a great ambient jam (and the video guys even manage to layer the crescent moon over the light show....very nice!)....hey, this is no ambient jam....why it's YEM- Ok, guess I missed the whole beginning of this one (DAMN!) but I'm getting a better video feed now (Trey little chording after the silence is almost full-motion). Sound is better too! Of course, now it's back to normal "snapshots" and such :-( Tramps are brought out. Funk is in full effect. This leads to a blowout jam at the end with full-FX lights (reminding me of early 2nd set back in Atlanta). A typically strange vocal jam ends the song and set. Ended 9:32pm OVERALL: Another amazing first set! Wish I had got to see/hear "Sloth" and the beginning of "YEM". Trey seemed a little more out front than he was at Lakewood, and Mike didn't seem as prominent (again, as opposed to his commanding performance in Atlanta). Page seemed ON IT from every angle with a fine solo in "Poor Heart", good jamming with Trey on "Theme", and juicy Clav funk in "YEM". Fish kept it together like glue as always. I can't really get a feel for the energy of the crowd AND band....but the guys are getting off and they look to the crowd for fuel. Can't wait for Set 2! (HOB treated us to some good funky jazz during the break, which seemed to be a quite a while) SET TWO: On 10:24pm Meatstick - Interesting opener choice (I had "Runaway Jim" as my pick), I can almost feel the groan RMP-wide. I don't really have a problem with this song (I dig Page's synth part) but I can sympathize with those on tour who feel it wears thin after a few shows. And yeah, I got that "Fire on Mountain" vibe the first time I heard it too :-) Hey, Trey needs to give us information, cool. Talks about 50,000 people doing the Macarena a few years ago was a world record and how Phish wants to make it in Guiness. Then he talks about how he and Page are from NJ (crowd cheer) and then getting the 50,000+ folks at Oswego to do the Meatstick Dance (thus breaking the record). Instruction with Sophie follows. Trey finishes up with some distinctly Jerry-like "Fire" sounds in his end solo, Page swirling around him with the synth. About 10 minutes in, the song dissolves into a different kind of funk jam (quiet) and moves along for a good 8-9 minutes with all kinds of noodling until further dissolving into ambient feedback and then... SOAM - Oh yeah, always welcome a good SOAM (was looking for it at Lakewood). Vocals were dead on (one of their shining barbershop moments). Jam starts off a little reserved. It found a spot with a fairly straight-forward jam (little syncopation) that began to get dissonant and then funky again (damn they change fast!) and suddenly back into SOAM (with the whole bah-bah-bah bit) but not finishing it. After 10 minutes, the jam falls apart and get spacey again until... Kung - Woah!!! Quite a shock! "Stand Up! Stand Up!" This was full-on vocals and heavy feedback and an incredible 5-6 minute uptempo outro jam (with killer lights and all the guys getting down) which released us to more ambience (almost a drone) and then Trey taking off at quick speed as if to start a new jam or song and again they let the pressure go (just like that!) and get inside some more quiet spaces (very jazzy). At the end of this supple and sublime jam (total Kung time: 21 min) they break into... Bouncin - Had to be...I called it earlier for a "right before closer" in the first set, but maybe they will do that in this set instead. I always thought this song got over-abused by phans, but I guess it could be considered set filler. The apreggio part at the end is kinda cool, they ought to jam on it. As it wound down to its obvious conclusion I get ready for the encore except...server cut AGAIN! GRRR!! Chalkdust - I jump back on during the 2nd set of verses. Good closer, me thinks. Though at Lakewood, this song sounded sloppy to me (but everyone says it was just the initial sound on the lawn) but here they seemed to hit it really well. Trey getting down in the solo until it almost falls apart, going in different directions. Trey and Page start ripping the jam apart every way they can until suddenly Trey takes the lead back. Damn, they are ON tonight! This Torture jam goes on and on with heavy dissonance near the end until they practically stop and Trey sings the final pre-chorus with just guitar and near the 10 minute mark they bash out a glorious ending just like in the '70s. Welcome to ARENA ROCK folks! End 11:30pm ENCORE: On 11:35pm Brian & Robert - I thought this was kinda depressing on "Story of Ghost" CD and is a strange letdown from the earlier explosive energy. Nice singing, but it just doesn't resonate with me (no relation to lyrics I guess). Here's to a double encore, eh? Frankenstein - Hell Yeah!! Now that's more like it!! Page gets down on the Moog like a madman. Fish gives a fine solo that takes the band back into the 'Stein. They nail it with a harrowing feedback jam which reminds me of Sonic Youth and then finish once again like Kiss. Not bad, folks. Not bad at all! End 11:46pm OVERALL: This was a great show by a band on top of its game. It even eclipsed the Atlanta show from a week or so ago. The amazing "Kung" and the jam at the end of "Meatstick" are worth the price of admission alone. Add on a powerful first set and Trey getting down A LOT and this is more than worth the aggravation of getting cut off by the server so much. And on the topic of the WebCast....even with those few minor cuts (almost sure due to my speed and connection), I thought the House Of Blues folks did a good job of presenting. I started catching some glimpses of their presentation with multiple camara angles and such and wished I had the speed to see it (well, I caught it a few times...looked good!). We are supposed to be getting cable modem service here in FL near the end of the year. Hopefully, the band will do this again and I will have the better connection (though I see Jazz Is Dead is on next Tue 7/20....gotta check that out even with this slow-poke). This could be a lucrative way for the band to supply shows to folks who can't travel (and cut down on ticket-less phans at shows). I always wished the Dead had done more Pay-Per-View and Phish is more than welcome to try themselves. But it looks like the bandwidth will be phat enough to pump these kinds of shows on the Internet with full digital audio/video and in a viewable state (no skips, cuts, etc). The guys in the band just keep getting better and better. Would love to see some more of them on the 'Net. Peace, Bob R
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 21:06:52 PDT From: Rob Sipsky To: [email protected] Subject: 7.15.99 Webcast review Yes, I actually sat in front of a computer for 4 hours watching a concert. Life is weird. I wish that my ISP had a faster than 2.8.8 connection.. as it was, the video was real jerky.. My only real complaint is that in the middle of Sloth, I "lost server connection" and, it seemed like the end of the set, so, after 3 tries at recovering, I figured, oh well, setbreak, I'll see the second half soon. sigh.. I missed YEM. I really dug the music, though.. highlights: Set I: Ghost (the rest was pretty standard) Set II: Meatstick, speech, dance, and JAM!!! Split open really did, and I especially enjoyed the jam out of Kung and into Deep Phish Space.. I didn't catch any "Shine" tease, but hey.. I'd LOVE to get a CD and listen to the set again (hint hint) weird end though, saved (?) by frankenstein? all in all, sitting here at home staring at a computer for 4 hours was definitely not a waste of time.. Especially since New Jersey is so far from West Palm Beach FL. :) Pieces, Rob [email protected] Sigh: pathetic grovel: Does anyone have CDs of the Atlanta shows? "woaaah shocks my brain.."
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 00:21:27 -0400 From: Andres J. Lopez [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: internet review through webcast. Well we couldn't make it to the show so we tried the next best thing. The House of Blues webcast which all in all was quite enjoyable despite the fact that we only connected @ 45300 bps. The video was only coming in at one picture per five seconds, but the sound quality was amazing must have been a soundboard patch that rarely broke up. Occasionally we got a little roll of visual flirtation that tickled what we are to see in Oswego. So here it is (short and sweet): PYITE->Ghosts- Phat opening and good combo a la Albany 12/13/97 first ghost this tour Farmhouse- Loved it. Can't wait to see it in person, man its burnin' and nicely follwed by a loud Horn Poor Heart- A little too crazy vocally but a phun song no less (instrumental) Axilla part I- gotta love these lyrix - Out came the buzzard from the sand Theme-bass and vocal harmony were very stoney as usual I Didn't Know- want to see that picture of Otis Redding for the next album cover YEM-long song to finish long set, but who's complaining II Meatstick-couldn't pick up the dance with the poor visuals over the net, but can't wait to bust it @ Oswego(Hey Macarena) SOAM->Kung-Long time since I hear Kung (we can stage a runaway golfcart marathon) Bouncin'-played for rookie Phish phans Chalkdust- Jersey boys reflect on good New York 8 balls E: (yes please) hope you enjoyed it. have to say hi to John, Robin, pat and Chris(Stay off the N2O) Benn and George
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 23:03:08 -0500 From: Kevin Hanley [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: 7-15-99 webcast Hey now, Just finished watching the show in 28.8 and even that wasn't bad......sound was almost always there, and the pictures froze just occasionally. Quick history of me, 13 shows, most recent Halloween '98, so this is my first taste of '99 phish. And I was really surprised!!! What I thought would be ambient-led jamming, was really trey going off -- and in the first set, the PYITE opener, Axilla jam, and YEM jam were tight tight!! Especially YEM --- I've been growing sick of this one, blasphemy I know, but now I'm a phan of it again. Second set -- the meatstick dance will prevail over the macarena!! The jam following meatstick was very well played, with Mike coming clearly through my computer speakers. Kudos to whoever mixed the show, page and mike came in quite well! Now the jam following Kung is what is noteworthy here, the "Meat" of the set -- incredible jamming by Trey, just hosing the Jersey crowd (and all us net fans) again and again. Not many delay loops at ALL during this show, and I'm quite happy about that -- he's learning to use them in moderation. Bouncin' -- well, it had a faster tempo then most, so quickly came Chalkdust -- and what a Chalkdust!! Andy Gadiel says that there was a Llama tease in there, and that jam was spectacular. I think what makes a good Phish review is the use of varied adjectives -- because you can only say *killer* so many times.....but that's what the post-dust jam was, and what really impressed me was that it was different from the style of jamming in '98....... Encore -- Brian and Robert, slow mellow tune melts into FRANKENSTEIN!!! Oh, and did Page shine on this one, and he was loud to boot!! I remember the light show when I've seen Franks before and I was hoping for some faraway shots, but the editor focused mainly on Page, but that's still fine with me. Great ending to an outrageous show -- and this is really getting me pumped for Columbus through the Creeks, when I hop on the bus. .02, Mike Hanley www.public.asu.edu/~mjhanley
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 19:22:26 -0700 From: Ian Jacobson [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Webcast Review There's somthing to be said for sitting at work at a virtual Phish concert. I can't help but wonder about all the other Ohish heads across the west coast who had to "Work Late" late! Feel luck as a west coaster to get a taste of the band's 99 style, especially in such good quality. First set highlights for me were mostly visiual, particularly all the pre show shots of guys tokin up!! That and the close ups of fishman's vacume solo!! Oops, second set's ready to begin!
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 21:06:34 CDT From: Scott Heffner [email protected] To: [email protected] To everyone at the show - God bless you! That first set rocked!! I am watching it over webcast, and must say it comes in crys-tal. How about that vocal jam?? I thought it was great. Hell, everything was great. I thought Mike might bust out Catapult in the beginning of the vocal jam, when they were all just swooshing and shushing stuff. That would have been killer, was just a feeling. Oh well. I can't give a review of the songs right now, cause I'm so psyched for the second set. Enjoy the rest of the show. peace to all................... [email protected]
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